Game of Thrones season 6: Showrunners recall moment George RR Martin told them about Hodor

The tragic plot twist was mapped out a long time ago

With the Game of Thrones TV series now having surpassed George R.R. Martin's source material, it would be no surprise to learn the author had decided to hold back some key details to keep fans' appetites whetted for his upcoming books (whenever they may be released).

While the show's story will follow the same ultimate trajectory, it's been made clear that showrunners David Benioff and D.B. Weiss have been handed the option to tweak key details.

Most recent episode 'The Door' - season six's halfway point - saw the reveal of Hodor's backstory which inadvertently led to his tragic death in the show's present (although, in true Lost style, time's getting a bit relative in Westeros; more on that here). It turns out this plot twist was direct from Martin himself.

In fact, the author fleshed out Hodor's 'heartbreaking' story to Benioff and Weiss long ago.

“We had this meeting with George Martin where we were trying to get as much information as possible out of him, and probably the most shocking revelation he had for us was when he told us the origin of Hodor [played by Kristian Nairn], how that name came about,” Benioff recalled in a behind-the-scenes video. “I just remember Dan and I looking at each other when he said that being like ‘holy shit.'”

Weiss added: “It was just one of the saddest and most affecting things, even sitting in a hotel room and having someone tell you this was going to happen in the abstract in some way, and that ‘Hold the door’ was the origin of the name Hodor. We just thought that was a really, really heartbreaking idea.”

Elaborating upon the episode's moment, Benioff explained: “The cave is a safe place - it’s like if you’re playing tag and your hand’s on the wall, you’re safe from whoever’s ‘It.’ And ‘It’ is the Night King, and he can’t access them as long as they’re in there because of the magic that’s protecting this cave.

“But Bran makes a mistake. He’s not the Three-Eyed Raven yet - he doesn’t have control over these visions in the way that the Three-Eyed Raven does. For the first time someone actually sees him in the vision, and that’s the Night King, which is part of the tragic mistake here; if the Three-Eyed Raven had been with him, things would’ve ended much differently. As soon as the Three-Eyed Raven realizes that there is no more time, he’s got to try and upload all this knowledge into Bran.”

Quite simply, this is a game changer; roll on episode six, a preview of which promises King's Landing carnage galore.