Why Did The Hound Have Soft Spots for The Stark Daughters.

[Le Cygne]

You should have seen me reading the series through each book as the web unfolded further and further.

The web, I like that. Oh, and there's this line, when he wants to align himself with Robb, my first thought was, to be closer to a certain pretty little bird, and there's that, but there's also the killing Gregor for the Starks thing:

"If this Young Wolf has the wits the gods gave a toad, he’ll make me a lordling and beg me to enter his service. He needs me, though he may not know it yet. Maybe I’ll even kill Gregor for him, he’d like that.”

[TheBull]

I think he saw his younger self in Sansa, back when he was idealistic and full of dreams, before his brother burned his face off and then became a knight.

It made him both want to lash out at her and protect her. I think his relationship with her also made him question who he is and what he's done. It didn't surprise me when he deserted after Blackwater.

I wouldn't say he has a soft spot for Arya. I think he likes her well enough.

[Night'sQueen]

Sandor both despised and was attracted to Sansa because of he could see her 'weakness' as being his own. Sandor was once an idealistic young boy who dreamed of being a knight and then his brother burned him and was never punished for it. In fact, Gregor was rewarded for being a monster by being knighted. Sandor became massively disillusioned by this.

People hate it when they can see their own perceived weaknesses in other people. Sandor wanted to punish Sansa for her naive and idealistic nature because Sandor was once punished for having these same qualities. At the same time he also wanted to to protect and save her from the awfulness of the world. So it is a pretty complicated dynamic going on there - on one hand it's "Wake up to yourself you stupid child" and on the other hand it's "There, there let me protect you". Plus I think he was just straight up attracted to her.

Same deal - in a way - with Arya. Sandor could see Arya railing against the injustices of her life and becoming bitter and angry yet determined and strong. Again, I think Sandor could see a lot of himself in Arya.

Basically I think Sandor saw in Sansa himself pre-burn and in Arya himself post-burn.

Well said. The last line summarizes it beautifully.

[Booknerd2]

Oh, the Hound couldn't avoid or cut off a connection to a Stark if he tried. And, I agree, he was seeking one out too with the whole I'll join up with Robb Stark thing.

I too believe it was for Sansa. I think he had this dream that if he could help Robb win, and they got Sansa back, he'd be on that side, and well, be able to see her again, or she would feel gratitude toward him, etc. Or who am I kidding? He wants Sansa back in his life.

Doesn't it almost sound like he wanted to fight for Robb, be his man on the Stark side, regain a purpose in life? Also. the way the Hound said it made it sound like he could give him advice and sort of be an advisor? "He needs me."

Arya was crushed after the RW obviously because she lost her mother and brother. The Hound's dreams of joining the Starks died to.

Their ride away from the RW and demeanor on the road after was depressing. They were both lost and hopeless. The Hound and Arya had even more in common now. Both their dreams and hopes died.

[wolfhound]

Hi only second post done hope this makes sense.

I think the hounds interactions with the stark girls is complicated and interwoven. I see the hound and Sandor are two sides of the same coin and both stark girls represent the one of the two sides. Sansa is sandor and Aryas the hound

The hounds transformation to Sandor begins with Sansa coming into his life as he starts being joffs unquestioning servent when we first see him but meeting sansa starts to change this. Sansas life is a mirror to sandors early life and i think he sees that and as a result feels conectred with her. Sansa was first naive and unseeing the real world when sandor first meets her and the hound has no more intrest in her than any other person but as she becomes more abused in kings landing he starts to see the simeralitrys. Sandor and sansas father were both murderd by people that both were helpless to not only do anythin about it but also had to publicly not say anything. As the abuse grew with sansa the hound is drawn to her as hes been there done that and begings to help her. This starts with advise but a his feelings grow for her he begins to become more active in helping her protecting her. As in the start he offers advise secretly to her with her dealings with joff to comply, later as he activly defeys joff by speaking out against them and starts to activly protect her by lying for her. Sandor i beleve actually genually cares for sansa by the time he leaves kings landing to the extent of love but he has never felt it before so is unable to show it in the way he means to. I think that theres a strong possibilty that sansas treatment not only reminds him of his own life but possibly at the treatment (im guessing) of his sister (hounds) which disappeard when he was young most lickly at hands of brother. Possibly this sister was the only true person who cared for sandor and saw through the scars and knew what he was going through as she true was being abused by the mountin. Mabey that Sansa reminds him of her possibly Arya too.

