I Can't Possibly Be Wrong All the Time

We’re another month closer to Season Two of HBO’s House of the Dragon, but there’s still plenty of time to write about Season One. In particular, about two men in Princess Rhaenyra’s –

Rhaenyra Targaryen: That’s Queen Rhaenyra, thank you.
Me: My bad, I’m sorry Your Grace.

– about two men in Queen Rhaenyra’s dating history – Ser Criston Cole and Ser Harwin Strong.

Of the two men, Ser Harwin had the longer relationship with Rhaenyra, lasting for years. He’s the father of her three eldest children, Jacaerys, Lucerys, and little Joffrey. Ser Criston can only confess (literally) to a one-night stand with the princess, with their relationship abruptly ending when the young Kingsguard could not handle the idea of being in a political polyamorous marriage arrangement. (In that she’s in a political marriage but can see him on the side.) He then throws a violent fit at Rhaenyra’s engagement party and that ended things completely.

Cole swiftly went from being Rhaenyra’s bodyguard to Rhaenyra’s boyfriend to Rhaenyra’s brooding ex-boyfriend.

Ser Harwin: Hah, one episode.

Technically, although Harwin and the princess were in a relationship for years – with babies and toddlers and pre-teens, the official start and bulk of the relationship happened in-between episodes, so the screentime relationship between Harwin and Rhaenyra clocked in as something less than an episode.

Ser Criston: I’m still alive, too, so there’s no need to even keep track of all that time.

Although we had glimpses of Ser Harwin in the first 5 episodes of House of the Dragon, admiring Rhaenyra at the royal hunt, bumping into Rhaenyra and her uncle catching some King’s Landing nightlife, and later extracting Rhaenyra from the engagement party donnybrook (the one kicked off by Ser Criston) – tens of minutes after Ser Harwin is established as being an integral part of Rhaenyra’s life, he’s bumped off before the end of the episode, by the scheming ambitions of his younger brother, Larys Strong.

Ser Harwin quickly goes from being Rhaenyra’s Bestest Boyfriend to an X’d boyfriend.

Boyfriend Battle

The sixth episode of House of the Dragon featured a dramatic sequence – the first and only interaction shown between Rhaenyra’s ex-boyfriend Criston and her paramour Harwin. This was particularly satisfying for book readers that were Ser Harwin supporters, since in the episode Ser Harwin just absolutely cleans Cole’s clock on the royal training yard, beating the Kingsguard down onto the ground.

This is a contrast to the only physical confrontation referenced in the source material Fire and Blood between Cole and the father of Rhaenyra’s children – in that book it’s a tourney melee where Ser Harwin gets beaten so badly by Ser Criston that the court jester Mushroom (one of the three quoted sources for the events of the Targaryen Civil War) re-nicknames Harwin “Breakbones” Strong to be Harwin “Brokenbones” Strong.

Although Cole-detractors (there are many) could rejoice in Ser Harwin coming out on top of the fight, it is actually a huge win for Ser Criston. He purposely goaded Ser Harwin into attacking him by bringing up the implied improper relationship between the knight and the princess by suggesting that Harwin has a father’s concern for the boys (who happen in truth to be his sons, and not Rhaenyra’s husband Laenor Velaryon’s – GASP)

The attack on a knight of the Kingsguard by Harwin had consequences – Ser Harwin was removed from his post as Commander of the Goldcloaks and taken away from King’s Landing to the seat of House Strong – the cursed and haunted castle of Harrenhal.

At Harrenhal, a mysterious fire then claims both of their lives.

Larys Strong: Well, it is a cursed and haunted castle. And now it’s all mine. Mwuahahah.
Ser Criston: I wasn’t expecting all that, but I’ll take it.

But this physical conflict between two secondary characters in a story of civil war is worth looking at some more. On the surface, it’s a moment where Rhaenyra loses a supporter leading up to the war and overall makes the capital less hospitable to her. Ser Harwin Strong’s position as Commander of the Goldcloaks was a serious political lever for Rhaenyra, the way Criston Cole’s ardent support for Queen Alicent is a serious political level for the Green Queen (especially when Cole becomes Lord Commander of the Kingsguard, following King Viserys’ death and the refusal of Lord Commander Ser Harrold Westerling to immediately accept Alicent’s son Aegon as de facto king.)

