http://moviepilot.com/posts/2014/06/16/game-of-thrones-season-4-finale-spoilers-crossbows-and-toilets-review-1517089?lt_source=external,manual

A few months ago when Kristian Nairn (Hodor) announced that his character and the character of Meera would not return for season 5, Isaac Hempstead-Wright (Bran) did considerable damage control by explaining that he was filming for the show when in fact, his character will not appear in the upcoming season.

D&D have officially confirmed that Bran will not appear in the next season and here is their reasoning as to why:

It made sense to stop where we did. He’s now entering a training period which is going to take quite some time, much of which isn’t particularly cinematic. So rather than being stuck in a cave for a year, we figured it would be interesting to leave him out for a bit.

Now, this makes complete sense when you think of the fact that Bran’s story line reached the end of Dance With Dragons at the end of season 4 whereas other characters are not completely there yet.

D&D had this to say about that:

The fact is, even though we’re making changes to the books and adapting as necessary, we’re trying to keep the various storylines the same as the books and trying to keep them roughly [chronologically] parallel. Last year we caught up to the end of Bran’s storyling [in ‘A Dance With Dragons’]. So, if we pushed him forward this season, then he’s way ahead of where the other characters are

Seems that much thought went into this decision and I’m happy for that. I think it will be odd to not see Bran for an entire season and it definitely will be weird when season 6 airs and Bran is suddenly back BUT, at the same, it gives a sense of ease to the mind because a lot of fans were concerned that the showrunners were going to travel into material that George R.R. Martin has not even published yet.

So, does this really mean Bran won’t be in season 5? His storyline may not progress but the showrunners did reveal they were using flashbacks this season so maybe we can still see Bran in those. -Fingers Crossed-

You can check out the full article HERE and let me know what you think. Speculations? Concerns? I’m curious.