Spoilers below.
Game of Thrones has always loved its bastards. (We miss you, Jon Snow.) It’s only fitting, then, that bastard children should play such a prominent role in the GoT prequel, House of the Dragon, in which lineage and succession are matters of life and death—or, forgive me, fire and blood. Some of the series’ most essential characters are bastards. (At least Prince Jacaerys Velaryon can finally admit it!) But don’t dare question the legitimacy of their parentage, nor their claim to a) a dragon or b) perhaps the Iron Throne itself. As House of the Dragon digs deeper into its second season, more and more bastards are crawling out into the open, and they promise to make the approaching Dance of the Dragons all the more intricate.
It is the “dragonseeds,” in particular, whose Valyrian blood will make their machinations consequential. But because House of the Dragon already gives its audience a headache-inducing number of characters to track, you might have initially missed the introduction of these wandering children. Ahead, a quick guide to the dragonseeds we’ve met on screen so far—and a few hints as to the role they’ll play.
First and foremost, what are dragonseeds?
Dragonseeds are bastard (or otherwise unrecognized) children of dragon-riding (a.k.a. Valyrian) blood, often of Targaryen or Velaryon descent. In George R. R. Martin’s Fire and Blood, from which House of the Dragon is adapted, the author describes a scene in which Queen Alysanne and King Jaehaerys discuss the phenomenon: Alysanne tells her husband “stories of men of mine own house, Targaryens, who have made free with the wives of fisherfolk and serving men, and sired children on them…’
‘Dragonseeds, they call them,’ Jaehaerys said with obvious reluctance. ‘It is not a thing to boast of, but it has happened, mayhaps more often than we would care to admit.’”
Not all children of Valyrian heritage develop dragon-riding skills, but many do, making even the lowly bastards of Dragonstone and Driftmark crucial to both Team Green and Team Black.
In season 2, episode 5, Jacaerys Velaryon—Rhaenyra’s eldest son—reminds his mother, “There are those of our line who never ruled. Those who married into other noble houses, their children born with other names.” Some of these children might be bastards, but others might be “legitimate,” having simply “fallen out of” the main Targaryen line, as Rhaenyra explains. “There could be scores of them,” Jace agrees. And it would seem he and his mother intend to find these long-lost children, and equip them with dragons.
Who are Addam and Alyn of Hull?
Clinton Liberty as Addam and as Abubakar Salim Alyn of Hull.
Early in House of the Dragon season 2, we meet the sailors Addam (Clinton Liberty) and Alyn of Hull (Abubakar Salim), who share something of a strange relationship with the Sea Snake, a.k.a Lord Corlys Velaryon (Steve Touissaint). Alyn saved Corlys’ life, but the latter’s gratitude seems to extend beyond the rescue itself.
That might have something to do with the siblings’ disputed parentage. Addam, one year Alyn’s elder, are written in Fire and Blood to be “both silver of hair and purple of eye,” with “‘sea salt in their blood.’” Martin continues: “That Addam and Alyn were dragonseed no man who looked upon them could doubt, though their mother steadfastly refused to name their father.” She eventually would claim that “both boys were the natural sons of the late Ser Laenor Velaryon. They had his look, it was true, and Ser Laenor had been known to visit the shipyard in Hull from time to time. Nonetheless, many on Dragonstone and Driftmark were skeptical of [their mother]’s claim, for Laenor Velaryon’s disinterest in women was well remembered.” It is instead posited that “‘the little mice’ had been sired not by the Sea Snake’s son, but by the Sea Snake himself.”
In other words, those Hull boys are definitely Velaryon sons—and if Rhaenyra learns of their father’s identity, you can be sure she’ll want them on dragonback.
Who is Hugh Hammer?
Kieran Bew (left) as Hugh Hammer and Ellora Torchia as his wife.
As depicted in House of the Dragon, there’s a blacksmith (Kieran Bew) in King’s Landing with an ailing daughter, his family’s finances suffering from the blockade. This man is Hugh Hammer, written in Fire and Blood as “a blacksmith’s bastard” with “hands so strong that he was said to be able to twist steel bars into torcs. Through largely untrained in the art of war, his size and strength made him a fearsome foe. His weapon of choice was the warhammer, with which he delivered crushing, killing blows.”
We don’t learn of Hugh’s precise parentage in Martin’s writing, though House of the Dragon might diverge from the source material and grant him a named Valyrian parent. Either way, we know he has an important role to play now that Team Green and Black are both in need of dragon-riders.
Who is Ulf White?
Tom Bennett as Ulf White.
Similarly to Hugh Hammer, Ulf White (Tom Bennett) is one of the King’s Landing smallfolk and a (less secretive) dragonseed. Martin describes him as “a pale-haired man-at-arms named Ulf the White (for his hair) or Ulf the Sot (for his drinking).” That’s appropriate, given we first meet the character in a brothel enjoyed by the Targaryen Princes Aegon and Aemond. There, Ulf boasts loudly of his lineage, claiming he is actually an uncle to Aegon, son to Baelon the Brave and a bastard brother to the late King Viserys and the Black-pledged Prince Daemon. Such a claim is treasonous, and his skeptical (but fascinated) friends attempt to quiet him. Suffice to say, he seems likely to be proved right.
Where are all the female dragonseeds?
Women hold a much lower position of authority in the world of Westeros, meaning there might be any number of female dragonseeds who a) simply aren’t aware of their parentage or b) are prevented from doing anything about it. But watch this space: House of the Dragon is a largely female-driven saga, and we wouldn’t be surprised if a few unexpected dragonseeds turn out to be women.
This story will be updated.