Despite their popularity, the characters Bran and Hodor won't be appearing in season five of "Game of Thrones".

Isaac Hempstead Wright plays Bran Stark. Kristian Nairn, on the other hand, plays Hodor, the character who can not utter any other word except his own name.

In a recent interview with the Australian Broadcasting Corporation, Nairn confirmed their absence on the show next season. "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 shared.

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He said that the plotlines of the series doesn't faze him at all, saying that the progression of the story doesn't shock him because he grew up in Northern Ireland, in Belfast.

Last season's goings-on were based on the second part of George R.R. Martin's third novel, "A Storm of Swords." However, the series crossed over to Martin's most recent book, "A Dance With Dragons," when it came to telling Bran and Hodor's story.

So it seems that the reason for the two characters' absence is simply that the books just need to keep up with the series - at least when it comes to the story of the said two characters. If the pair's story continued, their storyline would have moved at a much faster rate than the rest of the series.

However, there are still a few important scenes left for Bran and Hodor. 

Fans aren't surprised by the series moving at a much faster rate, considering Martin's well-known slow writing process.

The said discrepancy between the novels' and the series' paces are already apparent in the recent season where scenes which include the White Walkers foreshadowed events yet to come in the books.

The production for the next season of the series is underway.

"Game of Thrones" season five will be premiering in April 2015.

HBO has not yet given an official statement regarding the absences of Bran and Hodor next season.