Fabien Frankel’s Criston Cole has gone from a lowly servant’s son to knighthood and even earned himself a place on the Kingsguard and in Rhaenyra’s heart.
Ser Criston Cole has come far from the time he defeated Daemon at the Tourney games. Now, Frankel has shared that he will play an even bigger role in the Dance of the Dragons.
The Game of Thrones spinoff, based on the book Fire and Blood by George R. R. Martin, developed a major twist for the character in Episodes 4 and 5. In Episode 4, ser Criston broke his vow of celibacy after Rhaenyra seduced him into sharing a passionate night.
And Episode 5, in a fit of jealousy and rage, the knight killed the Knight of Kisses after Lonmouth threatened to out his and Rhaenyra’s secret affair. He confessed to Queen Alicent after attempting to take his own life. Now, after this twist, Fabien Frankel’s new update has fans excited for the character’s future.
In a conversation with Entertainment Weekly, Fabien Frankel disclosed that Criston Cole will change a great deal as the show goes on.
He’s very much set up as one thing, and as the show goes on, he changes a great deal. That was what was exciting to me. He’s set up as a noble, well-meaning knight there to protect Rhaenyra. And for those who’ve read the book, he isn’t that by any means. In a week, the audience will change their opinion of him.
The actor also describes his character’s nature and role in the show and how he has seen to play it, comparing Criston Cole with Rhys Ifans’ Otto Hightower.
I think that Criston is, in a lot of ways, a fly on the wall, but without the Machiavellian nature of a character like Otto. Otto is constantly planning and plotting and ears-to-the-ground.
The comparison to Otto, and the difference from The Hand, Criston Cole may change sides in the upcoming Dance of Dragons. For now, we might see him favoring Alicent Hightower after she saved his life, indebting him to her side.
Criston Cole is ears-to-the-ground, but no planning and plotting is going on. You have a very interesting dynamic of someone who is overhearing every conversation that is happening, be it when he’s on the side of Rhaenyra or the side of any of the other characters.
Frankel made it a point to highlight his character’s importance in the future of the show in Season 1 and the upcoming seasons of the show.
And slowly as the show goes on—and long may [it] continue, I hope, into many more seasons for HBO—Criston Cole, I believe, will become a very integral part of the Dance of the Dragons.
Frankel’s comparison with Hightower and his character in the books is interesting since we have already seen the ruthless parts of the Knight recently, and his role is only beginning in the show.
House of the Dragon returns with weekly episodes on HBO Max on Sundays.
About House Of The Dragon
House of the Dragon is the prequel series to HBO’s blockbuster Game of Thrones based on George R. R. Martin’s book Fire & Blood.
Set three hundred years before the events of Game of Thrones, House of the Dragon will show Westeros under the Targaryen family’s rule before the dragons went extinct. It will follow the Dance of the Dragons, the Targaryen civil war between siblings Aegon II and Rhaenyra, who fought for the throne after the death of their father, Viserys I.
Directed by Ryan Condall and Miguel Sapochnik, the show stars Paddy Considine as Viserys I Targaryen, Emma D’Arcy as Rhaenyra Targaryen, Olivia Cooke as Alicent Hightower, Matt Smith as Daemon Targaryen, Tom Glynn-Craney as Aegon II Targaryen, Rhys Ifans as Otto Hightower, Steve Toussaint as Corlys Velaryon, Eve Best as Rhaenys Velaryon, Sonoya Mizuno as Mysaria, Fabien Frankel as Criston Cole, and Graham McTavish.
Source: EW
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