Warning: Contains SPOILERS for House of the Dragon season 2, episode 2.
Contains discussion of suicide.
Summary
Ser Erryk Cargyll kills his own brother, Arryk, in a duel inHouse of the Dragonseason 2, episode 2, before taking his own life in a tragic end to the instalment. The duel of the Cargyll twins, taken from the pages of George R.R. Martin’sFire & Blood, comes as a direct response toBlood and Cheese killing Prince Jaehaerys Targaryenin the season 2 premiere, and is the first (of what should be many) action and fight sequences in the show’s sophomore run.
With Arryk arriving on Dragonstone and impersonating his brother in an attempt to murder Queen Rhaenyra Targaryen, it was always likely to end with at least one of the brothers dying, if not both. However,not even book readers would have been able to foresee exactly how the battle played outinHouse of the Dragonseason 2, episode 2’s ending, with some notable changes to the source material as Erryk falls on his own sword after killing his brother.
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Why Ser Erryk Cargyll Killed Himself In House Of The Dragon
There Are A Couple Of Potential Reasons For Erryk’s Death
Ser Erryk’s death is most likely as a result of the love he still had for his brother, despite them going their separate ways. As Arryk noted earlier in the episode, the pair were once one soul in two bodies and, despite their diverging paths, that didn’t just completely disappear. They came into the world together, and Erryk may have felt that it was only right for them to leave it together too; that he could not live knowing his brother was not only dead, but that he had killed him.
Kinslaying is considered a massive taboo in Westeros, and so Erryk was quite literally falling on his own sword because of that…
While Erryk was performing his duties as a member of Rhaenyra’s Queensguard and protecting the person he was loyal to, he may also have felt a sense of dishonor in the killing of his brother.Kinslaying is considered a massive taboo in Westeros, and so Erryk was quite literally falling on his own sword because of that, either to try and reclaim a sense of honor or because of the shame he felt he had brought upon himself (not too dissimilar toseppuku, a ritualistic form of suicide among samurai).
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There was a question of whether that really was Erryk who died by suicide at the end of the episode. Certainly, from watching the fight, even slowed down, I found it hard to be 100% certain. There would be something quite interesting in Arryk feeling he had been wrong to go against his brother and Rhaenyra at the very end, or at the very least, never being quite sure, but the context of the scene - with him calling her"your grace"- does certainly fit Erryk a lot more. Speaking toDecider, showrunner Ryan Condal confirmed this to be the case:
“That is Erryk at the end, who’s the last survivor, who falls. Erryk is the one that falls on his sword at the end, yeah. So, you know, Arryk is dead. The infiltrator is dead and then Erryk falls on the sword. So when he says, ‘Your Grace,’ to the queen, that’s when she knows who it is.”
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How The Duel Of The Cargyll Twins Is Different To The Book
House Of The Dragon Made Significant Changes To Fire & Blood
There are a couple of keychanges toFire & BloodinHouse of the Dragonseason 2’s depiction of the fight between the Cargyll twins. While the basic set up is the same, with Arryk disguising himself as Erryk on Dragonstone, Rhaenyra herself was not present for the fight, at least according to the various historical accounts offered. Also,the book has the brothers happen upon each other and draw swords, rather than Erryk arriving just in time. However, there are three different versions of what happened in the book:
In the end, the outcome is the same: both Cargylls are dead. There’s also a bit of Munken and Mushroom in the show’s version - the declaration of love from the former, the shorter, nastier duel of the latter. It is also possible, of course, that Rhaenyra does not disclose Erryk took his own life and instead tells people he and Arryk killed each other, which could even explain some of the differing accounts that come afterHouse of the Dragon’s timeline.
New episodes ofHouse of the Dragonrelease Sundays at 9pm ET on HBO and Max.
House of the Dragon
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House of the Dragon is a 2022 fantasy drama set in the world of Westeros, chronicling the Targaryen dynasty at its height. The story revolves around King Viserys’s controversial decision to name his daughter Rhaenyra as heir to the Iron Throne, sparking tensions and divisions within the realm.
