In House of the Dragon Season 3, Episode 6, Ser Criston Cole’s final charge has been described by many as a “suicide march”; a doomed advance into certain death. For actor Fabien Frankel, embracing that ending brought an unexpected sense of liberation, both for the character and for himself.
Quick read:
- Fabien Frankel says Criston Cole’s final moments were personally liberating to him as well
- Criston only lived in the present at that time
- He was his happiest at death
Reflecting on the moment, Frankel shared an honest perspective:
“Massively. It was liberating for me as an actor to feel that, as well. When one knows the end is nigh, it’s very hard not to live in the present because you don’t have a choice. You can only live now. If I were to look at the moments of Criston Cole’s life where he’s been happy, if there have been any, I would say that on the battlefield in this episode is one of them. Cole lives at his happiest close to death.”
Finding peace in the present
Frankel’s comments reveal a deeper layer to Criston’s final stand. Once the character accepts that death is inevitable, the weight of the past and the uncertainty of the future fall away. All that remains is the present moment; the clash of steel, the clarity of combat, and the strange freedom that comes with having nothing left to lose.
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For a man who has spent years driven by guilt, loyalty, bitterness, and unfulfilled longing, the battlefield becomes the one place where he can exist without the burden of everything that came before.
Happiness on the edge of death
Perhaps the most poignant part of Frankel’s reflection is his suggestion that Criston’s rare moments of happiness have always been tied to the proximity of death. The chaos of battle strips away pretence and politics. In those final moments, Criston is simply a warrior doing what he was made to do, and, according to the actor, that is when he feels most alive.
The “suicide march” is therefore not just an act of desperation or duty. In Frankel’s reading, it is also a form of release. Criston steps into the fray knowing the end is near, and in doing so finds a clarity and peace that eluded him throughout his complicated life.
A fitting end
Frankel’s insight adds emotional weight to one of the season’s most talked-about sequences. Criston Cole does not go to his death broken or reluctant. He goes to it with a kind of hard-won acceptance, and, in the actor’s view, a rare moment of happiness.
In a story filled with characters fighting desperately to survive, Criston’s final charge stands out for the opposite reason: a man who has finally stopped running from the end, and in that surrender, finds something close to peace.
