House of the Dragon just killed off a major player at the Butcher’s Ball

Well, House of the Dragon has just burned through another major player, and not in a gentle way either. If you thought things might ease up as we edge towards the business end of season 3, think again – the latest episode saw a long-running knight meet a particularly grim end. To be honest, if you know George R. R. Martin you probably saw it coming, but still, it’s a nasty bit of work.

The Butcher’s Ball

Episode 6 wastes no time at all: within the opening minutes, Ser Criston Cole (played by Fabien Frankel) rides face-first into his own bloody curtain call. He’s ambushed in a field that’s supposed to be packed with corpses, only the bodies aren’t quite as dead as he’d like – they're blacked-up men from the opposing side, ready to turn Cole’s day from bad to terminal. He tries to surrender, even tries to bargain for the lives of his few surviving men, and in typical Westeros fashion, it does absolutely nothing for him. Instead, Oscar Tully (Archie Barnes) and Roderick Dustin (Tommy Flanagan) turn the field into a charnel house.

The show calls this bloody event “The Butcher’s Ball,” and lets Cole take down about two dozen men before the inevitable.

Arrow fire finally puts him out of his misery, with Alysanne Blackwood firing the shot – not that she gets a single word to say while she’s about it. If you’re a stickler for the source material, yes, this is exactly how George R. R. Martin played it in the book Fire & Blood.

What was Cole Playing At?

Now, for what little foreshadowing the show gives, Cole more or less announced his exit a week ago. In episode 5, the way he saw it: 'It will be glorious… And not in their service, finally. But in my own.' He even goes a step further with his best bit of self-branding yet: 'I am the realm’s greatest warrior, and I will die as such.' Right, mate. That turned out well.

At the sticky end, Tully rubs salt in Cole’s wounds with another borrowed line from the novel:

‘I made a promise to the dead, Cole. I told them I would build a sept for them out of traitors’ bones, and I don’t have near enough bones yet.'

Meanwhile Elsewhere…

You’d think the death of the king’s right hand might merit a bit more aftermath, but the episode doesn’t look back. Rhaenyra (Emma D’Arcy) is too busy for mourning – she decides to give Alicent (Olivia Cooke) a new mission: go assassinate someone at Harrenhal, and in exchange she might earn freedom for herself and her daughter Helaena. At Harrenhal, Aemond (Ewan Mitchell) is up to his own mischief, starting something with Alys Rivers (Gayle Rankin). On top of that, Rhaenyra’s just found out that Helaena (Phia Saban) is pregnant.

• Ser Criston Cole’s death occurs in the opening minutes
• He’s ambushed by men led by Oscar Tully and Roderick Dustin
• Alysanne Blackwood fires the fatal arrows
• Afterwards, Bold Jon Roxton (Joplin Sibtain) seizes Corlys Velaryon (Steve Toussaint), closing out the episode
• Two episodes left this season

House of the Dragon continues Sundays in the US at 9 p.m. ET on HBO and HBO Max. There’s only more carnage to come.