RIP Ser Criston Cole!

Yes, Cole finally meets his demise in this episode of House of the Dragon. And, while his death may have been a bit anticlimactic, I think that definitely fits in with his character. So I actually like the way he went out here! I’m admittedly going to miss Fabien Frankel's presence on this show, but it was certainly time for Cole’s sulking around to come to an end.

Gwayne is smart enough to leave Cole’s suicide party, though, and runs right back to Ormund. There, Daeron reveals that he is unhappy with Ormund. Which isn’t too surprising, but he also reveals that he does feel different when around Ormund. Meaning that, despite being a hostage of sorts, he does feel something changing within himself. And that can’t be a good thing. Sure, it would be interesting to see what kind of person Daeron would be without Ormund, but he definitely wouldn’t stand a chance against Rhaenyra.

Rhaenyra even comes pretty close to killing Daeron and Ormund in this episode! If it wasn’t for Gwayne, her little sneak attack on Ormund - and his hilariously silly aversion to strong odors - would have worked! Both he and Daeron would be dead, and Ormund’s men would probably stop terrorizing the city. Unfortunately for Rhaenyra, things never seem to pan out in her favor.

Speaking of which, her newly knighted dragon riders are feeling a little disgruntled here. Ulf doesn’t appreciate that he can’t get a cold one with the boys anymore, and Hugh is growing ever more concerned about his wife. He even sneaks his way into Tumbleton to see her, and she isn’t exactly happy to see him. Which is unfortunate. Hugh thought pledging his allegiance to Rhaenyra would help protect his family, but he’s actually inadvertently put them in harms way. I sure hope that won’t come to bite Rhaenyra in the ass later on.

Back in King’s Landing, Alicent and Helaena are caught attempting to flee. And, when the guards bring them to Rhaenyra, Alicent straight up admits that Helaena is pregnant. Which is shocking! But telling the truth was probably better than any other lie that Alicent could conceive. So, it’ll be interesting to see how Rhaenyra will deal with this new information. Will she hold Helaena hostage like Alicent feared that she would? Will she actually allow Helaena to have the child? Will she ultimately see the child as a threat to her own claim? Will she find out that Mysaria knew about the child? Only time will tell. Either way, I love to see when the girlies are fighting. The dynamic between Alicent and Rhaenyra is just as fascinating as it always has been.

But we also get to see more between Alicent and Helaena here. Which is nice, even if a bit heartbreaking. Helaena is such a sweet and innocent character; it’s a shame that she’s had to endure so much of her family’s bullshit. I may like a handful of these characters, but I really hope that things will end up working for her in the end.

Things aren’t exactly going well for Daemon, though, as his Gold Cloaks officially hand in their gold cloaks. Which is undeniably understandable. They’re getting killed off by an enemy they can’t even see! And when Daemon actually gets his hand on one, he doesn’t learn any useful information. And, given how he publicly takes out his frustration on Ulf, people’s perception of Rhaenyrals rule is probably at an all time low.

Rhaenyra is still trying her best to lead, but the responsibility that comes with sitting on the throne is definitely weighing on her. It even gives her a literal prick! Which, as we know, also happened to her father. And, no matter how hard he tried, things didn’t exactly turn out too well for that guy. Now, I don’t think Rhaenyra is going to slowly start deteriorating, but I do think that something bad is probably going to happen to her. Not that anything good has been happening to her lately; I just think that the obvious foreshadowing is clear.

Meanwhile, Aegon is still clearly thinking about Larys’ remarks about him being a terrible person. Which is hilarious. But I can’t quite tell if he’s mad about it, or if he respects Larys for telling him the truth. I mean, I guess he can’t be too mad since they’re about to travel to Essos together. Which is interesting. What kind of shenanigans are the two going to get up to over there? I don’t know, but I definitely do want to find out.

Speaking of finding things out, Alys Rivers finally reveals her true intentions to Aemond in this episode. Those intentions? To start a royal bloodline with him, of course. But, as it turns out, she also has a handful of dragon eggs! Which is an interesting reveal. One that could potentially connect her character to Daenerys! Which is something that I definitely didn’t see coming. So, while I do think that the series could’ve gotten to this reveal a bit sooner, I can’t deny that I do want to see where this plot line will go now. Especially since Rhaenyra has sent Alicent to kill Aemond!

Now, there’s no way Alicent is going to successfully kill her own son, but having her in Harrenhal could allow for some interesting developments. Especially given the very limited things that I do know about Aemond’s fate at Harrenhal. Of course, I don’t know if the events I’m referring to will take place in this season, but it’s exciting to see all of the pieces falling into place!

And before the episode comes to an end, Corlys and his men are attacked by Brasso from Star Wars: Andor. But, given how abruptly the scene comes to an end, I couldn’t tell if Corlys is actually killed or not. Which would be a devastating loss to Rhaenyra. But his capture would probably not be great either. Especially since she’s on pretty good terms with his son, Alyn.

So, I guess we’ll find out what happens to Corlys in the penultimate episode of the season!

House of the Dragon (S03E06)

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