'I am no knight!': the strange case of Sandor 'the Hound' Clegane

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SPOILER ALERT

This article takes into account all five published novels of A Song of Ice and Fire and therefore contains spoilers as to the stories of Sansa, Arya, Brienne, Cersei and of course, Sandor 'the Hound' Clegane if you have not read them or watched the first four seasons of the adaptation by HBO, Game of Thrones.

George R. R. Martin's journey in the world of Westeros started out during the 90s - in any case that is when his work started to be published under the group title A Song of Ice and Fire. The adventure continues today since two more novels have yet to be released and HBO is adapting the material into a TV series.

The novels are divided into chapters, each written through the particular point of view (POV) of a character. And yet, it is a character without POV that interests me: Sandor 'the Hound' Clegane. It is only through other characters' eyes and stories that the reader gets to know him and can try and understand him.

Among those characters gifted with a POV, Sansa and Arya Stark are the most interesting because they are somehow tied to Sandor at some point in their stories - something foretold by one of their brother Bran's dreams, which now looks like a prophecy:

He saw Sansa crying herself to sleep at night, and he saw Arya watching in silence and holding her secrets hard in her heart. There were shadows all around them. One shadow was dark as ash, with the terrible face of a hound. Another was armored like the sun, golden and beautiful. Over them both loomed a giant in armor made of stone, but when he opened his visor, there was nothing inside but darkness and thick black blood. (AGOT, Bran III)

The shadow "with the terrible face of a hound" is a clear reference to Sandor Clegane who is nicknamed 'the Hound' and whose helm is shaped like one. Moreover, the shadow is described as being "dark as ash" in the dream and Clegane's armour is often described as "soot black". As to the other shadows, one can assume that the golden one is Jaime Lannister because he eventually vows to return the girls to their mother. As to the third one, it could mean Gregor Clegane, Sandor's brother; but this is a whole other story, which I will need to consider later.

It is also interesting to note that Sansa and Arya are the only Stark children to lose their wolves. They lose them early in the story and at the same time, though in different circumstances. Arya has Nymeria run off by throwing pebbles at her in order to protect her from Cersei's death sentence. However, GRRM regularly mentions a big she-wolf leading a pack in the Riverlands where the incident occured: probably Nymeria; wolf and girl may yet reunite. Sansa's wolf Lady, however, is killed. Cersei demands that a wolf pays for her son's injuries. Thus, both girls lose their pet wolves and will both in turn get closer to Sandor Clegane. It is funny to note that when Lady's death sentence is announced, king Robert tells Ned to "Get [his daughter] a dog. She'll be happier for it." and Sandor is often compared to, or even called, a dog.

Another common point to both girls is their identity issues. Sandor has a name for each of them. Sansa is 'little bird' and Arya is 'she-wolf'. What is most interesting is that after Sandor's departure from their respective story, when Sansa is far from King's Landing, she takes on a new name and even her chapters are eventually titled "Alayne". In the same way, Arya often changes her name, pretending to be a boy after her father's execution. She pretends to be called a lot of different names but it is only after she leaves Sandor that the change becomes, we could say, official. She arrives in Braavos and wants to learn to become 'no one'. Her chapters then start to take on different names lile "Cat of the Canals" or "The Blind Girl". There may not be any link between these identity changes and their post-Sandor story but the coincidence is interesting to point out.
Before entering the heart of the subject, I want to quote the author, George R. R. Martin, who declared:

I am sometimes surprised by the reactions of women, in particular, to some of the villains, who have written me that their favorite characters are Jaime Lannister, or Sandor Clegane 'the Hound', or Theon Greyjoy. All of these are deeply troubled individuals with some very dark sides, who've done very dark things. But, nonetheless, they do draw that response, and quite heavily I think in the case of some of them from my female readers in particular.

Oddly, the woman interviewer admits to particularly liking Sandor. And for a good reason ! GRRM, I think, put in a lot of efforts to induce this reaction and I will try and show how in Sandor's particular case. Indeed, from A Storm of Swords on, Jaime is given his own POV which enables the readers to understand him better, to have access to his own version of certain events. Same thing for Theon as of A Clash of Kings and then in A Dance With Dragons. But Sandor's case is different because he is never allowed his POV chapters and it is through his relations with the Stark girls, Sansa first and then Arya, that GRRM skillfully achieves his ends - tricks, I have to recognise, that have to be more efficient with female readers!

Another Beauty and another Beast

Lady Sansa

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Contrary to her sister Arya, Sansa is the perfect little lady, and that is how she names her wolf. "Courtesy is a lady's armor" she often repeats. And an armour she will need indeed but courtesy will be far from enough... Sansa lives in a little world filled with colours and songs about knights' valiant deeds and romance. The song "Florian and Jonquil" is often referred to although we never actually hear -read- it. That is what Sansa dreams about : love and chivalry. Therefore, when she is betrothed to the prince and heir to the Iron Throne, Joffrey Baratheon, she believes all her dreams are about to come true. But soon, the dream becomes a nightmare and Joffrey is revealed to be vicious, violent, sadistic and more! After an incident between Joffrey, Arya and Mycah, the butcher's boy, Arya's wolf maims Joffrey. To protect her, Arya makes her run away and the queen demands Lady's head instead. Sansa soon regrets taking Joffrey's side by lying. But Sansa is burying her head in the sand because she still wants to believe her dream can come true. She escapes into her world of song and courtly love and the tourney in her father's honour could not take place at a better time for Sansa, who rejoices at the idea of being the witness of brave and honourable deeds:

"It is better than the songs," she whispered when they found the places her father had promised her among the high lords and ladies. (AGOT, Sansa II)

During the tourney, we are introduced to three knightly -more or less- figures! Loras Tyrell is every bit the true knight that dwells in Sansa's mind; he even gives her a rose when he enters the field. And yet, Ser Loras chooses a mare in heat to face Ser Gregor 'the Mountain' Clegane, and his famous stallion, which is -if not actual cheating- a lack of fair play. As Ser Baristan Selmy would say: "There is small honor in tricks!" As to Gregor, he is responsible for one of the contestant's death when he drives his lance through his throat during a joust. When he falls off his horse against Ser Loras, he beheads his stallion before turning against Loras, who would probably have died under the blows without Sandor Clegane's intervention. The Cleganes fight until their king commands them to "stop this madness". The last joust should have opposed Sandor to Loras but, recognising himself in debt to him, Loras names Sandor the champion:

"I owe you my life. The day is yours, ser."

