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| “ | House Clegane was built upon dead children. I saw them lay Prince Aegon and Princess Rhaenys before the Iron Throne. | „ |
| ~ Thoros of Myr |
| “ | Be glad the gods made seven hells. One would never be enough to hold both of the Cleganes. | „ |
| ~ Jaime Lannister to Bonifer Hasty. |
| “ | Ser Gregor has served us well. No other knight in the realm inspires such terror in our enemies. | „ |
| ~ Tywin Lannister to Tyrion Lannister. |
House Clegane are major antagonists in the A Song of Ice and Fire novel series and its television adaptation, Game of Thrones. Located in the Westerlands, it is a house of landed knights who serve House Lannister of Casterly Rock as one of its primary bannermen. Their lands are located southeast of Lannisport, and their seat is called Clegane's Keep, according to a semi-canon source. The sigil of House Clegane are three black hounds on a yellow background, which represents the three hounds that saved Lord Tytos Lannister from a mountain lioness.
As of now in the novels, House Clegane possibly went extinct, as Gregor Clegane died from poison by Prince Oberyn Martell, while Sandor Clegane, a former Kingsguard and now an oathbreaker and deserter, presumably died from infected wounds following a fight at the Crossroads Inn. No mention of other living Cleganes and relatives has ever been made so far. It is unknown if whoever currently holds Clegane's Keep and its garrison is a member of the family. In the TV series, House Clegane went extinct during the bloody and destructive Battle of King's Landing.
History[]
| “ | Killing is the sweetest thing there is. | „ |
| ~ Sandor Clegane |
The founder of House Clegane, who is the grandfather of Gregor Clegane and Sandor Clegane, served as the kennelmaster at Casterly Rock. When Lord Tytos Lannister was attacked by a lioness, Clegane arrived and saved him at the cost of a leg and all three of his hounds. Thankful for being rescued, Tytos granted lands and a towerhouse to his kennelmaster as a reward.
At some point, the First Clegane's son, who is the father of Gregor and Sandor, died in a hunting accident, while the latter two's sister died of unknown circumstances. Following his father's death, Gregor, who is the eldest son, became the head of House Clegane. Ser Gregor Clegane, being a vile, sadistic, and short-tempered butcher, exhibits traits of dishonorable cruelty and often commits violent atrocities, which were mirrored by his own men, who are called the Mountain's Men.
Because of this and the hypocrisy surrounding the honor of Knighthood, Gregor's younger brother Sandor (or the Hound) never became a knight himself, as he refused to take a knight's vows so that he'd not be associated with his brother, who was knighted by Prince Rhaegar Targaryen, the eldest son of King Aerys II Targaryen. Gregor's receiving of knighthood proved to be strongly controversial, as many saw it as a hypocritical mockery of justice.
During Robert's Rebellion, as King's Landing was sacked by Lord Tywin Lannister and his forces, Gregor and a landed knight, Ser Amory Lorch, brutally murdered Rhaegar's children, Princess Rhaenys and Prince Aegon, while Gregor raped their mother, Princess Elia Martell, before killing her as well. Consequently, this earned House Lannister the hatred of Dorne and its ruling house of House Martell, whose ruling prince, Doran Martell, and his brother, Prince Oberyn, began plotting for revenge against the Lannisters and restore House Targaryen to the throne.
Recent History[]
A Game of Thrones[]
Sandor Clegane, who now serves as a bodyguard to Prince Joffrey Baratheon, accompanies the royal Baratheon party to Winterfell when King Robert I Baratheon offers his close friend Lord Eddard Stark the title of Hand of the King. On the journey back to the capital city of King's Landing, Sandor murdered the butcher's boy, Mycah, as Prince Joffrey claimed that the boy had struck him. This earns Sandor the hatred of Arya Stark, Ned Stark's youngest daughter, who is friends with Mycah.
As King Robert held a tourney in honor of Lord Eddard Stark's ascension to Hand of the King, Ser Gregor Clegane participated in the joust, where he killed Ser Hugh of the Vale with his lance, which appalled the crowd. In the next round, Gregor was knocked off his horse by Ser Loras Tyrell, famously known as the Knight of Flowers. This sends the Mountain into a rage, where he attempts to murder Loras for his loss, only for Sandor to intervene. The two brothers fought each other until King Robert ordered them to stop. In gratitude for saving him, Loras gives the Hound the tourney purse.
