House of the Dragon star Fabien Frankel has opened up about one of the most emotionally charged scenes he filmed that never made it to screen; a moment that would have shown Ser Criston Cole at his most broken.
In an interview with The New York Times, Frankel described a deleted sequence from Season 2 in which Criston goes to Alicent Hightower’s quarters and completely falls apart.
“There was a scene that never made it into the cut, where Criston goes to Alicent’s quarters and collapses crying in her arms, and she holds him like a child. The nature of the beast is that sometimes scenes just don’t make it. But for me as an actor, I remember doing that scene with Olivia. It was the final scene of the whole of Season 2, and we wrapped as soon as the scene wrapped.”
💔 Criston Cole died carrying the handkerchief Alicent gave him in Season 2.
A small detail, but one that says so much about their bond.#HouseOfTheDragon #HOTD #CristonCole #AlicentHightower pic.twitter.com/8O0D1Kzjmp
— Comrade (@ISHOLA_26) July 27, 2026
A moment of complete breakdown
Frankel explained that the scene represented a critical turning point for his character, the full admission of guilt and self-destruction.
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“I felt that was the moment: the admission of all the wrongdoing, all of the guilt, all of the realization that ultimately his annihilation is his own doing. He’s caused and created so much of the mayhem around him.”
In the unreleased scene, Criston does not appear as the rigid, duty-bound knight fans have come to know. Instead, he is reduced to a vulnerable, almost childlike state, seeking comfort from the only person he has ever truly loved. Alicent, in turn, holds him with quiet compassion, creating what would have been one of the most intimate and revealing moments between the two characters.
A lost window into Criston’s soul
While the scene ultimately did not survive the edit, Frankel’s recollection offers fans a powerful glimpse into the version of Criston Cole that existed just beyond the final cut. It also gives fans a better understanding about how Criston held on to Alicent in his final moments. It paints a portrait of a man crushed by the consequences of his actions, seeking absolution in the arms of the woman who has remained the center of his world.
