Dragonseed

Dragonseeds, as depicted in the Game of Thrones featurette, The Dance of Dragons

Dragonseeds is a term to describe the bastards of Valyrian descent who are fathered in the islands in the Blackwater Bay, including Dragonstone and Driftmark. They are sometimes also called "seeds" for short.

History

Origins

The custom of the first night — that when smallfolk marry, their lord or king has the privilege to bed the bride on the wedding night — had been greatly resented in the Seven Kingdoms. However, it was less protested on Dragonstone, where the Targaryens had ruled for centuries, because there the common folk viewed their beautiful, foreign rulers almost as gods. When a Lord of Dragonstone took his rights according to the first night custom, the bride considered herself "blessed" if she conceived a child. A child born of the union was greatly valued, and the lord would grant the mother generous gifts of gold and silk and land. The bastards were said to be "born of dragonseed", and in time, became known as "dragonseeds" or "seeds".

The term "dragonseed" existed for some generations before the Dance of the Dragons, as King Jaehaerys I Targaryen noted in 58 AC that Targaryen bastards fathered during the first night were often called this. Jaehaerys admitted that it was considered something of an open secret that his grandfather Aegon's great friend and commander Orys Baratheon was in truth Aegon's bastard half-brother, though he knew nothing about Orys's mother or the circumstances of his birth (such as whether he was conceived through the first night or just a youthful dalliance by Aegon's father).

Though the right of the first night ended when it was outlawed by King Jaehaerys, some Targaryens continued to carry on relationships with the daughters of innkeeps and the wives of fishermen. Seeds and the sons of seeds thus remained plentiful on Dragonstone and surrounding areas, and there were many on Dragonstone who could rightly claim — or at least suspect — that some Targaryen blood ran in their veins.

The Dance of the Dragons

Dragonseeds of the Dance of the Dragons: Nettles, Addam Velaryon, Ulf White, and Hugh Hammer, by Enife ©

During the civil war known as the Dance of the Dragons, Prince Jacaerys Velaryon realized that his mother Queen Rhaenyra Targaryen's faction, the blacks, had many dragons but was in need of dragonriders. In 129 AC, he offered lands, riches, and knighthood to any man that could master a dragon; his sons would be ennobled, his daughters wed to lords. According to The Testimony of Mushroom, the eponymous fool had prompted Jacaerys to make this search.

Jacaerys's offer gained the attention of more than just dragonseeds. Most candidates failed and were either killed or burned by the dragons (these included Rhaenyra's Lord Commander of the Queensguard, Ser Steffon Darklyn, and also Lord Gormon Massey). Grand Maester Munkun dubbed this event "the Sowing of the Seeds", whilst others called it "the Red Sowing". Nevertheless, in the end Hugh Hammer bonded with the dragon Vermithor, Ulf White with Silverwing, Addam of Hull with Seasmoke, and Nettles with Sheepstealer. It is unconfirmed if the successful candidates truly had Targaryen blood, or if they did, if that ancestry is what allowed them to master the dragons. But whatever their origin in truth, the successful baseborn dragonriders were called dragonseeds for the remainder of the war and within historical records.

Jacaerys prepared to lead the four new dragonriders in an attack on King's Landing the first full moon of 130 AC, but before that could happen, news reached Dragonstone of the attack by the Triarchy on the Gay Abandon, which had been escorting Jacaerys's half-brothers Aegon and Viserys Targaryen. Instead, Jacaerys and his fellow dragonriders flew against the Triachy's fleet and fought them in the Battle of the Gullet. Jacaerys and his dragon Vermax died during the battle.

In 130 AC, after the betrayal of Hugh Hammer and Ulf White at the First Battle of Tumbleton, Queen Rhaenyra and most of her council believed none of the other dragonseeds could be trusted, and ordered their arrest. Addam Velaryon escaped upon his dragon Seasmoke, but later proved his loyalty at the Second Battle of Tumbleton, in which he perished. In the case of Nettles, it was not only arrest that was ordered, but also execution, because she had allegedly become the lover of Rhaenyra's husband Daemon Targaryen; however, the girl fled upon Sheepstealer and was never seen again "at court or castle".

Named Dragonseeds

Aegon I Targaryen and Orys Baratheon, his alleged dragonseed half-brother © HBO from Game of Thrones: Conquest & Rebellion

Orys Baratheon was called a dragonseed, since even the Targaryens themselves believed he was the half-brother of Aegon I Targaryen.

During the Dance of the Dragons:

• Hugh Hammer, a blacksmith's bastard, bonded with Vermithor.
• Ulf White, a man-at-arms, bonded with Silverwing.
• Addam of Hull, bonded with Seasmoke. Was legitimized as Addam Velaryon and made heir to Driftmark shortly thereafter.
• Alyn of Hull, the younger brother of Addam of Hull. Unable to find Grey Ghost, rejected by Sheepstealer, but legitimized as Alyn Velaryon nevertheless.
• Nettles, bonded with Sheepstealer by feeding it sheep each morning.
• Silver Denys, claimed to have been descended from a bastard son of King Maegor I Targaryen. Had an arm torn off by Sheepstealer, and was devoured with his sons by the Cannibal while trying to staunch his wound.

Quotes

Dragonseeds, they call them. It is not a thing to boast of, but it has happened, mayhaps more often than we would care to admit. Such children are cherished, though.

—Jaehaerys I Targaryen, to his wife Alysanne

Orys Baratheon himself was a dragonseed, a bastard brother to our grandsire. Whether he was conceived of a first night I cannot say, but Lord Aerion was his father, that was well-known.

—Jaehaerys I Targaryen, to his wife Alysanne

Under the sheets and in the woodpiles, wherever you Targaryens spilled your silver seed.

—Mushroom, to Jacaerys Velaryon, when asked where to find more dragonriders, per The Testimony of Mushroom

That Addam and Alyn were dragonseed no man who looked upon them could doubt.

—writings of Gyldayn