Warning: This article contains spoilers fromHouse of the Dragonseason 1, episode 5.
“There’s only so much preparation you might do.
It’s only now upon reflection that I’m able to really understand what I was thinking.
Fabien Frankel stars as Ser Criston Cole in HBO’s ‘House of the Dragon’ season 1.Ollie Upton/HBO
It is a really weird thing.”
That was what was exciting to me," Frankel says.
“He’s very much set up as a noble, well-meaning knight there to protect Rhaenyra.
Princess Rhaenyra Targaryen (Milly Alcock) seduces Ser Criston Cole (Fabien Frankel).Ollie
And for those who’ve read the book, he isn’t that by any means.”
Initially, the director staged Criston much more front and center in the scene, but Frankel pushed back.
“If anything, he wants to be as far away as humanly possible.”
But conflict finds Criston in his emotionally raw state.
Joffrey wants Criston to swear to protect that arrangement and their consorts, sending Criston spiraling into a rage.
The death, which plays out in different circumstances than in the source material ofGeorge R.R.
Martin’sFire and Blood, was the build-up of everything that preceded the bloodshed, Frankel says.
“I don’t think it’s because [Rhaenyra] says she won’t go away with him.
I think it’s thewayin which she says she won’t go away with him.
That very muchcouldbe the scenario that happens.
That to me is very interesting.
She chose to keep him there.
She made him stand through that wedding.
That’s where the animosity builds.”
That reactionary nature became clear to Frankel from the beginning of the process.
Frankel didn’t know Smith, in character, would slap Criston’s hand away after accepting defeat.
And actually, that’s just not what he is.'"
“It really gave me something I dug into a lot,” he says.
The ending of episode 5 marks the halfway point inHouse of the Dragon’s first season.
Alliances are about to shift.
“Otto is constantly planning and plotting and ears-to-the-ground.
Criston Cole is ears-to-the-ground, but there’s no planning and plotting going on.
House of the Dragonairs Sundays on HBO and streams on HBO Max.
Listen to more EW’s interview with Fabien Frankel onGame of ThronespodcastWest of Westeros.
