What's wrong with Sandor Clegane?

[the trees have eyes]

Sandor's relationship with Sansa and Arya shows some interesting parallels. As a little boy he was fascinated by knights and chivalry. As was Sansa. He then becomes a killer. As did Arya. Later he becomes disillusioned by the falsity behind knighthood, and Sansa is also forced to deal with reality. Sandor has his near-death experience and somehow sets his Hound persona aside. Can that mean that Arya will have a Quiet Isle-type moment where she decides to turn away from violence?

OK, a bit off topic.

Edited to insert a left-out line.

We have yet to see this. He may be digging graves at The Quiet Isle but he has a choice between turning brigand, working for his keep (as he did in the village on the road to the Eyrie) or accepting charity - in this case from the monks. Stranger still acts as before which hints one way, Septon Merribald may have left his helm on his "grave" which hints the other but we don't know what sort of Hound will emerge. Even if he wants to turn over a new leaf will the world allow him to do so? He had to leave that village because the people didn't want someone of his reputation - likely to bring trouble he was told. Whether it's someone goading him as the puppy who ran away (like the drunken squire in the inn), someone looking to boast of defeating a dangerous opponent like he is known to be, people looking to arrest him for deserting the KG or just for a bit of payback he is likely to find trouble wherever he goes. Attack is the best means of defence and his snarling intimidation is likely to serve him just as well now as before.

I think that's a really good point, and all three, Sandor, Sansa, and Arya, are tied together, like the OP said, too.

I think Arya and Sandor are in some ways headed in opposite directions, and tied to "the human heart in conflict with itself" theme, and this is reflected in the "where the heart is" line. His heart opened up for Sansa, he found someone, and Arya's heart is closing off, she lost everyone. But it doesn't have to stay that way for Arya. Interesting in the recent interview, GRRM says she's not an assassin yet.

Arya got closure when she decided not to kill him. Their stories were tied together from AGOT through ASOS but I don't think they need to be any more. She did not give up Needle ("Needle was Jon's Snow's smile" etc..): if she does that she truly will be lost but she still has that much of herself. There is still hope.

[Le Cygne]

Arya got closure when she decided not to kill him. Their stories were tied together from AGOT through ASOS but I don't think they need to be any more. She did not give up Needle ("Needle was Jon's Snow's smile" etc..): if she does that she truly will be lost but she still has that much of herself. There is still hope.

I agree with the second part, I love the Arya-Jon Snow connection. But I don't think Arya and the Hound are through. They both have this tie to Sansa that I think will play out. It could have been anyone involved in Arya's story this way, but it was him.

So back to the OP who stated Sandor treated Sansa and Arya well and seems like a good guy (somewhat):

From what I've seen he doesn't pose a single threat to them at all and has treated them well, he helps Arya and keeps her safe especially at the Red Wedding, he even offered Sansa a trip back HOME. I just don't understand why Arya doesn't like him, have I missed something? He seems like a good guy to me...somewhat.

From the Sansa and Arya POVs:

Sansa's a Hound fan and she seems to care about him quite a bit: she wishes he was there, thinks about him often, sees him as her protector, hears his voice, remembers what he says, wonders how he's doing, keeps his cloak with her fine things, compares him to other men favorably, even imagines kissing him repeatedly, twice in her last chapter.

He seems to view himself much more harshly than Sansa does. He feels badly that he scared her when he was traumatized by the fire and that he botched the rescue attempt. She doesn't hold that against him, she knows it happened, but says she understands what was going on that night, that he was afraid of the fire, and wishes he was there or that she had gone with him.

Arya's not a Hound fan, but she stayed with him, defended him from attackers, tended to his wounds after he passed out, and couldn't bring herself to kill him. She couldn't forgive him for killing Mycah, but came to know him better. Perhaps that's why she left him off her list and tried to talk herself out of killing him ("I wouldn't have to kill him").

He's a scary guy, and a mess, too, but he lets them challenge him, and they do. Both came to the same conclusion, that he's "rough-tongued" but wasn't going to hurt them. And in fact, he protected them both very well, risking his own life to do so. So yes, he's been somewhat of a good guy to them. One of them realizes it, the other is still conflicted about him.

[Christina Ceriddwynn]

OK lots of reading and multiple Sansa pages.....

In a nutshell, my humble opinion:

The Hound was a, to be blunt, horrible person at the beginning of the book.

With the description of his character by others, one would've thought he literally WAS a dog. He was never described in terms used for a human.

This I believe was by design.

Throughout the books, he slowly, slowly evolves from a psychopathic remorseless animal to a remorseful human with emotions. This isn't a dramatic change, it isn't an instant change. It is slow, subtle.

I will agree yes he was a horrid brute and probably didn't feel remorse for Micah...at first.

This is where his interactions with Sansa come into play. She was a catalyst for something new.

For whatever reason, she triggered something within him. Now change is scary. VERY few out there handle change with calm and grace.

A brutal animal is going to fight against this change, it will defend what it is, what it was. When its existance is threatened, when backed into a corner, an animal becomes ferocious and violently fights. The HOUND was fighting for its existance against the MAN within.

He never saw himself as being a man. A human. he refers to himself as a dog. Suddenly, he is starting to think maybe he is. Naturally, his psyche is going to fight against this. The old saying "The lady doth protest too much" comes into play. At some point in the book, the reader has to wonder if he is trying to convince these little girls....or himself...that he is this badass killer.

His breaking point comes at the end, with Arya. This is when he becomes a man. Now his deathbed confession about Sansa, to me, has always meant to be taken as "I should've fucked her bloody and ripped out her heart BEFORE leaving her for the imp" as in...he most likely knew what happened to Tyrion's first wife. Also, it is something HIS BROTHER would've done. Didn't Gregor pretty much do that to Elia??

He is, in a way, trying to say he is no better than Gregor so it could be taken as a statement of self-loathing.

Basically, his confessions, are about his failures. He knows he should've spared Micah. He knows he should've helped Sansa more. Saved Ned. He has regrets...and regrets for his actions are what tranforms him from the animal to the man.

This is obviously up to the reader's interpretation and this is just mine so yes I am sure many would disagree.

The Elder Brother, with the whole "I died on the Trident...the Hound is dead" speech drives home the ANIMAL is dead...the DOG is dead...and the MAN is born.