Later on, the missing Arya walks around the streets of the city far from the Red Keep, unwashed and starving. In hungered desperation she attempts to capture a pigeon. Suddenly, she notices a commotion of smallfolk hurrying along and then follows the crowd to the Great Sept of Baelor and sees her father Eddard escorted in chains. On the steps, where Sandor stands amongst the royal party, Eddard is given a chance to confess his "crimes." He weighs his choices as he sees both Arya and Sansa present, and chooses to save them by making a false confession. He then declares that Joffrey is the true king in order to appease the young ruler. King Joffrey then informs that he could be merciful and send Eddard to the Night's Watch as his mother suggested and as Sansa has begged. He instead acknowledges that as women they are "soft" and treason must never go unpunished. The sadistic king then commands Ser Ilyn Payne to bring him Eddard’s head. The crowd goes into an uproar. Arya tries to make her way through the crowd, drawing her sword to save her father, but a friend of Eddard’s named Yoren stops her and shields her from seeing her father's death. A screaming Sansa is restrained by guards, while a visibly horrified Cersei frantically tries to persuade her son to reconsider, but there is no time. Ser Ilyn draws Eddard's own sword and cuts his head off with a single blow. Sandor then picks Eddard's severed head up to the adulation of the baying crowd. At the sight, Sansa faints on the steps of the Sept while Yoren drags her sister Arya away from the grisly site of the execution.

Some time following the execution, King Joffrey is holding court and a singer named Marillion is brought before him, charged with making up an amusing but offensive song about his ‘father’  and Cersei’s relationship. Joffrey commands Ser Ilyn to cut out his tongue. Following this, Sandor escorts Joffrey, who takes Sansa up to the walls to see her father Eddard’s head mounted on a spike. The young king sadistically forces her to look at it and cruelly mocks Sansa, promising that he will give her brother Robb Stark's head next, as with the death of her father Robb has now been appointed the King in the North. Sansa quietly retorts that Robb might give her Joffrey's head instead. Infuriated by this comment, King Joffrey orders the Kingsguard’s Ser Meryn Trant to hit her, as Cersei has told him that a king himself should not hit his queen. With his back turned, Sansa then moves up behind Joffrey, apparently preparing to shove him off the walkway to his death. Unexpectedly, however, Sandor quietly stops her and dabs the blood off her lip with a handkerchief as Joffrey leaves. Sandor then informs the anguished Sansa to give the king what he wants.

Some months later, outside of the Red Keep, King Joffrey holds a tournament to celebrate his nameday. Sandor’s mace rains blows down on his smaller adversary, knocking aside his shield, disarming him and then knocking him over the edge of the wall. The knight falls hard into the courtyard below. Joffrey then shouts congratulations to the Hound and then asks Sansa if she enjoyed the duel. As Joffrey's captive, Sansa, still reeling from her father’s execution, is subdued. Joffrey is then irritated by Ser Dontos Hollard, who arrives both late and intoxicated for his bout. The king orders his guards to pour an entire barrel of wine down Dontos' throat with a funnel.  Sansa, however, intercedes telling Joffrey that ordering a death on his name day is bad luck. Joffrey dismisses this as a mindless superstition, but Sandor seconds her. Sansa then convinces Joffrey to instead make Dontos his court fool, for which Dontos is grateful for. Tyrion Lannister then arrives to the tourney, much to Joffrey's disdain, but to the delight of his niece and nephew Myrcella and Tommen Baratheon, who both worried that he was dead as result of his long absence away from the capital. Tyrion mockingly notes Joffrey’s absence from the battlefield against the Northern forces, as his nephew indignantly responds that he’s been ruling the kingdoms. Tyrion then greets Sansa and offers his condolences over her father.

