This week’s new episode of House of the Dragon, “Smallfolk,” marked a turning level for Queen Rhaenyra (Emma D’Arcy) and Staff Black. After the lack of her most skilled dragonrider, Princess Rhaenys (Eve Best), Rhaenyra finds herself with an absence of dragonriders however a surplus of dragons slumbering within the caverns of Dragonstone. The earlier episode, “Regent,” ended with Rhaenyra and her son Jacaerys Velaryon (Harry Collett) realizing that there might be information of Targaryens who married out of the household into different noble homes, and that their descendants might nonetheless have sufficient of the blood from Outdated Valyria to assert a dragon.

In Episode 206, we noticed how that plan performed out. Rhaenyra referred to as forth her loyal Lord Commander of the Kingsguard, Ser Steffon Darklyn (Anthony Flanagan), and revealed that he is a distant relation of Home Targaryen. Ser Steffon gladly accepted the consideration of attempting to tame a dragon, even if failing would imply nearly sure dying.

And fail he did. All gave the impression to be going nicely, till the dragon Seasmoke appeared to sense Ser Steffon’s hesitation and determined the knight wasn’t fairly as much as his requirements. Steffon bought toasted by Seasmoke’s fiery breath in one of many first shocker moments of the episode.

If you happen to’re like Seasmoke, it’s possible you’ll be questioning: how precisely is that this man associated to Home Targaryen? The dragon might not care a lot in regards to the reply, however we do!

When Rhaenyra summons Ser Steffon earlier than her council, she says that his “grandmother’s grandmother, Aeriana, was born a Targaryen princess.” Aeriana married into Home Darklyn, and through the years that Targaryen blood turned thinner and thinner as the nice home of Duskendale continued rising its household line. That offers us a fairly clear method to inform how Ser Steffon is expounded to the Targaryens in Home of the Dragon: six generations again, a Targaryen princess married into the Darklyn household.

Nevertheless, that is solely an invention of HBO’s tv sequence. It is by no means stated anyplace within the supply materials from George R.R. Martin that Ser Steffon or Home Darklyn is expounded to Home Targaryen. Ser Steffon does nonetheless meet his finish attempting to mount the dragon Seasmoke, however he’s considered one of a number of family knights pledged to Rhaenyra who provide to aim to assert a dragon primarily based solely on their loyalty and drive, relatively than any familial relation to Home Targaryen. Sure, you learn that proper; within the guide it isn’t simply Targaryen relations who attempt to mount dragons throughout this a part of the Dance of the Dragons civil battle, although Targaryen bastards, referred to as “Dragonseeds,” do make up the majority of the aspirants.

Wanting by The World of Ice and Hearth guide and its associated household tree for Home Targaryen, there isn’t any “Aeriana Targaryen” who married into Home Darklyn in any respect. Furthermore, the truth that it is Ser Steffon’s “grandmother’s grandmother” signifies that Aeriana Targaryen would have married into Home Darklyn within the very earliest days of Home Targaryen’s reign; presumably even earlier than Aegon’s Conquest, through the years the place the Targaryens primarily resided on their island stronghold of Dragonstone. The household tree is a bit murkier that far again, since a lot of the maesters of the Seven Kingdoms solely began maintaining observe as soon as Aegon and his sister-wives landed on Westeros. Aeriana might nicely have been an in depth ancestor of Aegon I Targaryen, no less than on Home of the Dragon.

Subsequent week, we’ll meet a number of different aspiring dragonriders throughout an occasion referred to as the Sowing of the Seeds. It needs to be an thrilling episode! Catch it subsequent Sunday evening on HBO and Max.

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