Bran Stark and his protector Hodor, who were successful in venturing beyond The Wall in the previous season, will not appear in season five of "Game of Thrones."
Kristian Nairn, who plays Hodor, revealed the shocking news to an Australian broadcast network. "We [Hodor and Bran] have a season off and we have a year's hiatus, solely because I imagine our storyline is up to the end of the books," he said, according to Yahoo.
The hiatus is because "Game of Thrones" series author George R. R. Martin has not moved their storylines along yet, which has become a growing concern for fans.
The series, produced by producers David Benioff and D.B. Weiss, is slowly catching up with Martin's books, and this has aided Martin's decision to not return for season five. He will use the time to complete "The Winds of Winter."
"I might make it over there early next year, but I've got to finish the book The Winds of Winter. So I'm making the trips I'm already obligated to make, but I'm not adding any new trips at this time. So I don't think I'm going to do a set visit this year, sadly," he said, when asked about visiting the set in Spain, reported Vulture.
Martin added that being too involved in the making of the series is a time-consuming process, leaving him less spare time to write.
"This season, most of those cast members are new to me as well because I haven't been involved in the process. I've been doing a lot of other stuff. In the earlier seasons I was much more involved with casting. I would review tapes and comment, but that's a time-consuming process. And at this point, we're five seasons in, we have the best casting director in the business in Nina Gold, David [Benioff] and Dan [Weiss] have been running the show, and it's a well-oiled machine, so it really doesn't need me down there with the oil can squeaking at the wheels."
Filming for season five of "Game of Thrones" is currently underway, and the series is expected to premiere sometime in early April next year.