When Tyrion Lannister was abducted by Lady Catelyn Stark and her bannermen on suspicion of attempting to assassinate Bran Stark, Tywin Lannister ordered Gregor to ravage the Riverlands in an attempt to draw Ned Stark into the field, where he will be captured and held captive to ensure Tyrion's release. Because of Gregor and his men, the Riverlords were unable to leave their own seats, and only a part of them rode out to Riverrun, the seat of House Tully. Gregor and the Mountain's Men slaughtered the inhabitants of Mummer's Ford, Wendish Town, and Sherrer. When word of these crimes reached Ned Stark sends Lord Beric Dondarrion, Thoros of Myr, and several other men to execute the Mountain. Unfortunately, during the Battle at the Mummer's Ford, they were intercepted by Tywin and his forces and as they make a retreat, they were ambushed in the rear by the Mountain and his men.
Gregor killed Ser Raymun Darry, a member of Beric's party, and his horse with a single blow and mortally wounds Beric Dondarrion with his lance before being pulled out of the Red Fork by Beric's squire Edric Dayne, who is Lord of Starfall. Ultimately, the Lannister forces were triumphant over the Iron Throne detachment, causing the survivors to retreat. They would then form the core of the Brotherhood without Banners. Following the battle at the Mummer's Ford, Gregor and his men attack Pinkmaiden Castle, the seat of House Piper, and burns the castle along with the lands ruled by House Piper. Later, they also put Stone Hedge, the seat of House Bracken, to the torch along with Lord Jonos Bracken's harvest. They also making off with Stone Hedge's food supplies . Gregor rapes one of Lord Bracken's daughters.
Later, during the Battle at the Green Fork, Gregor Clegane commands the left flank and vanguard of the Lannister army along with the Vale Mountain ClansmenTyrion Lannister had recruited as they fight off the Northern host supposedly led by Robb Stark, at the Green Fork. Though they were victorious, they discovered that the host was led by Lord Roose Bolton instead of Robb Stark. Robb's clever plan, allowed the Young Wolf to capture Ser Jaime Lannister during the Battle at the Whispering Wood.
After Ser Barristan Selmy was unlawfully dismissed from the Kingsguard on account of his age, Sandor Clegane was made a sworn brother of the Kingsguard, though he refused to take a knight's vows.
A Clash of Kings[]
During the War of the Five Kings, Ser Gregor Clegane continues his rampage in the Riverlands. Following Robb Stark's ascension as the king in the North, the eight-year-old Lord Lyman Darry successfully retook his family's castle of Darry from House Lannister, though he was only able to hold it for a fortnight, as Ser Gregor and his men descended on and sacked the castle, killing all of its defenders, including Lord Lyman, and with his death, the male line of House Darry went extinct. Following this, he and the Mountain's Men continued rampaging through the Riverlands, leaving destruction in their wake in King Joffrey's name. Like the Lannister forces and the Brave Companions, Gregor and the Mountain's Men continuously engaged in skirmishes with the Brotherhood without Banners, who would harass the Lannister and Stark forces while providing protection to the Smallfolk.
Later, Gregor and his men captured a small group of prisoners at a village near the God's Eye. The group consists of Gendry, Arya Stark, Hot Pie, Lommy Greenhands and a little girl nicknamed "Weasel". Most of them were taken captive while Lommy was murdered and Weasel escaped, disappearing all together.
As many smallfolk and sell swords had provided aid to and even joined the Brotherhood without Banners, this resulted in a surge in paranoia amongst the Lannister forces and even the Cleganes. In Harrenhal, which has been captured by Lord Tywin Lannister, the Mountain's captives were either tortured by The Tickler or forced to serve House Lannister. Ser Gregor Clegane even allowed his men to torture the prisoners to death and even murder and rape them, with their victims including not only men but also women and children. This caused Arya to fear for her life and when she was forced to pee in front of everyone, Gregor and the Mountain's Men didn't care.
As they went to raid the Riverlands again, they once again engage in more skirmishes with the Brotherhood without Banners. Gregor managed to slay Beric Dondarrion a second time but the Mountains were continuously undone as Beric was revived several times by Thoros of Myr (which Gregor is unaware of), despite reports that the leader of the Brotherhood has been killed. He returns to Harrenhal to keep residence on Kingspyre Tower with Tywin and his war council. As of now, the Mountain has been added to Arya Stark's prayer kill list, which consist of the names of people she hates and wants to kill.
