#should i have looked up CR? maybe not. but i already knew the monster abilities and medusas got named in session so really who cares

[manicmermaidbaby]

hey wotc i just wanna talk why are there monsters who can petrify rated CR 5 or 6 when greater restoration is a LEVEL 5 SPELL THAT YOU GET AT LEVEL NINE

AM I SUPPOSED TO PHONE A FRIEND? WHAT IF HALF THE PARTY GETS PETRIFIED? HELLO???

[tiny-maus-boots]

The Howl pt 13

A/N: thank you always to my beta and bestie. @chloes-yellow-cup

13.

“Now will you listen? Now do you see that Aubrey is with us? Is that not enough for you?”

No one said anything and Stacie shook her head. Unbelievable. Unfuckingbelievable. She sighed and looked down at Aubrey’s reddened face. At least it wasn’t as bad as the last time. This was more like a really harsh sunburn that was already slowly fading. She brought her hand up to trace the line of the vampire’s jaw delicately. Her brow furrowed at the twitch of muscle in her mate’s cheek at the touch. Stacie gave a soft whine and Aubrey smiled at her.

“It doesn’t hurt.” Stacie raised a brow and Aubrey shrugged a shoulder. “Just a sting.”

She gave a slight nod and raised her head to focus on the soft crunch of paws on snow. A growl tickled at the back of her throat, but she tightened her control on her emotions and let out a calming breath. When Wade had risen as a revenant she had been blindsided and it had cost her precious time in shifting. Her pack would be sitting ducks against a creature with the speed and strength of a revenant and she had shifted as quickly as she could hoping that she and Aubrey alone could put the monster down.

And for a minute she thought they would do just that. Take the creature down and put it out of its misery. But then Aubrey went flying and Stacie found herself with her paws full trying to keep herself between that thing and the rest of her pack. She couldn’t think of it as Wade, it wasn’t her friend, it wasn’t a part of her pack. So, she focused on anything but his face hoping that her mate would shake it off and get back in the game.

She was so preoccupied with keeping fangs out of her flesh that she hadn’t noticed another wolf had shifted out of phase until it had leapt on the monster’s back in full furred glory. There was no time to sit and take it all in, there was no time to turn and count the faces around them trying to figure out who was missing in human form. And really, she didn’t need to. Stacie knew who it was without sight or thought.

And now that she was confronted with him face to face, she realized that it couldn’t be anyone but Redmond. He lowered his head in a shallow nod of acknowledgement, but his chest puffed out with pride. He had played this one close, keeping it secret, hoping to take them all off guard at just the right moment. The worst part about the whole thing was that it had worked out perfectly for him.

Showing the ability to shift like that was proving himself equal to Stacie, equal enough to be Alpha. And she couldn’t even take it as a personal challenge because he had shifted then for the good of the pack. To protect their people.

Clever bastard.

Aubrey gave a soft hmm of agreement before sitting up in Stacie’s arms. Cynthia Rose wedged her way through the bodies and dropped a mismatched pile of clothes on the ground at her feet. Her Beta gave Aubrey a considering look then nodded once and held out a hand to help the blonde up. Her mate gave her a questioning look and Stacie raised her shoulder in a half shrug. The vampire was wary, but she extended her still singed hand. Half the pack gave a small gasp of surprise and stepped back when Aubrey rose without much help from CR in a single fluid movement.

Stacie looked at the clothes and grunted when only her tank top had survived her shift and a pair of jeans that were a little too loose in the waist to be her own. She slipped the clothes on quickly and stood at Aubrey’s side. She wasn’t entirely sure where the pack stood just now, everything had happened so quickly and it was so much to take in, but they really didn’t have the time to stop and digest it all. If she waited for them all to get their heads around everything that was happening it would only give Redd more time to gain support to try and take the pack from her.

“I think you all understand now that what we are dealing with is bigger than vengeance for our brother. Right?”

Most of them nodded their heads and a few grunted. CR crossed her arms over her chest and boldly stepped back and to the right, falling into her usual place at Stacie’s side. It was a show of support they needed and was deeply appreciated. Evan, one of her lone wolves eased out of the darkness and gave Aubrey a wide berth before stepping forward to speak.

“There’s more out there. Jessa an’ me clocked at least two during the fight. Just watchin’ us.” He shuddered with the effort of raising his head and meeting Aubrey’s pale silvered gaze. “Friends of yours?”