A few weeks later, King Joffrey is furious when he hears of Robb Stark's continued victory against the Lannister forces. He has Sansa brought before the court and sadistically menaces her by pointing a crossbow at her. Despite being terrified, Sansa refuses to give Joffrey the satisfaction of scaring her and continues to pledge her loyalty. Annoyed, he reluctantly concedes to Cersei’s insistence that they need Sansa alive. He takes a seat on the throne and commands Ser Meryn Trant to beat and strip her as punishment. Ser Meryn punches Sansa  violently in the stomach and strikes her in the back of the legs, causing her to fall down. He then rips open the back of her gown. A furious Tyrion then marches into the throne room and puts a stop to the spectacle, berating Joffrey’s actions, while Sandor gives Sansa his cloak to cover herself up with. Tyrion points out the absurdity of punishing Sansa for her brother’s actions. Now enraged, Joffrey bellows that as king, he can do whatever he pleases. Tyrion comforts the shaken Sansa and escorts her out of the hall. He also asks her if she wants to end her engagement to the king, but she continues to uphold her duty. Impressed, Tyrion remarks that she has learned how to survive around Joffrey and might just make it out of her situation alive. Upon Joffrey’s return to his chambers, Sandor informs the king that Tyrion has left his nameday present for him, which turns out to be two prostitutes that Joffrey brutally torments.

Weeks later, Sandor stands guard next to Joffrey, who attends his sister Myrcella’s departure for Dorne on the docks. Against Cersei’s wishes Tyrion has arranged for her daughter’s marriage to a Dornish prince named Trystane Martell. Sansa stands up to King Joffrey when he mocks his younger brother Tommen for crying. As the royal party travels back to the Red Keep through the crowded streets, the starving refugees and commoners of King's Landing plead for bread and hurl insults at King Joffrey, and ultimately, someone throws cow excrement into Joffrey's face. Despite being accompanied by only a few dozen guards facing hundreds of peasants, Joffrey then causes a city-wide riot by demanding that his guards kill all of the smallfolk present. A riot subsequently erupts and spreads throughout the city. Sandor and the royal party's guards are soon overwhelmed, and Joffrey, Cersei and Tyrion barely make it back to the castle unscathed. The High Septon, however, is literally torn apart by the mob. Amidst the chaos, Sansa is separated from the rest of the group and is pursued by a group of men who nearly rape her. However, just as the savage rioters violently hold her down and pull up her dress, Sansa is rescued by the Hound just in time. After quickly slaying her assailants, the Hound carries Sansa back to safety and orders handmaids to take care of her. Tyrion thanks Sandor for saving Sansa's life, but he bluntly responds that he didn't do it for Tyrion.

Some days following the riot, Sansa attemtps to thank Sandor for saving her life, stating that that he was very brave. Sandor deflects the compliment by simply saying that a “dog doesn't need courage to fight off rats.” She asks if he takes joy in scaring people, as the Hound replies that it gives him joy to kill. When Sandor mentions that her father Eddard also killed people, Sansa states that it wasn’t for his enjoyment. The Hound then wonders if that is what Eddard told her, asserting that her father was lying to her. Sandor adds that killing is the sweetest thing there is. Sansa is perturbed by his "hateful speech," but he then cautions that a day will come when his penchant for violence is all that stands between her and her "beloved" King Joffrey. Afterwards, Sansa has a nightmare about being attacked during the riots and awakens to find her bed bloodied by her first period. She desperately tries to conceal the evidence, fearing that her menarche will expose her to being forced to sleep with Joffrey in order to make an heir. Sansa and her handmaiden Shae’s attempts at hiding this secret is thwarted with the arrival of Sandor, who then escorts Sansa to speak with Cersei about her period.

