House of the Dragon Season 2, episode 5 ends with the promise of a possibly game-changing gambit from Team Black.
Following the loss of Rhaenys Targaryen (Eve Best) and her dragon Meleys, Rhaenyra Targaryen (Emma D'Arcy) and her son Jacaerys Velaryon (Harry Collett) realize that their only hope of winning this war is to bring more dragons to their side. As of now, Dragonstone's riderless dragons include Vermithor, Silverwing, and Seasmoke, who was Laenor's (John MacMillan) previous dragon.
But dragons need riders if they are to be of any use in a war effort, and said riders need the blood of Old Valyrian dragonlords if they are to survive claiming a dragon. Right now the list of possible Targaryen recruits is unfortunately thin. Rhaenyra's other children and their dragons are too young to even be options, while Rhaena (Phoebe Campbell) almost died during her previous attempts to claim dragons. So, who can Rhaenyra and Jace look to next?
As Jace reminds his mother, Targaryens have married into other houses before, meaning there are people out there who have Targaryen blood, even if they don't bear the Targaryen name. The two decide to start their search there, with the family records. Realistically, though, they could also find dragonrider candidates among the Targaryen bastards — some of whom we've already met in the show.
With that in mind, here are the three characters most likely to be joining Rhaenyra on dragonback.
House of the Dragon introduced us to Ulf the White (Tom Bennett), our first confirmed Targaryen bastard — or "dragonseed" — earlier this season. In episode 2, he took a good long look at the hanged ratcatchers. Then in episode 3, he told new acquaintances in a King's Landing tavern that he is the bastard son of Baelon the Brave, making him the illegitimate brother of Viserys (Paddy Considine) and Daemon (Matt Smith). Of course, that could all be a load of posturing on Ulf's end. But why brag about something that could get you beheaded? Plus, his graying hair could once have been Targaryen silver.
Blacksmith Hugh Hammer (Kieran Bew) has been one of our windows into the lives of King's Landing's smallfolk for much of Season 2 so far. But as George R.R. Martin's Fire & Blood tells us, he's a dragonseed as well. Look no further than his hair — it's not quite Targaryen pale, but it's close enough to make you wonder. Before he gets to Dragonstone to claim a dragon, though, he'll need to get out of King's Landing. And given that Aemond (Ewan Mitchell) has ordered it to be closed off, that could be quite a challenge.
Like Ulf and Hugh, Addam of Hull (Clinton Liberty) is another character we've spent a tiny bit of time with this season, and his role is only about to get bigger. In episode 4, his brother Alyn (Abubakar Salim) was all but confirmed to be the bastard son of Corlys Velaryon (Steve Toussaint), meaning Addam is likely Corlys' son as well. That means the Old Valyrian blood of House Velaryon runs in Addam's veins.
Now, it's a common belief that only dragonlords can ride dragons, and House Velaryon was not a dragonriding house in Old Valyria. But as Jace points out to Rhaenyra, the focus on dragonlord blood comes from Valyrian histories that were "written to gild [dragonlords] in glory." If these legends were just attempts to keep Targaryen supremacy alive, there's a chance that anyone — including Velaryons with no trace of Targaryen blood, like Addam — could be a dragonrider. Factor in the scene from episode 2 where Seasmoke wheels above Addam's head, and you're looking at a compelling argument for Addam being one of the next top dragonriders of Westeros.
New episodes of House of the Dragon air Sundays at 9 p.m. ET on HBO and Max.
