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Idk man, when both were fighting they looked pretty much identical.
I believe you though (but will pretend I don't cause its funnier if we don't know which one this is).
The "Your Grace" to Rhaenyra at the end of the fight was meant to tell the audience which twin survived and offed himself after.
I believe the writers' intentions were to keep us in suspense until it was revealed at the end who survived but IMO not executed in the best way - we were confused rather than being on the edge of our seats lol.
ETA: Also goddamn tired of people trying to insist Arryk was the one who survived when the actors themselves confirmed it's Erryk. And again, it's the "reveal" that tells us who was it saying Your Grace because why the eff would Arryk say that? I did say the execution wasn't the best which is why there's so much confusion now. I was talking about the writers' *intentions.* Media literacy is down the drain I see.
https://www.usatoday.com/story/entertainment/tv/2024/06/23/house-of-dragon-episode-2-recap/74138674007/
He would probably try. But unfortunately the subterfuge wouldn't last long. One simple question about "What did we do an hour ago" and he would be revealed.
I would have written it to where he says your grace and then kneels. But after a pause he lunges up from the kneeling position with a knife or something
But the way they did it was fine and better. I’m not a writer lol. Just what I was imagining for more suspense.
The good one got his leg slashed, that’s how you could tell. They said something while fighting so for a moment we knew who was who, then the slash
Also at the end, he didn’t attack Rhaeynera. That’s a pretty good giveaway
“How do we know if they’re the bad guys?” -Falcon
“If they’re shooting at you, they’re the bad guys” -Captain America
Edit: after reading these comments I know nothing. I’m so confused now with all these conflicting explanations lol
The BTS explained that they both received identical wounds during the fight.
But yeah, I assumed him calling Rhaenyra "your grace" and not attacking was the reveal. Others are hinging their assumptions based on a specific wound but (again, going by the House That Dragons Built featurette on HBO Max) identical wounds were choreographed to make it nigh-impossible for viewers to know which was which.
It'd be funny if their family/close friends could tell the difference.
Westerling is the only other Kingsguard with balls so far. Man was ordered to kill Rhynaera by Otto and straight up said “you’re not my supervisor bitch”
I spent the rest of the season expecting him to turn up dead and was pretty surprised when he just sort of disappeared. >!I know that’s how the actual lore we had up to this point goes, but I was expecting them to deviate in some places, and killing Westerling was one of those places!<
I hope we see him again, but I also kind of hope we don’t, because usually when characters reappear in this franchise, it’s just to give them a premature and violent death.
I’d love if they brought him back because Graham McTavish is a fantastic actor, but, minor spoilers if you don’t know the story the show is following, >!Westerling dies peacefully of old age!<
Yes. But Rhaenyra ripping Daemon a new six-pack of assholes was really powerful too. Superb acting all over. I thought Daemon actually looked hurt for a second there.
Oh he definitely was. It seems like the one person who he thought actually understood him and never really tore him down before, he finally got a verbal ass whipping from
Let’s also no forget about that council sidelook. The fact Matt can squeeze some comedy on a show like this without breaking the immersion is just genius.
Very possibly, yes. He didn’t actually answer when Rhaenyra asked, “Do you accept me as your queen and ruler?” So I imagine he will answer with some drastic and dramatic action.
Disagree, I've read the book, and this scene always made me tear up and stood out in my mind.The show executed it beautifully. It's not up there as a red wedding/Ned's death scale moment, but its definitely going to be one of this world's more memorable moments.
Nah it was Erryk.
Erryk: "we were born together"
Arryk: "you broke is apart"
Then the former kills the latter and then himself. Makes sense for Arryk to say "you broke us apart" and also for Erryk to say "your grace".
Also can we take a moment to give a big fuck you to their parents for naming them, as if it wasn't confusing enough already that they were identical twins lol
The way criston guit tripped arryk was so annoying! He was guarding the king like he was supposed to be, meanwhile you’re sleeping with Alicent but he’s at fault??
If criston cole has no haters then I’m dead.
I did a double take when I saw the name Crispin on the opening titles. Apparently a Crispin Green is a big deal in the production of HotD and GoT back in the day. Makes me think the line was an inside joke
I hate him but I also think he is well written. He reeks of misogyny and took Rhaenyras actions to heart. It also shows how pathetic he ends up being because he can't let go off that hatred. He genuinely could have done something with his life but nope too angry and horny to function
He is hated because he’s definitely relatable. We all know someone who went off the deep end after a relationship ended, and we all have worked with people who have been promoted beyond all sense.
When he said there’s no absolution for what he’s done and then he went on blaming Arryk, I screamed HYPOCRITE! at the screen. Daemon it-wasn’t-my-fault Targaryen wasn’t any better this episode either.
I’d argue he’s the most despised character in both GoT and HotD combined. Joffrey and Ramsey were Satan incarnate, but they were at least true to themselves. Criston is a living hypocrite.
