History
Sandor Clegane was born into House Clegane, a minor house sworn to the Lannisters. When he was young, he borrowed one of his older brother’s toys. The brother, Gregor Clegane, didn’t like that, so he pushed Sandor’s head into an open flame and gave him a disfiguring facial scar and an enduring fear of fire. They’re not close.
As Sandor grew up, he gained a reputation as a ferocious fighter and a morally flexible human being. He served Prince Joffrey Baratheon for years, and was eventually put onto Joffrey’s Kingsguard, all without ever becoming a knight. But he was mostly in it for the violence, and abandoned his post when Tyrion brought wildfire into the mix. “Fuck the king,” pretty much sums up Sandor’s views on loyalty.
Now masterless, Sandor wandered the countryside trying to figure out his next move. He lucked out when he came into contact with Arya Stark, whom he abducted and tried to ransom to her mother Catelyn, and later to her aunt Lysa after Catelyn died horribly. During the resulting road trip, Sandor opened up to Arya about his past, revealing a lot of the pain under his gruff exterior. It was moving stuff, but not so moving that Arya didn’t lift the Hound’s purse and leave him for dead after Brienne pushed him off a cliff.
Happily, Sandor was found by the wandering Brother Ray before he perished, and decided to get some R&R by working with Brother Ray to build a new Sept in the middle of a verdant, extremely vulnerable valley. That community was attacked by rogue members of the Brotherhood Without Banners, everyone but Sandor died, and he swore revenge, as happens a lot on this show. After murdering the hell out of those responsible, he joined up with the actual Brotherhood.
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Status
Last we saw him, Sandor Clegane was heading north with the Brotherhood Without Banners, assumedly so he could fight with them against the White Walkers. It’s a noble goal, but Sandor still has a lot of rage in him. He could have a reckoning with Arya, who left him for dead at the end of season 4. He could have a rematch with Brienne, who put him in a position where Arya could leave him for dead in the first place. And above all, there’s his brother Gregor, whom Sandor has wanted to kill for a very long time.
What will the Hound do in Game of Thrones season 8? Get hype.