Who Rode Seasmoke in Fire & Blood? (& What Happened to Him)
While dragons are mostly associated with House Targaryen, House of the Dragon, a show based on G.R.R. Martin’s Fire & Blood, further expanded their lore. The show itself allowed us to see the other Valyrian Great House in action, House Velaryon. Velaryons had a few dragons as well, due to their Valyrian ancestry and blood, they are able to bond with them and ride them as well. Seasmoke is one of those dragons. We had the pleasure of seeing Seasmoke during the War for the Stepstones in the show, while he was ridden by now “deceased” Laenor Velaryon. But what happened after that, surely the dragon did not remain unclaimed. To answer that we must consult Fire & Blood. Let’s see who rode Seasmoke in Fire & Blood and what happened to him.
Seasmoke had two riders, Laenor Velaryon and Addam of Hull, later known as Addam Velaryon. Seasmoke was claimed by Laenor Velaryon when he was around 7 years old. After Laenor’s supposed death, Seasmoke remained riderless for a long time until it was claimed by Addam of Hull. Addam of Hull claimed Seasmoke during the attempt of Prince Jacaerys Velaryon to add more dragon riders to the ranks of the Rhaenyra’s faction during the Dance of Dragons. Seasmoke perished in a three-way dragon battle during the second Battle of Tumbleton, killed by Vermithor a much larger and older dragon.
Seasmoke was a fairly young dragon but still managed to have two riders and be an asset to the blacks during Targaryen Civil war. In his last moments, Seasmoke managed to turn the tides of battle even if he did eventually perish tragically at the jaws of an older dragon. If you’re interested in more details regarding this Valeryon dragon, keep reading!
Who was Seasmoke?
Seasmoke was a young pale silver-grey dragon whose scales were reminiscent of smoke. Seasmoke probably hatched around 101 AC, soon after, Laenor Velaryon managed to bond with him. Laenor could bond with Seasmoke due to being of Valyrian descent as well as a son of Rhaenys Targaryen, The Queen Who Never Was.
Laenor was completely enchanted by his dragon, the two made a formidable pair as we had the pleasure of seeing during the War for the Stepstones.
Who rides Seasmoke in House of the Dragon?
Laenor Velaryon rode Seasmoke in House of the Dragon. We could see him taking part in the War for the Stepstones, where he used his dragon to aid Daemon’s attempts to break the Triarchy. While Seasmoke was not a large dragon, he was certainly a welcome aid to Daemon and his Caraxes. We could also eventually see that Daemon and Rhaenyra planned to “get rid of” Laenor Velryon.
After Laenor’s presumed death, Seasmoke returned to Dragonstone, where he made his lair in the caverns of Dragonmont. The dragon remained without a rider for a long time. But that was to be changed eventually during the events of Dance of Dragons, a Targaryen Civil war.
Who was the second rider of Seasmoke?
The second rider of Seasmoke was Addam of Hull, later known as Addam Velaryon. Prince Jacaerys Velaryon realized that the blacks, a faction of Rhaenyra Targaryen could add more dragons to its ranks by legitimizing both Targaryen and Velrayon bastards. This is where Addam of Hull and his brother Alyn of Hull come in.
Prince Jacaerys and Rhaenyra offered lands, titles, and legitimacy to all Velaryon and Targaryen bastards who dared tame a dragon and join their cause during the civil war.
Even though Seasmoke burned several men that attempted to bond with him, Addam of Hull managed to tame him while he was saving Alyn from Sheepstealer, another formidable dragon.
Addam of Hull was presumed to be the bastard of late Laenor Velaryon, in reality, he was probably the bastard of Corlys Velaryon, the queen’s hand and the lord of the Driftmark. Through legitimization, Addam of Hull was pronounced an heir of Driftmark and took on a new name Addam Velaryon.
Seasmoke proved to be quite the reliable dragon, he took part in Fall of King’s Landing and was housed in the King’s Landing dragonpit after the event when Rhaenyra Targaryen took the throne. Things will soon take a turn for the worse, for both Seasmoke and Addam Velaryon.
What happened to Seasmoke in Fire & Blood?
After the betrayal of another dragonseed, Hugh Hammer, Rhaenyra was understandably shaken. Due to growing paranoia and perhaps even the wrong judgment of the black council, she decided to name Addam Velaryon turn cloak and imprison him in the dragonpit. This didn’t sit well with Corlys Velaryon, and despite the queen’s wishes he decided to warn Addam in advance.
Addam managed to escape with Seasmoke and in the aftermath, Corlys was stripped of his position as the Hand of the Queen and imprisoned.
Addam wanted to prove to Rhaenyra that not all bastards are the same and that he was loyal to her till the end. He saw the opportunity to prove himself worthy of titles, in the upcoming second Battle of Tumbleton. He took to the Tumbleton by night, surprising the greens, he ambushed the camp when he saw Vermithor wreaking chaos all around. He wasn’t aware that both Vermithor’s and Tessarion’s riders are dead.
Seasmoke crashed into Vermithor in mid-air and the two dragons locked into a deadly duel and crashed to the ground. Addam was aware that Seasmoke stood no chance against the, at the time, largest tamed dragon in the world. The fight between Seasmoke and Vermithor would have ended much sooner if Tessarion didn’t intervene. However, Vermithor still managed to overpower both dragons, ripping Seasmoke’s head off and wounding Tessarion gravely.
Vermithor perished as well due to sustained injuries. The corpses of both Vermithor and Seasmoke stayed at Tumbleton ever since.
As you can see, Seasmoke perished during the Dance of the Dragons. He was a great asset for a time, and two unwise decisions made by both Rhaenyra Targaryen and Addam Velaryon led to his demise. In general, the events that transpired during the Dance of the Dragons led to the extinction of dragons.
