The twin fight in “House of the Dragon” perfects the “who do I shoot?” scene

House of the Dragon Season 1 surprises game of Thrones Fans who were not well acquainted with George RR Martin’s Fire & Blood introducing the two most confusing characters yet: Ser Arryk Cargyll and Ser Erryk Cargyll.

In an effort to mimic history and maintain a sense of reality, Martin gleefully gave key characters in Westeros the same names or variations based on their family. But Arryk and Erryk, twin members of the Kingsguard with almost the same name, were a next-level troll. Thankfully, actors Luke and Elliott Tittensor — yes, they’re real twins, no computer animation required — gave them vibrant personalities that made their split between green and black all the more heartbreaking. Then Season 2 upped the ante.

[Ed. note: This story contains major spoilers for the end of House of the Dragon season 2 episode 2.]

In Season 1, Arryk and Erryk were brothers and allies whose previous missions included finding the jerk Aegon in Episode 9. But when Queen Alicent and her father, Ser Otto Hightower, pulled their strings to bring Aegon to power and oust Princess Rhaenyra from her position as heir to the throne, Arryk and Erryk grew apart. They both seemed to agree that Ser Criston Cole is a jerk—objective fact?—but after arguing over loyalties, Erryk helped Rhaenys escape King’s Landing while Arryk stayed to serve Aegon. In Season 2, they find themselves on opposite sides of the brewing conflict, and Arryk makes one of the worst decisions ever: When Criston feels guilty about the death of little Jaehaerys, the twin soldier sets out to murder Rhaenyra and inevitably confronts his brother.

Mistakes were made – but Arryk’s fateful blunder leads to one of my favorite fight scenes of the two Game of Thrones series. The scene really picks up when Arryk approaches the security guard guarding Rhaenyra’s room with the confidence of an undercover twin. Arryk assumes Erryk’s identity and tells the man on duty to take a break. Remember: don’t trust a twin who wants you to quit the job! Luckily, thanks to his Twindar (and perhaps the White Worm), Erryk shows up just as Arryk is about to knock Rhaenyra out in her bed. The brawl begins and it’s pure chaos. A few bars later, another of Rhaenyra’s men literally shouts as he has to: “Which one is Erryk?!”

Image: Max

There are few circumstances that can lead to a classic “Which one should I shoot?!” moment, and even fewer that can cause the visceral confusion of what House of the Dragon Director Clare Kilner achieves this in Episode 2. Usually, when a shapeshifter is involved, we get at least a burst of hero-versus-false-hero action – Mystique’s fight with Wolverine in 2000 X-Men is one of the best, although she ends up turning back into her blue self and then into Storm to escape the fight. The actual “who do I shoot?!” scenes are pretty relaxed at the end so the villain doesn’t reveal his cards. T-1000 embodies Sarah Connor in Terminator 2: Judgment Day is highly exciting but restrained, because the fake Sarah Connor begs John for help, just as the real Sarah Connor comes around the corner and shoots him from behind. (Terminator: Genisys has a similar scene with Kyle Reese that actually forces young Sarah Connor to decide who to shoot, but, uh, maybe you’ll watch Terminator 2 if you need a molten metal doppelganger.)

While I appreciate that Buzz wipes out his own evil Buzz in Toy Story 2The highlight of the doppelgänger action in the film is James Wong’s The onewhich put the multiverse to good use by pitting an evil Jet Li against himself. For 2001, all of the sequences where Li fights himself – through body doubles, facial replacement, digital compositing, and a number of other techniques involving hitting tennis balls – are exceptional, showcasing various martial arts techniques enhanced by multiversal superpowers. Even the behind-the-scenes documentaries on how they did it are awesome:

But there’s a clear advantage to having two physical warriors on set who can fight each other, and Kilner takes full advantage. When Arryk and Erryk start beating each other up, the camera pans away from the fight to capture the fear on Rhaenyra’s face, resulting in some deliberately muddled action geography. A scene meant for pure adrenaline rush might show the sword slashes and defensive kicks to ensure that even if the players are wearing similar, period armor, they’re recognizable. There are a few clues in the fight that viewers might latch onto—Erryk gets his leg slashed early on, and that could be a clue if a shot is held long enough. But Kilner amplifies the disorienting effect of two twins fighting by breaking the 180-degree rule and jumping between angles that don’t add up for the brain. It’s the medieval action equivalent of a ball-and-cup trick.

The audience has no idea who won after the brawl, and it took my breath away. Even moments after watching it, I wasn’t entirely sure if Arryk had won against Erryk… but ultimately, it didn’t matter. The death of one twin meant that both twins had to go, for the sake of honor. The fight ends with Targaryen’s suicide, one more tragedy after another. While I’m sad to see the twins disappear from the show, it also feels like history – I’m not sure the stars will ever align so favorably for such a compelling “who do I shoot?!” scene again.