"I am no ser," the Hound replied, but he took the victory; and the champion purse, and for perhaps the first time in his life, the love of the commons." (AGOT, Eddard VI)

Of all three, Sandor is the only one not to be a knight and he is the only one to have shown honour in this tourney, it is therefore natural that he should be proclaimed its 'true knight'.

Another Beast is born

If we get some glimpses of Sandor 'the Hound' Clegane through the POVs of Tyrion Lannister or Eddard Stark, it really is Sansa's POV that goes further and shows what kind of person Sandor is. Soon, Sansa will give us a fresh perception of the character, one different from what appearances convey when she gathers his secret, his advice and even his tears. The night of the tourney, Sandor Clegane is to escort Sansa back to the keep after dinner. During this walk, Sandor tells Sansa how his face came to be burnt, something he had not told anyone before since he threatens to kill her if she should ever repeat it.

A true lady would not notice his face, she told herself. "You rode gallantly today, Ser Sandor," she made herself say.

Sandor Clegane snarled at her. "Spare me your empty little compliments, girl.. and your ser's. I am no knight. I spit on them and their vows. [...]" (AGOT, Sansa II)

What can possibly inspire such hatred? Or should I say, who? 

Sandor Clegane put a huge hand under her chin and forced her face up. [...] "Take your look."

His fingers held her jaw as hard as an iron trap. His eyes watched hers. Drunken eyes, sullen with anger. She had to look. [...]
The left side of his face was a ruin. His ear had been burned away; there was nothing left but a hole. His eye was still good, but all around it was a twisted mass of scar, slick black flesh hard as leather, pocked with craters and fissured by deep cracks that gleamed red and wet when he moved. Down by his jaw, you could see a hint of bone where the flesh had been seared away. [...]

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"Gregor is five years older than me, the toy was nothing to him, he was already a squire, near six foot tall and muscled like an ox. So I took his knight, but there was no joy to it, I tell you. I was scared all the while, and true enough, he found me. There was a brazier in the room. Gregor never said a word, just picked me up under his arm and shoved the side of my face down in the burning coals and held me there while I screamed and screamed. [...] Four years later, they anointed him with the seven oils and he recited his knightly vows and Rhaegar Targaryen tapped him on the shoulder and said, 'Arise, Ser Gregor.'"

The rasping voice trailed off. He squatted silently before her, a hulking black shade shrouded in the night, hidden from her eyes. Sansa could hear his ragged breathing. She was sad for him, she realized. Somehow, the fear had gone away. (AGOT, Sansa II)

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Thus, Sansa -and the reader- gets a glimpse of what planted such hatred in Sandor's heart and she understands him. He told her his secret and, symptathetic, Sansa hurts for him.

The silence went on and on, so long that she began to grow afraid once more, but she was afraid for him now, not for herself. She found his massive shoulder with her hand."He was no true knight," she whispered to him."

"No, little bird, he was no true knight." (AGOT, Sansa II)

As Sansa reaches for Sandor, she, -and the reader through her eyes- understands the origin of 'the Hound'. He is driven only by hatred and it all started with the burn that made him look like a monster, or so he thinks since he does his best to hide this part of his face behind his hair. But more than turning him into a monster physically speaking, it made him a monster by filling his heart with hatred and desire for vengeance, leaving no space for anything else.

She made herself look at that face now, really look. It was only courteous, and a lady must never forget her courtesies. The scars are not the worst part, nor even the way his mouth twitches. It's his eyes. She had never seen eyes so full of anger. (ACOK, Sansa IV)

Hatred for his brother mainly and by extension knights and chivalry in general. He abhores the order's hypocrisy that preaches defending the weak when they also sack. Driven by hate and bitterness, the Hound seems to have overruled Sandor. As if little Sandor, terrified of his brother, took as a lesson that to survive you have to be the one that scares. But, despite all that, a certain sense of values and honour remains in his character for he refuses to be one of those he considers hypocrits. If he must kill for his employers, he will but he won't do it pretending he is a good person. Even when Joffrey makes him one of the seven kingsguards -all knights- Sandor accepts but: "I warn you, I'll say no knight's vows." (AGOT, Sansa V) And for sure, several times, Sandor repeats: "I am no knight", "I am no ser" when he answers to "Dog!" as Joffrey calls him, which makes Sansa wonder:

"Why do you let people call you a dog? You won't let anyone call you knight."

"I like dogs better than knights [...] A hound will die for you, but never lie to you. And he'll look you straight in the face." (ACOK, Sansa II)

This opinion -which sounds like a strange declaration- in mind, it is interesting to note that a dog can in fact either be a protector or a predator, two faces that are present in Sandor. And that is what makes him like the well-known fairy-tale character of the Beast. A resemblance that serves perfectly GRRM's purposes even if he feigns to be surprised by the reaction of his female readers where Sandor is concerned.

"My name is not My Lord," replied the monster, "but Beast; I don't love compliments, not I. I like people to speak as they think; and so do not imagine, I am to be moved by any of your flattering speeches."

This is Beast's answer to Belle's father when he calls him 'my lord' in Madame de Villeneuve's tale (1740) ... Rings a bell? And let's not forget that GRRM worked on a TV adaptation of the tale during the 90s... coincidence? I don't think so!

In both versions of the tale (Madame de Villeneuve's and Jeanne-Marie Leprince de Beaumont's), Beast threatens the merchant at the beginning of the story but then is not violent with Belle. The Disney studios chose to change that by emphasising Beast's temper. Let's keep in mind that, somehow, the character of the Beast can be found in other well-known characters from literature. The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr Hide (1886) introduces the reader to a two-faced character. In 1897, Dracula presents a vampire that is both a seducer and a predator. Closer to Beast, Eric from Phantom of the Opera (1909) is a disfigured man who hides under the opera and where he keeps the singer he fell in love with a prisoner. Beast's violence is developed in Eric and we find these elements in Sandor as well: the double identity, the "monstruosity" on his face because of the burn and in his behaviour: "Killing is the sweetest thing there is." (ACOK, Sansa IV)

If we keep in mind the troubled dimension of the character, we can see it as one more stratagem from GRRM. Indeed, this kind of characters has been very successful with female readers and for a long time. There is Charlotte Brontë's Edward Rochester (Jane Eyre, 1847) or her sister Emily's Heathcliff (Wuthering Heights, 1847), two characters haunted by secrets or driven by hatred and vengeance but full of a sensitivity that redeems them in their reader's eyes... This kind of characters is known as Byronic hero. Lord Macauley wrote about Byron's Childe Harold (1812-1818):

A man proud, moody, cynical, with defiance on his brow, and misery in his heart, a scorner of his kind, implacable in revenge, yet capable of deep and strong affection.

