The Hound (spoilers)

[turdle]

You've missed all the other characters who seemed "dead" but actually weren't? :P

No, Sandor Clegane isn't dead. We were nearly beaten over the head with it in the Brienne chapter on the Quiet Isle. Besides, Arya thinks he is dying, but that is her POV and she is not omniscent. So we don't see him dying, and we see the Elder Brother basically tell Brienne straight out that Sandor Clegane is alive, plus we actually see him too through Brienne's eyes. She just doesn't realise who it is she is seeing.

I mean, compare it to the worst kept secret of ASOIAF, that Jon Snow is the son of Lyanna and Rhaegar. Nowhere is it explicitly stated that he is, but the clues all add up. In the case of Sandor, we even get to see him and his horse! So he's hidden in plain sight, if you will. And he's not lying about it either, since he's not speaking.

As for "dying", the Elder Brother says this about himself:

"All in all, I was a sad man. When I was not fighting, I was drunk. My life was writ in red, in blood and wine"

"When did it change?" asked Brienne.

"When I died in the Battle of the Trident"

But as we know, the Elder Brother isn't dead. He died in a metaphorical sense and was reborn. And then he says to Brienne:

"I see." Brienne did not know why he was telling her all of this, or what else she out to say.

"Do you?" He leaned forward, his big hands on his knees. "If so, give up on this quest of yours, the Hound is dead..."

ok... again... my argument is not about clues, my argument is about the hound as a character. the hound is EXPLICITLY said to be dead, we're told that brienne can be taken to his grave if she wished. i concede to you that it is entirely possible that the hound is alive. my problem with that, is that because the hound is explicitly said to be dead, if he is in fact not dead, i would view that as a strong disservice to the character of sandor clegane. yes, there are many characters who are believed to be dead who are not. the difference is that those characters are not the hound. those characters have not voiced their displeasure with tales of knights, and valor, and fairy tale endings. you may be right, the hound may live, but i sincerely hope you are wrong, and quite frankly, the only way i could enjoy that turn of events would be for the pure irony of it. it would be like a joke on poor old sandor. ha! ha! you know how you hated these kinds of stories? guess what?

[Sylvan Fox]

ok... again... my argument is not about clues, my argument is about the hound as a character. the hound is EXPLICITLY said to be dead, we're told that brienne can be taken to his grave if she wished. i concede to you that it is entirely possible that the hound is alive. my problem with that, is that because the hound is explicitly said to be dead, if he is in fact not dead, i would view that as a strong disservice to the character of sandor clegane. yes, there are many characters who are believed to be dead who are not. the difference is that those characters are not the hound. those characters have not voiced their displeasure with tales of knights, and valor, and fairy tale endings. you may be right, the hound may live, but i sincerely hope you are wrong, and quite frankly, the only way i could enjoy that turn of events would be for the pure irony of it. it would be like a joke on poor old sandor. ha! ha! you know how you hated these kinds of stories? guess what?

Best start believing in knight's tales, Mr. Clegane, you're in one!

I don't know. Yeah, that would be a sort of "in yo face" to him, but I don't see anything wrong with that by itself. He doesn't believe in true knights, or fairy-tale stories, but it doesn't stop him from trying to actually behave like a decent person (eventually). So I could see him shooting for a fairy-tale ending that he doesn't even believe in, I suppose. Depending on what he does from here on out (if he is alive), it might not even be a fairytale ending. He could suffer more horrible stuff later.

[Lyanna Stark]

ok... again... my argument is not about clues, my argument is about the hound as a character. the hound is EXPLICITLY said to be dead, we're told that brienne can be taken to his grave if she wished. i concede to you that it is entirely possible that the hound is alive. my problem with that, is that because the hound is explicitly said to be dead, if he is in fact not dead, i would view that as a strong disservice to the character of sandor clegane. yes, there are many characters who are believed to be dead who are not. the difference is that those characters are not the hound. those characters have not voiced their displeasure with tales of knights, and valor, and fairy tale endings. you may be right, the hound may live, but i sincerely hope you are wrong, and quite frankly, the only way i could enjoy that turn of events would be for the pure irony of it. it would be like a joke on poor old sandor. ha! ha! you know how you hated these kinds of stories? guess what?

Hmm, not sure I see surviving as either knightly or unknightly. He sure thought he was dying and so did Arya, but apparently the Elder Brother thought differently. Unless he was suicidal, I assume he'd like to live more than he'd like to be dead. He doesn't seem to particularly sympathise with suicidal people before.

As for the "explicitly stated to be dead", the Elder Brother also explicitly said that he was dead himself. And we see that he is not....

Surviving also is no guarantee for a fairy tale ending. Out of the ashes, into the fire and all that. Sandor Clegane really has nowhere to go easily. He is wanted for the raids on Saltpans and the Lannisters generally view him as a traitor and a deserter for leaving Kings Landing. I'm fairly certain Lady Stoneheart would not be as merciful as Beric if she got her hands on him. So he can either remain at the Quiet Isle, or try to go across the narrow sea (easier said than done) or possibly join up with a faction at odds with the Lannisters and Tyrells, but even that is fraught with peril.

That's definitely not what I'd call "a fairy tale", but YYMV, of course. :)

Best start believing in knight's tales, Mr. Clegane, you're in one!

I don't know. Yeah, that would be a sort of "in yo face" to him, but I don't see anything wrong with that by itself. He doesn't believe in true knights, or fairy-tale stories, but it doesn't stop him from trying to actually behave like a decent person (eventually). So I could see him shooting for a fairy-tale ending that he doesn't even believe in, I suppose. Depending on what he does from here on out (if he is alive), it might not even be a fairytale ending. He could suffer more horrible stuff later.

Yes, it would be ironic, wouldn't it? :)

Whatever he does, it's certainly not going to be a walk in the park, from the looks of it. Geographically, he's rather near Kings Landing, the Riverlands and the Vale and assuming he doesn't want to lose his horse, he could go somewhere in that vicinity. But of course, he's also a wanted man in that area, so he'd need somewhere specific to go or towards a specific cause where he would be sheltered from accusation.

[Silvannister]

Hmm... I think there is a chance that the Hound might yet live, seeing that we never actually saw his death occur. We know from our experience with Davos that in aSoIaF you can't really trust that someone has died when your only confirmation is what another character says. Anywho, I hope he's still alive. He was somewhat of an acquired taste for me, but by the end he was def. one of my favorites. :)

[maidenfair]

I think the Hound is dead as we knew him in books 1-3. But I believe Sandor Clegane lives. He wanted to die as evident by his taunting of Arya to kill him. He said to Sansa that he lost "all". Now, whether we see Sandor again is up for debate. He either lives out his life on the Quiet Isle, or he re-emerges in some fashion a changed man. However, the perception of him by some of the narrators (other than Sansa) will probably not change. My belief (or maybe hope) is that he becomes the sworn shield of either Arya or Sansa or both. He's an action speaks louder than words kind of guy. He may redeem himself in the eyes of some Westeros folk, but I don't see a fairytale ending for him. Poor guy--I really like him.

[138FiendGirl138]

I have to agree with those who believe it's Sandor in the lychyard digging graves. Everything lines up perfectly with the exception of the Priest saying that he buried the body himself, etc. However I suppose he could be referring to "The Hound" aspect of Sandor 's personality. Think(hope!) this is the case. Until I see something 1st hand from a pov, I'm going to assume he is very much alive, digging graves