House Of The Dragon continues the Targaryen civil war in the show’s second season.
Based on George R.R. Martin’s book Fire & Blood, the series serves as a prequel to Game Of Thrones and depicts the fall of House Targaryen through the war known as the Dance Of Dragons.
After Miguel Sapochnik departed co-showrunning duties after the first season, the second batch of episodes is solely led by Ryan Condal. Cast members include Matt Smith, Emma D’Arcy, Rhys Ifans, Steve Toussaint, Eve Best, and Olivia Cooke.
Prior to the season two premiere, House Of The Dragon was renewed for a third season in June 2024.
What is going on between Alicent and Ser Criston in House Of The Dragon season 2 episode 2?
Fabien Frankel as Ser Criston Cole in ‘House Of The Dragon’ CREDIT: HBO/Sky
After becoming the new Hand of the King, Ser Criston Cole is seen alone with Alicent Hightower in the episode’s final scene. The pair, who have struck up a secret affair between seasons one and two, start out tussling with one another, before they end up kissing.
While the affair could simply be boiled down to sexual attraction, the history between them suggests there’s something more complicated bubbling under the surface.
Ser Criston Cole appeared to fall in love with Rhaenyra in season one, but the princess refused to run away with him and get married. As a member of the Kingsguard, Ser Criston took a vow of chastity, an oath he has broken by sleeping with Rhaenyra. With his integrity as Kingsguard damaged, Ser Criston might now harbour hatred towards Rhaenyra for not running away with him so he doesn’t have to live with his guilt.
For Alicent, who knows about the affair between Ser Criston and Rhaenyra, the desire to be with him might similarly stem from wanting to get back at her former friend, while perhaps indulging in behaviour she previously couldn’t get away with. Both of them are binded by frustration over Rhaenyra’s actions, and in discovering themselves following years of repression.
As such, the end of episode two where Alicent starts slapping Ser Criston could be seen as a reflection of this intertwining, confused dynamic, as they wrestle with frustrations and the desire to break free from themselves.
On a basic human urge level, Alicent’s thirst might come from the fact she was married to the older King Viserys since she was 14 years old. After a marriage of power over attraction for years, we wouldn’t blame anyone for taking a ride on the Kingsguard.
What has the showrunner said about Alicent and Ser Criston?
‘House of the Dragon’ Season Two. CREDIT: HBO/Sky
In an interview with Collider, Ryan Condal explained how the pair both have a troubled, under-developed view of intimacy.
“The idea is that these two characters have this very stunted emotional development, particularly in the world of intimacy with a partner,” Condal said. “Cole, because he’s been a canned man his entire life in the order of the Kingsguard and his past sins with Rhaenyra and wearing that like a millstone around his neck.
“And on Alicent’s side, she was married off at 14 years old to a guy that was 20-plus years her senior. She doesn’t really have a — certainly, she was physically intimate with Viserys, but I don’t know that they had a romantically intimate or emotionally intimate experience just because of the huge age gap between them.
“So it’s led us to this place where you see these two characters who don’t experience a lot of pleasure, experiencing great pleasure together in a nice way that I think makes the audience go, ‘Oh, okay. These are two humans enjoying themselves.’ But they don’t have the emotional know-how and modeling for how to exist in something like that, particularly, something they have to keep a secret.”
