House of the Dragon showrunner confirms which twin wins fight in Episode 2

House of the Dragon Episode 2 ends with a confusing fight between the estranged Cargyll twins, but luckily, showrunner Ryan Condal has confirmed exactly who wins. Warning: spoilers ahead!

The identities of the Cargyll twins might be confusing for most House of the Dragon viewers, especially when they’re fighting each other to the death. Season 2 Episode 2 has the two brothers pitted against each other after Criston Cole sends Arryk to infiltrate Dragonstone and kill Rhaenyra.

Erryk manages to stop him just before he can, and the twins become engaged in a disorientating swordfight. One brother definitely defeats the other, but it’s hard to tell who wins the fight between Erryk and Arryk. Thankfully, Condal has cleared everything up.

“That is Erryk at the end, who’s the last survivor, who falls,” he confirmed at a roundtable in New York [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.”

HBO

So, now fans can be assured of the fact that Erryk (Team Black) took the win. The fight itself is over quickly, made all the more brutal by the fact that the brothers were separated by their opposing beliefs over which Targaryen should sit on the Iron Throne. What’s more, the battle was performed by the real-life brothers themselves.

“Look, they’re amazing actors and performers, they did that entire thing themselves,” Condal 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.”

It’s not just House of the Dragon viewers who find it tricky to tell the brothers apart. Condal even admitted to struggling in the early days of production but shared a handy trick for identifying the two.

“So, the way to remember is that Arryk, ‘A,’ goes with Aegon. And Erryk, ‘E,’ is Elliott Tittensor,” he explained.

“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. Although, at the end, I could. I could do it and I became very, very proud of it.”

For more, check out all the new TV shows to stream this month. You can also read our House of the Dragon Season 2 Episode 1 recap, to make sure you haven’t missed anything. For more guides, find out whether Criston Cole dies, and learn about Hugh Hammer.