In Arya i think he sees alot of himself and this with the link to sansa i think he wants to protect her by teaching her like he did sansa. Arya and Sandor appear to me to have similar lives. Arya has the same anger and hatred and no outlet to do same as Sandor as a result Arya in bravos follows this same path a sandor (when he becomes a weapon for the lanisters) by joining causes and becoming a killer for not any cause of there own. Another simeralittry is that sandor is the way became no one by changing his face from sandor to the hound. Both of them are effectivly on there own during there developement and have seen great crulity in early life. Sandor and arya both have the fact both consider themselves not good looking as the hound knows he looks hidious and arya often thinks back to when people called her horse face and as such dont have any real romantic thoughts (the hound only appears to feel love (apart from love of horse stranger) when he gets to know sansa but that changes him back on path to becoming sandor again)

I believe that the connection with the stark girls is that they mirror both sides of sandor and the hound. Sansa is the young sandor where theres still good and love in the world or at least hope leading to abuse and the realisation that life is cruel and no ones there to help you but yourself. Rember that sandor once loved knights as his brother burnt him because he played wih his knight figure. i believe that sandor only hated knights when his brother who was a monster became one ending the illusion that they were all good similar to sansas thoughts. Arya is the start of the hound angry with out purpose, killing without question traviling alone in the world. So despite being totally diffent both stark girls do mirrior sandor/hounds life

[Le Cygne]

Their ride away from the RW and demeanor on the road after was depressing. They were both lost and hopeless. The Hound and Arya had even more in common now. Both their dreams and hopes died.

When he said "This thing about your mother", no need to look past their usual bravado to what was really going on between them, because it was right out in the open for once.

the hound only appears to feel love (apart from love of horse stranger) when he gets to know sansa but that changes him back on path to becoming sandor again

Nice post! I especially like this part. Even as the Hound, he never closed off his heart entirely, he loved Stranger. But Sansa made him Sandor again.

“You remember where the heart is?” What a loaded question, for both Arya and Sandor.

[RhaenysBee]

Because he fancied Sansa and wanted to ransom Arya. And if I want to over emotionalize things, he might have had a shade of sympathy for Arya, because he knew Sansa would approve and be grateful for it.

[ARYa_Nym]

In the basic sense you can say Arya is becoming like the Hound in that she kills people for hire but being a FM and doing what he did for the Lannisters beyond that are nothing alike.

Case in point when Arya wants to act like a butcher and kill all the guards the KM says that would be a sign of failure. So Arya said that she understands that she must not be like that. She's not learning to fight like him. The FM also have far more skills. Sandor only knew how to kill but a FM knows more than that.

The point of no one is the ability to be anyone and not have emotional ties that will interfere with the mission.

[Broken Fox]

Sandor's affection for Arya was obvious. If you couldn't see that I don't know what book you were reading. Not even worth debating.

[ARYa_Nym]

. Sandor and arya both have the fact both consider themselves not good looking as the hound knows he looks hidious and arya often thinks back to when people called her horse face and as such dont have any real romantic thoughts (the hound only appears to feel love (apart from love of horse stranger) when he gets to know sansa but that changes him back on path to becoming sandor again)

Sandor visited whores as told by Varys. He told Sansa something about a man needing a woman. He does have something resembling romantic thoughts for her. We don't know if he ever loved someone before or not.

Arya lack of interest is not because of her self perception. The desire simply is not there.

[Sansa_Stark]

so was sandor attracted to arya

that would make him a disgusting pedo by any standard

[Broken Fox]

Sansa's purity is what attracted The Hound. She represented everything he had lost and wanted to gain back. Lust was part of it but I don't think he would have gone through with it until she was older.

[ladyinblack]

The truth is I think Sansa babied/enabled him a bit. And he acted like an ass because of it. She was courteous and her sweet self despite his threats, cursing, ranting, drunkeness, acting a fool, etc. And in a way, I think he was dazzled that she didn't tell him to go f*** off and die at any time, after the way he acted towards her. She listened, was more courteous, tried to understand, talked to him, gave some more courtesy, and he was drawn to her. I think when he actually fell in love with her later, his gruffness got worse, like he was mad at himself and fighting if. You can tell in the dialogue changes during their later interactions. Also, he is/was self-destructive. When she didn't cut him off or ignore him over time, I think he acted worse around her like he was trying to get her pissed off, and then he realized how good she was. Anything he did or said that was caveman/brutish wasn't going to work. Not with her anyway.