There was no point in trying to find the vampires now. It was too dark even for them and really, they didn’t need another fight tonight. Aubrey gave a short nod as if she had expected that all along and probably she did. Her mate gazed down at her machete and slid it into the sheath at her back. It made a few of the wolves release a tightly held breath, the weapon just that much more of a threat to make them more uneasy than they already were.

“Vampires, yes. Friends, no.”

Someone gave an amused snort and she heard a murmur of a joke that vampires didn’t have friends. Stacie’s gaze cut across all of them daring someone to say something else. Aubrey stroked a hand down her arm soothingly and squared her shoulders.

“They came for me, it’s good that they saw what has happened. The Lady of the coven will need to address this now that it was witnessed.” The blonde didn’t shrink away from the rise of voices, she stood quietly imposing until the noise died down again. Stacie felt her heart squeeze in her chest when Aubrey let the demon in her fade and faced the pack as vulnerable and real as she could be, showing them the same soft compassion she had shown Wade moments earlier. “They already know that good men can be made into revenants, now they know that good wolves can rise too. I would not have wished this end for Wade…”

A low and deep growl carried on the wind and Redd lunged forward in attack. She should have expected it from him but had stupidly believed that for right now petty squabbles were put aside. Stacie turned with a shift already racing to the surface when Aubrey swung a pale fist in a blinding upper cut that lifted the huge wolf off all four feet with the impact.

Redd hit the ground and rolled a few times. He raised his head and shook it, trying to get his legs under him to stand. Aubrey watched him warily, taking a few steps back closer to Stacie. Cynthia Rose nudged her with an elbow, clearing her throat and Stacie schooled her features, suddenly realizing that she must have been smiling with too much giddy anticipation. The wolf stayed where he was but the growl was a constant warning to Aubrey.

There was a near imperceptible shift in the pack and Stacie sniffed lightly at the air trying to figure out what it was. It was still tense, but the something was different. Aubrey seemed to notice it too, the fingers on her left hand twitched slightly the only outward sign of her insecurity. Angus uncrossed his arms from his chest and jerked his chin at her. His low voice was slow and deep as he spoke but everyone assembled could hear him just fine.

“Earlier you said you’d have to take Wade’s head. Why didn’t you?”

The blonde tipped her head to the side as she eyed him curiously. It was hard to understand what Aubrey was feeling, there were just too many things coming through the connection for Stacie to process.

“When I said that he hadn’t yet risen. After…his rising was traumatic enough.”

A few of the wolves looked at each other, communicating with shared glances rather than words. Angus took a step forward, it wasn’t an aggressive move, it was more like getting closer might help him somehow understand the enigma before him.

“And the end? You held on. Why would you do that?”

Stacie a step closer to her mate and reached out to take her hand. Aubrey glanced down at it and gave a small squeeze of acknowledgment. It didn’t go unnoticed by the rest of the pack. The vampire raised one shoulder in a slight shrug. Stacie had known why she held on, she had known why the moment the decision was made and Aubrey had gripped Wade tighter.

“Because she didn’t want him to die alone.” Aubrey didn’t confirm it, but she didn’t have to. Angus nodded slowly as he took all that information in and processed it. “It doesn’t matter that other vampires were here. Let them see the truth for themselves. It only makes our position stronger when we meet with them.”

Redd barked and pawed at the ground to get her attention. He seemed to be stuck in his shift leaving him unable to speak. Something she was profoundly grateful for and maybe more than a little amused by. Stacie’s lip curled back when he took a few steps closer and stood brazenly before them. The wolf gave a determined huff and took another step forward but was stopped by Cynthia Rose’s solid figure blocking the way.

“Listen up. I get that some of you don’t trust us. You think that because she’s not a wolf she’s not strong enough or fast enough to be my mate. You might even think that all I need is another wolf strong enough to tame me. Maybe one strong enough to shift outside of the moon.”

All eyes went to Redd and she snorted at the idea. Stacie brought Aubrey’s hand to her lips and kissed it. Her mate gave her a brief smile and nodded.

“Maybe you’re right. We’ll find out on the blood moon. You all wanted a mating hunt, you’ve got one.”

She had never wanted it to get to this point. Stacie had valued her freedom and had hoped that maybe the pack would just accept her as she was, or just accept who she chose for a mate. But she could see now that it was never going to be that way. They needed the familiarity of ritual and the old ways to feel settled and sure because at the end of the day…Stacie was just as much of an outsider as Aubrey. She wasn’t from around there and she didn’t have a home or people to call her own. She had no roots. How could she expect them to think of her as anything but a stray when everything about her screamed lone wolf? So it had to be like this and she understood that. Accepted it even. But it was going to be on her terms from this point forward.

