Parsing through the fallout of HBO's House of the Dragon season two premiere episode 'A Son for a Son,' the follow-up episode ramps up the tension in 'Rhaenyra the Cruel,' particularly among the closest of relatives, putting brother against brother and uncle against niece. Showrunner Ryan Condal spoke to Variety about the assassination plot and potential dissension among the ranks. The following contains major spoilers.
To try to see out his oath, Arryk sails to Dragonstone to try to masquerade as his brother and, infiltrates the castle and gets very close to the queen, but thankfully, Erryk intervenes. We wanted this really emotional conflict between these two brothers that deeply love each other but have found themselves as mortal enemies because of the nature of the political system they've committed themselves to.