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In Bran's third chapter in A Dance with Dragons, we see that he can easily warg into Hodor, without anyone realizing. As soon as he smiled a lot and said some Hodor's now and then.

Can Bran make Hodor say anything he wants while he is in his body?

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    @gruntswilldie actually, it is not. That question asks whether Hodor himself says anything else. I ask whether Bran can make him say anything.
    – Shevliaskovic
    Jul 10, 2014 at 9:49
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    The second question kinda answers my question. It says He screams with rage as he fights with Hodor's body and something like "HODOR HODOR HODORRRRR!!" but ends with the answer-ers speculation. I would prefer something canon
    – Shevliaskovic
    Jul 10, 2014 at 9:58
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    @gruntswilldie: “he can't make his direwolf speak” — source?
    – Paul D. Waite
    Jul 10, 2014 at 12:26
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    Surely it would be relative i.e if he can make the Direwolf howl he can make Hodor say hello? @gruntswilldie
    – CandiedMango
    Jul 10, 2014 at 12:28
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    Ok, so direwolves can't talk and Hodor can't really talk, but what about Mormont's raven? That's quite the talkative bird, and I wouldn't be surprised to find a warg in there.
    – Geobits
    Jul 10, 2014 at 13:35

2 Answers 2

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In the novels so far, Hodor hasn't said anything more than "Hodor".

However, I suppose that the problem is with his mind, not with his phonetic system, so, if Bran gets enough control of him, I bet he would be able to speak through the gentle giant.

Bran cannot make his direwolf speak, of course, as a wolf lacks the articular capacity on their throat, mouth, and tongue to pronounce articulated sounds like words. Bran, however, is able to howl when possessing the direwolf.

Hodor's mouth, tongue, and throat are fine; he's able to pronounce words (although he just pronounces one); it's his mind that is the problem. He is unable to use that mechanism to pronounce any other word. If Bran takes control, his mind would know the words and the knowledge of how to pronounce them, coupled with a body with the correct muscles to do so.

If he hasn't done it yet, it's probably due to the fact that he has only taken control of Hodor in tense action moments, and because is a lot harder to control a delicate and complex system like the mouth and tongue than just walk and move the arms.

In summary, it hasn't happen yet on the books, however I bet he can.

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    I will say that Hodor's behavior is almost exactly like that of someone who's had a severe stroke; I knew a former teacher in my high school that had a stoke and could only say "Very good". While you're correct that it's "all in his mind", the brain is very much more complex than that. The stroke damaged the portion of the brain that translates language into motor skills, so no matter what he wanted to say, his tongue/lips/throat would only move in the right way to say "Very good". If that's what happened to Hodor, he may not be capable of saying anything else.
    – KutuluMike
    Jul 10, 2014 at 12:44
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    It's worth considering that Louis Leborgne, in many ways a real-world Hodor, (though "Tan tan" rather than "Hodor"), had physical damage to his brain, resulting in the distinctive form of aphasia that is close to Hodor's. As such if Martin decides to mirror that aspect of our reality within his fantasy, he could decide that the brain is part of what is taken over, and if Hodor's aphasia is indeed the same as Tan Tan's, then control of that brain would not enable speech.
    – Jon Hanna
    Jul 10, 2014 at 13:42
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    Also, when Bran is possessing any creature he's not like himself. He has problems separating one personality from other because the two blends a little. So, Bran controlling Hodor is not as lucid as Bran himself.
    – Flamma
    Jul 10, 2014 at 16:07
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    In DwD, During the battle with the Whites right before they enter the Three-Eyed Crow's cave, it explicitly says "Bran said, 'Hodor' with Hodor's voice and then gestured to Meera to follow him up the hill." It was because of this that I was just about to ask this exact question and then saw this one. It clearly says that he can make Hodor speak but so far all he has said is 'Hodor'.
    – xXGrizZ
    Sep 14, 2014 at 10:13
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    @xXGrizZ Right after that Bran contemplates what Meera would think if he should suddenly tell her that he loved her. and that's the closest we get to BranHodor saying anything other than "Hodor". He doesn't actually say it, but wonders what would happen if he did. Could that mean that he thinks he can? Maybe...
    – Möoz
    Feb 10, 2015 at 2:00
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Check out this article: http://io9.com/neuroscience-explains-why-game-of-thrones-hodor-can-onl-1593383062

According to it, the reason that he can't say anything other than "Hodor" may be because a part of the brain called " Broca's area" which is linked to speech production is damaged (has lesions). If that's true, even though Bran takes control of him, he can't remotely fix-heal his brain.

Unless magic then I guess he can.

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    The question is whether or not warging is using the brain, or taking over the body. Note that you don't need the brain to speak, you need to be able to control the movement of certain muscles and expel air from your lungs (and sometimes your stomach). If Bran "remote controlling" Hodor, then it is possible that he is able to manipulate those muscles to create speech, and say whatever he wants. If warging means that you enter a very small part of the brain and you use the target's brain to maintain other functions, then possibly the answer is no.
    – user24620
    Jul 11, 2014 at 12:22

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