Brienne, Sandor, Lem & The Hound: Identity Games?

[ChillyPolly]

Is GRRM setting us up for some identity games involving Lem, Brienne & Sandor? The similarities between these 3 people are remarkable to begin with, and seem to increase as the story progresses.

PART A. SANDOR

(1) We see him most often through the eyes of Sansa - who however habitually avoids looking at his face, has an unreliable memory, and has already mistaken the voice of another for that of Sandor.

(2) Habitually wears, and is recognized by, a distinctive Hound helm, which, however, anyone can wear.

(3) Known for riding a distinctive black stallion named Stranger. However, it is conceivable that others could ride this same horse.

(4) Hints at the possibility that his face may have been partially healed by the Elder Brother, or at least altered as a result of new facial injuries.

(5) The Elder Brother strongly hints that Sandor is no longer the Hound. Meanwhile, the Hound persona has moved on without him, and has been seen in the persons of Rorge, and then Lem.

(6) If he continues in his role as Novice, Sandor will be keeping silent and wearing a hood as well as a wool scarf across the lower half of his face. (Meanwhile, the upper half of his face has been re-injured, and re-healed).

(7) Sansa thought that the rage in Sandor’s eyes was one of his most noticeable and frightening features, even worse than his ravaged face. However, according to the Elder Brother, Sandor is now at peace.

PART B. BRIENNE

(1) Obviously built like a man, but has never deliberately used this to impersonate a man, despite the obvious advantages for avoiding rape, recognition, and harassment. It is not hard to guess that this is being saved for some future plot twist.

(2) Brienne is known for her blue cloak. However, anyone can wear a blue cloak.

PART C. LEM

(1) Known by, and named for, his distinctive yellow cloak. However, anyone can wear a yellow cloak.

(2) True name and identity unknown.

PART D. LEM & BRIENNE & SANDOR

(1) All 3 are quite large and brawny, and while Lem’s height is never specified, he may be approximately the same height as the other two.

PART E. SANDOR & BRIENNE

(1) Both appear to be about 29 years of age (Brienne seems to have aged 10 years, when last seen).

(2) Have approximately the same height: maybe about 6'9" or 6'10", with Sandor being evidently a bit taller and somewhat more bulky.

(3) Both have suffered injuries affecting one half of their face, with flesh missing.

(4) Both have suffered a serious injury to the forearm (Brienne a broken forearm; Sandor a seriously burned forearm).

(5) Both have suffered a sword wound across the upper thigh.

(6) Brienne has blue eyes, Sandor grey eyes, which might be hard to distinguish depending upon the light.

(7) Sandor is known for riding Stranger; Brienne knows where to find Stranger. Sandor is missing one ear. Stranger is known for biting ears off blond people who approach him. Brienne is also known for biting off ears.

(8) Sandor is known for a raspy voice. Brienne was being hanged last time she was seen in her own POV, potentially causing throat injuries.

(9) Last known to have been traveling with a “lad” of 10-12 years of age.

PART F. BRIENNE & THE ELDER BROTHER

(1) Brienne has a shield painted with a design resembling that of Dunk. GRRM has hinted that we would meet a descendent of Dunk in AFFC, who many assume to be Brienne, though for various reasons this is unlikely. Another candidate is the Elder Brother, in whose company Sandor was last seen. It is conceivable, therefore, that when next seen, Sandor will be wearing Dunk’s arms, thereby confusing the reader.

PART G. BRIENNE & LEM

(1) Both have crooked teeth.

(2) Brienne has a large broken nose, badly healed; Lem’s large nose was broken by Arya, and it healed badly.

(3) Brienne & Lem both have thick lips.

PART H. LEM AND SANDOR

(1) Lem was last seen wearing the Hound’s helm.

(2) Both are known for profanity and ultra-cynical personalities.

PART I. SANSA’S RECOGNITION SKILLS

(1) Known for her ability to recognize people by their emblems and superficial features (she does this with Barristan & Renly); perhaps less skilled with actual faces.

(2) Known for her ability to look without seeing; especially when looking at something she does not want to see. For instance, when Joffrey makes her look at Dad & Septa’s heads, she is able to look without seeing, and tells herself it does not look like her Dad at all. When she sees Joffrey truly for the first time, she notices for the first time that he has fat wormy lips, which she never noticed before (recall that Lem and Brienne both have fat lips).

PART J. BRIENNE’S UNDEAD FORESHADOWINGS

(1) When last seen in her POV, Brienne was being hanged. When next seen thereafter, in Jaime’s POV, she looks terrible, and seems to be doing something the living Brienne would never do – luring Jaime into a trap.

