Maz Kanata

Just a wild guess on my part but

Gunde

So, is our Bran also the legendary Bran the Builder, I wonder...

TGM

well there goes my idea for a spinoff comedy where Bran and Hodor live together in a townhouse in San Diego and get into all sorts of crazy high school hijinks.... "Raisin' Bran", we hardly knew ye.

Bill Needle

Good thing Wylis didn't lock in while his future self was trying to open the door. Could have made an already difficult life even more awkward.

Greedoshotfirst

From the scene, I think 3ER and the Children of the Forest knew this was coming to some extent. The 3ER was trying to give Bran as much knowledge as possible and I also think he knew this event with hodor would happen. Also, who's to say if they left earlier, the white walkers just don't hunt them down a massacre all of them right there in the open snow. This event is the catalyst to make Bran become who he is supposed to become. Yeah, you can call the 3ER an ahole if you want, but IMO you could tell he knew it was happening and he wanted this event to play out I.E. "now it's time for you to become me." Bran's (hopefully played out on screen) guilt and devastation over what he did to Hodor sends him down the path.

Greedoshotfirst

Noonan

Watched this last night. They did an excellent job with the end scene but IMO the drama/feels masked the craziness of it all (similar to the last episode/flashbacks in Lost). But going on what we saw, how is Bran going to escape? Wouldn't the giant hoard just kept running after him once they took out Hodor? It's not like they got a big head-start in the snow.

Also, I don't recall the wights being fast moving zombies in the books. It's been over decade so I could be wrong but this seems to be more for the show, thanks to the zombie craze happening.

islandclaws

I would figure that once the horde finally breaks through the door, if they are unable to see their target (i.e. Bran) they simply hang out and wait for their king to deliver new orders.

But, really, does it matter? The white walker army could have marched the length of Westeros by now. Nothing prevents them from marching non-stop morning, noon and night. But that isn't how drama works. And this isn't a documentary.

CaptainMarvel

Vanity Fair had an interesting article speculating that it wasn't the physical wall, but magical wards that kept the White Walkers from getting south of the Wall. And that if Bran goes south, it could let them in.

Hiro11

Joanna Robinson, who wrote that article, was talking about this on the latest episode of the Cast of Kings podcast (which is great if you're a fan of GoT). The idea of magical wardings being present on the Wall is not specifically in the books, but it's not entirely clear.

One of the things I really like about this show is the fact that there's a long history underlying these stories. Sometimes the long history is made totally clear, other times the long history has only been hinted at. The "residents" of Westros are usually ignorant of this history. As a result, sometimes the viewer of the show can work out what the residents of Westros have forgotten and how the residents of Westros might be ignorant of what is actually happening in their world. The Wall is a good example of this. The Wall is so old that residents of Westros in the day of the show have forgotten that the purpose of the Wall is to defend Westros from the White Walkers. People in the day of the show believe that the White Walkers are a myth and believe that the Wall is there to protect Westros from the Wildings. Since the Wildings are nowhere near the threat that the White Walkers are and since everyone believes the White Walkers are a myth, the Black Watch has faded from a prestigious defense force of nobles to a glorified gulag for undesireables. Again, none of this is expressly stated in the show, the viewer is supposed to work it out for themselves. It's pretty cool.

davidh777

Yep, I listen, though I'm a couple episodes behind.

GuessWho

And we never saw Gary Coleman ask, "Whatchoo talkin' 'bout, Wylis?"

fujishig

Unless the three eyed Raven was either inept or sinister, I can't see Bran being the reason the walkers can get past the wall. Otherwise why not just "mark" anyone else and let them escape?

dave-o

I thought of a better way to end this episode, that requires 30-45 seconds extra of exposition, gives the writers more wiggle room, in how they will get out of this jam next episode, and makes Hodor's death even more meaningful and impactful. Don't get me wrong I loved this episode, but I'm worried that whatever comes to save bran next week will be lame and will diminish Hodor's sacrifice. Here's what I am imagining...


They realize the white walkers have arrived. Before Meera starts running like mad, one of the Children pulls her aside for 20-30 seconds...(imagine the dialogue is better than what I'm writing):

C: The back way out is that way. But before you go, here.

(C hand one of her magic balls to Meera, activating it in the process)

C: Take this. This tree/cave is reinforced by magic. Only magic will undo it. Once outside, throw the ball on top.

Meera takes it and everything else is pretty much the same.
We get the same switching back and forth between past and present.
Willis falls to the ground after hearing Meera yell "hold the door".
Meera pulls out the magic ball and hesitates.
Flash to Willis..Hoe-di-do, hoe-di-doe.
Flash to present, Hodor is struggling to hold the door.
Back to Meera, hesitating bc she knows it'll kill Hodor.
Past Willis again...hoe-di-do, etc.
Back to present and...we hear:

Hodor: It's okay Meera. It's okay.

Meera looks shocked from hearing Hodor speak. It breaks her hesitation. She throws it, collapsing the mound and killing Hodor.
Back to the past...

Willis: Hodor, Hodor....

Last scene shows the white walker guys struggling to resurface, thus giving Meera and Bran plenty of more time and allowing for whatever comes next to feel more believable, and to make Hodor's death be more meaningful than getting 45 seconds of lead time.

End scene.

Anyways...just an interesting (or not) idea...

CaptainMarvel

Maybe you can only "mark" in a dream?

TGM

it's going to be something convenient like as soon as Bran and Meera disappear into the blizzard there will be like a 200 foot sharp angled drop that they slide down quickly allowing them to escape.

Thrush

Winter hasnt taken full hold in Westeros. Thats probably whats keeping the White Walkers at bay more than anything.

windom

Maybe the death of Summer indicates that winter is now really coming to Westeros.

dhmac

Now that this season is at the halfway point, Val from Because Geek looks at clips seen in the pre-season 6 trailers that have not happened on the show yet.

Note: this is all speculative but given that she may guess right on some of them, I'll announce a possible SPOILER ALERT for it.

"Game of Thrones S6 - Scenes Yet To Happen (Part 1)" [pre-episode 5 airing]


"Game of Thrones S6 - Scenes Yet To Happen (Part 2)" [post-episode 5 airing]



And Rawrist has this video just on episode 5

The Infidel

I thought the same exact thing during that scene. Talk about metaphor.

McHawkson

Have anyone done scream "HODOR!!" when you tried to get someone to keep door open for you?

Spiderbite

One of Qwertee.com current daily T-shirt designs:

arminius

Zok? When queeg do it I am Now, for sure. Hobart to we?

dhmac

A belated addition to the episode 5 thread but I figured this tribute to direwolves is worth it:

creekdipper

Try telling that to Ghost when he needs to go walkies.