A major 'Game of Thrones' character revelation has major implications for the past and future
Warning: This post contains spoilers from the latest episode of Game of Thrones.
Hodor, we hardly knew you. And that’s because just as the beloved Game of Thrones character’s reason for only uttering a single word becomes known, he (seemingly) dies moments later in a moment that gives way to untold possibilities for the series.
But let’s rewind to earlier in "The Door."
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Bran is continuing his training with the Raven, first taken far back in time to a ritual among the Children of the Forest. There, the two witness the creation of the White Walkers by the Children, a revelation Leaf explains was done to protect their people from the threat of man.
Bran later sneaks off into his own past. He lands himself in the same location, but a beautiful spring has given way to winter, and he discovers the White Walker army behind him, including its four leaders. The Night's King chief among them sees Bran, seemingly confirming the boy’s suspicion that Ned Stark heard Bran at the Tower of Joy earlier this season.
But The Night’s King does more than just notice this interloper. He grabs Bran’s arm, marking him in the present day and allowing the Walkers access to the cave, which is normally guarded against undead.
With the White Walkers on the way, Bran and the Raven complete their training, time travel sightseeing once again, shortly before the Walkers begin to make their assault on the cave.
Amid the chaos, Meera cuts through Bran’s vision to convince him to warg into Hodor, who can carry Bran out. He does so, leaving the Raven behind to be killed while Leaf holds off the army rushing after Meera, Hodor and the still-entranced Bran through the cave’s tunnels.
They make it through a backdoor, which Hodor holds shut as Meera drags Bran away. But he does so while Bran is psychically linked to Hodor in the present and seeing another glimpse of him in his vision. That young Hodor, Wylis, is affected by the warg, thrown back and forced to yell “Hold the door,” which Meera shouts from the present.
Wylis goes on shouting “Hold the door,” which becomes “Hold door,” which becomes “Hodor.”
Hodor in the present gives Bran and Meera the chance to escape into the night while the army breaks through the door and seemingly kills the gentle giant as the revelation that his birth as Hodor was caused in the past by present-day Bran.
So “the past is already written. The ink is dry,” as the Raven said earlier this season. Yet Bran appears to be responsible for some of its ink. And if Bran has always been the cause of Hodor’s one-word vocabulary, what else is he responsible for? Is he one of, all of, or in some way responsible for the Bran’s present throughout the Stark family lineage? (He likely can’t go back and change the past, but he can be responsible for events taking place in ways previously unexplained. Think the Time Turner in Harry Potter in the Prisoner of Azkaban, but with implications for an entire land.)
The discovery of Bran’s importance in the past also has major implications for the future. Marked by The Night’s King, presumably the White Walkers and their army can follow Bran wherever he goes — perhaps even south of the Wall?
Surely the Walkers could have by now made a dent in the Wall if not for some reason, and that very reason might be magical protection akin to what guarded the cave. Bran bypassing the Wall later this season or next could be the very key needed to unlock their way through the Wall. (To extend the theory even further, Bran the Builder, the current Bran’s long-ago ancestor, was responsible for the creation of the Wall. What if current-day Bran influences him with that decision since he knows what kept the Walkers at bay from the cave?)
Not that those south of the Wall need another hassle with which to contend.
Forces are gathering throughout the land. The Iron Islands have a new king in the form of Euron Greyjoy, who freely admits to killing his brother to free their people from his wretched decision making. Yara is unable to best Euron’s claim as he rallies their people despite Theon’s support of her, so she takes some much-deserved revenge by stealing his fleet’s best ships. And in Meereen, Tyrion aims to further unite the people under their current peacetime with a sense of security. So he brings aboard a new red priestess, Kinvara, to help promulgate the belief that Daenerys is indeed the chosen savior to be worshipped.
But the most promising planning occurs at Castle Black, as Sansa, Jon, and the rest of their small council make plans to take back Winterfell. They’ve gotten word that Brynden the Blackfish has gathered the Tully forces again at Riverrun. (This info comes by way of Littlefinger, whom Sansa is furious to see after he gave her up to Ramsay, a time from which she still bears scars. She immediately casts him away, but is sensible enough to at least use the information he gave up.)
While those forces, combined with the army at the castle, may not be enough to take on the Boltons and their aligned houses, if Jon and Sansa can convince many of the smaller houses of the North to fight for the Starks, they may just create a winning force.
If only they knew that their new army may ultimately have to take on an even greater force should the Walkers and their winter finally come south.
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Topics Game Of Thrones HBO
Sandra Gonzalez was a Senior Television Reporter at Mashable. A Texas native, she spent almost four years in New York City before leaving the land of superstorms for Los Angeles, where she was introduced to these terrifying things called "rolling earthquakes."Previously, she was with Entertainment Weekly, where she wrote about every show that could fit into her perfectly crafted TV schedule and anything ever touched by Shonda Rhimes.You can reach her at [email protected] or on Twitter @theSandraG
