The Quiet Isle is NOT a "Happy Ending" for Sandor Clegane
I’ve touched on this here and there before, but I felt I should streamline my thoughts into one standalone post…
I have seen it suggested, whilst discussing the Gravedigger Theory, that it’s fitting because this is the “happy ending” for Sandor that seems to elude so many other characters in the ASOIAF series.
The Quiet Isle is NOT a happy ending for Sandor. That’s not to say it isn’t a GOOD thing or NECESSARY. Just like rehab was necessary for Robert Downey, Jr., for example. Without it, he could not have become Iron Man! But that’s just the thing – imagine if RDJ had gone to rehab, at the age of 36, and never come out again.
And that’s just where Sandor is now. He’s getting his shit together, he’s doing his penance so that he can come out of it a better person and a productive member of society. Do you REALLY think a man like him, in the prime of his life (he’s barely 30 at this point), is going to willingly spend the rest of his days in servitude with a bunch of monks?? Sounds like a pretty shitty ending for such an intriguing and fierce character to me.
Sandor Clegane is not useless. He’s not just a mindless thug like everyone in Westeros seems to assume. On the contrary, he has shown himself to be a quick thinker (diffusing escalating situations between Sansa and Joffrey, getting out of several tricky scraps in his travels with Arya), resourceful (he has great survival skills and knows how to tend to wounds), and he has leadership qualities (led sorties during the BoBW). Not to mention his uncanny ability to blend in and remain inconspicuous at will. Even if he emerges from the QI no longer able to fight himself due to his leg injury, he could certainly be a great commander, or, at the very least, train an army. Hell, even Cersei says that, if he had stayed in King’s Landing, she would have made him master-at-arms! He was already the King’s sword shield and a member of the Kingsguard, without ever having taken a knight’s oath. Seems like he managed to do pretty well for himself even when he WAS still a bitter rage monster. Imagine how much he could contribute after getting some much-needed therapy on the Quiet Isle. But he needs to LEAVE in order to do so.
But the worst part of all? This statement by Elder Brother:
“He did not love, nor was he loved himself.”
Depressing as this statement is on its own, it becomes even MORE heartbreaking when you realize that there is ABSOLUTELY someone out there that he could love whom could ABSOLUTELY love him back, and that someone is currently being held prisoner just a hop, skip, and jump at the Gates of the Moon thinking about how no one will ever love or marry HER for herself! What a GODDAMN TRAGEDY for him (and her) if he just decided to hang out on the Quiet Isle for the rest of his life without having the chance to experience that.
And no, his happy ending does not also include “Cleganebowl”. Apologies to the fanboys, but Cleganebowl already happened – at the Hand’s Tourney in Book 1. If Sandor emerged from the Quiet Isle still seeking vengeance on Gregor, then really, what was the point of him being there at all? It would be like if RDJ left rehab and immediately snorted an eight ball. Besides, Gregor is not even really Gregor anymore; likewise, the “Hound” is dead. Both brothers are not the same people they were before (Gregor is barely even a person at all), so for Sandor to continue to seek vengeance is pointless. That’s not to say that Sandor couldn’t have something to do with Ser Robert Strong’s downfall, but wouldn’t it be more fitting (and interesting) if it were more an act of MERCY than one of revenge?
Then there’s Stranger, AKA Driftwood. Apparently, the QI bros have tried, and failed, to geld him. I would love to believe that this extends to his master too - they might be able to “gentle the rage inside him”, but hopefully he will retain that fierceness that even Sansa considered a positive attribute.
I’ll leave you now with these words from Beric Dondarrion:
(Neither, I hope, is GRRM!)
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