Thanks to its 10-year time skip, House of the Dragon episode 6 found itself answering a lot of questions about events that happened in the past decade. One significant moment it didn’t find time to address, however, was why Ser Criston Cole (Fabien Frankel) was still walking around as a free man in King’s Landing.
As a refresher, Ser Criston ended up killing Joffrey (no, not that Joffrey) at Rhaenyra’s wedding banquet after it was revealed that multiple people knew about the knight’s liaisons with the heir to the Iron Throne. With his honor lost, Criston attempted to stab himself – but was stopped by an approaching Alicent.
Despite his very public act of murder, Criston not only escapes a date with the gallows but, by the time we see him again in the sixth episode, is installed as Alicent’s personal protector and confidant. Viewers are similarly confused, asking for a "possible explanation" as to why Criston is still alive.
So, what gives? House of the Dragon co-creator Ryan Condal told Entertainment Weekly that Alicent helped save Criston, in more ways than one.
"There were mistakes made. It was a different time. Alicent saves his life. That's what that final scene is telling you," Condal said. "Alicent goes in there and saves his life and begs for his life and honor with the king and wins. And then he is absolutely, as we see in episode 6, 100 percent devoted to her."
For a taste of what comes next, watch the House of the Dragon episode 7 trailer.
