‘Young Hodor’ Actor Pens Stirring Tribute Ballad ‘Hold the Door’

“Young Hodor” actor Sam Coleman has recorded a touching tribute to Bran’s noble and adored caretaker on ‘Game of Thrones.’ Photo courtesy of HBO.

Sam Coleman, the 19-year-old actor who played Young Hodor on recent episodes of Game of Thrones, immortalized Bran Stark’s beloved caretaker in a simple ballad posted to SoundCloud. Spoilers ahead.

Titled “Hold the Door,” Coleman posted the track a few days after the heartbreaking fifth episode of GoT‘s sixth season. In “The Door,” Bran finds himself in the midst of one vision of the past when he accidentally ‘wargs’ into a young Hodor, then a stableboy named Wylis. Through a connection to present events ”” Bran, Hodor and Meera trying to escape an onslaught of wights ”” Wylis hears Meera telling Hodor to, “Hold the door!” so she and Bran can escape. The connection forged by Bran causes Wylis to seize and he begins to slur Meera’s orders into one, unmistakable word: “Hodor.”

On “Hold the Door,” Coleman recounts Wylis’ lonely life as a stable boy and delves into the moment Bran slipped into his brain and ignited Hodor’s noble, if not tragically sole purpose in life. Over a dramatic piano melody Coleman builds to a belt, “But there was one condition/ I only had one mission/ A simple one, I knew I had to face/ When I reached the time and place/ Hold the door!”

Coleman’s musical talents align with those of actor Kristian Nairn, who played Hodor and has worked extensively as a DJ, especially in Belfast’s house music scene. In 2014, after Game of Thrones‘ fourth season, Nairn embarked on the Rave of Thrones Tour, during which he spun “the deepest house from all seven kingdoms.”