The Door

"The Door" is the fifth episode of the sixth season of Game of Thrones. It is the fifty-fifth episode of the series overall. It premiered on May 22, 2016. It was written by David Benioff and D.B. Weiss, and directed by Jack Bender.

Plot
Tyrion seeks a strange ally. Bran learns a great deal. Brienne goes on a mission. Arya is given a chance to prove herself.

At the Wall
Sansa Stark receives a message bearing the sigil of House Baelish, asking her to a meeting in Mole's Town. Accompanied by Brienne, Sansa, angry, meets Petyr Baelish asking if he was aware what Ramsay Bolton was capable of. Baelish deflects, saying he has the knights of The Vale waiting at Moat Cailin to aid Sansa. She is mistrustful of him when he claims he had no idea of Ramsay's abusive treatment of her. She doubts Baelish's ability to protect her or even himself, threatening to have Brienne kill him. He says he'll do whatever she asks and Sansa tells him to leave and never come back for her. He obeys, but not before informing that her great-uncle Brynden Tully has recaptured Riverrun and recommending she seeks him out and the remaining loyal Tully forces. Sansa says she already has an army, her brother Jon Snow's army of wildlings. "Half-brother", Baelish corrects her as he walks away.

At Castle Black a war council is called, and is attended by Sansa, Brienne, Jon, Davos, Melisandre, Tormund and Eddison Tollett. They discuss the need for more men, and Davos mentions House Manderly. Sansa lies to Jon about where she got the information concerning Brynden, and sends Brienne south to secure her the troops.

In the Dothraki Sea
Daenerys is unsure of what to do with Jorah, having banished him twice, with him returning twice, and saving her life twice. Jorah finally confesses his love for Daenerys, but also reveals his spreading greyscale infection, and says that this time, he needs to leave for good. He starts to leave and states his plan to take his own life when the greyscale envelops him, but Daenerys tearfully commands him to find a cure and come back to her side when she conquers Westeros. Jorah then departs while Daenerys and Daario Naharis lead the Dothraki horde back to Meereen.

In Braavos
The Waif continues to drill Arya, mocking her high-born origins. Jaqen H’ghar explains that the Faceless Men were slaves in Valyria before establishing the Free City of Braavos and the House of Black &amp; White. Handing Arya a vial, Jaqen tells her an actress, Lady Crane, will be the next to receive the Many-Faced God’s “gift.”

Arya enjoys the spectacle of the actors re-enacting the War of the Five Kings, playing Baratheons and Lannisters, but her pleasure ceases when her father, and his execution, are inaccurately caricatured. Arya sneaks into the dressing room to observe her target – the actress playing Cersei – who appears to be a clever, decent woman. Arya later shares with Jaqen her plan to poison Lady Crane’s rum, which no one else in the troupe drinks. Arya suspects that a jealous younger actress, Bianca, has commissioned the kill. Jaqen cuts her off, reminding her a servant does not question.

In Meereen
While the rulers of Meereen enjoy a tenuous peace, Tyrion reminds them of the need to convince the Meereenese that everything has been done with Daenerys's blessing, as the Masters could use Tyrion and Varys's foreign status against them to reclaim Slaver's Bay. To that end, Tyrion invites Kinvara, High Priestess of the Red Temple of Volantis, to negotiate spreading the word of Daenerys's accomplishments. To Tyrion's surprise, Kinvara appears to be highly accommodating in supporting Tyrion's goals, as she firmly believes that Daenerys is The Prince That Was Promised. Varys is more skeptical, being suspicious of any practitioners of magic, and points out that Melisandre had already declared Stannis Baratheon to be the Prince, only for him to be defeated twice. Kinvara says that while the Lord of Light has a plan, the humans following him do occasionally make errors. She then unnerves Varys by revealing that she knows Varys was emasculated by a "second-rate sorcerer" and offers to repeat the words he heard in the flames, and identify who it was that spoke. Kinvara then assures Tyrion that she will send the preachers and priests best suited to the task at hand.

In the Iron Islands
As the Kingsmoot is held, Yara Greyjoy is the first to lay claim to the Salt Throne. Yara argues that raiding the mainland is not enough to and that they need to use military force to teach the mainlanders a lesson. An Ironborn man challenges Yara's candidacy on the grounds that she is a woman and points out that her brother Theon Greyjoy has returned. Theon endorses his older sister and urges the gathering to do the same; stressing that she is a warrior, a reaver, and an Ironborn. Many shout for Yara to be their Queen.

Before they can crown Yara, Euron Greyjoy joins the gathering to lay claim to the Salt Throne. He openly mocks Theon for his military failures and emasculation before deriding Yara as a woman. Yara in turn accuses Euron of killing their King and her father Balon. To her surprise, Euron admits killing Balon but then defends his actions on the grounds that Balon was leading them to defeat in the North. When Euron states that his only regret is not killing Balon years earlier, he is met by resounding cheers from the crowd. Theon then counters that Euron had spent years gallivanting overseas while Yara was commanding Ironborn ships and men. Yara then suggests building a massive fleet to attack and make their mark on Westeros.

