Branch delay slot gives you something to do while you're not sure where you're going. In the best case, you don't take the branch, and you have made progress do

Branch delay slot gives you something to do while you're not sure where you're going. In the best case, you don't take the branch, and you have made progress down the correct path without knowing that it was the correct path. However, it's not always possible to fill the branch delay slot with useful instructions, so a lot of the time it ends up just being a nop.