Some weeks later, the capital prepares for war as the late King Robert’s brother, Stannis Baratheon, and his army are hours away from arrival. Stannis contends Joffrey’s legitimacy and, as the rightful heir, has come to take the Iron Throne for himself. Meanwhile, in a tavern, Lannister soldiers prepare for the battle by carousing with prostitutes. Bronn is amongst them and while getting acquainted with a prostitute, Sandor enters, silencing the men. Bronn calls out a welcome and offers Sandor a drink. The Hound only stares at him in response, as Bronn then suggests that Sandor doesn’t like him. Sandor downs his drink and asks Bronn if he thinks that he is a hard man, as Bronn laughs, insisting that he knows he is. Bronn states that they have a warm room, beautiful women and plenty of good brown ale to drink. He wonders why Sandor only wants to put one of them in the ground with no women to keep them company, as Sandor counters that there are plenty of women in the ground and that he has put some there himself. The Hound states that while Bronn likes singing, drinking and women, he truly loves killing. Sandor then asserts that they are the same, only Bronn is smaller, with Bronn adding that he is also quicker. The Hound and Bronn square up to each other but they are interrupted by the ringing of bells, summoning the men to arms. The soldiers leave, as Bronn suggests another drink before the war. The Hound, however, turns away from him, leaving a smiling Bronn.

Before heading to battle, Joffrey demands that Sansa should see him off with a kiss and draws his sword from its scabbard. When he orders her to kiss the sword, Sansa hesitantly kneels down to do so. Joffrey claims that Sansa will kiss it again when he returns and will taste his uncle’s blood. Sandor arrives with Joffrey and his party at the Mud Gate, as they are met by panicking smallfolk. Looking out into Blackwater Bay, Joffrey asks Tyrion where their fleet is, as Tyrion insists that they are on their way. In the bay, Stannis’ fleet emerges from the darkness as Tyrion orders his archers to prepare but hold fast. A single ship then emerges from the city docks as Joffrey asks in panic where the rest of their fleet is. Tyrion then uses a torch to light a beacon at its base. Bronn stands on the shore of the bay with a bow in hand and sees the beacon lit. He draws and fires a high-arching shot into the middle of the bay, as one of Stannis’ men watch the fire arrow hit the surface of leaking wildfire, igniting the substance. The wildfire filled vessel explodes and Stannis recoils from the massive explosion in the midst of his fleet. Though his ship remains unharmed, the spreading wildfire quickly wipes out the majority of his fleet. Stannis orders his officers to prepare to land, assuring his men that Tyrion can only play his trick once. He shouts to his men “Come with me and take this city,” as they cheer and follow him over the side of the ship. When the remainder of Stannis’ fleet row to shore, Tyrion orders the archers to rain fire on the attackers. Joffrey cries that there are too many of them as Tyrion orders the Hound to lead a sortie beyond the gate to fend off the Baratheon soldiers. Stannis leads his men through the hail of arrows, sustaining heavy casualties, and orders them to move along the wall to the gate. The Lannister troops are led through the gate by Sandor, who wades into the thick of the fighting, cutting a man in half with his greatsword. Ser Lancel Lannister is immediately shot in the chest by an archer but manages to keep his feet and then retreat back into the city. Outside on the field, as fire surrounds him with fear, Sandor’s life is saved by Bronn. The Hound then calls his men to fall back and follow him inside, as Stannis and his guards climb a ladder as they fight fiercely atop the wall, establishing a small foothold. Still paralyzed from the fire, Sandor walks away from the battle. When Joffrey questions him, the Hound states aloud in front of his king and several Lannister men: “Fuck the Kingsguard. Fuck the city. Fuck the king.” After the Hound exits battle, a scared and panicked Joffrey leaves the field as well once Ser Lancel informs him of his mother’s command to retreat. Tyrion looks around at the abandoned troops and then rallies them with an passionate speech informing them that he will lead a new plan of attack as they can emerge from behind their enemies.

