House of the Dragon Season three continues to move forward into the bloody depths of the Targaryen Civil War, and the bodies begin to pile up. We’ve already seen the devastating loss of Crown Prince Jacquerys Velaryon (Harry Collett) at the Battle of the Gullet, the execution of Otto Hightower (Rhys Ifans) and the shocking abuse of power at Tumbleton that will affect Hugh the Hammer (Kieran Bew). But there are many more deaths to come before this dance ends.
Given that House of the Dragon has complete source material for the work in the form of a book by George R. R. Martin. Fire and bloodhe is able to predict some of these major deaths much ahead of time. One such foreshadowing came in the fourth episode of Tumbleton’s third season, but it was so subtle that even die-hard fans might have missed it.
FULL SPOILERS AHEAD Fire and blood And House of the Dragon.
Tom Bennett as Ulf Wight in House of the Dragon, Season 3, Episode 4. | Photo by Theo Whiteman/HBO.
Rhaenyra Targaryen’s order will prove prophetic for Ulf the White
One of the moments in Tumbleton that mixed humor and tension was when the peasant horseman Ulf the White (Tom Bennett) came to Queen Rhaenyra Targaryen (Emma D’Arcy) seeking favor. But these services were not intended for him, but for his drinking buddies from Flea Bottom. While making these ridiculous requests, Ulf inadvertently revealed to Rhaenyra that he spent his free time getting drunk in a tavern in the worst part of the city, which, as it turned out, was what he had been doing for most of his life.
However, now everything has changed for Ulf. He is an important member of Rhaenyra’s army as he is the rider of one of her largest dragons, Silverwing. Ulf’s drunken antics at Flea Day provide the perfect opportunity for the assassins to strike at him and deprive Rhaenyra of one of her most important dragonriders, weakening her position in the war.
So she does what any reasonable monarch might do: she forbids Ulf from going to taverns, insisting that from now on he limit his drinking to the Red Keep. Obviously, this does not suit Ulf, who is not used to this kind of restrictions.
While we can debate whether this is another example of Rhaenyra neglecting one of her dragon seeds or whether it was a smart decision, one thing is clear from the source text: Ulf’s penchant for drinking will one day lead to his death.
Tom Bennett (Ulf) in House of the Dragon Season 3. | Photo by Theo Whiteman/HBO.
How Ulf the White dies Fire and blood?
Ulf faces a winding journey to Fire and bloodand it all leads to Tumbleton, the town currently occupied by Ormund Hightower (James Norton) in House of the Dragon. In the book, Ulf and fellow dragonseed Hugh the Hammer are sent to the city to help defend it from Ormund’s advancing army during the First Battle of Tumbleton, but they desert instead and help burn its defenses to the ground. After joining the Greens, they entered the annals of history as the Two Traitors.
The reason for Ulf and Hugh’s departure was never made clear, and it is highly likely that it will be handled differently in the series. But the book plays with the idea that Hugh and Ulf have plans to take their high places: Hugh wants to become King of the Seven Kingdoms, and Ulf dreams of becoming Lord of Highgarden. Their misdeeds earn them a terrible reputation during the next sack of Tumbleton, when Ulf sets up shop at his new favorite tavern, the Bawdy Badger.
While Ulf and Hugh terrorize both the local populace and the green nobility, 13 noble conspirators gather to put an end to the two dragonriders. These 13 green men, known as the Caltrops, formulate a plan to kill Hugh and Ulf and take back their dragons before things get worse.
However, fate intervenes when the Second Battle of Tumbleton occurs the night before the planned killings. Hugh is killed during this battle, along with a number of other major characters. But who is not, is Ulf the White, who has been sleeping all this time because he was very drunk.
Suffice it to say that when Ulf wakes up the next day, he decides that if Hugh gets out of the way, maybe He should become king of the Seven Kingdoms. After all, he has a very large dragon. But before that can happen, Ser Hobert Hightower brings him two barrels of wine to celebrate the upcoming attack on King’s Landing. Ulf is suspicious, but ends up being poisoned when Hobert first drinks some of the wine himself, proving it is safe, after which Ulf drinks three full cups.
Soon Ulf the White dies in his sleep, his ambitions to seize the Iron Throne unfulfilled. Silverwing never possesses another rider, and he becomes a wild dragon living on an island in the Reach.
While Ulf’s story may play out very differently in the series, especially after Hobert Hightower has already died and passed his lordship to his son Ormund, it seems reasonable to expect that the vulgar dragonseed will eventually be killed in some way like he does in the book, perhaps using one of his favorite drinks as part of the equation. With this in mind, Rhaenyra’s persistence in House of the Dragon the fact that Ulf’s drinking makes him vulnerable to the green killers is seen in a whole new light.
Let’s see what awaits Ulf the White in the rest of the episode. House of the Dragon season 3. New episodes premiere on Sundays on HBO and HBO Max.
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