First off, if you have yet to see the most recent episode of ‘Game of Thrones’ (titled ‘The Door‘) and want to remain SPOILER free, turn back now.
For everyone else who like me, witnessed the heartbreaking demise of Hodor which occurs moments after we realize how exactly he became Hodor and what Hodor really meant, it is a big moment for the show, the franchise, and clearly the books, as the show’s producers have said the Hodor explanation comes straight from George R.R. Martin himself, which led many of us to believe that what happened in the show is exactly what is going to happen in the next book.
However, Martin has recently stated to one Redditor that while the name explanation “Hold The Door” and some of the events will still line up, the reveal will be different in his books, so at least we book-readers still have some surprises to look forward to. According to a recent interview with Vanity Fair, Martin stated:
“He said that his name reveal in the books will differ in the context and how it happens. So while the name will still mean the same thing (Hold the Door), it will be very different from the show’s reveal. He said he came up with the name idea in 1991 and seemed depressed that the show got to reveal it before he did. He said he had no one to blame but himself for his slow writing.”
While the reveal was awesome on the show, I do share some of Martin’s sadness that I did not get to read it in a book first, as the books tend to convey more story and nuance than the show, and might have explained a little better how exactly the time-travel and warging of Bran worked, making it clearer and in some ways more tragic. Of course, the books might also not have anything to do with warging or time travel to explain Hodor (unlikely), so I guess we will just have to wait until Martin finally gets around to finishing those stories himself.
What do you think, would you rather finish ‘Game of Thrones’ on screen or in the books? Are you excited that everyone can now enjoy the surprises of the story while watching the show, instead of book-readers always being a step ahead? Share your opinions in the comments below!
Nick is a freelance writer based in Los Angeles, who belongs to the privileged few who enjoyed the ending to ‘Lost.’ For more of Nick’s thoughts and articles, follow him on Twitter.