(2) Bran’s dream involves a “shadow” with the terrible face of a Hound. That this “shadow” is not Sandor is implied by its being a contemporary of what seems to be Robert Strong (the giant in armor made of stone), who appears after the Hound and Sandor have parted ways. Meanwhile the terms “shadow” and “shade” are used to refer to undead creatures; for instance “

(3) Brienne briefly wears as her shield the ill-omened Black Bat of Lothston.

(4) Brienne, particularly as her hanging approached, is plagued by death dreams, in which her companions are the dead.

(5) Jaime’s weirwood-stump dream seems to depict Brienne’s soul trapped in a sort of underworld. That it is her soul and not her body he sees is implied by the fact that she seems to have more of a woman’s shape. She is in chains, suggesting a soul in chains.

(6) Brienne dreams of a scene in which a man who at first seems to be Renly, but who is not Renly, leads her horse. She calls to him, and he turns to her, and a “shadow” slays him by slashing his throat, which implies that the “shadow” struck from her direction.

(7) Brienne dreams of being menaced by a legendary monster or villain associated with the enslavement and animation of the dead.

(8) GRRM has implied, in interviews, that when characters like Catelyn come back from the dead, they are no longer fully human, and hence no longer have POVs. Brienne did not have a POV in ADWD, and it is yet to be confirmed that she will have one in TWOW.

(9) In interviews, GRRM has stated that we have seen certain patters (loss of humanity plus focus on oaths or missions) in certain characters (plural) besides Beric who have returned from death. This presumably refers to Catelyn and at least one other person (besides Beric). Who else have we seen come back from the dead, showing loss of humanity and focus on mission, if not Brienne?

(10) Also connecting with the above is the fact that Brienne is very much driven by focus on oaths and missions in life. In particular, we see her oath, which she repeats three times, to slay Stannis with Renly’s own sword. This mission is reflected again in her final scream, which GRRM has confirmed was “sword” signifying an agreement to “take the sword and kill the kingslayer”.

(11) Ser Bonifer tells Jaime that the undead (“shades, wights and revenants”) cannot harm a pious man who armors himself in his faith. Thereafter, Jaime repeatedly refuses to armor himself in his faith. For instance, he rejects Lancel’s calls to repentance. Later, he encounters Brienne or an apparition of Brienne, then disappears, his fate unknown.

(12) Ser Hyle Hunt tells Brienne her lips were made for kissing. Does this foreshadow her receiving the kiss of fire? Brienne had last been seen in the company of both Thoros and Lady Stoneheart, both of whom may possibly be capable of performing this deed.

PART K. JAIME’S UNDEAD FORESHADOWINGS

(1) Another of the “shadows” in Bran’s dream is a shadow in golden armor shining like the sun. This could be an undead version of Jaime.

(2) In another of Bran’s dreams, he sees monsters who used to be lions, but have now become twisted and evil. Could one of these be Jaime?

(3) Brienne/Unbrienne has sworn to slay Jaime, but also to keep him safe, seeing him safely to King’s Landing. How to resolve this conflict, if not by the kiss of fire?

(4) Jorah’s tale of the ghost grass from the Shadowlands beyond Asshai, which murders and replaces the living grass until it covers the entire earth at which point all life ends: Does this foreshadow a progressive Red Zombie plague?

(5) Jaime told Lancel he would not worship the 7 if they would not give him a new hand. Will R’hllor give him an animated golden hand as part of his red zombie animation?

(6) In the Volonquar prophesy, the Valonquar strangles Cersei with his/its hands (plural).

(7) Cersei has a vision of Jaime returning to Kings Landing.

(8) Every time Jaime wants to kill someone, his phantom hand twitches. Does this, together with his mantra about Lancel and Kettleblack and Moonboy, foreshadow a murderous rampage after R’hllor gives him a new hand?

(9) Lancel dreamed that Jaime would come to kill him. Was this vision wrong? Or was it delayed until Jaime gets his new hand.

(10) It is hinted that Qyburn (creator of Franken-Gregor) may have used extraordinary methods to heal Jaime’s stump. Surely that cannot be good, in the long run. It seems to parallel the sinister healing of Victarions arm by Moqorro.

(11) An animated golden hand would be perfect for holding a red-hot flaming sword. Meanwhile, Jaime is obviously pre-occupied with savior fantasies, making him the perfect candidate for a dark demonic version of Azor Ahai (who, to my mind, is not necessarily the same as The Prince That Was Promised)..