Watch ‘Game of Thrones” Hodor, Bran’s Surprise Reunion on ‘Conan’
During Comic-Con, Game of Thrones fans witnessed a rare event in Westeros: a heartwarming reunion. On Conan, Isaac Hempstead Wright, the actor who plays Bran Stark, was mid-sentence talking about losing his “big, friendly giant” Hodor last season, when the actor Kristian Nairn walked onstage and gave him a hug.
“It’s tremendously sad,” Nairn said of leaving Game of Thrones. “I’ve been with these guys for seven years. Luckily I live in Belfast so I’ll be torturing you for dinner,” he said with a laugh.
Hodor’s death during Season Six’s episode, “The Wall,” was one of the most heart-wrenching of the HBO series. Throughout the show, Nairn played a lovable, one-word dunce who only said his name and cared after Stark, a small, crippled child with mystical powers.
After the episode aired, viewers routinely “blamed” Stark for Hodor’s death. Conan asked Nairn if there was any bitterness toward Bran for not “holding the door.” Nairn replied directly to Wright in a touching gesture for Thrones-heads. “I don’t think Hodor blames you.”
“I hear everywhere I go, every day,” Nairn said, of people yelling his character’s name at him. “People hold the door for me.”
Catch all of Rolling Stone‘s Season Seven Game of Thrones recaps.