In King's Landing, when a smallfolk threw dung in King Joffrey Baratheon's face and the situation begins to intensify, the latter orders his bodyguard Sandor to find the culprit but proved to be difficult due to the mob of smallfolk being in large numbers. After Sandor was ordered to cut his way through, this caused the inhabitants of King's Landing to be overcome with terror, rage, and hate, and they began rioting against the royal party. During the ensuing pandemonium, Sansa Stark disappears but was found and brought to safety by Sandor.
As Robb Stark and his forces raided the Westerlands after securing a major victory at Oxcross, Ser Gregor Clegane joins Lord Tywin Lannister in his attempt to cross the Red Fork of the Trident to return to the Westerlands in order to stop the northern army, but Lord Edmure Tully calls his banners to engage against Tywin and his forces. During the Battle of the Fords, Gregor and the Mountain's Men were able to make progress and had gained the West Bank but suffered heavy losses. The Mountain was ultimately defeated when he was wounded by a dozen arrows at Stone Mill and was forced back by Edmure's reserve.
Later, as Stannis Baratheon and his royal fleet attempted to invade King's Landing during the Battle of the Blackwater, as Stannis's fleet engaged the royal fleet of King's landing in a naval battle, Tyrion Lannister fills several of Joffrey's ships with Wildfire, leading to the destruction of nearly all of the ships in Stannis's fleet and the fleet of Kings' Landing. Thirty or Forty ships were able to survive the inferno. Eight of them managed to land, allowing the soldiers they carried to come ashore. In response, Tyrion tasks several mounted men-at-arms and the remaining knights in the capital to harry Stannis's forces under the command of Sandor Clegane, Ser Mandon Moore and Ser Balon Swann of the Kingsguard. Though they were able to stem the tide, the battle continued, and they began to suffer from heavy casualties.
Seeing the river being raged by Wildfire caused Sandor to lose courage, due to his childhood fear of fire, and this resulted in him refusing Tyrion's command to lead more sorties and deserts the battlefield, causing the Lannister forces to lose their morale. This forced Tyrion to lead the sortie himself and his act of courage shamed the defenders to join by his side. Before fleeing King's Landing, a drunken Sandor offered to take Sansa with him from the Red Keep but was refused by the latter, forcing the Hound to leave without her.
A Storm of Swords[]
Gregor Clegane and the Mountain's Men were left disgusted by Sandor's desertion during the Battle of the Black Water and referred to him as a "puppy" as they complained about the Hound amongst each other. Because Mandon Moore drowned during the battle by Pod, Tyrion squire, and Sandor had fled, Loras of House Tyrell was appointed to the Kingsguard while Ser Boros Blount was reinstated By Tywin Lannister, as the former was stripped off his white cloak much earlier when he surrendered Prince Tommen Baratheon to Gold Cloaks sent by Tyrion. Sandor has been on. Arya's prayer kill list for a long time, because of his role in the death of the Butcher's Boy Mycah.
Because of Stannis's defeat on the Blackwater and the newly-formed alliance between Houses Lannister and Tyrell, Lord Roose Bolton came to the revelation that Robb Stark's rebellion is failing, he secretly defects to House Lannister and sends Lord Robbett Glover and a third of the foot of Robb's army to the Crownlands, where they began fighting their way to Duskendale, unaware of Roose's betrayal and that they are about to meet their doom. While Tywin sends Lord Randyll Tarly to catch and throw back the northmen at Duskendale, Ser Gregor was also sent with Westermen to cut off their retreat.
During the Battle at Duskendale, Lord Tarly catches Robbett outside Duskendale and traps him against Blackwater Bay and thousands of northmen were possibly killed during the battle, though both sides suffered heavy losses. Robbett and the surviving northmen were then forced to fall back and flee. As they tried to retreat back to Harrenhal, Gregor Clegane and the Westermen take them from the rear by surprise near the Kingsroad, causing the northern foot to be destroyed, depriving Robb Stark of the strength he needs to retake the North, which has been invaded and raided by the ironborn.
Sandor Clegane, who had vanished from King's Landing and is now a vagabond, was captured by the Mad Huntsman, an ally of the Brotherhood without Banners. Taken to Stoney Sept, he was then put in the custody of the Brotherhood. Arya is with them. In the Hollow Hill, the Hound was put on trial for the crimes House Lannister had committed. None of the crimes were attributed to him until Arya testifies against him for murdering her friend Mycah. However, as there wasn't enough evidence to confirm this, Beric Dondarrion decrees that the Hound should go through a trial by combat. Sandor was victorious and he kills Beric, though his left arm was left burned after Sandor's shield got caught on fire by Beric's magical flaming sword.
