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As House of the Dragon has been showing us in recent episodes, dragonriding is not, in fact, a pursuit that only highborn Targaryens can engage in. Dragons will actually play nice with smallfolk if they have the right combination of blood and mojo.
But not all who qualify are quick to jump at the chance. Alyn of Hull, played by Abubaker Salim, is taken aback when he learns his younger brother, Addam, has become a dragonrider—something that’s decidedly not enough incentive for Alyn himself to give it a try.
As we’ve gotten to know Alyn in season two, we’ve learned he’s focused on one thing: his job, looking after the ships in the Sea Snake’s fleet. That the Sea Snake, Lord Corlys Velaryon, is actually Alyn and Addam’s father is an open secret—and it’s something the long-estranged family members have yet to discuss. The closest they’ve come is in the most recent episode, “The Red Sowing,” when Corlys approaches Alyn at the docks, tells him the bombshell news about Addam, and strongly hints that maybe Alyn might also be capable of saddling up a dragon.
Addam quickly tells his Corlys he’d much rather stick to the sea, and it’s a rebuff with layers that go deeper than just the fact that he’d rather not try to fly a fire-breathing beast. In a new interview with the Hollywood Reporter, Salim—a George R.R. Martin fan who says he’s thrilled to be part of House of the Dragon—elaborated on his character’s motivations in that moment.
“I think there are so many similarities between Corlys and Alyn,” Salim explained. “I think they’re both very aware of it, too. And I think Alyn hates it. He can see it, he can feel it, he knows what Corlys knows, and that’s why their relationship is very difficult and strained. Addam still has this mentality of hope, though, and is still in that phase. The older you get, the more you become a realist. There’s a sense of real truth to the idea that, even if Corlys named Alyn as one of his sons or Addam as one of his sons, we’ll never really be one of his sons … so Alyn, I don’t think he could accept Corlys as his father.”
Salim also revealed that since being cast on House of the Dragon, the number-one question he’s been asked is whether or not he’ll get to ride a dragon. “And then I have to be like, ‘Look, it’s complicated.’ At the same time, there’s a part of me that would have loved to ride a dragon, but I’ve got my ship, man.”
House of the Dragon‘s season two finale arrives Sunday, August 4 on HBO and Max.
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