After Kristian Nairn let slip that Bran and Hodor would be sitting out Season Five of Game of Thrones it looks as though the show runners have been forced to explain why…
It’s no secret that Bran and Hodor won’t make it back for the next season of ‘Game of Thrones’. But for the first time in the fantasy show’s history, this places two of the most-beloved characters on the sub bench for an entire season. But now executive producer David Benioff has decided to reveal the reason for their absence.
In an interview with Entertainment Weekly, the Game of Thrones show runner explained why it’s important to keep Bran and Hodor out of the limelight.
“The fact is, even though we’re making changes to the books and adapting as necessary, we’re trying to keep the various storylines the same as the books and trying to keep them roughly [chronologically] parallel,” he explained. “And last year we caught up to the end of Bran’s storyline. So if we pushed him forward this season, then he’s way ahead of where the other characters are.”
Of course, the Season Four finale led to bran, Meera and Hodor finding a secluded cave which contained the elusive Three-Eyed Raven – a mystical, wizard-like figure who Bran has been chasing since his discovery that he is in fact a warg (or skinchanger).
And this means that Bran is likely to develop his warg power further… and perhaps even learn a few other tricks. But to show him developing this power right away would apparently be jumping the gun…
“It made sense to stop where we did,” Benioff explained. “He’s now entering a training period which is going to take quite some time, much of which isn’t particularly cinematic. So rather than being stuck in a cave for a year, we figured it would be interesting to leave him out for a little bit, so when you see him again…”
Of course, Benioff refused to say much more after that… and so we’re left wondering exactly what will happen to bran after his season-long encounter in the cave. But it looks as though we might have to wait until Season 6 to find out.
Are you disappointed to see the back of Bran and Hodor? Would you prefer to see what happens in the cave? Let us know what you think in the comments below…