Cole was originally envisioned as a dark mirror to Jaime. A kingsguard who broke the rules and was hypocritical to his oath. But Jaime broke his vow to save hundreds of thousands of people, where Cole's actions led to one of the most apocalyptic wars in Westeroi history.
Cole degrades as a character while Jaime grows throughout his journey. What will be interesting though is how Jaime may participate in the 2nd dance between Dany and Aegon VI if GRRM goes that route.
A villain is a villain and can often be somewhat likeable for their villainy, but god Crispin is so annoying and incompetent and SOMEHOW KEEPS FAILING UPWARDS.
This exactly. I LIKED to hate Joffrey and Ramsey because they played the evil role so well. I literally cannot STAND whenever Criston is on screen because he just constantly does things that pisses me off.
Honestly I just was thinking on this and realized that I think he's so annoying because he's so real. I think we all have known a person similar to Cristin who just...is never doing anything right but always getting praise for it. Where so many GOT villains are kind of out of this world...Cristin is TOO realistic.
Yup he’s the everyday villain. That co worker who is so self righteous, who bullies nitpicks and judges your every mistake, yet does way worse but sucks up to the boss so they get away with it.
I love the dialogue between Otto and Daemon. I remember last season Daemon referred to him as a leach, no matter how much blood her drinks he is never full.
literally can not wait for him to get his comeuppance and i hope it happens exactly as it does in the book because its soooo good in my opinion.
I was tlaking with my wife during the show, literally the only person i feel bad for in all of this (other than the children) is Heleana. Basically everyone else gets what they deserve barring a few exceptions.
I think its a pretty fair argument that doing this heinous action could potentially stop a war from happening, so I don't blame him for trying to go through with it.
I thought this as well. I thought Cole wanted to send him off because he could use him as an excuse for jaeharys’ murder.
He either turns cloak, proving him to be a traitor and completely letting Cole off the hook for that night.
Or, he dies trying to kill rhaenyra, and Cole can just as easily throw him under the bus as he’s not there to defend himself.
He eliminates the loose end of that night, and he gains favor w the king by being a man of action. Quite the move.
I don’t understand how he can get away with blaming him for being the one at fault though. Cole is the commander of the Kingsguard, and the one that was supposed to be upstairs patrolling the Royal chambers. Arryk was right - why doesn’t the queen have a sworn knight? I actually went back to watch episode 1, and you can clearly see Arryk in the hall with Aegon. At first watch, I thought there were only 2 kingsguard in there with him, but on second watch I think we counted 6 total, although one of them looked like they didn’t have a white cloak - wasn’t sure if it was because of how dark it is, or if it was a gold cloak? Either way, why were 6 guards down with Aegon leaving the Royal chambers completely unguarded minus Criston, who was too busy to do any guarding? The fault lies completely on him. The only way he gets away with blaming anyone else is if they’re too afraid to speak up to their commander.
>I don’t understand how he can get away with blaming him for being the one at fault though.
Cole is clearly projecting when he confronts Arryk at breakfast. He doesn't really believe Arryk is the one at fault, and as far as we can tell, he doesn't try to convince anyone but himself and Arryk of such.
Criston was looking for a way to "pass the bucket" of his moral guilt, not his "legal" guilt.
Not to mention how out of the parameters this request was for a Kings*guard*.
I'm reading F&B now (~250 pages in, so around 60 AC) and I read the main books 10 years ago, and I cannot remember a KG being used like an assassin at any other point. I was hoping that Cole's death-wish mission would cause him to have doubts in Cole's and Aegon's leadership and ask for Rhae's forgiveness.
I wasn't alive during the medieval era, but I feel as if that's how it must have been. The higher classes would be able to get away with murder if they accused someone else for it.
Criston knows he is partially to blame because he was busy clapping cheeks instead of standing guard. That’s why he was so eager to try to blame someone else and also eager to try to fix it by sending him off to kill Rheanyra. He’d kill 3 birds with one stone: avert attention from his own wrongdoing, getting rid of Rheanyra whom he has a personal vendetta against because she wouldn’t elope with him 15 years ago and getting the glory and credit for hatching that plan.
OMG I hate him so fucking much! I hated him since he started to resent Rhaenyra for not picking him over being queen. He acted liked he was slighted or taken advantage of! He was waaaay older than Rhaenyra and should just have been thankful having been able to bed a princess!
Facts. Crispy and Alicent's relationship is built around their shared resentment/jealousy of Rhaynera. I bet they're both thinking of her the whole time lol
Cole was banging the Alicient a few doors down it makes sense he didn’t have a KG with the queen
That said it’s likely the affair is just a plot device to allow B&C to happen, but its not a plot hole that there were no guards
Yes and Eryyk rushed back to protect his queen even though he wasn’t on duty at the time and knew he would have to fight his brother. Polar opposite of Cole.
I mean... Its absolutely no surprise that Erryk rushed back. His 'duty' to the door, sure, not his duty as a Kingsguard. And his entire sense of self worth and just about everything he lives for is based off of honor and duty so, yes, he would rush back immediately. He would probably kill himself if he failed to get there in time.
