House of the Dragon episode 4 preview trailer
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Game of Thrones seemed to suggest only Targaryens could ride and control the dragons. During the series, the HBO fantasy drama seemed to allude to House Targaryen having the blood of the dragon with members of the family having an undeniable bond with the ferocious creatures. Indeed, Daenerys Targaryen (played by Emilia Clarke) had a connection to her trio of dragons after they hatched at the end of season one and she became the ‘Mother of Dragons’.
WARNING: This article contains major future spoilers from House of the Dragon and Fire and Blood
Why can Laenor Velaryon ride Seasmoke?
Towards the end of Game of Thrones, Jon Snow’s (Kit Harington) true parentage and Targaryen heritage was hinted at when the Lord Commander of the Night’s Watch was able to ride a dragon.
He also seemed to calm Daenerys’ dragons when he reached out to touch one, again his veins held the blood of the dragon.
Daenerys told Jon to climb onto one of her dragons to which he replied he didn’t know how to.
But the Mother of Dragons wasn’t bothered by his qualms and said “nobody” knew how to fly on the back of these creatures until they did.
She also told him if a dragon didn’t want a person to ride on it, they would kill the individual.
Moreover, in House of the Dragon, it appeared the Velaryons weren’t really dragon riders with Corlys ‘The Sea Snake’ Targaryen (Steve Toussaint) favouring the high tides and ships to the skies.
Therefore, when viewers saw Laenor Velaryon (Theo Nate) riding Seasmoke through battle, they may have felt a little perplexed.
However, Laenor is still a Targaryen on his mother’s side – Rhaenys Velaryon (Eve Best) is the Queen Who Never Was – and he has a set of Targaryen grandparents.
Additionally, House Targaryen isn’t the only family which can ride dragons. Before the Doom of Valyria, there were many dragonlords – families who rode dragons and had the creatures at their command – and the Targaryens were just one of these households.
The dragonlords of Old Valyria used spells and dragon horns to bring the creatures under their control.
Before fleeing from Valyria, the Velaryons didn’t have dragons and so were of a lesser standing in society because they couldn’t wield this power.
But it appears since House Targaryen and House Velaryon joined in matrimony, the family was given access to dragons as grandchildren of the great family.
Much like horses, dragons had to bond with their riders and it could take time for the creature and human to form this tie.
During the Targaryen civil war – The Dance of the Dragons – Laenor’s son Prince Jacaerys Velaryon was trying to find new dragonriders to claim the creatures but most of these attempts ended in a fiery death.
Seasmoke killed Ser Steffon Darklyn along with 15 others who tried to mount him, while 48 others were maimed in what became known as the ‘Red Sowing’.
In the end, Laenor’s dragon Seasmoke was passed on to his bastard son Addam of Hull after his death.
Addam was declared to be Laenor’s illegitimate offspring but there were rumours he was actually the baseborn son of Ser Corlys.
Either way, Addam was thought to be able to ride the creature because he had the blood of a relative to Laenor.
Tragically, many dragons perished during the Dance of the Dragons with the last one called Dragonbane dying after the civil war during the reign of Aegon III.
Dragonbane’s death brought an end of dragons in Westeros until Daenerys managed to hatch her three eggs a century and a half later.
House of the Dragon airs on HBO on Sundays and Sky Atlantic on Mondays and streams on NOW
Sky and NOW have made episode 1 of the show available for free via the Sky YouTube channel
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