Why Jace Is Really So Mad About Rhaenyra’s Dragonseeds Plan (Despite Coming Up With The Idea)

WARNING! This article contains major SPOILERS for House of the Dragon season 2, episode 7 and George R.R. Martin’s Fire & Blood book, on which the show is based!

Summary

• Jacaerys rejects the idea of Targaryen bastards claiming dragons, believing it undermines his own legitimacy as Rhaenyra’s named heir.
• The dragonseeds’ presence threatens Jacaerys as reminders of his true parentage and illegitimacy.
• Jacaerys resents his dark hair, symbolizing his illegitimacy, unlike Jon Snow’s lucky black hair that concealed his Targaryen ancestry.

Although Jacaerys was the one who suggested it in the first place, he begs Rhaenyra not to go through with her plan to have Targaryen bastards claim dragons in House of the Dragon season 2, episode 7. After losing Rhaenys and Meleys, it was clear that Team Black needed to find more dragonriders in order to gain the strength required to fight Vhagar in battle. Jacaerys suggested finding people with Targaryen blood who were “born with other names” to claim the unbonded dragons, which they first unsuccessfully test out with Ser Steffon Darklyn, whose great-grandmother was Princess Aeriana Targaryen.

While Steffon is fatally burned by the dragon he tries to claim, Seasmoke chooses Addam of Hull as his rider, a bastard son of Lord Corlys Velaryon. Rhaenyra decides that the gods are compelling her to find more people with Valyrian blood to claim Vermithor and Silverwing, leading her to call bastards of King’s Landing for the task. However, Jacaerys scolds Rhaenyra for her plan with the “dragonseeds,” believing that lowborn bastards claiming dragons undermines not only the Targaryens’ divine power, but also his own as Rhaenyra’s named heir.

The Silver-Haired Targaryen Bastards Claiming Dragons Undermines Jacaerys’ Legitimacy

Highborns With Targaryen Blood Don’t Threaten Jacaerys’ Claims

The difference between Jacaerys accepting Ser Steffon Darklyn’s attempt to claim Seasmoke versus the dragonseeds is that Steffon is a highborn knight and the heir to the Dun Fort. Highborns with Valyrian blood don’t pose a threat to Jacaerys’ dragonriding ability being proof of his legitimacy as a Targaryen, but other bastards do. Jace felt himself to be an exception to the trueborn Dragonlord rule due to being raised in nobility with public claims of legitimacy. No matter how much he may be called unworthy of the throne of being a Targaryen due to his illegitimate parentage, his ability to ride a dragon would prove them wrong.

No known bastards with Targaryen parents had ever accomplished this before Jace, which was interpreted as the gods favoring him and Rhaenyra’s other children as legitimate Targaryens – regardless of who their father really was.

However, if any lowborn person with Targaryen ancestry can claim a dragon, then Jacaerys’ primary source of legitimacy is rendered insignificant. Jacaerys wasn’t born with the silver hair of a Targaryen, but he hatched the dragon egg from his cradle and rode it in the ways of the Dragonlords of Old Valyria. No known bastards with Targaryen parents had ever accomplished this before Jace, which was interpreted as the gods favoring him and Rhaenyra’s other children as legitimate Targaryens – regardless of who their father really was.

Now that Addam of Hull claimed Seasmoke, Hugh Hammer claimed Vermithor, and Ulf White claimed Silverwing, this part of Jace’s divine proof of legitimacy is nullified since bastards of any kind can claim dragons. It isn’t just Dragonlords of high nobility and strong Valyrian blood who can bond with dragons, but Valyrian-blooded smallfolk alike. Furthermore, Hugh Hammer could be interpreted by some as even more worthy of the crown than Jacaerys, as he has both the Targaryen silver hair and dragonriding ability.

Jacaerys’ Dragonseeds Response Reveals A Big Problem For The Dance Of The Dragons

Jacaerys’ Pride Could Cost Team Black Gravely

Jacaerys clearly isn’t accepting of the dragonseeds who have now joined Team Black as major assets in this war, as they serve as reminders of his own true parentage and easily-proven illegitimacy. Considering Rhaenyra needs their unwavering loyalty due to how powerful they are with their dragons, Jace rejecting the dragonseeds could risk them defecting to the Greens if they feel slighted by Team Black. Jacaerys understands how much their army needs these dragonriders, but he resents their presence due to the threat they pose to his perception as a true Targaryen.

