House of the Dragon: Why Did Silverwing Bond With Ulf, a Commoner?

House Targaryen takes special pride in its dragons and dragonriders. Hailing from Old Valyria, they bond with mighty beasts and take to the sky on their backs — something no mere commoners can do as dragons recognize Valyrian blood.

However, we recently saw a commoner bond with a mighty dragon called Silverwing in House of the Dragon. Ulf, an infamous sot and raconteur and a self-proclaimed dragonseed from King’s Landing, managed to become Silverwing’s new dragonrider — but how is this possible and does this support Ulf’s bizarre legacy claims?

Silverwing Is Picky About Her Riders

Silverwing has always been Vermithor’s mate: back in the day, they dominated the sky under Queen Alysanne Targaryen and her husband King Jaehaerys I Targaryen. Since their deaths, neither of the two dragons bonded with other dragonriders, instead retreating to their lairs and avoiding human company as much as possible.

Both Silverwing and Vermithor proved to be very picky about their riders, but recently, we saw them both bond with new people. Vermithor was claimed by Hugh, Saera Targaryen’s bastard and a dragonseed, and Silverwing — by Ulf, a commoner with a reputation for his stupidity and brag. While the former choice is more or less obvious, why did Silverwing opt for such an unlikely person to ride her?

Ulf Shares the Blood of Old Valyria

Seeing how they were created by Valyrian bloodmages, it doesn’t come as a surprise that dragons only recognize those with Valyrian legacy as their potential riders. Legitimacy and personality mean little to those mighty beasts: they feel those who come from Old Valyria and consider bestowing their loyalty upon the lucky ones.

Hugh is an open bastard of Saera Targaryen, so no questions about Vermithor’s choice there; and Silverwing’s decision to bond with Ulf can mean only one thing.

Ulf’s ridiculous claims that he’s a bastard of Baelon Targaryen are true: otherwise, he would’ve been killed by Silverwing, not bonded with. As for why the old dragon would choose such a pitiful human being… We don’t know what they see, alright?

One thing is certain, though: Ulf and Silverwing, alongside Hugh and Vermithor, are the new players in the big and bloody game known as Dance of the Dragons — and we’re not quite sure whether allying with Ulf would prove beneficial or detrimental to whichever party convinces him to join them.