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Now, this is what Elder Brother says of Sandor in A Feast for Crows :

I know a little of this man, Sandor Clegane [...] this was a bitter, tormented soul, a sinner who mocked both gods and men. He served, but found no pride in service. He fought, but took no joy in victory. He drank, to drown his pain in a sea of wine. He did not love, nor was he loved himself. It was hate that drove him. [...] Ignoble as it was, the hope of seeing his brother's blood upon his blade was all this sad and angry creature lived for..." (AFFC, Brienne VI)

GRRM uses a resemblance with a cast of characters that has already shown success with female readers so he cannot be surprised by his own Hound's success! Elder Brother says: "He did not love, nor was he loved himself." whereas Macauley describes the Byronic hero  as "capable of deep and strong affection". If Elder Brother did not see that in the Hound, GRRM shows us something that really looks like it. Sandor Clegane has two names and two faces.

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Sandor and the Hound

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When we meet Sandor, he is in the Lannisters' service as swornshield to Prince Joffrey. "I'm the king's dog" (ACOK, Sansa II) he says. He is in charge of his protection and must of course obey his commands. And yet, Sandor's attitude with Joffrey is different from the other kingsguards or the court.  To say things simply, he is not impressed by Joffrey, he answers even mocks him sometimes, taking for example his sister Princess Myrcella's side when she contradicts him: "She has you there." Joffrey was beaten. (ACOK, Sansa I) or defending the little brother Tommen's dignity when Joffrey criticises his jousting performances: "Look," the Hound interrupted. "The boy has courage. He's going to try again." (ACOK, Sansa I) And when Sansa tries and prevents Joffrey from killing a man this same day, arguing that it would be bad luck to kill someone on  his birthday:

Joffrey scowled. He knew she was lying, she could see it. He would make her bleed for this."The girl speaks truly," the Hound rasped. "What a man sows on his name day, he reaps throughout the year."

His voice was flat, as if he did not care a whit whether the king believed him or no. (ACOK, Sansa I)

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It seems Sandor tries to act as mediator when he can in order to protect others from his king's sadism.Probably that having been Gregor's victim, he is not impressed by such as Joffrey. However, and even if he is sworn to obey, we can imagine that Joffrey's cruelty, reminding him of Gregor's, disgusts him. And, if he laughs with him in Winterfell, he does not move when Joffrey's uncle, Tyrion Lannister, slaps him thrice. It would have been easy to stop him as it is widely known that the queen has no love for her dwarf brother. But, when at the end of AGOT, it is Sansa who threatens Joffrey, he moves to place himself between the two but without denouncing her intentions:

All it would take was a shove, she told herself. He was standing right there, right there, smirking at her with those fat womrlips. You could do it, she told herself. You could. Do it right now. It wouldn't even matter if she went over with him. It wouldn't matter at all."Here, girl." Sandor Clegane knelt before her, between her and Joffrey. (AGOT, Sansa VI)

His intervention serves two purposes. First, he protects his king like he is sworn to do and second, he protects Sansa whose murderous thoughts he keeps secret when it would have been easy to denounce her by pushing Joffrey away and declaring her a traitor like her father before her. Protecting Sansa is not his duty or maybe one to his own morale, what he thinks is right. This way, secretly when it is from his king, and more openly when it is from others, Sandor Clegane does all he can to protect Sansa. But what about him being a threat?

His consideration for Sansa first shows as advice:

Ser Meryn and Ser Arys followed him [Joffrey] out, but Sandor Clegane lingered long enough to yank her roughly to her feet. "Save yourself some pain, girl, and give him what he wants.""What... what does he want? Please, tell me.""He wants you to smile and smell sweet and be his lady love," the Hound rasped. "He wants to hear you recite all your pretty little words the way the septa taught you. He wants you to love him... and fear him." (AGOT, Sansa VI)

A lesson Sansa will remember quickly:

"Do it, girl," Sandor Clegane told her, pushing her back towards the king. His mouth twitched on the burned side of his face and Sansa could almost hear the rest of it. He'll have you up there no matter what, so give him what he wants. (AGOT, Sansa VI)

and again:

"The longer you keep him waiting, the worse it will go for you," Sandor Clegane warned her. (ACOK, Sansa III)

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But the Hound has more than one trick up his sleeve and the most important thing he will get to teach Sansa may be to see the world as it trully is. Indeed, if Sansa understands what kind of person Joffrey and his mother are, she still wants to believe in "true knights" from the songs.

Pretty thing and such a bad liar. A dog can smell a lie, you know. Look around you, and take a good whif. They're all liars here... and everyone better than you. (ACOK, Sansa II)

... in other words: Be careful!

Sandor will jeopardise everything she believes in:

"What do you think a knight is for, girl? You think it's all taking favors from ladies and looking fine in gold plate? Knights are for killing. [...] There are no true knights, no more thant there are gods. If you can't protect yourself, die and get out of the way of those who can. Sharp steel and strong arms rule this world, don't ever believe any different."

Sansa backed away from him. "You're awful."