As the battle continues, Sansa returns to her chambers and bars the door. She picks up a doll her father Eddard once gave her. Sandor, who let himself into her chambers already, startles Sansa by speaking. He asks if the ladies are starting to panic, as she wonders why he is there. The Hound informs her that he won’t be there long and is leaving the capital. When she asks where, he says “somewhere that isn’t burning,” suggesting north perhaps. Sandor then offers to take her with him and return her to her home of Winterfell, asserting that he can keep her safe. Sansa replies that she will be safe in King’s Landing and assumes that Stannis Baratheon would not hurt her. He forcefully tells her to look at him and states that Stannis and the Lannisters are killers. Sandor adds that Eddard was a killer, her brother Robb is a killer and one day her sons will be as well. He tells her that the world is built by killers so she should get used to looking at them. Sansa then says that he will not hurt her, as he agrees, calling her “little bird.” Sandor lets her go and then walks out of the room. Meanwhile, with the late arrival of Lord Tywin Lannister and his newly-allied Tyrell forces, Stannis is forced to flee from further attack and the city has been saved, all the while Sandor makes his departure from King’s Landing.

Some months following Sandor’s departure from the capital, the long-missing Arya Stark has been taken in by the Brotherhood Without Banners, a group of outlaws in the Riverlands that work against the Lannisters. At the Crossroads Inn, Arya and her friend Gendry join the Brotherhood for some food and drink, however, they remain unaware of her identity as a Stark. Gendry informs Thoros of Myr that he used to work as a smith in King's Landing for Tobho Mott, whom Thoros recognizes. Thoros then admits that Tobho charged double what the other smiths were charging. Gendry defensively counters that this was due to the fact that it was double the quality. Arya insists that she knows how to use a sword, despite Thoros' disbelief, but when she tries to mock-fence with him he quickly disarms her. Other members of the Brotherhood Without Banners then return to the inn with a captive: Sandor Clegane, who Arya hasn’t seen since her father’s execution. As Thoros trades insults with the Hound, Arya hides her face and tries to leave, but Sandor stops her in astonishment and asks what in seven hells are they doing with "the Stark bitch," revealing her identity to them all. Afterwards, Sandor is loaded into a prisoner cart by Anguy, during which he is confronted by Arya, who angrily asks him if he remembers the last time he was here, but he simply says all poor inns look the same.

Some days later, Arya and Gendry are kept hooded as the Brotherhood lead them into a cave named Hollow Hill, which serves as the outlaws’ secret hideout in the Riverlands. Sandor Clegane is brought with them in restraints, and is confronted by the leader of the Brotherhood, Ser Beric Dondarrion. Dondarrion says he's still following the mission that Eddard Stark set him on, which was to bring Ser Gregor Clegane to justice and restore King Robert's peace to the Riverlands. The Hound balks that Eddard and Robert are dead now, and he can't just be fighting for ghosts, but Dondarrion asserts that now the Brotherhood are also ghosts, attacking the Lannisters where they least expect them. The Brotherhood continues to cite various Lannister crimes but Sandor continues to point out that he wasn't present for these crimes and also insists that they can't kill him for the crimes of his brother. Arya then speaks up, and angrily accuses Sandor of killing the royal butcher’s boy, Mycah, at the Crossroads Inn years ago. Sandor matter-of-factly admits that he killed Mycah, but informs he was in no place to question Joffrey's orders, even before he was crowned. The Brotherhood, waiting to pin Sandor to any crime at all, then charge him with Mycah’s murder. However, he’s informed that he will be given a fair trial: Dondarrion himself will face Sandor in a trial by combat.

As both men prepare for combat, Thoros prays to his god, the Lord of Light, to judge the Hound for his crimes if he is guilty or give strength to his sword if he is innocent. Before the fight begins, Ser Beric calls upon the Red God to ignite his sword with flames. Due to the Sandor's fear of fire, Beric initially has an advantage against the Hound. Beric even manages to set Sandor's wooden shield on fire, which is strapped so tightly to Sandor's arm that he cannot remove it and is nearly burned himself. Eventually, however, Sandor's raw physical strength and anger overpowers Beric, and with a single downward swipe deep into his shoulder, kills Beric. As Dondarrion falls to the ground, Thoros quickly rushes to his side, and begins praying. Sandor falls to the ground to try extinguishing his shield. Arya then grabs a dagger and attempts to kill the Hound while he is on the ground, but she is stopped by Gendry. As she curses him, Sandor taunts Arya over how the gods prefer him over her dead friend Mycah. However, they are both interrupted by Ser Beric, who has quickly been revived by the Lord of Light's power. However, having won the trial and proven his innocence in the eyes of god, Sandor is allowed to leave from his imprisonment, but is hooded so he won't know the way back to their hideout. Sandor is later released some distance away.

