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The Greens and the Blacks inHouse of the Dragonconcur that they have given the war to dragons and armies alone will not be sufficient to win the Dance of the Dragons. Key characters on both sides, such as Ser Criston Cole, Alicent Hightower, Rhaenyra Targaryen, Aemond Targaryen, Jacaerys Velaryon, and Daemon Targaryen know that the war between kin has ripened into the war between dragons and that deterrence and precaution are out the window. Aemond has now been chosen as Prince Regent and Protector of the Realm. Rhaenyra plays her side (the Blacks) for weak because she has no answer to the largest dragon in the Seven Kingdoms - Vhagar.
Presently, Rhaenyra doesn’t have swords to field or Dragonriders, the combined strength of whom can defeat Vhagar. She remains trapped on an island, and her husband Daemon is away fighting his own war at Harrenhal. The best Rhaenyra can do is count on the support of her eldest son - Jacaerys Velaryon, who, by way of conversation, perfectly set upthe Sowing of the Seedsplot inHouse of the Dragon.
Queen Rhaenyra And Her Heir Jacaerys' Conversation InHouse of the DragonEpisode 5
HowHouse Of The DragonSets Up The Sowing Of The Seeds
Towards the end ofHouse of the Dragonseason 2, episode 5 “Regent,” Prince Jacaerys sees his mother, Queen Rhaenyra Targaryen, and discusses how they can take theSevenSix Kingdoms from Aegon the Usurper. She fears the monster Vhagar has become under Aemond’s command and suggests that she could fly on Syrax to meet him in the skies. Jacaerys denounces her plan, citing Meleys' fate at Rook’s Rest. The Red Queen or Meleys wasPrincess Rhaenys' mount, and Rook’s Restis where Aemond’s Vhagar came hunting for them. Meleys, the faster dragon, did put up a good fight but was killed by Vhagar’s sneak attack. The larger of the two dragons, Vhagar, flew from behind the castle and locked her jaws into Meleys' neck, giving her very little chance to fight for her life.
Aemond and Vhagar are a deadly duo and everyone in the realm knows that. To balance power, Jacaerys notes that they have no dearth of dragons on Dragonstone but of Dragonriders. His mother needs Dragonriders, who can claim the riderless dragons and ride them into battles on their behalf. Jacaerys' dragon, Vermax, is young, Daemon is away, and Syrax by herself will not be able to match Vhagar’s strength. Time is running out, and Jacaerys will highly likely call for people to try their luck withriderless dragons such as Silverwing, Seasmoke, and Vermithor.
There are those of our line who never ruled. Those who married into other noble Houses, their children born with other names.
Rhaenyra and Jacaerys agree that putting people who fell out of the Targaryen line onto the dragons is better than death and defeat at the hands of Aemond and Vhagar. They concur that Valyrian histories needlessly glorify Dragonlords (Targaryen in blood) and there’s a good chance that men who share blood with them, can fly riderless dragons to war. As it happens, Dragonstone, the first fortification of the Targaryen Dragonlords of Old Valyria, stores records of their line and all those who fell out of it.
It’s a mad thought.
With that, the mother-son duo set up the Sowing of the Seeds from George R. R. Martin’s source material.
The Dragonseeds And The Battle Of The Gullet InFire & Blood
The Hull brothers, Hugh Hammer, Ulf the White, Nettles, Silver Denys, Lord Gormon Massey, Ser Steffon Darklyn, and people from all walks of life try their luck at mounting dragons. The dragons respond with fire and blood, and the event is dubbed the Red Sowing in lore. The four Seeds who emerge successful and fight for Rhaenyra’s succession are Addam of Hull, Ulf the White, Hugh Hammer, and Nettles. So far,House of the Dragonhas introducedall the Dragonseeds, except Nettles. Addam of Hull claims Seasmoke, Ulf the White rides Silverwing, Hugh Hammer mounts Vermithor, and the only woman in the batch, Nettles, tamesthe wild dragon of Dragonstone named Sheepstealer. Together, Addam, Hugh, Ulf, and Nettles fly alongside Prince Jacaerys Velaryon above the skies of Gullet when the Triarchy’s warships attack the Gay Abandon cog and its escorts ferrying Princes Aegon and Viserys to Pentos. Jace and the Dragonseeds/ Dragonriders raze the Triarchy’s warships, which fight for the Greens. Jacaerys and Vermax die at battle, but Ulf, Hugh, and Nettles return from the Gullet.
The Battle of the Gulletis the Triarchy’s resolve to break the Velaryon fleet’s grip on Blackwater Bay. It is a pyrrhic victory for the Greens in that the Triarchy is smashed to smithereens. With only 28 of 90 warships returning home, it bowed out of the war. The east coasts of Westeros remain under House Velaryon, but one-third of the Velaryon fleet is gone. Rhaenyra’s heir dies, and she loses two more dragons. Driftmark is sacked but Rhaenyra’s eldest son from Daemon - Prince Aegon, flees on his young dragon, Stormcloud. Stormcloud takes multiple arrows and dies at Dragonstone. Rhaenyra’s youngest, Prince Viserys, is captured by a Tyroshi captain and presented to Sharako Lohar. Prince Viserys is believed to be dead for the rest of the war. So, in essence, Rhaenyra’s losses keep piling up.
Jacaerys had called for Dragonseeds to help the Blackscapture King’s Landingbut was forced to alter the wartime measures to fight the Triarchy in the Gullet instead. The Blacks proceed to capture King’s Landing afterward, and Ulf and Hugh fly their dragons above the city’s skies.
