Actor Kristian Nairn, who we all know as the lovable oaf Hodor (HODOR!), recently announced that both he and Bran Stark would be sitting out season 5 of HBO's "Game of Thrones." Those who have kept up with the books probably saw this coming, but those of us who haven't were likely a bit bummed that Hodor wouldn't be onscreen this year (and Bran too, I guess).
It turns out that by the end of season 4, their storyline caught up to where they are at the end of George R.R. Martin's most recently published novel "A Dance With Dragons." Pushing their story any further would put them well ahead of the other characters, which would detract from the overall story.
Entertainment Weekly sat down with David Benioff, the show's executive producer who also runs the day-to-day operations of the HBO series, and learned why their story arc wouldn't be featured in season 5.
"The fact is, even though we're making changes to the books and adapting as necessary, we're trying to keep the various storylines the same as the books and trying to keep them roughly parallel," Benioff told Entertainment Weekly. "And last year we caught up to the end of Bran's storyline (in George R.R. Martin's most recent "A Song of Ice and Fire" novel, "A Dance with Dragons"). So if we pushed him forward this season, he's way ahead of where the other characters are."
That's what happens when you're building a TV show with multiple character arcs at the same time the writer of the books you're basing that TV show on is feverishly trying to finish writing the story. So it goes.
So while our Hodor Keyboards and Yo, Hodor! apps will be a bit less relevant when the next season debuts in April 2015, we'll be back to Hodor as usual come season 6 in 2016. In the meantime, you'll probably hear about Hodor taking on the role of DJ Hodor to keep the Hodor party going.
(Via Pajiba)