If, like countless other Game of Thrones fans, you felt Hodor’s death more than any other in the series, you might be heartened to know that the burly teddy bear is alive and kicking – and working in KFC.
A new advert for the fried chicken chain has – kind of – resurrected actor Kristian Nairn’s beloved character Hodor to promote their new ‘Ricebox’ product, which is launching in the UK.
As the clock ticks around to lunchtime and demand increases, Nairn’s KFC worker character finds it all too much and turns his back on the crowd.
Riffing on the famous ‘Hold the Door’ scene from Game of Thrones Season 6 which finally revealed Hodor’s origin story, the ad sees him repeating the words ‘chicken and fries’ over and over as the hungry baying mob the other side of the counter demands food.
The scene in Game of Thrones sees Hodor fulfilling his destiny to ‘hold the door’, holding back the encroaching army of wights and White Walkers, thereby buying some time and protecting Meera and an unconscious Bran from the creatures, sacrificing himself in the process.
And just as “Hold the door” became “Hodor” in the Game of Thrones scene, “Chicken and fries” becomes “Chicken and rice” – KFC’s brand new offering.
Some problems with this: if you walked into a KFC, your order would be something like “Zinger Tower Burger meal, please mate”, not “chicken and fries”. And if you were ordering a variation on chicken and fries, you’d ask for something like a ‘Boneless Banquet’ or ‘Original Recipe Meal’.
People are generally quite good at queuing in places like KFC too. They’d probably take their turn. And is ‘chicken and fries’ turning into ‘chicken and rice’ anything like ‘hold the door’ becoming ‘Hodor’? Not really.
Game of Thrones Season 7 returns to screens on July 16 in the US and will screen simultaneously in the UK at 2am on July 17.