She told Variety that Alicent was actually in love with Criston Cole before Rhaenyra slept with him. Alicent's feeling of betrayal by Rhaenyra was a focal point of episode five.
Viserys Targaryen and Alicent Hightower
Alicent doesn't marry Viserys because she loves him; she does it because she was raised to be married off to a powerful man so as to strengthen the position of her house.
In George R. R. Martin's "Fire and Blood," Alicent and Criston are definitely close, and they form the center of the greens alliance. The book never makes it clear why, exactly, Criston chose that side in the war. There's no mention of a romantic connection between them.
One heart that got hurt during the course unconventionally was that of the House of the Dragon's Kingsguard knight Ser Criston Cole (Fabien Frenkel), who was deeply in love with Princess Rhaenyra Targaryen.
Cooke said that she and D'Arcy” have “definitely” talked about Alicent and Rhaenyra being “each other's first love,” although by this point “too much has happened and too much time has passed to probably even recognize those fledgling feelings.”
In Fire & Blood, however, Rhaenyra is in love with Daemon from a young age. Things change after she meets Criston Cole. Nevertheless, George R. R. Martin's books show that Rhaenyra's first love was Daemon, whereas House of the Dragon has a slower build-up between the two.
The reason why Criston and Rhaenyra having sex in House of the Dragon episode 4 is so important is due to Criston's loyalties during the Dance. Eventually, Criston turns away from Rhaenyra and joins the other side of the war in service to Alicent Hightower and her son, Aegon.
Nothing ever happened between the kingsguard and the princess. Whereas in HOTD we are shown that Criston and Rhaenyra did indeed have sex, and as you know, Martin had more creative control in HOTD.
So yeah, he will always love Rhaenyra. Cole certainly did not take Rhaenyra's rejection well; in fact, he beat a man to death because he was so salty about it. He's now taken a central role in the faction that opposes Rhaenyra's claim to the Iron Throne, and things are not going to get better.
Criston and Alicent are now in a similar position that Criston and Rhaenyra were in over 15 years ago, with their close connection and trust undoubtedly fostering amorous desires. In House of the Dragon episode 9, Alicent implies that she knows Criston is in love with her, and uses his devotion to her advantage.
We last saw her find out the truth in "We Light the Way" that Rhaenyra lost her virginity to Ser Criston Cole (Fabien Frankel).
Warning: This article contains SPOILERS for House of the Dragon Episode 6! “The Princess and the Queen” opens up with Rhaenyra giving birth to her third child, another boy. Laenor decides they'll name him Joffrey after his late lover who Criston beat to death right before he and Rhaenyra wed.
In multiple interviews, Milly Alcock and Emily Carey, who portray Rhaenyra and Alicent in the first five episodes of the season, have confirmed that they played their characters as having a romantic connection, not just a close, platonic one.
Alicent Hightower, aka Queen Alicent, survives the Dance of the Dragons. However, she was confined to her chambers in the last year of her life, and in the books, she goes insane and dies during an outbreak of Winter Fever in 133 AC.
Alcock explains that Rhaenyra wants to be “seen” and Criston and Daemon are the “only two people who really see her. Both of them see her for different reasons.” She reveals that “she genuinely likes him. But I don't think she would pick him over Daemon, ultimately.”
Nearly two in-world decades have passed in the series since Rhaenyra and Ser Criston indulged in their attraction for one another, though Fabien Frankel states to NYT his belief that his character is still in love with the Princess despite his shifted loyalties.
Ser Criston Cole: According to Martin's The World of Ice and Fire, Ser Criston was born in 81 AC, making him 16 years Rhaenyra's senior. But Dragon's Ser Criston is likely much younger: Fabien Frankel, who portrays the knight onscreen, is 28 years old, only 8 years older than Alcock's young Rhaenyra.
In the book Fire and Blood, Princess Rhaenyra Targaryen does indeed marry Ser Laenor Velaryon. The pair go on to - officially at least - have three sons.
Rhaenyra will have two marriages (and two lovers) in House of the Dragon, with six children (technically three by each husband, the suspicion that the first three are by another man is a source of much violence and discord in Westeros).
While this is a revelation in and of itself, this sequence also highlights the truth of Daemon and Rhaenyra - he is an abuser and she is his victim, albeit perhaps one who does not see herself as a victim.
Rhaenyra Targaryen (Emma D'Arcy) and Daemon Targaryen (Matt Smith) finally had sex on House of the Dragon. After teasing their deep connection for weeks, making out in a brothel, and flirting their way through King's Landing, uncle and niece at long last did the dirty.
According to the accounts of Septon Eustace, prior to her turning sixteen, Rhaenyra lost her virginity to her uncle, Prince Daemon, after he seduced her.
In the seventh episode of the blockbuster HBO series, Prince Daemon marries his own niece, Princess Rhaenyra. The incestuous romance had been building for some time. Before a 10-year time jump occurred in the show's sixth epsode, Daemon took a young Rhaenyra to a brothel in King's Land where the two got intimate.