Forget Hugh Hammer – this is the most dangerous Targaryen bastard in the history of Westeros
HBOIn the latest episode of House of the Dragon, the Targaryen bastard Hugh Hammer claimed the mighty bronze drake Vermithor and Westeros will never be the same.
Warning: spoilers for House of the Dragon Season 2 and beyond! Of all the common folk we’ve met in House of the Dragon, few have been as sympathetic as Hugh Hammer. A blacksmith and father struggling to care for his sick daughter, Hugh is a victim of the Targaryen’s bloody game of thrones.
Yet all that is set to change. Like the Targaryen kings of old, Hugh has walked through fire to claim a dragon of his own – courtesy of a desperate Rhaenyra – and not just any dragon. The blacksmith has taken Vermithor, the second most powerful dragon in all the Seven Kingdoms and the Black’s greatest weapon against Vhagar and the Greens.
Were this a classic fairy tale, Hugh would take to the skies on Vermithor and go on a righteous quest to win the throne for his queen. But this is not a fairy tale; this is A Song of Ice and Fire, and he is not a gallant and honorable hero.
The Bronze Fury
HBOHugh is a powerless man who, for the first time in his life, has power of his own, and it will warp him into a creature far more dreadful than any dragon. In future House of the Dragon seasons he will use the might of Vermithor to commit some of the greatest atrocities in the history of Westeros.
We won’t go into the specifics, but needless to say, Rhaenyra really should have listened to Jaehaerys when he warned about the danger of giving the common folk dragons. After all, if you control the greatest power in Westeros, are you not the most powerful man in Westeros, and surely the most powerful man in Westeros… is a king?
Yet, for all the carnage in Hugh’s future, he’s far from the most terrible Targaryen bastard. The House of the Dragon’s family tree is full of apples that are so rotten you wouldn’t feed them to your least favorite pig. Most of them spawned from the loins of Aegon IV, also known as Aegon the Unworthy.
Easily the worst Targaryen king, Aegon was cruel, greedy, and hornier than a dragon in heat. This amorousness led to him fathering several bastard children, many of whom would go on to shape Westeros in one way or another. Still, of all these Great bastards (as the king’s illegitimate children came to be known), the most dangerous was Daemon Waters.
The Black Dragon
HBODaemon was born to Aegon and his sister, Daena Targaryen, and he was everything a prince should be. Handsome, strong, and charming, he looked like Aegon the Conqueror reborn and would have made a great king. Yet by dint of his birth, that was not to be. Instead, that honor would go to Aegon’s younger but legitimate son, Daeron.
Still, Aegon favored Daemon and showered him with gifts and honors. Across King’s Landing, there were whispers that it should be Daemon who ascended to the throne when The Stranger took Aegon to the Seven Hells. These whispers became a full-blown cry when, on his deathbed, Aegon legitimized all of his bastard children.
When Aegon died, however, Daeron was still his legal heir, so the younger man took his seat on the least comfortable chair in the Seven Kingdoms. Realizing that Daemon was a political rival, the new king did what he could to keep his older half-brother happy.
Unfortunately, some malign ambition took root in the ‘could have been king’s’ heart. Taking the name Blackfyre, he rebelled against his brother and tried to take the crown for himself. Thousands died in what came to be known as the Blackfyre rebellion; many more than would meet die in the inferno of Vermithor’s breath.
The wars yet to come
Thankfully for the Targaryen dynasty, the rebellion was bloody but brief, and had that been the end of the Blackfyres, Daemon may not have earned his historical infamy.
Sadly, though, this is not where the story ends. His sons and grandsons would take up his cause and try to take over the Seven Kingdoms. There were four full-blown Blackfyre Rebellions, all of which resulted in death and disaster, and that’s not including the War of the Ninepenny Kings, which finally ended the Blackfyres (in the male line, at least).
Of course, the influence of the Blackfyres is still felt in Westeros long after the last man to bear that name died. Remember the Golden Company, the mercenaries hired by Cersei to deal with Daenerys? The company that helped Cersei cling to the Iron Throne when everyone else had abandoned her? That was started by the Blackfyres as well.
Yes, all this suffering and carnage can be rooted back to one ambitious bastard, the most terrifying bastard to ever walk the Seven Kingdoms, Daemon Blackfyre.
If you enjoyed our chronicle, you’ll love our other Game of Thrones articles. We’ve written about everything from Helaena Tragaryen’s powers to Aemond Targaryen’s death. We’ve also got piece on the next Thrones spinoff A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms and we’ve even had a think about what a possible Aegon the Conqueror show might mean for the skeletons in the Targaryen closet. Finally, if you’re bored of bastards and battles, check out our piece on all the other new shows you can watch this month.