The Moment Game of Thrones Spoiled the Books — And Changed Its Trajectory Forever
Time heals all wounds, except this one.
Halfway through season 6 of Game of Thrones, sweet trusty Hodor (Kristian Nairn) is ripped apart by rabid ice zombies. He dies in the cold, hundreds of miles away from home, sacrificing himself for two high-born characters who would never do the same for him.
Hodor’s demise in “The Door” coincides with the reveal of just how much of his life was taken from him. The sequence shows Bran (Isaac Hempstead Wright) breaking young Hodor’s brain in a case of time-travel warging gone wrong. Bran sends the healthy, talkative pre-teen Hodor (Sam Coleman) into a seizure, one that leaves him saying nothing but the word “Hodor” for the rest of his life. The show offers a glimpse of the happy life that Hodor — whose true name is Wylis — should’ve had, then rips it away.
Hodor’s origin story turned out darker than what Kristian Nairn had envisioned for the character. Nairn wrote in his 2024 memoir, Beyond the Throne, that he’d imagined Hodor had been “kicked in the head by a horse” in his youth, and that he’d played him with that backstory in mind. Looking back at his performance post-reveal, Nairn believes his interpretation lined up pretty nicely with the show’s reveal.
“It wasn’t what I expected,” Nairn tells Inverse, adding, “I was happy enough because Hodor is a very reactionary character. I don't think he plans too much what he's going to do with his day. He sort of just reacts to what's happening around him. That's very much how I decided to play him very early, and I think it held up for how it turned out his end was going to be.”
The reveal that the mysterious word “Hodor” was an echo of Hodor’s final moments, a condensed version of Meera’s pragmatic command for him to hold the door until he dies, devastated show-only viewers. It also devastated the book readers in the audience, but for more of a meta reason: this was the show’s first true spoiler for The Winds of Winter, the still-unpublished sixth book of the series the show was based on.
It wasn’t the first case of the show overtaking its source material, but the plot point’s unpredictability made it unique. Readers already guessed that Tyrion and Daenerys would form an alliance as they did in Season 5, and readers could tell themselves that the fate of book Stannis (a character the show never seemed to appreciate much) would be handled differently. But the “hold the door” pun was so specific to Hodor’s name that it had to have been planned by the author from day one. Not only would Hodor’s iconic dying scene likely play out the same way in The Winds of Winter, but the show’s version was so well-executed that the book’s might fail to measure up.
“The Door” marked a devastating shift in the power dynamics between the book fans and the show-only fans. Whereas once a reader could smugly call a show-only viewer a sweet summer child when they unknowingly said something ironic, now it was the book fans having their story spoiled by a different medium. Making things worse: by the spring of 2016, The Winds of Winter was still nowhere in sight. Even if George R. R. Martin had announced Winds’ publication that year, he’d still have an entire seventh book in the series to finish. Practical fans had already accepted the show would overtake the books; for the readers still clinging to hope that it wouldn’t, the spoiling of Hodor’s fate finally shattered the illusion.
“The Door” marked the moment Game of Thrones surpassed the books.
Nairn himself has never read the books, although he can sympathize with fans’ frustration. “I also understand from George's point of view,” he says. “I understand how this really hasn't happened before. Not very often. ... I write myself. Knowing your characters are out there and someone else has finished the story ahead of you, it must be very strange.”
Although some fans were frustrated by the franchise’s unprecedented situation, there was one silver lining: if “The Door” was any indication, the showrunners would be able to do the books justice.
After all, Hodor’s final moments were pretty much perfect from a writing, acting, directing standpoint. The show took a complicated situation and somehow made all the emotional beats land. Most viewers still can’t quite explain how Bran looking at young Hodor caused all that damage, but they don’t need to; when young Hodor’s eyes go white and he falls to the ground, it feels like years of puzzle pieces are coming together.
“The Door” represented a high point in Game of Thrones’ post-book seasons, a point where viewers could feel confident they’d at least get a competently-told version of what Martin himself couldn’t deliver. Arya had not yet casually walked off multiple stomach stab wounds drenched in sewage water. Jon Snow had not yet taken his crew on a nonsensical trip beyond the wall to capture a wight. Daenerys had not yet just kind of forgotten about the iron fleet. The masterpiece that was Hodor’s final scene painted a promising picture of the prestige quality the show had in store; there was no way to know it was a mirage.
Looking back at the episode, Nairn feels that Hodor’s tragic demise was the right move.
Nairn enjoyed the ending to Game of Thrones more than most, even if the writers declined to fulfill the popular fan theory that Hodor would return as a wight. Nairn noted that the showrunners had vague plans of bringing Hodor back in zombie form, "maybe just a passing camera shot, just to hit you right in the heart," but those plans never materialized. "I would've loved to have gotten all that White Walker make-up," Nairn said, but added, "On story terms, I think it was good to leave him, just to leave him underneath that door."
Game of Thrones may not have ended on the most fan-pleasing note, but no bummer finale could undo the painful brilliance of Hodor’s final moments. Ten full years after his character’s demise, Nairn gets as much love from fans as ever.
When asked if fans still shout “Hodor!” at him in public, the Belfast-based actor answered, “It's just as common. My friends and my mother, they all often say they thought it might have calmed down a bit by now. I think it’s because I’m pretty recognizable in real life as well, it’s hard to miss me. I still get very excited reactions on a daily basis, which is absolutely wild.”
