So last time we saw Sandor Clegane on Game of Thrones, the TV adaptation of George R.
R. Martin's Song of Ice and Fire, he is left for dead by Arya Stark with wounds sustained
in his brutal and really quite gratuitous fight with Brienne of Tarth
– a fight which, in the books, never happened – the injuries that put down the
Hound were actually from the fight at the Crossroads Inn
but in any case we are led to believe that Sandor Clegane is dead.
However we don't actually see him die. There's a theory, known as the Gravedigger
theory, that the Hound not only lives, but appears in a Brienne chapter of A Feast For
Crows – after his supposed death in A Storm Of Swords.
So what actually happens in that chapter, and why does it suggest that Sandor Clegane is alive? In
this chapter, Brienne and companions are trying to find the Hound in the belief that
he has Sansa Stark – he actually has – or had – Arya – but either way Brienne swore an oath
to find the both of them for their mother Catelyn. The point is that Brienne and co.,
while searching for the Hound, pass through a small island in the Riverlands called the Quiet Isle, which is inhabited
by brothers of the Faith of the Seven who have made vows of silence. So Brienne talks
with the Elder Brother, the only man on the island allowed to speak (in, by the way, what
amounts to a hobbit hole) and the Elder Brother tells her, to her surprise, that the Hound
is already dead. He says that he came across the dying Sandor, nursed him until his death,
and buried him. He then talks for a bit about the nature of the Hound, about the Hound's
horse, who is now in the brothers' stable, and about himself. Brienne tells the Brother
her life story, reaffirms her vow to find Arya and/or Sansa, and the chapter ends.
How is this interpreted to suggest that the Hound is still alive? It's in the details.
So, the Elder Brother does say that "the Hound is dead". But when telling his own story,
the Elder Brother also says that he himself "died in the Battle of the Trident". This
is obviously not a literal death but a metaphorical death – the end of one identity and the emergence
of another, which for the Elder Brother involved a spiritual awakening which took him to the
Faith and to the Quiet Isle – what he calls his "second life". So the fact that the Elder
Brother talks about life and death in this metaphorical sense calls into question his
saying that Sandor Clegane is dead – maybe it too is a metaphorical death. Well – actually
the Elder Brother only ever says the Hound is dead, that "the man you hunt" is dead.
The most he'll say about Sandor Clegane is that he's "at rest". So what the Elder Brother
could be getting at is that the hateful, violent part of Sandor Clegane,
called the Hound, is metaphorically dead, leaving Sandor Clegane "at rest", and most importantly for us,
literally alive. If he's alive, though, where is he? Well,
on the way up the Quiet Isle, Brienne sees a brother digging graves who matches Sandor
pretty much perfectly. Firstly, he's described as being "bigger than Brienne". Brienne is
"huge", "well over six feet tall" according to George R. R. Martin. The Hound is one of the few people
in Westeros who is, or may be, bigger. Secondly, the man is described as being "lame" and "half-crippled",
Sandor could well be lame given his leg was seriously injured at the Crossroads Inn, as was the rest of him, really. Thirdly, Brienne
sees the gravedigger pausing his work to scratch a dog's ear. It makes sense that Sandor would
show affection for the animal that is his sigil, and it's a nice little symbolic hint
that the gravedigger has some connection with hounds. Finally, the gravedigger is said to
be a novice of the brothers, which he would be if he was
a recently-joined brother of the Quiet Isle. One other important detail is that many of
the brothers at Quiet Isle wear "lengths of wool [around their] lower halves of their faces"
along with robes, so that "all that [can] be seen of them are their eyes". What this means is
that the distinctive features of the Hound, i.e. the disfiguring burns on his face, wouldn't
be seen or recognised by Brienne, her companions, or anyone else. So this gravedigger is suspiciously like Sandor Clegane.
A final piece of evidence involves the Hound's horse, named Stranger. The horse is known
to have an extremely violent temperament, biting and kicking anyone who isn't Sandor.
