‘HOTD’ Fans Are Celebrating Seasmoke Chasing What He Wanted Instead of Settling
Seasmoke is just a girl, standing in front of a boy, asking him to be his rider!
You know that quickly iconic line, “If you feel it, chase it”? Yeah, looks like Seasmoke the dragon in House of the Dragon took her advice to heart, and really went after what he wanted.
Spoilers ahead!
I love how, with every episode of House of the Dragon, we discover a new facet of dragon personality traits, something we never quite uncovered in Game of Thrones. In season 2 episode 6, “Smallfolk,” we saw something quite unprecedented happen, where a dragon actually chased down the person he wanted to be his rider. And all I can say is get it, my dude!
In the episode, Rhaenyra had just put her plan to have more dragonriders into action, starting off with asking Ser Steffon Darklyn of her Kingsguard to attempt to claim Seasmoke, the dragon that belonged to her late husband, Ser Laenor Velaryon.
It was quite the moment, especially for non-book fans who didn’t know what might happen. One minute, it looked like Seasmoke was ready to “dohaeris” Ser Steffon and allow the guy to ride him. The next minute, he had changed his mind and barbecued the poor man who seemed confident the gods had deemed him worthy.
But that’s not all Seasmoke did. After roasting Ser Steffon and one of the dragonkeepers, he flew out of the dragonpit and chased down the man he wanted to belong to next—Addam of Hull! At first terrorizing all the sailors who were present on site by circling overhead, Seasmoke soon made a beeline for the younger bastard son of Lord Corlys Velaryon while Addam ran for has life! I mean, wouldn’t you if you were being chased by a dragon? Who in their right mind would imagine, in that moment, that the dragon was chasing them not to make them his dinner but his new bestie?
Fans loved this role reversal of a dragon claiming a rider instead of a rider claiming a dragon, and that Seasmoke chased after what he wanted, not settling for less—not to mention the specifics of his choice of riders.
While it is poetic that Seasmoke literally went for the next-of-kin of his previous rider, some fans also wondered what Seasmoke claiming Addam as his rider implies. According to the lore, a dragon, once bound to a rider, will not allow any other rider to ride him until his original rider is dead. Since in HOTD, Ser Laenor is only pretending to be dead, does Seasmoke’s behavior mean he actually died offscreen?
There’s also the question of Addam’s parentage. Laenor had both Velaryon and Targaryen blood, so it made sense that he and his sister Laena could claim dragons. But Addam and Alyn of Hull, if bastards of Lord Corlys, would only have Velaryon blood in them.
So does this mean they are Laenor’s bastards as claimed by their mother in the books, and therefore have Targaryen blood in them? Was their mother a dragonseed? Could it mean that Lord Corlys has some Targaryen lineage and could also have claimed a dragon if he wanted to? Or does this blow a hole in the Targaryen claim that only Targaryens could be dragon lords?
Anyway, let’s all raise a goblet to Seasmoke. He’s just a girl, standing in front of a boy, asking him to be his rider!
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