Warning: major spoilers are ahead for Episode 2 of House of the Dragon Season 2.
House of the Dragon delivered a doozy of a twist to end the second season premiere in the 2024 TV schedule, but any reader of George R.R. Martin's Fire & Blood knew that the death toll was only going to rise following Blood and Cheese. Episode 2 revealed how the Blacks and the Greens handled the murder of young Jaehaerys, culminating in two more key deaths with twin brothers Erryk and Arryk dying at each other's hand (sort of). This confirmed to me the identity this year's wild card character, who isn't the one I expected.
And I really enjoyed the twist as somebody who read Fire & Blood long before House of the Dragon Season 2 premiered, but fear not, show-only fans – any book spoilers will be marked ahead of time.
What Happened In Episode 2 To Set Up The Wild Card
If anybody had asked me prior to Episode 2 who the wild card of the Blacks vs. Greens in House of the Dragon, I would have been split between Aemond and Daemon. After all, Aemond guaranteed war within the Targaryen family tree when he led Lucerys to his death, and Daemon went rogue from Rhaenyra to order Blood and Cheese. They have been set up as each other's mirror, on opposite sides, and it's not even particularly subtle. Aemond's name is just Daemon's, slightly rearranged!
But Episode 2 changed my mind, with Aemond admitting in the brothel that he regretted Luke's death and Daemon pretty believably – if inadequately – insisted to Rhaenyra that he'd only intended to Aemond to be killed, not Prince Jaehaerys. Aegon was pretty wild, but more in a blind rage than in any kind of controlled violence. (Case in point: all the Red Keep's ratcatchers hung from the castle walls.)
But it was Ser Criston Cole whose actions in this episode leave me convinced that he could be the most dangerous man in Westeros, and both the Greens and the Blacks should probably be happy he doesn't have one of the dragons of House of the Dragon. He was in crisis mode as he had to find an explanation for the murder of the prince while concealing his affair with Alicent, and unlike Alicent, he's not burdened by guilt.
Like he told her in Episode 2 (available streaming now via Max subscription), he doesn't see a path to absolution for himself, as "there is none for what I've done," which suggests that there's no moral line he's currently afraid to cross. Cole sending Ser Arryk on a solo suicide mission has dangerous implications. Whether or not he thought Arryk could succeed in killing Rhaenyra, he seemingly didn't intend for Arryk to make it back.
Why Ser Criston Cole Is The Wild Card After The Cargyll Brothers' Deaths
Honestly, it's more luck than skill that Arryk got as close to killing Rhaenyra as he did, since the odds were not in his favor of passing himself off as Erryk to infiltrate Dragonstone. While this plan seemed less doomed than Blood and Cheese attempting to kill Aemond, Arryk wasn't wrong when he pointed out to Cole that he was unlikely to survive. Even though he got close – and I have to assume Mysaria's intervention is what sent Erryk to Rhaenyra's rescue – the plan really was never going to work.
And whether you're on Team Green or Team Black, it was hard to root for anybody in the showdown of the Cargyll brothers. Erryk ultimately prevailed and struck the killing blow on his twin; then, unwilling to live with himself for it, he stabbed himself in the belly. Criston Cole set this doomed plan in motion, making it easy to understand why Otto Hightower was angry at Aegon naming the knight as his new Hand.
All in all, I think it's safe to say that Cole is a dangerous man to trust as Hand of the King, with the added layer of believing that he's incapable of absolution and therefore has no moral grounds he's unafraid to tread. With Otto out of King's Landing, Alicent vulnerable, Aegon weak, and Aemond wanting war, Cole has a lot more power among the Greens than he should.
Warning: spoilers are ahead for George R.R. Martin's Fire & Blood through the chapter called "The Dying of the Dragons – The Red Dragon and the Gold."
What I Expected To Be Different Based On Fire & Blood
Last chance to avoid book spoilers! Based on House of the Dragon through the Season 2 premiere and reading Fire & Blood, I would have named Aemond wild card for the Greens and Daemon wild card for the Blacks. Sure, Criston Cole was a force to be reckoned with on Aegon's side in the book, but Aemond on Vhagar and Daemon on Caraxes gathering forces? Wild cards all the way.
But House of the Dragon made changes to both Daemon and Aegon that softened their earliest kinslayings into mistakes and made Cole look a lot more unhinged. Not only was Luke's death an accident due to Aemond failing to control Vhagar, but Daemon seemingly really did want Blood and Cheese to take out Aemond rather than Jaehaerys. The murders that started the war on HOTD were tragic errors – albeit still entirely Aemond and Daemon's faults.
In contrast, Cole knew what he was doing with sending Arryk to Dragonstone, isn't bothered about needing absolution for the affair with Alicent, and is a proven killer. I think it's fair to argue that he never really expected Arryk to succeed in killing Rhaenyra and make it back, and Arryk was even more reluctant to go on the mission in Fire & Blood, with George R.R. Martin writing:
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 honor but to make his way to Dragonstone.
Interestingly, the show's version of events presented Cole's plan as more effective than it was on page. In HOTD, Arryk got very close to actually killing Rhaenyra, and might have succeeded if he hadn't hesitated long enough for Erryk to arrive. In contrast, Martin wrote in Fire & Blood:
Deep in the heart of Dragonstone, however, as [Arryk] 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. 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.
Of course, not much is ever straightforward in Fire & Blood, and another telling presented the fight as lasting "only moments" with "no declarations of brotherly love," with Erryk nearly cutting Arryk's arm off before Arryk stabbed Erryk in the belly with a dagger. Arryk was dead by the time guards arrived in this version, while Erryk "took four days to die of his gut wound," screaming in agony and "cursing his traitor brother all the while."
In both show and book, the brothers died as a result of Cole's plan, but Arryk didn't even get close to Rhaenyra in Fire & Blood. Combine this HOTD change with Aemond and Daemon's plans going awry rather than being deliberately brutal, and the show seems to be setting Cole up as more of a wild card than the other two, and I love it as a twist on Fire & Blood. That book after all is about the Targaryen dynasty; the series can show the roles of other players – including Cole and Alicent – with more nuance. And I'm on Team Black!
Plus, with Daemon heading to Harrenhal and Aegon eager exact some revenge via Vhagar, I think it's a safe bet that Daemon and Aemond will still have plenty of wrath for the riverlands. Keep tuning in to HBO on Sundays at 9 p.m. ET for new episodes of House of the Dragon, and/or stream Season 2 with a Max subscription.