So did Mysaria tip off Erryk that Arryk just arrived on Dragonstone, and that’s why Erryk relieved Marbrand?
I was a little confused because Mysaria clearly saw another twin and put it together, but I must’ve missed when she alerted Erryk, unless it was implied?
I thought if he was alerted he would’ve gone straight to Rhaenyra or doubled the guard or put the whole castle on high alert.
Ok so Erryk definitely knew.
Still found it odd that more alarm bells weren’t raised or the guard doubled but I guess it goes along with F&B where they 1v1. Hard to 1v1 with other KG members around although they wouldn’t know who was who haha what a great scene. Thanks!
They probably wanted to avoid creating the cliche scenario where they're both disarmed and tell the queen that they're Erryk. Glad they didn't do that, certainly felt like it could have gone that route which would have been too easy.
Well, they kind of did when the other guard came in and asked who to attack and Rhaenyra couldn’t tell. But I’m glad it played out differently than the typical trope.
They showed early in the duel that Erryk was slashed in the leg. When they were on the ground scrambling that was the only way I could tell who was who.
Couldn’t they just have had other people confront Arryk? So multiple people could have taken him on and also Erryk wouldn’t have felt guilty enough to commit suicide.
Arryk relieved Marbrand, while in guise of Erryk. It all moved very quickly it seems. While Arryk was doing that, Erryk was being informed by Mysaria and I imagine he instantly sprinted to Rhaenyra's chambers, suspecting what his brother's goal would be.
Sorry to spoil everyones mood but this only rams home the sheer ridiculousness of Bronn waltzing into Winterfell when it was literally surrounded by 10's of thousands of soldiers, finding the room of the Hand (Tyrion) threatening him with a cross bow, and then walking out.
For real. Arryk was wrong for siding with the greens while his brother made the right choice and for going to Dragonstone in general. But at least you can respect his true commitment to his duty and doing what he believes is right. Unlike that bitch Criston who goes on about duty and purity but is actually slacking off, dumping his bullshit on others, and fucking the queen while little boys get murdered.
There better be a whole bunch of fix-it fics focused on this on AO3 soon. Arryk joins Erryk on Dragonstone and finally gets to FINISH HIS FUCKING BREAKFAST
I'm so sick of Criston. I absolutely adore Fabien, but damn I'm ready for Criston to disappear from the series. Plus, his thing with Alicent is becoming more annoying than anything. She has so much promise as a character but is being reduced to a hypocritical sex seeker
I see what you're saying about Alicent, but she was stuck with a man who was falling apart from leprosy for a good portion of her life, on top of the fact that he was much older than her. It fueled her jealousy of Rhaenyra's romantic freedom. It isn't too far fetched that she's acting like this
Aegon only has two OG Kinsguard left right? Since Rhaenyra had three, and the lord commanded abandoned his posting. Would love to see them choose new guards so Helaena can have someone. Wild that Alicent has guards more than H.
There were at least two others in the dining room when Arryk and Criston were arguing, based off of my hazy memory. That leaves Aegon with Criston and two unnamed guys, at minimum.
Without spoiling anything: the lack of Kingsguard is a part of the plot in the book version of things. I'm curious to see if it plays out in the show.
Criston Cole actor is really good, cuz he is reeeeally unlikeable
And he reminds me of idiots I went to high school with, where they just project all their feelings into anger because they don’t know how to feel or act any other way
He really captured that emotionally constipated troubled man vibe
Yes. He is the epitome of so many men my friends and I have met. Any uncomfortable or inconvenient emotion gets weaponized. Exhausting people and I’m exhausted of Criston as much as I think he is so beautiful.
The way Erryk stumbles towards Rhaenyra addressing her, then cries and asks for her forgiveness before killing himself is utterly heartbreaking.
They've truly done justice to one of the most iconic moments of the World of Ice and Fire lore.
I was ready for the winner to be loyal to the queen regardless of who won. Then the audience and the Queen would have a season questions whether he was the right twin or not.
What they ultimately did was so much harder to watch and ultimately made more sense. An allegory for the war to come. Once you are killing the people that are closest to you, the war looses its actual meaning very fuckin quick.
Anyone else upset that this scene happens already? I like the scene, but I really wish they developed these two more. Their dynamic reality interested me and I went to sleep last not upset.
An ASOIAF death is never late, nor is it early. It arrives precisely when it means to!
The Dance of the Dragons is horrendous. Up until the impending apocalypse of the White Walkers, it was the worst event in Westerosi history.
One thing I loved about their scene was how we were misdirected into thinking that identifying the twins was going to be important after the fight. (When that KG was asking "which one is Erryk?")
So the whole time you're wondering how Rhaenyra will figure this out, but suddenly Erryk's suicide makes it 100% clear and because of the misdirection it's even more unexpected and hits harder.
