House of the Dragon star unpacks "poignant" character death change from the book

And it's time for us all to remember how to breathe again.

After the edge-of-your-seat fight scene between Ser Arryk Cargyll (Luke Tittensor) and Ser Erryk Cargyll (Elliott Tittensor) at the end of House of the Dragon's second season 2 episode, it's safe to say that we're all a little bit lost for words at how things unfolded for the twins.

After being ordered by Criston Cole (Fabien Frankel) to kill Rhaenyra Targaryen (Emma D'Arcy), Arryk snuck into her bedroom and drew his sword. But it wasn't long before his brother Erryk cottoned on to what was happening and stopped the murder from happening.

But it was actually set to mark the end for both brothers as they got into a tense duel that nobody could stop for fear of hurting the wrong twin. It was Erryk who eventually stabbed and killed his brother, but walking towards Rhaenyra, he then set up his own sword to kill himself.

The major deaths are chronicled in the book Fire and Blood by George RR Martin, but Erryk's suicide is a heartbreaking addition by the HBO series. But what was behind the decision for Erryk to end his own life?

Chatting exclusively to RadioTimes.com about the scene, Elliott Tittensor revealed: "I feel like naturally that's probably some poetic licence that the writers would have had in that moment because, I mean, in the books, obviously [Erryk] dies from his gut wounds for quite a long time after.

"But I feel like with putting the moment of him sacrificing himself, I think it sort of explains a bit more behind Erryk and Arryk's story as well within that moment, which I feel like, naturally, with being Kingsguards, you're only going to get so much time to mature with the characters and stuff.

"So, I feel like it was just a nice poignant moment for him to put in there, to really show how he feels within that moment."

In Fire and Blood, there are multiple accounts revealed as to how the twins died and how their fight unfolded.

While one account states that the twins died in each other's arms weeping, another stated that Arryk was dead long before their bodies were found, and that Erryk evenutally died after four days from severe wounds to his gut.

Speaking about the way that the twins took their Kingsguard oath seriously, Tittensor continued: "It's the people who don't really get to make choices because they're told what to do and they don't get to ask questions. They're very much - the oath that they're sworn is very sacred to them.

"So, I feel like, you know, with him taking that intensity - to be able to go and kill yourself in the line of that because you've got so much emotions by what you've just done, which is killing your twin brother - felt like there's a really beautiful poetry in that, which is nice to be able to share with the world and the audience."

Similarly, speaking about how the House of the Dragon writers went about adapting the Cargyll twins' death scene for the screen, Luke Tittensor said: "It was interesting to see how it was going to play out naturally, because in the books, there's three different accounts of events.

"So it was interesting to see where the writers chose to place what goes on, what actually went on in the moment.

"To be fair, I feel like they've written something kind of in the middle, which really works because it still has that kind of energy of a duel and brutality, but at the same time still had that emotional connection, which two twins, naturally, if they were fighting each other to the death, would be there.

"So, you know, it was nice to see that they still had that, that space for the emotional part of the journey, which naturally, obviously, it's Game of Thrones, they're going to have that in there. But it was nice to read it and nice to do it and to be a part of it."

House of the Dragon season 2 airs weekly on Sky Atlantic and streaming service NOW - find out more about how to sign up for Sky TV.

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