HOUSE OF THE DRAGON Season 2 Episode 2 Breakdown & Ending Explained | Review, Easter Eggs & Theories

Welcome to the Heavy Spoilers show. I’m your host, Paul, and in this video, we’re breaking down House of the Dragon.

Season 2, Episode 2 is packed with Easter eggs, and this civil war sees brother vs. brother. Throughout this video, we’re gonna go through it all and talk about everything you might have missed. I also want to go over the major book differences as well as some of the characters that they talk about. As always, the heavy spoilers will be saved until the end of the video, and I’ll give you a heads-up before we get to that point. With that out of the way, thank you for clicking this; now let’s get into House of the Dragon.

HOUSE OF THE DRAGON SEASON 2 EPISODE 2 BREAKDOWN

Now we pick up in the aftermath of Blood and Cheese and see the bloodstained bed sheets being carried by a servant. This scene is later reflected in the mattress, which we see completely covered in blood. The staff and servants are all assembled, and the hounds are called in to hunt through the keep.

The book explains what happened in these moments with this passage explaining their fates:

“Strange to say, the ratcatcher and the butcher were true to their word. They did no further harm to Queen Helaena or her surviving children, but rather fled with the prince’s head in hand. A hue and cry went up, but Cheese knew the secret passageways as the guards did not, and the killers made their escape.”

This is something we see throughout the episode, with Blood being caught early on.

Now from here, we cut to Aegon the Second smashing up his dad’s model of Valyria. Bit crap, mate, ‘cos that was his bloody favourite train set. It kinda reminds me of that bit in Citizen Kane where he just stumbles about smashing up the room (in video assets). Tom Glynn Carney really gets to flex his acting muscles this episode, as do a lot of the cast. From this off, I think this is the best-acted entry, with everyone delivering a knockout performance.

Now, Aegon destroying this symbolises two things. Firstly, in destroying the model, it’s symbolising he’s destroying his father’s legacy by having a civil war between all the siblings. Secondly, we have this being a model of Valyria, which is where the Targaryens come from. Not to get too spoilery, but if you’ve seen Game of Thrones, then you’ll know the Targaryens don’t start off on their best foot.

This civil war will greatly weaken the house, and thus the destruction of this city symbolises that.

It’s smashed like the like button, and Aegon declares war. He also screams out “Traitors and Villains,” and it’s clear there are suspicions in his own house. In the end, he strips Otto of the Hand, which all splinters out directly from this moment.

Returning home, Aemond puts two and two together after discovering one of Maegor’s secret passage doors is open.

He also realises the coins from the map have been moved, which is something he and Criston laid out last week. I love the shot where he takes one and holds it over his eye. In death, people used to put coins on corpses’ eyes, and this was so they could pay the ferryman in the afterlife. Might be reaching…well, I probably…but this shot to me highlights how he narrowly missed death by evoking images of it.

Cutting to Alicent and Otto, we get a strong focus on her necklace. This shows her commitment to the Faith of the Seven, which the symbol on it is in relation to.

Throughout the show, she’s worn several of these Faith of the Seven necklaces, with it being a mainstay in a lot of her later outfits.

Come the end of the episode, she takes this off and wears something more akin to what she had when she was younger. I feel like this highlights her lack of faith in these dark times and a return to the sin that she shares with Ser Criston.

At an hour and 5, we see her say she has sinned and then scratch at where her Faith of the Seven necklace would be.

Otto is ever the strategist in this episode, and while Alicent seems completely torn up. He says early on that some good may yet come of this, and it’s clear he wants to politicise the death. It’s something that we see a lot in modern day with the death of kids often being used to push a cause. I don’t think it’s House of the Dragon necessarily even playing off certain things; they’ve just looked throughout history and seen how often this is done. Otto is someone who’s playing the game without emotion, whereas everyone else is completely destroyed. This is what loses it for him in the end, as they don’t see him as being hungry for revenge.

Summoning the small council, Aegon goes off blaming everyone, even Criston, who says he was in bed…which…technically was, mate. I think this blame here and seeing the mattress later on, that’s something that makes him step up and get revenge. He also just absolutely hates Rhaenyra and might even relish in the fact he ordered the hit.

We’re then joined by Larys the Clubfoot, who announces a gold cloak was detained. He says that Blood was a goldcloak noted for his brutality. This is something that pulls from the book, namely when it’s describing the recruitment of Blood and Cheese:

“One had been a serjeant in the City Watch; big and brutal, he had lost his gold cloak for beating a whore to death whilst in a drunken rage.”

Larys says they found him fleeing with a head, which is also a passage that we get in the work:

“Two days later, Blood was seized at the Gate of the Gods trying to leave King’s Landing with the head of Prince Jaehaerys hidden in one of his saddle sacks. Under torture, he confessed that he had been taking it to Harrenhal, to collect his reward from Prince Daemon. He also gave up a description of the whore he claimed had hired them: an older woman, foreign by her talk, cloaked and hooded, very pale. The other harlots called her Misery.”

These are scenes that we get shortly after but…I think…I think saying under torture is a bit of a stretch. Reminded me of that scene in Deadpool 2 when Cable goes to interrogate Weasel and he just instantly gives up the names ‘cos he can’t handle it.

Aegon does get his wish as well as he says:

“I’ll kill him myself.”

HOUSE OF THE DRAGON Season 2 Episode 2 Breakdown & Ending Explained | Review, Easter Eggs & Theories

However, Otto needs that info first. There are even suspicions that it might not be Rhaenyra, with Lord Jasper suggesting others were behind it. I think these fractures and betrayals are what also have a hand in pushing out Otto. He was loyal to Viserys, who in the end was loyal to his daughter. So you can see how in the madness of grief he might turn against the others, even though Otto is clearly loyal to his grandson. However, he’s a politician too and wants to have the child’s body paraded through the street as it being something that will turn the people against Rhaenyra.

Now from here, we cut to Helaena with Alicent talking her into the parade. This ends up overwhelming her, and it’s possible her psychic intuition causes even more grief. We obviously don’t know exactly what’s going on with her, but she’s made a number of correct predictions. I feel like she is also likely an empath who picks up on the grief, and this causes her even more pain. The Queen never really recovers in the book, and in describing her in the aftermath of Blood and Cheese, it says:

“Though Blood and Cheese had spared her life, Queen Helaena cannot be said to have survived that fateful dusk. Afterward she would not eat, nor bathe, nor leave her chambers, and she could no longer stand to look upon her son Maelor, knowing that she had named him to die. The king had no recourse but to take the boy from her and give him over to their mother, the Dowager Queen Alicent, to raise as if he were her own. Aegon and his wife slept separately thereafter, and Queen Helaena sank deeper and deeper into madness, whilst the king raged, and drank, and raged.”

Now these psychic predictions are something I wanna discuss further in another video where we’ll talk about what Helaena really is though. Last week, there were a couple of extra things that we only now know after seeing Episode 2. When Aegon went to Helaena, we could see her knitting the shroud for her dead son.

She also whispers, “They only want the boy,” which you can slightly pick up just before it happens.

When bringing up the rats as well, she also looked directly at Jaehaerys’ bed. Now it’s believed that Helaena may be what’s known as a dreamer, and in the Game of Thrones-iverse, this basically makes her an oracle. Dreamers have appeared throughout the lore; however, Helaena wasn’t one in the books.

Still though, it appears that she’s going that way, and it would also tie in closely with her family.

Aegon’s dream is something that’s been brought up numerous times, and Daenys Targaryen also predicted doom in a dream. She envisioned the fall of Old Valyria, and her family listened to her advice. Thus, they were able to escape before the volcanic eruption, and they relocated themselves to Dragonstone.

Being a dreamer also means that someone has trouble distinguishing reality from prophecy. It’s something they talk about during Dune, and we get an inner monologue with Paul. Because he keeps having the same visions over and over, it gets to a point where he doesn’t know if they’re happening right there, if they’re in the past, or if they’re

just another vision.

I think the realisation of horror on Helaena’s eyes last week was her actually realising she wasn’t in a dream.

I do wonder if we’ll see her eyes rolling back like Bran’s were…or like Alicent’s were last week.

Speaking of Alicent though, she’s really having to deal with the consequences of her actions. Another thing last week was that when she was at the sept, she lit a candle and the subtitles had her whispering “Lucerys Velaryon.” Had she been being how she is in public, she would’ve said “Lucerys Strong,” and it shows how what she really believes is different to what she’s putting out into the world.

Honestly, I thought this parade scene was so messed up. Dunno if we can show it ‘cos YouTube monetisation’s been a nightmare recently, but you see little Prince Jaehaerys’ head kinda wobbling a bit and can even see the stitches around his neck.

It’s all propaganda with the man leading the procession constantly announcing it’s the work of Rhaenyra the Cruel. Though she wasn’t specifically named this in the book, she was described as being as cruel as any king before her.

You might also notice that the Golden Targaryen sigil is used throughout the banners. Last week, when we travelled to the keep, though, there were mainly the Hightower symbols everywhere. This enforces the idea here that these are the true Targaryens, even though closer to home they rock the Hightower symbol.

Also, as we pass through the streets, I believe we see Hugh Hammer’s wife at roughly 15 minutes 20. We’ll talk about her later on in the episode, and she obviously shares some common ground due to having a sick child. We see the confetti and leaves drifting down to Helaena, which sort of plays off a shot we see later on. At 27 minutes, Rhaenyra looks at the dust in her room, which seems to glow golden like the pieces here.

I felt like with Helaena, we’re seeing the descent, whereas with Rhaenyra, the blacks are starting to rise, hence the movement. I’m probably reading into that way too much, but both shots I felt got a lot of focus and visually shared some similarities. These include the way the particles move and also the slow-motion reaction shots that we get.

We then see Blood getting smashed like the like button, and later learn that all the ratcatchers were hanged. This led to Cheese being caught in the show, whereas in the book we don’t really learn what happened to him.

The work says:

“After thirteen days of torment, Blood was at last allowed to die. Queen Alicent had commanded Larys Clubfoot to learn his true name, so that she might bathe in the blood of his wife and children, but our sources do not say if this occurred. Ser Luthor Largent and his gold cloaks searched the Street of Silk from top to bottom, and turned out and stripped every harlot in King’s Landing, but no trace of Cheese or the White Worm was ever found. In his grief and fury, King Aegon II commanded that all the city’s ratcatchers be taken out and hanged, and this was done. (Ser Otto Hightower brought one hundred cats into the Red Keep to take their place.)”

There were theories that when they made it to the sewers, Blood gutted him and took his money. Later on, Jaime found bones when smuggling people through the tunnels, and it was believed that they belonged to him.

That’s just a theory time theory time theory time though.

I feel like it works really well in the show, though, and just seeing the dog looking up at his master and crying is pretty heartbreaking. The sad thing is that the greens never knew if they actually got justice, and they killed way more people than they needed to just to make sure. Blood could’ve picked him out of a lineup, but a brutal crime deserves brutal retribution.

This brutality and the reaction is then shown to us on Dragonstone when we hear Rhaenyra’s learning of the truth. She’s furious ‘cos it wasn’t her, and it’s like when Darth Vader got blamed for blowing up the Death Star. The book never really gives us much of her reaction, and it’s clear she’s furious at what happened. She’s lost a son herself, and Helaena’s now a grieving mother just like her. She also views Helaena as innocent, and it shows how the victims in war are often not those in charge. It’s the people who fight on the frontlines or the ones who get caught in the crossfire, whereas those making the orders are often out of harm’s way.

I always say, like, it’s always a small group of people ruining it for everyone else. Doesn’t matter if you’re at a kingdom at war, in your family, or if you work somewhere where there’s one dude that is just a dick, it’ll always be a couple people that spoil it for everyone else.

Also, another fantastic performance by Matt Smith. Just sitting there smugly smiling, you can tell he’s relishing in what’s happened. She questions whether his orders included killing someone else if Aemond wasn’t there, and though he denies it…yeah, we don’t know.

Last week, he even got asked what to do, but we cut before he gave an answer.

But yeah, I think he just wanted blood no matter what, and he didn’t travel to King’s Landing to return empty-handed. You also wonder if he’s willing to give up the throne as well because this is something he believed he should have. He even sees himself as being a better leader than Viserys, but the realm would’ve changed differently under his rule. King Jaehaerys ushered in an age of peace, which is something that Viserys tried to mimic. Before him, though, was Maegor the Cruel, who I feel is someone Daemon would’ve emulated. Obviously, we can’t be sure, but there’s definitely that darker side within him. Rhaenyra even says he keeps this sheared away, and he definitely has a sadistic side.

This argument ends with him leaving for Harrenhal, which is something they’ve changed the order for in the show. Originally, the “Son for a Son” chapter opens with us hearing of Daemon’s mission. We then get everything with Jacaerys before then getting Lucerys’ death. Daemon was at Harrenhal when this happened, and he’s the one who sent the raven to Rhaenyra informing her of her son’s death.

It’s probably gonna be a big scene in the show that will likely echo Aegon’s conquest. When he initially conquered Westeros, Lord Harren refused to bend the knee. Thus, Balerion the Black Dread burned it, which led to it being the ruinous location that it is now.

The curse of Harrenhal was thought to exist, and this was too blamed on Larys killing his father and brother. Also, just kinda wild that he had them killed and is now actively trying to kill his strong nephews as…ah wait, they’re not his. No relation.

Anyway, Baela is instructed to take her dragon, Moondancer, and keep a watch on King’s Landing. We haven’t really seen Moondancer, with it being a smaller dragon said to be just the size of a warhorse.

Though tiny, it was known for its speed, with Baela basically being sent as a scout.

She gets a great scene with Jace, who she’s betrothed to. I love the way she calls Laenor her uncle instead of saying to Jace, “What did you think about your father?”

It’s subtle, but it shows they all know the truth, and they then start talking about Harwin. They bring up his name Breakbones, which was something he had in the books.

It’s said: “Breakbones, as he was called, was heir to Harrenhal, and said to be the strongest man in the Seven Kingdoms.” Baela says that he definitely loved Jace and his brother, and it highlights that they’re all aware of what was going on but know it spells death for them if the truth is revealed.

Really good seeing the character actually getting more to do in this series as she kinda got overlooked in Season 1.

Cutting back to the Red Keep, Aegon and Helaena pass on the stairs, but he offers no comfort. That’s his wife…and his sister, and the pair have both lost their child. It really highlights the fractures that are forming, with the family now no longer really being together. Both cared for the child, but they were a couple due to duty.

Because of this, they’re not able to keep it together, and the loss on the pair is gonna drive them towards anger and insanity.

Jumping back to Dragonstone, we see Rhaenyra with the two young boys she had with Daemon. The way they’re sat and playing on the floor, they’re, of course, supposed to mirror Helaena’s twins and how they’ve been shown to us.

These two are Prince Aegon the Third and also Viserys the Second. The little toys and figures we see them playing with are akin to the one picked up before in Jaehaerys’ room. It perfectly highlights the cost of war and likely symbolises that the characters are similar rather than being the differences they’re forced to focus on.

Cutting to Alicent, we see her and Criston, with him refusing to tend to her.

In the end, though, they always go back to it, and it basically sums up the entire characters. They’re stuck in something they don’t really want to do, but they keep going back to it. Both know they shouldn’t, but they’re trapped in a toxic cycle. It speaks volumes about the war itself and how everyone’s kind of stuck on a path they don’t want to be on.

HOUSE OF THE DRAGON SEASON 2 EPISODE 2 EASTER EGGS

Alicent is just desperate for comfort, but she also craves isolation away from it all. Last week, she kicked servants out of the bathroom, and now they’re completely absent. She’s just on her own and submerges herself in the tub so she can further shut herself off from the world.

She really should get some new clothes and check out our merch store right below the video. We’ve got three House of the Dragon tees on there right now, including our “Dragons, Drama and Destiny” one. There’s also a “Blacks and Greens” one which will let you show the side you’re most loyal to.

As for Criston, he’s broken his oath and duty. Though he lambasts Arryk for getting his cloak dirty, what he’s up to is way worse in the eyes of the Kingsguard. He even asks where he was at the time, which Arryk responds to by asking the same thing. Criston is just doing what Aegon did to him because he’s deeply ashamed and wants to cast blame somewhere else.

Now, the cloak is white because it symbolises purity, and it being muddy juxtaposes this. Arryk is a muddy cloak himself, though, because he’s willing to kill his brother. Cain and Abel is, of course, a famous example of this, with it being something that influenced the arc. A kinslayer in the Ice and Fire universe is an accursed name that’s said to bring with it several issues.

The Kingsguard are also supposed to deal out justice and truth, but this secret mission is one of deception.

“We are sworn to serve forthrightly.”

It shows how twisted the kingdom under Aegon’s rule has become, as all those in the Kingsguard are willing to bend the rules.

You’re not supposed to be with any woman because it means you have loyalties other than the realm. Breaking it with Rhaenyra made him go a bit crazy, and I wonder if the same thing will happen with Alicent.

The pair, in this moment, are desperate to keep themselves apart, but we see behind them that the flame is still burning. Really nice symbolism, and the next day, we catch him hiring Arryk.

He goes back and forth over whether he should do it in the work, with it explaining his conflict.

“Ser Arryk did not undertake this mission happily. Indeed, Septon Eustace tells us, the troubled knight visited the Red Keep’s sept on the night he was to sail, to pray for forgiveness to our Mother Above. Yet as Kingsguard, sworn to obey king and commander, he had no choice in honour but to make his way to Dragonstone, clad in the salt-stained garb of a simple fisherman.”

This treachery and deception leads to his death, but sticking to the rules is what saves Rhaenyra. She ends up freeing Mysaria, which in turn allows her to warn her of the plan.

Now, this section is greatly expanded upon in the book.

“King Aegon also desired to avenge the murder of his heir by Blood and Cheese by means of an attack on Dragonstone, descending on the island citadel on dragonback to seize or slay his half-sister and her ‘bastard sons.’ It took all of the green council to dissuade him. Ser Criston Cole urged a different course. The pretender princess had made use of stealth and treachery to kill Prince Jaehaerys, Cole said; let them do the same. ‘We will pay the princess back in her own bloody coin,’ he told the king. The instrument the Lord Commander of the Kingsguard chose for the king’s vengeance was his Sworn Brother, Ser Arryk Cargyll.”

Cutting to a brotherly scene, we see a woman with golden hair, and I wonder if this is a Targaryen bastard. We know that they exist in King’s Landing, and bastards become a big part of the book. Like beyond the Strongs, the Dragonseeds are extremely prevalent later down the line, and we’ll talk about them more in the spoiler section.

Aemond is here, and we see him being comforted by a woman who popped up in the season before. This is who they went to in Episode 9, with us learning that she took his virginity. Aemond says he regrets Luke’s death, and we’re seeing a really vulnerable side to him.

Saying that the smallfolk will be affected by the war, we then cut over to Hugh and his family. We learn the markets are running low due to the blockade and that inflation made chicken more expensive. Really applicable to real life and how times of war have a great effect. Last week, we watched how Corlys’ ships stopped boats, and we learned in this book this affected trade. It’s said he strangled the Gullet through his vast navy. We then cut to Alyn of Hull being reunited with his brother Addam. Like Hugh, both become big figures in the war to come. Addam’s desperate to get in Corlys’ good books, and we catch a tender moment with him and Rhaenys.

The pair discuss Daemon and whether he’ll allow Rhaenyra to lead. There are thoughts he might challenge her rule, and at the moment the hierarchy is completely in question. Had he not made the joke about the “King for the day,” then he may have still been in charge.

There could be the argument that he’d bring back peacetime, but I do feel like he’s more of a war king.

Rhaenyra pores over the legacy of her family with her pulling out the books. In the first image, we can see King Aegon and his sister brides, Visenya and Rhaenys. Rhaenys would, of course, go on to be named after her, and Rhaenyra’s idol is Visenya. She named her daughter after her and also wears a braid similar to it.

She rode the dragon Vhagar, which we see a drawing of as she turns the page. Visenya is someone she admires, but Vhagar killed her son.

So, it’s complicated. On the right-hand side, we also have a passage that goes through several of the conquests. I was wondering if this was text pulled directly from Fire and Blood, but alas, it’s new for the show. It talks about the first Dornish war and also discusses the Century of Blood. This began with Doom and ravaged most of Essos.

Visited by Mysaria, I think they see commonality in their genders. Both have been overlooked and brushed to the side, but they’re way smarter than people give them credit for. Mysaria is someone whose history we know little about, but her legacy would last a long time. She’s sort of this show’s master of whisperers, with her having a great web.

Rhaenyra asks how she got her scar, which is something we’ve only really seen recently. Typically in Season 1, especially in the early entries, she wore either a collar or coat to cover her neck. This was mainly when she was with Daemon, as she knew being seen with her like that might make them question the heir. However, when she met with Otto in Episode 9, the scar was indeed visible. At this point, she’d built her own independence and was no longer relying on others.

She refuses to answer, and though we don’t know her history, it’s likely that this came from wearing a collar.

This possibly was from her being a slave, though, which might also explain why she’s changed her accent a bit, eh?

We hear how she built a home that the Hightowers then set on fire. This is something that we saw in Episode 9, with it being burned during the montage at the end.

She says they’ll never accept her, and it echoes how Rhaenyra won’t be accepted either. Keeping Daemon’s word and freeing her eventually, we get these moments intercut with Addam.

Catching him at the beach, he finds a crab, which I thought might be a nod to Crabfeeder. Just the way these moments play out here does kinda remind me of the beach scenes and how they were shot in Episode 3.

Overhead, I believe we see Seasmoke, which is a dragon we’ve seen in the show before. This was key in defeating Crabfeeder, and it was ridden by Laenor. Addam gets up close to it down the line, which we’ll touch upon more later in the video.

Cutting to King’s Landing, a great detail here is that you can see scorpions lining the Red Keep. These giant crossbows were something we saw up close last week, with it showcasing how fortified it is.

This highlights why it was safer to send in the ratcatchers, which has proved to be vastly unpopular.

Aegon has killed innocent people who all had families and friends.

And dogs…

This is what causes a further divide with Aegon and Otto, with Rhys Ifans delivering what I think is his best performance.

The fractures between them were highlighted in the work, with it saying:

“Yet Ser Otto was losing the trust of his king, who mistook his efforts for inaction, and his caution for cowardice. Septon Eustace tells us of one occasion when Aegon entered the Tower of the Hand and found Ser Otto writing another letter, whereupon he knocked the inkpot into his grandsire’s lap, declaring, ‘Thrones are won with swords, not quills. Spill blood, not ink.'”

This line is played upon in the show, with us getting this:

“I wish to spill blood, not ink.”

The book then talks about how Otto was ousted and replaced by Criston Cole. It says:

“The delay did not sit well with the young king. Aegon II had run short of patience with his grandfather’s prevarications. Though his mother, the Dowager Queen Alicent,

spoke up in Ser Otto’s defense, His Grace turned a deaf ear to her pleading. Summoning Ser Otto to the throne room, he tore the chain of office from his neck and tossed it to Ser Criston Cole. ‘My new Hand is a steel fist,’ he boasted. ‘We are done with writing letters.'”

This is then said in the episode.

Now, from here the passage says:

“Ser Criston wasted no time in proving his mettle. ‘It is not for you to plead for support from your lords, like a beggar pleading for alms,’ he told Aegon. ‘You are the lawful king of Westeros, and those who deny it are traitors. It is past time they learned the price of treason.'”

Now, in the next passage, we learned that beyond the mission with Arryk, they murdered all their political prisoners in the Red Keep. I’m not gonna read out the whole thing, but they were told they could either keep their oaths or swear to King Aegon. Those who refused were beheaded, with their heads being mounted on spikes above the city gates.

Now, after that, we hear of Criston’s idea to use the twins.

The book says:

We’ll talk more about what it says in just a bit, but Otto doesn’t take his firing well.

He calls Aegon an insolent pup, which is an insult he’s thrown at him in the series before.

Throwing the Hand of the King badge at his feet, we see Otto dismissed from the game of thrones.

Felt bad for the guy ‘cos nobody would be anywhere without him, and in playing this game of treachery, he didn’t expect it to hit him.

Shut out of the room, it ends his time as the Hand, with the war he started leading to his dismissal.

Mysaria is dismissed too, with Rhaenyra charting a boat to Pentos. Pentos is a location we’ve seen in the main show, with it being away from Westeros and a much safer place for Mysaria since Jaehaerys’ death.

Spotting Ser Arryk, she’s like…hold on a second…that’s not the wallet inspector.

Now, the book explains how he’s able to just stroll in and know where he’s going. It says:

“Ser Arryk was intimately familiar with the ancient seat of House Targaryen, having visited there often during the reign of King Viserys. Many fishermen still plied the waters of Blackwater Bay, for Dragonstone depended on the sea for sustenance; it would be a simple thing to deliver Cargyll to the fishing village under the castle. From there he could make his own way to the queen. And Ser Arryk and his brother Ser Erryk were twins, identical in all respects; not even their fellows of the Kingsguard could tell the two apart, both Mushroom and Septon Eustace assert. Once clad in white, Ser Arryk should be able to move freely about Dragonstone, Ser Criston suggested; any guards who chanced to encounter him would surely mistake him for his brother.”

Now, this is exactly what ends up happening. He goes past the guards, and even though some have just seen Erryk, he says they’re not paying attention. It’s such a good and tense scene as we, as viewers, also don’t know who’s going to Rhaenyra. Now, the book isn’t as dramatic, and the twins don’t clash swords in her room. We don’t even know if Arryk was meant to kill Rhaenyra, as his true mission is shrouded in mystery.

The true purpose of Ser Arryk’s mission remains a matter of some contention. Grand Maester Munkun tells us that Cargyll had been commanded to slay Rhaenyra, putting an end to her rebellion at a stroke, whilst Mushroom insists that her sons were Cargyll’s prey, that Aegon II wished to wash out the blood of his murdered son with that of his bastard nephews, Jacaerys and Joffrey “Strong.”

So they kept it a lot simpler for the show, though he could want revenge on any of the kids, which is why we cut to Rhaenyra and Daemon’s kids playing together before. However, I think what we get is great, and it’s such a tense moment in the series.

Ser Arryk came ashore without hindrance, donned his armor and white cloak, and had no trouble gaining entrance to the castle in the guise of his twin brother, just as Criston Cole had planned. Deep in the heart of Dragonstone, however, as he was making his way to the royal apartments, the gods brought him face-to-face with Ser Erryk himself, who knew at once what his brother’s presence meant. The singers tell us that Ser Erryk said, “I love you, brother,” as he unsheathed his blade, and that Ser Arryk replied, “And I you, brother,” as he drew his own.

HOUSE OF THE DRAGON SEASON 2 EPISODE 2 ENDING EXPLAINED

We almost see them come face to face early on, but Arryk moves slyly round the halls. He also stealthily locks the doors and sends guards on watch to retire. We also get a look at the painted table and the candles being moved out from under it. Created during Aegon’s conquest, this gave a full bird’s-eye view of the realm. Lit from underneath, it allowed for strategies, and I loved seeing this little bit of maintenance.

Going in, Arryk draws his sword, but he’s then interrupted by Erryk.

The confusion we see in the guards too is also something from the work:

The twins battled for the best part of an hour, Grand Maester Munkun says; the clash of steel on steel woke half of the queen’s court, but the onlookers could only stand by helplessly and watch, for no man there could tell which brother was which. In the end, Ser Arryk and Ser Erryk dealt each other mortal wounds, and died in one another’s arms with tears upon their cheeks.

You really don’t know who’s winning and who’s losing, and even when they get marked up, it’s difficult to tell. That’s what makes the end of the fight so tense, as you don’t know if Rhaenyra’s about to get killed or not.

Mushroom’s account is shorter, saltier, and altogether nastier. The fight lasted only moments, our fool says. There were no declarations of brotherly love; each Cargyll denounced the other as a traitor as they clashed. Ser Erryk, standing above his twin on the spiral steps, struck the first mortal blow, a savage downward cut that nigh took his brother’s sword arm off at the shoulder, but as he collapsed, Ser Arryk grasped his slayer’s white cloak and pulled him close enough to drive a dagger deep into his belly. Ser Arryk was dead before the first guards arrived, but Ser Erryk took four days to die of his gut wound, screaming in horrible pain and cursing his traitor brother all the while. For obvious reasons, singers and storytellers have shown a marked preference for the tale as told by Munkun. Maesters and other scholars must make their own determination as to which version is more likely. All that Septon Eustace says upon the matter is that the Cargyll twins slew each other, and there we must leave it.

It’s a massive moment in the show, which ends with Erryk committing seppuku. In the different tellings in the book, death by a sword in the gut is what gets them, and hey, same sort of thing here.

I was really shocked to see it, and we know this tale ends up becoming legend.

The tale became notable in the song “Farewell My Brother,” with it marking another two brutal deaths in the war. Cutting back to Otto and Alicent, we hear the former moaning away about his old boss. Now, we also hear of Daeron, who’s a character that’s been absent in the show. When I did my “Every Dragon Explained” video, I said I didn’t bother mentioning him as I didn’t know if he was in the series or not. Shoutout to Avon Barksdale 2506 for saying the showrunners confirmed he is.

Known as Daeron the Daring, Daeron was actually the most popular son of Viserys and Alicent. Unfortunately, though, he didn’t initially get the spotlight that they did. Born shortly after Jace, the book says that Viserys insisted they shared a wet nurse so the pair could become milk brothers.

Daeron ended up kind of getting pushed to the side, though, when he was sent to work as a cupbearer for Alicent’s cousin, Lord Ormund Hightower. When Otto says he will return there, he mentions how Daeron resides there, and he’ll help them in weeks to come.

I’m guessing that they’re gonna use that to explain where he’s been, but nice to hear him getting name-dropped.

Like the book, Alicent says she’ll speak to Aegon, but it’s clear it’s over. He just sees it being them against the world, and when she admits her sin, he just doesn’t care.

It’s a really tender moment where the pair have been on opposite sides within the house in the past, but now they’re seeing that they still have each other. Him not wanting to hear, though, might show he’s not interested in her issues, but I also see it as being that it doesn’t matter because he still loves her. There are different ways you can read the reactions, and I’d love to hear your thoughts on them below.

Either way, Alicent doesn’t share anything with her own child, and we see her coming across Aegon crying. Rather than going to him, she ends up leaving and slumps off to go and get some Criston Pole.

Getting hot and heavy spoilers.

Anyway, it shows the predicament she’s in. She isn’t getting anything she feels like love or care from those around her, and thus she can’t give it to her own kids. Thus, she just ends up returning to Criston, who’s the only person letting her feel something.

It wraps up a brilliant episode that I felt let a lot of people give their best performances. Emma D’Arcy was great as Rhaenyra as well, and it topped off another great one. That Arryk and Erryk fight was something I thought was so-so in the work, but they really went above and beyond with it here.

It closes out what’s a great entry, and that takes us into the spoiler section.

Please hit that thumbs up on your way out, and a huge thank you for checking out the video. Hopefully, I’ll see you back same time next week where we’ll break down Episode 3 right after the episode.

Now, Harrenhal is a big part of the book, with Daemon taking over it. This is obviously how he sent the raven out from it, and it becomes a stronghold in the war. It lets the blacks fight from more than just Dragonstone, and the greens are forced to engage with them at multiple locations. It riffs off the back of Aegon’s conquest in which the castle was taken. This is also shown in the intro when we get the tapestry of what’s come before.

Now, Hugh Hammer and Addam of Hull are major parts of the work too. We discussed in the spoiler section last week about how the Dragonseeds are recruited by the blacks. These are all the bastard descendants, and thus they’re said to have the blood of the dragon. This lets them be dragon riders and hey, no prizes for guessing who Addam goes after.

He, of course, tamed Seasmoke and was a formidable fighter in the war.

Now, as for Hugh Hammer, he ends up getting Vermithor, who we saw during Episode 10. Daemon sang to the dragon, and he was gigantic. I love how we’re kinda seeing how poor he is…well, I don’t love it BUT…it does give motive to why he does what he does. The Dragonseeds are promised land and riches if they join Rhaenyra, so it makes sense he’d take this stand against the king. I’m guessing that Aegon doesn’t come through on this early payment, and this is what makes him turn against the king.

Anyway, that’s the end of the breakdown, and obviously, let me know your thoughts on the episode below.

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