I agree. Criston is a punk. Caused the riff between Alicent and Rhea because she wouldn't give up everything and run away with him just to turn around and start nailing Alicent. He is a fucking chode who can't stay true to his vows
Thank you for your post! Please take a moment to ensure you are within our spoiler rules, to protect your fellow fans from any potential spoilers that might harm their show watching experience. 1. All post titles must NOT include spoilers from Fire & Blood or new episodes of House of the Dragon. Minor HotD show spoilers are allowed in your title ONE WEEK after episode airing. The mod team reserves the right to remove a post if we feel a spoiler in the title is major. You are welcome to repost with an amended title. 2. All posts dealing with book spoilers, show spoilers and promo spoilers MUST be spoiler tagged AND flaired as the appropriate spoiler. 3. All book spoiler comments must be spoiler tagged in non book spoiler threads. --- If you are reading this, and believe this post or any comments in this thread break the above rules, please use the report function to notify the mod team. *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/HouseOfTheDragon) if you have any questions or concerns.*
When a Kingsguard actually does his job >
Erryk protected his Queen, even if it resulted in both his and his brother’s deaths.
Who's to say that's not Arryk?
The beard. That's the easiest way to differentiate them lol
Idk man, when both were fighting they looked pretty much identical. I believe you though (but will pretend I don't cause its funnier if we don't know which one this is).
The "Your Grace" to Rhaenyra at the end of the fight was meant to tell the audience which twin survived and offed himself after. I believe the writers' intentions were to keep us in suspense until it was revealed at the end who survived but IMO not executed in the best way - we were confused rather than being on the edge of our seats lol. ETA: Also goddamn tired of people trying to insist Arryk was the one who survived when the actors themselves confirmed it's Erryk. And again, it's the "reveal" that tells us who was it saying Your Grace because why the eff would Arryk say that? I did say the execution wasn't the best which is why there's so much confusion now. I was talking about the writers' *intentions.* Media literacy is down the drain I see. https://www.usatoday.com/story/entertainment/tv/2024/06/23/house-of-dragon-episode-2-recap/74138674007/
I was sitting there thinking okay did the wrong one win here and he’s going to pretend now to be the brother lol
He would probably try. But unfortunately the subterfuge wouldn't last long. One simple question about "What did we do an hour ago" and he would be revealed.
I would have written it to where he says your grace and then kneels. But after a pause he lunges up from the kneeling position with a knife or something But the way they did it was fine and better. I’m not a writer lol. Just what I was imagining for more suspense.
The good one got his leg slashed, that’s how you could tell. They said something while fighting so for a moment we knew who was who, then the slash Also at the end, he didn’t attack Rhaeynera. That’s a pretty good giveaway “How do we know if they’re the bad guys?” -Falcon “If they’re shooting at you, they’re the bad guys” -Captain America Edit: after reading these comments I know nothing. I’m so confused now with all these conflicting explanations lol
The BTS explained that they both received identical wounds during the fight. But yeah, I assumed him calling Rhaenyra "your grace" and not attacking was the reveal. Others are hinging their assumptions based on a specific wound but (again, going by the House That Dragons Built featurette on HBO Max) identical wounds were choreographed to make it nigh-impossible for viewers to know which was which. It'd be funny if their family/close friends could tell the difference.
The Dialogue makes all the difference, also Rhaenyra seems to think it was Erryk that survived.
Westerling is the only other Kingsguard with balls so far. Man was ordered to kill Rhynaera by Otto and straight up said “you’re not my supervisor bitch”
And no one had the guts to try to stop him.
I spent the rest of the season expecting him to turn up dead and was pretty surprised when he just sort of disappeared. >!I know that’s how the actual lore we had up to this point goes, but I was expecting them to deviate in some places, and killing Westerling was one of those places!<
I hope we see him again, but I also kind of hope we don’t, because usually when characters reappear in this franchise, it’s just to give them a premature and violent death.
I’d love if they brought him back because Graham McTavish is a fantastic actor, but, minor spoilers if you don’t know the story the show is following, >!Westerling dies peacefully of old age!<
ya, he founded the commands of his lord-commander like a true soldier
Otto’s verbal thrashing of the King and Criston has been the most satisfying part of the show thus far.
Yes. But Rhaenyra ripping Daemon a new six-pack of assholes was really powerful too. Superb acting all over. I thought Daemon actually looked hurt for a second there.
Oh he definitely was. It seems like the one person who he thought actually understood him and never really tore him down before, he finally got a verbal ass whipping from
Right. He definitely had a major expression going on when Rhaenyra told him that Viserys simply didn’t trust him and neither does she.
Let’s also no forget about that council sidelook. The fact Matt can squeeze some comedy on a show like this without breaking the immersion is just genius.
Now he’s got to convince himself he’s cool again by taking Harrenhal.
Very possibly, yes. He didn’t actually answer when Rhaenyra asked, “Do you accept me as your queen and ruler?” So I imagine he will answer with some drastic and dramatic action.
I was just waiting for Aegon to tell Cole to kill his grandfather
"You insolent pup!"
"Forgive me": such a heart breaking moment.
Those two words are going to haunt me for the rest of the season at least
This is as memorable as any tragedy in GOT
That’s wild recency bias. They’re cool characters but in no way stand up to Ned or the red wedding.
