Bran’s time with the Three-Eyed Raven is raising a lot of questions on Game of Thrones.
The most major mystery is probably that of Jon Snow’s true parentage, but a more minor one is nagging at us. That mystery revolves around the endlessly quotable Hodor. A flashback this season revealed that Hodor was once a stable boy named Wylis who appears to have all of his capacity for speech. So what gives?
A fan theory posted by Redditor TazoGreenTea posits that Hodor and Bran share an ability to warg, or transmit their consciousness into an animal. Basically, the theory suggests that Wylis put himself into a horse and forgot his humanity.
“Wylis may have been more attuned to his abilities especially if his Old Nan told him stories and shared more knowledge about Warging,” TazoGreenTea writes. “I'm thinking that Wylis went far beyond the limits of warging which may have mentally damaged him and turned him into Hodor. I remember Jojen Reed warning Bran not to warg for too long or else he'll be trapped and forget he's human.”
User DustyMuffin says that Bran’s attempts to meddle with the past could interact with the Hodor theory in interesting ways.
“I believe that Bran will see the past as he does, then try and warg into Hordor at the time of one of his green visions,” the user writes. “Trying to warg into a past version of Wylis and use his speech to warn someone of the coming danger or how to alter the course of history. As Bran yells and screams inside the head of Wylis to try and get out a warning all that will come from the mouth of Wylis will be 'Hordor.'”
Another Redditor sought to throw water on the fire of speculation.
“Willis got kicked in the head by a horse and the ensuing brain damage turned him into Hodor,” Mokey_Maker writes.
While Mokey_Maker could be right, we wouldn’t bet against the world becoming more and more complex. Bran’s arc has so far taken him far out of the playing field, but we suspect he’ll be changing the course of history in major ways in the seasons to come.
If this theory is accurate, it shows that Bran is in much more danger than he thinks. He should listen more carefully to the old guy in the tree who shows him the past.