"I'm honest. It's the world that's awful. [...]" (ACOK, Sansa IV)

All these interventions on his part aim at protecting her from Joffrey, but also from herself, her own ingenuity. She must grow, and see the world as it is if she is to survive in it. The Hound also protects her physically during the uprising of the mob in the streets of King's Landing. When Boros or Meryn answer that they only take orders from the king when Tyrion tells them to go back out for Sansa, Sandor Clegane is already on it:

They had hemmed her in [...] and would have done worse if the Hound had not cut his way to her side. (ACOK, Sansa IV) ; Sandor Clegane cantered briskly through the gates astride Sansa's chestnut courser. The girl was seated behind, both arms tight around the Hound's chest. (ACOK, Tyrion XI)

However, as the prince is also the Beast, Sandor is also the Hound and even though he tries his best to protect Sansa from others and from her own dreams, he seems utterly unable to protect her from himself. His words are undoubtedly violent, but he also is physically threatening. Thus, like his symbol the dog, he can be both protecting and threatening, going from one to the other as quick as lightning, and even more so under the influence of alcohol: He cupped her under the jaw, raising her chin, his fingers pinching her face painfully.. "[...] I never got my song [...] But one day I'll have a song from you, whether you will it or no." (ACOK, Sansa II) when moments before he was reassuring her as to Boros's nature: "That one is nothing to fear, girl." The Hound laid a heavy hand on her shoulder. "Paint stripes on a toad, he does not become a tiger." (ACOK, Sansa II)

During yet another encounter:

He laid the edge of his longsword against her neck, just under her ear. Sansa could feel the sharpness of the steel. "[...] So long as I have this," he said, lifting the sword from her throat, "there is no man on earth I need fear." (ACOK, Sansa IV)

Where Sandor is concerned, Sansa is torn between terror and comfort:

She was afraid of Sandor Clegane, and yet some part of her wished that Ser Dontos had a little of the Hound's ferocity. (ACOK, Sansa IV)

But with this sentence she seems to make her choice, something confirmed by the following chapters - and actually from the beginning of their relationship since we could read: "Somehow the fear had gone away." (AGOT, Sansa II) When dawns the day of the Blackwater battle, she even prays for him: "He is no true knight but he saved me all the same, she told the Mother. Save him if you can and gentle the rage inside him." (ACOK, Sansa V) And when the queen tells Sansa that she may be happy to have Ilyn Payne close to defend them when the castle has fallen: "I would be gladder if it were the Hound, Sansa thought. Harsh as he was, she did not believe Sandor Clegane would let any harm come to her." (ACOK, Sansa V)

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In fact, if menacing, Sandor has never been violent towards Sansa and it is his attempts at protecting her from Joffrey, or the mob, that strike Sansa and the reader because it is unlike what we usually see of the character. This duality in the character reaches a climax during the Blackwater battle. Fearing fire, Sandor abandons his post and waits for Sansa in her room, once again very much drunk. He is seeking comfort after the battle it seems, comfort he could not quite find in the wine. What his intentions were exactly, we do not know since he leaves without harming her. His soul torn between Sandor and the Hound, he first offers to take her with him:

"I could keep you safe," he rasped. "They're all afraid of me. No one would hurt you again, or I'd kill them." He yanked her closer, and for a moment she thought he meant to kiss her. He was too strong to fight. She closed her eyes, wanting it to be over, but nothing happened. (ACOK, Sansa VII)

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The passive rejection then seems to wake up the Hound:

"Still can't bear to look, can you?" she heard him say. He gave her arm a hard wrench, pulling her around and shoving her down onto the bed. "I'll have that song. Florian and Jonquil. You said." His dagger was out, poised at her throat. "Sing, little bird. Sing for your little life." (ACOK, Sansa VII)

So Sansa sings. Not the story of Florian and Jonquil but the hymn to the Mother, one of the seven faces of their god. And the last two lines remind us Sansa's prayer for the Hound:

Sooth the wrath and tame the fury,

Teach us all a kinder way

and despite the fury and the mist of alcohol, he seems to hear her:

When her voice trailed off, she feared he might kill her, but after a moment the Hound took the blade from her throat, never speaking. 

Some instinct made her lift her hand and cup his cheek with her fingers. The room was too dark for her to see him, but she could feel the stickiness of the blood, and a wetness that was not blood. "Little bird," he said once more, his voice raw and harsh as steel on stone. Then he rose from the bed. Sansa heard cloth ripping, followed by the soft sound of retreating footsteps. (ACOK, Sansa VII)

This is the last interaction between these two characters and perfectly illustrates Sandor's two faces, as well as GRRM's trick showing us Sansa gathering her Beast's tears. But this is far from being the only trick from the author!

Indeed, GRRM's best asset is doubt and he does everything he can to maintain it because it leaves the reader to imagine what he chooses. Thus, as Sansa points out:

The others [kingsguards] obeyed without question... except for the Hound, but Joff never asked the Hound to punish her. He used the other five for that. (ACOK, Sansa I)

Would he hit Sansa if Joffrey asked him? We want to believe he would not but he did kill Mycah, the butcher's boy, under his orders. GRRM will not answer this question even when he eventually makes Joffrey order him because then he makes Dontos the fool intervene: 

"Dog, hit her." 

"Let me beat her!" Ser Dontos shoved forward, tin armor clattering. He was armed with a 'morningstar' whose head was a melon. (ACOK, Sansa III)

But, not amused, Joffrey turns to Meryn and Boros, Sansa's usual tormentors and then: "Enough," she heard the Hound rasp after some blows. But it's only after Tyrion's arrival that Joffrey will put an end to the spectacle of Sansa's humiliation. Facing a helpless Sansa, beaten by Meryn, stripped by Boros, Tyrion demands that she is given something to cover herself with and

Sandor Clegane unfastened his cloak and tossed it at her. Sansa clutched it against her chest, fists bunched hard in the white wool. The coarse weave was scratchy against her skin, but no velvet had ever felt so fine. (ACOK, Sansa III)

The less GRRM gives us, the more ravenous we are about the tiniest detail, convinced it is a proof. Proof of what? That Sandor is ultimately good? That he feels for Sansa? Whatever we believe, he gives her this cloak a second time, after the Blackwater battle when he leaves her room:

When she crawled out of bed, long moments later, she was alone. She found his cloak on the floor twisted up tight, the white wool stained by blood and fire [...] A chill wind was blowing, banging the shutters. Sansa was cold. She shook out the torn cloak and huddled beneath it on the floor, shivering. (ACOK, Sansa VII)

It is necessary to point out that a cloak has a particular significance int the world of Westeros: protection. During wedding ceremonies, the bride first wears a cloak bearing her father's house's colours before it is removed to be replaced with another now bearing her husband's colours, showing her transition from fatherly protection to marital protection. Twice, Sansa puts on Sandor's cloak, which is I think a symbol of Sandor's kindliness towards her, a wink from GRRM. To add on this, it must be pointed out that whenever Sandor treats Sansa gently, GRRM insists on it and always in the same way:

Sandor Clegane scooped her up around the waist and lifted her off the feather bed as she struggle feebly [...] "Do as you're bid, child," Clegane said. "Dress." He pushed her toward her wardrobe almost gently. (AGOT, Sansa VI) ; With a delicacy surprising in such a big man, he dabbed at the blood welling from her broken lip." (ACOK, Sansa VI) ; "Back to your cage, little bird. I'l take you there. Keep you safe for the king." The Hound gave her a push, oddly gentle, and followed her down the steps. (ACOK, Sansa II) ; The Hound pulled her to her feet, not ungently. (ACOK, Sansa III)

But the ultimate trick is certainly this last... meaning that Sandor Clegane has made a lasting impression on Sansa who regularly refers to him after he has left, regretting him even:

I wish the Hound were here. The night of the battle, Sandor Clegane had come to her chambers to take her from the city, but Sansa had refused. Sometimes, she lay awake at night, wondering if she'd been wise. She had his stained white cloak hidden in a ceddar chest beneath her summer silks. She could not say why she'd kept it. (ASOS, Sansa I) ; A dog can smell a lie, you know, the Hound had told her once. She could almost hear the rough rasp of his voice. [...] She wondered what had become of Sandor Clegane. (ASOS, Sansa VI)

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She even goes as far as reminiscing a kiss that never happened during their Blackwater battle scene and several times:

Sansa wondered what Megga would think about kissing the Hound, as she had. [...] He kissed me and threatened to kill me, and made me sing him a song." (ASOS, Sansa III) ; As the boy's lips touched her own, she found herself thinking of another kiss. She could still remember how it felt, when his cruel mouth pressed down on her own. [...] He took a song and a kiss, and left me nothing but a bloody cloak." (AFFC, Alayne 'Sansa' II)

Is it some kind of fantasy? An actual memory she had suppressed till then? For now, no answer, except that Sansa is "an unreliable narrator" and that this kiss "will eventually mean something". So let's just grin and bear it...

Once far from King's Landing, Sansa sees Sandor in another rescuer when she is threatened by Marilion:

It was Lothor Brune's voice, she realized. Not the Hound's, no, how could it be? Of course it had to be Lothor." (ASOS, Sansa VI)

And following this episode, she dreams about Sandor... in her bridal bed...

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And she dreamt of her wedding night too, of Tyrion's eyes devouring her as she undressed. Only then he was bigger than Tyrion had any right to be, and when he climbed into bed his face was scarred only on one side. "I'll have a song from you," he rasped, and Sansa woke and found the old blind dog beside her once again. (ASOS, Sansa VI)

If the dog is not another wink from GRRM, I don't know what it is! As Sandor is no longer close, the threat he might have poised doesn't exist anymore and Sansa seems only to remember the good, how he protected her, and apparently adding some kind of romantic fantasy on top of it. She somehow recreates the bubble of her little world of songs and chivalry around Sandor, her former hero. And it is passed on to the reader - especially, it seems, the female reader!

The Wolf and the Hound

Tomboy Arya

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Where Sansa was the perfect little lady, Arya is the best you can find where tomboys are concerned! Sansa is her only sister but Arya Stark would rather practice swordfighting with her four brothers than needlework with her sister. As opposed to Sansa, who is very mindful of propriety, it is her bastard brother Jon Snow whom Arya is closest to. When in King's Landing, and then when she is alone, Jon is often in her thoughts and the similarities between his and hers are touching, both reminding how he mussed her hair or how they finished sentences together. And before they part, Jon gives her a very special gift: a sword named Needle that Arya will learn to use better than she ever used her sowing needle!

Once again, swordfighting is not the recommended activity for girls but Arya does not care, nor does she care about the respect owed to a prince - however mean. Thus, on the road to King's Landing, when Sansa and Joffrey find Arya practicing with Mycah, the butcher's boy, with wooden sticks, evertything goes amiss. Joffrey challenges Mycah with a real sword and Arya interferes, disarms Joffrey et throws his sword into the river while her wolf, Nymeria, attacks Joffrey and maims his arm. Joffrey and his mother, Cersei, demand justice, telling the story of how Mycah and the wolf attacked Joffrey, a story confirmed by Sansa. Cersei wants Nymeria's head for this, but since Arya made her flee, she demands Lady's in its stead. And, later, Ned comes accross Sandor 'the Hound' Clegane bringing back Mycah's body:

"You rode him down," Ned said. The Hound's eyes seemed to glitter through the steel of that hideous dog's-head helm. "He ran." He looked at Ned's face and laughed. "But not very fast." (AGOT, Eddard III)

This episode is the start of Arya's hatred for Joffrey, Cersei and, of course, the Hound.

Male figures are very important in Arya's life. There is her actual father Ned Stark, her brothers and Jon Snow in particular but there is also Syrio Forel, her first sword master. With him, Arya learns how to use Needle and control her body, her fears. But Arya is to lose them all. Jon becomes a brother of the Night's Watch, Ned is executed on Joffrey's orders and Syrio is killed by Meryn Trant while trying to give Arya a chance to run. After that, Arya flees King's Landing among boys and pretending to be one. On the road she meets Jaqen H'Gar who gives her the necessary coin to go to Braavos and join the Faceless Men. And after a time among the Brotherhood Without Banners, she travel with Sandor Clegane. Just like he was for Sansa, Sandor will mean a lot to Arya's life and journey, one of the many men of her life.

Best ennemies

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If Sandor takes Arya from the Brotherhood Without Banners, it is not to free her but to keep her a hostage he hopes to ransom: "Bugger that, wolf girl. You're mine." (ASOS, Arya VIII) This was already what the Brotherhood intended; they call themselves knights but as to Arya, they are not better than the Hound.

"Might be you are knights after all. You lie like knights, maybe you murder like knights. [...] A knight's a sword with a horse. The rest, the vows and the sacred oils and the lady's favors, they're silk ribbons tied round the sword. Maybe the sword's prettier with ribbons hanging off it, but it will kill you just as dead. [...] I'm the same as you. The only difference is, I don't lie about what I am." (ASOS, Arya VI)

Giving GRRM an occasion to remind us as to Sandor's feelings about knighthood. Sandor's point of view pretty well sums up the situation -- at least, where Arya is concerned. However, in Sandor's defense, he means to take her to her family supposedly at the Twins and not to Joffrey and Cersei back in King's Landing as Arya might think.

