Warning! Spoilers ahead for House of the Dragon season 2, episode 2.
Summary
House of the Dragonshowrunner Ryan Condal explains Sansa Stark’s connection to the Cargyll fight scene in season 2, episode 2. Adapting the events of George R. R. Martin’sFire & Blood, theGame of Thronesspinoff show returned for season 2 earlier this month, further escalating the conflict between the Greens and the Blacks.House of the Dragonseason 2, episode 2, sees Ser Criston Cole (Fabien Frankel) send Ser Arryk Cargyll (Luke Tittensor) to kill Rhaenyra (Emma D’Arcy) at Dragonstone, but Arryk ends up facing off against his twin brother, Ser Erryk (Elliot Tittensor), with both perishing.
In a recent interview withTHR, Condal explains Sansa’s connection to thisHouse of the Dragonfight scene. Sansa recounts and romanticizes the Cargyll twins' fight in Martin’sA Song of Ice & Firenovel series, and the showrunner explains that they wanted the show’s version to feel more real and “gritty.” Check out Condal’s comment below:
“The book depicts a few different versions of that story. I was always fascinated by the Cargyll twins story because that was a story that Sansa Stark romanticized — going back to theSong of Ice and Firebooks. And, of course, Sansa has this very Sansa-like romantic vision of what that fight was like and how they dueled for hours as though it was the duel fromThe Princess Bride. But the real thing would be much more brutal and gritty. We wanted to try to find the central line through it.
“There’s a version where they’re cursing each other’s names and calling each other ‘traitor’ and that just didn’t feel like the characters we’d set up. We have these two people who found themselves on different sides of this conflict and not knowing what to do with this oath. I think that makes it more of a tragedy when you see these two brothers trying to hold to their oath but find themselves in literal mortal combat against each other in order to uphold it.”
House Of The Dragon Season 2, Episode 2’s Cargyll Fight Could Have Big Repurcussions
How Will Rhaenyra Respond?
House of the Dragonseason 2 has, so far, seen the Greens and the Blacks engaging in a “tit-for-tat” back-and-forth. After Lucerys' (Elliot Grihault) shocking murder in the season 1 finale, the season 2 premiere sees Daemon (Matt Smith) hiringBlood and Cheeseto exact revenge – a “son for a son.” With Blood and Cheese having murdered Prince Jaehaerys, Ser Criston, seemingly as a way of offloading his own guilt, puts the blame on Ser Arryk, pressuring him to do his duty and slay Rhaenyra as retribution.
Why That Character Killed Themselves In House Of The Dragon Season 2, Episode 2
House of the Dragon season 2, episode 2 sees a bit more action and a character death that will be important to both sides of the Dance of the Dragons.
Though Rhaenyra makes it through the Cargyll twins' fight unscathed, her chambers are still breached by an assassin sent to kill her. If episode 3 and beyond continue the pattern set up by episodes 1 and 2, there could end up being retribution for this attempted assassination. After the murder of Jaehaerys, the possibility of peace is now firmly off the table, andthe attempt on Rhaenyra’s life will only add fuel to the fire.
That being said, Rhaenyra was horrified when she learned of Daemon’s role in Jaehaerys' death, and it’s possible that she will abstain from escalating the conflict in a way that her more violent uncle would have done. Alternatively,the attempt on her life could see her become more violent and more ruthlessas the situation in Westeros between the Greens and Black further deteriorates. It remains to be seen what the fallout ofHouse of the Dragonseason 2, episode 2, will be, but more bloodshed certainly seems to be on the horizon.
New episodes ofHouse of the Dragonseason 2 air on Sundays at 9 p.m. ET on HBO.