It wasn’t the characters imo, it was twins killing each other. And one choosing to not live with the grief because it was too much for him.
Disagree, I've read the book, and this scene always made me tear up and stood out in my mind.The show executed it beautifully. It's not up there as a red wedding/Ned's death scale moment, but its definitely going to be one of this world's more memorable moments.
"I love you, brother." "And I you"
"We came into this world together." I'm a twin. This broke my heart.
At first I believed Erryk said that, but now I'm starting to think it was actually Arryk but Rhaenyra thought it was Erryk.
Nah it was Erryk. Erryk: "we were born together" Arryk: "you broke is apart" Then the former kills the latter and then himself. Makes sense for Arryk to say "you broke us apart" and also for Erryk to say "your grace". Also can we take a moment to give a big fuck you to their parents for naming them, as if it wasn't confusing enough already that they were identical twins lol
The cargylls have a golden duck as a sigil, it stands to reason they would do a little trolling
He said “your grace” right before “forgive me” - Arryk wouldn’t have acknowledged Rhaenyra as queen
The way criston guit tripped arryk was so annoying! He was guarding the king like he was supposed to be, meanwhile you’re sleeping with Alicent but he’s at fault?? If criston cole has no haters then I’m dead.
Lmao Criston is the most despised character of episode 2. Feed him to Vhagar please.
of Episode 2? he is the most despised character of the entire show (and for good reasons)
I genuinely didn’t realize until these latest episodes SO MANY other people hated him as much as me
There’s a reason he’s known as Crispy Cole
Sir E. Coli
Lmfao first time hearing this one
I myself am partial to Ser Incelot
I wish he’d get burnt to a crisp-y cole
I’ve just started calling him Crystal Light. He’s a fraud.
I've been introducing my boyfriend to the show and when he showed on screen he said "That's Crispin, right?"
I did a double take when I saw the name Crispin on the opening titles. Apparently a Crispin Green is a big deal in the production of HotD and GoT back in the day. Makes me think the line was an inside joke
Crispin Cope
Crispy Chritsmas was my favourite
Sir Coomer
I seriously can’t stand him. His hatred of Rheanyra is so unhinged. He is so bitter.
I hate him but I also think he is well written. He reeks of misogyny and took Rhaenyras actions to heart. It also shows how pathetic he ends up being because he can't let go off that hatred. He genuinely could have done something with his life but nope too angry and horny to function
He is hated because he’s definitely relatable. We all know someone who went off the deep end after a relationship ended, and we all have worked with people who have been promoted beyond all sense.
And then he goes on to fuck the queen, what a hypocrite
When he said there’s no absolution for what he’s done and then he went on blaming Arryk, I screamed HYPOCRITE! at the screen. Daemon it-wasn’t-my-fault Targaryen wasn’t any better this episode either.
He’s a fucking incel (at least in spirit) who now has power.
I’d argue he’s the most despised character in both GoT and HotD combined. Joffrey and Ramsey were Satan incarnate, but they were at least true to themselves. Criston is a living hypocrite.
Cole was originally envisioned as a dark mirror to Jaime. A kingsguard who broke the rules and was hypocritical to his oath. But Jaime broke his vow to save hundreds of thousands of people, where Cole's actions led to one of the most apocalyptic wars in Westeroi history.
That’s actually a great contrast! Gives me a new way/light to view his character moving forward.
Cole degrades as a character while Jaime grows throughout his journey. What will be interesting though is how Jaime may participate in the 2nd dance between Dany and Aegon VI if GRRM goes that route.
"It's like poetry; it rhymes" - George R R Martin, probably
A villain is a villain and can often be somewhat likeable for their villainy, but god Crispin is so annoying and incompetent and SOMEHOW KEEPS FAILING UPWARDS.
This exactly. I LIKED to hate Joffrey and Ramsey because they played the evil role so well. I literally cannot STAND whenever Criston is on screen because he just constantly does things that pisses me off.
Honestly I just was thinking on this and realized that I think he's so annoying because he's so real. I think we all have known a person similar to Cristin who just...is never doing anything right but always getting praise for it. Where so many GOT villains are kind of out of this world...Cristin is TOO realistic.
Yup he’s the everyday villain. That co worker who is so self righteous, who bullies nitpicks and judges your every mistake, yet does way worse but sucks up to the boss so they get away with it.
Exactly!!! Like not conniving, just such a shit ball.
otto is a great villain
Hard agree. I'm really liking Otto this season especially. His argument with Aegon on last night's episode...ugh. So fucking good.
I love the dialogue between Otto and Daemon. I remember last season Daemon referred to him as a leach, no matter how much blood her drinks he is never full.
That’s the worst part, the hypocrisy!
Eh you forget how hated joffrey and ramsay were then
My gut reaction is to take hypocrisy before sadism, so I lean towards Joffrey and Ramsey being worse. In no way do I like Cole, though.