Some time later, Arya is disillusioned with the Brotherhood for deciding to postpone delivering her to her family at Riverrun. She angrily calls them out on their hypocrisy and runs away. Before she gets too far, however, she is kidnapped by Sandor, who, since his dismissal from the cave, has been waiting for an opportunity to seize her for himself. The following morning, now a captive of the Hound, Arya picks up a rock and stands over Sandor planning to strike. She thinks he is sound asleep, but he opens his eyes and tells her she has one chance to hit him and kill him, because if she fails, he will break her hands. Later on, she sullenly sits on the horse with him, refusing food he offers her. Sandor points out that for all she hates him, Arya could have been taken captive by far worse. He tells her the story of Sansa and how he rescued her from a mob in King’s Landing during a riot, men who were going to rape her then slit her throat. Arya insists that he's lying, but Sandor asserts to "ask your sister, if you ever see her again." They continue onward across the meadows and arrive at a river where Sandor reveals that he is taking her to the Twins, intending to get a reward by ransoming her back to her family.  The marriage of her uncle Edmure Tully is imminent, and both her brother Robb and mother Catelyn Stark will be in attendance for the wedding. He tells her ruefully that if she was not so busy trying to bash his skull in, they might make it in time for the wedding. Arya hides a smile, as the Hound spurs the horse to a gallop.

Days later, on their way to the Twins, Sandor and Arya come across a hog farmer, who is also going to the Twins for the wedding, but his wagon is damaged. As Sandor lifts the wagon, the hog farmer repairs it. However, once repaired, Sandor punches the farmer, knocking him unconscious. The Hound then draws a dagger to kill the hog farmer, but Arya begs him not to, and he eventually relents. When the hog farmer wakes up, Arya knocks him out again with another blow to the head. Shortly thereafter, as the pair arrive across the river from the Twins, as Arya nervously gazes toward the Stark camp that has been set up outside the castle. Sandor informs Arya that she is visibly afraid that something may happen to ruin her imminent reunion with her family. Arya tells Sandor that he was visibly afraid of Ser Beric's flaming sword, and that she knows what Sandor's brother Ser Gregor did to him when they were children. Their bickering continues as Sandor then taunts Arya about the execution of her father Eddard, while Arya declares to Sandor that one day she will stab him through his eye and out the back of his skull.

That evening, Arya and Sandor arrive at the gates of the Twins, in disguise as a hog farmer and his daughter. Sandor tells a House Frey guard they have salt pork for the wedding feast, but the guard tells them the feast is over and orders them to leave. Arya then takes the opportunity to run away from Sandor and hides near a table of Stark soldiers. Suddenly, soldiers come out of the castle and murder the Stark men. Arya hears her brother Robb’s direwolf Grey Wind  howling inside a wooden cage, but four men with crossbows come out of the castle and murder the direwolf before she can release him. After the Frey soldiers leave, Arya attempts to enter the castle, but is stopped by Sandor, who says that it is too late to do anything. Arya struggles to get into the castle anyway, so Sandor knocks her unconscious and carries her away, realizing that any attempt to intervene at this point would be suicide. In the aftermath of the surprise massacre, which has claimed the lives of both her brother Robb and mother Catelyn, Sandor mounts his horse with Arya and picks up a Frey banner for their safety as he tries to slip away through the chaos. They then witnesses House Frey and House Bolton soldiers parading Robb's mutilated corpse tied up on horseback, with the head of Grey Wind attached to her brother's body. Arya and Sandor then flee the castle on horseback while the rest of the Stark army is massacred, thus ending what will be known as the Red Wedding massacre.

