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House of the Dragon: How Claiming A Dragon Is Different For Dragonriders
House of the Dragon adds layers to the dragonseeds' stories, showing their rise from smallfolk in King's Landing to dragonriders.
During House of the Dragon Season 2, Rhaenyra Targaryen needed more dragonriders. That problem was solved during the episode The Red Sowing. Addam of Hull lays claim to Seasmoke, Hugh Hammer lays claim to Vermithor, and then, there's the claim from Ulf the White to Silverwing. Three more dragons join the Blacks; this begs the question: are there specific criteria for one to be a dragonrider?
Dragonseeds- history explored
It's within House of the Dragon that Ulf the White introduced this concept of dragonseeds, people who actually could claim their own dragons. In The Red Sowing, Ulf hesitates when Rhaenyra calls him, suggesting he may have been on to something.
In the book Fire & Blood, Prince Jacaerys Velaryon offers to use dragonseeds to help the Blacks with their dragons by referring to a former Targaryen custom called First Night, in which the newly married bride was obliged to spend the night with them. Jace infers that people with possibly Targaryen blood in Dragonstone are many who could fly a dragon-a deeper meaning into a connection of Targaryen blood.
In Fire & Blood, the dragonseeds Ulff, Addam, Alyn of Hull, Hugh Hammer, and Nettles all claim their mounts, while the unclaimed dragons-Grey Ghost and Cannibal, for instance-remain in Dragonstone, thus making them dragonriders and defy the rules set forth by the nobility.
The Red Sowing
In The Red Sowing, Jacaerys is the first to bring up Targaryen bastards, as witnessed in House of the Dragon by Mysaria. An argument is brought forth by Jace that nothing sets trueborn Targaryens apart, referring to the doctrine of Targaryen exceptionalism devised by King Jaehaerys himself to maintain purity.
That doctrine postulated that Targaryens were closer to gods than men, thus allowing them to do things others could not do. They have Old Valyria's blood in them, the burden of ruling in themselves, and they can ride the dragons, a fact that justifies their incest. But dragonseeds challenge that preconception because they are not, in fact, Targaryens, but half or less. Addam is no Targaryen, and bastard children are not raised in castles. Rhaenyra calls them bastards from King's Landing, smallfolk and peasants thrust onto the back of a dragon.
The very fact that Addam, Hugh, and Ulf are dragonseeds from the low-class Westerosi society challenges the Targaryen exceptionalism. Each one of them has risen to greatness that was left to gods. Still, they might not be treated on an equal footing with the Targaryen highborn, Jacaerys, who always lived with the shadow of being an unofficial bastard, and Rhaena, a trueborn Targaryen who never claimed a dragon. Maybe this is something a dragonseed could not adjust to because of their quick rise in social ranks.
Dragonseeds from House of the Dragon differ from the book
Fire & Blood is a book about the history of House Targaryen, accounted for by three people. And House of the Dragon managed to make these accounts into something with depth and interesting characters-most notably, the dragonseeds. In Episode 5, Regent, Rhaenyra, and Jacaerys were considering marriages to distant relatives of the Targaryens, but eventually, Ser Steffon Darklyn got burned by Seasmoke.
Seasmoke names Addam of Hull from Driftmark, though he does not have a drop of Targaryen blood in his veins. In Fire & Blood, it was a bastard son of Laenor Velaryon, but in House of the Dragon, he will be a bastard brother of Laenor, a half-Targaryen son of Princess Rhaenys Targaryen. The whole concept of dragonseeds was entirely different in books versus the series.
Ulf the White claims Silverwing as his Targaryen heritage, though his parentage has been changed from that in Fire & Blood. In the book, he's a man-at-arms for House Targaryen who resides in Dragonstone. His father was to have been Baelon the Brave, son of King Jaehaerys. Hugh Hammer, smith in King's Landing, knows himself to be of Targaryen blood, and Princess Saera Targaryen doubtless did too, who dressed as smallfolk and lived among them in the capital.
ALSO READ: Who Are The Dragonkeepers In House Of The Dragons? ExplainedG
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