Fabien Frankel Opens Up About Criston Cole’s Grim Endgame As ‘House of the Dragon’ Marches Toward Its Bloodiest Battle Yet

‘House of the Dragon’ has spent three seasons slowly unraveling Ser Criston Cole, and as the Dance of the Dragons barrels toward its bloodiest chapters, the knight once known for his battlefield brilliance looks less like a hero and more like a man who has already made peace with dying. Season 3 has traced his fall from Kingsguard idealist to a soldier fighting for a cause he no longer fully believes in, dragging a shrinking band of men through hostile territory with nothing left to lose.

That descent has defined much of Criston’s arc this year, as the war for the Iron Throne grinds on and the Greens’ fortunes grow shakier by the episode. Fans have watched him grow more detached from the politics driving the conflict, even as he keeps choosing violence over retreat, and that contradiction has become the defining question of his final stretch on the show.

Actor Fabien Frankel addressed exactly that tension directly, telling Variety that Criston enters the season in a state that looks a lot like despair even if he resists the label. Frankel said he wouldn’t quite call his character nihilistic, calling that reading “a bit reductive,” but acknowledged there’s certainly an agnosticism to him, adding that Criston is losing the will to motivate.

Frankel expanded on that idea in the same conversation, explaining that Criston eventually finds his footing again as the season progresses. He noted that Criston rediscovers that drive largely thanks to Episode 4’s planning scene opposite Gwayne Hightower, which the actor described as giving his character the impetus to re-energize and rediscover a sense of purpose, according to Frankel’s interview with Variety.

That renewed purpose plays out in devastating fashion onscreen. In the latest episode, Ser Criston Cole proclaims that he is ready to die, and ready to do so honorably, as he marches his men onward to stop the Rivermen from reaching King’s Landing and aiding Rhaenyra Targaryen. The mission unravels quickly, with a horse caught in a trap and a burned bridge cutting off any hope of catching their targets, leaving Criston and Gwayne Hightower down to half the men they started with and debating what comes next.

The timing of Frankel’s comments lines up with HBO’s newly released trailer for the show’s next episode, which teases Criston’s last stand as the long-dreaded Butcher’s Ball draws near. The Season 3 Episode 6 preview hints at a major escalation in the Dance of the Dragons, with Jeyne Arryn warning of the doom hanging over the Riverlands as tensions boil over. Persistent rumors have also suggested that Frankel wrapped his filming block around this stretch of episodes, fueling speculation that Criston’s arc is finally closing out.

Criston has been one of ‘House of the Dragon’s’ most polarizing figures since the series premiered, and fans haven’t always been kind to the character given his choices and behavior across the show’s run, even as critics have praised Frankel’s performance. That divide only makes this final stretch feel higher stakes, with a knight who spent years chasing honor now marching toward what increasingly looks like his own funeral.

With Criston Cole seemingly staring down his final battle, how do you think this suicidal march toward the Butcher’s Ball should end for him?