House of the Dragon Season 2: Did Erryk or Arryk win the fight in Episode 2?

House of the Dragon Season 2 Episode 2 ends with a tense duel between the Cargyll twins — but who wins the fight, Arryk or Erryk?

There’s a lot for House of the Dragon Season 2‘s characters to deal with in the lengthy Episode 2. But Rhaenyra’s biggest problem is that Arryk has been sent to pose as his brother, Erryk, and assassinate her.

The twins come to blows in the final moments of Episode 2, both battling to either protect or kill Rhaenyra. It’s a bloody affair, with the two being swordsmen of equal footing. But one is slain, though it might be hard to tell who exactly. (They’re twins, after all!)

Here’s who wins that big fight between Arryk and Erryk. Warning: spoilers ahead, obviously.

Who wins the fight: Arryk or Erryk?

Erryk wins the fight against his brother in House of the Dragon but ends up plunging his own sword through his chest shortly after from the guilt of killing his brother.

At the end of Season 1, both twins split apart, with Erryk siding with Team Black and Arryk going with Team Green. In Season 2 Episode 2, Arryk is instructed by Criston Cole to sneak into Dragonstone and pose as his brother in order to kill Rhaenyra. He gets pretty far, entering the castle and avoiding his twin.

He even gets into her room, however, Lady Mysaria must have told Erryk that she’d seen his twin since he soon comes bursting in before Arryk can do anything.

HBO

The two then become engaged in a sword fight, battling it out as Rhaenyra hides in the corner. Arryk keeps going for her, but he’s thwarted by Erryk each time.

Rhaenyra’s maid runs and fetches Ser Lorent, who quickly enters the room. But alas, he can’t tell them apart! Erryk and Arryk are still going at it, and Arryk cuts Erryk across the leg. Erryk then strangles Arryk, but the other brother pushes him off.

As Arryk scrambles up from the floor, Erryk plunges his sword into him. His brother dies, and there’s calm in the room. However, after killing his twin, Erryk is clearly consumed with guilt and stabs himself with his own sword.

It appears as though the scene is intentionally crafted to be confusing, making it harder to identify which twin is winning. But the last twin standing has a cut across his leg, meaning it must be Erryk. (Plus, he calls Rhaenyra “Your Grace”.)

It’s a sad moment, with both brothers being reunited only to battle until their deaths. Erryk might have won the fight, but ultimately, both of them lost.

Who wins in the book?

In the books, accounts vary wildly on who wins the fight, with some saying they both killed each other at the same time, and others saying Erryk died days later.

Septon Eustace claimed the twins killed each other, with the brothers declaring their love for each other beforehand.

In Grand Maester Munkun’s The Dance of the Dragons, A True Telling, the brothers fought for an hour. Most of the court even ended up watching the feud. Although it became difficult to tell who was who, it didn’t matter, as the twins killed each other.

In The Testimony of Mushroom, the fight was much shorter and more aggressive, with no declarations of brotherly love. Erryk got to Arryk first by nearly cutting off Arryk’s arm, but the other brother managed to stab him as he collapsed.

According to this account, Arryk died quickly, but Erryk passed away four days later after a painful, agonizing death. Evidently, the TV show pulled a little from various accounts in the books to create its own ending.

Ryan Condal confirms Erryk won the fight

Showrunner Ryan Condal confirmed in an interview that Erryk was the last man standing at the end of the big fight.

“That is Erryk at the end, who’s the last survivor, who falls,” he said at a roundtable [via Decider]. “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.”

“Look, they’re amazing actors and performers, they did that entire thing themselves,” he added. “They studied that choreography, they learned it from Rowley [Irlam], the stunt coordinator. They did that whole fight on their own and it’s so incredible and moving.”

For more, keep up to date with our House of the Dragon release schedule. You can also learn more about Alyn of Hull, Alyrie Florent, and Cregan Stark. You can also read our House of the Dragon Season 2 review for thoughts on the series so far.