The craziest, most unexpected revelation of Game of Thrones season 6 was the true extent of Bran’s powers—and how, by looking back at the past from a critical moment in the present, he made Hodor into Hodor. It was one of the season’s most shocking moments, for book readers and show watchers alike, and it shows that Bran’s powers aren’t all going to be rosy. He doesn’t have control over them yet, but when he does… is he going to have to make himself fall out of that tower?

Did Bran Stark Push Bran Bran Stark Out Of The Tower?

It’s safe to say that Bran Stark would never have gone seeking the three-eyed raven if he hadn’t been crippled when Jaime Lannister pushed him out of that tower in Winterfell. He might have gone south to King’s Landing with his father, or stayed in Winterfell, or been squired at another noble house. He certainly would not have begun the wanderings that eventually led him north beyond the Wall and to the children of the forest.

That means Bran had to be crippled. Everyone in Game of Thrones we’ve seen who has prophetic abilities had to make some kind of a tradeoff. Jojen had weak greenseer powers and was perpetually ill; the warlocks of Qarth abused themselves terribly; Patchface drowned and returned to life. Visions do not alight upon the healthy.

We don’t know how yet, but Bran’s role as the new three-eyed raven is going to be critical for the future and the coming war with the Others—whichever side he’s on. Sooner or later, he’ll learn to use his powers and embrace them—and accept that he needs them. And when he does, he’ll need to do something truly terrible: Make sure he does get crippled. Make sure the worst event of his life happens to him exactly as it did.

That’s why Bran will have to change the past to make sure he falls. Remember, everything Bran has changed in the past was changed already—the present we see and read about reflects everything he’s already done, as Hodor demonstrates. Maybe Bran really did just happen to be climbing in front of that tower window, maybe Jaime and Cersei did just happen to be inside of it. Or maybe it was meant to be—orchestrated by Bran through whispering weirwood trees and a murmur on the wind.