Last night’s episode made good on season two’s many teases that the smallfolk were going to play a big part in the Dance of the Dragons.
While it’s always been clear that House of the Dragon‘s noble houses would anchor the season-two drama, it also became apparent early on that the smallfolk—often overlooked, routinely oppressed—were going to have new prominence in Westeros’ latest power struggle. Last night, “The Red Sowing” showed us just how important certain “lowborn” characters were really going to be.
In episode seven, Rhaenyra’s increasingly frantic scheme to find two riders for Team Black’s pair of riderless dragons actually paid off: Hugh the Hammer got the snort of approval from Vermithor, and Ulf the White found a new friend in Silverwing.
Ulf popped up in an earlier episode bragging about his Targaryen heritage, though he hesitated when he heard Rhaenyra was looking for bastards who might become dragonriders. He has this nagging leg injury, you see… and he’s also not sure he really has Targaryen blood—a serious consideration, because a dragon will know who’s worthy, and will incinerate anyone who isn’t.
But—after some good-natured shaming from his drinking buddies—he decides to try his luck. And thankfully for Ulf, it all works out; as we see in the episode’s final moments, he’s having an absolute blast riding Silverwing over his old stomping grounds of King’s Landing (infuriating Aemond, the Prince Regent, in the process). Speaking to the Hollywood Reporter, actor Tom Bennett reflected on his character’s sudden life upgrade.
“It’s huge. Ulf is the bottom of the barrel; he’s Flea Bottom through and through,” Bennett said. “He’s poor folk and the oppressed. He’s the working class man under the thumb of the ruling classes and lived with that his entire life. Suddenly, he’s sitting on a nuclear warhead. The power shift is huge. Let’s see what he does with that.”
Bennett also shared some insights into what led Ulf to that moment—as well as explaining what’s going through the character’s head when he realizes Silverwing isn’t going to roast him. To put it another way: why did he laugh in that moment? “You think you’re going to die and there’s just a massive release of relief, and that I decided and [episode director] Loni [Peristere] liked it. Because, let’s be honest, he’s one of the only characters in the show who ever smiles, let alone laughs. Every time I’m on set, I tried to use that. Ulf sticks out like a sore thumb for many reasons. One of which is I’m one of the only characters that’s just having fun.”
House of the Dragon‘s eighth episode, the season two finale, arrives Sunday night on HBO and Max.
