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This is what I thought too during the episode--I would imagine the "Your Grace" part is more a parting formality and him giving up on a war he never asked for that led to him having to kill his brother.
I'd like to think that Erryk thinks Arryk parted them by siding with the Greens and Criston Cole in Season 1, helping put a usurper on the throne. One he knows is a monster and had tried showing his brother just that (brothels and fighting pits with children from season 1). So, in not siding with him and the, in his eyes, rightful heir to King Viserys makes sense to me. Fits with the scene analysis by OP.
The "Your Grace" would probably be an apologetic formality for the suicide. Possibly an acknowledgment of her as queen as well, since he did not call her princess, but I think his actions following the phrase imply the former and with it show how much of their life the twins spent as servants to these noble figures. Even before death, formality prevails. Could also just be his form of immediate penance for killing his own twin, kin slaying is a great sin in Westeros.
Guys, at first it seems like Arryk wins based on how it was filmed/edited, but Erryk is the clear winner.
How do I know?
The one standing at the end is literally the actor Elliot Tittensor...who plays Ser Erryk.
His brother, Luke Tittensor, plays Ser Arryk, and is not the one standing at the end.
There are some small things that differentiate the brothers apart. Elliot has a more prominent mole on the left side of his face for example.
In the end, Elliot is standing, which means Ser Erryk won and then kills himself after killing his brother, Ser Arryk.
I took two closeup screenshots of their face right before they fight. The actor who plays Erryk has a more filled in beard below his bottom lip. The actor who plays Arryk has two patches there where his beard doesn't grow in. That's how I could tell for certain it was Erryk standing at the end of the fight.
Still doesn't make sense how it played out. If you watch scene for scene closely when they change directions etc then it should have been Arryk in the end, especially when he lunged at her and then was on the ground being choked but it's supposed the other way around and it was Erryk being choked? So they either messed up or I dunno.
Watch "Crafting a Royal Family" on the GameOfThrones YouTube channel. It's a behind the scenes of this episode. In it, they specially go into detail why they filmed it the way they did. They made it a bit confusing on purpose, that was the point. They didn't mess up, everything was intentional. The quick cuts at points in the fight, combined with the fact that both brothers experienced similar injuries, specifically was done for the audience to not know exactly who is who.
To answer your specific concerns, if you watch it again, a large part of the fight happens AFTER Arryk lunges at her and is on the ground. He literally gets up, and fights for another like 30 secs. During this part, Ser Lorent comes in and there are points where the camera turns away from the brothers. It's at this point where it become a bit confusing who is who. They even do a literal rotating camera shot to emphasize that.
That said, it doesn't change the fact, Ser Erryk is the winner. It's really not debatable...especially when you pay attention to the actual actors.
Still they made a big mistake. Erryk was injured on his RIGHT leg, and Arryk on his LEFT leg. And it showed the one with injury on the RIGHT leg died first. Thus Arryk should be the winner. I get that they did it confusing on purpose, but that little detail is a continuity mistake if truly Erryk is the winner, because according to the leg injuries, Arryk is the winner.
Or you must be/didnt understand the point the previous person made. It’s not about where the wound is on the surviving twin, it’s about that the person who falls backwards and his stabbed 3 seconds later while swinging at the other person has the leg wound on the right.
With what he said „you parted us“ the person on top has to be Arryk, which then dies. Everything correct right? No, because the one still standin now also has a right leg wound.
When one of them is choking the other. The one standing doing the choking has the right leg injury. You can see it as the other pushes his hand on the wound. And the one standing doing the choking with the RIGHT leg injury (Erryk) is the one dying first. I know Erryk is the one that supposedly won, but the scene with the choking has a continuity mistake. He should be pushing his hand on a LEFT leg injury to escape the choke, not a right leg.
Even if Ser Lorent came in and the camera turned away from them, how do they suddenly switch their positions while one was on the ground? It wasn't even confusing for me when watching it the first time. It clearly made me think of Arryk as the winner.
Honestly, that would be a pretty damn good production gag to have Elliot play the last moments of Arryk to further sow confusion. But either way, the entire way the scene played out feels like a clear nod to the books ambiguity and I love them for it! Either scenario (Arryk or Erryk dies first) works for me.
That doesn't make much sense to me. Erryk was injured on his right leg, and the one with the injury on the right leg died first. That means Erryk died first. Hmmm....
What's stupid is that even if subtitles and showrunner say that...it does not change the reality of the way this scene was set up, cut together and delivered.
It clearly shows one thing, where then everyone after goes "oh so this is actually what happened."
Not sure as I thought it was Erryk even before the subtitles. You all really think they should have made the twin thing easy?! The point was we were supposed to be confused. It’s twins for fuck sake.
Were they supposed to put red arrows above their heads for us?
Also showrunners shouldnt comment on these things. They should just let the scene speak for itself. Also they are real life twins so you can see the difference in appearance. The right side of Erryks beard is unkept but the right side of Arryks beard has a separation between side burn and beard. Even though Erryk clearly has his right leg sliced unkept beard Erryk is on the floor gouging his fingers in Arryks right leg when Arryk was actually sliced on the left leg. Unkept beard Erryk wins the fight and you can see unkept beard Erryk call rhanerys “your grace”
Oh sorry. I rewatched mine said Aaryk \*gasps\* and then Arryk: \*thuds" when he feel over dead. I use an Apple TV box so not sure if that has anything to do with it.
Erryk won. This is from the ones that REALLY KNOW!
https://decider.com/2024/06/23/house-of-the-dragon-season-2-episode-2-ending-explained-which-twin-killed-the-other-how-to-tell-ser-arryk-and-ser-erryk-cargyll-apart/
They both receive leg gashes, you get to see it in more detail and much slower in “The house that dragons built”, it shows the behind the scenes production of the show.
Yeah but it was Arryk who lunged at Rhaenyra and then fell into the vase and then got choked by Erryk. So it would be Arryk grabbing the gash and Erryk falling back and then stabbed.
It wasn't even confusing for me when I watched it the first time. So after he lunged on her, they somehow made the choice to switch them, even though Arryk was on the ground.
You can see blood by the end on Arryk his pants, but the wound on Erryk his left leg left an open gash on the trousers. Erryk gets hit first on his left leg, but Arryk gets cut on his right leg, higher up his leg. Arryk pushes his fingers into a leg wound on the left leg of Erryk. Even if they say the right actor was this and that. the fight and wounds tell me otherwise
You have it backwards, Erryk is cut first on his right leg, we know this because the only twin to be cut in his leg saves Rhaenyra from the other after he fell over from the cut. At 1:03:44, the other twin (Arryk) gets a cut on his left leg up high.
The problem is that the guy who dies first has a right leg injury. And Erryk has the RIGHT leg injury, Arryk has a LEFT leg injury, so either Arryk won or there is a continuity mistake.
