I don’t even know that I can discuss last night’s Game of Thrones episode. It was too much. TOO MUCH. I literally sobbed for twenty minutes afterward. SPOILER ALERT: We finally learned why Bran Stark’s longtime protector and companion only says “Hodor” and in true GoT fashion, it was just as he was about to die heroically saving Bran and Meera’s life. Yes, Hodor held the door, fulfilling his destiny, and in so doing was overcome by an unrelenting horde of undead wights. The internet instantly exploded. Below are the first hundred or so memes I could find. They make me both laugh and cry, and maybe by sharing them, we can all begin the process of healing…
HODOR! SUMMER!
“Hold the door”
“Hold the door”
Hold the door
The next time someone asks me to hold the door…
Never in my life have three words cut me so deeply
Watching Hodor hold the door
Hold the door! Hold the door! Hold the door! Hodor! Hodor!
Next time Bran do as you’re fucking told, Ruining lives cause you wanna be curious. Well look what u fucking did smfh.
Wow, now Trump is even mocking Hodor. Can you believe this man?
This man has been waiting his entire life for this moment, asking at every turn, is it time yet? Is it time for this event that I have foreseen and am scared for and may not totally understand? The books might be different, and they seem to at least explore or question the ethics of Bran’s use of Hodor a bit even before this point. In the show, there doesn’t seem to be many qualms about it until now; it seems at this point that Bran broke Hodor’s mind by reaching out to him in the past-present link. Hodor has foreseen his death and known for most of his life. Hodor has been waiting for the moment he dies(?), without even having control over his body, in a brutal way, far from home. Waiting for the moment he is needed most and used most, for the moment he saves his friends and possibly the realm or world… who knows.
Hodor has spent nearly his entire life either knowing full well that the fate of the realm and his friends rests on his holding a door and chose it voluntarily, or that his impending and horrific death(?) revolves around being forced to hold a door, terrified and still not understanding, while something else occupies and controls his body.
The first possibility is sad, tragic, and valiant. Brave and determined young man spends his entire life knowing he is here to do something incredibly important, waiting for the moment he is needed most, ready, so ready to do what needs to be done to save the world, repeating his most important task as his only form of speech because, though the link from past to present has left him damaged, he knows his task is vital, and he’s selfless, ready to sacrifice himself when the time comes.
The second possibility is sad and deeply disturbing. That Bran broke Hodor’s mind and leaves Hodor scared and confused, without Hodor ever really understanding what he saw or felt, other than that he will die and they will live, leaving him to repeat the phrase surrounding the circumstances of his coming death. That Hodor doesn’t know Bran is inside him when Bran ‘wargs’ into him, that he died alone and inside himself, in the most brutal way, sacrificed by his friend, for his friend, manipulated and used as an escape tool. Perhaps he understands Bran’s escape is important. Perhaps not.
HOWEVER, I lean toward the first possibility. His eyes are not white as he holds the door. He is not silent like he is when Bran overtakes his body. In some instances Bran overtakes Hodor’s mind to get him to stop saying ‘Hodor’. This makes me believe that Hodor was in control of himself. That he is brave, selfless, and voluntarily sacrificed himself for his friends and the realm, knowing and choosing his actions.
And now Bran has to live with the fact that he is responsible for both Willas’s impairment and his death. Bran has to experience the true weight of his abilities through tragedy. We are left to wonder what else Bran caused or influenced in this manner. The three eyed raven said that Bran can’t change the future by interfering in the past. I assume this means the present has simply accounted for any alterations Bran has or will make regarding his abilities.
Furthermore… there are many Bran Starks throughout the Stark line. Is Bran all of them? Are all the Brans continuous links throughout the family history? Old Nan confused the many Bran Starks. Often known as Bran the Builder… building castles or building the future? Building alliances in the present or through greenseeing? A regular builder or architect, or an architect of time or history? I know this is very farfetched I’m just rambling at this point.
