In the sixth episode of the House of the Dragon Season 2, fans finally get the answer to burning question that has been on everyone’s minds: who will become the new riders for the dragons residing beneath Dragonstone? With the death of Rhaenys Targaryen and her dragon Meleys during the fierce battle with Aemond Targaryen and his dragon Vhagar, the situation has become dire. To shift the odds in her favour, Rhaenyra Targaryen initiates a strategic plan to find new riders for the dragons of Dragonstone. Before proceeding further, please beware that there are major spoilers ahead for the House of the Dragon Season 2.
Using the Targaryen family records, Rhaenyra seeks out members of other houses with Targaryen ancestry, hoping their bloodline will enable them to bond with the dragons: Vermithor, Silverwing and Seasmoke. These members will be known as the dragon seeds. She makes her first attempt with Seasmoke, the former dragon of Laenor Velaryon (John Macmillan). Laenor is the son of Lord Corlys, Head of House Velaryon, whose family is full of dragon riders. However, Laenor disappeared in Season 1, faking his own death and leaving Seasmoke without a rider.
Rhaenyra asks Ser Steffon Darkly to bond with Seasmoke but the attempt ends in tragedy when the dragon violently rejects him and kills him in the process.
Following this, Seasmoke becomes agitated and flees off. The episode shows the beast tracking down Addam of Hull along the beaches of Driftmark. Although Addam initially runs in fear, he eventually gets cornered by Seasmoke. Instead of burning him as he did with Steffon, Seasmoke approaches Addam with curiosity, presumably knowing his connection to Laenor.
The episode cuts away before Addam can complete the bonding process. Earlier episodes had confirmed that Addam and his brother, Alyn, are sons of Lord Corlys.
At the end of the episode, Rhaenyra learns that Seasmoke has been spotted with a new rider. Suspecting that this new rider might be one of her rivals, she goes off to confront both the dragon and its new companion.
Although the episode doesn’t explicitly confirm that Seasmoke will be ridden by Addam, the trailer of episode 7 has confirmed that Addam is indeed the rider Seasmoke has accepted.
Watch the trailer here:
The show has also hinted at other dragonseeds like Hugh Hammer and Ulf White but they have yet to bond with any dragons.
House of the Dragon is a fantasy drama series created by George RR Martin and Ryan Condal. It serves as the prequel to Game of Thrones and the second series in Martin’s A Song of Ice and Fire franchise.
