How Hodor Got His Name Revealed On Game Of Thrones

This article contains major spoilers from tonight's 'The Door' episode of Game of Thrones.While [...]

This article contains major spoilers from tonight's "The Door" episode of Game of Thrones.

While the Three-Eyed Raven is transferring his knowledge to Bran, Meera senses something is amiss and goes to the entrance of the cave, where she sees the Army of the Dead gathered outside. She tries to wake Bran from his trance, but he is engrossed in a scene from the past taking place in the courtyard of Winterfell with a young Ned Stark. Bran faintly hears Meera's pleads and wargs into Hodor's body. He then pulls his (Bran's) motionless body through the cave, toward a back door.

While all of this chaos is going on inside of the cave, Bran is still in the past. There, he stares at a young Hodor, who is actually named Wylis, and the stable boy collapses to the ground, eyes rolled back.

"Outside the door of the cave, Meera pulls the sledge into the blizzard, yelling for Hodor to 'hold the door' against the relentless wights," described by HBO. "As he does so, his past-self, Wylis – linked to him through Bran's powers – begins to repeat Meera's command. The dead grasp at Hodor, tearing at him, but he refuses to let them through, sacrificing himself to save his friends. In the past, Bran watches the convulsing young Wylis fuse 'Hold the door' into one word: 'Hodor.' The only word he'll ever speak again."

Right after the episode concluded, HBO released a featurette that has Kristian Nairn, the actor that portrayed Hodor, and Isaac Hempstead-Wright, the actor who portrays Bran Stark, discussing the heartbreaking moment.

"When I got the script for Season 6, although I got the call, I knew what was going to happen to Hodor," says Nairn in the video above. "It was a really difficult thing to read, because he's a lovable character. I love Hodor. I love him to death. ...I like that he sacrificed himself for his friends. It feels very true to Hodor for me."

"I'm just thankful I got so far, with so many people dying every year," he adds. "I think I did quite well to get to Season 6."

Game of Thrones airs Sundays at 9 p.m. ET on HBO.

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