Magic is typically a background element in Game of Thrones. Even the mighty dragons who helped Aegon I Targaryen conquer the Seven Kingdoms and unite Westeros are connected to magic without being explicitly mystical. Most of the franchise’s iconic characters get by with steel weapons, clever words, and the occasional political power play. However, when Bran Stark needs to learn the ways of greensight, he travels to meet the Three-Eyed Raven.
As adaptations go, Game of Thrones is more faithful than several on-screen examples. When the series deviates, it does so in fascinating ways to account for the new medium. That changed when the creators reached the end of the source material and had to improvise the last few acts, resulting in unmitigated disaster and a sharp decline in cultural appreciation. Some changes are neither improvements nor detriments.
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The Three-Eyed Raven in Game of Thrones
The Three-Eyed Raven’s first appearance is in the fourth episode of Game of Thrones. He visits Bran Stark in his dreams, offering guidance after the injury that took his ability to walk. The bird, portrayed by a real raven with a third eye digitally added, guides Bran to the castle crypt just before he learns his father has died in King’s Landing. Bran is forced from his family home, providing a golden opportunity to travel north and seek the source of the corvid in his dreams. He encounters Jojen Reed of House Reed first in his dreams, then on the same journey. Jojen and Bran have the power of greensight, which allows them to perceive the past, present, and future across unlimited space. Bran learns that Jojen was present in his dream, meaning that the Three-Eyed Raven must be a living creature willing itself into his mind. In season four, he meets his new mentor.
The Three-Eyed Raven was human once. He is said to have lived well over 1,000 years in various forms. When Bran finds him, he’s a withered old man grown into the roots of a sacred weirwood tree. He’s the most proficient known practitioner of greensight, and he sees Bran as his potential replacement. The Three-Eyed Raven says little about his past but gives Bran critical information hidden from everyone. He lets Bran view his father fighting during Robert’s Rebellion, the creation of the White Walkers, and the day his father left Winterfell for the Vale. The Night King finds the Three-Eyed Raven through one of Bran’s visions, leading to the greenseer’s death at the frozen monster’s hand. Bran is seen as the Three-Eyed Raven from then on. Bran the Broken knows his responsibilities, stating:
[The Night King] will come for me. He’s tried before, many times, with many Three-Eyed Ravens. […] He wants to erase this world, and I am its memory.
The Three-Eyed Crow in A Song of Ice and Fire
The Three-Eyed Raven was originally the three-eyed crow, but little else about the bird has changed. The showrunners and writers never listed a reason for the different species. The three-eyed crow isn’t a title but an accurate description of the greenseer’s appearance in Bran’s dreams. The bird is more active, regularly speaking to the Stark boy. The three-eyed crow is still a withered, white-haired corpse of a man woven into the roots of a weirwood tree in an abandoned cave. Though many elements are the same, the three-eyed crow offers one significant alteration, a hint as to who he was. Speaking to Meera Reed, he says:
I wore many names when I was quick, but even I had a mother, and the name she gave me at her breast was Brynden.
A Dance with Dragons confirms Brynden Rivers as the three-eyed crow. Brynden was born the bastard son of Aegon IV Targaryen by the King’s sixth mistress. Aegon the Unworthy famously legitimized his many illegitimate children on his deathbed, putting all of them in the line of succession. This led to a series of civil wars called the Blackfyre Rebellions when Aegon IV’s favorite bastard declared his claim to the Iron Throne. Despite many knights and lords supporting the Blackfyre Pretenders, the first revolt failed when Brynden Rivers led a team of master archers to eliminate his half-brother. Brynden lost his eye in the fight but gained high status in King’s Landing, leading to several impactful roles in future administrations. He was known as Lord Bloodraven for the bird-shaped stain on his albino face. He was Hand of the King, Master of Whispers, and eventually the Lord Commander of the Night’s Watch. He may have been the most proficient spymaster in Westerosi history. Duncan the Tall once believed:
How many eyes does Lord Bloodraven have? the riddle ran. A thousand eyes, and one. Some claimed the King’s Hand was a student of the dark arts who could change his face, put on the likeness of a one-eyed dog, even turn into a mist. Packs of gaunt gray wolves hunted down his foes, men said, and carrion crows spied for him and whispered secrets in his ear. Most of the tales were only tales, Dunk did not doubt, but no one could doubt that Bloodraven had informers everywhere.
Brynden Rivers is one of the most fascinating characters in A Song of Ice and Fire, but the end of his journey is hidden. There’s no telling how he became the three-eyed crow. Max von Sydow’s take on the character could have also been Lord Bloodraven, but the book makes his identity explicit. The life of Brynden Rivers could make a great spin-off show on its own, as could the story of Aegon IV’s Great Bastards, but both stay buried in lore. The Three-Eyed Raven and three-eyed crow remain critical mentors to Bran Stark, whether they have Brynden’s history or not.
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