Game of Thrones season 4 is typically regarded as one of the show's strongest seasons, especially for Sandor Clegane, a.k.a. "The Hound." Season 4 places a greater focus than ever on the Hound, played to perfection by Rory McCann, as he travels with Arya Stark (Maisie Williams), trying to bring her somewhere safe, despite the fact that the two hate each other. This dynamic makes for one of the best elements of the season and marks a highpoint in both characters' stories.
For the most part, season 4 of Game of Thrones adapts the second half of George R. R. Martin's third A Song of Ice and Fire novel, A Storm of Swords. Given that the season only tackles half of the book, the show ends up making some major changes when bringing the story to the screen. One such change involves the end of the Hound's arc, which is bizarre, given that, before this moment, the show seemed like it would stick with the Hound's ending from the books.
The Hound's book death
Towards the end of A Storm of Swords, the Hound and Arya cross paths with her old enemies, Polliver and the Tickler. When the two groups fight, Arya kills the Tickler, while Sandor takes out Polliver, but he suffers some grievous injuries during the battle. As Arya and the Hound continue their journey, his wounds become infected, and it becomes apparent that he won't last much longer.
A dying Sandor then asks Arya to kill him, putting him out of his misery. Despite his name appearing on Arya's "kill list," she ultimately refuses to end his life, and leaves him to die. As such, the last image book readers see of the Hound is him dying underneath a tree in the Trident, with Arya heading out on her way.
The Hound's Show "Death"
While Arya and the Hound's fight against Polliver (Andy Kellegher) takes place much earlier in the show than it does in the books, he still suffers from an infected wound later in the season after the duo are attacked by different figures from Arya's past, Rorge (Andy Beckwith) and Biter (Gerard Jordan). Similarly, Arya and the Hound dispatch their opponents, but Sandor is bit, resulting in an infection. As they travel together later in the season, Arya comments on how Sandor's injury is making him weaker, and she grows concerned at his refusal to treat it.
However, with Polliver and the Tickler (Anthony Morris) already dead, the Hound's season 4 storyline ends with a different fight, this time against a far more heroic character. After coincidentally bumping into Brienne of Tarth (Gwendoline Christie) and her squire, Podrick Payne (Daniel Portman), the two cross swords, clashing over who should "watch over" Arya. After a brutal battle, Brienne ultimately wins, leaving a weakened Sandor to die. From then on, his story plays out similarly to the books, with Arya refusing to mercy kill him, despite his pleas.
Despite giving Sandor an infected wound and addressing it several times afterwards, Game of Thrones ultimately does not use that wound to write Sandor out like his book exit. While the fight with Brienne proves to be more cinematic than a man succumbing to an infection, it still feels strange to even bring the infection into the show at all if it ultimately doesn't play the same role, unless it was to misdirect book readers so that the climactic duel would catch them off guard even more.
Is the Hound even dead in A Song of Ice and Fire?
Plenty of book readers are convinced that the Hound is actually still alive, and will show up in future A Song of Ice and Fire books. In addition to audiences never actually seeing him die, A Feast for Crows, the next book in the series after A Storm of Swords, plants some clues that he somehow survived. In fact, many readers are convinced that Brienne actually encounters the Hound on her travels, in the form of a gravedigger who meets his description.
Game of Thrones all but confirms this theory, bringing Sandor back into the show for season 6. Sandor is next seen living a peaceful life in a small village after a septon named Brother Ray (Ian McShane) found him and nursed him back to health. It seems like the Hound might finally embrace his peaceful side, but when the Brotherhood Without Banners massacres his found family, he once again falls into the trap of vengeance and violence. Ultimately, the Hound's story ends during Daenerys Targaryen's (Emilia Clarke) assault on King's Landing, when he overcomes two of his fears at the same time and leaps into the flames below, taking his brother, Gregor Clegane, aka "The Mountain" (Hafþór Júlíus Björnsson) down with him.
Perhaps Game of Thrones' including the Hound's infection, but ultimately not doing anything with it, subtly hints to book readers that, as they suspected, this is not how the Hound dies. The Hound's (fake) death coming from something other than the wound that (might have) killed him in the book could clue astute readers into the fact that it takes more than an infection to take down Sandor Clegane, and, as the show eventually proves, he'll be back in action before long.
For more from the world of Westeros, make sure to catch season 3 of House of the Dragon. New episodes air Sundays on HBO and HBO Max.
Add us as a preferred source on Google