Born into a family of service to House Stark of Winterfell, Walder as he was named was
the great grandson of Old Nan, the woman who had spent much of her life with the Starks,
and in her old age told stories to the Stark Children.
Walder would also come to serve the Nobles of Winterfell, becoming a stableboy for the
castle. Unfortunately, Walder would suffer a great trauma as a child, reducing who to
simple minded boy who could only communicate by repeating the word Hodor. Old Nan claimed
this occurred because he was kicked in the head by a horse.
Although Hodor’s mental disability would likely lead to horrifying consequences in
most of the Seven Kingdoms, with the handicapped and mentally ill often badly mistreated, with
even those of noble birth sometimes reduced to court fools, Hodor as he became known,
was never mocked in the Stark household, instead treated with respect and kindness. Given jobs
that were within his means and abilities so that he could continue to be a productive
member of their community. Hodor grew up to be over 7 feet tall, and
while was a physically large and imposing figure, his personality was gentle and non-violent,
refusing to engage in confrontation even with an opponent much smaller.
In 298 AC during King Robert Baratheon’s visit to Winterfell, Bran Stark is pushed
from a tower window by Jaime Lannister, after the boy caught his and his sister Queen Cersei
engaging in an incestuous affair. The fall put Bran in a coma for many weeks during which
he experienced a number of powerful visions, sent by a mysterious 3 eyed crow. When Bran
awoke he found himself paralyzed from the waist down, having lost his ability to walk.
Given the boy’s disability, Hodor was given the task of becoming his travel companion,
carrying him on his back in a specially made basket, designed by Maester Luwin.
After the death of the King and the arrest and execution Eddard Stark in King’s Landing,
the continent of Westeros erupts into the War of the Five Kings, causing Robb Stark
and his bannermen to ride south for battle. However the lowering of defenses in north
allowed for the Ironborn to invade, and the turncloak Theon Greyjoy to capture Winterfell.
Fearing for their lives Bran and Rickon Stark hide in the crypts of Winterfell along with
their friends Meera and Jojen Reed, as well as their Direwolves Summer and Shaggyday and
their servants Osha and Hodor. After Winterfell is burned and Theon taken captive by Ramsay
Bolton, Hodor and the rest leave the crypts and find a dying Maester Luwin, who instructs
them to split up in order to increase their chances of survival. Osha then takes Rickon
and Shaggydog to hide in Skagos, while Bran, Hodor and the rest travel North to find the
3 eyed crow. Since waking from his Coma, Bran had discovered
an ability to send his consciousness into the mind of animals, making most use of the
ability by warging into his direwolf summer. Throughout their journey North, Bran learns
to develop this ability as much as possible. Upon reaching the abandoned Nightfort, they
run into Samwell Tarly who shows them a secret passage beyond the Wall.
They then encounter Coldhands, a mysterious creature, appearing to be an undead Wight,
but intelligent and without hostility. Coldhands lead them to the cave of 3 eyed crow, where
they are ambushed by wights. Given Hodor’s gentle nature, he was unwilling
to fight back against the attack creatures, and so Bran uses his skinchanging abilities
to enter Hodor’s mind, using his large size and raw strength in their defense.
Although skinchanging into the mind of another human was a dangerous process and one that
caused great fear into the host's body. It gave aided in giving them the time they needed
to enter the safety of cave. Unfortunately due to the magic protecting
the cave from harm, Coldhands was not able to join them, and so was left to fend for
himself against the undead assault. Once inside, they met the last of the Children
of the Forest, and the mysterious 3 eyed crow, who revealed to be Bryden Rivers, also known
as Bloodraven, who had once been Lord Commander of the Night’s Watch, but disappeared 40
years earlier, having travelled to the cave where he trained as a greenseer, waiting for
the day Bran would appear. Bran then began his training under the 3 eyed
crow, while Hodor, ever loyal to the Starks, continued to serve the boy, obeying his commands
as best as possible. Bran, now learning to develop his many skills, would continue to
skinchange into Hodor, using the man to explore further into the cave. As time passed Hodor
became somewhat accustomed to having Bran in his mind, though he still experienced fear
and discomfort during the process. Although Hodor was a man of simple mind for
most of his life, with most attributing his disability to being struck by a horse as child.
Some have recently come to suggest this may not have been the case at all. And that Old
Nan and the others simply assumed his injury was received from a horse, because he was
a stableboy, and so naturally assumed that was how it occurred.
And that the trauma he suffered as a child may have actually been cause by Bran Stark
and his powers. The theory suggests that the White Walkers
may one day gain the ability to enter the cave of the 3 eyed crow, possibly because
of a mistake made by Bran who may have been marked by a White Walker during one of his
greendreams. And that as the attack occurs, Bran will be deep inside a greendream of the
past, accompanying Bloodraven to a time when Hodor was a child in Winterfell.
Meanwhile Meera, Hodor and the others make their escape from the cave, with the many
including the 3 eyed crow sacrificing themselves so Bran might escape.
They eventually find a door leading out of the cave, causing Meera to continue carrying
Bran out into the snows, while Hodor stays behind, holding the door against the undead
army, allowing for their escape. As all this occurs, it is possible Bran heard
the cries of Meera reed and the others, and given his lack of experience in this area,
and the death of the 3 eyed crow, Bran enters the mind of young Walder in the past, using
his mind to link with his future self, allowing the boy to see his own death. This horrifying
trauma causes the boy to collapse, hearing the words Hold the Door, and repeating them
in panic until his mind is so thoroughly destroyed, that the words run together to say Hodor,
and it becomes the only word he can say for the rest of his life.
Although Bran did not intend to do his friend and faithful companion, so much harm, it was
his own actions that led to Hodor’s struggles throughout his life, creating a terrifying
yet inescapable fate for the gentle giant. And while Hodor may have suffered greatly
in the end, torn to shreds by the undead creatures frantically chasing after Bran, he Held the
Door until the very end, fulfilling his destiny.