Star Wars had Obi-Wan, Harry Potter had Dumbledore (arguably Snape) Gandalf was the guy in Lord of the Rings And Batman could always rely on Alfred for guidance and wisdom. Who can we identify in this role in ASOIAF?
Obi-Wan is oneWho , but really Yoda is also the wise master in Star Wars. There can be more than one. And there is more than one in Bran arc.
Note, Arya and Jon Snow also have obvious mentor figures in their own story-arcs. As does Sansa, in a really weird, trope-twisted way in which her mentor is also her predator.
But I’m not sure if their mentors quite fit the ‘wise master’ trope that you mention.
Of course Aemon Targaryen is wise, but I don’t see him as Jon’s mentor as much as Jeor Mormont or Qhorin Halfhand is. He is more Sam’s mentor.
Bloodraven probably fits it best. Though he is quite a bit creepier than Yoda, Obi-Wan Kenobi, Gandalf or Dumbledore.
But Bran really has three ‘wise master” mentors. The earthly wiseman, the intermediate wise man and the metaphysical wise man.
The earthly “wise master” is Luwin.
Luwin helps Bran with political decisions and gives him general advice. He generally cares for him and pushes him along.
. Now, he is sort of wrong about a lot of things, particularly, the metaphysical aspects of the world in which Bran lives and he pooh-pooh’s Bran’s magical powers. Since Bran’s journey is obviously a magic one, he ends up being a hindrance.
True to form, though, he ends up dying while Bran "goes up a level."
The second is Jojen Reed.
Now, Jojen is only a ten year old boy, but he is referred to as ‘old man’ by some because of his unusual and precocious wisdom. He sort of gets Bran started on the magical aspect of his journey.
And while he may not have died to save Bran yet, trust me…he will. This is why I like that jojen paste theory (though I am not really sold on it.). Because, my god, if someone dies for somebody it should be creepy and disturbing, not just another perfunctory stop along the way to the Holy Grail.
The third, and probably most important, is obviously Bloodraven.
This ancient, wizened freak in the weirwood tree, who has been watching Bran all his life, visits Bran in dreams and trains him in the Ways of the Force…Oops, I mean the Ways of the Greenseer.
Anyway, he is clearly the main one.
And he’ll die too. And I hope it is disturbing.
Because if there is one thing a hero must do, it is leave a trail of dead bodies behind him so that he can fulfill his journey.
The world is ready for a new kind of story, I think. This is why I still hope that Bran will be the hero who screws everything up.
Written January 26th
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