"You're worth twice what they stole from me I'd say. Maybe even more if I sold you back to the Lannisters like you fear, but I won't. [...] Either way, I win. And so do you, she-wolf." (ASOS, Arya IX)

Sandor's tone is unchanged, and since Arya answers on the same register, curses, insults and threats become their everyday mode of expression. Let's just say that Arya does not trouble herself with courtesy like Sansa and tells Sandor she does not like his face, for instance: "It's all burned and ugly." (ASOS, Arya IX) and, however violent, this outspokenness enables them to actually communicate from the very start.

"At least you look at my face. I'll give you that, you little she-wolf. [...] What good would it do you if you did get away. You'd just get caught by someone worse."

"I would not," she insisted. "There is no one worse."

"You never knew my brother." (ASOS, Arya IX)

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But, despite all that, the Hound is going to take care of his little captive. Of course, she has monetary value, but not only. When they reach the Twins, where Sandor should have been able to give Arya back to her mother and brother, the latters are murdered during the Red Wedding and the castle is prey to massacre. Defenseless, Stark men are slaughtered. Arya wants to go inside the castle to rescue her mother and brother but Sandor knows it is too late and does not want to risk his life, or hers: "Come with me." Sandor Clegane reached down a hand. (ASOS, Arya XI) This time, he asks her to go with him, even if, with her family annihilated, she may no longer be of any value to him. He hasn't had time to think of who could pay for her. But, when she refuses to come and runs to the castle, he goes back to strong-arm tactics:

"Maybe we could save her."

"Maybe you can. I'm not done living yet. [...] Stay or go, she-wolf. Live or die. Your -"

Aray spun away from him and darted for the gate [...] His axe took her in the back of the head. (ASOS, Arya XI)

He claims not caring what she does but he cannot leave her here to die. He couldn't keep Sansa from seeing her father executed but he can keep Arya from seeing the rest of her family killed. Sandor still has two faces and GRRM does not miss a chance to remind the readers.

Indeed, rather than passing over such details, GRRM insists on how Sandor shares food, for instance, as if they were old travelling companions:

He snorted to show what he thought of that, but he gave her a thick slice of sausage ; Clegane offered her a chunk of cheese on the point of his dagger ; He reachd for his waterskin, took a long pull. As he wiped his mouth, he offered the skin to Arya. (ASOS, Arya IX)

But then again, their coexistence is not easy. They threaten each other in turn - and once again, we do not know how far Sandor would go because Arya always chooses not to try his patience too far. She takes him seriously, he is Mycah's murderer after all.

She had chosen to ride, but the first time they made camp she'd waited until she thought he was asleep, and found a big jagged rock to smash his ugly head in. [...] "I'll give you that one," he said. [...] "But if you're stupid enough to try again, I'll hurt you." (ASOS, Arya IX)

Since they are alone most of the time, they only have the other to talk to. If the tone is mainly harsh, it tends to soften from time to time, but they are always direct.

"I've killed a lot more than him, I promise you. You think that makes me some kind of monster. Well, maybe it does, but I saved your sister's life too. [...] And she sang for me. You didn't know that, did you? Your sister sang me a sweet little song." (ASOS, Arya IX)

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Sometimes, it sounds as if Sandor wants to make it up to Arya. Why tell her about her sister, if not for that? If it is no trick from Sandor to pacify Arya, it certainly is one from GRRM to remind the reader of his being Sansa's true knight from time to time! But that's not it, this forced tête-à-tête makes them simpathise with each other:

She had woken before him for a change, and even watered the horses. They broke their fast in silence, until Sandor said, "This thing about your mother..."

"It doesn't matter," Arya said. "I know she's dead. I saw her in a dream."

The Hound looked at her a long time, then nodded. No more was said of it. (ASOS, Arya XII) 

An attempt to comfort her? Whatever it was, and whatever the questionable nature of their unhealthy father-daughter relationship, they are all the other has so they do not part - even if Arya has much weighing on her heart.

Until death do us part

Ser Ilyn, Ser Meryn, King Joffrey, Queen Cersei. Dunsen, Polliver, Raff the Sweetling, Ser Gregor and the Tickler. And the Hound, the Hound, the Hound. (ASOS, Arya IX)

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Arya's prayer, the list of people she intends to kill and get revenge from. As Mycah's murderer, the Hound is on that list.

"You are a murderer!" she screamed. "You killed Mycah, don't say you never did. You murdered him!" [...]"I was Joffrey's sworn shield. The butcher's boy attacked a prince of the blood. [...] I heard it from the royal lips. It's not my place to question princes."Clegane jerked his hands towards Arya. "This one's own sister told the same tale when she stood before your precious Robert." (ASOS, Arya VI)

Sandor justifies himself and Lord Beric puts him through a trial by combat for his god R'hllor to decide his fate. Victorious, Sandor is declared innocent. After all, he followed the royal family's order. And if we go back a little, when Ned meets Sandor bringing back Mycah's body, we can be taken with doubt: "The Hound's eyes seemed to glitter through the steel of that hideous dog's-head helm." (AGOT, Eddard III) Eyes can shine with different feelings, anger for one, but then we would rather tend to use the word gleam. Glitter however, is softer and eyes can also shine with tears... Was Sandor crying about having killed Mycah? We may think so according to his dual personality - moreover, we now know him capable of tears. Even Arya is sometimes caught with compassion: "His arm, Arya thought, and his face. But he was the Hound. He deserved to burn in a fiery hell." (ASOS, Arya VI) Even if it does never last very long and especially since Clegane's talk full of rage does nothing to help his case.

"I rode him down and cut him in half, and laughed. I watched them beat your sister bloody too, watched them cut your father's head off." (ASOS, Arya VI)

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And yet, we know he spoke for Sansa, trying to stop the beating and, as he tells Arya later, rescued her from the mob... could the rage of this diatribe be directed against himself, against his powerlessness to save these people? Your choice...

In any case, Arya's thoughts and talk about Mycah change until one evening she forgets to put the Hound in her prayer.

