George R.R. Martin unravels a different ending for Hodor in his books

More than a year after the series' conclusion, concerns about "Game of Thrones'" characters continue to come up every now and then. Recently, George R.R. Martin, the creator of the characters and author of the book "A Song of Ice and Fire," revealed how showrunners deviated from the source material for the show. Meanwhile, he has planned a different fate for some of the much-loved characters.

Fans know that Kristian Nairn's character Hodor was a simpleminded man committed to serving House Stark. He was among the several beloved characters who met his fate in season 6 of the series. In the episode titled "The Door," Hodor meets his death when he tries to help Bran and Meera escape the attack of White Walkers.

Readers are warned! There are spoilers ahead.

According to James Hibberd (via Entertainment Weekly), the author of "Fire Cannot Kill a Dragon," Martin's plans for Hodor's ending is slightly different than what David Benioff and D.B. Weiss showed in "Game of Thrones." Providing the details in the upcoming book that delves deeper into the behind-the-scenes of the epic series, Martin said that Hodor will die in the same fashion by holding the door. However, he will not go down without a good fight.

"I thought they executed it very well, but there are going to be differences in the book," Martin said. "They did it very physical — 'hold the door' with Hodor's strength. In the book, Hodor has stolen one of the old swords from the crypt. Bran has been warging into Hodor and practicing with his body, because Bran had been trained in swordplay. So telling Hodor to 'hold the door' is more like 'hold this pass' — defend it when enemies are coming — and Hodor is fighting and killing them. A little different, but same idea."

As for the show, Martin believes that simply holding the door provided visual clarity to the concept. However, this changes when it comes to the book. "For our purpose, holding the door is visually better, especially because we have so much fighting," co-producer Dave Hill added.

This remains one of the many changes that were made to the original storyline. Therefore, fans are eager to read Martin's remaining two books that will give fans to relive their favourite story once again and possibly in a different way.