Who Is Ulf White?
Ulf is of Dragonseed descent and a man-at-arms who claims Silverwing inthe Dance of the Dragons. White hair, Valyrian features, and an unknown ancestry, Ulf is the poster boy for the Dragonseeds of Dragonstone. Rhaenyra grants him a knighthood after the Fall of King’s Landing, and he lives in King’s Landing with the Blacks. Though Daemon proposes Ulf be wed to the executed renegade, Lord Stokeworth’s daughter, in order to bring House Stokeworth into the Black’s fold, Rhaenyra refuses. As promised by the late Jacaerys Velaryon, Ulf is given lands on Driftmark.
Who Is Hugh Hammer?
Hugh is the bastard of a blacksmith and anotherDragonseed who flies Vermithorfor the Blacks. Rhaenyra also knights him, and grants him lands on Driftmark, but declines Daemon’s proposal of marrying him to the renegade Lord Rosby’s daughter.
The final assignment from the Blacks for Ulf comes in 130 AC when he and Hugh are sent to Tumbleton to defend it against the Hightower army. They defect and stay behind and earn notoriety as the Two Betrayers.Alicent’s youngest,Prince Daeron Targaryen, gives Ulf the title of Lord of Bitterbridge, but his eyes were set on Highgarden in the Reach. Hugh Hammer, on the other hand, wants to see himself as King and not lord of some stronghold. He raises supporters at Tumbleton and boldly claims kingship in front of Prince Daeron. Hugh also wears a crown and kills the Green loyalist Ser Roger Corne in an ensuing melee. He has his supporters fight the other side, and finally, 13 nobles from the Reach known as the Caltrops rise and conspire against the Two Betrayers.
The Two Betrayers are killed in and after the Second Battle of Tumbleton. They prove to be a menace to the Greens and Ser Jon Roxton puts a sword through Hugh before the Second Battle of Tumbleton. While the drunkard Ulf sleeps through the action, and claims the throne, Ser Hobert Hightower gives him poisoned wine.
The Two Betrayers InHouse of the Dragon
Kieran Bew’s Hugh appears at Aegon’s court inHouse of the Dragonseason 2, episode 1 “A Son for a Son,” as a representative of the smiths of King’s Landing. He has silver hair and the quintessential Targaryen features. He says while his ilk supports Aegon against Rhaenyra, there lies the matter of the crown’s delayed payments. The rising iron costs are proving to be a headache for the smiths and Hugh demands advance payments before taking up more work for the crown.
Iron costs have grown. A lone scorpion takes weeks to build. To put it simply, we are struggling. If we could but have the Crown’s coin before we started work, it would bring great relief. Not just to me but to all the smiths serving your cause.
Aegon promises payment and Hugh believes him. The television adaptation of Hugh has a wife named Kat and a sick daughter. Kat fears for their family’s safety and convinces him to seek shelter with her brother at Tumbleton as their city has run short of food due to the Sea Snake’s blockade. Fearing Rhaenyra, Hugh finally gives in, and listens to his wife, who makes a good point:
You think Rhaenyra will let such an affront go unchallenged? We should make for Tumbleton. My brother will have room.
Unfortunately, they are unable to make it out of King’s Landing and find themselves trapped inside on the orders of Prince Regent, and Protector of the Realm, Aemond Targaryen. They are part of the crowd that’s unable to leave the capital because Aemond orders the city gates to be closed to prevent the Smallfolk from leaving and entering. He aims to quell the whispers of instability behind which is the weary and starving population of King’s Landing.
Tom Bennett’s Ulf, on the other hand, retains his drunkard persona from the books but is a resident of King’s Landing as opposed to Dragonstone. He walks into a pub inHouse of the Dragonseason 2, episode 3 “The Burning Mill,” and is quite popular among the crowd. Speaking to a Dornishman, he claims:
That part of Westeros my House never settled.
Ulf in the scene is referring to Aegon the Conqueror’s inability to subjugate the Kingdom of Dorne and bring it under the fold of the realm.Dorne resisted Aegon’s invasionand would remain an independent principality until Prince Maron Martell’s marriage to Princess Daenerys Targaryen took place at King’s Landing in 187 AC. It was only after this marriage that Dorne officially became one of the Seven Kingdoms.
Ulf calls Jaehaerys the Conciliator his grandsire and says he is the bastard son of Baelon the Brave.Ulf doesn’t exactly look like a Valyrianin the show, and there’s no way to prove his genealogy, especially because he is baseborn.
Bastard brother to Prince Daemon and the late King Viserys. Uncle to the one true queen, Rhaenyra Targaryen. The blood of the dragon runs through these veins.
Ulf is pompous, loud and the first one to hail Aegon II when he walks into the same pub. He does employ the term -“Dragonseed"to describe himself.
It remains to be seen howHouse of the Dragonadapts Ulf White and Hugh Hammer’s plotlines from the books. Episode 6 is likely to shine a light on the Dragonseeds and the Sowing of the Seeds in Martin’s lore.
House of the Dragon
House of the Dragon is HBO’s prequel series to Game of Thrones. Set hundreds of years earlier, the show follows the inner machinations and rivalries of the Targaryen royal family. The show was created by Ryan Condal and George R.R. Martin, and stars Matt Smith, Emma D’Arcy, Rhys Ifans, and Olivia Cooke.
