Criston Cole is no longer House of the Dragon’s most hated character
HBOCriston Cole was public enemy number one at the start of House of the Dragon Season 2, but a new dragonrider is fast becoming the show’s most loathsome character.
It hasn’t been hard to hate Criston Cole: he expected Rhaenyra to abandon the crown to run away with him (after breaking his oath), he quickly pivoted to sleeping with Alicent, he lashes out with violence (beating Joffrey Lonmouth to death) and he’s rewarded for coming up with idiotic plans (like Arryk storming Dragonstone on his own).
However, after a superb scene with Gwayne Hightower gave him some much-needed pathos, Season 2 Episode 8 made another House of the Dragon character unbearable to be around: Ulf the White.
Ulf is one of the supposed Targaryen bastards who volunteered to mount a dragon during the Red Sowing, successfully bonding with Silverwing. While Hugh Hammer and Addam of Hull accept this honor with grace, Ulf doesn’t hesitate to guzzle wine and dine like he’s already royalty.
In the finale, he even talks back to Rhaenyra when she asks him to behave better at the table. Jacaerys tells him he’s forgotten his place, and he just rolls his eyes and says, “A sense of humor would do you all good.”
On the House of the Dragon subreddit, one fan asked, “Who else already hates Ulf?” The response has been emphatic.
“I feel like this is the fastest turnaround in character likeability that I’ve ever seen in a show lol. Ulf managed to shred all his empathy and charm points in like 2 scenes,” one user wrote. “I can see why Jace was giving him the death glare; the dude was acting like a complete cretin. Ulf is like that super embarrassing relative you try to never be seen with in public,” another commented.
“He is really annoying… he is not funny and he has no charm… very unlikeable character,” a third added. “They really went out of their way to make him an insufferable c**t as soon as possible lol No grace, no social etiquette, he’s just true 100% plebian street filth,” a fourth wrote.
That said, he has his defenders. “I love Ulf. Added some entertainment in an otherwise extremely boring and badly written finale,” one wrote.
“I like the character. He’s injecting some life and humor into the Team Black scenes,” another commented, while a third argued: “I actually like him because we FINALLY have a character behaving as they should based on the books.”
After the finale, make sure you caught everything that happened with our ending explained guide. You can also find out what we know about House of the Dragon Season 3 and check out 5 shows to watch while you wait for the new season.