Full spoilers for House Of The Dragon Season 3, Episode 7, “The Dragon in Winter,” follow. A clearly marked section later in this article contains spoilers from George R.R. Martin’s Fire & Blood.

Ulf betrays Rhaenyra because Ormund Hightower gives him something Rhaenyra and Daemon never really did: respect. By the end of House Of The Dragon Season 3 Episode 7, Ulf has secretly agreed to turn against Rhaenyra after Ormund offers him freedom, status, and the promise of Driftmark.

The offer works because Ulf has spent the season discovering that claiming Silverwing did not make the nobility accept him as one of their own. Rhaenyra gave him a title and a dragonrider’s place in her war, but her court continued to treat him like an embarrassing commoner who should simply be grateful to participate. Ormund recognizes that resentment and turns it into a weapon.

Why Does Ulf Turn Against Rhaenyra?

Ulf’s betrayal does not come from one sudden grievance. Season 3 has spent several episodes showing him slowly realize that becoming a dragonrider has changed his position without giving him the belonging he expected. He can ride Silverwing, one of the most powerful dragons alive, but the people around Rhaenyra continue to regard him as crude, unreliable, and fundamentally beneath them.

Daemon makes that resentment worse when he humiliates Ulf publicly. From Daemon’s perspective, Ulf needs discipline because he has been drinking, ignoring orders, and treating his new status like permission to do whatever he wants. From Ulf’s perspective, however, the encounter confirms something he has been feeling since claiming Silverwing: the nobles want his dragon, but they do not actually want him.

That distinction becomes Ormund Hightower’s opening. He does not begin by demanding Ulf’s loyalty or reminding him where he belongs. He treats Ulf like someone worth recruiting.

What Does Ormund Hightower Offer Ulf?

Ormund offers Ulf the things Rhaenyra’s court has consistently withheld emotionally: attention, dignity, freedom, and the promise that his new power should actually change his place in the world. Most importantly, Ormund promises Ulf Driftmark if he joins the Greens.

Whether Ormund can realistically deliver Driftmark is almost beside the point. Corlys Velaryon is still alive, Alyn exists, Baela exists, and Ormund cannot simply hand one of the wealthiest seats in Westeros to whoever he likes. The promise works because its practical legitimacy matters less than what Ulf hears underneath it.

Ormund is telling him: you claimed Silverwing, therefore you deserve to become somebody.

Rhaenyra’s court effectively tells Ulf that he should be thankful for what he has already received. Ormund tells him his dragon means he deserves more. For a man whose insecurity has always revolved around class and recognition, that is an extraordinarily effective pitch.

Why Does Ormund Understand Ulf Better Than Rhaenyra?

Ormund understands that Silverwing is not Rhaenyra’s real vulnerability. Ulf is. Rhaenyra can command armies, distribute titles, and tell a dragonrider where to patrol, but none of those things automatically create loyalty.

This is what makes Ormund such a dangerous opponent. He is deeply prejudiced, manipulative, and perfectly willing to use people, yet he pays close attention to what those people want. His entire campaign at Tumbleton has depended on understanding the weaknesses inside Rhaenyra’s strategy and forcing her to make choices that damage her own position.

Ulf is another version of the same tactic. Ormund does not need to defeat Silverwing. He needs to convince Silverwing’s rider that Rhaenyra is the person standing between him and the life he deserves.

The irony is that Ormund is still using Ulf. He is simply smart enough to understand that a man is easier to use when you first make him feel like a man instead of a tool.

Did Rhaenyra Cause Ulf’s Betrayal?

Ulf is responsible for his own decision, but Rhaenyra and Daemon absolutely helped create the conditions that make Ormund’s offer attractive. Their mistake is assuming that giving Ulf access to power automatically buys gratitude.

From Rhaenyra’s perspective, the bargain seems obvious. Ulf was an ordinary man who suddenly received recognition, protection, a place at court, and the extraordinary privilege of riding Silverwing. She expects him to understand the scale of what he has been given and behave accordingly.