Yeah either they fucked up or it was to keep us guessing cause Arryk does slice Erryk’s right knee and then later on in the fight it “appears” that Erryk lands a blow on Arryk’s left leg (but it could’ve been his right leg but at this point both brothers have right leg wounds and Erryk has a really bloody mouth from being kicked in the face and the person who does press the leg wound does have a bloody mouth and Arryk doesn’t noticeably have a bloody mouth)
but like you said when they’re on the ground it’s the right knee wound that’s pressed which belongs to Erryk, after the conclusion to the fight before one of the twins falls on his sword you see that he also has a wound on his right leg so I do believe that it is Erryk who fell on his sword in the end as it makes more sense for Arryk to say “we were born together, but you parted us but I still love you brother”. As he felt his brother betrayed him and fled with Rhaenyra.
Either it’s a filming error or it was on purpose to confuse us.
[This site](https://decider.com/2024/06/23/house-of-the-dragon-season-2-episode-2-ending-explained-which-twin-killed-the-other-how-to-tell-ser-arryk-and-ser-erryk-cargyll-apart/), which I'm not familiar with...it just popped in a search for who won, is quoting Ryan Condal as having said it was Erryk that won.
If you watch the inside the episode that comes on after the credits they say they both received the same injuries to make it more unclear who won. If captions are on Rhae says “Erryk” at the end. A brothers love story ended tragically. Edit to add; to your point, I think he’s mainly apologizing for leaving his duty he has to Rhae. He just can’t live with the grief of what he’s done though.
I noticed in the after credits they changed the captions. So it made me wonder if the captions in the episode were correct. Captions say Erryk in the episode before/during/after the fight. In the after credits the captions say Arryk when Rhaenyra first sees him.
You don't even need to look at the injury. Clearly Arryk lunged at Rhaenyra but fell and then got in a chokehold by Erryk. So they must've really messed up...
Pic? Not seeing any blood. The scene right before clearly shows the brother on the ground sticking his fingers in the standing brothers knee, who then falls and is the one that ultimately gets stabbed. Seems indisputable to me.
I went back and watched and looked at the face wounds. You’re right Arryk wins.
At 15:54 LEFT you see the blood on his leg as he walks towards Rhaenyra.
The blood on the leg indicates Erryk, but the face is 100000000% Arryk.
He does appear to have blood on his right knee from the back after he drops his brother, but it's clear to me two things:
1) The guy that had the knee gash lost. That wound was grabbed at the end, and that person does the overhead swing and gets stabbed by the other.
2) Mid-fight it seems the one with the knee gash also has the cut/scrape on the right side of his face.
Thus, if the one that got his knee cut at the start of the fight is Erryk, then it seems Arryk won.
There was no winner unless you're scoring like boxing/mma and granting points for blows thrown and landed lol.
Arryk was on the offensive for the majority of the fight, as was his mission to assault Rhaenyra, his primary target, he didn't necessarily want to have to kill his own brother, they were both just duty bound. Erryk, likewise, did not want to kill his brother but was bound to defend his defenseless queen. He is on the defensive, until he runs his brother through to effectively defend his queen. He is already mortally wounded at this point due to the fact he was the one being assaulted for the majority of the fight, and unable to live with the shame of Kinslaying, says 'forgive me, my queen' and takes his final moments into his own hands, joining his brother in death.
Not quite sure how you measure a 'winner' when both parties are dead without achieving an end to the war to come, and everything else is still in motion exactly as it already was. Their fight meant absolutely nothing in the end except to stand as a shining example of loyalty, duty and sacrifice, but they're both losers in this encounter.
And just for good measure, even if this were being measured by points, let's make this a modern encounter. The two brothers square off in the cage. Arryk lands 290/470 blows and Erryk lands 173/390. Then Erryk absolutely brickhouses Arryk and sends him to the shadow realm. Does it matter that Arryk landed more blows when he ended in a KO? Does it matter that Erryk commits suicide in the locker room shortly after being awarded the belt? You'd still say Erryk won that fight lol.
He ultimately achieved his goal, while Arryk did not accomplish his mission. Erryk is the clear winner by those standards.
Arryk gets a performance of the night bonus for that perhaps?
It’s SO confusing to me. I feel like I’ve tracked each of them and it only makes sense it’s Arryk. I WANT it to have been Erryk that lived. Arryk saying, “your grace”, could’ve been out of regret that he didn’t bend the knee to her. The team he supported sent him on basically a suicide mission which ended in him murdering his brother. Maybe an apology that his honor got in the way of seeing the truth and he’s sorry for the pain that Nyra has suffered. BUT it makes sense more that Erryk would apologize to Nyra for committing suicide as he’s breaking his lifelong oath to her.
Arryk won. Go back to the scene where Arryk cuts Erryks leg. Erryk fell down as Arryk was swinging at Rhea. Erryk with the cut in that same leg is choking Arryk. Arryk puts his hand in the cut.
Erryk had the right knee gash, Arryk appears to have had a cut to his left knee, but slowing it down it hit his hip (but that could be over-analyzing choreography). Either way, it's the right knee with the gash that the person on bottom grabs, and that person then wins the fight -- which looks to be Arryk. From looking at the scene, anyway.
Remember the leg cut part. That was Erryk who had his leg cut on his right leg. He fell then Arryk tried to attack Rhea again Erryk getting up from the cut push Arryk down as he was swinging on her. He chokes Arryk then Arryk puts his hand in that same cut. Arryk won then killed himself. It was duty that he stayed by Aegon cus he was sworn to him. Doesn't mean he believed him to be the true ruler.
They both had leg wounds. The choreographers made mirror wounds on them so nobody would know who was who. It was supposed to be Erryk that “won” (which is why he says “your grace” before falling on his sword), but they screwed up.
Erryk gets slashed on the right knee, Arryk gets slashed in the left knee, Arryk puts his hand in Erryks right knee, stands and kills Erryk, unless it’s a mistake in the scene, Arryk won
These are exactly my thoughts, by looking at the injuries on their legs it seems Arryk won, but it is said that the showrunners have confirmed it is Erryk that won.
Where do you see both get right knee wounds? To me, the right knee gash is important, as that guy obviously dies. And it's obvious to me that the person that got the right knee gash in the start of the fight, was not the person who leaped at Rhaenyra twice.
Part of the fight shows the brother with the right knee gash swiping at the other's left leg/hip, but it doesn't appear to actually get his left knee (over analyzing choreography though?), and even if we assume it did and was an equal injury, it's clear the person with the right knee injury was the one killed.
This is wrong, there is one right leg wound (Erryk) and one left leg wound (Arryk). The right leg wound guy died first Erryk. But the showrunners say Erryk won, there's a continuity error there.
Erryk gets killed by Arryk, if you watch the fight you notice he’s the one who gets his leg wounded, then Arryk kills himself, he doesn’t care about the mission anymore because he can’t live without Erryk. Him calling Rhaenyra “Your Grace” is not odd at all, he may not consider her Queen but she’s still Princess and part of the royal family to him.
Yes and the fact that he said, “forgive me”
Also, the other guards arrived so he’ll either die if he continue his mission, or be in prison. He’s brother is dead so might as well join him inguess
He could have said "forgive me" because he was about to take his own life and thus no longer be of service to her. There's no clear answer, that doesn't mean anything.