No one raised a question and several of them visibly relaxed in the face of her dominance. It was what they had been waiting for from her. Stacie looked over the pack and gave a solid nod, for once they were all on the same page. She gave the scorched snow a lingering look, giving herself a second to say goodbye to her friend. Stacie took a deep breath and let it out slowly. Aubrey would finish the hunt, they’d end the revenant threat, get justice for Wade and the pack damn well better fall in line.

“Let’s get out of here.”

She climbed into the back of the truck, holding out a hand for Aubrey to take. Cool fingers wrapped around her hers and she tugged. The vampire was practically weightless as she leapt into the bed and settled on the edge. Cynthia Rose clambered in next to them, shoulder to shoulder with Aubrey. The vampire blinked in surprise but gave a shallow dip of her head that CR returned. Bodies piled in around them, crowding the small space with more people than had come with them on the trip out. A sharp yip brought their attention to the back and Redd jumped in with a disgruntled growl at having to wedge into the corner.

Aubrey raised a brow, her voice amused and unconcerned. “Hope you learned more than one new trick, Rover. You’ll need more than that if you think you’re getting your girl back.”

God, she loved that woman.

[eponymous-rose]

Talks Machina Highlights - Critical Role C2E30 (August 14, 2018)

Note: Storms in my area tonight were messing with my internet, so I had a few brief outages to contend with!

Tonight’s guests are Laura Bailey and Travis Willingham AND THE TEENY BABY. Everyone is understandably distracted. Brian: “Let’s just show the baby for an hour.”

Announcements: Electric Beargaloo is up on CR’s YouTube, and a limited-run Honey Heist t-shirt is available on the store!

@critrolestats for this episode: 

Fjord, Jester, and Yasha were missing for 6 days in-game (Laura and Travis were gone for 6 weeks out-of-game).

Jester’s cast Cure Wounds 38 times and Healing Word 6 times. Cure Wounds is her most-cast spell. Laura: “I am so happy about Taliesin making another healer. Me, personally. Inflict Wounds! Inflict Wounds! Inflict Wounds! Spiritual Weapon! Toll the Dead!” Travis: “That’s the mother of our child.”

Travis was definitely intending to distance himself from Grog with Fjord’s more sensitive character. A lot of Fjord’s backstory is based on things that happened in Travis’s own childhood, and while he’d normally want to keep those things protected, he was curious to see what it would feel like to share those with a character, and he’s already feeling a stronger sense of investment in that sense. Laura asks if he likes Fjord more than Grog. Travis: “I can’t really love anyone more than Grog right now, because Grog is bae.” Maybe in fifteen levels... He talks about how expectations shifted toward him in real life after he went through a growth spurt and came back to school as one of the tallest kids in his class: as a parallel to that, Fjord is being perceived as so handsome and charming and a leader after having had exactly the opposite experience through most of his life.

Jester does feel a bit abandoned by the Traveler. “This terrible thing happened, and nothing helped her in those dark moments when she was asking for him.” Laura doesn’t want to get into it too much, since it’ll come into play in the game. Is this the worst thing Jester’s ever experienced? Laura: “Well, yeah. Jester hasn’t done hardly anything.”

Jester doesn’t feel especially guilty, but “she wants everybody to be happy and wants to make other people happy, so in this situation where she’s the least happy she’s ever been, there’s an extreme desire to fix it.”

Emotional healing is much more important to Jester than physical healing.

Fjord didn’t really know how much he might’ve been worth to the rest of the Nein. He thought they might’ve come for Jester or Yasha, but not him. Travis: “Maybe not that far. Just from what he’d seen so far, he thought, ‘Nah, we’re lost, they’re not going to come for us. There’s so much they have to do.’”

Laura wanted to cast Sending (even if it was totally unhelpful), but Matt told her it wasn’t possible in her current situation: they knew how to deal with casters, and she wasn’t able to talk.

Gif of the Week: Jester dancing.

Laura was really bummed not to get to say goodbye to Kiri. They both wished they could’ve made it to the live show. They’re also super disappointed they didn’t get to play with Sumalee and Ashly.

Fjord’s “going to endeavor to keep trying to look out for everybody. He’s just hard on himself for a momentary lapse of perception. He’s going to be more motivated to take care of some shit.”

