The way I am going to get flamed for this but am I the only one understanding why they didn't let Ulf have the Targaryen name?? I feel like it's completely ridiculous to ask, but everyone on the internet is calling out Rhaenyra for her hypocrisy but what hypocrisy?? It's the royal dynasty's name why would they let someone else use it, even if they are technically an unproven royal bastard. Besides the fact it's a shown invention, it doesn't make sense to me but idk
No, I actually understand this. 🙂
Giving Ulf the Targaryen name would be politically insane. That is not just a cute little reward for claiming a dragon. In Westeros, names mean inheritance, legitimacy, blood rights, and future claims. Once you publicly legitimize a royal bastard, especially one with a dragon, you are not just honoring him. You are creating a possible rival branch.
The Blackfyre rebellions are perfect example. Aegon IV legitimized his bastards, and the realm spent generations bleeding because one of those lines decided it had a claim.
So Rhaenyra refusing to hand out the royal name like festival candy is not hypocrisy to me. It is basic dynastic survival.
Reward Ulf with gold, lands, status, whatever. But the Targaryen name? Absolutely not. That is how you accidentally manufacture the next civil war while already standing in the middle of one.