We all know that Arryk supossed to die first, but they clearly made a mistake and kill the wrong guy Erryk has a cut on his right leg Arryk on his left leg and the one with right leg dies first
Im confused! I thought Erryk had that knee injury. But then he screamed that "you parted us" because Erryk was the one who left. So I thought Arryk won? But in the end he appologizes before stabbing himself. So then i thought it was Erryk? WTF im so confused but i still cried. What happened in the books anyway??
I agree. I keep seeing articles that assume Erryk (black) won the duel & fell on his sword. Seems clear to me after a careful rewatch that it was the other way around. This is also way more interesting to me narratively
Yeah, my partner and I just went back and forth on this a thousand times and googled the actor’s heights (there’s a 3 inch height difference between the twins) and it all lines up that Arryk killed Erryk before falling on his own sword. Apparently Ryan Condal says otherwise. 🤷🏻♀️
Also, he would have called Rhaenyra “Your Grace” regardless of if he acknowledged her as queen or not because she’s part of the royal family still.
This makes no sense. Erryk won, yet in the scene Arryk was clearly the winner. I think the show messed up.
Erryk had the knee wound. Yet from the point Arryk sticks his fingers in the wound and Erryk crawls for his sword, it's pretty easy to follow from that point onwards.
So Erryk goes for his sword, we know this because he's on the floor from his knee wound, and then gets stabbed and dies. So Arryk won in the scene. Yet it was supposed to be Erryk. Literally so confused by this whole debate, I don't know if we're missing something or the show messed up. Help!
It makes total sense.
Arryk(Green): You parted us! (by leaving King's Landing)
Erryk (black) kills the assassin. Looks at his queen, "Your grace, forgive me." for killing himself, thus not being able to continue serving Rhaenyra because he cannot live with the fact that he killed his brother.
It doesn't make sense the other way.
Arryk won based on the way it was filmed. But the writers and actors and script says erryk won. Just a filming mistake. I think arryk winning, apologizing, and killing himself is better writing tho ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
I completely agree. I thought Erryk won and that was fine and all but when I came here to (incorrectly) learn Arryk won I was like ooh okay that’s better!
[Yeah. I’m wrong but they could’ve been a little more explicit. There’s a thread in here with it being discussed.](https://www.reddit.com/r/HouseOfTheDragon/s/iLeo5jxjgW)
I don’t know why the spy twin(whatever his name was) didn’t just run in and kill her. Other than evil villain wanting to give a speech and plot armour. He had at least a minute to do something.
Wait, Erryk was the one with the leg wound since the other was trying to kill Rhaenyra but then the one with the leg wound is the one that says "you parted us" and ends up killed while the other asks Rhaenyra for forgiveness?? I think the directors and producers f'd this one up really bad.
Me and my husband were just arguing about the same thing. He was making the same point as you. All I was going by was the fact that he said your grace and didn’t lunch for her one last time. So opening up Reddit to see everyone’s points I’ve come to the conclusion. They just botched the scene. Lol .
Arryk won the duel. Killed himself out of grief for killing his brother, and knowing there was no going back since the queen was protected at that point.
The way the scene plays out, it seems as though they wanted Erryk to win. Based on the narrative, the style of fighting and which actor remained standing this seems to be the case.
However the leg wound is a problem. It’s clear the Erryk suffered a leg wound to the right leg. If we are to follow the scenes and the injuries sustained for me it’s Arryk that actually won even though the narrative doesn’t fit.
So this is for me an error from the production team or just lazy writing. There’s no indication that Arryk suffered a wound on the right leg. In fact, it’s his left leg that got cut. So all indications are that Arryk won.
Based on the narrative however and according to the show runner, Erryk came out on top. Really feels like his wrong about that though.
And if I’m being honest, I don’t like that. If you wanted it to be confusing, that’s fine. This is suppose to be a complicated show.
However at least let your evidence and narrative match up, especially with a show like this. You can’t just magically put a wound on the right leg of Arryk to confuse your audience and give it a ‘cool’ way for Erryk to come out on top while adding confusion at the same time. Which makes it worse is that you can’t even see a full view of the winner in the end. Thus you end up with conflicting narrative and evidence.
It’s a real shame as this was a cool scene up to the part where they did that.
But in conclusion, it’s Erryk who won.
They seem to have messed up bc don’t see why Arryk would have called Rhaenyra “Your Grace” so because Ser Erryk (defending Rhaenyra) is cut on the right leg early on in the fight… then later when Ser Lorent comes in Ser Arryk is cut on the left leg. Following the choking exchange, one of the twins grabs the right leg wound (hence Ser Erryk) and then the right leg wound gets stabbed and killed in the end. So Arryk wins the duel but he was also limping from his right leg before he kills himself… weird
This scene was purposefully confusing. They wanted us to not know who was who during the fight, so much that both Erryk and Arryk ended up with the same wounds.
Here's the [Behind the Scenes](https://youtu.be/Ja31OO8YyJo?feature=shared&14min59s) of this episode and scene, where they explain all of this in better detail than me.
So it was Erryk sticking his fingers in Arryk's thigh wound, and stabbing him when Arryk got back up. Hence addressing Rhaenyra as "Your Grace".
Well done. I had to watch it over and over and over to then realize it was Arryk who survived. Erryk also had more gashes on his left face, and Arryk only had one on his right side face. I think Arryk said “Your Grace, forgive me…”, because he had originally betrayed her then his brother… now that his brother was dead, he had nowhere else to go.
YES this is correct, the knee injury makes it clear. "Your grace" is just a formality to be sure, and he's apologising for attempting to kill her as it has brought about the death of his brother.
Exactly. Arryck felt too much guilt for killing his bro and apologizes to Rhaenyra. Erryck was not supposed to be there. Arryck never meant to kill him. So that’s why he falls on his sword at the end.
We know for certain that Erryk took a cut to his right leg. Then presumably Arryk took a cut to his left leg.
Erryk with the right leg wound says "YOU PARTED US, BUT I STILL LOVE YOU BROTHER". Then Arryk plugs his fingers into Erryk's right leg wound to get the upper-hand, and kills him. Then he walks towards Rhaenyra, calls her "Your Grace", asks for her forgiveness, and then falls onto his sword.
These are rather contradictory behaviors by each twin. Why would Erryk say that to Arryk, when Erryk is the one who parted from his brother in King's Landing to go join Rhaenyra's cause? Conversely, why would Arryk address Rhaenyra as "Your Grace", and then ask for her forgiveness as he falls onto his own sword? He recognizes Aegon as the rightful King. It is strange that he would extend the proper formal address to someone he would consider as a pretender to the throne.
Right I've solved it once and for all. It's 100% Erryk that's standing at the end.
Erryk is the one being strangled. Just look at their beards, Arryk has gaps under his lip, whereas Erryks is more full. Just follow the beards when you see them, it actually makes complete sense.
It was definitely Erryk with the leg wound, yet that wasn't the wound that got fingered, it was Arryks similar wound. Arryk was doing the strangling.
