How Does Ser Criston Cole Die in House of the Dragon? (& Who Kills Him)
One of the characters that took a quick 360-degree turn during the events of House of the Dragon is Ser Criston Cole, who used to be so devoted to Princess Rhaenyra Targaryen as her sworn shield but immediately turned on her and became Queen Alicent Hightower’s protector, greatest ally and eventually a lover. In that regard, he is one of the enemies that Rhaenyra has to defeat in her quest to become queen of the Seven Kingdoms. Ser Criston, of course, ended up dying due to his treachery. So, how does Ser Criston Cole die in House of the Dragon?
Ser Cirston Cole keeps rising in rank in the show
‘House of the Dragon’ Season 2 started off with Alicent and Criston Cole seemingly in the middle of a love affair, mere weeks after Viserys died. But with his romantic life going exceptionally well so does his career.
King Aegon II, eventually strips his grandfather of the Hand of the King title and gives the title to Criston Cole. Cole immediately starts hatching plans for a more proactive way to lead the war, along with Aemond Targaryen.
In the latest episode, we’ve seen Cole in Rook’s Rest, alongside Alicent’s brother who seems to be attempting to thwart his plans every step of the way. We’ve also seen Cole doing almost nothing while a three-dragon battle raged above him. With Meleys, Sunfyre, and Vhagar battling to death, at one point the viewers thought that Cole met his end as well, but alas, we’re going to have to wait just a tiny bit more for that to happen.
What happens to Ser Criston Cole in the book?
Following the battle of Rook’s Rest during which King Aegon II was heavily injured along with his dragon, Cole and Aemond decided to march on Harrenhal to take over the castle.
However, when Criston and Aemond reached Harrenhal, Daemon was nowhere to be found. That was when they found out that he joined Rhaenyra in their assault on King’s Landing. Neither Criston nor Aemond was there to protect the capital from Rhaenyra, who took King’s Landing and sat on the Iron Throne for about half a year.
How does Ser Criston Cole die?
After Ser Criston Cole and Aemond Targaryen took Harrenhal, he urged the prince to march with him south and join the large Hightower army led by Lord Ormund Hightower. But Aemond refused to do so and decided to fly around the Riverlands to burn the different Black settlements using Vhagar. As such, Criston had to march south without the protection of a dragonrider and a dragon, as the Blacks saw this as a good opportunity to weaken the Greens.
Cole tried to march down to the south to join up with the Hightower host there, but they were steadily harassed by the Rivermen who were allied with the Blacks. As such, when Criston and the Green army were about to reach the Blackwater Rush, they were met with an army of Blacks that outnumbered them thoroughly.
Criston Cole understood that they had no chance to win that battle, so he tried to surrender so that the Blacks would spare his men. But he was refused, as this led him to challenge the lords that were there to meet him. He was struck down by archers as the Rivermen killed Criston Cole and his men during the event known as the Butcher’s Ball. Criston’s head was decapitated from his body and was used by the Blacks to intimidate the Greens in the event known as the First Battle of Tumbleton.
Three arrows flew across the field, striking Cole in belly,
Fire & Blood
neck, and breast. “I’ll have no songs about how brave you died,
Kingmaker,” declared Longleaf. “There’s tens o’ thousands dead on
your account.” He was speaking to a corpse.
In the end, Criston Cole died without even seeing the end of the war that he helped start. It was merely because he was a scorned lover that he betrayed Rhaenyra and decided to support Alicent and Aegon’s claim to the Iron Throne. It was a fate befitting a traitor, as he lost all of his honor when he decided that Rhaenyra was not fit to be queen just because she rejected him.
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