In response, Euron announces that he also supports expanding the Ironborn fleet. Revealing a trick up his sleeve, he then proposes to marry Daenerys Targaryen and then carry her army and dragons back to Westeros. The Ironborn support Euron's plan and declare him king. The Drowned Men priest Aeron Greyjoy then leads Euron down to the sea to be baptized. During the drowning ceremony, however, Yara, Theon, and many of their loyalists flee the Iron Islands, taking the best of the Iron Fleet with them. During the baptism, Euron falls unconscious but is revived on the shore. Shortly later, he is crowned with the driftwood crown by his brother Aeron. After learning that his niece and nephew have fled with the best Ironborn ships, Euron calls on his followers to build their own ships so that he may pursue the pair and kill them.

Beyond the Wall
The three-eye raven shows Bran a vision of a heart tree amid spirals of standing stones in lush green valley. He espies Leaf and other Children of the Forest talking amongst themselves, then looking eagerly at a captive bound to the tree. Leaf approaches and forces a Dragonglass dagger into the captive's chest. The captive screams, but does not die; rather, his eyes turn a depthless, icy blue.

Waking with a start, Bran immediately confronts Leaf: the Children created the White Walkers in the first place. Leaf tries to explain that they were at war with the First Men and were desperate. Later, Bran is the only one in the cave awake and is anxious to warg back into the Weirwood tree. After being unable to wake up the Three-Eyed Raven, Bran wargs into the tree by himself and sees the army of the dead. He slowly walks through the army and when he gets to the end, he sees four White Walkers, including the Night's King. The Night's King is able to see him and turns the army around to face him. Bran turns around to find the Night's King right behind him and the Night's King grabs his arm, which causes Bran to exit the vision. The Three-Eyed Raven tells Bran that since the Night's King touched him he now knows where they are and is able to enter the cave since Bran now has his mark. The Three-Eyed Raven tells Bran, Meera and Hodor that they must leave now, and that even though Bran is not ready, it is time for Bran to take his place. The Three-Eyed Raven then sends them both into a vision, which shortly after the army of the dead arrive, appears outside of the cave. The Night's King destroys the magic that guarded the cave against the army and starts marching towards the cave. The Children of the Forest light a fire around the entrance to prevent the wights from entering, but they end up climbing on top of the Weirwood and dropping through the top of the cave. Meera desperately tries to get Bran out of the vision and attempts to get the frightened Hodor to carry Bran away to no avail. Meera kills the first White Walker that enters, as she fights alongside the Children of the Forest to try to fend off the wights until Bran wakes up. Wights begin to swarm the cave, killing all of the Children of the Forest except for Leaf, as Meera starts yelling at Bran to warg into Hodor. In the vision, Bran is at Winterfell watching Ned Stark say goodbye to his father, Rickard Stark, before being sent to the Vale as a ward. While still in the vision, Bran hears Meera's cries to warg into Hodor and the Three-Eyed Raven tells him to listen to her. Bran wargs into both the Hodor in the cave (present day) AND the Hodor in his vision (past).

The Hodor in the cave picks up Bran's body and starts running towards the exit at the back of the cave with Leaf and Meera, as Bran's direwolf Summer is killed attempting to buy them some time. As the wights are closing in on them, Leaf sacrifices herself, using magic to cause a huge explosion, buying the other three a significant amount of time. The Night's King enters the room of the cave that the Three-Eyed Raven is in and starts approaching his body, which is still warged into the Weirwood.

The young Hodor in the vision begins to have a seizure and the Three-Eyed Raven tells Bran that he must leave him now. As the Night's King kills the Three-Eyed Raven, his appearance in the vision shatters and blows away. Meera, Hodor and Bran exit a door at the back of the cave and Meera takes the sled with Bran's body and tells Hodor to "Hold the door" to buy them more time to escape. As Meera continues to yell "Hold the door," the young Hodor in Bran's vision starts repeating this same sentence in the midst of his seizure. Eventually "Hold the door" slurs into "Hodor," revealing how Hodor got his name. In effect, Bran taking control of Hodor at the moment of his death is what created Hodor in the first place. As Meera is escaping from the scene with Bran's body, Hodor is killed after seemingly holding back the wights long enough for them to escape.

