Frankel Breaks Down Criston Cole's Suicide Mission — SkimNews
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- Criston Cole declares a suicide mission in Season 3, Episode 5 after his plan to intercept the Rivermen collapses, telling Gwayne Hightower: 'I will not return spurned, rejected. I am the realm's greatest warrior. And I will die as such.'
- Fabien Frankel describes Criston's mindset as one of 'agnosticism' and 'nihilism,' saying the character is 'losing the will to motivate' — a spiral Frankel traces back to halfway through Season 2 and reignited by Gwayne's war-planning scene.
- Frankel frames Criston's abandonment by Aemond as the immediate trigger, saying Criston was already primed to expect it: 'I don't believe it's all that surprising that Aemond hasn't shown.'
- Frankel argues the soldier is Criston's 'only honest version of himself,' calling his stints as Hand of the King, diplomat, and Lord Commander of the Kingsguard all 'pretense' layered over a man led by 'his sword and his fighting instinct.'
- Criston fights the war primarily for Alicent now, with Rhaenyra reduced to 'a sort of afterthought,' according to Frankel.
- Frankel says he kept Gwayne in the dark about the suicide plan out of 'selfishness' — revealing it would have killed morale and cost him his army.
- The episode sets up the 'Butcher's Ball' storyline from George R.R. Martin's source material, with Frankel teasing a 'brilliantly choreographed' fight ahead.
Why it matters: Criston's suicide mission reframes the Green campaign's military leadership: Frankel openly describes his Hand of the King as a nihilist in 'pretense,' which undercuts the very chain of command Criston is supposedly defending — and the teased 'Butcher's Ball' means one of the show's most polarizing characters is about to meet a book-landmark end.
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