House of the Dragon Season 2, Episode 7 finally revealed which dragonseeds joined Rhaenyra Targaryen's side and claimed the dragons Vermithor and Silverwing.
Throughout House of the Dragon Season 2, different new characters such as Addam of Hull, Ulf the White, and Hugh Hammer have been slowly introduced and built up throughout each episode.
After Addam of Hull claimed the dragon Seasmoke at the end of Episode 6, many wondered if other dragonseeds (those with Valyrian blood who aren't highborn) would be able to claim any of the other riderless dragons.
Which Dragons Do Hugh Hammer and Ulf the White Claim in House of the Dragon?
Although Addam of Hull claimed Seasmoke in Season 2, Episode 6 of House of the Dragon, the event known in Fire & Blood (the source material for House of the Dragon) as the Sowing of the Seeds didn't truly take place until the second half of Episode 7.
After Queen Rhaenyra learned of Addam's claiming of Seasmoke, she and Mysaria devised a plan to get a message to every possible Targaryen bastard in Westeros, with most of them residing in King's Landing.
Many answered the call and were then brought down to the Dragonmont under the floors of Dragonstone to meet the first of the two available dragons who were riderless.
When the dragonseeds made it down to the Dragonmont alongside Rhaenyra, the queen called Vermithor to come before them.
Also known as the Bronze Fury, Vermithor was described as the second-biggest dragon in all of Westeros, only behind Vhagar. However, Rhaenyra also explained that Vermithor could be more ruthless than any other dragon as well, including Vhagar.
A man named Silver Denys, who, in the book was supposedly the descendant of one of Maegor the Cruel's bastards (meaning Maegor would have been his grandfather or great-grandfather), was the first to try to claim Vermithor. Unfortunately for him, he was unsuccessful.
What followed was pure chaos. Vermithor didn't just burn Silver. He burned, ate, and attacked nearly everyone in the room.
Most of the dragonseeds were either killed instantly or were forced off of the elevated platform extending out above the Dragonmont.
The two most notable characters to fall right into the Dragonmont were Hugh Hammer and Ulf the White.
Ulf was able to grab a torch and run to safety deeper into the Dragonmont, but Hugh found himself directly under Vermithor as the beast continued to kill anyone in its sight.
However, Hugh showed no fear and brought himself face-to-face with the Bronze Fury, screaming at the dragon and commanding its attention.
Hugh's bravery seemed to impress Vermithor, as the beast lowered its head and didn't attack him but instead allowed Hugh to extend his hand and touch the dragon's head, thus confirming that Hugh was successful in claiming it.
Ulf the White was then shown still running deeper into the Dragonmont until he accidentally stumbled into a giant cavern where he stepped directly into a dragon's nest.
This caused the other unclaimed dragon, Silverwing, to toy around with Ulf, knocking him to the ground and coming right up to his face.
It was then confirmed moments later in a different scene that Ulf had successfully claimed Silverwing when he was seen riding the dragon over King's Landing. This was much to Aemond Targaryen's dismay, who then jumped on his own dragon, Vhagar, and followed Ulf to the waters just outside Dragonstone where he could see Rhaenyra's new allies.
So, at least in House of the Dragon, three previously riderless dragons named Seasmoke, Vermithor, and Silverwing were all claimed by the end of Episode 7 by Addam of Hull, Hugh Hammer, and Ulf the White, respectively.
How House of the Dragon's Sowing of the Seeds Is Different From Fire & Blood
In Fire & Blood, the Sowing of the Seeds plays out a bit differently than it does in the show, but the final outcome is largely similar.
For example, just as in House of the Dragon, Addam of Hull, Hugh Hammer, and Ulf the White all claim the same dragons in Fire & Blood.
However, it is important to note that, in Fire & Blood, Addam does not claim Seasmoke outside of Dragonstone and with no one to witness it as he does in House of the Dragon. It is also worth noting that Seasmoke actually claimed Addam in House of the Dragon whereas it was the other way around in the book.
Another change that House of the Dragon made from the book was the inclusion of the dragon known as Sheepstealer. In the show, Sheepstealer is clearly roaming around the Vale and will seemingly be claimed by Rhaena Targaryen.
In the book, Sheepstealer is another dragon in the Dragonmont and was the dragon that Silver Denys attempted to claim during the Sowing (as a reminder, Silver Denys was the one who first approached Vermithor in House of the Dragon).
In the book, when Silver tries to claim Sheepstealer, the dragon rips his arm off, but, in the show, Vermithor burns him alive.
While a lot of people did die in the book's version of the Sowing (just as they did in the show), they weren't all killed almost instantly by Vermithor. It implies that they were killed individually by the four dragons as different people attempted to claim them.
It is also important to note that, in Fire & Blood, the Sowing is a lot less chaotic. For example, it doesn't mention anything about Hugh falling into the Dragonmont and claiming Vermithor in a moment of bravery.
It instead just mentions that Vermithor "bent his neck to a blacksmith's bastard," alluding that Hugh almost waited his turn and was anticlimactically successful in claiming the dragon.
The same is said about Ulf claiming Silverwing, mentioning nothing about the two meeting deep in the Dragonmont.
It is also important to mention that three more dragons were present during the book's version of the Sowing, and those were the three wild dragons known as Sheepstealer, Grey Ghost, and the Cannibal.
In the book, all three of those dragons were also at Dragonstone, and were all attempted to be claimed.
None were even remotely successful in claiming the Cannibal, who resided deep in the darkest caverns of the Dragonmont.
Grey Ghost was so elusive that none of the dragonseeds could even find him, meaning that he was never claimed either.
And then there was Sheepstealer, who, once again, is somewhere in the Vale in House of the Dragon.
In Fire & Blood, it was said that Sheepstealer killed more dragonseeds than any of the other dragons combined.
One notable change that House of the Dragon made in its adaptation of Fire & Blood is Alyn Hull's involvement in the Sowing. In the show, Alyn did not try to claim a dragon at all, but, in the book, he unsuccessfully attempted to claim Sheepstealer, who severely burned Alyn.
However, Sheepstealer was eventually claimed by a sixteen-year-old girl known as Nettles.
House of the Dragon likely made this change for a couple of reasons, with the first and most obvious one being that Nettles has not been introduced or even teased in the show.
However, another probable reason is to give Rhaena Targaryen a dragon, even if she does claim a different dragon known as Morning in Fire & Blood.
With the claiming of four dragons (Seasmoke, Vermithor, Silverwing, and Sheepstealer), the Sowing of the Seeds came to an end in Fire & Blood. However, the new dragonriders did not have to wait long to see action, as the Battle of the Gullet was just around the corner.
It is important to note, though, that the Battle of the Gullet may not even take place in House of the Dragon Season 2, so fans may have to wait for Season 3 to see the new dragonriders in action.
House of the Dragon is available to stream on Max, and the Season 2 finale will be released on Sunday, August 4 at 9 p.m. ET on HBO and Max.
Read more about House of the Dragon:
Every Game of Thrones Universe Dragon Ranked From Largest to Smallest
House of the Dragon: How Many Seasons Will There Be In Total?
Why Daeron Targaryen Is Not In House of the Dragon Seasons 1 & 2, Answered
House of the Dragon’s Balerion Explained: Who Rode Him and What Happened To Him?
