Bran Stark, Hodor and Meera Reed will not appear in the upcoming fifth season of "Game Of Thrones."
In a recent interview with Australia's 7.30 to promote his DJ tour "Rave of Thrones," Kristian Nairn, who plays the single-word role as the gentle giant Hodor in the hit HBO fantasy series, revealed that he and his co-stars Isaac Hempstead-Wright (Bran) and Ellie Kendrick (Meera) have a year off from the show.
"We're not actually in Season 5, by the way. We have a season off. We have a year's hiatus," the 38-year-old Irish actor and DJ told 7.30's reporter Monique Schafter. "Solely because, I imagine, our storyline is up to the end of the books. So I get a year off now to do 'Rave of Thrones' and gallivant all over the world."
In the Season 4 finale "The Children," Bran and his escorts finally reached the Heart Tree seen in Jojen Reed's (Thomas Brodie Sangster) vision. Upon approaching the tree, they were attacked by a group of undead, where Jojen was killed. Bran, Hodor and Meera were saved by a Child of the Forest (Octavia Selena Alexandru), who led them into the cave under the tree. There, they meet an old man (Struan Rodger), who told Bran that though he will never be able to walk again, he will be able to fly.
This is the last Bran/Hodor/Meera storyline that was published in George R.R. Martin's novel series "A Song of Ice and Fire," in which "Games of Thrones" is based, according to Screen Crush.
This news offers an intriguing glimpse at the challenges the TV adaptation will face as it catches up with its original source due to Martin's long writing process. Some people even think that the author will pass away before he can finish the books.
Last July, Swiss newspaper Tages-Anzeiger boldly asked Martin for comments on the thought of him dying before he finishes the last two installments of his seven-book novel series. And the author said, "I find it pretty offensive when people start to speculate about my death and my health, so 'f-k you' to those people."
"Game of Thrones" is expected to return on HBO in April 2015.