This article contains spoilers for Game of Thrones season 7, episode 4, "The Spoils of War."
Bran Stark has been acting pretty damn weird since he returned to Winterfell in this season of Game of Thrones.
First, he greeted sister Sansa—whom he hadn't seen in years—rather coldly, before revealing that he knew what Ramsay Bolton did to her, because of the powers he has as the Three-Eyed Raven. If that wasn't enough, during this week's episode, "The Spoils of War," he said goodbye to long-time companion Meera Reed with little more than a "thank you," despite her brother dying to protect him, and her own loyal service.
Putting all that aside, however, one Bran moment this week actually made his trippy, all-seeing powers useful for once, as he creeped out a character who—let's be frank—had it coming. In the scene, Bran converses with Littlefinger, a.k.a. Petyr Baelish, who presents him with the dagger that almost killed him back in Season 1, and set in motion the War of the Five Kings.
In his typically deceptive manner—Littlefinger talks about his undying loyalty to Catelyn Stark and her children, alluding to all the "chaos" that has happened over the past few years. The young Stark responds with the seemingly inscrutable line, "Chaos is a ladder"—and gets a startled look from Lord Baelish.
The reason he's so shocked? Bran's actually quoting a line spoken by Littlefinger in Season 3, Episode 6, "The Climb," in which he confesses his philosophy and plan for securing the Iron Throne in a conversation with Lord Varys.
"Chaos isn't a pit," he says. "Chaos is a ladder. Many who try to climb it fail, never to try again. The fall breaks them. And some, given a chance to climb, they refuse. They cling to the realm, or the gods, or love, the illusions. Only the ladder is real. The climb is all there is."
Perhaps Bran's all-seeing nature may pose a threat to Littlefinger in the future, especially as this scene suggests he can see through all of Petyr's BS.
Watch the trailer for next week's episode, "Eastwatch," below:
