House of the DragonThe second episode of the second season provided another iconic George RR Martin moment Fire and Blood. Identical twins Erryk and Arryk Cargyll, two members of the late Viserys' Kingsguard who were divided over which of their sons to support, fought to the death at Dragonstone. The show's emotional and intense duel answered some of the main questions raised by the book. But the story of that heinous assassination attempt was bigger than just the two dead knights. It's also an important part of the story about the cretin responsible for the reprehensible plan, Ser Criston Cole. The reason he sent Ser Arryk has firmly established that the inexplicable and dishonorable monster is one of Westeros' all-time great villains.
After making fundamental changes to “Blood and Cheese”, House of the Dragon he opted for a more faithful interpretation of the famous Cargyll duel. As all historians agree, Ser Arryk, a member of Aegon's Kingsguard, sneaked into Dragonstone to impersonate his own brother, Erryk, a member of the Queen's Guard of Rhaenyra. Fire and BloodThe sources never agreed on whether Arryk was there to kill the queen or one of her children, only that the plot was a response to the murder of Prince Jaehaerys. The show made it clear that Rhaenyra was always his target.
The prequel also added a new wrinkle by having Mysaria play a role in preventing Rhaenyra's death. Turned on House of the Dragon the White Worm was in Dragon Rock at the time, instead of King's Landing as in Fire and Blood. This made it possible for Mysaria to see a twin Cargyll walking from the shore of Dragonstone. He knew that this knight could not be the same man he had just seen inside the castle protecting the queen. Without the sharp eye of the spymaster, Arryk would most likely have destroyed the queen in her bed.
(Fire and Blood he says he never made it to Rhaenyra's bedchamber, but it's easy to see why the queen's supporters hide that fact. It makes her look weak and vulnerable. Aegon didn't want people to know what happened to Jaehaerys for the same reason.)
Then the show made the most of creativity the contradictory historical sources on which the series is based to give us an incredible adaptation. A source, Grandmaster Munkun, said the two brothers fought for almost an hour. No one could intervene because it was impossible to know which brother was which. (Something the show also included.) Munkun says the two later died crying in each other's arms. Another source, the infamous Bolet, said the fight was fast, brutal and full of hate. The victorious Ser Erryk died four days later “screaming in horrible pain and cursing his treacherous brother all the while”.
Fire and Blood makes clear that neither account is likely definitive. (The third, by Septon Eustace, says only that the twins killed each other.) What the story makes clear is which version the people accepted. The book says that after the war “singers and storytellers” showed a “marked preference for the tale told by Munkun”. Why wouldn't they? It makes for a better, more tragic song. This makes people cry and willing to pay coin. What House of the Dragon The delivery, however, was a much more emotional and honest duel than anything described Fire and Blood.
The prequel duel had both professions of both love and anger. The two brothers, who were basically one, fought violently. Each tried to keep their vows sacred even against the person they really cared about most in the world. They still loved each other and hated what they did, but as Cregan Stark said, “duty is sacrifice.” In the end, Ser Erryk protected his queen from her would-be assassin as Mushroom wrote, but she didn't die of her wounds days later. Killing his brother was too much for Erryk to live with. In his last moment he apologized to his queen before falling on his own sword.
It was a truly heartbreaking sequence, one of the show's best so far. It is also a scene that captures the personal tragedy that defines the Dance of Dragons.
And it was all Criston Cole's fault.
Fire and Blood he says the Lord Commander came up with the plan, just like he did in the show. (A slight twist from HBO is that Aegon had already appointed Ser Criston Hand of the King before Cole set his assassination plan in motion.) What House of the Dragon The expansion was the real reason Cole sent Ser Arryk on his ill-fated mission. It wasn't just “pay the princess with your own bloody coin” after Blood and Cheese. It wasn't about ending a war before it started. It was to make Criston Cole feel less guilty.
At the beginning of the episode, for a brief moment, Criston Cole showed a small sliver of humanity. He felt remorse for his role in the death of the little prince Jaehaerys. Instead of fulfilling his sworn duty to protect the royal family, the Lord Commander was violating her by sharing a bed with Alicent Hightower.
The Dowager Queen could see that Cole was worried about what had happened. The unimaginable murder of a child had shaken the arrogant Cole. Alicent then asked if she had told anyone what they had been doing. When Cole wondered what kind of idiot he took him for, he said, “One who seeks absolution.” Cole replied, “There isn't one for what I've done.”
That correct acknowledgment was as close as Cole came to taking any responsibility for his unforgivable and dishonorable transgressions. Instead of reflecting on his failures and taking responsibility for his own sins, Cole turned his anger and failures onto another, just as he did in the first season. He shamelessly begged young Rhaenyra to run away with him not for love, but to be able to recover his self-esteem. That emotional manipulation didn't work for him. It worked on Ser Arryk. And the way Cole manipulated a knight of the royal nobility showed the full and monstrous depths of the cowardly Lord Commander.
“The white cloak is a symbol of our purity, our faithfulness,” Cole told Arryk about a cloak that Ser Cargyll soiled during a funeral for a child. The audacity of that claim would have been laughable if it weren't so disgusting. Cole then continued to pile on like a brat, knowing that the hypocrisy was pouring out of his mouth like a waterfall of sewage. “The Kingsguard are a sacred trust. Will you so easily sully our ancient honor? He said.
The way the outraged Arryk responded also showed why Cole was even more responsible for Jaehaerys' death than he seemed. When Cole asked where Arryk was during the assassination (protecting the King), Arryk replied, “”Where were you, Lord Commander? And why has Helaena, the queen, not been granted any sworn protectors? Surely, once uploaded there should be…
Helaena had no sworn protector because Cole is breaking her vows with the old queen. If he wasn't, he would have rightly had a Kingsguard protecting the new queen. If Cole didn't sleep with Aegon's mother, his son would still be alive.
The despicable Cole could not respond to an accurate assessment without admitting his grave mistakes. So instead, he changed the subject and attacked Arryl's integrity, which Cole completely lacks. Ser Criston said that since Erryk is a traitor and a thief no one could fully trust Arryk. This is, unless Arryk embarked on this shameful scheme, a person no respectable member of the Kingsguard would ever ask of another. Arryk knew he shouldn't go. He knew it was a vile plan unbecoming of his order. But he also wanted to keep his vows and prove his loyalty. So he went. And he died. Just like his brother.
When a heartbroken Ser Erryk fell on his sword, it ended his life. Ser Criston Cole, named Hand of the King as a reward for his treachery, responded by returning to Alicent's bed, once and for all sullying his white cloak and all that it stands for.
The reason the tragic duel took place at Dragonstone secured Criston Cole's true place game of thronesinfamy The Lord Commander knows deep in his black green heart that he has “brought misfortune” to his holy ranks. But it's not that he just doesn't care and refuses to take personal responsibility that makes him so vile. It's that he makes his flaws, dishonor, and guilt everyone else's problem, a problem they pay for with their lives. This is why he is truly one of the greatest and most hated villains in the history of the Seven Kingdoms.
Mikey Walsh is a writer for Nerdist and the world's number one Criston Cole hater. You can follow it Twitter i Bluesky at @burgermike. And also anywhere someone is ranking the Targaryen kings.
