Why Did Bran Say He's ‘Almost’ a Man During the ‘Game of Thrones’ Winterfell Reunion?

*Warning: Spoilers ahead*

Creepy Bran Stark did his best to be normal, but just like he said in the very first scene in last night’s premiere of Game of Thrones, there is literally no time for societal norms and gestures of good will.

Exhibit A: Instead of a warm welcome to Jon Snow, his “half-brother” (not really) that he grew up with for most of his life and whom he hasn’t seen since season one, Bran just stares blankly at him until Jon Snow bends down to kiss him on the head. It’s a very tender moment, but one that Bran completely brushes off in order to get something off his chest: Dany’s dead dragon Viserion has been turned into a White Walker ice dragon, and has burned down the Wall. (See? No time.)

Jon is still not unnerved though, and tells Bran he’s nearly a man now, to which Bran replies, “Almost.” So, what does that mean? Is he saying he hasn’t turned 18 yet (or whatever arbitrary age that males in Westeros are considered “men”)...or that he’s not really a man at all—he’s now fully transformed into the Three Eyed Raven? Probably the latter.

As the three-eyed raven, Bran is the only living person with information about how to undo the Night King’s powers. Sure, Jon can swing his Valyrian steel sword around all he wants, but Bran’s powerful and all-seeing vision means he may hold the key to actually ending the Night King now that the old three-eyed raven and the Children of the Forest are completely gone.

Or, could it mean that he’s part man/part Night King? The theory has been going strong for quite some time, and perhaps his three-eyed raven abilities have shown Bran that he is also the Night King and has to end himself to save humanity (like some sort of weird continuous time loop).

In the very last scene, we see that Jaime Lannister is the “old friend” Bran’s been waiting for (and the silent reunion inspired an epic amount of hilarious memes). So, does Bran being “almost” a man but not quite a man mean that he doesn’t have the same sort of vengeful hate toward Jaime for pushing him out of that tower? If Bran meant that he is more three-eyed raven than human now, he may actually be grateful to Jaime for causing the chain of events that made him a Green Seer in the first place. (Aka, Jaime was just a pawn in his destiny.)

We’ll just have to tune in to the next episode of GoT on Sunday, April 21, on HBO at 9 p.m. to see if Bran or Bronn gets to Jaime first.