Who is Alyn of Hull in House of the Dragon and who plays him?
Meet a major new player in the Dance of the Dragons.
There are several new faces set to be introduced in House of the Dragon season 2.
The HBO fantasy drama series returns with the Dance of Dragons civil war beginning in earnest between rival claimants Queen Rhaenyra Targaryen (Emma D'Arcy) and her half-brother King Aegon II Targaryen (Tom Glynn-Carney), along with their respective sides the Blacks and the Greens.
Among the allies on the side of Queen Rhaenyra is the legendary sailor and Lord of the Tides himself, Lord Corlys Velaryon aka The Sea Snake, portrayed by Steve Toussaint.
However, Lord Corlys has a formidable new ally of his own this season...
Who is Alyn of Hull in House of the Dragon?
Alyn of Hull is a sailor from Driftmark who saved the life of Lord Corlys Velaryon in the Stepstones while serving in the Velaryon fleet.
Speaking about Alyn's role in the series, actor Abubakar Salim told Entertainment Weekly: "We're so used to dealing with the upper echelons of society in this story, and they are always trying to climb to be part of that society, whereas Alyn doesn't care. He just does his job.
"He knows what he's good at and he knows what he wants. He cares not for those people who are sitting in their little thrones because that was crushed the day he was born."
Alyn's relationship with Lord Corlys will be a key one in the series, as will Alyn's relationship with his brother Addam of Hull.
The sixth episode of the second season sees it more or less confirms what had been strongly hinted at - Alyn and his brother Addam are the bastard sons of Lord Corlys - and his wife Princess Rhaenys Targaryen (Eve Best) was aware of this.
There was already an interaction between Rhaenys and Alyn which hinted at this knowledge of Lord Corlys's past infidelities.
Alyn is more optimistic about the future status of the brothers and hopes for recognition from his father.
Who plays Alyn of Hull in House of the Dragon?
Abubakar Salim portrays Alyn of Hull in House of the Dragon.
A 31-year-old British actor was named a BAFTA Breakthrough Brit and was nominated for a British Academy Games Award for his voice work on Assassin's Creed Origins.
Salim has also starred in the series Jamestown, the HBO Max series Raised By Wolves, Fortitude and the film Napoleon.
*Spoiler warning for the book Fire & Blood and potential spoiler warning for House of the Dragon.*
What happens to Alyn of Hull in the book Fire & Blood?
Alyn of Hull and his brother Addam serve as sailors and are the bastard sons of Marilda of Hull. With both boys being bastards of Valyrian descent they, therefore, are seen as 'dragonseeds'.
In the book, after being recruited to fight for the Blacks in the civil war, Alyn attempts to become a dragonrider but fails and is left scarred.
Regardless, Alyn becomes a major player in the Dance of Dragons as he and Addam are legitimised by Queen Rhaenyra Targaryen at the request of Lord Corlys Velaryon, with Alyn being named the heir to Driftmark and becoming Alyn Velaryon.
The fictional popular history novel provides several potential explanations for Lord Corlys's request, the most likely appearing to be that Alyn and Addam are the bastard sons of Lord Corlys from an indiscretion either during or before his marriage to Princess Rhaenys Targaryen.
Will this be the explanation for Alyn's importance in the series?
Read more:
- House of the Dragon cast: Game of Thrones prequel series returns for season 2
- How to watch House of the Dragon – where can you stream?
- House of the Dragon planned to last three or four seasons
- When is House of the Dragon set? Game of Thrones timeline explained
- Where was House of the Dragon filmed?
- What is Dark Sister in House of the Dragon?
- Your guide to the dragons of House of the Dragon
- Game of Thrones books in order: A Song of Ice and Fire and more
House of the Dragon season 2 will air on Sky Atlantic and NOW in the UK from 17th June – find out more about how to sign up for Sky TV.
Check out more of our Fantasy coverage or visit our TV Guide to see what's on tonight. For more from the biggest stars in TV, listen to The Radio Times Podcast.
Authors
Lewis Knight is the Trends Editor for Radio Times, covering trending titles from TV, Film and more. He previously worked at The Mirror in TV, Film, and Showbiz coverage alongside work on SEO. Alongside his past work in advertising, he possesses a BSc in Psychology and an MA in Film Studies.