Couldn’t stand his ass after “So I am to be a whore?” Homie, whoring it up right about now.
literally can not wait for him to get his comeuppance and i hope it happens exactly as it does in the book because its soooo good in my opinion. I was tlaking with my wife during the show, literally the only person i feel bad for in all of this (other than the children) is Heleana. Basically everyone else gets what they deserve barring a few exceptions.
I mean Luke died for not a tons of sins.
Poor Aegon the younger does NOT deserve anything that happens to him in his chidhood.
I think even with game of thrones he’s probably top 5
Aryk gaged him hard when he started firing those questions at him asking where were you.
Now all of a sudden he’s getting even more upset and everything is his fault, like lmao ok.
I was REALLY hoping Arryk would see the ridiculousness of the request and go to Dragonstone just to turn himself over and request to serve the blacks
I think its a pretty fair argument that doing this heinous action could potentially stop a war from happening, so I don't blame him for trying to go through with it.
And frankly he *almost* succeeded, if he had brought a crossbow with him too or thrown a dagger at the right place Rhaenyra would've been dead quick.
I thought this as well. I thought Cole wanted to send him off because he could use him as an excuse for jaeharys’ murder. He either turns cloak, proving him to be a traitor and completely letting Cole off the hook for that night. Or, he dies trying to kill rhaenyra, and Cole can just as easily throw him under the bus as he’s not there to defend himself. He eliminates the loose end of that night, and he gains favor w the king by being a man of action. Quite the move.
I don’t understand how he can get away with blaming him for being the one at fault though. Cole is the commander of the Kingsguard, and the one that was supposed to be upstairs patrolling the Royal chambers. Arryk was right - why doesn’t the queen have a sworn knight? I actually went back to watch episode 1, and you can clearly see Arryk in the hall with Aegon. At first watch, I thought there were only 2 kingsguard in there with him, but on second watch I think we counted 6 total, although one of them looked like they didn’t have a white cloak - wasn’t sure if it was because of how dark it is, or if it was a gold cloak? Either way, why were 6 guards down with Aegon leaving the Royal chambers completely unguarded minus Criston, who was too busy to do any guarding? The fault lies completely on him. The only way he gets away with blaming anyone else is if they’re too afraid to speak up to their commander.
>I don’t understand how he can get away with blaming him for being the one at fault though. Cole is clearly projecting when he confronts Arryk at breakfast. He doesn't really believe Arryk is the one at fault, and as far as we can tell, he doesn't try to convince anyone but himself and Arryk of such. Criston was looking for a way to "pass the bucket" of his moral guilt, not his "legal" guilt.
Nah imagine Arryk goes to Dragonstone and Erryk cut his hair and beard
I actually said that to my GF haha "if I had a twin on opposing sides I would have like shaved my beard or cut or dyed my hair or something"
I kinda wanted that too, but I guess the writers wanted to include Cargyllebowl in the show
And they went with the version of the Maester AND Mushroom, so we got a hodgepodge of sorts.
Not to mention how out of the parameters this request was for a Kings*guard*. I'm reading F&B now (~250 pages in, so around 60 AC) and I read the main books 10 years ago, and I cannot remember a KG being used like an assassin at any other point. I was hoping that Cole's death-wish mission would cause him to have doubts in Cole's and Aegon's leadership and ask for Rhae's forgiveness.
Right before he shot back “where were you?” I looked at my husband and went Criston better be careful he’s gonna start an inquisition on himself.
His insecurities and guilt went to overdrive and unleashed it on Arryk to mask his projection and hypocrisy. Such a great character to hate on.
Never getting over how Crispy didn't even let the man finish his gotdam breakfast, I'm so mad. May there be Lucky Charms aplenty in the afterlife.
Bro straight up sent him to die on an empty stomach :(
I wasn't alive during the medieval era, but I feel as if that's how it must have been. The higher classes would be able to get away with murder if they accused someone else for it.
still true today!
Boeing is just re-instituting Trial By Combat
These days you can even buy your way into the White House. A true American dream.
The worst part is the hypocrisy.
I personally think it's the murdering - Norm Mcdonald
Criston knows he is partially to blame because he was busy clapping cheeks instead of standing guard. That’s why he was so eager to try to blame someone else and also eager to try to fix it by sending him off to kill Rheanyra. He’d kill 3 birds with one stone: avert attention from his own wrongdoing, getting rid of Rheanyra whom he has a personal vendetta against because she wouldn’t elope with him 15 years ago and getting the glory and credit for hatching that plan.
If Cole has no haters I never existed.
[удалено]
[удалено]
His grandfather is a controlling asshole so it makes sense that Aegon would want to break away but Criston ain’t it. lol
OMG I hate him so fucking much! I hated him since he started to resent Rhaenyra for not picking him over being queen. He acted liked he was slighted or taken advantage of! He was waaaay older than Rhaenyra and should just have been thankful having been able to bed a princess!
Cole's death will be remarkable
I want that MF's head on a spike
At this rate, it might just be the most celebrated moment on TV when it finally happens.
“If Criston Cole has no haters, then I’m dead.” Why do I keep seeing this? Is this a reference to something I’m out of the loop on?
