The House of the Dragon Season 1. Ser Criston Cole. How would Love turn to Hate?

The books never really elaborate the reasons why Ser Criston Cole becomes Princess Rhaenyra´s enemy, all versions converge on one point however, that they used to have a strong affection that turned sour.

Love turned to hate.

We have seen the young knight from the Dornish Marshes make a name for himself jousting in the first episode against Prince Daemon himself, and earning Princess Rhaenyra´s favour. That day the Princess was observing her uncle with a more than girly crush, but still a young teenager of 15. 

Then we see the Princess and the Knight again, when she chooses him over nobles of high houses for the King´s Guard. She acknowledges his value as a knight proved in battle, while asserting what little power she had at that moment.

Later Criston is again the King´s Guard who is closer to her, and is the one who runs after her when she runs from the King´s Hunt entourage, and helps her killing the boar. He is her guardian and accomplice.

In the begginning of episode 4 we can almost say that he is happy that his Princess has still not chosen a husband so far. She is pleasant, the delight of the Realm, she treats him with sweetness, she is beautiful, he knows everything about her daily troubles, he feels the paradox of intimacy and hierarchy. 

There is a scene where the Princess asks about former lovers, if he has ever had a lady in his life.He has taken vows that have meant great honour to his House, and a life of a Septon when it comes to love and sex, and that was the price he chose to pay. Basking in the warmth of his Princess presence seemed a bonus.

One night she rushes in dressed as a boy, a little tipsy perhaps, and seduces him. He breaks his vows.

First things first: she did not force him, she did not threaten him, he could have refused her if he wanted and both would have kept the secret. She could put it on uncle´s tab of endless misdeeds, getting innocent niece drunk and naughty. End of story. 

Second: From a woman´s perspective, she wanted to have sex with someone who desired her, and whom she fancied, with a person she considered attractive, considerate, intimate. Love? Maybe, but I feel that in a moment like that, she wanted intimacy and freedom. The man she yearned for all her life denied her, but there is someone else that she trusts her life to, literally, that knight in shining armor.

Daemon showed Rhaenyra that sex can be more than duty, that it can be pleasure for BOTH men and women. With him she also discovered passion and love, but her longing for agency over her own life, may end up ruining her relationship with her Sworn Sword.

Unrequited love turns bitter, the agony of not being able to express the passion you feel for someone is nervewrecking. The trustworthy knight will soon learn that he is literally below her, that he is no dragonrider, and that even if she returned his feelings, it would be impossible.

He broke his vows for nothing. 

What if she is pregnant and does not take moontea and rushes to marry? If that happens, it will be a plot twist on the books, cause Ser Criston Cole would conspire against his own child. But then, what if she takes up another lover? It is insult added to injury. 

Love turned to hate.

Ser Criston becomes a Green. We don´t know yet, whether the showrunner will make him bed Alicent.

In real life love often turns to hate. It happens so often that it is trivial. And if people say that a spurned woman is the devil, I say that a man with his gigantic ego fractured, a man who feels spurned, rejected, or slighted by a woman can be lethal.