The following day, while riding to destinations unknown, the Hound and Arya come across a small group of Frey soldiers eating at a campfire. They are mocking the death of Arya's mother Catelyn, while one of the soldiers describes the process of sewing Grey Wind's head onto her brother Robb’s dead body. Arya then dismounts from Sandor's horse and slowly walks up behind the soldiers. They turn around and asks her what she wants, as Arya insists that she is hungry and wants to keep warm. The soldiers rudely instruct her to go away, but she asserts that she has money, then showing them a Braavosi coin that was given to her. She then purposely drops the coin, and when a soldier bends down to pick it up, she repeatedly stabs him in the back of the neck with a knife. The other men draw their weapons, but Sandor appears and kills all three with ease. Sandor asks Arya how she got a knife, and she explains that she took it from him. Sandor then asks if that the first man she has ever killed, as Arya confirms "the first MAN,” recalling a stableboy she accidentally killed in King's Landing. As Sandor helps himself to the soldiers' food, Arya picks up the coin with her bloodied fingers and whispers "Valar Morghulis," a common greeting in Braavos meaning “all men must die.”

Some time later, Sandor and Arya are still traveling through the Riverlands on a single horse. They pass by overturned carts and dead bodies, including those of children. Arya asks when she is going to get her own horse, complaining of the Hound's stench. He scoffs at the idea, noting that horses are hard to come by and that he wouldn't give Arya her own horse as she is the only thing of value he has since he did not take anything of value when he left King's Landing. Arya assures him she has no plans to run off, saying that she would die by nightfall without him as she has no one to go to. The Hound reminds her that she still has an aunt in the Vale,  Lysa Arryn, to whom he now plans to ransom Arya to. The two eventually come upon a tavern. Both hungry, Arya suggests that they attack the men there, to which Sandor expresses reluctance as there are five men. Just then, two men exit to relieve themselves. Arya recognizes one of them as Polliver, a Lannister man-at-arms who had previously taken Arya's sword and killed her friend Lommy Greenhands. She also notices that Polliver still has her sword on his person and she runs into the tavern to retrieve it. The Hound chases after her, stopping her at the tavern's door, but they are seen and choose to go in anyways, so as not to arouse suspicion. Arya and the Hound go to a table far away from everyone else, but Polliver still recognizes the Hound and walks over to their table and strikes up a conversation. He does not recognize Arya, who he thinks is just the Hound's latest sexual conquest. Polliver implies that he and his men intend to rape and pillage on their way back to King's Landing and invites the Hound to come along. The conversation then becomes tense and turns into a standoff. They eventually draw their swords. At first, the Hound fights the five men alone while Arya stands in the corner. He easily dispatches two of them and fights off the rest, stabbing one in the groin. Arya then joins the fray, smashing a pot over the head of one of the men and stabbing him with his own long sword. She then slashes Polliver's leg from behind, causing him to fall to the ground. Arya takes her sword from Polliver and stands over his prone form. She echoes what he had said to her friend Lommy just before he killed him, though Polliver still doesn't recognize her and has no idea what she is talking about. Arya then repeats what he had said to her when he took her sword: "Fine little blade. Maybe I'll pick my teeth with it." It is at that point when Polliver recognizes her and becomes frightened. Arya then kills Polliver in the same way he had killed Lommy, by driving her sword slowly into his throat. Arya and the Hound then leave the tavern, taking with them a new horse for Arya and a cooked chicken Sandor wanted.

