Arryk Cargyll

At the tourney at Maidenpool, Ser Criston Cole unhorsed him.

Over the years of Viserys I's reign, Arryk visited Dragonstone so often that he came to know the castle better than almost anyone else in the Kingsguard.

According to septon Eustace, it was Arryk who caught Princess Rhaenyra Targaryen in bed with her uncle Daemon and reported it to King Viserys, which led to Daemon's exile from court.

The jester Mushroom tells it differently: what was happening between uncle and niece, in his account, was not an affair but a lesson, with Daemon teaching Rhaenyra how to seduce Ser Criston Cole. The material does not say which version is true.

Arryk was in King's Landing when King Viserys I died, and he sided with Aegon II Targaryen in the dispute over the succession. His twin brother chose the opposite side and declared for Rhaenyra Targaryen.

After Aegon's coronation, it was Arryk who led him to the throne room of the Red Keep.

Arryk was part of the escort that brought Grand Maester Orwyle to Dragonstone to parley with Queen Rhaenyra.

A song composed long afterward claims that, before the party left, the twins tried to talk each other into switching sides, and that when it failed they parted with words of love, knowing they would next meet as enemies. No account from the time confirms this; only the song does.

The murder of Prince Jaehaerys, Aegon II's son, drove the king to seek revenge on Rhaenyra. Ser Criston Cole, now Lord Commander of the Kingsguard, ordered Arryk to sneak into Dragonstone disguised as his own brother; whether the target was the queen or her children is not clear. Arryk did not take the order gladly: the night before he left, he prayed in the sept of the Red Keep for the Mother's forgiveness.

He reached the island disguised as a fisherman, put on his Kingsguard armor and white cloak, and walked into the castle without raising suspicion. Heading for the royal chambers, he ran into Erryk, who understood at once why his brother was there. Both men drew their swords.

Accounts of what followed do not agree. Septon Eustace says only that the twins killed each other. According to the bards, they professed their love as they drew their blades. Munkun, in his Dance of the Dragons, describes a fight lasting nearly an hour that woke half the court, with no one able to tell which twin was which, until both fell mortally wounded and died weeping in each other's arms. Mushroom tells it differently: the fight lasted only a moment and the brothers called each other traitors instead of declaring love; Erryk struck first, nearly severing Arryk's arm at the shoulder, and as he fell, Arryk grabbed his brother's cloak, pulled him close, and stabbed him in the belly with a dagger.

Arryk died before anyone found them. Erryk took four days to die of his wound, screaming in pain and cursing his brother the whole time.