It also makes Jacaerys’ ability to be loved by all weaker if he looks down upon other bastards. Jacaerys actually being the son of Harwin Strong instead of Laenor Velaryon makes him likely to be more strict, hot-tempered, and unforgiving to those who threaten to further question his illegitimacy and authority in the eyes of the public. Jacaerys’ pride has been getting in the way of himself all throughout House of the Dragon season 2, and while he certainly would be a better ruler than Aegon or Aemond, his need to prove himself so much is dangerous in this war.

Jacaerys also knows that just because a king or queen names someone their heir, that doesn’t mean the realm will accept them as such. He saw this exact sentiment play out with his mother, as much of the realm refused to accept a woman on the Iron Throne despite the fact that King Viserys made the noble houses bend their knees and declare her as such. Even if Rhaenyra wins the Iron Throne from Aegon and makes the realm’s lords swear oaths of fealty to Jace as her named heir, that isn’t a guarantee they’d ever accept him as King.

Jacaerys Needed Silver Hair For His Claim; Jon Having Silver Hair Would Have Killed Him

In a truly tragic moment for both characters, Jace reveals that he, on some level, resents being born of Rhaenyra’s affair with Ser Harwin Strong. He was born with dark hair and the more dominant features of House Strong rather than House Targaryen, providing physical proof of his bastardy. He even angrily asks Rhaenyra about this point-blank:

“Did you think I would have dark hair? When you took Harwin Strong into your bed, did you think I might favor him, or did it not cross your mind?”

Jace has a good point, as Rhaenyra’s sons being born with dark hair could have been a death sentence if Viserys hadn’t so fervently supported his daughter and blindly believed in her claims of their legitimacy. In some ways, it did become a death sentence for Lucerys Velaryon, as Aemond Targaryen’s hatred for his nephew and frequent insults of calling him a bastard culminated in Aemond accidentally killing Lucerys at Storm’s End. While being born with dark hair and the physical features of House Strong was unlucky for Jacaerys, Lucerys, and Joffrey, the opposite was true for Jon Snow in Game of Thrones.

Jon’s black hair gave Ned plausible deniability about his true parentage, avoiding the wrath of those who would want to kill Rhaegar’s son.

Rather, Jon Snow was extremely lucky that he was born with his mother Lyanna Stark’s black hair. Had Jon inherited the Targaryens’ silver hair, then he almost certainly would have been killed by Robert Baratheon or others who sought to extinguish the Targaryen line. Jon having silver hair would have greatly complicated the claim that he was Ned Stark’s bastard, and instead, people would likely have surmised the truth that he was the son of Lyanna Stark and Prince Rhaegar Targaryen. Jon’s black hair gave Ned plausible deniability about his true parentage, avoiding the wrath of those who would want to kill Rhaegar’s son.

Does Jacaerys Actually Succeed Rhaenyra On The Iron Throne? What Happens To Him

Jacaerys’ Fears About His Inheritance Are Never Truly Tested

According to George R.R. Martin’s Fire & Blood book, Jacaerys Velaryon sadly doesn’t follow Rhaenyra on the Iron Throne. In fact, Rhaenyra is hardly seated on the Iron Throne herself in the Dance of the Dragons. It’s unclear whether the timeline will be shifted around in House of the Dragon, but the book reveals that Prince Jacaerys Velaryon dies before Rhaenyra takes King’s Landing from the Greens. While two of Rhaenyra’s sons eventually sit the Iron Throne, they aren’t her “Velaryon” sons fathered by Ser Harwin Strong.

When Rhaenyra’s sons Aegon and Viserys are sailing on a ship to Pentos, their cog is intercepted by the Triarchy, who take the boat captive while sinking or capturing the warships sent to guide the princes. Aegon flies away on Stormcloud and makes it to Dragonstone before his dragon dies, with enough time to inform Rhaenyra and Jacaerys of the attack. Jace then flies on Vermax to the Gullet alongside the dragonseeds, thus commencing the Battle of the Gullet, the bloodiest sea battle in Wsterosi history.

Tragically, Jacaerys doesn’t survive the battle. Jacaerys and Vermax take out a significant portion of the Triarchy’s fleet, but after Vermax flies too low, the prince and dragon crash into the Gullet. Fire & Blood’s sources claim that Jace jumps off Vermax onto nearby wreckage, but is subsequently killed by Myrish archers. To avenge her son’s death, House of the Dragon’s Queen Rhaenyra Targaryen finally flies to King’s Landing and successfully claims her seat on the Iron Throne.