okay so Bran is going to break the Neck, right?
Have we done this one already? This fandom is very large and very old. I wouldn't be surprised if someone else has talked about this, however I haven't encountered it yet personally, so I'm typing it up myself.
I think Bran is going to enact The Ultimate Traditional Stark Beheading, that is, breaking the continent of Westeros at the Neck just as it was broken once before at the Arm of Dorne, and let me tell you why!
First off, background context on what exactly took place at the Arm of Dorne in the words of Maester Luwin:
"But some twelve thousand years ago, the First Men appeared from the east, crossing the Broken Arm of Dorne before it was broken. They came with bronze swords and great leathern shields, riding horses. No horse had ever been seen on this side of the narrow sea. No doubt the children were as frightened by the horses as the First Men were by the faces in the trees. As the First Men carved out holdfasts and farms, they cut down the faces and gave them to the fire. Horror-struck, the children went to war. The old songs say that the greenseers used dark magics to make the seas rise and sweep away the land, shattering the Arm, but it was too late to close the door." - AGOT Bran VII
Okay so, the shattering of entire landforms is within the capabilities of the greenseers. I think it's safe to assume that such a feat is not exactly a walk in the park— not only in terms of the magical cost, but in terms of judgement as well. Under what circumstances is it appropriate for a greenseer to split the continent? And where should they make that split geographically, assuming they have any precision at all? Is it possible to give any warning before sweeping the land out from under the feet of the living population? Are there motions of honor and tradition which the greenseer ought to adopt as they do this?
This question of judgement is presented to us in Bran's very first POV chapter. Many people have written about this to various ends before, but it's no accident that Bran's first-ever chapter centers around his initiation into the Stark execution traditions:
"Yet our way is the older way. The blood of the First Men still flows in the veins of the Starks, and we hold to the belief that the man who passes the sentence should swing the sword. If you would take a man's life, you owe it to him to look into his eyes and hear his final words. And if you cannot bear to do that, then perhaps the man does not deserve to die."
As Ned goes on about this, his expectation that Bran will one day perform such a beheading himself is made clear to the reader. It's not a question of if, but when.
"One day, Bran, you will be Robb's bannerman, holding a keep of your own for your brother and your king, and justice will fall to you. When that day comes, you must take no pleasure in the task, but neither must you look away. A ruler who hides behind paid executioners soon forgets what death is."
Blah blah blah, we know what happens after this, Bran becomes disabled by his fall and mourns the loss of his future as a warrior, you will never walk again but you will fly, etc etc.
The Three-Eyed Crow (whatever its true identity may be) shows Bran the Heart of Winter and tells him, "now you know why you must live." We understand that Bran is meant to wield his emerging magical abilities in the War For The Dawn; however, the specifics of how this is actually going to work are hazy at best. Bran is not Dany.
Like okay, bear with me for a second— Dany is a dragon rider. If threatened by a deathless, mindless horde of ice zombies, Dany is in a position to punch the problem directly in the face, so to speak. She can meet them in battle firstly, and secondly, the magic at her fingertips (fire) is a perfect counterweight to the Others (ice). Bran does not have access to either of these, and for this reason I expect that Bran's use of his own magic in the confrontation with the Others must necessarily entail, like, continual decision-making. Passing of judgement. Swinging of the sword.
Obviously there's a lot more to be filled-in here, but I just think that Bran's beheading of the entire continent at the Neck (it's literally CALLED the Neck, like that's about as subtle as a foghorn!) could aptly serve as the climax of his magic-arc towards the end of the series.
And he doesn't even have to actually do it, also! It could be equally as interesting if Bran were to agonize over the decision to swing the sword, and ultimately decide not to. For one thing, breaking the Neck would mean obliterating the Reeds' homeland. For another, if Bran owes it to a man to "look into his eyes and hear his final words," then how does this translate in a situation where Bran is not beheading one man but rather an entire landform? Whose eyes should he look into? Whose final words should he hear?
And lastly, what would this possibly mean for the North going forward, once geologically severed from the rest of the kingdom?
