"Game of Thrones" fans, we're here to ruin your day. It has been revealed that Bran and Hodor will not be appearing in the next season of the hit HBO show.
Cast member Kristian Nairn broke the news in an interview with Yahoo!, saying that his character of Hodor, along with Isaac Hempstead-Wright's Bran, would not be returning for "Game of Thrones" fifth season.
It's okay, breathe. This doesn't mean Bran and Hodor are biting the dust (at least not yet.) There are a couple of factors at work here, first and foremost is one that many fans have long feared: the show has officially caught up to the books.
In many ways the show sped up Bran's storyline. Whereas at the end of season four Bran arrives north of the wall to find the tree-like Three Eyed Raven, Bran doesn't reach the same point in the books until towards the end of "A Dance With Dragons," a book ahead from where the rest of the show is currently being adapted from. Season five will be a combination of the fourth and fifth "Song of Ice and Fire" saga from George R.R. Martin, as "A Feast for Crows" and "A Dance with Dragons" features events that happen concurrently with one another but on opposite ends of Westeros.
Martin has long stated he doesn't wish for the show to pull ahead of the books as he attempts to finish the next installment, "The Winds of Winter." With no way of moving Bran's story along without stepping on Martin's toes, showrunners look to have instead opted to leave him out of season five entirely.
It's probably for the best. Season five will already be introducing (like usual) a slew of new characters, many of them from the kingdom of Dorne, a new location for the show and the homeland of the gone-too-soon Oberyn Martell. One less character to hop to every episode means more time to get acquainted with all the new players struggling for the Iron Throne.
Despite not appearing next season, Nairn is still using the show to his advantage. When he isn't playing the only man whose vocabulary could rival that of Groot, Nairn is a DJ. He is currently traveling the world as part of his "Rave of Thrones" tour, which is basically giant "Game of Thrones" themed dance parties, featuring props from the show and fans dressed as their favorite characters. That sounds more fun than dredging through the snow with a kid on your back anyways.
