My favorite scene in Game of Thrones? Hodor!

First of all spoiler alert.. If you’ve not caught up with GoT, do so.

Ok.. My favorite scene so far in the series is the one where the mystery behind Hodor’s moniker is revealed.  I found it better than the scene where Cersei plans and extracts her vengeance; even better than the scene where Ramsay finally gets his comeuppance; or anything else.  Why?

George R.R. Martin introduced a back story for a character that could have just been a simple pawn.  For the purposes of moving the story forward all that was required of that character in that scene was someone to hold the door.  Hold it for a little while; let the bigger characters get away, and then die.  That was all that was needed for the arc of the story.  Instead – he introduced a character with a back story.Not only did he add his back story, he nurtured it for six whole seasons.  SIX BLOODY SEASONS!  He nurtured the character for so long that by the time the turn in his tale came around, he had become part of the background.  All he had done until that point was utter a single word over and over and over and over..And when the viewer had been lulled to sleep with this character’s arc, he dropped the bomb with the panache of Frederick Forsyth or Philip K. Dick.  It was revealed that not only had Hodor dedicated his entire existence to a single solitary purpose; his mission had been handed to him through a fracture in the fabric of time.  In that single scene a simple pawn was transformed into someone who was morally superior to the kings, queens, princes, and royalty surrounding him.  And in the manner in which George R.R. Martin unfolded Hodor’s backstory made the viewers ponder upon the mobius strip nature of time.