Helen Sloan/HBO
During a rare flashback scene at the beginning of the episode, Bran (Isaac Hempstead-Write) and The Three-Eyed Raven revisited the past. In addition to seeing his father and uncles as young children, Bran learned that his mute traveling companion Hodor is actually named Wyllis and once spoke.
"It clearly shows us that something happened to Hodor, and something quite massive must have happened, whether it was a really bad head injury or a fall from a horse, who knows?" Hempstead-Wright told Business Insider on Monday. "But it clearly showed there's more to Hodor than we know, and maybe he holds some kind of secrets that are now lost forever. I'm not sure. I'm looking forward to seeing where that goes."
Fans were so interested in the new revelations about Hodor, they mentioned the character more than 1,400 times in one minute on social media. The scene is one of the top five most-talked about moments from Sunday's episode.Hempstead-Wright returned to "Thrones" on Sunday's episode after a season off and noted that scene was significant for him in another way.
"That was the first I shot of the year," Hempstead-Wright said. "It was quite nice to do that chronologically and start a new season afresh."