'House of the Dragon': Who Is Hugh Hammer's Mother?

WARNING! SPOILERS for House of the Dragon 1x06, 'The Red Sowing'.

'The Red Sowing', the penultimate episode of House of the Dragon season two, marks a critical turning point for the series, as Queen Rhaenyra enacts a bold plan to invite Targaryen Bastards to claim Dragonstone's remaining riderless dragons and finally gain an advantage over Team Green's Aemond and Vhagar. The plan worked, with Ulf White claiming Silverwing, and Blacksmith Hugh Hammer laying claim to Vermithor, the Bronze Fury, a dragon second in size only to Vhagar.

While Ulf has boasted that he is the son of Prince Baelon the Brave, making him a half-brother to Prince Daemon and the late King Viserys I, Hugh has not referenced his Targaryen parent by name. However, based on the few clues he does provide, readers of the source book, Fire and Blood, have come up with a plausible theory.

The Clues

Unlike Ulf, Hugh's Targaryen heritage comes from his Mother's side. According to Hugh, she had worked in a Pleasure House, but was granted more freedoms and earned more 'because of who she was'.

Hugh, according to his Mother, is a cousin of Viserys I and Daemon, suggesting that she is a sister of Prince Baelon, and therfore a Targaryen Princess. If Ulf's story is true, he and Hugh are also cousins. So, who exactly is Hugh's Mother?

Princess Saera Targaryen

Based on the information given, the most likely possibility is that Hugh is the son of Princess Saera Targaryen. The ninth child and fifth daughter of King Jaehaerys I and his sister-wife, Queen Alysanne, Saera was known around the court as a clever child, while also willful and disobedient, but very much able to turn on the charm when it suited her.

Upon reaching her teens, Saera took a keen interest in the young Lordlings about the court, and soon made herself a favourite of many of them. This eventually resulted in scandal when it was discovered that Saera had given her maidenhead to one young Lord, and slept with at least another two afterwards. When she proved herself unrepentant, Jaehaerys had her sent to Oldtown to be trained in the Faith, but she escaped and fled to the free city of Lys.

Word eventually reached King's Landing that she had begun work in a Pleasure House. Queen Alysanne despaired that the Lyseni had made her daughter a whore, but Jaehaerys declared she had already been one, washing his hands of his daughter and rejecting Alysanne's requests over the years that she be found and brought home. However, the Old King's stance may have softened in his final days, as he mistook his nurses for Saera.

A Symbolic Claiming

If Hugh is in fact Saera's daughter, it adds extra significance to the choice of the dragon he has claimed. Vermithor has only had one previous rider, King Jaehaerys, who is most likely Hugh's Grandfather.

In the book Fire and Blood, three Bastard sons of Saera (by then the proprietor of a successful Pleasure House in another Free City, Volantis) attend the Great Council to decide Jaehaerys's heir, intending to lay claim to the Iron Throne. As Bastards, their claims were immediately dismissed, although it was noted that one of the three bore a close resemblance to Jaehaerys in his youth.

Some fans believe Hugh bears some resemblance to King Jaehaerys as he appeared during the Great Council, depicted in House of the Dragon's very first episode. From this, they have theorised that Vermithor recognised his previous rider in Hugh, thus allowing the Blacksmith to claim him when so many others failed.

Perhaps, we will see Hugh's heritage further explored or confirmed in future episodes.