Well, we’ve finally got a bit more confirmation as to what role Jim Broadbent would take in the epic Song of Ice and Fire—and his character may bring about the biggest game-changing twist Game of Thrones has ever seen.

Ready for some hyperbolic, spoiler-based speculation? If not, don’t read on any further because the SPOILERS ARE COMING, Y’ALL.

Now, in a recent interview with ScreenCrush, the revered Harry Potter actor revealed some pretty juicy tidbits in regards to his character that may seem like non-news on the surface, but coupling it with some long-held fan theories (think R+L=J levels), there’s more that we may be able to infer.

First, here’s what we learned, straight from the man himself:

• “I’m a maester, an archmaester. I’m an old professor character.”
• “I did five episodes. I did sort of one major scene in each episode.”
• He also told SC his scenes are with Samwell Tarly (a.k.a. actor John Bradley, Jon Snow’s BFF), confirming his location to be in Oldtown.

Now, we don’t want to say we told you so but—duh doy, Britta—we told you so. And though we originally thought Broadbent was going to play someone like Maester Walgrave (because, I mean, LOOK AT JIM BROADBENT), we’re now thinking he’ll be an amalgamation character, encompassing several of the major Maesters in Oldtown, particularly/especially Marwyn the Mage. (Originally we thought him too old to play Marwyn but in retrospect that was probably a bit ignorant on our part.)

So why do we think his character might change the game? For that we need to look at a long-held fan theory: that the Maesters are trying to destroy magic. Dubbed the Grand Maester Conspiracy (read more about it here), the theory basically states that the Maesters—tired of the control magic has on people, the world, and its unruly, at-times unreasoned methods—have been working together for generations to hoard all magical knowledge and items at the Citadel in order to deny magic’s credibility and increase their own control over the Realm. This makes sense given that, in the books, it was revealed that the TRUE instigators of Robert’s Rebellion were, in fact, the Maesters.

But how do you destroy magic? De-throne the living embodiment of said sorcery, the Targaryens, and murder all their dragons.

And now tell me you can’t see Jim Broadbent delivering that turn with the craziest, most unsettling of ease? I mean, that’s WHY you hire Jim Broadbent, y’know?

Master manipulators that they are, Samwell coming to understand the true motives of the Maesters would put him in a hugely complicated position since, y’know, his best bud Jon came back to life because of magic (plus that whole dragonglass thing)—so he knows better than anyone that magic is real (and really powerful). But he also loves logic and reason, and was genuinely excited about becoming a Maester. Maybe we’re off-base but something tells us this is where we’re heading. Regardless on your opinion on the theory, if you’re putting money on anything, let it be that Broadbent’s character is sure to bring a lot of context to the mysterious battle of ice and fire that’s about to bring an epic war to the Realm.

But what do you think? Let us know in the comments below!

Featured Image & GIF Credit: Warner Brothers

Alicia Lutes is the Managing Editor of Nerdist, resident Thronesian, and creator/co-host of Fangirling! Find her on Twitter.