Why had she done that? She tried to think of Mycah, but it was hard to remember what he'd looked like. She hadn't known him long. (ASOS, Arya XIII)

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It feels like Arya is trying to diminish the impact, the seriousness of Mycah's death. In the same way, her narration starts mixing 'Sandor' and 'the Hound' showing a growing closeness between the forced companions - after Sandor rescued Arya from the Twins and the Red Wedding. However, if in the narration 'the Hound' tends to become 'Sandor', in Arya's prayer 'the Hound' remains 'the Hound'...

Thus, it seems that despite all the hatred she has against him, Arya clings to her kidnapper. Several times, she thinks about killing him or running away but never does:

The Hound no longer watched her as closely as he had. Sometimes he did not seem to care whether she stayed or went, and he no longer bound her up in a cloak at night. One night I'll kill him in his sleep, she told herself, but she never did. One day, I'll ride away on Craven, and he won't be able to catch me, she thought, but she never did that either. Where would she go? (ASOS, Arya XII)

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At this time, Sandor does not know if he can still get some money out of her but he does not abandon her. Arya has already passed from hand to hand, always somewhat lucky in her encounters and, despite her words, she knows she could stumble accross worse than Sandor, beginning with his brother Gregor. By the by, her evasion schemes become lazy and soon she forgets about them:

Arya would never have a better chance to escape. She could ride off on Craven and take Stranger too. She chewed her lip. Then she led the horses to the stables, and went in after him. (ASOS, Arya XIII)

And later, when he is wounded, she stays to bind his wounds when it would have been very easy to leave him for he could never have caught up with her. She even seems to worry about him.

Arya was afraid he would collapse the moment they set out, but somehow he stayed on the saddle. [...]"Take the wine and pour it on my wounds. Think you can do that?"Arya nodded. [...] She did the gash in his thigh first, then the shallower cut on the back of his neck. [...] She could see the terror in his eyes."Turn your head," she tickled the wine down over the raw red flesh where his ear had been, and fingers of brown blood and red wine crept over his jaw. He did scream then despite the stick. Then he passed out from the pain." (ASOS, Arya XIII)

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It would have been the perfect moment to abandon him, but Arya stays and takes care of him. Although he is one of the people she wants to see dead, she does everything she can to save his life. I must point out that more than a "travelling companion", Sandor has become some kind of mentor for her. She considers him an assassin and this is precisely what she wants to become, unable that she is to find sleep without reciting her little prayer. GRRM particularly insists on one lesson: "the gift of mercy", lesson that Sandor teaches her when they come accross a dying man: "I can give you water, and the gift of mercy [...]" (ASOS, Arya XII) ; another proof of his compassion or is it only that "killing is the sweetest thing there is" ? 

The Hound eased his dagger into the man's chest almost tenderly. [...] "That's where the heart is. That's how you kill a man."That's one way. "Will we bury him?""Why?" Sandor said. "He don't care, and we've got no spade. Leave him for the wolves and wild dogs. Your brothers and mine." He gave her a hard look. "First we rob him, though." (ASOS, Arya XII)

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Let's be practical... After their encounter with Gregor's men - wich enables Arya to cross two names off her list - one of them dies slowly:

"This one is yours, she-wolf. You do it."She knew what he meant [...]"You remember where the heart is?" the Hound asked.She nodded. The squire rolled his eyes. "Mercy."Needle slipped between his ribs and gave it to him."Good." Sandor's voice was thick with pain. (ASOS, Arya XIII)

But with Sandor seriously hurt, the time of their separation draws near and soon it is Sandor's turn to ask Arya for "the gift of mercy". While he is lost in a feverish sleep, Arya wonders if she should kill him or let him die from the fever:

I wouldn't have to kill him. If I just rode off and left him, he'd die all by himself. [...]"You remember where the heart is?" he asked in a hoarse whisper.

It is only when he asks her that she takes her decision:

"[...] Go on, do it." When Arya did not move, he said, "I killed your butcher's boy. I cut him near in half, and laughed about it after. He made a queer sound, and it took her a moment to realize he was sobbing.

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Regrets? He seems to beg her and to try and make her do it by provoking her rage, telling her things he did not even do, so that she will kill him:

"And the little bird, your pretty sister, I stood there and let them beat her. I took the bloody song, she never gave it. I meant to take her too. I should have. I should have fucked her bloody and ripped her heart out before leaving her for that dwarf." A spasm of pain twisted his face. "Do you mean to make me beg, bitch? Do it. The gift of mercy... avenge your little Michael...""Mycah." Arya stepped away from him. "You don't deserve the gift of mercy." (ASOS, Arya XIII)

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But it is only when he asks her that she refuses to kill him. Does Arya really think the Hound does not deserve the mercy of a quick death or is she, after having taken care of him, incapable of killing Sandor? Maybe both... In any case, Arya abandons him to his fate and we do not see Sandor die and this unables us to form some hypotheses for the future!

The gravedigger and the corpse knight

Up on the Quiet Isle?

There are rumours, suppositions. Of course, those were never confirmed by GRRM who prefers to entertain mystery. Those rumours were born with the fourth book in the series A Feast for Crows. Sandor presumably died from his wounds after Arya abandoned him. And yet... rather early in the novel we hear about the Hound after he supposeddly sacked the little town of Saltpans not far from where we last saw him with Arya. The tale of these barbaric exploits makes us think that it cannot be Sandor because despite all the violence that animated him, we do not want to believe him capable of that:

The nearby town of Saltpans had been savagely raided by a band of outlaws, and some of the survivors claimed a roaring brute in a hound's head helm was amongst the raiders. Supposedly, he'd killed a dozen men and raped a girl of twelve. (AFFC, Cersei III)

Still looking for the Stark girls, Brienne follows the lead of this Hound when she learns that one of them was travelling with him. But, when she meets Elder Brother on the Quiet Isle, he tells her that if Arya Stark was indeed with him, the Hound died and he buried him himself, leaving his helm where he was put to rest. Then, we are relieved to learn that it is indeed someone else, wearing Sandor Clegane's helm, who attacked Saltpans but at the same time, sad to learn his death. But did he really die? Many want to believe he did not and some details suggest he may still be alive...

