The Overlooked Game of Thrones Subplot That Could Have Saved Rory McCann’s Hound From a Brutal End
Game of Thrones set up the Hound for a hard-won rebirth—then left it on the cutting room floor. Fans argue his brief Season 6 bond with Ian McShane’s Brother Ray begged for a longer run, with Reddit buzzing over a missed chance at true transformation.
Sandor Clegane was never just a grumpy tank in armor. The Hound spent eight seasons dragging his trauma around like a boulder, flirting with the idea that he could be more than the rage he was born into. And then Season 6 dropped Ian McShane in as Brother Ray for one episode, dangled a version of Sandor who might actually heal, and yanked it away. Fans still argue that detour should have mattered more.
The quick version of The Hound meets Brother Ray
- In the Season 6 episode 'The Broken Man,' a nearly dead Hound is found in the Vale by Brother Ray, a former sellsword turned septon who now preaches peace.
- Ray nurses him back to health and nudges him toward something like redemption. When Ray asks what kept him alive, Sandor answers with one word: 'hate.' Ray pushes back, saying the gods kept him around for a reason.
- Sandor, being Sandor, tells Ray to arm up. Ray refuses, arguing that fighting only spreads the sickness they are trying to cure.
- Sandor heads into the woods to cut lumber. He comes back to find the camp sacked and Ray dead, strung up by raiders.
- It clearly gets to him. He even calls Ray a 'friend' — and for Sandor, that is not nothing — but the moment hardens him. The road to change closes, the old thirst for blood kicks back in.
'Violence is a disease.'
Fans: great subplot, wrong payoff
One Redditor in a thread titled 'Most Interesting Subplot That Went Nowhere' (shoutout to u/Spirited_Alfalfa_343) summed up a common gripe: after all that soul-searching with Brother Ray, Sandor still pivots straight to revenge and then dies in the final season. It felt like the show teased a big character turn... then swerved.
Did any of Ray stick to him?
Some of it did. Sandor carries a sliver of Ray forward — especially in how he talks to Arya. He actually tries to steer her off the kill-list path, basically telling her that living for payback only ends one way. That advice landed. But his own hatred for his brother is so deep that nothing ever digs it out.
Cleganebowl: the crowd-pleaser that sealed his fate
The long-rumored Hound vs. Mountain showdown finally happened in Season 8. The match-up was a fan theory for years and, since it has not happened in the books, plenty of viewers wrote it off as pure fan service. The duel is spectacular, sure, but nobody walks away. Both brothers go out locked in a death spiral, consumed by exactly what Brother Ray warned against.
The what-if that keeps lingering
Sandor and Brother Ray was a potent setup — a bruised killer being told he could still choose another path. It did not transform him, but it did soften him just enough to help Arya. If he had embraced Ray’s creed, we would not have gotten the big rooftop brawl in King’s Landing... but maybe we would have gotten a different kind of ending for one of the show’s most human monsters.
FYI
'Game of Thrones' ran April 17, 2011 to May 19, 2019, from showrunners David Benioff and D.B. Weiss, and sits at 89% on Rotten Tomatoes. It’s currently streaming on Max.
Where do you land on the Brother Ray detour — meaningful beat or missed opportunity?