Some time later, across the Riverlands, the Hound and Arya stop to water their horses. Arya thinks that they are lost and asks Sandor what he plans to do after he takes her to the Eyrie to see her aunt Lysa. He asserts that he might join the Second Sons, a reputable sellsword company on the eastern continent of Essos. They are both then spotted by a farmer and his young daughter who asks them what they are doing on his lands. Arya quickly fabricates a story that the Hound and she are father and daughter, who lost their wife and mother to a fire that also claimed their cottage. She adds that “her father” Sandor has never been the same since. When the farmer asks which house does Clegane fight for, Arya informs that he is a knight in service of House Tully. The farmer believes Arya and allows the pair to stay the night in his home and share a meal together. Famished, Arya and the Hound scarf the food down hastily as the farmer comments on the sacrilegious actions of House Frey during the Red Wedding massacre. Arya wakes the following morning to hear the farmer's daughter screaming. Clegane has assaulted the farmer and taken his silver. Confused and horrified, Arya demands to know why Clegane did that. He ignores the insult and simply states, "a dead man doesn't need his silver," claiming the farmer is weak and he and his daughter will not survive the upcoming winter.

Some weeks later, Arya recites her kill list by a campfire as the Hound tries to sleep. After a while, he tells her to be quiet. Arya insists that she can't go to sleep without saying all of the names. Irritated, the Hound asks her if she is going to name every person in Westeros, to which she replies, "Only the ones I'm going to kill.” He calmly replies that hate is as good as any motivation to keep a person going. Sandor then makes a note that if they would come across his brother Ser Gregor, both of them would cross one name from their lists. He then tells Arya to finish up reciting her list. She informs Sandor that she only has one name left remaining which, to his surprise, is his. The following morning, Arya is practicing her water dance technique beside a river. Sandor, predictably, makes fun of her for prancing around. When Arya tells him that she learned her fighting style from Syrio Forel, whom she believes was killed by Ser Meryn Trant, he openly mocks the Braavosi for being defeated by such a worthless fighter. Eventually, he lets her have a go at him, for her dead friend Mycah whom he killed, but her sword won't even pierce his armor. He then backhands her, takes her sword and, with her sword pointed at her throat, Sandor reminds her that Syrio Forel is dead. He adds that her techniques are best learned from people who are still alive, such as the people on her list.

Some time later, en route to the Vale, Arya and Sandor stumble upon a village in the distance. Curious to find provisions they proceed with caution as Arya informs there could be soldiers. Upon entering the ransacked village they encounter a dying man. Upon Sandor’s enquiry of who was responsible for the attack, the man with the fatal stab wound informs that he stopped asking long ago. Sandor gives the man a gift of mercy by stabbing him in the heart. Moments later, Sandor is ambushed by Biter, an imprisoned murderer whom Arya met during her failed journey to the Night’s Watch years ago. Biter, very much living up to his nickname, comes up behind Sandor and bites him on the neck. The Hound swiftly snaps Biter's neck and drops him dead in the dirt. Rorge then appears, another murderer Arya met on the road, revealing that there is a bounty on Sandor's head, which he and others want to collect. He is instantly recognized by Arya as one of the prisoners who threatened her repeatedly. The Hound asks if Rorge is on Arya's list, but she denies it as she doesn't know his name. Sandor asks Rorge for his name and after he informs them, Arya thanks Rorge and promptly stabs him in the heart with her sword. Sandor cynically comments that she's learning.

Afterwards, Sandor clumsily addresses his wounds from Biter. Arya informs him that he’s doing it wrong, suggesting to burn the wound in order to cauterize it. She adds that otherwise it’ll get infected and fester, which will eventuate in death. Arya is rebuffed by Sandor because of his fear of fire, but she understands the severity of the wound, insisting that it’ll only take a second and won’t hurt that much. As she approaches with a burning stick from the campfire, Sandor hurriedly stands up and retreats from her shouting “no fire!” As Arya sits back down to wipe down her sword, Sandor starts complaining about his own decisions surrounding their journey and ponders with getting stabbed, cut and bitten, if any monetary reward is worth this much trouble. He adds that he never should have laid eyes on Arya. After an awkward silence, Sandor confirms that while her half-brother Jon Snow gave Arya her sword, his brother gave him this: pointing to the scarring on his face. He then admits the story of his scars from burns inflicted by Ser Gregor's wrath. Sandor adds that the while the pain was bad and the smell worse, the worst part of it all was that it was his own brother who did it and his own father who protected Gregor and not him. Sandor informs that his father covered up the truth, making him feel alone. Arya offers to clean the wound with water and stitch him up, and Sandor allows her to do so.

