What happened to Benjen Stark?

Benjen Stark is one of the characters that got such less screen time but still managed to have a place in everyone’s heart. He is a lovable character but a mysterious one as well, given the fact that he has been lost beyond the wall right from the first season but still makes two crucial interventions in the later part of the show. The last time we saw Uncle Benjen was when he saves Jon Snow from thousands of Wights and sacrifices himself to let Jon leave and reach the Wall safely. We all loved how Benjen came at the last minute to save his nephew but immediately feel sad, seeing him surrounded by dozens of Wights. Now the question arises that is that the last time we will see Benjen or is he still alive?

We all know that Benjen, despite being a member of one of the biggest houses of the Realm, is a member of the Night’s Watch. He was never interested in the politics of the realm but was drawn towards protecting the people from the bigger threat. Jon always looked up to his uncle and he was the reason why Jon end up joining the Night’s Watch. We see Benjen leading a team of men beyond the Wall to find White Walkers and look for ways to kill them but he never returns. Jon leads a troop himself to find his uncle but finds nothing but a lost trail. Since no one sees him again, everyone believes that he is dead.

Later in the show, Bran and Meera meet Benjen Stark. When Meera is taking away Bran after all that happened at the cave of Three-Eyed-Raven, she falls down and cannot pull the sled carrying Bran anymore. Bran wakes up from his vision to tell her that the Wights have found them. Just when the Wights are about to attack them, a man riding a horse saves them. He also says that he works for the Three-Eyed-Raven to which Meera says that he is already dead. Benjen says that now he lives again and Bran wakes up at the same time. He then reveals himself as Benjen Stark. Bran cannot believe his eyes, as he, like everyone else, had thought that Benjen was lost beyond the wall and eventually died. Benjen makes a startling revelation about what happened to him. He tells them how the White Walkers found him and killed his fellow brothers of the Night’s Watch.

Just when Benjen was about to die because of the ice dagger stabbed in him, the Children of the Forest intervene and save him by inserting a dragonglass into his heart. This makes him half-dead. Post his story, Benjen helps Meera and Bran reach the Wall but says that he cannot enter the Wall due to the spells stopping the dead from entering. This just shows that Benjen already knows that he should not even try to enter the Wall, as no one knows what would happen.

We again see him in the sixth episode of last season, coming to save Jon from the Wights. Since Bran is the new Three-Eyed-Raven, Benjen should be working for him. Bran must have seen Jon being in trouble and probably asked Benjen to go help him. With Benjen being a half-dead man, he probably cannot die anymore. If he can die, he probably sacrified himself as he believed that Jon Snow was Azhor Ahai and wanted to save him at all costs, even if he has to experience hell with the Wights. However, we can assume that he might have survived the attack from the Wights since he cannot die anymore. He may end up in this state for all his life, making it a miserable one for him.

It would be interesting to see how Benjen makes a comeback in the show in the final season. Let us just hope that Benjen did manage to escape that attack and has a happy reunion with all the Starks once again.

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