Yes. House of the Dragon confirms that Queen Alicent Hightower and Ser Criston Cole are having an affair by the opening of Season 2. The relationship was created for the television adaptation; showrunner Ryan Condal has said it is not in George R. R. Martin’s Fire & Blood. What the show and its actors establish is attraction, secrecy and conflict—not settled proof of lasting love.
Are Alicent and Criston together?
Yes. Season 2 opens with the two sharing an intimate moment, making their affair explicit rather than merely a fan theory. The scene establishes a secret between them, but it does not by itself define how long they have been involved or what either character believes the relationship means.
![House of the Dragon: The Complete First Season (4K Ultra HD + Blu-ray) [4K UHD]](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/51JeAIckcXL._SL160_.jpg)
![House of the Dragon: Season 1 [Blu-Ray] [2022] [Region Free]](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/51Od+cjqc2L._SL160_.jpg)
When did the affair begin?
The premiere reveals that the affair is already underway, but it does not provide a precise start date. Olivia Cooke, who plays Alicent, described Alicent as having fancied Criston since she was young and framed their intimacy as developing amid grief and confusion after King Viserys’s death. That is Cooke’s interpretation of the character, rather than a date stated by the show. In an interview with ELLE, published June 16, 2024, Cooke called the experience a passion Alicent had never had before.
Is the relationship in Fire & Blood?
No. Condal has said the affair is absent from Martin’s book and was a storyline the adaptation wanted to pursue. In the same ELLE interview, he described it as something the show’s team “always wanted to pursue.” HBO describes House of the Dragon as based on Fire & Blood, but this particular relationship is a television addition, not a book-established romance. HBO’s series announcement provides the official adaptation framing.
#1 Best Overall
Does Alicent love Criston?
The available comments support strong desire and infatuation, but not a simple conclusion that Alicent is in enduring love with him. Cooke’s account emphasizes the intensity of acting on a long-held obsession, followed by a rapid change in feeling. In a TIME interview published July 29, 2024, she said “the veil very quickly lifted on that” after the pair had sex, and described Alicent’s subsequent shame and sense of being unclean.
Condal has also characterized Criston as someone who falls for people he is meant to protect. He said the secret is meant to put pressure on both the relationship and the court. Those remarks offer creative context, not an objective diagnosis of either character or a guarantee of where the affair leads.
Why does the affair matter to the court?
Criston’s duty makes the secret consequential
Criston is Lord Commander of the Kingsguard and Alicent’s sworn protector, according to Warner Bros. Discovery’s Season 2 character descriptions. Their private relationship therefore overlaps with his public responsibility to protect the royal household. Secrecy is not just romantic tension: it creates a conflict between personal desire and the office he holds.
The premiere connects their absence with the attack
The affair’s timing intersects with the Blood and Cheese attack on the royal family. The Ringer’s June 19, 2024 episode analysis notes that Alicent is with Criston in the show’s version of events, and raises the question of reduced security in the royal quarters. That is an episode-level consequence and critical reading; it does not establish that their affair alone caused the attack or accounts for every security failure. The book arranges Alicent’s role in that sequence differently, as the same analysis observes.
Quick wins for a faster PC:
Fix the driver behind crashes, sound loss and screen glitchesFind Drivers →Clear out junk files and repair common Windows errorsFree Scan →Scan for outdated or missing drivers - takes under a minuteDriver Scan →The Ringer’s episode mailbag discusses the security implications and treats guilt and shame as part of the scene’s dramatic effect. Those judgments are commentary, rather than an official explanation of the characters’ motives.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.What the relationship theory does—and does not—establish
- Confirmed on screen: Alicent and Criston are having an affair by the Season 2 premiere.
- Confirmed as adaptation context: Condal says the relationship is not in Fire & Blood and was developed for the show.
- Actor interpretation: Cooke describes Alicent’s attraction, grief, desire and later shame; those comments illuminate her performance but are not the only possible reading of the character.
- Still open: The cited interviews and Season 2 material discussed here do not settle the affair’s longer-term status or prove lasting romantic commitment.
The clearest reading is that the show uses a secret affair to join Alicent’s personal desire to Criston’s duty and the court’s vulnerability. Whether that becomes durable love is a different question from whether they are involved: the premiere answers the first, while the evidence here does not settle the second.
Quick Recap
Best Value
Rank #4
Product prices and availability are accurate as of the date/time indicated and are subject to change. Any price and availability information displayed on Amazon at the time of purchase will apply.