Laura and Travis realize that Fjord and Jester can both disguise themselves. Travis: “We could bone with anyone and anyone else! We can take suggestions.” Brian: “I’m thinking of some merch ideas.”

Taliesin sent Laura and Travis Caduceus’ art before anyone else. He checked in with Laura to make sure she was okay with another cleric, and she was really happy. Laura: “His domain is totally different from mine. A lot of times with Jester, I couldn’t do a lot of spells in the RP aspect of the game, because I had to save them for in case there was a battle we were playing. There are so many fun just-fuck-with-people spells she has.”

First impressions of Clay? Laura: “I love his hair.” Travis: “The dude abides. I didn’t even feel like an insight check was necessary. He just seemed so positive and nonplussed and go-with-the-flow. I think a little chillness was needed. If he freaks out and goes all rage monster, I will love him even more. He’s gonna eat people.”

Travis and Laura didn’t have any plans going in regarding their reactions to Molly. Laura: “I didn’t expect to get so emotional over it.” They were jumping in and out of watching episode 26, since they had a one-week-old baby at the time. Later in the night, they pulled the episode up and realized Taliesin wasn’t there... and found out from the chat what had happened. “We fucking go have one baby...” Laura: “Molly would still be alive if we were there. I feel like we would’ve told them to run.” Travis: “It was still a good plan, though, honestly. The dice just screwed them.”

Absorbing Summer’s Dance was “most definitely” Fjord’s tribute to Molly and wanting to get him vengeance. It was especially hard because they were roommates the entire time. “Fjord has never really had friends or companions, much less somebody you had to talk to every night before you crashed out. As crazy and different as Molly was from Fjord, he never judged Fjord.” Fjord’s last conversation with Molly was about how the ship exploded and what happened, and it was “the first time Fjord started to trust somebody with that shit, and he got fucking killed.”

Jester’s taking being a cleric much more seriously because she doesn’t want more friends to die, and she’s starting to understand the stakes of what she does. The cleric-related jealousy of Caduceus was a bit of bleed-through. Laura: “I need to remember that I’m the one that’s competitive and Jester is not. Because that definitely is my go-to.” Brian: “Yeah, you in real life are much closer to Vex than to Jester.”

Fanart of the Week: a great combat group-shot!

Both Jester and Fjord’s primary motivations have changed. Travis: “A little less seeking outside answers and knowledge to things that aren’t really going to help.” Laura: “Jester’s primary motivation of just wanting to bring joy has maybe increased even more. We’ll see how far that goes.” Travis really wants Jester to go dark. “See, now I’m sad that I made Jester happy. But I do think as we level up, Jester’s Spiritual Weapon should get more and more badass. A lollipop with spiky sugar on it or something. Rock candy mace.”

Fjord saw the Cloven Crystal reveal as just another sign of the universe telling him, “Fucking get after it, son.”

Matt gave them a five-minute summary of what went down right before the game, and then left it up to them to work out how they’d play it in-game.

Laura thinks the Gentleman’s bad news. Travis: “Oh, you think? He took fuckin’ samples of our blood.” Laura’s pretty sure he’s tied in with the slavers in some way, but Jester hasn’t got enough information to get suspicious in-game.

Fjord was genuinely impressed with Jester’s ability to---to him---sound upbeat even in captivity.

Fjord was starting to become comfortable that maybe the Nein looked to him for some sort of leadership, which he’d only had some brief experience with during his days on ships, but that took a pretty hard hit. Travis: “He’s encouraged to see Caleb as a team player and looking out for others, and that the first thing he tried to do was make us feel better. He expected a fair amount of, ‘You fucked up.’” Laura: “He was really, really nice.”

Laura reveals that Jester’s actually a cannibal serial killer. You... heard it here... first?

Fjord was surprised to see how much growth there was for Beau in the six days they were gone. “She seems mature, responsible. She didn’t punch any kids. It’s awesome.”

Jester thinks Yasha’s wings "look really badass”. She also doesn’t think anyone has as close a tie with their deity as she has with the Traveler (at least, before this recent uncertainty).

It’s tough for Fjord (but not so much Jester) knowing they can’t achieve revenge against Lorenzo, but they’re still hopeful for closure. Fjord would consider a good kill with Molly’s sword to be closure. Travis: “It’ll be taking care of the group, making sure something like that doesn’t happen again.” Jester: “I don’t know what will get it for Jester, honestly.”

Talks Machina: Are We Out Of Time Yet?

