"Game of Thrones" Season 6 unleashed a big shocker Monday night that left viewers feeling overwhelmingly emotional. After years of speculations and theories, the show finally gave fans Hodor's back story, going straight to the very event that limited his vocabulary to nothing else but "Hodor."
In "Game of Thrones" Season 6 episode 5, aptly titled "The Door," Bran Stark's vision takes him far north to where the White Walkers reside. There he comes face to face with the zombie-like monsters that threaten to wreak terror in all of Westeros once winter hits.
Little did Bran know that the White Walkers, particularly the Night's King, can detect him while he travels through space and time. The Night's King grabs hold of Bran before he awakens from his vision, leaving a "mark" that led the entire White Walker army to his safe refuge in the Three-Eyed Raven's tree.
Moments after the vision takes place, the White Walkers appear outside the tree. They all fight for their lives as Bran and the Three-Eyed Raven enter their final vision together. Bran, Hodor and Meera race towards an exit tunnel as hundreds of White Walkers chase them.
Once outside, Meera grabs hold of Bran's sled and instructs Hodor to "hold the door." Hodor does as he's told. Meanwhile in Bran's vision, he sees the young version of Hodor (known then as Wylis) falls to the ground and shakes, repeatedly uttering the words "hold the door" until it only becomes "hodor."
The tragic death of the gentle giant, along with the death of Bran's direwolf Summer and the Children of the Forest, dealt a devastating blow to viewers. Fans did not see Hodor's death coming, except perhaps for several fan who accurately guessed the meaning behind Hodor's name eight years ago.
In 2008, Hodor's name became the subject of a discussion on a forum in Westeros.org. According to Newsweek, a user named Myrddin, identified as Stuart Etter, casually suggested that Hodor "is just asking someone to hold the door for him" since he was always carrying Bran behind his back. After constantly saying "hold the door," he reached his breaking point until all he could ever utter was "Hodor."
In 2014, another fan recounted his meeting with "Game of Thrones" author George R.R. Martin, during which he told Martin that he thinks "Hodor" is short for "Hold the door."
"You don't know how close to the truth you are!" Martin replied to him.
Meanwhile, actor Kristian Nairn revealed he had no idea that it was the story behind Hodor's name.
"I literally had no idea. All my theories were wrong. So it was nice to know it actually meant something. After all the different meanings I've given it over the years, it's strange to know it actually means 'hold the door,'" Nairn told the New York Times.
"Game of Thrones" Season 6 episode 6 will air on May 29, Sunday on HBO.