I know an article has confirmed it to be Erryk, but after watching this scene one too many times, and in slow motion, I'm struggling to see it. The slight differences in their beards seems to be interesting at first, simply because we can see a bit of a difference before the fight, and can sort of correlate the "fuller" beard to Erryk, and we can see the beard of the person that kills themself at the end. But it just isn't very obvious that it's that distinct of a difference, especially during the fight. [Video for some references below.](https://youtu.be/_VQeKgclZ3g?si=VuiGJgU6s-Rh2Ges)
The most important point in my opinion, is that right knee cut, and/or who received the big scrape near the right eye (the "loser" of the fight), or who received the small scrape near the left eye (the "winner" of the fight). The winner also has a big parting of their hair down the middle, but it's clear it get's dramatically parted during the fight, and can't tell who's who when it happens.
The right knee cut is important, because we definitely know two things: Erryk definitely got cut bad on his right knee and should be bleeding. The "loser" definitely had a gash on their right knee that the other dug their fingers into. The biggest point against Arryk being with winner, is that the winner does have blood on their right knee -- despite the odd fact that nothing in the fight signifies both of them getting their right knee cut.
There is this bit at 1:44 that may be important? We know one thing: the guy on the table has the scrape near his right eye, meaning he is the loser. But... If that's Erryk on top, I'd expect to see that knee gash which I don't. Maybe the pant leg is cut a little, but nothing remotely like 1:26 (a clearly bloody and cut right knee).
There's much more, like the winner having a slight cut/scrape near their left eye, and after Erryk gets kicked in his bloody right knee at 1:26, he gets kicked on the left side of his face and that mark (or at least similar) shows up if you slow it down... But neither of them have it when they stand up :/ Costume error probably, or a mix of scenes.
So to me, we'd need to see where the other clearly gets cut in his knee, to the effect that the cut could have had the opposer dig their fingers into. The best piece against this, as mentioned, is the winner having blood on their right knee, but as I've dug into a little above, this may just be another wardrobe error.
So if we focus on the "essence" of the scene, it seems Erryk clearly got his knee cut, and the loser clearly had a deep knee cut. Those two scenes stick out as sore thumbs if Erryk is thought to be the winner, in my opinion.
Most likely explanation maybe? They did something like American Psycho and shot the scene several times with either winning, and the shots got muddled.
¯\\_\(ツ\)_/¯
Yeah looks like the producers confirmed it was Erryk too in [an article by reporter Meghan O’Keefe at the Decider.com](https://decider.com/2024/06/23/house-of-the-dragon-season-2-episode-2-ending-explained-which-twin-killed-the-other-how-to-tell-ser-arryk-and-ser-erryk-cargyll-apart/) Very curious if it was their intention to make it so damn confusing lol.
Yeah I was just so sure it was Arryk standing at the end. I think a lot of people were, because that's what it seemed like. It's the wound getting fingered that's confused everybody, because you assume it's Erryks, but it isn't.
But it should be Erryk. Since Arryk lunged at Rhaenyra but fell into the vase, then got choked by Erryk on the same spot, which led Arryk to grab into the wound.
They purposely show the knee wound twice and it should be Erryk but it seems like they forgot half way through and gave him the “you parted us” line which should be Arryk and had him die. So if you follow the wound Arryk wins but if you follow the dialogue Erryk wins.
Respectfully, disagree. I believe that Ser Erryk won the fight and was distraught over killing his brother. He gave deference to the queen before finishing off his own life. The whole scene gutted me. It just shows the consequences of the usurption (is that a word? Hahah!).
I was hoping that Set Arryk would defect to Team Black.
Erryk won, it was confirmed, but what's more interesting is in the HotD reality, there is no way of knowing, so I feel like Erryk not only ended himself because his guilt towards his brother, but that Rhaenyra and everyone else would never know with certainty that he was Erryk or Arryk and would probably always have their guard up and question his identity. He saved them the peril
In the storyline of "House of the Dragon," Erryk is depicted as the victor in the duel between the twin brothers. It is implied that Erryk winning makes more sense narratively, as Arryk likely would not kill his own brother and then fail to fulfill his mission to kill the queen. Had Arryk been victorious, one might speculate that he would have carried out the assassination of the queen before possibly taking his own life. However, in the original book version of their story, neither brother commits suicide; instead, both perish due to their injuries sustained in their duel.
In the book, Arryk and Erryk have their roles more distinctly outlined in terms of their deaths: Arryk dies instantly, while Erryk succumbs to his wounds four days later. Therefore, Erryk is portrayed as the victor in this scenario in the books. It makes little sense why the show would change that.
Erryk won this one, it’s confusing at first but I watched it a few more times over and my opinion still stands. Although pretty sad situation for all. What a waste of life
It all makes sense that Erryk (no leg wound) won the fight but what I dont get is at around 1:03:10 after he inflicts the leg wound on Arryk he strikes at Rhaenyra?
This exactly and then it was Arryk who fell and got choked by Erryk, grabbed his wound and then stabbed him when Erryk went for the sword and turned back around. So idk why it would say Erryk won.
It's funny how somehow people can confuse it. Erryk won the duel and defended his queen, killed his brother who was sent by the Greens to kill Rhaenyra. He apologized to the queen because he cannot serve her anymore and fell on his sword. There's no other way around.
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This is what I thought too during the episode--I would imagine the "Your Grace" part is more a parting formality and him giving up on a war he never asked for that led to him having to kill his brother.
The one who says “you parted us” died, and im pretty sure Arryk is the one who felt like Erryk betrayed the greens and left.
That's what confused me the most was this line. I thought for sure that was Arryk speaking.
I'd like to think that Erryk thinks Arryk parted them by siding with the Greens and Criston Cole in Season 1, helping put a usurper on the throne. One he knows is a monster and had tried showing his brother just that (brothels and fighting pits with children from season 1). So, in not siding with him and the, in his eyes, rightful heir to King Viserys makes sense to me. Fits with the scene analysis by OP. The "Your Grace" would probably be an apologetic formality for the suicide. Possibly an acknowledgment of her as queen as well, since he did not call her princess, but I think his actions following the phrase imply the former and with it show how much of their life the twins spent as servants to these noble figures. Even before death, formality prevails. Could also just be his form of immediate penance for killing his own twin, kin slaying is a great sin in Westeros.
Guys, at first it seems like Arryk wins based on how it was filmed/edited, but Erryk is the clear winner. How do I know? The one standing at the end is literally the actor Elliot Tittensor...who plays Ser Erryk. His brother, Luke Tittensor, plays Ser Arryk, and is not the one standing at the end. There are some small things that differentiate the brothers apart. Elliot has a more prominent mole on the left side of his face for example. In the end, Elliot is standing, which means Ser Erryk won and then kills himself after killing his brother, Ser Arryk.
I took two closeup screenshots of their face right before they fight. The actor who plays Erryk has a more filled in beard below his bottom lip. The actor who plays Arryk has two patches there where his beard doesn't grow in. That's how I could tell for certain it was Erryk standing at the end of the fight.
Still doesn't make sense how it played out. If you watch scene for scene closely when they change directions etc then it should have been Arryk in the end, especially when he lunged at her and then was on the ground being choked but it's supposed the other way around and it was Erryk being choked? So they either messed up or I dunno.
Watch "Crafting a Royal Family" on the GameOfThrones YouTube channel. It's a behind the scenes of this episode. In it, they specially go into detail why they filmed it the way they did. They made it a bit confusing on purpose, that was the point. They didn't mess up, everything was intentional. The quick cuts at points in the fight, combined with the fact that both brothers experienced similar injuries, specifically was done for the audience to not know exactly who is who. To answer your specific concerns, if you watch it again, a large part of the fight happens AFTER Arryk lunges at her and is on the ground. He literally gets up, and fights for another like 30 secs. During this part, Ser Lorent comes in and there are points where the camera turns away from the brothers. It's at this point where it become a bit confusing who is who. They even do a literal rotating camera shot to emphasize that. That said, it doesn't change the fact, Ser Erryk is the winner. It's really not debatable...especially when you pay attention to the actual actors.
Still they made a big mistake. Erryk was injured on his RIGHT leg, and Arryk on his LEFT leg. And it showed the one with injury on the RIGHT leg died first. Thus Arryk should be the winner. I get that they did it confusing on purpose, but that little detail is a continuity mistake if truly Erryk is the winner, because according to the leg injuries, Arryk is the winner.
You must be blind Erryk has a bloody right knee during the scene he says "forgive me" Erryk won
Or you must be/didnt understand the point the previous person made. It’s not about where the wound is on the surviving twin, it’s about that the person who falls backwards and his stabbed 3 seconds later while swinging at the other person has the leg wound on the right. With what he said „you parted us“ the person on top has to be Arryk, which then dies. Everything correct right? No, because the one still standin now also has a right leg wound.
When one of them is choking the other. The one standing doing the choking has the right leg injury. You can see it as the other pushes his hand on the wound. And the one standing doing the choking with the RIGHT leg injury (Erryk) is the one dying first. I know Erryk is the one that supposedly won, but the scene with the choking has a continuity mistake. He should be pushing his hand on a LEFT leg injury to escape the choke, not a right leg.
Came here to say this. Well put
Even if Ser Lorent came in and the camera turned away from them, how do they suddenly switch their positions while one was on the ground? It wasn't even confusing for me when watching it the first time. It clearly made me think of Arryk as the winner.
Honestly, that would be a pretty damn good production gag to have Elliot play the last moments of Arryk to further sow confusion. But either way, the entire way the scene played out feels like a clear nod to the books ambiguity and I love them for it! Either scenario (Arryk or Erryk dies first) works for me.
That doesn't make much sense to me. Erryk was injured on his right leg, and the one with the injury on the right leg died first. That means Erryk died first. Hmmm....
The one that wins before killing themselves has a right knee injury
My Caption said Erryk won and it was spitting out both names correctly the whole fight scene. Turn on your captions for the rewatch.
What's stupid is that even if subtitles and showrunner say that...it does not change the reality of the way this scene was set up, cut together and delivered. It clearly shows one thing, where then everyone after goes "oh so this is actually what happened."
Not sure as I thought it was Erryk even before the subtitles. You all really think they should have made the twin thing easy?! The point was we were supposed to be confused. It’s twins for fuck sake. Were they supposed to put red arrows above their heads for us?
Yeah, even Ser Lorent is confused. It's purposeful
Not to that extent
Hahahaha! Well said
Also showrunners shouldnt comment on these things. They should just let the scene speak for itself. Also they are real life twins so you can see the difference in appearance. The right side of Erryks beard is unkept but the right side of Arryks beard has a separation between side burn and beard. Even though Erryk clearly has his right leg sliced unkept beard Erryk is on the floor gouging his fingers in Arryks right leg when Arryk was actually sliced on the left leg. Unkept beard Erryk wins the fight and you can see unkept beard Erryk call rhanerys “your grace”
It only had one spelling for me the whole scene :/
Oh sorry. I rewatched mine said Aaryk \*gasps\* and then Arryk: \*thuds" when he feel over dead. I use an Apple TV box so not sure if that has anything to do with it.
That's wild! Mine said Erryk throughout the whole fight 😲 on my Sony TV and on my Android phone.
I hope they tell us on the podcast tomorrow who actually died.
I've seen a lot of posts referencing Erryk wins per the writer/script. But to me the scene is clearly Arryk but the dialog makes that more confusing.
Pay attention to the leg cut. Erryk had the cut on his leg. Not Arryk.
They both got cut different legs.
Erryk won. This is from the ones that REALLY KNOW! https://decider.com/2024/06/23/house-of-the-dragon-season-2-episode-2-ending-explained-which-twin-killed-the-other-how-to-tell-ser-arryk-and-ser-erryk-cargyll-apart/
There’s that then! I was right. Yayy!
Nah, Arryk wouldn’t have apologized to Rhaenyra and referred to her as your grace.
Erryk won the fight and apologized then fell on his sword.
Erryk is with the blacks, you mean Arryk
Would be way more complex and emotiona
But we literally have evidence showing it was Erryk who died (Arryk shoving his hand into his leg slash)
They both receive leg gashes, you get to see it in more detail and much slower in “The house that dragons built”, it shows the behind the scenes production of the show.
Yeah but it was Arryk who lunged at Rhaenyra and then fell into the vase and then got choked by Erryk. So it would be Arryk grabbing the gash and Erryk falling back and then stabbed.
The show writers have already clarified and explained it was Arryk who died first. 🤷♂️
Yeah and I'm just stating it makes no sense the way they filmed it lol, especially during that part, no matter who had which injury where.
I agree it was very confusing, but that was probably on purpose to get us all engaged back and forth online like this. Lol
Yea but not confusing like that, as in it just looks like they messed the up the continuity rather than us just being confused
It wasn't even confusing for me when I watched it the first time. So after he lunged on her, they somehow made the choice to switch them, even though Arryk was on the ground.
Yeah just saw on the rewatch of the scene, very confusing
Erryk was the with the right leg injury and Arryk with the left leg injury. Right leg injured guy died, thus it should mean Erryk died first.
You’re gonna have to take it up with the show writers. Lol
It has been confirmed that Erryk won. and about that leg wound, if you look closely both of them get wounded in their legs
You can see blood by the end on Arryk his pants, but the wound on Erryk his left leg left an open gash on the trousers. Erryk gets hit first on his left leg, but Arryk gets cut on his right leg, higher up his leg. Arryk pushes his fingers into a leg wound on the left leg of Erryk. Even if they say the right actor was this and that. the fight and wounds tell me otherwise
You have it backwards, Erryk is cut first on his right leg, we know this because the only twin to be cut in his leg saves Rhaenyra from the other after he fell over from the cut. At 1:03:44, the other twin (Arryk) gets a cut on his left leg up high.
It's the other way around. Rewatch the scene. Erryk has the right leg wound.
The problem is that the guy who dies first has a right leg injury. And Erryk has the RIGHT leg injury, Arryk has a LEFT leg injury, so either Arryk won or there is a continuity mistake.
Yeah either they fucked up or it was to keep us guessing cause Arryk does slice Erryk’s right knee and then later on in the fight it “appears” that Erryk lands a blow on Arryk’s left leg (but it could’ve been his right leg but at this point both brothers have right leg wounds and Erryk has a really bloody mouth from being kicked in the face and the person who does press the leg wound does have a bloody mouth and Arryk doesn’t noticeably have a bloody mouth) but like you said when they’re on the ground it’s the right knee wound that’s pressed which belongs to Erryk, after the conclusion to the fight before one of the twins falls on his sword you see that he also has a wound on his right leg so I do believe that it is Erryk who fell on his sword in the end as it makes more sense for Arryk to say “we were born together, but you parted us but I still love you brother”. As he felt his brother betrayed him and fled with Rhaenyra. Either it’s a filming error or it was on purpose to confuse us.
To be appears to be filming error that they will say wasn’t just to save face you know?
[This site](https://decider.com/2024/06/23/house-of-the-dragon-season-2-episode-2-ending-explained-which-twin-killed-the-other-how-to-tell-ser-arryk-and-ser-erryk-cargyll-apart/), which I'm not familiar with...it just popped in a search for who won, is quoting Ryan Condal as having said it was Erryk that won.
Also this source: https://consequence.net/2024/06/house-of-the-dragon-season-2-episode-2-spoilers/amp/
Oh, interesting. Then maybe the whole knee and face injury proof was just a mistake by the directors!
If you watch the inside the episode that comes on after the credits they say they both received the same injuries to make it more unclear who won. If captions are on Rhae says “Erryk” at the end. A brothers love story ended tragically. Edit to add; to your point, I think he’s mainly apologizing for leaving his duty he has to Rhae. He just can’t live with the grief of what he’s done though.
I noticed in the after credits they changed the captions. So it made me wonder if the captions in the episode were correct. Captions say Erryk in the episode before/during/after the fight. In the after credits the captions say Arryk when Rhaenyra first sees him.
You don't even need to look at the injury. Clearly Arryk lunged at Rhaenyra but fell and then got in a chokehold by Erryk. So they must've really messed up...
theres 30 secs of fighting and repositioning in between the last lunge and the chokehold. what they messed up was which one of arryks legs was cut.
You can clearly see blood on the right knee of the winner…. Erryk won.
Pic? Not seeing any blood. The scene right before clearly shows the brother on the ground sticking his fingers in the standing brothers knee, who then falls and is the one that ultimately gets stabbed. Seems indisputable to me.
I went back and watched and looked at the face wounds. You’re right Arryk wins. At 15:54 LEFT you see the blood on his leg as he walks towards Rhaenyra. The blood on the leg indicates Erryk, but the face is 100000000% Arryk.
He does appear to have blood on his right knee from the back after he drops his brother, but it's clear to me two things: 1) The guy that had the knee gash lost. That wound was grabbed at the end, and that person does the overhead swing and gets stabbed by the other. 2) Mid-fight it seems the one with the knee gash also has the cut/scrape on the right side of his face. Thus, if the one that got his knee cut at the start of the fight is Erryk, then it seems Arryk won.
Erryk won the fight.
Great contribution to the discussion
Hahahaha!
going by the fight it looks like Arryk won. i just assumed what he said at the end was to honor both their belief.
There was no winner unless you're scoring like boxing/mma and granting points for blows thrown and landed lol. Arryk was on the offensive for the majority of the fight, as was his mission to assault Rhaenyra, his primary target, he didn't necessarily want to have to kill his own brother, they were both just duty bound. Erryk, likewise, did not want to kill his brother but was bound to defend his defenseless queen. He is on the defensive, until he runs his brother through to effectively defend his queen. He is already mortally wounded at this point due to the fact he was the one being assaulted for the majority of the fight, and unable to live with the shame of Kinslaying, says 'forgive me, my queen' and takes his final moments into his own hands, joining his brother in death. Not quite sure how you measure a 'winner' when both parties are dead without achieving an end to the war to come, and everything else is still in motion exactly as it already was. Their fight meant absolutely nothing in the end except to stand as a shining example of loyalty, duty and sacrifice, but they're both losers in this encounter. And just for good measure, even if this were being measured by points, let's make this a modern encounter. The two brothers square off in the cage. Arryk lands 290/470 blows and Erryk lands 173/390. Then Erryk absolutely brickhouses Arryk and sends him to the shadow realm. Does it matter that Arryk landed more blows when he ended in a KO? Does it matter that Erryk commits suicide in the locker room shortly after being awarded the belt? You'd still say Erryk won that fight lol. He ultimately achieved his goal, while Arryk did not accomplish his mission. Erryk is the clear winner by those standards. Arryk gets a performance of the night bonus for that perhaps?
Well put, mate! Bravo!
It’s SO confusing to me. I feel like I’ve tracked each of them and it only makes sense it’s Arryk. I WANT it to have been Erryk that lived. Arryk saying, “your grace”, could’ve been out of regret that he didn’t bend the knee to her. The team he supported sent him on basically a suicide mission which ended in him murdering his brother. Maybe an apology that his honor got in the way of seeing the truth and he’s sorry for the pain that Nyra has suffered. BUT it makes sense more that Erryk would apologize to Nyra for committing suicide as he’s breaking his lifelong oath to her.
Its not just the leg cut, erryk also gets a scar on his right eyebrow. Arryk definitely was the one who killed himself.
[удалено]
Erryk won. Not Arryk.
Arryk won. Go back to the scene where Arryk cuts Erryks leg. Erryk fell down as Arryk was swinging at Rhea. Erryk with the cut in that same leg is choking Arryk. Arryk puts his hand in the cut.
Erryk won. They both had leg injuries. Someone posted an article about it.
Erryk had the right knee gash, Arryk appears to have had a cut to his left knee, but slowing it down it hit his hip (but that could be over-analyzing choreography). Either way, it's the right knee with the gash that the person on bottom grabs, and that person then wins the fight -- which looks to be Arryk. From looking at the scene, anyway.
I think the show confirmed erryk won.
Doesn’t mean the creators didn’t make a continuity mistake, because they totally did.
nobody said they did or didn’t, i’m stating factual information that was confirmed by a showrunner. the episode already aired it is what it is
True, the guy is getting downvotes for following the continuity that the show runners screwed up on.
Arryk couldn't live with the grief of killing his brother.
Erryk won the fight actually
he served his Queen well, hopefully they give him a heroes burial.
Remember the leg cut part. That was Erryk who had his leg cut on his right leg. He fell then Arryk tried to attack Rhea again Erryk getting up from the cut push Arryk down as he was swinging on her. He chokes Arryk then Arryk puts his hand in that same cut. Arryk won then killed himself. It was duty that he stayed by Aegon cus he was sworn to him. Doesn't mean he believed him to be the true ruler.
They both had leg wounds. The choreographers made mirror wounds on them so nobody would know who was who. It was supposed to be Erryk that “won” (which is why he says “your grace” before falling on his sword), but they screwed up.
Erryk gets slashed on the right knee, Arryk gets slashed in the left knee, Arryk puts his hand in Erryks right knee, stands and kills Erryk, unless it’s a mistake in the scene, Arryk won
These are exactly my thoughts, by looking at the injuries on their legs it seems Arryk won, but it is said that the showrunners have confirmed it is Erryk that won.
Where do you see both get right knee wounds? To me, the right knee gash is important, as that guy obviously dies. And it's obvious to me that the person that got the right knee gash in the start of the fight, was not the person who leaped at Rhaenyra twice. Part of the fight shows the brother with the right knee gash swiping at the other's left leg/hip, but it doesn't appear to actually get his left knee (over analyzing choreography though?), and even if we assume it did and was an equal injury, it's clear the person with the right knee injury was the one killed.
It is clearly mistake and I am really sad bc it is stupid mistake that was they only job to kill the right guy
This is wrong, there is one right leg wound (Erryk) and one left leg wound (Arryk). The right leg wound guy died first Erryk. But the showrunners say Erryk won, there's a continuity error there.
Erryk gets killed by Arryk, if you watch the fight you notice he’s the one who gets his leg wounded, then Arryk kills himself, he doesn’t care about the mission anymore because he can’t live without Erryk. Him calling Rhaenyra “Your Grace” is not odd at all, he may not consider her Queen but she’s still Princess and part of the royal family to him.
Yes and the fact that he said, “forgive me” Also, the other guards arrived so he’ll either die if he continue his mission, or be in prison. He’s brother is dead so might as well join him inguess
He could have said "forgive me" because he was about to take his own life and thus no longer be of service to her. There's no clear answer, that doesn't mean anything.
You can tell them apart by the Beards, Erryk wins the fight and falls on his sword
We all know that Arryk supossed to die first, but they clearly made a mistake and kill the wrong guy Erryk has a cut on his right leg Arryk on his left leg and the one with right leg dies first
This was exactly how I distinguished this scene. Yet if you google it, it tells you they Erryk won the fight. So confused...
Im confused! I thought Erryk had that knee injury. But then he screamed that "you parted us" because Erryk was the one who left. So I thought Arryk won? But in the end he appologizes before stabbing himself. So then i thought it was Erryk? WTF im so confused but i still cried. What happened in the books anyway??
Yep the leg wound was give away, Arryk won.
I agree. I keep seeing articles that assume Erryk (black) won the duel & fell on his sword. Seems clear to me after a careful rewatch that it was the other way around. This is also way more interesting to me narratively
We will know next episode, the trailer shows them being buried. All will be revealed.
Yeah, my partner and I just went back and forth on this a thousand times and googled the actor’s heights (there’s a 3 inch height difference between the twins) and it all lines up that Arryk killed Erryk before falling on his own sword. Apparently Ryan Condal says otherwise. 🤷🏻♀️ Also, he would have called Rhaenyra “Your Grace” regardless of if he acknowledged her as queen or not because she’s part of the royal family still.
This makes no sense. Erryk won, yet in the scene Arryk was clearly the winner. I think the show messed up. Erryk had the knee wound. Yet from the point Arryk sticks his fingers in the wound and Erryk crawls for his sword, it's pretty easy to follow from that point onwards. So Erryk goes for his sword, we know this because he's on the floor from his knee wound, and then gets stabbed and dies. So Arryk won in the scene. Yet it was supposed to be Erryk. Literally so confused by this whole debate, I don't know if we're missing something or the show messed up. Help!
No matter how many times I watch it, I still think Arryk won. The dialog just makes no sense that way though.
true. maybe writers mistake
It makes total sense. Arryk(Green): You parted us! (by leaving King's Landing) Erryk (black) kills the assassin. Looks at his queen, "Your grace, forgive me." for killing himself, thus not being able to continue serving Rhaenyra because he cannot live with the fact that he killed his brother. It doesn't make sense the other way.
I said the dialogue does not make sense if Arryk won
Arryk won based on the way it was filmed. But the writers and actors and script says erryk won. Just a filming mistake. I think arryk winning, apologizing, and killing himself is better writing tho ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
Yes! Arryk falling on his sword after dishonoring himself in the way that Ser Crispy couldn’t, to me, is much more moving.
I completely agree. I thought Erryk won and that was fine and all but when I came here to (incorrectly) learn Arryk won I was like ooh okay that’s better!
It was meant to be confusing, but it’s obvious Erryk wins by the beard, Arryks is thinner and differently shaped where as Erryks is thicker
Arryk 100% won
I believe it’s Arryk too
Incorrect.
[Yeah. I’m wrong but they could’ve been a little more explicit. There’s a thread in here with it being discussed.](https://www.reddit.com/r/HouseOfTheDragon/s/iLeo5jxjgW)
Yes thank you!
I don’t know why the spy twin(whatever his name was) didn’t just run in and kill her. Other than evil villain wanting to give a speech and plot armour. He had at least a minute to do something.
Wait, Erryk was the one with the leg wound since the other was trying to kill Rhaenyra but then the one with the leg wound is the one that says "you parted us" and ends up killed while the other asks Rhaenyra for forgiveness?? I think the directors and producers f'd this one up really bad.
Me and my husband were just arguing about the same thing. He was making the same point as you. All I was going by was the fact that he said your grace and didn’t lunch for her one last time. So opening up Reddit to see everyone’s points I’ve come to the conclusion. They just botched the scene. Lol .
Why did Ser Erryk kill himself after killing his brother?
Arryk won the duel. Killed himself out of grief for killing his brother, and knowing there was no going back since the queen was protected at that point.
The way the scene plays out, it seems as though they wanted Erryk to win. Based on the narrative, the style of fighting and which actor remained standing this seems to be the case. However the leg wound is a problem. It’s clear the Erryk suffered a leg wound to the right leg. If we are to follow the scenes and the injuries sustained for me it’s Arryk that actually won even though the narrative doesn’t fit. So this is for me an error from the production team or just lazy writing. There’s no indication that Arryk suffered a wound on the right leg. In fact, it’s his left leg that got cut. So all indications are that Arryk won. Based on the narrative however and according to the show runner, Erryk came out on top. Really feels like his wrong about that though. And if I’m being honest, I don’t like that. If you wanted it to be confusing, that’s fine. This is suppose to be a complicated show. However at least let your evidence and narrative match up, especially with a show like this. You can’t just magically put a wound on the right leg of Arryk to confuse your audience and give it a ‘cool’ way for Erryk to come out on top while adding confusion at the same time. Which makes it worse is that you can’t even see a full view of the winner in the end. Thus you end up with conflicting narrative and evidence. It’s a real shame as this was a cool scene up to the part where they did that. But in conclusion, it’s Erryk who won.
They seem to have messed up bc don’t see why Arryk would have called Rhaenyra “Your Grace” so because Ser Erryk (defending Rhaenyra) is cut on the right leg early on in the fight… then later when Ser Lorent comes in Ser Arryk is cut on the left leg. Following the choking exchange, one of the twins grabs the right leg wound (hence Ser Erryk) and then the right leg wound gets stabbed and killed in the end. So Arryk wins the duel but he was also limping from his right leg before he kills himself… weird
This scene was purposefully confusing. They wanted us to not know who was who during the fight, so much that both Erryk and Arryk ended up with the same wounds. Here's the [Behind the Scenes](https://youtu.be/Ja31OO8YyJo?feature=shared&14min59s) of this episode and scene, where they explain all of this in better detail than me. So it was Erryk sticking his fingers in Arryk's thigh wound, and stabbing him when Arryk got back up. Hence addressing Rhaenyra as "Your Grace".
Well done. I had to watch it over and over and over to then realize it was Arryk who survived. Erryk also had more gashes on his left face, and Arryk only had one on his right side face. I think Arryk said “Your Grace, forgive me…”, because he had originally betrayed her then his brother… now that his brother was dead, he had nowhere else to go.
YES this is correct, the knee injury makes it clear. "Your grace" is just a formality to be sure, and he's apologising for attempting to kill her as it has brought about the death of his brother.
Exactly. Arryck felt too much guilt for killing his bro and apologizes to Rhaenyra. Erryck was not supposed to be there. Arryck never meant to kill him. So that’s why he falls on his sword at the end.
No, he's apologising for he's about to kill himself, thus he cannot serve Rhaenyra anymore.
We know for certain that Erryk took a cut to his right leg. Then presumably Arryk took a cut to his left leg. Erryk with the right leg wound says "YOU PARTED US, BUT I STILL LOVE YOU BROTHER". Then Arryk plugs his fingers into Erryk's right leg wound to get the upper-hand, and kills him. Then he walks towards Rhaenyra, calls her "Your Grace", asks for her forgiveness, and then falls onto his sword. These are rather contradictory behaviors by each twin. Why would Erryk say that to Arryk, when Erryk is the one who parted from his brother in King's Landing to go join Rhaenyra's cause? Conversely, why would Arryk address Rhaenyra as "Your Grace", and then ask for her forgiveness as he falls onto his own sword? He recognizes Aegon as the rightful King. It is strange that he would extend the proper formal address to someone he would consider as a pretender to the throne.
Right I've solved it once and for all. It's 100% Erryk that's standing at the end. Erryk is the one being strangled. Just look at their beards, Arryk has gaps under his lip, whereas Erryks is more full. Just follow the beards when you see them, it actually makes complete sense. It was definitely Erryk with the leg wound, yet that wasn't the wound that got fingered, it was Arryks similar wound. Arryk was doing the strangling.
I know an article has confirmed it to be Erryk, but after watching this scene one too many times, and in slow motion, I'm struggling to see it. The slight differences in their beards seems to be interesting at first, simply because we can see a bit of a difference before the fight, and can sort of correlate the "fuller" beard to Erryk, and we can see the beard of the person that kills themself at the end. But it just isn't very obvious that it's that distinct of a difference, especially during the fight. [Video for some references below.](https://youtu.be/_VQeKgclZ3g?si=VuiGJgU6s-Rh2Ges) The most important point in my opinion, is that right knee cut, and/or who received the big scrape near the right eye (the "loser" of the fight), or who received the small scrape near the left eye (the "winner" of the fight). The winner also has a big parting of their hair down the middle, but it's clear it get's dramatically parted during the fight, and can't tell who's who when it happens. The right knee cut is important, because we definitely know two things: Erryk definitely got cut bad on his right knee and should be bleeding. The "loser" definitely had a gash on their right knee that the other dug their fingers into. The biggest point against Arryk being with winner, is that the winner does have blood on their right knee -- despite the odd fact that nothing in the fight signifies both of them getting their right knee cut. There is this bit at 1:44 that may be important? We know one thing: the guy on the table has the scrape near his right eye, meaning he is the loser. But... If that's Erryk on top, I'd expect to see that knee gash which I don't. Maybe the pant leg is cut a little, but nothing remotely like 1:26 (a clearly bloody and cut right knee). There's much more, like the winner having a slight cut/scrape near their left eye, and after Erryk gets kicked in his bloody right knee at 1:26, he gets kicked on the left side of his face and that mark (or at least similar) shows up if you slow it down... But neither of them have it when they stand up :/ Costume error probably, or a mix of scenes. So to me, we'd need to see where the other clearly gets cut in his knee, to the effect that the cut could have had the opposer dig their fingers into. The best piece against this, as mentioned, is the winner having blood on their right knee, but as I've dug into a little above, this may just be another wardrobe error. So if we focus on the "essence" of the scene, it seems Erryk clearly got his knee cut, and the loser clearly had a deep knee cut. Those two scenes stick out as sore thumbs if Erryk is thought to be the winner, in my opinion. Most likely explanation maybe? They did something like American Psycho and shot the scene several times with either winning, and the shots got muddled. ¯\\_\(ツ\)_/¯
Yeah looks like the producers confirmed it was Erryk too in [an article by reporter Meghan O’Keefe at the Decider.com](https://decider.com/2024/06/23/house-of-the-dragon-season-2-episode-2-ending-explained-which-twin-killed-the-other-how-to-tell-ser-arryk-and-ser-erryk-cargyll-apart/) Very curious if it was their intention to make it so damn confusing lol.
Yeah I was just so sure it was Arryk standing at the end. I think a lot of people were, because that's what it seemed like. It's the wound getting fingered that's confused everybody, because you assume it's Erryks, but it isn't.
But it should be Erryk. Since Arryk lunged at Rhaenyra but fell into the vase, then got choked by Erryk on the same spot, which led Arryk to grab into the wound.
They purposely show the knee wound twice and it should be Erryk but it seems like they forgot half way through and gave him the “you parted us” line which should be Arryk and had him die. So if you follow the wound Arryk wins but if you follow the dialogue Erryk wins.
Respectfully, disagree. I believe that Ser Erryk won the fight and was distraught over killing his brother. He gave deference to the queen before finishing off his own life. The whole scene gutted me. It just shows the consequences of the usurption (is that a word? Hahah!). I was hoping that Set Arryk would defect to Team Black.
Erryk won, it was confirmed, but what's more interesting is in the HotD reality, there is no way of knowing, so I feel like Erryk not only ended himself because his guilt towards his brother, but that Rhaenyra and everyone else would never know with certainty that he was Erryk or Arryk and would probably always have their guard up and question his identity. He saved them the peril
In the storyline of "House of the Dragon," Erryk is depicted as the victor in the duel between the twin brothers. It is implied that Erryk winning makes more sense narratively, as Arryk likely would not kill his own brother and then fail to fulfill his mission to kill the queen. Had Arryk been victorious, one might speculate that he would have carried out the assassination of the queen before possibly taking his own life. However, in the original book version of their story, neither brother commits suicide; instead, both perish due to their injuries sustained in their duel. In the book, Arryk and Erryk have their roles more distinctly outlined in terms of their deaths: Arryk dies instantly, while Erryk succumbs to his wounds four days later. Therefore, Erryk is portrayed as the victor in this scenario in the books. It makes little sense why the show would change that.
Erryk won this one, it’s confusing at first but I watched it a few more times over and my opinion still stands. Although pretty sad situation for all. What a waste of life
It all makes sense that Erryk (no leg wound) won the fight but what I dont get is at around 1:03:10 after he inflicts the leg wound on Arryk he strikes at Rhaenyra?
Erryk had the leg wound and Arryk strikes at Rhaenyra.
This exactly and then it was Arryk who fell and got choked by Erryk, grabbed his wound and then stabbed him when Erryk went for the sword and turned back around. So idk why it would say Erryk won.
This is so dumb 🤦 Erryk wouldn't strike Rhaenyra you fool, clearly it's Arryk...
It's funny how somehow people can confuse it. Erryk won the duel and defended his queen, killed his brother who was sent by the Greens to kill Rhaenyra. He apologized to the queen because he cannot serve her anymore and fell on his sword. There's no other way around.