House of the Dragon has reached the point where the Dance of the Dragons is less a civil war and more Westeros discovering that consequences can, in fact, breathe fire. Amid the chaos, Ser Criston Cole remains gloriously unforgettable: bitter, ruthless, and loyal to Alicent Hightower and Aegon Targaryen with the dedication of a man determined to make enemies everywhere.

So, if the fandom is celebrating the possible end of this thoroughly unpleasant knight, the least one can ask is whether the job was done properly, and if it was, who should get the credit.

Yes, Ser Criston Cole is dead, and an anonymous archer is responsible for bringing the Kingsguard knight’s lengthy reign of bad decisions to an abrupt end. His death arrives at the beginning of House of the Dragon Season 3, Episode 6, during the Butcher’s Ball, proving that even a man desperate for a legendary ending can be denied one.

The archer herself is not named during the scene, but book readers will immediately recognize her as Alysanne “Black Aly” Blackwood. Her identity comes from George R.R. Martin’s Fire & Blood, with the series officially crediting Annie Shapero as the character. Apparently, Criston Cole’s final opponent preferred a bow to a dramatic duel.

Quite close to how he died in the books, Criston Cole does get one last chance to imagine himself in a glorious final stand, complete with Alicent Hightower’s handkerchief wrapped around his sword. Unfortunately for the self-styled warrior, Black Aly has no interest in indulging his theatrical ambitions. Three arrows later, the Kingmaker is dead in the mud, and the dramatic sword fight never even gets started.

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Love him or loathe him, Criston Cole was far too deeply tangled in Westeros’s mess to leave without consequences.

Ser Criston Cole’s death does more than remove one of House of the Dragon’s most hated figures from the board. It tears away the Green army’s main ground force in the Riverlands, leaving the region open to Oscar Tully’s Rivermen and the Stark Winter Wolves. With that military barrier gone, the road to Tumbleton suddenly becomes much easier to travel.

That shift could have consequences far beyond one battlefield. The First Battle of Tumbleton now looms as a major collision between the advancing Black forces and Ormund Hightower’s army, while Aemond Targaryen loses the commander who helped turn his ambitions into military action. Without Criston Cole’s strategic presence, the Greens may become increasingly dependent on dragons, brute force, and increasingly desperate decisions.

Criston Cole’s absence also creates a leadership vacuum that the Greens cannot ignore. Gwayne Hightower’s survival means the Hightower forces still have an experienced figure who could become more important, while Queen Alicent must reckon with the death of a man who once protected her and shared her deepest ambitions. In the end, Criston Cole’s death removes a villain, but leaves the Dance with a far bigger problem.

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What do you think of Sir Cirsten Cole's death? Let us know in the comments!