Fabien Frankel on Ser Criston's Happiest House of the Dragon Moment
TL;DR — Fabien Frankel is finally naming the rare scene where Ser Criston Cole actually smiles, and it's not the moment fans might expect from House of the Dragon.
Fabien Frankel has called out one specific House of the Dragon scene as Ser Criston Cole's happiest on screen — a quiet, almost throwaway beat that the actor says captured everything the character wanted before the show's machinery of war and loyalty pulled him apart. In recent interviews, Frankel pointed to a tender moment with Rhaenyra's circle in the show's earlier seasons as the emotional high-water mark for the brooding Kingsguard, before Criston's arc curdled into resentment and violence.
Why Fabien Frankel Calls This Ser Criston's Happiest House of the Dragon Scene
The scene Frankel keeps returning to isn't a battle. It's a relatively unguarded exchange during the early tournament sequence, when Criston Cole is still wearing the white cloak out of genuine belief — not obligation. According to Frankel, the beat where Criston allows himself a brief, unguarded laugh with fellow Kingsguard and tourney rivals is the closest the character ever gets to being at peace. The actor has said in recent interviews that he lobbied to keep Criston's smile in the final cut because it would hurt more later, when Criston becomes the show's most morally compromised knight.
How Ser Criston Cole's Arc Made That Moment Matter
Looking back, that happiness reads almost like a trap. House of the Dragon spent its early hours sketching Criston as a reluctant romantic and a duty-bound protector — a man who turns down a princess's advances because he respects the vow he took. The betrayal that follows, and Criston's rapid slide into the ruthless enforcer of Aegon's reign, only registers because the audience remembers when he was soft. Frankel has talked about playing Criston as a character who knows exactly what he's sacrificing and does it anyway, which gives even the show's most brutal beats a layer of tragedy.
The Criston Cole and Rhaenyra Fallout That Reshaped Season 2
Season 2 leaned hard into Criston's transformation from rejected suitor to vengeful sword of the crown. His persecution of the dragonseeds and his role in the brutal Blood and Cheese fallout reframed every earlier soft moment as foreshadowing. Frankel has noted in recent interviews that he tried to keep just enough vulnerability in Criston's posture during the season 2 march scenes — a hesitation before he draws steel — so audiences could feel the gap between who Criston was and what he's become.
What Fabien Frankel Has Said About Playing a Kingsguard in HBO's House of the Dragon
Frankel has been unusually candid about the physical and emotional demands of the role. Criston Cole fights in nearly every episode he appears in, and Frankel has trained extensively in stage combat to sell the character's growing brutality. He has also discussed, in recent interviews, the challenge of keeping Criston human — making sure that even at his worst, the audience can still recognize the man who once laughed with his fellow Kingsguard. That restraint is what makes Frankel's performance one of the quiet standouts of the HBO fantasy franchise.
What Ser Criston Cole's Happiest Moment Means for House of the Dragon Season 3
With Season 3 expected to dive deeper into the Dance of the Dragons, Criston's arc is heading somewhere darker than a tournament smile. Frankel has hinted that the season will push Criston into territory where the white cloak stops meaning anything at all — making that earlier happiness essential emotional context. For viewers tracking the character, that single smile is now the yardstick for everything Criston loses.
For fans mapping out the rest of Criston's arc, three beats frame his journey from honorable knight to weaponized loyalist:
- The tourney laugh with his fellow Kingsguard — Criston at his most human.
- The rejection of Rhaenyra — the hinge that bends the character.
- The Blood and Cheese march — Criston as the crown's willing instrument.
If Frankel is right that the tourney beat was the happiest Criston ever gets, then House of the Dragon has effectively told the audience the shape of his tragedy from the very first smile onward. The cruelty isn't that Criston becomes a monster — it's that we watched him choose to stop being a man.
Frequently Asked Questions
Which House of the Dragon scene does Fabien Frankel consider Ser Criston's happiest?
Frankel has pointed to a small, unguarded moment during the early tournament sequence — a brief laugh between Criston and his fellow Kingsguard while Criston is still serving out of genuine belief rather than bitterness. The actor has said in recent interviews that he pushed to keep the smile in the final cut because the character's later brutality hits harder when audiences remember him being soft.
Why does Ser Criston Cole become so dark in House of the Dragon?
Criston's arc bends after his feelings for Rhaenyra are rejected and he watches her marry Laenor. The shame, combined with his rigid sense of honor, curdles into resentment. By season 2 he has fully aligned with Aegon, and he leads the march during the Blood and Cheese aftermath — a moment the show uses to mark the death of the honorable knight viewers met in season 1.
Will Fabien Frankel return as Criston Cole in House of the Dragon season 3?
Yes. Fabien Frankel is expected to reprise the role of Ser Criston Cole in season 3, which is set to continue the Dance of the Dragons. He has hinted in recent interviews that Criston's white cloak will start to feel increasingly hollow as the Greens consolidate power, putting the character on a darker trajectory than even season 2 delivered.
Is Ser Criston Cole based on a character from Fire & Blood?
Ser Criston Cole is drawn from George R.R. Martin's Fire & Blood, where he is the Lord Commander of the Kingsguard under Aegon II during the Dance of the Dragons. The HBO adaptation expands his interior life — particularly his romance with Rhaenyra — and gives him more screen time than the source material, which Frankel uses to anchor the show's moral decay.
How does Fabien Frankel train for Ser Criston's fight scenes?
Frankel has talked in recent interviews about extensive stage-combat training to handle Criston's growing number of duels and battle beats across seasons 1 and 2. He has described working with the show's choreographers to make Criston's swordwork gradually heavier and more brutal, mirroring the character's emotional slide from honorable protector to enforcer for the crown.
References
- https://www.hbo.com/house-of-the-dragon
- https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/tv/tv-features/house-of-the-dragon-season-3-fabien-frankel/
- https://www.ign.com/house-of-the-dragon
- https://variety.com/t/house-of-the-dragon/
