Ser Criston Cole is one character who has changed a lot in the past nine episodes of House of the Dragon. Although he started out as a knight who was a good friend to Rhaenyra Targaryen, Criston has since become a firm member of the Greens who is most loyal to Queen Alicent Hightower. But is it possible that the Lord Commander still has feelings for the princess? Fabien Frankel has confirmed that Criston still loves Rhaenyra in his own way.
We first meet Criston Cole in the premiere episode of House of the Dragon where he manages to defeat Daemon Targaryen at a tourney. He quickly becomes a friend to Rhaenyra after she chooses him to be a Kingsguard knight and he accompanies her when she leaves camp during the king's hunt. Although they have sex later in the series, Rhaenyra refuses to elope with Criston and the disillusioned knight attempts to kill himself.
Since then, Criston Cole has been saying mean things about Rhaenyra but Fabien Frankel says that this doesn't reflect the knight's true feelings.
"First love is first love. I think everyone will always love the person that they fell in love with for the first time. From the first time you hear a beautiful piece of music, you’ll always love it, even if you’ve heard it a hundred times, because you remember that first time you heard it. So yeah, he will always love Rhaenyra," Frankel told The New York Times.
Despite all this, it's clear that Criston Cole is determined to destroy Rhaenyra's future. With that in mind, we can't wait to see what he will do next in House of the Dragon.
The latest episode of House of the Dragon is now available on HBO Max. House of the Dragon Episode 10 is titled The Black Queen and will premiere on HBO on Sunday, October 23, 2022, at 9:00 PM EST.
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