‘House of the Dragon’ Just Confirmed Its Arya Stark Replacement

Warning: This includes SPOILERS for House of the Dragon Season 3, Episode 6!

When I think of Arya Stark, two things come to mind. There’s the brilliant arc from George R.R. Martin’s A Song of Ice & Fire books that was successfully adapted for four seasons of Game of Thrones, and then there’s the character who came flying in at the last moment to stab the Night King, ending the Long Night just moments after it began. Seven years later, it’s not a choice I’m diametrically opposed to, but I think I’ve already become so numb and indifferent to Season 8’s choices that I can’t imagine anything particularly marvelous in its stead.

House of the Dragon Season 3 just had a similar moment, as, after four years of fans eagerly awaiting to see Criston Cole suffer, the character met his end. This adapts one of my favorite moments from the Fire & Blood books, one that really captures the feeling of war at the ground level. There are no dragons, no Targaryens, just soldiers and strategy trudging through the mucky Riverlands setting. But there is a massive book change to consider, and just the general question of, “Who just killed Criston Cole?”

Alysanne Blackwood Gets Her Arya Stark Moment Killing Criston Cole

Alysanne Blackwood is a character who’s been slowly introduced throughout Season 3 as a ferocious female warrior among the vicious Riverlands and Northern bannermen. If audiences remember, the Blackwoods and the Brackens are the two Riverlands houses who, in Season 2, took the Dance of the Dragons conflict as an opportunity to reignite their long-standing, generational border beef, resulting in a bloody battle. Daemon enlisted the help of Willem Blackwood in Season 2, then ultimately executed him upon Oscar Tully’s demand for retribution.

Alysanne, also known as Black Aly, is a relatively important character throughout the Dance and its subsequent events, but the important difference in the TV series is that she does not kill Criston Cole in the books. Funnily enough, however, as soon as actress Annie Shapero was cast in this role last year, I wrote an article theorizing that House of the Dragon would make this change. The reason for that is that Alysanne has a moment that the TV series skipped over, in which she avenges one of her kin by shooting a foe with a carefully placed bow and arrow shot.

Arya trying to stab the Night King in Game of Thrones Season 8

Given that this was omitted from the series, and because the character who does kill Criston Cole in the books, Red Robb Rivers, was never cast, I connected the dots that Alysanne would fulfill the role. However, I’d hoped House of the Dragon’s writers would spend more time establishing her as a character beforehand, providing the scene with some substance, rather than giving one of the show’s most important kills to a stranger, so to speak. That said, there’s some merit to the choice, and I think it’s worth going over.

With all of that said, it’s the randomness of this event that makes me draw comparisons to Arya and the Night King. The scene was rather well-executed altogether. Much like in the book, Cole acknowledges he’s done for, and attempts to initiate a surrender, and then an outnumbered duel, only to be plugged by a few arrows and killed anyway. I also enjoyed the sporadic feeling of it being at the start of an episode, though I do think Episode 5 could have benefited from having this moment as the climax. This moment does capture the gritty realism of the ground war quite well; I only wish they’d given us a bit more Alysanne before giving her the kill.

Warning: Minor SPOILERS from the books beyond this point!

Why Alysanne Blackwood Is So Important

Cregan Stark House of the Dragon season 2

Alysanne Blackwood isn’t just a throwaway character for the series; she’s actually quite an important figure, as she later marries Cregan Stark, becoming his second wife. Cregan Stark, whom we met in Season 2’s premiere, is Ned’s Great-Great-Great-Great-Grandfather, making him Arya’s Great-Great-Great-Great-Great-Grandfather. Cregan and Alysanne had four children, all of them girls, so the Starks we meet in Game of Thrones technically aren’t her descendants. That said, they do have Blackwood blood from a future generation.

Individually, Aly is a leader among the forces of the Riverlands, commanding three hundred archers during the Battle of the Kingsroad, one of the pivotal moments at the end of the war. We’ll be seeing her more throughout the series, though I hope she’s provided with some scenes to characterize her beyond what we’ve seen so far.