When Elder Brother tells of his meeting Sandor, he seems to be choosing his words very carefully. Sure, he said he buried him but all he actually says is that the Hound died, never does he say that Sandor Clegane did and this detail could mean a lot in Elder Brother's mouth for he tells Brienne how he died: "When I died at the Battle of the Trident" (AFFC, Brienne VI) he says. So when he says: "The Hound died there in my arms." [...]

"It is true, then," she said dully. "Sandor Clegane is dead."

"He is at rest." he answers, never confirming Brienne's affirmative question "Sandor is dead".

And, if Sandor was indeed seriously injured, we are also told that:

The Seven have blessed our Elder Brother with healing hands. He has restored many a man to health that even the maesters could not cure, and many a woman too." (AFFC, Brienne VI)

But more importantly, there is the mysterious gravedigger... Of all the brothers on the Isle, GRRM seems to particularly insist on this one. He is a novice, meaning that he wears a hood and scarf that hide his face -which would enable Sandor to hide his caracteristic burnt face. Moreover, the description of this man -the only one GRRM troubles with describing- seems to be the author's way of insistantly winking at the reader:

On the upper slopes they saw three boys driving sheep, and higher still they passed a lichyard where a brother bigger than Brienne was strugling to dig a grave. From the way he moved, it was plain to see that he was lame. (AFFC, Brienne VI)

We are told, without particular necessity, that the said brother is "bigger than Brienne", something which few men can brag about except for the Clegane brothers. We are also told that he limps and Sandor's leg was badly hurt. Moreover "When Dog went to sniff him he dropped the spade and scratched his ear" and we know all of Sandor's affection for dogs. It is not much but, to me, these details have no use whatsoever except to tell us readers something. So, I want to believe that Sandor left behind him, along with his helm, the Hound's rage and that he stays on the Quiet Isle to redeem himself, maybe digging a grave for each person he has killed. "Our gravedigger knows no rest" says Elder Brother, but maybe he will when he has paid for his crimes with sweat from his brow and blood from his hands.

Down in the Black Cells?

As to the elder Clegane, Gregor, he received a lethal injury from Oberyn Martell's spear. Modified, the poison is killing him very slowly.

"But this venom has been thickened somehow [...] He is dying of the poison, but slowly, and in exquisite agony. [...] Be that as it may, his veins have turned black from head to heel [...] It is a wonder that the man is still alive, if truth be told." (AFFC, Cersei II)

Qyburn also explains how he lost his maester's chain, signifying his expulsion from the order:

"For hundreds of years the men of the Citadel have opened the bodies of the dead to study the nature of life. I wished to understand the nature of death, so I opened the bodies of the living. For that crime the grey sheemed shamed me and forced me into exile... but I understand the nature of life and death better than any man in Oldtown." (AFFC, Cerser II)

As promised to Oberyn's family, Gregor's skull is sent to Dorne as a repayment for the prince's death and Gregor's crimes against the family. But could it be that, taking into account his knowledge of the occult, Qyburn managed to keep some form of life in Gregor? If we recall Bran's prophetic dream, the third shadow had nothing under its helm but "darkness and thick black blood"... Strange coincidence! Did Qyburn play Frankenstein? Besides, we know for a fact that a certain form of magic or occult art can bring the dead to life as Jon and the men of the Night's Watch have seen living dead with their own eyes, and through them so did the readers. 

Moreover, a strange knight made his entrance into court in A Dance With Dragons, fifth book in the cycle, Ser Robert Strong. Freakishly tall, as only Gregor has a right to be, he never removes his helm and doesn't talk. When he is appointed to the Kingsguard, his brothers also notice that he never eats, or drinks in their presence and that he doesn't appear to be using the toilets as if he were completely devoid of human needs. Besides, if this man enters the Kingsguard at all, it is on Cersei's express demand because, as queen, only one of those seven brothers can be her champion in an eventual trial by combat. Why this Robert Strong that nobody knows if Cersei wasn't convinced that he is the completion of Qyburn's experiments on Ser Gregor, who already acted ad Cersei's champion for the last trial. Ser Robert will be Cersei's champion but who will be the Faith's, accusing her of treason?

The death of the Hound, the redemption of Sandor?

Elder Brother says "the Hound is dead" and "Sandor is at rest". Many want to see there that Sandor survived and that the rage that drove him, represented by the Hound in Elder Brother's tale, died. Thus, as is the case in the famous tale in which the Beast must die so that the prince may be reborn, the Hound would have died so that a Sandor freed from his rage could be born again. He would then be a novice serving the Faith and when we know that the religious institution's rights to have its own knights have been restored, there is but a step imagining that this new Sandor could become one of those knights and represent the Faith against Cersei and Ser Robert/Gregor. Will we finally see the Clegane's final clash?

After Thoros of Myr declares "the Lord of Light is not yet done with Joffrey's hound", when he wins over Lord Beric, some have thought that in spite of his fear of fire, Sandor might be Azor Ahai reborn, R'hllor's chosen one with the burning sword...

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But most of all, we would like to see Sandor meet Sansa and Arya again. For if he did leave his rage behind, Sandor might well be this true knight that Sansa used to dream about and that we can perceive in his moments of sympathy. Could he become his sworn shield like he was Joffrey's? His queensguard if she were to take Robb's succession as Queen in the North? Will she ever sing him the story of Florian and Jonquil?

And if he were to meet Arya again, Arya who has taken the Hound out of her prayer, would he still be one of her targets or would they be able to forgive each other and go forward?

So many questions and so much time to wait for the answers - The Winds of Winter still being without a publication date. And what if the answers did not please us... George R. R. Martin gives us just enough so that we hope for more, look for more and find more in tiny details and this maybe only to gratify us with a monumental slap in the face like he well knows how to give!
As to Sandor, George R. R. Martin may act surpised concerning his character's attraction on female readers but to me it looks very much like he did everything in his power to obtain this very result!

Sources

A Song of Ice and Fire (ASOIAF), George R. R. Martin

1. A Game of Thrones (AGOT)

2. A Clash of Kings (ACOK)

3. A Storm of Swords (ASOS)

4. A Feast for Crows (AFFC)

5. A Dance with Dragons (ADWD)

The Beauty and the Beast, Madame de Villeneuve

Illustrations
These illustrations were found on Google without any form of indication as to their authors. However, most of them are from the Devianart gallery of Kallielef, whose signature can be seen on the pictures and who style is recognisable. Here is another example.