When new additions to the House of The Dragon season 2 cast were first announced, Alyn of Hull, played by Abubakar Salim, seen in the frame with Lord Colrys Velaryon (Steve Toussaint) was one of the most anticipated ones. With season 2 episode 4, “The Red Dragon and The Gold,” you finally have an inkling why.
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Spoilers ahead for House of The Dragon season 2 episode 4 and Fire & Blood!
In the latest episode of HOTD season 2, we see Princess Rhaenys (Eve Best) talking to Alyn of Hull, about him being the sailor who saved her husband’s life when he was about to die at sea. She then goes on to make an odd statement while touching his face, about how his mother might’ve been really beautiful to birth someone like him. And that’s when her husband, Lord Corlys Velaryon, intervenes.
It would probably seem weird for the wife of your boss to speak to you in such a manner, and Alyn certainly looked wigged. But we get our answers for Rhaenys’ behavior in the very next scene, when she tells her husband that she knows who Alyn is and that he should’ve told her it was Alyn who saved his life. Rhaenys then tells Corlys that Alyn’s past doesn’t matter and that for having saved his lord’s life, “He should be raised up and honored, not hidden beneath the tides.”
Why does Rhaenys care so much for a lowly sailor? Who is Alyn to her? As the series is giving him prominent scenes this season, including a scene with his brother Addam of Hull (Clinton Liberty), you know he is someone important. In this latest episode, Alyn and Corlys are positioned side-by-side in front of Rhaenys in a scene, for a specific reason.
Alyn of Hull and his brother Addam are the “bastard” sons of Lord Corlys Velaryon. And the casting department made some excellent choices there!
Now that explains the veiled statement by Rhaenys to her husband that she knows who Alyn is, doesn’t it?
Who is Alyn of Hull in House of The Dragon?
Alyn and Addam from Hull are what they call dragonseed, a term used to refer to the bastard children of Houses Targaryen and Velaryon, that had the ability to bond with dragons, just like a trueborn child.
In the course of House of the Dragon, we’re going to meet a bunch of these dragonseed, who will be assimilated into the Greens and the Blacks as dragonriders, to fight the war. We already know that there are several wild and unclaimed dragons hanging in and around Dragonstone, such as the deceased Laenor Velaryon’s dragon Seasmoke, Grey Ghost, Sheepstealer, and more. And these dragonseed will be invited to claim them and be new dragon riders.
In Fire & Blood, it is explained that Alyn and Addam’s mother, Marilda of Hull, claimed them to be sons of the late Ser Laenor Velaryon, first husband of Rhaenyra Targaryen. However, since the matter of Ser Laenor’s sexuality is well known in his family, it is therefore deduced that they were actually fathered by Lord Corlys Velaryon, and kept away from Driftmark out of fear and respect for his wife, Princess Rhaenys.
However, there’s one major difference between the Alyn we see in the show and the Alyn in the book. Book Alyn was 15 years old, whereas the show character looks considerably older. In fact, his brother in the show looks younger than him.
Does Alyn of Hull Claim a Dragon?
According to the book, he sure tries, first with Grey Ghost and later with Sheepstealer; but he fails and is burnt by dragon flame, forever scarring his back and legs. His brother Addam, though, is successful and claims Ser Laenor’s dragon, Seasmoke.
In a scene in House of The Dragon season 2, we see a restless Seasmoke flying over Dragonstone in anticipation of war, and Addam looking up at him, foreshadowing what is about to happen.
Does Alyn of Hull survive the Dance of the Dragons?
Not as Alyn of Hull, he doesn’t! But as Alyn Velaryon, sure! You’d be surprised how a man with no dragon of his own actually managed to survive this war of fire and blood. Then again, it is not surprising at all.
After the passing of his wife Princess Rhaenys in the battle of Rook’s Rest, and Addam becoming a dragon rider, Lord Corlys petitions Rhaenyra to allow him to legitimize both his sons as heirs to House Velaryon and the Driftwood throne.
Alyn goes on to live long after the war is over, having supported his father in whatever maneuvers he made for the good of the realm. He even ascended to the heir of Driftmark and the Lord of the Tides after the passing of his brother Addam and Lord Corlys.
After becoming Lord of Driftmark, he also married Baela Targaryen, daughter of Lady Laena Velaryon and Daemon Targaryen, and had two children with her. Much like his sire, Alyn too had the chance to fight in the Stepstones, which earned him the title ‘Alyn Oakenfist’ and a place as the Master of Ships on King Aegon III’s council. After that, he would go on six major voyages at sea, have a couple of paramours, and father two bastard children with Princess Elaena Targaryen (daughter of King Aegon III), whom he loved. Alyn was lost at sea on one of his voyages, and never found.
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