Published on 07.08.2024 and updated on 07.20.2026

There is a sign of courage to endure the violence and strength of the Greens against the blacks, especially the hateful Ser Criston Cole (Fabien Frankel), who is so cruel and repressed that he is a villain in House of the Dragon: everyone wants to know how he is going to die. Spoilers are all over the Internet.

If you want to know when and how, just do a quick search. However, the death of Ser Criston Cole has every appearance of being changed in the series. It will be?

The differences between the book and the series

There are points in House of the Dragon that clarify doubts in the book and include another perspective.

In Fire and Blood, by George R.R. Martin, Criston Cole is, as in the House of the Dragon series, a knight of the Kingsguard who becomes a significant figure during the Targaryen civil war and is of Dornish descent. He is the son of an administrator, and his rise to prominence, just like in the series, begins when he wins a tournament and is then appointed to the Kingsguard, a prestigious position.

A full guide to House of the Dragon

Because of this position, he develops a close relationship with Princess Rhaenyra Targaryen, serving as her sworn and inseparable protector. Something happens in the book; we don’t know exactly what, but it is rumored that he was her lover, although the details are ambiguous.

This loyalty changes drastically just before Rhaenyra’s marriage to Laenor Velaryon, and from then on, he becomes a strong supporter of Queen Alicent Hightower and her son, Aegon II Targaryen. This change is crucial in the events leading up to the Civil War, and he becomes known as “Kingmaker” for his role in the coronation of Aegon II. The series made slight changes that gave us a clear perspective of what actually happened.

Still in the book, as in the series, Ser Criston is very close to princes Aemond and Aegon, almost a father figure to both of them, having trained both for combat. Alongside Aemond, he is the Greens’ main strategist

In the House of the Dragon series, one of the main changes is Ser Criston’s age; he is much younger, constantly reminded that he is not of noble lineage, and with that, there is more detailed character development and emotional depth, too, because we understand Criston’s motivations and internal conflicts, and, with it, get a deeper understanding of his actions and decisions.

One of them is quite simple: he felt used and discarded by Rhaenyra because of his lack of social position, never forgiving her for making him small, disposable, and inadequate. Others want power; Ser Criston wants to destroy the woman who didn’t give up the Crown for him. Just that.

Furthermore, there is a love triangle between him, Rhaenyra, and Alicent from the beginning. The attraction to the young Dornishman is obvious, but Alicent was pressured to participate in the project of her father, Otto Hightower, who asked her to seduce Viserys and marry the much older King.

As Queen, Alicent could never do anything wrong, constantly watched by everyone. Hence, in common with Ser Criston, she resents her stepdaughter and former best friend for “doing what she wanted” and not caring about the consequences. This complex relationship, when she feels betrayed for having believed in Rhaenyra’s innocence, definitively unites her with Cole, and the series allows for a more subtle exploration of his changes in loyalty.

The biggest change of all comes later: effectively, Alicent and Cole become lovers. This completely leaves the pages in a very risky way.

According to some Reddit leaks, for example, Alicent — pregnant by him at the time and taking moon tea to terminate the pregnancy — was supposedly going to have her lover’s child and give the baby to her daughter to raise as her own.

That never happened, but because Daeron Targaryen has dark hair in the series, one theory even suggested that he might actually be Ser Cole’s son. Alicent, however, makes a point of emphasizing in her conversation with Mysaria that her affair with the knight only began after she became a widow. Daeron was born long before that.

How does Ser Criston Cole die, and who kills him?

In Fire & Blood, Ser Criston Cole dies during the war, not at the Battle of Tumbleton but earlier, at the Butcher’s Ball, a battle — or, more accurately, a massacre — during the Dance of the Dragons.

After separating from Aemond — Gwayne, apparently, in the series’ version of events — and finding himself in a disastrous military position, Criston and his forces are surrounded by the armies of the Blacks, including men from the Riverlands and the Winter Wolves. He attempts to negotiate and even offers to settle his fate in single combat against the opposing commanders. They refuse to grant him the heroic death he wants. Criston is instead struck down by arrows before his army is massacred. His severed head is later carried on a spear.

There is also something particularly important after episode 5 of season 3: the series is already laying the groundwork for the Butcher’s Ball, although it appears to be changing the road that leads there quite substantially. Episode 5 places Criston in a guerrilla conflict against the Riverlands forces and the Winter Wolves, a different progression from the book and one that could turn his eventual death into a much more elaborate sequence.

On the page, Ser Criston’s end is brutal and dramatic. On screen, however, it is already beginning to feel almost like the consequence of a personal decision he has made in advance. He seems fully aware that he is heading into what may be a suicide mission and chooses to keep moving toward it anyway.

He marches almost alone toward his enemies. Eventually, he will be surrounded and killed by the Blacks’ archers. His death is a significant moment in the war, marking the fall of one of the Greens’ most important military leaders. And because Criston Cole has never exactly been a beloved character, when the moment finally comes, the prevailing feeling may simply be that it was long overdue.

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