House of the Dragon Season 2, Episode 2 Recap: The Cargyll Brothers

House Of The Dragon (“HOTD”) Season 2 began airing on Sunday, 16th June, starting with a not-so-explosive first episode, and I’m sure fans will have been just as eager as me to see if episode 2 picks up the pace. Certainly, when it comes to the Cargyll brothers.

The second episode in the 8-part sequel series was released on HBO on Sunday, 23rd June (or early Monday morning on Sky Atlantic for UK viewers), and while it was slightly more dramatic, this episode still consisted more of the “set-up” for the brewing war. With that being said, the second episode ended with a violent fight scene, which was less distressing than the ending of the preceding episode. If you want a reminder of what happened in episode one, check out our episode one round-up for a play-by-play and our thoughts on the season premiere.

Spoilers ahead – continue at your own risk!

Season 2 was off to a fairly slow start in episode one. The most shocking and dramatic moment is the final quarter, in which mercenaries Blood and Cheese decapitate King Aegon’s young son, Jaehaerys, the heir to the throne. The episode ended with Queen Helaena telling Alicent that Jaehaerys had been killed. So, as was to be expected, this episode opens with the fallout of the Prince’s brutal murder.

HOTD: The Red Keep

King Aegon, though lacking paternal kindness for the most part, is fairly outraged at his heir’s death and perceives it as an act of war. Between his anger and the spurring of his council, Aegon believes Rhaenyra is responsible for this, and thus, he declares outright war. While he’s not necessarily wrong (it’s technically Daemon’s fault), this is the proverbial spark that has lit the fire of warfare between the two halves of the Targaryen house.

It’s at this declaration that the Hand, Otto Hightower, suggests a funeral procession that will parade the decapitated body of the young Jaehaerys through the streets of King’s Landing to openly blame Rhaenyra and garner hatred for her claim to the throne. Otto suggests that Helaena and Alicent follow the procession to further the smallfolk’s belief that their grief and sadness were brought on by Rhaenyra’s actions.

HOTD: News Reaches Dragonstone

Rhaenyra hears about what Alicent and her family are accusing her of, which naturally causes her to ask her council members if anyone has sanctioned this on her behalf. Obviously, her husband, the prince of the poker face, is smirking with pride and doesn’t see it as a huge issue – which is fairly on-brand for him.

A large part of the episode focuses on the conflicts in Rhaenyra and Daemon’s marriage, their power imbalance and their individual outlook on how they should reclaim her seat on the Iron Throne. Rhaenyra accuses him of being power-hungry and bitter that his brother, the late King Viserys I, made her the heir to spite Daemon. They are both frustrated about their conflicting views and after a tense and heated argument, Daemon leaves for Harrenhall on his dragon Caraxes.

Could this be a foreshadowing of some description? Maybe – it definitely seems like Daemon’s grey morality and eagerness for bloodshed could become an issue later down the line.

Rhaenyra has had to remind him that she is actually the Queen and that he will never be more than her husband and subject, which clearly touched a nerve in Daemon – a character dynamic viewers of The Crown will have seen before. It seems as though Daemon is and will be a further loose canon, putting Rhaenyra’s position and war efforts in jeopardy as a result of his arrogance and stubbornness. Is that a good thing for those of us who want to see Rhaenyra claim back her rightful crown? No, but will it make great television and sate the appetite of Daemon fans? We can only hope. 

This episode also reintroduced Mysaria into Rhaenyra’s court; viewers should remember her as Daemon’s lady friend in season 1, who he took to Dragonstone along with a stolen egg. She returned to screens in episode one, with a smaller amount of screen time but playing quite a crucial role, as she assisted in the plot to murder Jaehaerys. In episode two, though Rhaenyra doesn’t trust her, Mysaria warns of an attempt that will be made on Rhaenyra’s life, which later turns out to be true.

House of the Dragon: Otto’s Sacking

Back in King’s Landing, Otto Hightower is fired as the Hand – an idea Larys put into Aegon’s head in episode one. The King believes Otto is too small-minded when it comes to the war, and Aegon intends to fight and win. Ser Criston Cole is replaced as Hand, thanks to his loyalty to the crown and strategic ideas. Criston took it upon himself to start a confrontation with Arryk Cargyll, who he then sent to Dragonstone.

For those of you who have lost track of these two, Arryk has a twin brother called Erryk (not confusing at all). While Arryk stayed at King’s Landing in support of King Aegon, Erryk sided with Rhaenyra and travelled to Dragonstone at the end of Season 1 to pledge his allegiance to her.

HOTD: The Cargyll Brothers

Criston’s plan comes straight out of a Scooby-Doo episode when he suggests Arryk pose as his twin to gain access to Rhaenyra so that he can assassinate her. Aegon, the slightly tyrannical king, thinks this was a very proactive suggestion from Criston, compared to Otto’s suggestions of sending ravens and launching spiteful campaigns.

So, much like the season premiere, this episode picks up towards the latter quarter, where Arryk sneaks into Rhaenyra’s room as Criston ordered. When Erryk checks into the room, seeing that his queen is in danger, Erryk proceeds to battle his twin. Because Arryk has dressed in the same armour as his brother, this fight was very difficult to track. So much so that when the first brother is killed (Arryk), Erryk steps away from his brother’s body, leaving Rhaenyra confused about whether the survivor is her guard or enemy.

While this battle was definitely less traumatising than the ending of episode one, the tension and anticipation were diminished somewhat when, halfway through the fight, you couldn’t tell who you were supposed to be rooting for.

After Erryk kills Arryk, we have a moment of reprieve; Erryk steps forward to address Rhaenyra before he then apologises. Rhaenyra realises what he is about to do before anyone else, and after only a matter of seconds, Erryk plunges himself onto his sword, and his dead body falls to rest beside that of Arryk. This episode ends with us seeing Rhaenyra’s horrified face before the credits roll. 

House of the Dragon: Season 2 Episode 2

I have to say, this episode did feel like it had a bit more urgency and drama than episode one, but it definitely still focused more on building animosity between the two Targaryen factions rather than all-out fighting. I can only assume this is to set the stage for the war that is yet to come, hopefully garnering anticipation for the latter half of the season, as well as flushing out each side’s actions that should come to a head.

It doesn’t feel like we’ve had too much dragon content so far, which is quite disappointing. We also don’t seem to spend as much time with Rhaenyra and Daemon as with Alicent and Criston, who continue their relationship throughout this episode. 

I hope the next episode picks it up a notch. Maybe it will come to the part of the Black trailer that showed us Daemon taking over Harrenhal so that we may see some fighting and dragons. But we’ll have to wait until Sunday to find out. In the meantime, while this still feels like a slow start, episode two may be a sign of an increasing pace, which should promise the coming episodes are worth waiting for.