House of the Dragon’s Criston Cole wants to die for Alicent, and the actor just explained why

I genuinely never thought I’d be writing anything that makes me understand Criston Cole a tiny bit more. I still can’t stand the man, but apparently even his death wish comes back to Alicent Hightower.

By the end of House of the Dragon season three episode five, Criston has basically accepted that he’s marching towards almost certain death. He tells Gwayne Hightower he would rather die as “the realm’s greatest warrior” than return home defeated.

Now, actor playing Criston Cole, Fabien Frankel, has explained what is actually going through Criston’s head. And it turns out his biggest motivation isn’t glory at all. It’s Alicent.

Criston is basically burying his feelings instead of dealing with them

via HBO

Throughout season three, Criston has been pushing forward even as everything around him falls apart. According to Frankel, that’s completely intentional.

Speaking to Variety, he explained, “Haven’t men always done that in history? Just march on, and go to work, ‘I’m not going to deal with anything that I’m really feeling, I’m just going to go on and get on and do something, and that thing is going to supersede whatever I’m feeling!'”

So instead of actually processing everything that’s happened, Criston throws himself into war. It’s basically the only thing he knows how to do.

Frankel also revealed that although both Alicent and Rhaenyra are still on Criston’s mind, one of them matters far more now.

He said, “But it’s inevitable that Rhaenyra and Alicent are both on his mind all the time. I think Alicent much more than Rhaenyra. Certainly for me, Rhaenyra has become a sort of afterthought. And actually, it’s just the idea of winning the war for Alicent.”

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So despite everything that’s happened between them, Criston is still fighting for Alicent above everyone else.

He doesn’t see himself as anything except a soldier

via HBO

Criston’s speech around the campfire makes it pretty clear that he’s ready to die, but Frankel says this has actually been building for a long time.

He said, “It’s something that’s been brewing inside of him so much over the course of the show,” the actor said. “Probably since about halfway through season two. These thoughts of, ‘What am I going to be, and what’s the legacy I’m going to leave behind? In what way do I want to go out?'”

Frankel further explained, “Criston Cole started as a soldier before the 20-year stretch that he spent at King’s Landing. That’s how he started, and that’s how he wants to finish. In his mind, the only honest version of himself is the soldier. Everything else is pretence. The diplomat is pretence. The Hand of the King, there’s a level of pretence. Lord Commander of the Kingsguard, there’s a level of pretence.”

According to the actor, fighting is the only thing Criston believes he’s actually good at anymore, so that’s how he wants to be remembered.

Frankel also explained that Criston has reached a point where he doesn’t really believe any of the humans matter. He thinks that Criston has accepted that “the war is over” because “we as human beings have no genuinely important part to play in a war that’s ultimately going to be won by dragons or lost by dragons.”

It’s only after planning with Gwayne that he briefly rediscovers “a sense of purpose”.

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