Best Character Arc in Game of Thrones Deserved So Much Better

It was clear early on that The Hound was a bitter man who hated his brother. Loyal first to King Robert and later to Joffrey, he was an excellent warrior with a lifelong ambition to kill The Mountain.

After abandoning Joffrey at the Battle of the Blackwater, he became a wanted man. And life on the run has changed him. While he initially wanted Arya Stark for personal gain, he grew to like and care for her in a fatherly way.

Though he would never quite admit it, his subsequent travels made him see the world in a different light. Of course, he retained his cynicism and love of isolation, but he grew to take a slightly broader view of things – and to question some of his own past actions.

Left to die by Arya, it seemed his time on the show was over. But that would have been no end for such a legendary figure.

When he seemingly returned from the dead, he was told that the gods weren't done with him yet. In his own mind, however, his sole purpose remained to destroy The Mountain.

Fast forward to Season 8, Episode 5, and we got what should have been an epic showdown between the two, and a fitting end to The Hound's character arc. But we were disappointed.

At that point, The Mountain was a zombified protector of Queen Cersei – brought back as a sort of Frankenstein's bodyguard after being (sort of) defeated by Prince Oberyn in a trial by combat.

The fact that they met by chance in a stairwell wasn't really a problem. After all, we wanted them to fight. But the fight was poorly choreographed and made little sense.

When they first came face to face, The Mountain showed he still had at least some freedom of thought when he disobeyed Cersei's orders and threw Qyburn down the stairs.

It all went downhill from there. The Mountain was almost completely immobile. Watching him swing his sword was like watching a truck do a three-point turn. The Hound should have taken him down with a single strike. But no.

Then, as the two came nose to nose, there was the faintest glimmer of a spark in The Mountain's eyes. Did he know what was happening to him as the sword was thrust through his middle? It wasn't entirely clear.

As the fight continued, The Hound continued to mete out punishment to his sibling. But the zombified version of Gregor Clegane was not the brother who had once forced Sandor's head into a fire. With each blow and stab, it became clearer that The Mountain simply could not be beaten.

There was poetry in the Hound sacrificing himself to send his brother into the flames. But it was far from the end Sandor Clegane deserved.