House of the Dragon’s New Most Despised Character Gets Hate for All the Wrong Reasons
And he’ll get even worse now.
While there are very few House of the Dragon characters who have done nothing wrong, some are generally more hated than others, and Ser Criston Cole has just joined that list after the final episode of season two.
Not only was he notorious for his attempts to belittle Rhaenyra throughout the latter half of the first season and into the second, but he seemed to break his own oaths again to get with the Dowager Queen Alicent Hightower. And no matter how uncomfortable those scenes make us, that shouldn't be a primary reason for hatred.
Why Did Criston Cole Send Ser Arryk Cargyll to Kill Rhaenyra?
As if viewers didn't have enough reasons to dislike Ser Criston Cole, in the second episode of season two, he outdid himself by having Ser Arryk Cargyll, who served in King Aegon's Kingsguard, attempt to have Rhaenyra Targaryen killed.
Though many failed to see the intent behind it, Arryk himself called out Criston on his worst quality. His worst fault was not sleeping with Alicent when tragedy struck, but being criminally incompetent as Lord Commander. And knowing that Prince Jaehaerys' death was on his hands, he did what he thought he had to do to fix it.
Ordering people around may seem to come naturally to Criston Cole, but in all the wrong cases. Though the plan to pose as his twin was clever and might have worked if Erryk Cargyll hadn't been so eager to fight for his queen, a much better move would have been to assign a protector to Queen Helaena as soon as Aegon II was crowned.
It was pretty obvious that with the king on the brink of war, the Green branch of the Targaryen family would be a perfect target for attack, so not only Alicent, but all of her children, including the King and Queen themselves, needed to be protected.
The fact that shocked many viewers the most was how easy it was for Blood and Cheese to get into the Queen's bedchamber, and whether Criston felt guilt or pure fear of being punished for it, he realized it was his fault as well. As Alicent's sworn protector, he wouldn't have been at Helaena's door either way, but he had to find someone who would.
Still, all this work has only brought him a promotion, since Aegon II has now made Criston his Hand. We'll have to wait and see if he takes this position more seriously or continues to lead Team Green to their downfall. Be sure to tune in to HBO or Max every Sunday to not miss another episode of House of the Dragon.