So the biggest nail to the heart was saying the very worst things he could to her, and what does she do? She cups his cheek. IT was the last straw. Sure he was disappointed that he couldn't take it anymore and was trying to kiss her and get a pathetic song, but she does the nicest thing ever. I am not sure he thinks he deserves it in a way. He took off the cloak, gave it to her, and left. I am not sure his being upset that she wouldn't look at him was the hardest and most confusing thing for him at that moment. Deserting the Lannisters was a biggie too.

ANd it made it worse for him. Nothing he could say or do was going to make this young girl be rude to him. And her cutting him off would have been better for him and he could have understood it more. I think it drove him nuts...and wild for her.

He never got over her. Poor Arya had to deal with him on the road bringing her sister up all the time, because like any young idiot in love, he has to keep making references to Sansa. I am sort of surprised Arya didn't lose it and stab him just so she didn't have to hear his Sansa comments anymore. His last words to Arya are of Sansa, and for him, he probably thought they were his last thoughts when the fever set in.

The Hound speaks of Sansa so much because he admires her and feels guilt because he didn't save her. He didn't save her like he didn't save his sister. Can you imagine the atrocities that the Hound has witnessed & to some extent, participated in? He is haunted by more than fire.

At the same time, he is the guy you want to have by your side or on your side in KL or the war torn Riverlands--- he is smart & reads situations quickly.

And I do think he has a soft spot for the Stark girls

[a free shadow]

"No ser" and "Not a lady"

[chrisdaw]

Sandor 'protector of man' protects, that's what he does, that's the need he serves. Sansa and Arya gave both gave him opportunity to serve this need.

[ImpinAintEasy]

I definately think he started to care for Arya over time because he started to see some of himself in her. Particularly the stubbornness, the anger and the goodness under the armor

sansa is for sure a more complicated matter

• her "blind" devotion to Joffrey and revulsion to his burns
  
• he envys her innocense a little, i think
  
• definately physically attracted to her
  

poor sansa she missed her chance to live in the songs, she wanted a "true knight and good" and she was starring into his burnt face all along.

***Robert Baratheon Alert***

Gods, their children would be fierce!

More Wine!

[Ludd]

Sandor is not a bad guy at all.

He was a hired body guard and soldier and as such he was a killer, but no more so than any other similar guy including Ned and robb and the rest. He was more experienced sure but still a soldier pure and simple.

He obeyed orders.

Now one can assume that in the 7-10 years before the book starts, he had been obeying orders from a young Joffrey and saw him as his charge. Now as Joffrey became a teenager his real personality emerged, so I imaging it would only be a recent situation where he was asked to do dishonourable things. Before that the child Joffrey would not have caused too much grief.

Then there was Micah. Now Sandor was CLEARED of that charge (by battle). He was at the end of the day following ORDERS, and was told that the boy was a criminal who attacked the Prince. While it soes not suit today's moral code, many a child was executed, even 200 years ago, for petty theft, so Sandor was pretty much following normal rules.

Now it was on this forum that someone pointed out that Sandor's eyes glistened after Micah. We were left to assume with blood lust, but in reality they MIGHT have been tears. In other words he was disturbed by killing Micah. This plus his growing love for sansa and perhaps his disquiet at Joffrey's increasing insanity may have triggered a change

[MotherMerciless]

They are both very young

They are both innocent

They were both captives

They both suffered a huge loss

They both needed help.

With Sansa you can add to that some semblance of love and lust.

With Arya you can add to that financial interest AND the opportunity to join a new and better pack.

Sandor craves belonging to a group as a real hound would, he tired through his journey, tried pretty hard. The new pack will provide him with purpose, protection and strength in numbers.

[Arya kiddin']

Wolves are admired amongst the hounds. It is known.

[direwienerdog]

I think Sandor admires Arya's fearless attitude. She looks him right in the eye and isn't afraid.

Sansa reminds Sandor that there is still goodin the world.