🐕 House Clegane · Deceased

Sandor Clegane

Also known as: The Hound · The Brother

Titles: Sworn shield to Joffrey Baratheon (renounced)

Portrayed by: Rory McCann · Origin: The Westerlands · Seat: Clegane's Keep · First appears: S1E1 “Winter Is Coming” · Fate: Fell with his brother Gregor into the fires of the collapsing Red Keep — Cleganebowl

“Hate's as good a thing as any to keep a person going.”

Biography

When Sandor Clegane was a boy, his older brother Gregor caught him playing with a discarded toy knight and held his face in a brazier of burning coals. Their father called it an accident; the burns and the lesson lasted a lifetime. Sandor grew into one of the deadliest swords in Westeros and its most honest cynic — a killer who refused knighthood because he had watched what knights actually were, sworn shield to a boy-king he openly despised. Fire remained the one thing on earth he feared.

His long redemption ran through the Stark girls. To Sansa he was an unlikely guardian in Joffrey's court, the only man who told her the truth; he offered to take her north the night the Blackwater burned green and he deserted. With Arya — his hostage, then his student, then the closest thing to family he had — he crossed the war-torn Riverlands trading brutal lessons in survival, until Brienne broke him at the bloody hands of a cliff and Arya left him begging for death. He survived, found brief peace digging graves with a septon, lost it to raiders, fought beyond the Wall, and stood through the Long Night conquering his terror of fire to save Arya one last time. In the burning Red Keep he gave her the series' most important piece of advice — don't become me, go home — then climbed the stairs to meet his brother. The Mountain and the Hound fell together into the flames he'd feared since childhood.

Attributes & statistics

Editorial scores (0–100) and metadata — our own estimates for comparison, not official canon.

Screen time: 151 min across 47 episodes · Named on-screen kills: 25 · Lore milestones: 9 · Debut: S1E1 (2011)

Timeline

• ⭐ PRE — Burned by Gregor: His brother holds his face in the coals over a toy.
• ⭐ S2E9 — Deserts at the Blackwater: 'F— the king.' Walks out of the burning battle.
• ⭐ S4E10 — Left for Dead: Beaten by Brienne; Arya walks away with his silver.
• S8E3 — The Long Night: Overcomes his fear of fire to shield Arya.
• ⭐ S8E5 — Cleganebowl: Kills and dies with Gregor in the burning Red Keep.

Key relationships

• apprentice Arya Stark — His hostage turned protégé; she crossed him off her list
• ally Sansa Stark — The little bird he could never quite abandon
• sworn-to Joffrey Baratheon — Sworn shield until 'f— the king'
• rival Brienne of Tarth — Their cliff-edge duel nearly killed him

Trivia

• 'Cleganebowl' was a fan meme for years before the show actually delivered it.
• Rory McCann was living in a tent and fishing for food when he was cast.
• The Hound's chicken scene at the Crossroads Inn is among the show's most quoted.
• He is one of the few characters to fight wights, men, and his own brother's reanimated corpse.
• His grave-digging interlude adapts a fan theory from the books about the 'gravedigger' on the Quiet Isle.