This post is dark and full of spoilers for season seven of Game of Thrones, so if you don’t want to see any visions in the flames you’d be better off sailing to Volantis than continuing on this path.

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Our long-held belief that Game of Thrones will one day give us the mother of all “brother vs. brother” showdowns, a dream would-be match up between the Hound and the Mountain, has never waned. We’ve long given up on ever seeing Lady Stoneheart, but we still believe Sandor and Gregor will eventually face off.

In fact, we’re not just holding a glass candle for this theory, we’re doubling down on it. Big time. Because we think the show might finally be ready to give us what we want, and it will be even more epic than we ever imagined.

Get ready for Zombie Cleganebowl.

Qyburn’s very own Frankenstein Mountain Monster already stands ready to fight as an overpowered, undead combatant, but it’s The Hound’s potential death and resurrection–either the good or bad kind– that would make this a Battle of the Zombie Brothers.

The show has made it clear The Hound has an important role to play in its endgame. He managed to come back from certain death and return after a long absence, and learned twice from Beric Dondarrion that the Lord of Light has a purpose for him, and then in the season seven premiere he was able to see clear visions in the flames despite hating fire.

There’s something big coming for The Hound, and his unlikely but enduring connection with Beric Dondarrion seems to have something to do with it. Which brings us to the potential for a Zombie Cleganebowl, an event that will either be bittersweet or one of the best moments in show history.

The bad kind of resurrection could happen because The Hound is currently marching north of the Wall with the rest of the Westerosi Suicide Squad on a poorly planned, shortsighted mission to capture a wight. We’ve already discussed what horrible fate could await Jorah on that journey, but it also applies to Sandor Clegane. The group needs a dead man to bring back for Daenerys and Cersei to see, in the hope of getting the living on the same page so they’ll unite to save mankind. What if The Hound is the dead man they bring back, after he gets killed by White Walkers and brought back by the Night King?

He could then be the walking dead man brought to King’s Landing, definitive proof because Cersei knows him personally. That would bring the two zombie brothers together, and it’s not hard to imagine a circumstance (wight Hound gets loose, or pure hatred/fear from the Mountain) where that leads to Cleganebowl.

It would be terrible to see The Hound die and turned into a wight, but if being a zombie makes him immune to his brother’s attacks, resulting in him killing The Mountain, that would almost make his demise worth it. That scenario would fulfill his grand purpose the show keeps teasing–he was kept alive long enough so he could die and become the evidence mankind needed to get its act together. An important role done in a classic Game of Thrones soul-crushing manner.

But there’s an even better way The Hound could die and come back, an idea we are all in on. And wouldn’t you know it has something to do with Lady Stoneheart.

In this season’s premiere, The Hound questioned why Beric keeps being brought back to life, since “there’s nothing special” about him. “I don’t know what He wants from me, I only know that He wants me alive,” said Beric, who is also struggling with understanding his ultimate purpose. But in the novels we do know what Beric’s purpose was. He gave up his life for good by kissing the corpse of Catelyn Stark, bringing her back to life in his place.

Is Beric Dondarrion about to do that on the show for The Hound?

There’s a clear connection between The Hound, Beric, and the Brotherhood Without Banners. Beric has a role to play, as does the Hound, and it looks as though their purposes are also connected.

Could The Hound fall north of the Wall? Surely. But instead of the Night King resurrecting him for his army of the dead, might Beric get to him first and bring him back to the living by transferring his mysterious resurrection power? Would this be especially likely if the red priest and man whose prayers bring back Beric, Thoros of Myr, dies too?

Or as one fan theory suggests (warning: claims to include a major leaked spoiler, which I truly can’t confirm or deny because I’ve been avoiding them) could both of them survive their icy march and return for the meeting with Cersei. The Hound would then end up fighting his brother in Cleganebowl I where he gets killed, only for Beric to bring him back to fight the sequel Cleganebowl II: Zombie Edition?

Beric has said every time Thoros brings him back he is different, that he is somehow less. He’s tired, and therefore might be ready to finally let go and achieve peace. He also believes the Lord of Light wants Sandor Clegane alive. If faced with giving up his life for the Hound’s, Beric could decide that sacrifice is the best option for both of them, his Lord, and the living. Beric would realize his purpose the whole time was to keep the Hound alive.

The show has set up Sandor Clegane, a man who was baptized in flames and survived, for something big. Beric Dondarrion has also been kept alive for some great, unknown purpose. Their paths have brought them to this point together for a reason. The show never did give us Lady Stoneheart, but that doesn’t mean they won’t give us some of her story, which could mean we get Zombie Cleganebowl instead.

That would be even better than what we’ve been hoping for all this time.

What do you think awaits The Hound, Beric Dondarrion, and the Mountain? Bring life to our comments section below with your thoughts.

Images: HBO