Because of this, he was let go, but the Brotherhood without Banners strips off most of his possessions, along with what remains of the gold he won from the Hand's Tourney, which the Brotherhood refused to return. Despite this, he was allowed to keep his armor, sword, and his war horse Stranger. Beric refused to kill the Hound, despite the suggestion of several members of the Brotherhood. When Sandor returns to try and take back his gold, he stumbled across Arya, whom he kidnaps with the intention of ransoming her to her brother Robb Stark, who is attending Edmure Tully's marriage to Lady Roslyn Frey so he could regain House Frey's support.
While traveling to the Twins, Sandor demands a local ferryman to give him and Arya, now disguised, passage across the now-flooded Trident but then threatens him when the Ferryman made him pay at an extremely high cost. He changes his mind and agrees to payed after the crossing. Once across the Trident, the Hound pays the ferryman with a written promise of payment from Beric Dondarrion instead of gold, much to the anger of the Ferryman and his crew, who couldn't do anything about it. They proceeded to curse and throw stone at him as he leaves with Arya on Stranger.
In the aftermath of the battle at Duskendale, Ser Gregor Clegane had taken Robbett Glover hostage but was reported to have been wounded during the fight. Later, as Roose Bolton was making his way to the Twins, the seat of House House Frey, for the wedding of Edmure Tully and Roslyn Frey, the heavy rain made it impossible to cross the Trident, forcing them to go across by boat. After Roose had ferried two-thirds of his force across the river, Gregor arrives with his men and ambushes the northern rear guard with heavy cavalry. While many were killed in the ensuing battle, either by drowning in the Trident or cut down by the Mountain's Men, some of the surviving northmen, including Ser Wylie Manderly, were captured.
Meanwhile, when Sandor and Arya arrived at the Twins, the Red Wedding occurs shortly thereafter. While Frey men were massacring the celebrating northmen, they notice the two and Sandor is forced to defend himself, in which he kills several men, possibly including Tytos Frey and Garse Goodbrook. Knowing that Robb Stark and his mother Catelyn are now dead and that his chance of ransoming Arya to them is now ruined, the Hound prevents the latter from running into the ongoing massacre and knocks Arya out unconscious. Following the Red Wedding, the Mountain is reported to have seized the Ruby Ford.
While seeking another relative of Arya, Sandor mercy kills an archer of House Piper, who was wounded during the Red Wedding by the Boltons, who, alongside the Karstarks, had also betrayed House Stark. Traveling to the Mountains of the Moon, they stayed at a village at the mountains' foothills for a few weeks before they were turned away by a village elder. As the high road to the Eyrie closed, thus denying Sandor the chance to ransom Arya to her aunt Lysa, the Hound decided to go to Riverrun to ransom the girl to her great-uncle Ser Brynden Tully.
As Tyrion is going through an unfair court trial, as he was falsely accused of poisoning King Joffrey Baratheon, after his former lover Shae testified against him, this was the last straw for the Imp, who snapped at the injustice he is facing, and he proceeded to demand a trial by combat. Delighted, Cersei urges her father and the other judges to accept before naming Gregor Clegane as the Crown's champion. This made Prince Oberyn Martell, one of the judges, to openly immediately volunteer as Tyrion's champion in front of the entire court, as he's been seeking to avenge the murder of his sister Elia.
During the Trial by Combat, Gregor was triumphant over Oberyn and he brutally murders him by smashing his head. However, Gregor had roared out for everyone to hear that he indeed murdered Elia and her son Prince Aegon. Though Gregor won the Trial by Combat, however, as Oberyn's spear was coated with poison, this caused the wounds Gregor sustained to mortify and he was left to suffer from agonizing pain. As he had confessed his role in the murder of Elia and Aegon, Tywin Lannister was forced to have him executed so as to avoid House Martell's wrath, for fear that they would support Stannis Baratheon's claim and cause, which would end up prolonging the War of the Five Kings in the years to come. To prepare Gregor for his execution, Grand Maester Pycelle was ordered to heal the Moutain's wounds, unfortunately, despite his efforts, they all proved to be unsuccessful.
Gallery[]
External Links[]
- House Clegane on the A Wiki of Ice and Fire.
- House Clegane on the Game of Thrones Wiki.
