Sandor Clegane

Sandor Clegane
A Song of Ice and Fire character
Game of Thrones character

Rory McCann as Sandor Clegane
First appearance Novel:
A Game of Thrones (1996)
Television:
"Winter Is Coming" (2011)
Last appearance Novel:
A Feast for Crows (2005)
Created by George R. R. Martin
Portrayed by Rory McCann
Game of Thrones
Information
Aliases The Hound
Dog
Gender Male
Family House Clegane
Relatives Gregor Clegane (brother)
Kingdom The Westerlands

Sandor Clegane, nicknamed The Hound, is a fictional character in the A Song of Ice and Fire series of fantasy novels by American author George R. R. Martin, and its television adaptation Game of Thrones.

Introduced in 1996's A Game of Thrones, Sandor is the younger brother of Ser Gregor Clegane, from the fictional kingdom of Westeros. He subsequently appeared in Martin's A Clash of Kings (1998), A Storm of Swords (2000) and A Feast for Crows (2005).

Sandor Clegane is portrayed by Rory McCann in the HBO television adaptation.[1]

Character description

Sandor Clegane, known as the Hound, is a retainer to House Lannister and the younger brother of Gregor Clegane, a.k.a. The Mountain. He is regarded as one of the most dangerous and skilled fighters in Westeros. His face is distinguished by gruesome burn scars, which he received as a child when his brother pushed his head into a brazier. Consequently, he fears fire and hates his brother. He is also scornful of knight's vows, as his brother is a knight. He is described as a tormented man driven by anger and hate, aspiring only to kill his brother.

Overview

Sandor Clegane is not a point of view character in the novels, so his actions are witnessed and interpreted through the eyes of other people, such as Arya Stark. Sandor is mostly a background character in the novels.[2]

Reception

Sandor Clegane is played by the Scottish actor Rory McCann in the television adaptation of the series of books.[3] McCann has received positive reviews for his role.[4]

Storylines

A coat of arms showing three black dogs on a field of yellow.
Coat of arms of House Clegane

In the books

In A Game of Thrones, he acts as bodyguard and servant to Prince Joffrey Baratheon, who calls him Dog. He is named a knight of Joffrey's Kingsguard in A Clash of Kings and is often assigned to guard Sansa, trying to protect her from Joffrey's abuse. He flees King's Landing during the Battle of the Blackwater, due to the widespread use of wildfire, a fictional substance similar to Greek fire.

In A Storm of Swords, he is captured by the Brotherhood Without Banners which sentences him to trial by combat. Sandor prevails and is set free. He later kidnaps Arya to ransom her to her brother Robb Stark and hopes to earn a place in Robb's service. He takes her to the Twins, where Robb is attending a wedding. However, just as they arrive, the Freys begin slaughtering the Starks. Sandor and Arya escape. They encounter three of Gregor's men at an inn, and Sandor is seriously injured in the ensuing fight. Arya abandons him to his apparent death.[5] He is mentioned a few times in A Feast for Crows (2005), where the Elder Brother mentions to Brienne of Tarth that he found Sandor, who is now "at rest". However, the appearance of a mute gravedigger who matches Sandor physically and the Elder Brother's refusal to confirm if Sandor is dead imply that he may still be alive.

In the show

Season 1

Clegane accompanies the royal court on Robert Baratheon's visit to Winterfell. On the way back to King's Landing, Joffrey falsely accuses a butcher's boy, Mycah, of threatening him, and Clegane kills the boy, attracting the hatred of Mycah's friend Arya Stark. During the Tourney of the Hand, Sandor's sadistic elder brother Gregor tries to kill Ser Loras Tyrell after he is unhorsed, but Sandor defends Loras from Gregor until Robert orders the men to stop fighting. When Ned Stark accuses Joffrey of being a bastard born of incest and orders his arrest, Clegane assists the Lannister soldiers in the subsequent purge of the Stark household and Sansa Stark's capture, though he later comforts Sansa when Joffrey orders her beaten. With Joffrey's ascension to the throne, Clegane is named to the Kingsguard to replace the ousted Ser Barristan Selmy, though Clegane refuses to take his knight's vows.

Season 2

Sandor continues to defend Sansa, including by covering her after Joffrey orders her stripped and rescuing her from being gang-raped during the King's Landing riots. He participates in the Battle of the Blackwater against Stannis' Baratheon's forces, but is visibly horrified when Tyrion Lannister uses wildfire to incinerate much of Stannis' fleet, and ultimately deserts after witnessing a man burning alive in the battle. Before he leaves, he offers to take Sansa north to Winterfell, but she ultimately refuses.

Season 3

The costumes worn by Arya and her companion Sandor Clegane
The costumes worn by Arya and her companion Sandor Clegane in the TV series Game of Thrones.

In the Riverlands, Clegane is arrested by the Brotherhood Without Banners, a group of knights and soldiers sent by Eddard Stark to kill his brother Gregor and restore order to the Riverlands. While being transported to their stronghold, he meets other members of the Brotherhood who are traveling with Arya Stark, and tells them of her true identity. At the Brotherhood's hideout, their leader Ser Beric Dondarrion accuses Clegane of being a murderer; though Clegane asserts that the murders were done in order to protect Joffrey, Arya testifies that he had killed Mycah despite the boy not harming Joffrey. Ser Beric sentences Clegane to a trial by combat, which Clegane wins to secure his freedom, although Ser Beric is immediately resurrected by the Red Priest Thoros of Myr. Clegane later captures Arya, intending to ransom her to King Robb Stark at the wedding of Edmure Tully and Roslin Frey at The Twins. However, as they arrive at the Twins the Freys turn on the Starks and attack them, and Clegane and Arya barely escape the massacre.

Season 4

With the rest of House Stark believed dead and the Riverlands now under the rule of House Frey, Clegane decides to ransom Arya to her aunt Lysa Arryn in the Vale. During their journey, Arya reveals to Clegane that she has not forgiven him for killing Mycah and has vowed to kill him. The duo arrive in the Vale to find that Lysa has ostensibly committed suicide. Returning from the Bloody Gate, they encounter Brienne of Tarth, sworn sword to Arya's mother Catelyn, who had promised to take the Stark children to safety. When Arya refuses to go with Brienne, she and Clegane engage in a brawl that culminates in her throwing Clegane off a cliff, gravely wounding him. Though he begs Arya to kill him, she instead leaves him to die.[6]

Season 6

It is revealed Clegane had been discovered by a warrior turned septon, Ray, who nursed him back to health. Clegane assists Ray and his followers in building a sept, but returns to the community one day to find the villagers slaughtered by members of the Brotherhood Without Banners. Clegane takes up arms again to hunt down those responsible, killing four of them before discovering the remaining three about to be hanged by Ser Beric Dondarrion and Thoros of Myr, who inform him that the group were acting independently of the Brotherhood. Beric allows Clegane to kill two of the outlaws, and asks him to join the Brotherhood in their journey north to fight the White Walkers.

Family tree of House Clegane

CleganeWife
Gregor CleganeSandor CleganeDaughter

References

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