But, from a narrative perspective, the fight between Ser Criston and Ser Harwin is symbolic of the whole “brother versus brother” story that’s often referenced when talking about civil wars, since Cole and Strong are pretty much the same guy.

Ser Arryk: I’m just thinking, you could probably pick better candidates for this.
Ser Erryk: Yeah.
Me: Just wait your turn.

Ser Criston Cole, the Dark Shadow of Harwin Strong. Or, Ser Harwin Strong, Criston Cole 2.0.

Often in stories, we’ll have a character and their foil, a kind of fallen version of the character, or an evil twin. This happens all the time in comics in particular, like Superman having his imperfect duplicate Bizarro, or Batman having – wow, so many to pick from – the Batman Who Laughs, or the extra violent Batman personality Zur En Arrh, or Earth-3’s Owl Man. (DC writers just like having dark Batmen. It’s a thing.)

But in this case, we get introduced to Ser Criston Cole first, it’s not like Ser Harwin is a fallen version of Criston, he’s arguably (not that arguably to most people) an upgrade.

Both men are skilled fighters with government jobs, both men caught Rhaenyra’s eyes. With Ser Criston being in the Kingsguard and Ser Harwin first being a captain in the Goldcloaks and then the commander, their official positions would provide cover for any opportunities for either of them to be physically in the same space with the princess, with no questions asked.

During the times that each had Rhaenyra’s affection, they even had similar hairstyles.

That might seem to just be a superficial resemblance, but before episode 6 and the truth of Rhaenyra’s children’s paternity was made clear, some podcasters covering House of the Dragon – even with the benefit of book knowledge – were theorizing that the show might have a twist where Ser Criston would be the father of Jace, Luke, and Joff.

Laenor Velaryon: Are you mad? They’re clearly my boys.
King Viserys: I agree, Corlys.

To be fair to the podcasters, book readers were hoping for surprises in the show’s adaptation.

Laenor Velaryon: And they got one!
Daemon Targaryen: Laenor, my situation won’t work if you keep popping up.

But even if some people thought Criston could somehow take the place of Harwin as the royal bastards’ dad, that didn’t happen. Ser Harwin replaced Ser Criston in Rhaenyra’s romantic life.

And this is the difference that matters, in contrast to the similarities between the two men.

Ser Criston Cole, when given the offer to carry-on a clandestine romantic relationship with Rhaenyra – who would be entering into a passionless political marriage – he said No.

Sometime between the violence of the Velaryon-Targaryen engagement party in episode 5 and the time-jumped episode 6, Ser Harwin Strong was given that same offer, and found it acceptable. That guy was quite happy to say Yes.

And despite rumors and Queen Alicent’s side-eyeing, they’d made it work for years.

Until, a violent fit happened which led to consequences.

Ser Joffrey Lonmouth: People just need to relax and choose non-violence.
Larys Strong: Or, at least choose violence that can’t be traced back. Rookie mistake.

Back to the whole “shadow self aspect” – from a narrative point of view, Ser Criston engineers (indirectly) the death of himself, a self that chose differently in regards to the princess and her affections.

Ser Criston: Wait, why am I being seen as the “fallen” version of Harwin, or that he’s the better version of me? I’m allowed to stand up for myself and what I want in a relationship.
Ser Harwin: Don’t care. Got laid.
Ser Criston: Laid to rest.
Prince Daemon: You’re both ridiculous, and Rhaenyra is much better off with me, her loving uncle.

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(Thanks to everyone who read this. Years ago, I’d crank out a blog post about Game of Thrones every one or two weeks. That was a crazy amount of work. I’m easing back into Westeros Blogging or whatever by trying to get one out every month until the show starts up. I don’t think I’ll have anything particularly insightful to say, but I hope you enjoyed reading my lack of insights.

Comments are always welcome. Super welcome! But if you want to talk spoilery Game of Thrones or House of the Dragon talk with me (also welcome – I’ve read Fire and Blood, to be clear) I’d invite you to visit my Safe Spoilers page on my backup blog. That way my non-book-reading friends won’t be shocked with foreknowledge.)

Images from HBO’s HOUSE OF THE DRAGON. I make no claims to the artwork, but some claims to the text here. So there.

If you liked this article, thank you! I have all of my Game of Thrones/House of the Dragon related articles on my handy-dandy Game of Thrones page should you want to read more but don’t want to navigate around my site.

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