Olivia Cooke wonders why Alicent's "prolonged" sex scene was cut from House of the Dragon

One of the most surprising developments about the new season of House of the Dragon, something we learn in the premiere episode, is that Alicent Hightower (Olivia Cooke) and Lord Commander of the Kingsguard Criston Cole (Fabien Frankel) are sleeping together. Before this, the two had spent years united in sexual repression, with a lot of their anger misdirected at the more liberated Rhaenyra Targaryen. But after Alicent's husband King Viserys died, apparently they felt it was time to do something about the long-simmering tension between them.

The second episode, "Rhaenyra the Cruel," ends with one of their sexual encounters, but we cut away before things get too heavy. Apparently there was a lot more. “I know, I did shoot, like, a really prolonged scene at the end of Episode 2 that unfortunately did not make the cut,” Cooke said during a cast roundtable, according to Decider. “I guess [showrunner Ryan Condal] was just like, ‘We don’t need to see that.' Well, why did you make me do that?"

In another interview, Cooke brought up an "animalistic" sex scene between Alicent and Criston that got cut down; I imagine it's the same one. “I think Ryan said we weren’t learning any more about the characters, which I disagree with slightly, but it’s OK. It’s his show,” she said at the time.

How will Alicent and Criston's affair play out on House of the Dragon season 2?

Obviously I haven't seen the full version of the scene, but we've seen a couple of Alicent-Criston sex scenes now, so I can imagine that cutting down this latest one was the right call. Somehow I doubt this one will end up on the Deleted Scenes reel, so we'll probably never have a chance to analyze it further.

Going forward, you have to wonder whether Alicent's children — King Aegon (Tom Glynn-Carney) and Aemond (Ewan Mitchell) — will ever find out that their mom is sleeping with the new Hand of the King. Her daughter Helaena (Phia Saban) already knows, but she hasn't said anything; she has a lot more on her mind at the moment. “To sort of be having an affair with these kids that you work with’s mum? I mean, you know, it’s very House of the Dragon, isn’t it?" mused Frankel. "So very Game of Thrones.”

As for Alicent and Criston, the affair does not look healthy. The encounter at the end of Episode 2 started with Alicent slapping and shoving Criston Cole until it devolved into passion. These are two messed up, shame and guilt-ridden characters who are probably having sex for the wrong reasons. Cooke has her suspicions about the relationship, as well. “I think Alicent has really weakened herself by, like, submitting to Criston,” she said. “I think she was almost this deity for him and now the mystique is sort of over, isn’t it? When you have sex with someone and when you’ve involved in a relationship.”

Cooke said that as the season continues, Cole will become "infected" by the other male characters in the story. “His chivalry takes over and he feels like Alicent needs to be protected and made ignorant to the plans that they’re concocting. This is just another way that the patriarchy is working against Alicent. Her eyes become open to to how this really isn’t working for her anymore and the indoctrination that her father imparted on her is starting to crumble away.”

Given that Criston Cole has now held a grudge against Rhaenyra Targaryen for rejecting his romantic overtures literally decades ago, I think he was pretty well infected already. We'll see how things play out as the season continues; new episodes drop Sundays on HBO and Max. “I don’t want to give too much away just because it will be very interesting to see how audiences react to the next two, three episodes. But certainly it’s affected their relationship, no doubt,” Frankel said.

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