When Game of Thrones begins, the Hound is nothing more than a hired thug for the Lannisters' movers and shakers, including Cersei Lannister (Headey), her conniving father Tywin (Dance), and Cersei's tyrannical son Joffrey (Jack Gleeson). After Joffrey is crowned king and Cersei becomes the queen regent, the Hound is technically assigned to protect the young king. More often than not, however, he defies orders to help those in need, including Joffrey's abused fiancée Sansa Stark.
After seeing a man burned alive at the battle of Blackwater Bay triggers the Hound's crippling, childhood-trauma-based fear of fire, he deserts the Lannisters, eventually teaming up with the young, feisty Arya Stark as she tries to get back to any living members of her family. The Hound loses Arya, though, after a knock-down, drag-out fight with Brienne of Tarth (Gwendoline Christie) over Arya's guardianship, and Arya leaves him for dead, putting the Hound's fate in flux.
Ultimately, the Hound teams up with several of the show's heroes to fight both the Lannisters and the White Walkers, but he still has one singular goal in mind: To kill his brother, the monstrous Gregor Clegane, also known as "The Mountain." Fans waited years for a face-off between the brothers, referred to as "Cleganebowl," and in the show's penultimate episode, the two finally duke it out, only to fall to their deaths in a fiery inferno as King's Landing burns. The Hound may have died in the process, but at least he achieved his life-long goal.
