With one relatively brief monologue, delivered superbly from Tom Bennett, Ulf suddenly becomes one of the more compelling characters on House of the Dragon and a much more layered version than the one presented in George R.R. Martin’s source material Fire & Blood. As has been well-established, Martin’s book is presented as a historical tome written by “modern day” Westerosi maesters and therefore offers little about the true motivations of the major players of the era, let alone the B-teamers like Ulf and company.
Not only does this tragic account of Ulf’s upbringing help explain some of his cynical mindset and self-destructive behaviors, it also ties him in more closely to the Game of Thrones canon. The priest he mentions is undoubtedly a red priest of R’hllor a.k.a. the sect of crimson sorcerers that Melisandre of Asshai belongs to. In hindsight, Ulf’s backstory feels so integral to his character that it would seem impossible to portray the boorish dragonseed without having access to it.
Thankfully, Bennett had all the access he needed. That’s because, before shooting his first scene on House of the Dragon‘s “Cock Inn” tavern set back in season 2, Bennett was approached by series showrunner Ryan Condal with a revealing document.
“Ryan took a sheet out of his folder and gave it to me,” Bennett tells Den of Geek and other outlets during a press roundtable. “He said ‘I’ve already written this, but I think it might be useful to you now. It’s kind of a monologue of yours.’ I read it and was like that’s so generous, because this really does inform everything. Like this here is your origin story. Now I can hang everything else off that.”
Bennett’s early knowledge of Ulf’s childhood imbues the moment with a gravitas that his scene partners were happy to play off of.
“It was useful for me as well because within that scene he’s revealing so much and being so honest, and then he asks Hugh about himself and Hugh chooses not to tell him anything,” Bew says.
