Kayla Harrington
HBO
Criston Cole is one of the more unlikeable characters in House of the Dragon, but fans think there is more to him than meets the eye.
Although House of the Dragon Season 2 is trying to showcase the war between the Greens and Blacks as equal, it’s obvious fans have a favorite side.
Most of the audience seems to be on the side of Team Black as the Green faction is made up of the most unlikeable people on the show like Aegon, Aemond, and Criston Cole.
However, despite not being liked by the majority of fans, Criston’s one redeeming quality was revealed during Season 2 Episode 4: he’s a great surrogate father figure.
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Just to shake things up, I’m going to give props to my most hated character: I really like Criston’s relationship with Aegon and Aemond. He’s basically their surrogate father.
byu/Swordbender inHouseOfTheDragon
Ever since Criston was brought in to protect Alicent and her children through the Kingsguard, he has acted like a dad of sorts to both Aemond and Aegon.
When they were children, Criston taught them how to be skilled swordsmen and stand up for themselves.
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As adults, he continuously counsels the pair on how to enact certain war strategies and goes into battle by their side.
For Aegon in particular, it seems like his fatherly instincts go well beyond a protector/protectee relationship as he is the only one who goes to check on if Aegon was killed by Aemond’s attack.
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Criston stepping up to take on the role of father for the boys makes sense when you remember their real father, King Viserys Targaryen, wanted nothing to do with either of them as he was too preoccupied with Rhaenyra.
And for all Criston’s many, many faults, viewers are beginning to respect him for this as one fan wrote on the show’s subreddit, “He’s also the only person who cared about what happened to Aegon. He’s their ONLY father figure, really.”
Another commented, “I feel like this is his one redeeming quality. Knowing how neglectful Viserys was to Aegon and Aemond (dude probably forgot Daeron exists) this guy genuinely cared for these children.”
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House of the Dragon has a hidden character you probably missed
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A third Reddit user pointed out how Criston’s status as their dad is more concrete thanks to his relationship with their mother, “Well Alicent’s basically entrusted her kids to him. He’s quite literally their stepdad in every sense of the word.”
For more, you can read about why House of the Dragon hasn’t introduced the coolest Fire & Blood character yet. You can also keep up to date with the Season 2 episode schedule and read about the TV shows streaming in July.