Ronin’s class? He’s very loud, so maybe a bard, but he has monk-like kicks. They think he might’ve been learning from Laura’s battle-heavy VO sessions in the womb.

Laura loved the “case closed” moment, even though when she first heard about it, her initial thought was “Nott closed a case without me!?!”

Travis was surprised that nobody else perked up at the description of the Cloven Crystal. Laura: “Nobody cares about your backstory but you.” Dani: “I care!” Travis: “THANK you, Dani!”

It was really hard for them to miss the first episode in the new studio, since it was such a milestone. They also hate that they missed the first PC death.

Sumalee got booked on a new TV show, and mentioned on Twitter that the first thing she got asked was what it was like to be on Critical Role.

They reminisce about Liam’s evil one-shot they played with Ashly and talk about how vicious Travis gets when he’s not on your side. Endgame for Fjord? Chaotic evil, clearly.

At Ren Faire a few years ago, Travis went missing from the group after some drinking. They eventually found him at a rare coin stand, and he showed off an old coin he’d just bought. Brian: “I’m like, ‘How much did it cost?’ And he just looked down.” Travis: “DON’T SAY THE NUMBER.” Brian: “The shame immediately kicked in.” Laura also dropped a dagger in a porta-potty. Brian: “The Ren Faire takes a toll.”

We fade out on Brian walking away while Laura and Travis sing ‘You’ll Be in My Heart’. As you do.

[kittykatknits]

Do you think Sansa and Sandor can possibly end up together?

No, not really. I do believe they will reunite and the moment will be personally significant for both of them, but their relationship will not be physical nor will they be married, end-game, or some other variant.

This turned out longer than intended, sorry! 

I’ve always been pretty skeptical of the possibility but Sansa’s gift chapter squashed whatever lingering doubts I had. It’s pretty obvious there will be a (probably failed) Mad Mousenapping. The gift chapter also happens to be the lone Sansa POV in the entire series where Sandor Clegane does not appear either physically or in her thoughts. It’s not a huge surprise, she’s pretty solidly enmeshed in her Alayne persona. After that chapter, I’m thinking we will see the tourney next and then maybe a chapter or two after that, Sansa will be outed. For years, I was staunchly against the possibility of her marrying Harry (my nickname for him  is Harry the Red Herring) but I’m slowly coming around to it even though I absolutely abhor the idea. Frankly, this potential story line is one of many reasons why I’m annoyed with Martin and the story right now, but that’s a whole ‘nother discussion.

Back to the two of them. Their reunion requires him to leave the QI and my best guess is that it will happen in a similar manner to what we saw in the show. I don’t support the crack theory that the Elder Brother is already in the Vale doing investigative work or some such. The QI sounds like an idyllic place, almost to good to be true, so it’s pretty Martin-like to destroy it in preparation for the upcoming apocalypse. The only other way I can foresee him leaving is if he somehow hears news that Sansa Stark has been found and he decides to go serve her and I’m not willing to rule that out as a possibility.

So, as to what will happen between them? We need to go back and revisit the story.

This exchange occurs shortly before Blackwater:

“True knights protect the weak.”

He snorted. “There are no true knights, no more than there are gods. If you can’t protect yourself, die and get out of the way of those who can. Sharp steel and strong arms rule this world, don’t ever believe any different.”

Sansa backed away from him. “You’re awful.”

- Sansa IV, aCoK

This is the philosophy that has guided Sandor Clegane since the day his brother stuck his face in the fire and much of his life has only reinforced that position. He went to CR to work for the Lannisters, killed his first man at 12, probably in the sack of KL which would only have reinforced that view. It’s this belief that reconciled his killing of Mycah, a boy who couldn’t protect himself. Remember - he ran, but not very fast.  

Along comes Sansa, an innocent girl who has no sword or army, no protectors, no sworn shield. According to Sandor Clegane, she’s one of the very people who should die and get out of the way. But, Sansa doesn’t. Instead, she challenges his world view:

“The silence went on and on, so long that she began to grow afraid once more, but she was afraid for him now, not for herself. She found his massive shoulder with her hand. “He was no true knight,” she whispered to him.”

-Sansa II, Got

…again…

“The king stood. “A cask from the cellars! I’ll see him drowned in it.”

Sansa heard herself gasp. “No, you can’t.”

Joffrey turned his head. “What did you say?”

-Sansa, I, aCoK

…and again…

Sansa found herself possessed of a queer giddy courage. “You should go with her,” she told the king. “Your brother might be hurt.”

Joffrey shrugged. “What if he is?”