The brothers at Quiet Isle are no exception – Stranger broke one brother's shin and bit
an ear off another. So, if we are to believe that Sandor Clegane really did literally die,
how on Earth – or on whatever the hells kind of planet a Song of Ice and Fire is set on – did the Elder Brother
get Stranger to the Quiet Isle? What makes it really implausible is the nature of the
path to Quiet Isle. When Brienne and companions are taken to the Isle, we see what Septon
Meribald calls "The path of faith". It's apparently the only way to the Isle, and it's a maze-like
unmarked natural path "at least a mile and a half" long across an expanse of mud where you
have to be "careful where [you] set [your] feet" or you'll be swallowed by quicksand, or end up
drowning when the tide comes in. It's so dangerous that when Septon Meribald leads Brienne and
co. across, he has to periodically stop and poke the ground ahead with his staff to find
safe passage. Can we really believe that the Elder Brother, on his own, took such a wild
and dangerous horse on such a treacherous path? Why would the Elder Brother even risk
trying? What makes far more sense is that while the Hound metaphorically dies, Sandor
Clegane is literally – well, and metaphorically – healed by the Elder Brother – who, by the
way, is said to have miraculous healing hands – so the one man who can control Stranger walks the
"path of faith" with the Elder Brother in relative safety, and becomes a novice of the
brothers. It seems likely that the Elder Brother becomes a friend or mentor to Sandor, as this
would explain the deep knowledge the brother has of his nature
So there you go. There is pretty compelling textual evidence, or strong hints, at least,
that Sandor Clegane is still alive, living as a monk of sorts on Quiet Isle and possibly
atoning for a life of violence, just as the Elder Brother is atoning for his career as
a soldier. It gives a really satisfying, if entirely implicit, conclusion to his character
arc. Because Sandor is a significant and complex character. Unlike his brother, who seems a
simple beast to the core, Sandor has some sensitivity, some humanity,
which he hides behind a quite literal mask of thoughtless animalistic aggression
– the Hound. It's not entirely unlike Tyrion and dwarfism – "never forget what you are ... wear it like armor" –
but it's rather more like Slim Shady and Marshall Mathers, if I can use that analogy with a
straight face. Aggression to hide emotional insecurity, y'know? Anyway
so Sandor has two identities, burned and unburned, hound
and man, brutal and kind, fearless
and fearful, fire and ice, and this conflict hurts him,
driving him to drinking and disregard for his own life.
Arya leaves the Hound for dead, and in a way, the Hound does die. The Elder Brother helps
Sandor exorcise his darker half, remove the Hound helmet for good, and find peace, and
"rest", at the Quiet Isle. This is why the Elder Brother lies to Brienne, or
at least chooses to be a tad indirect with the truth.
It's understandable that the Elder
Brother would want to protect his new novice, this
man who he has worked to enlighten, and with whom he probably identifies with given their
similar pasts. It's funny, in a way. The "worst shit in the
Seven Kingdoms" is one of the only characters in the Song of Ice and Fire to get a happy
ending, while the honourable men and the heroic men are are killed and discredited. There's
no justice in the "game of thrones" – wrongdoers not only get away with their crimes, but often
end up better off than the good guys. The gravedigger theory can be seen as consistent
with that theme. One last thing – and this is where show watchers
should stop watching this video spoiler warning, spoiler warning, spoiler warning – it's kind
of obligatory at this point to recognise that many fans of A Song of Ice and Fire not only believe that
Sandor is alive on Quiet Isle but expect him to return to King's Landing to confront his
now undead and possibly headless brother Robert Strong in Cersei's trial by combat. This theory,
or rather this wild, fanboyish speculation, is known as Cleganebowl. Oh, excuse me, er, it's
known as CLEGANEBOWL.
The evidence for cleganebowl doesn't extend far beyond
'it would be like, totally awesome man'. While it's true that Sandor Clegane has wanted to
kill his brother for some time, what we've learned at Quiet Isle strongly suggests he's
gotten over that hatred. Sandor has put down his helm, put down his sword, put down his anger and found peace
as a monk, a crippled monk on a secluded island far from King's Landing. How and why would
he want to fight in the trial? Why would anyone let him be the champion of the faith, monk
or not? Why would he not be executed the day he walks into King's Landing given that the last
time he was there he abandoned the king he was sworn to protect? "Fuck the king". There's
just no compelling evidence, so Cleganebowl has to be considered a distant possibility at best,
albeit a totally awesome one. So yeah. That's Cleganebowl, and that's the Gravedigger
theory. I hope you enjoyed this video. If you're interested, a video explaining the
deal with Robert Strong is a possibility, among others. So let me know. Either way, you
can definitely expect more A Song of Ice and Fire fan theory videos fairly soon. If you can't wait, check
out these sites for what's probably the best A Song of Ice and Fire discussion and analysis on the Internet.
I'd like to make very clear that I don't claim credit for coming up with these theories.
I may add my own ideas, but they are ultimately a collective effort, notably by the users
of these sites. So there are now Facebook
and Twitter pages for this channel if you're into that sort of thing, where you can be notified of new
videos or whatever else is going on. Finally, I'd like to sincerely thank everyone who has
watched and subscribed and shared and left comments over the past week. These videos
exist because of your support, so – thank you.