George R.R. Martin has broken his silence on Hodor. In James Hibberd’s new oral history on the series, Fire Cannot Kill a Dragon, the blockbuster author digressed on the fate of the fan favorite character and how it differs in his forthcoming novels. Rest assured, there are spoilers ahead for both the HBO series and his highly anticipated and much-delayed follow-up, The Winds of Winter and A Dream of Spring.
“I thought they executed it very well, but there are going to be differences in the book,” Martin explained. “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.”
If you recall, Hodor, as portrayed by the inimitable Kristian Nairn, perished in the Season 6 episode, “The Door”. Towards the end, Bran’s benevolent guardian used his weight to “hold the door” as it splintered and he succumbed to the ghouls.
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Martin referenced the scene as a way to highlight how the books and the series will fare differently. Granted, he would actually have to publish said books, but that shouldn’t be too far off. After all, he’s been using this year’s pandemic as a chance to finish it.
Then again, given all the promises he’s broken, this writer wouldn’t be surprised if the goddamn prequel series for HBO surfaced before The Winds of Winter. Alas, revisit the tragic scene with Hodor below and grab the oral history here.
That’s something you can definitely read right now.
