As an avid Game of Thrones watcher, I've seen many devastating deaths throughout these past six seasons, but even I wasn't prepared for the devastating death this series delivered during Sunday night's episode. After Bran accidentally made The Night's King aware of his and the Three Eyed Raven's position, an army of white-walkers showed up at their door and a fierce battle ensued. But just like with any big GoT confrontation, there were bound to be casualties and unfortunately this week it seems to have come in the form of our beloved Hodor, who died while holding the door to keep the white walkers from reaching Bran. But did Game of Thrones really just kill Hodor? Sadly, I think his demise may be for keeps.
Granted, Hodor is one of the nicest, sweetest, most innocent characters on this show, so it's honestly kind of shocking that he's made it this long without coming to any real harm. And he did end up dying a true hero's death, considering that he was a major reason that Bran was able to escape The Night's King's wrath. But, that still didn't make Hodor's demise any less difficult to watch. And, given how long the camera seemed to focus on him, it felt very much like a goodbye. And not the Jon-Snow-is-dead kind of goodbye. I'm talking about something that's a little more permanent than that.
Seriously, why does this show insist on torturing us in such a way? Poor Hodor has done nothing but try to help the people he cares about. He's loyal to a fault and doesn't seem to have a mean bone in his body. And yet his fate may arguably be the most tragic one of all. He deserved a better ending than this. I can't help but think of how scared he must've been, though that didn't stop him from holding the door and saving his friends.
All I have to say is that Bran better be able to put his powers to good use and make this war end once and for all. Otherwise, it'll feel like Hodor's death was for nothing and that just won't do. RIP Hodor. We'll miss you.
Image: Helen Sloan/HBO
