Quote Originally Posted by Tbonewannabe View Post
I still think Howland Reed ends up at Winterfell. He would be the only person other than Bran that would know Jon's actual parents except maybe the nurse maids. Any chance the show held something back for GRRM to release in the books if they could get released before next April? They already unveiled the meaning of Hodor and the Tower of Joy but could they have purposefully left out something for GRRM to have a big moment in the books? I know GRRM has said that Hodor doesn't go down exactly the same but the meaning is the same, just unveiled differently. I imagine as a writer to have these things "spoiled" for you does suck. Even though the Tower of Joy was the worst secret ever, he did spend over a decade developing his books to get that reveal. I hope the Winds of Winter at least goes into more depth and maybe we get Lyanna's whole conversation.
Where does that information come from. I ask because I hope you misunderstood whatever the source meant. Frankly, although I haven't watched the scene of course, I hope that all this mystery and build up hasn't led up to something as anti-climactic as 17ing "Hold the Door!" One old Norse diety of Winter was called "Hod" and sometimes spelled as "Hodr." And it is pronounce with a long "O," like Hode or Hoder. That being a source for GRRM's inspiration is something I've always assumed. If you speak in an old English accent (think middle ages after Anglo-Saxon invasion of England but before coming of Normans) saying the word "Other" could sound a lot like saying "Hodor" especially if you drop the "H." This is much better and creepier, like "Other" is a misinterpretation or bastardization of the word Hodor. In this theory they aren't actually called the "Others." They are the "Hodors," as in that maybe that's the name of R'hollor's opposite number...as in they are "Hodor's." And after centuries of getting it wrong they have come to be called "Others." That makes a much better source. Now, it would need to be something traumatic in Walder's past that involving the Others that caused his disorder. Well, then being accosted by a bunch of them might work!!!!