House of the Dragon’s Just Made Sansa Stark’s Favorite Story a Nightmare
Game of Thrones has ended, but she continues to suffer.
One of the best things about House of the Dragon is that the show is set far enough in the past that viewers don't have to worry about how the events would have affected their Game of Thrones favorites. Even with Daenerys, the chances of a direct prophecy are slim, not to mention all the other characters who only knew of the Targaryens through stories.
But that doesn't mean the show has no effect on the universe at all. Being bound by the imagination of George R.R. Martin, some references are inevitable. And thanks to last week's episode, many fans remembered Sansa Stark's gentle and romantic nature. Alas, the show wasn't so gentle.
How Do Erryk and Arryk Die on House of the Dragon?
Speaking with House of the Dragon showrunner Ryan Condal, The Hollywood Reporter asked about the importance of a scene between the Cargyll twins' fight. As it turns out, the scene was important to the writer not only as a way to wrap up the short-lived but amazing arc of Arryk and Erryk, but also in relation to Game of Thrones' Sansa Stark.
However, the Queen of the North would probably hate the turn the scene took in the show. Reading about it and seeing it are two very different things, and if the written version is easy to romanticize, the raw cut of two brothers striking each other with swords is not.
“I was always fascinated by the Cargyll twins story because that was a story that Sansa Stark romanticized — going back to the Song of Ice and Fire books. And, of course, Sansa has this very Sansa-like romantic vision of what that fight was like. <...> But the real thing would be much more brutal and gritty. We wanted to try to find the central line through it,” Condal said.
Fortunately, not only for Lady Stark, but also for the viewers who have come to love these characters, the show did not go with a version of the brothers cursing each other. Though they both took different sides and different approaches to their oaths, the loving bond between the twins was too strong to be broken by any political conflict.
Sadly, Sansa Stark herself had to learn quickly the difference between the tales of battle in the books and the harsh realities of war. For the Targaryen clan, the war, however, is just beginning. So if you don't want to miss out, be sure to tune in every Sunday on HBO or Max.
Source: The Hollywood Reporter