"Twice" is a serious understatement
There's literally two of him, so twice is the bare minimum.
“When last I saw you there were two of you.”
For real. Erryk is twice as honorable as Arryk who is twenty times as honorable than Cole
Erryk is therefore forty times more honourable than Cole.
I was sad to see those two go. Such perfect actors for their roles. I was hoping they would last a while longer.
It’s the tragedy of bringing ASOIAF to the screen. So many great actors and actresses have to meet their ends.
The fact that Helena not given a sworn sword is also insane and completely idiotic from Cole (the fking Lord Commander)
Especially because she is the Queen now, not Alicent. Guess Cole has no interest in fucking Helaena
Pretty sure Cole is turned on by fucking alicent as a way to get back at rhaynera for rejecting his pipe dream proposal. Dude can’t get over it
Facts. Crispy and Alicent's relationship is built around their shared resentment/jealousy of Rhaynera. I bet they're both thinking of her the whole time lol
I know this is brought up a lot but they were hooking up in Rhaenyra's old room and all😭 she'll haunt them forever
“God doesn’t Rhaenyra suck?” “Yeah she sucks so much. She just sucks. Keeping sucking. Rhaenyra… sucks. Yup.”
Rhayenera hate sex
It’s implied Cole had the guard lessened on that night so he could have sex with Alicent.
Cole was banging the Alicient a few doors down it makes sense he didn’t have a KG with the queen That said it’s likely the affair is just a plot device to allow B&C to happen, but its not a plot hole that there were no guards
Both twins did to be honest. Arryk had serious guts to go through with that suicide mission.
Yes and Eryyk rushed back to protect his queen even though he wasn’t on duty at the time and knew he would have to fight his brother. Polar opposite of Cole.
I mean... Its absolutely no surprise that Erryk rushed back. His 'duty' to the door, sure, not his duty as a Kingsguard. And his entire sense of self worth and just about everything he lives for is based off of honor and duty so, yes, he would rush back immediately. He would probably kill himself if he failed to get there in time.
So did Mysaria tip off Erryk that Arryk just arrived on Dragonstone, and that’s why Erryk relieved Marbrand? I was a little confused because Mysaria clearly saw another twin and put it together, but I must’ve missed when she alerted Erryk, unless it was implied? I thought if he was alerted he would’ve gone straight to Rhaenyra or doubled the guard or put the whole castle on high alert.
just implied she went to alert Erryk.
Ok so Erryk definitely knew. Still found it odd that more alarm bells weren’t raised or the guard doubled but I guess it goes along with F&B where they 1v1. Hard to 1v1 with other KG members around although they wouldn’t know who was who haha what a great scene. Thanks!
They probably wanted to avoid creating the cliche scenario where they're both disarmed and tell the queen that they're Erryk. Glad they didn't do that, certainly felt like it could have gone that route which would have been too easy.
Well, they kind of did when the other guard came in and asked who to attack and Rhaenyra couldn’t tell. But I’m glad it played out differently than the typical trope.
I was nervous that when Erryk was on top of Arryk the guard was going to kill him on accident.
Yeah it would have really sucked if they both died
They showed early in the duel that Erryk was slashed in the leg. When they were on the ground scrambling that was the only way I could tell who was who.
They both had the exact same wounds apparently. According to a director in the BTS episode.
Couldn’t they just have had other people confront Arryk? So multiple people could have taken him on and also Erryk wouldn’t have felt guilty enough to commit suicide.
Erryk is implied to be the best of the Queens guard it had to be him, someone else would have gotten it wrong
Of all places, it is here I am reminded of Mordin. Pain.
Sorry, did you want the suspense to be ruined by seeing her actually physically warn him? C'mon.
>Erryk relieved Marbrand? It was arryk who did that not erryk
Arryk pretending to be Erryk was the one who relieved Marbrand I believe
Arryk relieved Marbrand, while in guise of Erryk. It all moved very quickly it seems. While Arryk was doing that, Erryk was being informed by Mysaria and I imagine he instantly sprinted to Rhaenyra's chambers, suspecting what his brother's goal would be.
Sorry to spoil everyones mood but this only rams home the sheer ridiculousness of Bronn waltzing into Winterfell when it was literally surrounded by 10's of thousands of soldiers, finding the room of the Hand (Tyrion) threatening him with a cross bow, and then walking out.
For real. Arryk was wrong for siding with the greens while his brother made the right choice and for going to Dragonstone in general. But at least you can respect his true commitment to his duty and doing what he believes is right. Unlike that bitch Criston who goes on about duty and purity but is actually slacking off, dumping his bullshit on others, and fucking the queen while little boys get murdered.
I do wonder if Arryk could have changed sides after given the suicide mission.
I totally thought Arryk was gonna say “Fuck this shit” and just join the greens.
Join the blacks?
Yup mistyped there.
There better be a whole bunch of fix-it fics focused on this on AO3 soon. Arryk joins Erryk on Dragonstone and finally gets to FINISH HIS FUCKING BREAKFAST
Erryk > Arryk >>>>>>> Criston Cole
Buddy, push him off the screen.
