House of the Dragon: What Is Rhaenyra and Jacaerys’ Plan for the Dragonseeds?

Warning: The following article contains spoilers for House of the Dragon Season 2, Episode 5, “Regent.”

House of the Dragon Season 2’s latest installment, “Regent,” ends with Queen Rhaenyra Targaryen and her son, Prince Jacaerys Velaryon, hatching a scheme involving Westeros’ dragonseed population. So, what exactly is Rhaenyra and Jacaerys’ plan for the dragonseeds?

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Rhaenyra and Jacaerys’ Plan for the Dragonseeds, Explained

House of the Dragon Season 2, Episode 5’s final scene sees Rhaenyra mulling over the Black Targaryen’s depleted dragon rider ranks. Following the death of Princess Rhaenys Targaryen and her mount, Meleys, in Episode 4, the Black Targaryen camp has lost a lot of firepower (literally). Worse still, there’s no one to replace Rhaenys and her dragon – or is there?

Together, Rhaenyra and Jacaerys stumble on a solution to their recruitment problem: dragonseeds. These illegitimate Targaryen offspring are potential dragon riders; all someone needs to do is track them down and bring them into the fold. And that’s exactly what Rhaenyra and Jace plan on doing in House of the Dragon Season 2’s remaining episodes.

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It’ll take a bit of genealogical research on their part, however, attentive viewers will have already spotted at least four dragonseeds in Season 2 already. For starters, there’s Alyn of Hull, who is all but confirmed as Lord Corlys Velaryon’s bastard son in House of the Dragon Season 2, Episode 4. Alyn’s brother Addam is also a dragonseed, assuming House of the Dragon stays true to its source text, Fire & Blood.

Then there’s Ulf White, the self-proclaimed half-brother of King Viserys I and Prince Daemon Targaryen. While Ulf’s probably exaggerating his royal connections, according to Fire & Blood, he really is a dragonseed. Finally, blacksmith Hugh Hammer – our window into the smallfolk side of things this season – is a dragonseed in the book, too.

Does the Black Targaryens’ Dragonseed Plan Work in the Book?

Yes and no. The answer is complicated and very spoiler-y, so don’t read further if you want to go into House of the Dragon‘s future installments fresh. Still here? Great. So, first of all, a bunch of supposed dragonseeds are badly hurt or die trying to bond with dragons during the Black Targaryen’s recruitment drive. Not exactly a great start. Yet the experiment ultimately yields four new dragon riders: Addam, Ulf, Hugh, and Nettles (Alyn doesn’t make the cut).

Related: House of the Dragon: Queen Rhaenyra and Lady Jeyne Arryn’s Relationship, Explained

The quartet and their dragons prove a major asset to the Black Targaryens, especially during the Battle of the Gullet. However, Ulf and Hugh later switch allegiance to the Green Targaryens, securing victory for their new masters at the Battle of Tumbleton. Once this happens, Rhaenyra declares the dragonseed initiative a failure and orders them all locked up (or in Nettle’s case, executed). Addam alone eventually regains Rhaenyra’s trust.

House of the Dragon Season 2 is currently airing on HBO and Max, with new episodes dropping Sundays.