'Thrones' Tearjerker, Hyperloop & More: 5 Things We Loved This Week

From a beloved Game of Thrones character's death to empowering high school girls, here are five things we loved in Culture this week: 

• Game of Thrones fans worldwide were heartbroken this week by the fate of fan favorite Hodor. Last week's episode, "The Door," revealed that the monosyllabic giant's entire life essentially was in service of Bran Stark, the oldest surviving male heir of the Stark clan of Winterfell, in preparation for the moment when he'd have to give his life to save Bran's. If the tragedy wasn't enough to force viewers to the tissue box, "The Door" showed how a time-traveling Bran sealed Hodor's fate and confined him to a life of uttering just one word: Hodor, Hodor, Hodor.  

Kristian Nairn as Hodor in "Game of Thrones." After sparking a viral meme with "hold the door," the actor has joined the frenzy in a funny new YouTube clip. HBO

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• The Weeknd was the big winner at the Billboard Music Awards, taking home eight trophies, but the Top Artist award went to Adele. The British singer won five awards, including Top Female Artist, while the Weeknd won Top Hot 100 Artist and Top R&B Artist. Britney Spears made headlines with her medley of some of her biggest hits, while the show also saw performances from Kesha, Fifth Harmony, Pink, Meghan Trainor and more. 

The Weeknd poses in the press room during the 2016 Billboard Music Awards at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, May 22. The singer had the biggest win on the night with eight awards. David Becker/Getty

• We all may have been treated to a vision of the future of travel with the successful test of the Hyperloop transportation technology, which essentially sucks a pod through a tube at 800 mph. Although conceived by SpaceX founder Elon Musk, at least two companies are competing to make the technology viable—Hyperloop One and Hyperloop Transportation Technologies—because Musk insisted on making the designs open source. HTT's CEO claims the company will have a passenger-ready Hyperloop by 2018. 

Journalists and guests look over tubes following a propulsion open-air test at Hyperloop One in North Las Vegas, Nevada, U.S. May 11, 2016. Steve Marcus/Reuters

• The nonprofit organization Girls Write Now published (R)evolution: The Girls Write Now 2016 Anthology this week, with contributions by the underserved high school girls the program serves as well as their mentors. The process allows girls to "lead the life of a writer" while allowing them to "discover who they are and who they want to be—and how they want their community and their country to be."

The latest anthology from the writing and mentoring nonprofit Girls Write Now, titled "(R)evolution," was published Tuesday by She Writes Press. It features writing from 136 mentors and mentees, including Mariam Kamate and Zahraa Lopez, pictured here with their mentors. Maggie Muldoon, Salmaan Rizvi/Girls Write Now

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