Thinkin about Henry and Erik and their comparison through the use of dogs.
Henry, embracing Mutt and looking after him, training him, treating him like a member of his family even though he has nothing to his name. He talks to Mutt like hes a person (as he does with a lot of animals) and when he hallucinates when drunk he speaks to a dog. He shares a love and respect for dogs with his rival cumans, something that can bridge the gap with the cuman deserters. Henry sees dogs as more than tools, just as he sees people who are less skilled or more vulnerable as worth more than what they can offer.
Erik, in his only encounters with a dog we see, is immediately hostile with it. He finds it annoying, takes no constructive discipline or attentive care to see why it might be barking at him. He doesnt even notice when it was barking at Henry who was hiding. He sees this dog as a nuisance, lesser and not worth his time, just as hes been taught to treat people. And just let how he treats all people who get in his way, he cuts the dog down in anger. This is moment we see how far gone Erik really is. Even a helpless, loving hound is nothing more than meat for the blade.
Interestingly, they use this seen to humanise Markvart. By showing him care for and mourn the dog, we see that he and Henry are the ones not too dissimilar. Henry could very well fall down Markvarts path, as u can see with the choice about burning Maleshov.
I love this use of interactions with dogs as a way to show the degree of humanity a character has.
