Warning: Spoilers ahead for “House of the Dragon” Season 2, Episode 7, and the novel “Fire and Blood.”
Hugh Hammer casually drops a massive bombshell in the latest episode of “House of the Dragon,” which may have further complicated the Targaryen family tree.
In the last episode, Rhaenyra (Emma D’Arcy) attempts to recruit Targaryen and Velaryon bastards as dragon riders for her army, as only those of Valyrian blood can bond with a dragon.
After losing their daughter, Hugh (Kieran Bew) tells his wife that he wants to go to Dragonstone to retrieve a dragon so he can have more power to protect their family.
Hugh explains that his mother was a successful prostitute because she had the Targaryen’s signature silver hair color.
“She told me I was no different from her brother’s sons, Viserys and Daemon,” Hugh said, apparently referring to the former king, Viserys I, and his brother, Daemon Targaryen.
Hugh never specifies his mother’s name, implying that she was just another illegitimate child of Baerlon the Brave, Viserys and Daemon’s kinsman.
This statement is reinforced later in the episode when Hugh becomes the only person able to bond with Vermithor, the second largest dragon in the land.
If what Hugh says is true, it represents a major departure from “Fire and Blood,” the novel on which “House of the Dragon” is based, as it makes Hugh a direct relative of the Targaryen royal family.
Hugh is not directly related to the Targaryens in “Fire and Blood”
Rhaenyra (Emma D’Arcy) recruits new dragon riders in episode seven of “House of the Dragon.” Theo Whiteman / HBO
In “Blood and Fire”, Hugh is the bastard son of an unnamed blacksmith from Dragonstone. Although it is later revealed that he has Valryian blood when he claims the dragon Vermithor, there is never any direct connection between him and the Targaryens.
In the book, Baerlon has only three known sisters: Alyssa, whom he marries; Daenerys, who dies of illness; and Maegelle, who joined the religious group, the Faith of the Seven.
This isn’t the first time “House of the Dragon” has changed the plot of “Fire & Blood.” Fans have welcomed some of the changes, while others have left plot holes, making the story more confusing.
Hugh’s arrival in the Targaryen family makes an already confusing family tree even more complicated. It also seems to indicate that the series will adapt another major part of the Civil War in “Fire and Blood.”
In “Fire and Blood”, Hugh betrays Rhaenyra and ultimately attempts to seize the Iron Throne so he can rule as king.
Hugh isn’t part of the Westeros royal line of succession in the TV series, but the fact that he’s related to the royal family and has one of the largest dragons could give him a real claim to the throne. It’s not like the Targaryens haven’t already skipped generations before.
We’ll likely find out more about Hugh’s ambitions with his dragon in next week’s Season 2 finale.
Season 2 of “House of the Dragon” airs Sundays at 9 p.m. ET on HBO and is streaming on Max.
businessinsider
