'Game of Thrones' shuts 'The Door' (spoilers)
Spoiler alert: This post touches on plot points from Sunday's episode of Game of Thrones, so read on at your own risk.
Oh, Hodor.
Hodor.
The mystery of the gentle giant's moniker didn't die with him in Sunday night's episode, The Door, but I could happily have waited a lot longer to know how Hodor (Kristian Nairn) went from Willis -- the name he answered to in his callow youth at Winterfell -- to what turns out to be an elision of "Hold the door."
And hold the door he did.
Honestly, my brain hurts thinking about how young Willis could possibly have gotten the message, decades earlier, that he'd need to hold that door against the White Walkers to save Bran Stark (Isaac Hempstead Wright). Did he know all along that this was his life's mission? If you understand it, feel free to weigh in in the comments. I'll be checking.
A few other thoughts/questions about Sunday's episode:
-- Euron Greyjoy (Pilou Asbaek) may be a jerk, but the new, fleet-free holder of the Salt Throne knows how to set goals for his people. I don't expect to see a tree left on the Iron Islands when that shipbuilding campaign's done. Is it a coincidence that deforestation was a factor in the rise of the White Walkers?
-- Daenerys Targaryen (Emilia Clarke) set a goal, too, this for Ser Jorah (Iain Glen). He needs to find a cure for that scary greyscale, which will otherwise kill him.
-- Arya (Maisie Williams) has some questions about the Many-Faced God's contract killers. Me, too.
-- Like Brienne (Gwendoline Christie), I'd like to know why Sansa (Sophie Turner) lied to Jon (Kit Harington). But given what Sansa's been through -- and we heard a bit more about that in her confrontation with Littlefinger (Aidan Gillen) -- she might be forgiven some trust issues.