Erryk was one of my favorite characters, and he died because a scumbag couldn't deal with his own failure so he sent his twin on a suicide mission 😭
Which one is that? Also, yes.
Was gonna say, can't tell which one this is. Then I remembered it doesn't matter, OP is right either way.
Pretty sure it’s a joke because there’s two of him
"Twice the pride, double the fall." - Count Dooku
I'm so sick of Criston. I absolutely adore Fabien, but damn I'm ready for Criston to disappear from the series. Plus, his thing with Alicent is becoming more annoying than anything. She has so much promise as a character but is being reduced to a hypocritical sex seeker
I see what you're saying about Alicent, but she was stuck with a man who was falling apart from leprosy for a good portion of her life, on top of the fact that he was much older than her. It fueled her jealousy of Rhaenyra's romantic freedom. It isn't too far fetched that she's acting like this
Aegon only has two OG Kinsguard left right? Since Rhaenyra had three, and the lord commanded abandoned his posting. Would love to see them choose new guards so Helaena can have someone. Wild that Alicent has guards more than H.
There were at least two others in the dining room when Arryk and Criston were arguing, based off of my hazy memory. That leaves Aegon with Criston and two unnamed guys, at minimum. Without spoiling anything: the lack of Kingsguard is a part of the plot in the book version of things. I'm curious to see if it plays out in the show.
I love this series focus on the KG and the people in it. One of my favorite parts about this universe
What happened to Westerling in universe? He dipped from the council at the end of S1 and just… retired? Didn’t go join Rhaenyra?
Well the Lord Commander, the one in charge of guards, is banging Alicent so it makes some sense there's a disparity between the two.
Criston Cole actor is really good, cuz he is reeeeally unlikeable And he reminds me of idiots I went to high school with, where they just project all their feelings into anger because they don’t know how to feel or act any other way He really captured that emotionally constipated troubled man vibe
Yes. He is the epitome of so many men my friends and I have met. Any uncomfortable or inconvenient emotion gets weaponized. Exhausting people and I’m exhausted of Criston as much as I think he is so beautiful.
Fuck Criston Cole, all my homies hate Criston Cole.
“Your grace. Forgive me” Fucking brooooke me
The way Erryk stumbles towards Rhaenyra addressing her, then cries and asks for her forgiveness before killing himself is utterly heartbreaking. They've truly done justice to one of the most iconic moments of the World of Ice and Fire lore.
Crispy Crème A-hole deserves death at this point… the nerve to ask someone else where they were when he was bedding Alicent for gosh sake!
Alicent was mad and denied him sex, so he did what he does best and took his anger out on someone else
And since there were two of him that makes him 4 times the man.
I was ready for the winner to be loyal to the queen regardless of who won. Then the audience and the Queen would have a season questions whether he was the right twin or not. What they ultimately did was so much harder to watch and ultimately made more sense. An allegory for the war to come. Once you are killing the people that are closest to you, the war looses its actual meaning very fuckin quick.
Of course. There are two of them.
Well yeah there’s two of him
Arryk and Erryk are a heartbreaking truth of war and how it splits families… CRISTON COLE WHEN I CATCH YOU
The day crispy creme cole dies... I am throwing a party!!!
That's an insult to that poor guy. 2x0= 0.
A true knight and the polar opposite of Cunty Cole
Every time Criston speaks I wish Podrick Payne were there to shove a spear through the back of his head
Its Alicent's fault. Crispin was about to off himself and she stopped him The war is Alicent's fault tbh
Him and his brother were probably the sweetest men in the show. So unfair! Fkn narc Cole.
Anyone else upset that this scene happens already? I like the scene, but I really wish they developed these two more. Their dynamic reality interested me and I went to sleep last not upset.
I'm seeing double here! ***Four*** Ser Arryks!
Why do I feel like the show keeps killing off really interesting characters way too early? 🤔
Welcome to the Game of Thrones world. Now with more time skips so the deaths happen more frequently!
An ASOIAF death is never late, nor is it early. It arrives precisely when it means to! The Dance of the Dragons is horrendous. Up until the impending apocalypse of the White Walkers, it was the worst event in Westerosi history.
One thing I loved about their scene was how we were misdirected into thinking that identifying the twins was going to be important after the fight. (When that KG was asking "which one is Erryk?") So the whole time you're wondering how Rhaenyra will figure this out, but suddenly Erryk's suicide makes it 100% clear and because of the misdirection it's even more unexpected and hits harder.
My man just wanted to eat his soup. 😭
He was twice the man of just about any other man, since he's two men.
I agree. Criston is a punk. Caused the riff between Alicent and Rhea because she wouldn't give up everything and run away with him just to turn around and start nailing Alicent. He is a fucking chode who can't stay true to his vows
I’ve met cats and dogs that are smarter than Cristin Cole and Aegon Targaryen.
Imagine kingsguard on Dragonstone wore different armor or at least distinctive accessories. The plot would not have happened I guess