Days later, as Arya and Sandor finally make their way through the Vale, Arya laments that she doesn't feel any satisfaction over King Joffrey's recent death, which they had learned about the other day from their attacker Rorge. She assumes that the king’s death alone would have made her happy, but Arya then expresses disappointment in the fact that she was neither able to be present during his murder or be the one to kill him herself. Arya adds that she would have wanted to see the look in Joffrey’s eyes once he’d registered that his life was over. Sandor then agrees that nothing in the world beats that look before commenting that poison is a woman’s weapon, scoffing at the use of such methods. Upon Sandor saying that men kill with steel, Arya comments on the fact that his pride will prevent him from being a great killer, adding that she would have killed Joffrey with a chicken bone if she had to. Once they reach the waycastle that leads to the Eyrie, called the Bloody Gate, Sandor announces the arrival of Lady Lysa Arryn’s niece Arya. However, a knight of the Vale named Ser Donnel Waynwood offers his condolences and informs the pair that Lady Lysa has passed away just three days prior. This rather insensitively prompts Arya to burst into a fit of laughter over their continuing bad luck, while Sandor stands dumbfounded over his attempts to collect a ransom being foiled yet again.

Some time later in the Vale, a female warrior named Brienne of Tarth and her squire Podrick Payne are heading towards the Bloody Gate when they happen upon Arya practicing her water dancing, while the Hound is off relieving himself. Arya and Sandor are returning from the Eyrie after receiving words of her aunt Lysa’s death. Brienne and Arya converse for a moment, both showing respect for one another as they are both women who have fought against what has been expected of them their entire lives. They are interrupted by the return of the Hound, who is immediately recognized by Podrick Payne, causing Brienne to realize that the girl is who she has been searching for. Brienne urgently informs Arya of her sacred vow to protect Catelyn Stark, although she failed to do so because she was commanded by Lady Catelyn to return Ser Jaime Lannister to King’s Landing. This prevented her from fighting for Catelyn at the Red Wedding, where Arya’s mother and brother perished. The Hound immediately accuses Brienne of working for the Lannisters, noticing her Valyrian steel sword. Brienne admits that it was given to her by Ser Jaime, frightening Arya into thinking that Brienne is indeed working for the Lannisters. Brienne implores Arya to come with her to safety, causing the Hound to mock  Brienne, pointing out that there is no "safety" for Arya anymore: her aunt Lysa Arryn in the Eyrie – whom Brienne and Podrick are seeking out – is dead. Sandor adds that so is her father, mother and brother, while the Stark armies are scattered and Winterfell is now a smoking ruin. Sandor and Brienne then draw swords and begin fighting, both eventually disarming each other and resorting to an evenly-matched yet brutal hand-to-hand combat. Ultimately, Brienne gains the upper hand by biting off a chunk of Sandor's ear and knocks him down a steep cliffside. Brienne then goes to search for Arya, who slipped away during their fight and has hidden herself amongst the rock formations. As Brienne and Podrick search the surrounding area for Arya in vain, Arya makes her way down the cliffside to find the Hound badly wounded. He tells her that unless there is a maester miraculously on hand to tend to his wounds, he's finished. Sandor instructs Arya to kill him in order to scratch another name off her list, but she just sits there staring at him silently. To goad Arya into killing him, an angry Sandor begins recounting running down the butcher's boy Mycah, as well as commenting on how he should have raped  Sansa in King's Landing. Nonetheless, Arya remains silent. Sandor, in excruciating pain, finally resorts to begging her to kill him and put him out of his misery. However, Arya still refuses and instead takes his coin purse, leaving him to suffer from a long and painful death.