Game of Thrones’ Kristian Nairn reveals he thought Hodor was the third Clegane brother

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Imagine the Cleganebowl (opens in new tab) in Game of Thrones season 8 (opens in new tab) being a triple threat. Fans excited to see the Hound and the Mountain clashing could’ve got Hodor joining in too. Well, that is, if actor Kristian Nairn’s barmy theory rang true. Unfortunately, it didn’t – but his reasoning behind it actually holds up surprisingly well. Maybe there’s another plot twist around the corner?

Speaking to our sister publication SFX magazine (opens in new tab), Nairn reveals that not only did he try and delve into Hodor’s backstory early on by bribing creator George R.R. Martin with alcohol (“I bought him whiskies, vodkas, everything… never worked. He has a good poker face”) he also had a lightbulb moment of his own, one where he might be related to a few other big boys on Game of Thrones.

“A theory I had, being a big guy,” Nairn explains, “Maybe he was another one of the Clegane brothers, and something happened to him as a child, like it did with the Hound, having his face burnt, which made him the way he is.”

I mean… it’s not the worst theory in the world? It definitely deserves a place among our long list of Game of Thrones theories, that’s for sure. It certainly chimes with what we found out eventually happened to Hodor – a Bran-led traumatic event as a child through some timey-wimey weirdness – and all the main players pretty much know each other in some way anyway. In fact, I think I prefer this theory…

But there’s plenty more Hodor musings where they came from. Be sure to pick up the new issue of SFX (opens in new tab) to see how Kristian Nairn found out about his character’s death and his utterly tear-jerking reaction to whether he misses playing Hodor. Keep the hankies handy.

You can buy SFX on Google Play (opens in new tab) and Zinio (opens in new tab), and most digital formats give you a 30-day free trial, so you can try before you buy! For Apple users: click the link (opens in new tab) and you’ll be directed to SFX’s page in the App Store – once there, install the SFX app, or – if you’ve done that already – hit Open to be taken to the SFX storefront.