Introducing Ulf: A Dragon-Riding Replacement for Bronn
When it comes to iconic characters, everyone loves a good, slightly unscrupulous figure like Bronn from "Game of Thrones" - the sly, witty guy who always knows how to find the most convenient side! While you won’t see Bronn make an appearance in "House Of The Dragon" – because, well, he’s way back in the timeline, and his era was before dragons took over everything – you'll definitely see a guy who’s basically Bronn’s dragon-riding, more serious version: Ulf!
Fans who’ve been loving "House Of The Dragon" have a lot to love, but you can’t say this show’s always been lighthearted, it’s super focused on this dark, politically-charged tale. While "Game of Thrones" made you laugh while also sending chills down your spine, "House of the Dragon" doesn’t really play with dark comedy that much. Sure, Daemon and Aegon can throw a bit of snark around, but generally everyone else’s in serious mode! The showrunners are finally giving us a more hilarious and potentially more destructive version of that whole "power-hungry, money-hungry" side of the story with this Ulf dude. He makes even the stuffy dragons feel bad.
Why Ulf is Definitely the Dragon-Era Bronn
If you’ve been watching, Ulf started his journey in King’s Landing just another regular guy. But this season finale’s reveal is super wild because he ends up being a powerful, snarky, dragon rider. Remember, “Game of Thrones” was kind of big on showing the whole societal class thing. This was something Bronn had no problem mocking in the middle of war, so Ulf’s definitely in that same ballpark. In fact, you’ve gotta be impressed by his ability to show some of those royal folk who's boss - not the kind of move a “Game of Thrones” commoner could get away with. Even though he’s being “a little rough around the edges" the fact that he's on a dragon totally changes everything! It’s way less about charm, and a whole lot more about threat. He has a certain amount of fear in his eyes, because those nobles know the dragon makes this dude one not to mess with.
But that’s not all, this guy has got big, "what’s in it for me?" ambitions as Bronn did. And when those big decisions roll around, it seems like the dragons could mean the end of even the most powerful kingdoms if Ulf ends up on the wrong side. We see Ulf doing his best to serve Queen Rhaenyra – until it seems like it’s convenient for him, and of course, the fact that the entire world’s future is being decided in “the Dance of Dragons” – the Targaryen civil war, you can bet this guy's gonna use that dragon for more than just a fun flight. You could say, Ulf’s got his “eye on the prize,” a bit like Bronn but with dragons, and a big, scaly dragon at that.
Will Ulf Change Sides In the Dance? A Familiar Bronn Trait
Spoiler alert: Ulf’s “loyalty” seems to be up in the air. In fact, based on “Fire & Blood” – the book this entire show is based on, Ulf ends up going a bit “traitor” at some point in the "Dance of the Dragons". This, by the way, means he’ll probably do a move that gets him onto the Green side, Alicent's side! I guess we can say this Ulf fellow really lives for a good switcheroo. The most surprising thing? He might even try to take over Highgarden – that’s a massive deal. We see some parallels here to “Game of Thrones”, right? Bronn tried to make that same claim. It looks like they share that love for big kingdoms.
And what makes it super intriguing – you get to see the parallels between Bronn and Ulf while also keeping “House of the Dragon” interesting, which, honestly, we were wondering if they could manage! Will Ulf stay faithful to Rhaenyra? It would be super interesting to see if the show goes in a different direction and leaves Ulf with her through those dramatic "Dance of Dragons" events.
Is the "House of the Dragon" Really More Serious Than “Game of Thrones”?
Now, here's a hot topic. A lot of fans have a certain type of love for those "Game of Thrones" scenes with the witty moments - those sly observations about the crazy things happening in those wars. It’s those moments of snark that really make it feel as if the “GoT” writers took this story, this serious world of dragons, Kings, and Queen, and said, "Okay, how can we get a good, belly-laughing moment?” Those were scenes with Tyrion, Bronn, and sometimes even Cersei when things got good!
"House of the Dragon" doesn’t really bring you the same laughs. And now with a Dragon Rider like Ulf who can turn a noble's insult into an actual act of burning a whole village down - it's even scarier than those GoT moments of humor. It kind of changes the meaning of "traitor"! With this "Dance of the Dragons" on full steam, it looks like the “House of the Dragon” is going to get darker, even crazier than we already thought possible. And you never know what kind of unexpected side character is gonna make that transition from a fun joke into a massive threat to everyone. But one thing's for sure, we're going to be sitting right in the middle of it all. Get ready!
