Social media can sometimes be unjust to users, especially celebrities. Unfortunately, one of the actors from House of the Dragon Season 2 is receiving undeserving hatred from the show’s global fandom on Instagram. The GOT prequel series introduced us to several villains, but none of them received hatred as this character did since the beginning of Season 2.
Spoiler Warning: This article includes spoilers for House of the Dragon Season 1 and 2. Proceed with caution.
Criston Cole Comes out as the Most Hated HOTD Character
We met Ser Criston Cole in House of the Dragon Season 1, and he instantly became a fan-favorite character. The captain of Kingsguard soon started developing romantic feelings for Rhaenyra after getting intimate with her a couple of times. He also proposed to her and asked Rhaenyra to leave everything behind and run away with him. However, when Rhaenyra rejected him, Criston Cole didn’t take much time to switch sides and take the rejection upon his ego.
Now that the biggest Civil War is near, we see things getting dirty with each passing episode. King Aegon II hoped to see Jahaerys sit on the Iron Throne after him, but that will not happen anymore as the poor kid is already dead. Well, Criston Cole is not involved in any such act, but it’s his mind games and the way he is seen talking in the new season is something that makes him the most hated character.
We agree that he expected too much from Rhaenyra when they were young, and he took it on his ego when the royal blood rejected him. Ser Criston Cole felt like a “toy” to the princess, so he decided not to look back, and that’s why he joined hands with the Greens. However, in the second season, we see him getting intimate with Queen Alicent, and I believe he knows that the Queen will not take him as her husband either. So, how can he not see the wrong Alicent is doing to him?
Otto Hightower, King Viserys’s hand, who manipulated the King and his daughter in the first season, has also fallen prey to Ser Criston Cole’s games. King Aegon II snatched his badge and passed the position of the King’s hand to Ser Criston Cole. He will certainly not take the role lightly and will use it for his own benefit.
Ser Criston also took the first step by sending Ser Arryk to Dragonstone to kill Rhaenyra without finding out if she was the one to get Jahaerys killed. When he questioned Ser Arryk about his whereabouts the night of the prince’s death, he would have thought about what he was doing when Blood and Cheese entered the premises of Red Keep. It indicated that Criston Cole wanted revenge due to his personal grudge from Rhaenyra.
Fans are Hating Hard on Fabien Frankel on Instagram
Isn’t it sad to see actors harassed on social media? We agree that Fabien Frankel is portraying a character on HOTD who deserves the hatred but the actor doesn’t. The actor is simply portraying a character on screen but some fans just don’t understand that.
Fans took to Instagram after watching the second episode of House of the Dragon Season 2. One user wrote, “Where were you when the heir to the throne was murdered?” and “I hate you”, wrote another. A comment also stated, ” How do you go from being the most liked character to becoming the worst character in GOT history?”
Media literacy needs to be a Compulsory course in schools 😪
— mystique (@mystic_k9) June 24, 2024
It's a shame people often forget to separate the character from the actor— FPL Marcin (@FPLMarcin) June 24, 2024
Some people can’t differentiate between fiction and reality 🤦— Wilson 𝕏 (@justbhadmaan) June 24, 2024
Well, several fans came forward to support the actor, and this is what their comments looked like: “People are so parasocial towards fictional characters, man Jesus Christ,” “Media literacy needs to be a Compulsory course in schools,” and well, “How people can’t separate actors from characters is baffling.” So yeah, people on social media, hiding behind their screens and using their clickity-clack typing fingers, need to learn how to differentiate between the actor and the character.
Aparna Ukil
