***SPOILER WARNING***
OK, so, Sunday night's episode of Game of Thrones contained a very important — and heartbreaking — revelation about Hodor.
You find out that Hodor — whose real name is Wylis — only says "Hodor" over and over again because of some weird time-traveling nonsense involving Bran and the Three-Eyed Raven.
Sunday's episode ends in a heartbreaking moment where Hodor saves Bran and Meera from the White Walkers and their skeleton army by HO-lding the Do-OR shut.
Turns out, author Michael Ventrella totally guessed the meaning behind Hodor's name during a conversation with George R.R. Martin back in 2013.
The whole thing went down in 2013, at the Capclave literature festival in Washington, D.C., where Martin and Ventrella were both guests.
Ventrella wrote on his blog in 2014 about the conversation he had with Martin in the elevator at Capclave. You can check it out below:
The first time there were some other fans on the elevator who asked for a picture with him, and he obliged. They got off before our floor, so it was just us. We walked out and headed down the hall and the conversation went like this:
Martin: I do get tired of posing for pictures all the time.
Me: Well, you're quite famous now.
Martin: I wasn't unknown before.
Me: True, among us. But you were never a guest on Conan before.
Martin: True.
Around the third time we were on the elevator together, he pushed he button for our floor and then asked the others what floors they needed, and then after everyone left, he turned to me.
Martin: I always wanted to be an elevator operator. If the writing thing hadn't worked out…
We both laughed and went on to our rooms.
And here's Ventrella writing about the last time he bumped into Martin in the elevator. Here he is totally guessing the meaning behind Hodor's name:
The final time we ended up together, the conversation went like this:
Me: I finally figured out why you have a character named "Hodor."
Martin: Oh?
Me: I was thinking about your comment about wanting to be an elevator operator. It's clear to me now that "Hodor" is short for "Hold the door."
Martin: (laughing) You don't know how close to the truth you are!
So there you have it. If we ever learn why Hodor says "Hodor" (which, as readers know, is not his given name) and it has something to do with elevators, remember: You read it here first.
Ventrella told BuzzFeed that the conversation with Martin happened exactly as he wrote it and he's got witnesses.
I have writer Hildy Silverman as a witness; she was in the elevator with me," he said. "I thought we were just joking. I was simply making a pun about elevator doors."
Ventrella said that Martin was super nice about the whole thing.
Except, as fans of Game of Thrones know, this is just yet another bit of masterful trolling from an author who seemingly has NO PROBLEMS PLAYING WITH EMOTIONS OF THE PEOPLE WHO LOVE HIS BOOKS!
