In true House of the Dragon season 2 fashion, episode 2 ended with a bang last night and saw two of our favorite characters come to blows in a tense yet highly confusing final battle. However, showrunner Ryan Condal has put the questions to bed, confirming the real winner.
Warning, major spoilers for House of the Dragon season 2 episode 2 follow!
House of the Dragon season 2 episode 2 is here, featuring the epic battle between twins and Ser Erryk, played by Elliott Tittensor, and his brother Ser Arryk, played by Luke Tittensor. The brothers sat on opposing teams with Erryk siding with Rhaenyra and Arryk with Aegon, and hadn't seen each other since Erryk fled to Dragonstone. But in episode 2, they came face to face one final time and engaged in a fight to the death, all in the name of the crown.
However, with the twins being perfectly identical and wearing the same armor, it quickly became hard to differentiate between the two, and the battle turned into more of an optical illusion leaving many viewers thinking: who actually won? In a recent roundtable interview in New York City, Condal revealed which twin came out on top.
"That is Erryk at the end, who’s the last survivor, who falls," Condal said, as reported by Decider. "Erryk is the one that falls on his sword at the end, yeah," So there you have it, Erryk, who is on Rhaenyra’s side, was the one who killed his brother, and then out of guilt killed himself. "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."
That doesn't mean that the showrunner does not understand viewers’ confusion, as he himself admitted: "They’re very hard to tell apart. Elliott has tattoos all over his arms, which is great when they’re not in costume. But the minute they put the costume on, you then can’t tell them apart."
But, how did we get there? Picking up after the shocking events of Blood and Cheese, episode 2 saw both sides reeling from the violent murder of Aegon’s first son set up by Prince Daemon. But probably the most guilty person around the event had to be Sir Criston Cole who was supposed to be watching over the King's family at the time of the killing, but instead was sleeping with the Queen Dowager. In a shamed rage, Cole took his anger out on Arryk and sent him alone on a special mission to Dragonstone to pretend to be his twin brother and kill Rhaenyra.
But, soon after Arryk entered Rhaenyra's room with his sword drawn, his brother leaped in and the two began fighting. After a lengthy match and the two wounded, Erryk delivered the final blow to his brother Arryk, but then out of devastation, he killed himself, throwing himself on his sword. So there you have it.
House of the Dragon continues weekly on Sky and NOW in the UK and HBO in the US. For even more on the show, check out our deep dives on:
- House of the Dragon season 2, episodes 1-4 review
- House of the Dragon season 2 showrunner on why Blood and Cheese is nothing like Game of Thrones' Red Wedding
- House of the Dragon season 2 showrunner doesn't feel the pressure of following the controversial Game of Thrones season 8: "Our challenge comes from within"
- House of the Dragon showrunner teases season 3: "You don't want to end up in that place where you're doing the same thing again and again"
- House of the Dragon season 2 showrunner breaks down the complicated relationship between Daemon and Rhaenyra: "Conflict is the order of the day"
- House of the Dragon season 2 showrunner says Rhaenyra and Alicent's bond is still the heart of the show: "We understand that these two women are connected"
- House of the Dragon season 2, episode 1 recap and Easter eggs
- Cregan Stark explained
- The House of the Dragon dragons, listed and explained
- Greens vs. Blacks, explained
- The White Worm, explained
- The Targaryen family tree
- The House of the Dragon timeline
- The history of Vhagar
- The Song of Ice and Fire prophecy
- House of the Dragon season 2 release schedule
