House of the Dragon Finally Sets One of Its Biggest Stories in Motion

WARNING: This article contains MAJOR SPOILERS from House of the Dragon Season 2! Continue reading at your own risk… The fourth episode of House of the Dragon Season 2 revealed that the Targaryen civil war had turned into a war of dragons, and those dragons are in short supply. That said, there are a few dragons still without riders that could, in theory, turn the tide of the war, and the series has been planting the seeds for those new dragonriders throughout Season 2. In Sunday night’s new episode, the story of the people known as “dragonseeds” was finally set in motion, setting up as many as four new dragonriders in the coming weeks.

A couple of men have been featured very sparingly in House of the Dragon Season 2 to this point: Hugh Hammer, Ulf, and Addam of Hull. Addam has already been teased as a dragonrider, as he watched Seasmoke flying off the coast of Driftmark, and Rhaenys all-but confirmed that both Addam and his brother were the bastard sons of her husband, Lord Corlys Velaryon. 

Hugh and Ulf have only been seen in King’s Landing to this point, but that started to change in this new episode as Hugh tried to get his family out of town. It seems he will eventually be drawn to Dragonstone, where he’ll find out he can actually ride one of the dormant dragons living beneath Dragonstone. Ulf wasn’t shown in the episode, but he has been telling people all around town that he’s actually a Targaryen, so maybe he wasn’t totally lying after all.

Hugh trying to leave King’s Landing was the first step towards beginning the story of the dragonseeds, but the plot was really kicked into high gear in the final scene of the episode, thanks to a conversation between Jace and Rhaenyra.

What Are Dragonseeds?

While Jace never actually said the word “dragonseed” out loud to his mother in their conversation, his idea essentially explained the history of them from Fire & Blood. These dragonseeds are essentially people who have some Valerian blood in them, though they haven’t been known as Targaryens or Velaryons for generations. Fire & Blood explains it as old Valerian lords sleeping with newlywed women on their wedding nights, and their bloodline continuing through commonfolk from there.

Jace’s plan is to track down anyone who potentially has Targaryen blood in their veins to try and bond with one of the dragons that doesn’t have a rider. If Vermithor and Silverwing, the two dragons beneath Dragonstone, can match with riders, they are big enough to challenge Vhagar and potentially turn the tide of the war.

In Fire & Blood there are actually four dragonseeds that join the war at this point. Hugh, Ulf, and Addam have all been accounted for, but the character Nettles has yet to appear on the show. With the dragonseed plan now in place, fans will be waiting to see if Nettles actually takes part in the story.

Based on George R.R. Martin‘s “Fire & Blood” book, House of the Dragon is set 200 years before the events of Game of Thrones. In Season 2 of House of the Dragon, Westeros is on the brink of a bloody civil war with the Green and Black Councils fighting for King Aegon and Queen Rhaenyra, respectively. New episodes of House of the Dragon premiere every Sunday on HBO at 9 p.m. ET.

The cast for House of the Dragon includes Matt Smith as Prince Daemon Targaryen, Olivia Cooke as Dowager Queen Alicent Hightower, Emma D’Arcy as Queen Rhaenyra Targaryen, Eve Best as Princess Rhaenys Targaryen, Steve Toussaint as Lord Corlys Velaryon, Fabien Frankel as Ser Criston Cole, Ewan Mitchell as Prince Aemond Targaryen, Tom Glynn-Carney as King Aegon II Targaryen, Sonoya Mizuno as Mysaria, and Rhys Ifans as Ser Otto Hightower.