First

 * Izembaro
 * "Joffrey Baratheon" actor
 * Lady Crane
 * "Eddard Stark" actor
 * Bobono
 * Bianca
 * Kinvara
 * Lord Rickard Stark

Deaths

 * Three-eyed raven
 * Summer
 * White Walker
 * Several unnamed children of the forest
 * Leaf
 * Hodor

Cast
Starring
 * Peter Dinklage as Tyrion Lannister
 * Emilia Clarke as Queen Daenerys Targaryen
 * Kit Harington as Jon Snow
 * Aidan Gillen as Lord Petyr Baelish
 * Liam Cunningham as Ser Davos Seaworth
 * Carice van Houten as Melisandre
 * Sophie Turner as Princess Sansa Stark
 * Nathalie Emmanuel as Missandei
 * Maisie Williams as Princess Arya Stark
 * Conleth Hill as Varys
 * Isaac Hempstead-Wright as Prince Bran Stark
 * Kristofer Hivju as Tormund Giantsbane
 * Alfie Allen as Prince Theon Greyjoy
 * Michiel Huisman as Daario Naharis
 * Gwendoline Christie as Brienne of Tarth
 * Tom Wlaschiha as Jaqen H'ghar
 * Iain Glen as Ser Jorah Mormont

Guest Starring
 * Max von Sydow as the Three-eyed raven
 * Kristian Nairn as Hodor
 * Richard E. Grant as Izembaro
 * Essie Davis as Lady Crane
 * Pilou Asbæk as King Euron Greyjoy
 * Gemma Whelan as Princess Yara Greyjoy
 * Ben Crompton as Eddison Tollett
 * Ellie Kendrick as Meera Reed
 * Faye Marsay as the Waif
 * Jacob Anderson as Grey Worm
 * Michael Feast as Aeron Greyjoy
 * Kae Alexander as Leaf
 * Daniel Portman as Podrick Payne
 * Darrell D'Silva as an Ironborn
 * Kevin Eldon as the actor playing Eddard Stark
 * Leigh Gill as Bobono
 * Eline Powell as Bianca
 * Rob Callender as the actor playing Joffrey Baratheon
 * Eva Butterly as the actress playing Margaery Tyrell
 * Vladimir Furdik as the Night King
 * Ania Bukstein as Kinvara
 * Gerald Lepkowski as Zanrush
 * Annette Tierney as Old Nan
 * Sam Coleman as young Hodor
 * Wayne Foskett as Lord Rickard Stark
 * Sebastian Croft as Eddard Stark
 * Matteo Elezi as Benjen Stark
 * Fergus Leathem as Ser Rodrik Cassel
 * Kate Anthony as a Braavosi woman
 * Sally Mortemore as a Braavosi woman
 * Michael Hooley as a Night's Watch man
 * Ruairí Heading as a Night's Watch man
 * Robert Render as an Ironborn
 * James Lecky as an Ironborn
 * Glen Barry as a mummer ("background panel")
 * Brendan O'Rourke as a mummer ("the boar")
 * Ross Anderson-Doherty as a mummer ("background panel")
 * Nanna Bryndís Hilmarsdóttir as a musician
 * Ragnar Þórhallsson as a musician
 * Arnar Rósenkranz Hilmarsson as a musician
 * Brynjar Leifsson as a musician
 * Kristján Páll Kristjánsson as a musician

Cast notes

 * 17 of 27 starring cast members appear in this episode.
 * Starring cast members Nikolaj Coster-Waldau (Jaime Lannister), Lena Headey (Cersei Lannister), Natalie Dormer (Margaery Tyrell), Indira Varma (Ellaria Sand), John Bradley (Samwell Tarly), Iwan Rheon (Ramsay Bolton), Jonathan Pryce (High Sparrow), Dean-Charles Chapman (Tommen Baratheon), Jerome Flynn (Bronn), and Hannah Murray (Gilly) are not credited and do not appear in this episode.

In the books

 * The episode is adapted from the following chapters of A Feast for Crows:
 * Chapter 10, Sansa I: Sansa learns that her great-uncle is under siege at Riverrun.
 * Chapter 19, The Drowned Man: The Kingsmoot takes place under Aeron Greyjoy's guidance. Asha claims the Crown of Salt and Rock and obtains support. Euron interrupts the kingsmoot and lays his own claim to the throne, suggesting a plan to bind dragons to conquer the Seven Kingdoms. He wins the acclaim of most of the ironborn present and then crowned King of the Iron Islands.
 * Chapter 29, The Reaver: Euron reveals his plan to marry Daenerys.
 * The episode is adapted from the following chapters of A Dance with Dragons:
 * Chapter 26, The Wayward Bride: Asha has fled the Iron Islands.
 * Chapter 27, Tyrion VII: a Volantene Red Priest preaches that Daenerys is Azor Ahai.
 * Chapter 35, Jon VII: The Mormonts, Cerwyns, Glovers, Hornwoods and other Northern houses join Stannis in his campaign against the Boltons.
 * The episode is adapted from the following chapter of The Winds of Winter:
 * Mercy: Arya and other actors and actresses prepare to stage a play called "The Bloody Hand".
 * The remaining material appears to be based on what will come in the sixth novel, The Winds of Winter, particularly the storyline of Bran Stark.

Memorable Quotes
"Hold the door....holdthedoor...holthdor...holdor...hodor...hodor..."

- Young Hodor, having a seizure due to Bran Stark losing control of his powers during a vision of the past.