Includes minor SPOILERS for Fire & Blood, House of the Dragon’s source material.
House of the Dragon season 2 was divisive enough already, and I’m glad one insane scene didn’t make it into the show. With some time away from season 2 to collect my thoughts, I still have mixed feelings about its treatment of George R.R. Martin’s stories. While I’ve never felt a particular affinity towards Fire & Blood due to the nature of its narrative formatting, I love the A Song of Ice & Fire books so dearly that I’d like to see this world brought to life in a manner that’s befitting of its greatness.
I don’t agree with every creative choice made on season 2, but I’m still in awe of the House of the Dragon cast and their ability to bring such vivid humanity to individuals I never thought I’d care about. In order to define these characters in comparison to their book counterparts, the show has been required to develop them with original ideas. I’m in a camp that believes most of these ideas have been fruitful, but there are always limits to how far I’d like these additions to deviate from the story.
House Of The Dragon Season 2 Cut An Even More Explicit Alicent & Criston Cole Scene
Olivia Cooke Described Filming A “Carnal” And “Animalistic” Sex Scene
I wasn’t too surprised by the season 2 book change to bring Alicent and Cole together, and I didn’t find it distracting enough to detract from the central narrative at all. But in an interview with Elle, actress Olivia Cooke described her experience filming a rather raunchy sex scene that was cut from the final product. Essentially, showrunner Ryan Condal found it to be unnecessary, feeling like it didn’t add anything to either participant’s characterization, and chose not to keep it in the season. Read the full segment with Cooke’s quotes below:
She recalls one bedroom scene she filmed that was cut. “It was messy as fuck. It wasn’t beautiful, and that was really fun to do.” It was “carnal” and even “animalistic,” she says. “I think Ryan [Condal, the showrunner] said we weren’t learning any more about the characters, which I disagree with slightly, but it’s okay. It’s his show,” she adds, with no hard feelings. Maybe we’ll see it in the bloopers, she says, laughing.
From the sound of it, I’m glad Condal decided to go ahead and remove it. While I don’t think the gist of this scene sounds inherently bad, the way Cooke describes it makes it seem like it would’ve been mostly for shock value and would’ve ended up being a major distraction. Considering how much response each book change received from audiences, trimming anything excessive like this sounds like the right call. Olivia Cooke may not agree, but I think this is one case where the safe choice was the right one.
House Of The Dragon Season 2 Did Alicent & Cole’s Relationship Right
HOTD’s Book Changes Didn’t All Work, But They Nailed The Balance With Alicent & Cole
Using Alicent and Criston Cole to change Blood & Cheese wasn’t my favorite choice in season 2, but I think the overall development of their romance was worthwhile material. I know many viewers rightfully despise Cole, but I think he brings such interesting complexity to the show in his examination of masculinity. Especially given his past feelings for Rhaenyra, taking to Alicent so firmly is such a fascinating way of demonstrating his character. Sex has always had a crucial role in the Game of Thrones universe as a method for demonstrating its primitive nature, and HOTD uses it effectively.
For both Alicent and Cole, their relationship is about more than just romantic longing, though I do think that’s part of it. They’re both characters who have spent essentially decades holding strong emotions together, and their romance is a chance to release them in ways that they see fit. The power dynamic shown between these two demonstrates their respective internal struggles, and it’s a worthwhile book change.
Will There Be More Of Alicent & Criston Cole In House Of The Dragon Season 3?
It’s Unlikely These Characters Will See Each Other Again
When last we saw Alicent and Cole, they were exchanging a long glance before the latter marched off to war for a second time. Under Aemond’s tenure as Prince Regent, he commands Cole to leave King’s Landing, taking the remaining Hightower forces garrisoned in the Crownlands to attack Daemon before he can muster forces at Harrenhal. As we know, Daemon has already assembled a larger force in the Riverlands, so Cole is heading into a dangerous situation.
Given how the Dance of the Dragons plays out, it seems unlikely that Alicent & Cole will cross paths again going forward. However, their romance has become such an instrumental piece of Cole’s character arc that it will likely be mentioned in his scenes in season 3. Especially given that Gwayne Hightower is his traveling companion, the romantic subplot will still have some effect on the remainder of House of the Dragon.