‘House of the Dragon’ Season 2, episode 7: Why did Vermithor choose Hugh?

House of the Dragon Season 2, episode 7 played out like a particularly bloody instalment of How to Train Your Dragon, with Vermithor and Silverwing choosing Hugh Hammer (Kieran Bew) and Ulf the White (Tom Bennett) as their new riders, respectively.

But what made second-largest-dragon-in-Westeros and certified lowfolk diner, Vermithor, pick Hugh Hammer as his new human friend? Was it the fact that Hugh stood brave and risked his own life to save another of Vermithor’s would-be snacks? Or something else?

Hugh Hammer’s mother may be why Vermithor chose him

We find out in episode 7 that Hugh’s mother was the sister of Baelon Targaryen, meaning her father was King Jaehaerys the Concilliator himself — the very first rider of Vermithor.

Even though Hugh doesn’t tell his wife Kat (Ellora Torchia) what his mother’s name was, he does reveal that she worked in a pleasure house.

“She was granted more freedom than most ‘cuz of who she was,” he says. “She used to tell me I was no different to her brother’s boys: Viserys and Daemon.”

The fact that Hugh’s grandfather was Vermithor’s first rider surely plays a part in why the dragon chose him — but if we look at George R.R. Martin’s Fire and Blood book, there may be even more to it than that.

Hugh’s mother had a difficult relationship with her father

Although Hugh only gives us limited information in the show, it seems most likely that his mother is Saera Targaryen, who fled Westeros and worked at a pleasure house in Lys after a falling out with her parents.

In the book, Saera and King Jaehaerys have a difficult relationship that results in him sending her away to live with the Faith as punishment for her sleeping with Ser Braxton Beesbury. After she flees across the narrow sea the two become estranged, but Jaehaerys mistakes his carer for Saera when he’s on his deathbed, thinking she’s finally come back to him.

Is it possible that Vermithor felt a special connection to Hugh because of who his mother was? That maybe he chose Saera’s son because he knew how much she secretly meant to Jaehaerys?

New episodes of House of the Dragon air Sundays at 9 p.m. ET on HBO and Max.