“You should help him up and tell him how well he rode.” Sansa could not seem to stop herself.

-Sansa I, aCoK

..and again…

Prince Tommen sobbed. “You mew like a suckling babe,” his brother hissed at him. “Princes aren’t supposed to cry.”

“Prince Aemon the Dragonknight cried the day Princess Naerys wed his brother Aegon,” Sansa Stark said, “and the twins Ser Arryk and Ser Erryk died with tears on their cheeks after each had given the other a mortal wound.”

“Be quiet, or I’ll have Ser Meryn give you a mortal wound,” Joffrey told his betrothed.

–Tyrion IX, aCoK

…and again…

“Joffrey looked for a moment as if he meant to ride her down, but Sansa Stark leaned over and said something to him. The king fumbled in his purse, and flung the woman a silver stag.”

-Tyrion IX, aCoK

Remember, Sandor Clegane is Joffrey’s Sworn Shield, he was right next to both of them for those last two exchanges and would have heard every word Sansa said.  I’d argue that in all of the above incidents, Sansa was acting the part of a true knight, doing what she could to protect the innocents in the face of her own abuser.

What does Sandor Clegane do?

Dog, hit her.“

"Let me beat her!” Ser Dontos shoved forward, tin armor clattering.

-Sansa III, aCok

Nothing. Nothing at all. Later, during the night of the Blackwater, he comes to her room to try and save her once more, and I do believe he was sincere in that, but, he completely botches it, putting a knife to her throat. That’s twice when Sandor had the chance to do the right thing, be a true knight just as Sansa showed him he could be, and he didn’t. He failed her and he knows it:

“I killed your butcher’s boy. I cut him near in half, and laughed about it after.” He made a queer sound, and it took her a moment to realize he was sobbing. “And the little bird, your pretty sister, I stood there in my white cloak and let them beat her. I took the bloody song, she never gave it. I meant to take her too. I should have. I should have fucked her bloody and ripped her heart out before leaving her for that dwarf.”

-Arya XIII, SoS

In case there is any doubt, Martin tells us his whole philosophy is wrong:

“Seven, Brienne thought again, despairing. She had no chance against seven, she knew. No chance, and no choice.”

-Brienne VII, aFfC

The king moved, so his shadow fell upon King’s Landing. “If Joffrey should die … what is the life of one bastard boy against a kingdom?”

“Everything,” said Davos, softly.

-Davos V, SoS

“If you would take a man’s life, you owe it to him to look into his eyes and hear his final words. And if you cannot bear to do that, then perhaps the man does not deserve to die.”

-Bran I, GoT

So,,,hmmm, maybe it isn’t sharp steel that rules the world. Maybe, ultimately, it’s something else. So, let’s talk about Sansa some more.

“ In the sept they sing for the Mother’s mercy but on the walls it’s the Warrior they pray to, and all in silence. She remembered how Septa Mordane used to tell them that the Warrior and the Mother were only two faces of the same great god. But if there is only one, whose prayers will be heard?”

-Sansa V, aCoK

Later, Sansa sings the Mother’s Hymn to the Hound when he is in her room. So, who is it the gods listened to? Was it Sansa’s call for mercy or the Hound’s belief in sharp steel? Well, considering that he is, in fact, on the QI, finding a better way, I’d say Martin pretty explicitly answers that question for us. The Hound is dead and when the character next appears, it’s gonna be Sandor Clegane.

To get to the point, since this is ridiculously long, I believe their next meeting and impact on each other will be related to the above. Twice, the Hound failed at being a true knight and I think the third time, he will be and will do it under circumstances where he has no hope and no choice.

I’ve gone back and forth on the Clegane Bowl theory and argued against it quite a bit but it’s another one I’m slowly resigning myself too. Sandor’s older brother is the monster he cannot slay, the demon that set him on the path we see in the books. Now, Gregor has come back, a literal undead monster this time, a product of necromancy. The Hound was motivated by hate and vengeance. I can foresee Martin setting it up so the two brothers come together at last, only now, it will be Sandor Clegane fighting an actual monster, going to battle as a true knight to protect the innocent. I really don’t like the idea of Clegane Bowl though but I’m running out of arguments as to why it won’t happen…..

Them crossing paths and him finally having the chance to be a true knight, yep, that’ll happen. Heck, it was a toy knight that started all of it in the first place. It’s what he always wanted to be. Sansa’s mercy and ability to show him a different way is what will make it possible.

Other than the above, it’s anyone’s guess really.