In the closing moments of Sunday’s episode of “House of the Dragon,” Rhaenyra Targaryen (Emma D’Arcy) finally got the upper hand on the Greens with the stunning reveal that she has found three new dragonriders to join the Blacks’ cause: Hugh (Kieran Bew), Ulf (Tom Bennett) and Addam of Hull (Clinton Liberty) — one of the illegitimate sons of her Hand, Corlys Velaryon (Steve Toussaint).
The news was revealed (loudly) to Rhaenyra’s brother Aemond (Ewan Mitchell) , the prince regent, while their brother King Aegon (Tom Glynn-Carney ) is in recovery, when Aemond sees a dragon flying over King’s Landing — and then heads over to Dragonstone on his massive dragon, Vhagar. Upon arriving at Rhaenyra’s base, Aemond turns around, realizing that even his fearsome beast is no match for the estimated six dragons Rhaenyra now has under her control. (Or seven, if Matt Smith’s Daemon ever comes home.)
As we head into next week’s Season 2 finale, two of the people most important to Rhaenyra’s cause are Addam and his brother Alyn of Hull (Abubakar Salim). Addam is now the rider of Seasmoke, a dragon that previously belonged to Rhaenyra’s first husband, Corlys’ son Laenor Velayron. In Season 1, Laenor faked his death and ran off with his lover, with Rhaenyra and Daemon’s help, leaving his dragon behind. Alyn was Corlys’ go-between to smuggle dozens of Dragonseeds — people with alleged Targaryen ancestry, who Rhaenyra has assumed have the best chance of bonding to a dragon — out of King’s Landing and onto Dragonstone.
Here, Liberty and Salim speak with Variety about the Hull brothers’ roles in the Dance of the Dragons as the end of “House of the Dragon” Season 2 approaches.
By the end of the episode, what do you think it takes to bond with a dragon — Targaryen blood, strength, or something else?
Clinton Liberty: I feel like it’s a combination of different things, because as we saw, Steffon Darklyn, he had the blood and the highborn sort of family. But Seasmoke could sense that the essence of the human wasn’t quite what Seasmoke was looking for, which made me understand, “Oh, it’s more than just blood — it’s also the essence of who the human is.” Because if we see Laenor and Addam, yes, they both share the same blood and similar blood, but when you look at them as people, they’re actually just really good, nice, lovely human beings.
And it’s funny to say that in a world of hard-hearted people who are trying to claim glory, win whatever the cost is. I feel like that’s also an important factor for a dragon to choose a human to bond with, because dragons are very intelligent. They know who the essence of the human is behind the facade the human’s trying to portray. So I think it’s a mixture of blood — but it’s also who this human being is.
How much do you think is in part because Addam is secretly Laenor’s half-brother by Corlys?
Liberty: We’re both from technically the same family. And there’s a way that you are in the Hull/Velaryon household, and it just seeps through. I feel like Seasmoke, having been bonded with Laenor previously, senses that in Addam. But he also senses this kind of person who wants to achieve these amazing things in an honest way, and not try and kill anyone. He senses the purity in Addam.
Have you been told whether Laenor is in fact dead — that died off screen — and that’s how Seasmoke was able to bond to Addam as a new rider? Or does Seasmoke just think he’s dead?
Liberty: Do you know who that is a great question for: [“House of the Dragon” showrunner] Ryan Condal. That’s the guy you need to talk to. To be honest, when I was working on this, all I was literally focused on was the mind of the character, because Addam doesn’t know.
Addam is just chilling — trying to live his best life, trying to go fishing, picking up crabs, walking on the beach peacefully. He doesn’t know any of the politics behind what goes on. So this is an introduction for him to the life of a dragonrider, to the life of what’s going on with Queen Rhaenyra and the rest of Westeros and King’s Landing.
Even in the scene with Addam and Rhaenyra, we see that he’s tiptoeing, he’s not sort of fully answering questions thoroughly. He’s being vague, because he knows that if he answers with the wrong thing, he could literally be lit up in flames, you know? So it’s a whole new world for Addam. And I took that for myself — to not go too deep into the lore of what was going on, and just look at it from the eyes of Addam.
Can you break down what Addam is feeling when Corlys comes to him and congratulates him on bonding with Seasmoke? When he’s become a dragonrider, and Corlys simply says, “Well done,” before leaving?
Liberty: Those two words, “Well done,” mean more to Addam than anybody could ever say. Because at the core of Addam, he just wants validation from his father. His whole life, he strived for that. He always wanted that relationship with his parents, and he’s never had that with his father. That’s one of the reasons why he wants to achieve so much, and tried to get Alyn to take the throne of Driftmark and have better lives — so that one day, he could be close to his father. In that scene, that’s the first time he’s even had a real conversation with his father, and that’s also the first time his father, Corlys, has ever praised him in any way. Moving forward, he’s trying to prove himself even more, so he can have more of that — because he’s yearning for that relationship.
He just wants his family to be proud of him. He wants his people to be proud of him, if that’s the queen or his father or his brother. I think him wanting to achieve great things — and the riches and the throne and the servants — is all to show his father or his queen that “I am someone of importance. Please, just see me as a person.”
That’s all he’s ever wanted, and the only person who’s ever seen him is his brother. But now he wants that recognition from the world, and, most importantly, from his dad and the queen as well.
When Addam bonds with Seasmoke, Corlys comes to Alyn and asks if he wants to try his luck as a Dragonseed as well, Alyn turns that idea down, choosing to help in another way by bringing the Dragonseeds from King’s Landing. Why does he do this?
Abubakar Salim: For Alyn, we’re seeing his life being turned upside down, essentially. The thing that he wanted — the attention, the energy from Corlys, which he’s been craving for a while now — is all coming, his brother getting his wishes. It’s almost like, in Alyn’s eyes, it’s a bit too much. And the thing that Alyn does is focus on what he’s good at — working in the shipyard, working on the ships, being of salt and sea. And that’s where my character’s head is at.
He’s very protective of his brother, and he loves his brother dearly. So to hear now that his brother is not only involved in the war, to a degree, but on such a high level as a dragon rider, it’s a lot to take on. And I think that’s why he thinks, “I have to be in this more than ever, because I just don’t want my brother to fail.”
Do you think Alyn could have bonded with a dragon if he had tried? In “Fire & Blood,” he does attempt it — unsuccessfully.
Salim: You know what? Yeah, whatever I set my head to, man! I got this.
The thing is, though, that’s Abu saying it. I think with Alyn, it just doesn’t even cross his mind. Especially with this portrayal we’re giving him on the show — like, I feel like it’s not in my head, it’s just not a thing, because it’s not something that Alyn’s interested in. His mentality, the way he’s grown up, is dragons are for the royals, that kind of lifestyle is all for the royals. And it has been made very clear to him, he is not a royal, and neither does he deserve a place there. So he’s like, “Screw it. I know where I belong, and I’m good at where I belong.”
Where are things headed for Alyn now that he is so separated from his brother going into the finale? They are both actively working for the Blacks at this point.
Alyn has put so much love and and power to his brother, Addam, because he’s the only person he has. Every time that I’ve had a scene with with Clinton, we always talk — how long has it been since [Addam and Alyn] last saw each other? Where do we go from there? What do we have to catch up with and talk about?
This is precious time. Now that there’s a dragon in the mix, you’re like, “OK what timing is it going to be like now? Our lives are going in very interesting and different ways.”
And I think that’s what’s going make everything more tense going into the finale.
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