The twin brothers of House Cargyll, whom we were introduced to in House of the Dragon Season 1, were seen engaged in a brutal duel in the second season’s latest episode. Arryk was triggered by Ser Criston Cole and was sent to Dragonstone to murder Rhaneyra. However, the Queen remains unharmed, and Cargyll twins get engaged in a bloody conflict. If you are looking for an explanation of Ser Erryk and Ser Arryk’s deaths in HOTD, here’s your answer.
Arry and Erryk Cargyll Fight
House of the Dragon Season 2’s first episode ended with the unfortunate demise of Jahaerys, King Aegon II’s son. The King believes that Rhaenyra has dared to do the dreadful thing to him as he has challenged her succession to the Iron Throne. While Aegon II, Helaena, and everyone else in the kingdom mourned the child’s death, Ser Criston Cole devised a plan to avenge the saddening event.
The Kingsguard approaches Ser Arryk Cargyll while he is having his meal. He tries to provoke Arryk by accusing him of helping Blood and Cheese enter the Red Keep to commit the murder. Aer Criston also says that his twin brother Erryk was a traitor to the throne, so he has no reason to believe that Arryk can’t do anything like that. When Arryk senses that Criston Cole can make him seem disloyal to the King, he agrees to be a part of the revenge plan.
Criston Cole instructed him to butcher Rhaenyra by disguising himself as his twin brother Erryk, who is a member of the Queen’s council. Arryk does the same, enters Rhaenyra’s chamber, and takes out his sword. However, before he can harm the Queen, Erryk enters, and the fight between the two brothers commences. Rhaenyra asks her bedmaid, Elinda, to run and call Ser Lorren to back Erryk up. However, when Lorren arrives, he can’t recognize Erryk out of the two, so he can’t do anything.
The battle between the Cargyll twins comes to an end with the death of one, and then the other twin also stabs himself after asking for forgiveness from Rhaenyra.
In the books, it was never clear how the battle between the twins actually went down. Some say that the brothers kept fighting for about an hour, implying that they were both equally strong and skilled. On the other hand, Mushroom, while telling the tale in Game of Thrones lore, states that their fight was brutal but short. So, you could say that the TV show did a much better job with the Twins’ fight, giving them a proper and clear end.
Now that the two significant characters have died, the HOTD Season 2 Episode 3’s recently released trailer featured that the twin brothers will get buried together in the upcoming episode.
Who Dies First: Arryk or Erryk
At the end of episode 2, Erryk stabs his brother Arryk and, after that, gives up on his own life. So, it’s Arryk Cargyll who dies first in the battle with his twin.
The twin brothers Erryk and Arryk were introduced to us in HOTD Season 1, and since then, we have known how much they loved each other. Even after Erryk chose a different path by siding with Rhaenyra, Arryk never stopped thinking of him. That’s why when Ser Criston tries to provoke him using Erryk’s name, he begins to seethe in anger.
The latest episode’s conflict sees the two brothers stabbing each other, and when one of them is almost about to give up, “I love you, brother,” says the other.
Cargyll Twins Were Alternate Versions of the Clegane Brothers
In Game of Thrones, we have seen Clegane brothers, Mountain and Hound, choosing different sides. While Mountain stayed loyal to Cersei, Hound sided with Jon Snow and House Stark (Eventually). Similarly, in HOTD, Ser Erryk And Ser Arryk sided with different Houses in Dance of the Dragons.
In a way, Clegane and Cargyll brothers were very much alike. However, we must say that the Clegane brothers’ story was much more brutal, and their relationship was more complex. So, it’s no wonder that their story was stretched until the end of the GOT series. House of the Dragon’s Cargyll twins, even though experienced the same friction as the Clegane brothers, didn’t suffer as much as Hound and Mountain. Their story was impactful but brief.
Aparna Ukil
