For a show that never shied away from offing beloved characters, the death of the Stark family’s faithful giant, Hodor, stands out as one of the more memorable and emotional fates on HBO’s Game of Thrones. In a climactic Season 6 episode, Hodor sacrifices himself to save Bran Stark as they flee from the Night King and his army of undead white walkers. Through a time-traveling, psychic journey into the past, viewers also learn that Hodor’s name comes from the phrase “hold the door,” which are actually Bran’s last words to Hodor from the present. It was all very confusing, and yet, it still managed to hit Game of Thrones viewers right in the feels.
However, in the new book Fire Cannot Kill A Dragon, which chronicles behind-the-scene stories from the making of the hit series, author George R.R. Martin reveals that Hodor will have a different fate in one of the final two books. Via Entertainment Weekly:
“I thought they executed it very well, but there are going to be differences in the book,” Martin said. “They did it very physical — ‘hold the door’ with Hodor’s strength. In the book, Hodor has stolen one of the old swords from the crypt. Bran has been warging into Hodor and practicing with his body, because Bran had been trained in swordplay. So telling Hodor to ‘hold the door’ is more like ‘hold this pass’ — defend it when enemies are coming — and Hodor is fighting and killing them. A little different, but same idea.”
While Martin seems to be suggesting that Hodor will ultimately sacrifice himself just like in the show, he doesn’t specifically say that Hodor dies. So, in a way, Martin is holding the door open for a different outcome. Not to mention, the author is notoriously behind on The Winds of Winter, the next book in the series, and who knows how many years it will take him to write the final installment, A Dream of Spring. That’s a whole lot of time for story lines to change, and maybe, for gentle giants to live another day.
(Via Entertainment Weekly)
