Alicent suspects that Rhaenyra has been intimate with Daemon and interrogates Criston. However, he assumes she knows about his affair with Rhaenyra and guiltily admits to it.
The relationship between the two started in earnest in episode five, after Criston slept with Rhaenyra (played then by Milly Alcock). Alicent speaks to him to see if he knows anything about Rhaenyra sleeping with her uncle, Daemon (Matt Smith), but Criston confesses to their own liaison instead.
Rhaenyra and Daemon's Marriage Has Been Foreshadowed
When Viserys confronts Daemon the next morning, after learning from Otto Hightower (Rhys Ifans) that the two had sex in a brothel, Daemon doesn't correct his brother, but he asks for Rhaenyra's hand in marriage.
With Rhaenyra's relationship with Criston Cole (Fabien Frankel) seemingly over for good, it's a mystery. Until you watch Episode 6, that is. 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.
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.
What appeared to be a blossoming romance between Rhaenyra Criston peaked during House of the Dragon season 1, episode 4, after Rhaenyra was unceremoniously abandoned in King's Landing's Street of Silk by her uncle Daemon Targaryen, and once again turned to Cole for companionship.
Rhaenyra and Daemon's Marriage
Soon after being widowed, Daemon and Rhaenyra marry each other in secret when he is 39 years old, and she is 23. Their marriage causes a huge scandal at court and another rift between Daemon and Viserys, but it is eventually accepted. The couple has two sons together, Aegon and Viserys.
After this, when Cole was the Lord Commander of the Kingsguard, Rhaenyra was arranged to marry Laenor Velaryon. Because of this, Criston Cole confessed his love for her - which she rejected, stating that, as a Targaryen, she was meant for more than being the wife of a sellsword.
The moment that causes the break in Rhaenyra and Criston's relationship is when Criston offers to elope with Rhaenyra, and she turns him down to pursue her ambitions. They break up after this and their love turns into bitterness and hatred. Most accounts in George R. R. Martin's books agree that this is what happened.
But, while time may heal all wounds, 10 years certainly wasn't enough time for Alicent's wounds to heal over being lied to by Rhaenyra. We last saw her find out the truth in "We Light the Way" that Rhaenyra lost her virginity to Ser Criston Cole (Fabien Frankel).
Ser Criston's head is ultimately decapitated from his body, mounted on a spear, and brought to the First Battle of Tumbleton as a spectacle — one of the blacks' greatest triumphs.
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.
When Ser Harrold Westerling, Lord Commander of the Kingsguard, died in 112 AC, Criston was named his successor to lead the white cloaks. In 113 AC, King Viserys I Targaryen arranged for his reluctant daughter Rhaenyra, Princess of Dragonstone, to wed Ser Laenor Velaryon.
It's largely suspected that there was some sort of romantic falling out, either Criston made advances towards Rhaenyra which she rejected (or he felt bitter because she married Laenor) or Rhaenyra made a romantic advance on Criston which he rejected.
In Fire & Blood, Rhaenyra and Daemon have two children of their own, named Aegon and Viserys. (They also had a daughter, Visenya, but she died at birth, as we saw in the House of the Dragon finale.) The boys live quite a long time — in fact, Aegon and Viserys would both go on to occupy the Iron Throne in the future.
Background. He is the head of House Cole, a minor house of the Dornish Marches sworn to House Dondarrion. He is the father of Ser Criston Cole.
The sides — nicknamed the Greens and the Blacks — dominate the latter half of the season, and any potential future seasons. Daemon, Rhaenyra and Alicent have 11 kids among them by the eighth episode, which is set about six years after the "Driftmark" episode.
She told Laenor that though they couldn't negate the wishes of their fathers, after marriage, they could continue with their respective affairs. But Criston Cole wanted more. He didn't want his relationship with Rhaenyra reduced to just an inconsequential affair.
That's right, during the Oct. 2 episode of House of the Dragon, Rhaenyra (Emma D'Arcy) and Daemon (Matt Smith) stopped fighting their feelings for one another and finally got together. However, this was more than just an illicit liaison, as Rhaenyra and Daemon got married at the end of the episode.
In the show, there isn't any romantic love between them. Daemon uses Rhaenyra for her position, and by being the first man to be intimate with her, he ensures that no other man would want to marry her. In the books, however, Rhaenyra was in love with Daemon and had always been besotted with him.
The father of Rhaenyra Targaryen's sons is Harwin Strong.
House of the Dragon fans have been joking about Ser Criston Cole not ageing during the series despite multiple time jumps. Cole has been played by the same actor, Fabien Frankel, throughout the Game of Thrones prequel despite other roles being re-cast by older actors due to two time jumps adding up to around 16 years.