Ulf sees the equation differently. He believes he claimed Silverwing. Once that happened, his understanding of his own value changed. Every insult, restriction, or reminder of his low birth therefore feels less like reasonable discipline and more like proof that the old class system has refused to recognize what the dragon already proved.

That is where Rhaenyra loses him. She believes his status is something she granted. Ulf increasingly believes his status comes from Silverwing, which means no queen gets to decide how much respect he deserves.

Why Did Ormund Choose Ulf Instead Of Hugh Hammer?

Ulf is the easier target because his dissatisfaction is already visible. He feels humiliated by Daemon, resents the restrictions placed on him, enjoys the privileges that came with becoming a dragonrider, and desperately wants the social recognition that his birth denied him.

Hugh Hammer is more complicated. Hugh’s relationship with Rhaenyra is also strained, but his strongest motivation in the television series remains personal because Kat and her family are in Tumbleton. His choices are tied to protecting people he loves, while Ulf’s dissatisfaction is much more directly connected to what becoming a dragonrider should mean for him.

Ormund therefore does not need to manufacture Ulf’s grievance. He only has to give that grievance somewhere to go.

Has Ulf Officially Joined The Greens?

By the end of Episode 7, Ulf has effectively turned against Rhaenyra by entering into a secret agreement with Ormund. The full military consequence of that decision has not happened yet, however, because the First Battle of Tumbleton is still approaching.

That distinction matters. Ulf’s emotional betrayal happens before his battlefield betrayal. The show allows us to understand why he changes sides before asking us to watch what that choice costs everyone around him.

It also creates an enormous problem for Rhaenyra because Silverwing is not something she can simply confiscate. The queen did not give Ulf a sword or a horse. She helped create a rival dragonrider with one of the largest dragons in Westeros.

What Does Ulf’s Betrayal Mean For Tumbleton?

It potentially changes everything. Rhaenyra has sent powerful dragonriders toward Tumbleton because Ormund’s occupation has created a military problem that conventional force may not be able to solve quickly. Silverwing should be one of her greatest advantages.

If Ulf changes sides, that advantage becomes a weapon pointed back at her own army. Ormund does not merely gain another soldier; he potentially removes one of Rhaenyra’s strongest dragons from the board and adds it to his own side at the same time.

That is why Ulf’s decision belongs directly beside the larger First Battle of Tumbleton story. Rhaenyra appears to possess overwhelming dragon power, but Tumbleton exposes the weakness inside that advantage: dragons do not swear political oaths. Their riders do.

And riders can change their minds.

Does Ulf Betray Rhaenyra In Fire & Blood?

Yes. Major Fire & Blood spoilers begin here.

In George R.R. Martin’s history of the Dance, Ulf White and Hugh Hammer become known as the Two Betrayers after switching sides during the First Battle of Tumbleton. They were supposed to use Silverwing and Vermithor to fight for Rhaenyra, but instead their dragons turn against the Black forces and help produce a devastating Green victory.

Fire & Blood offers several possible explanations for why they betray her, including promises of lands, titles, wealth, and the recognition that possessing two enormous dragons gives them far more bargaining power than anyone initially expected. The historical format leaves room for uncertainty because the book presents competing accounts rather than a single definitive interior motivation.

House Of The Dragon is making Ulf’s reason much more personal. Instead of waiting until the battle to suddenly reveal a traitor, the series is showing us the emotional process that makes betrayal possible: Ulf gains extraordinary power, expects society to recognize that transformation, becomes resentful when it does not, and meets an opponent who knows exactly how to exploit the gap.

Why Ulf’s Betrayal Matters Beyond Tumbleton

Ulf’s turn is another warning about the system Rhaenyra created when she searched for new dragonriders. The dragonseeds solved an immediate military problem by dramatically increasing the number of dragons available to Team Black, but every new rider also became a new center of power whose loyalty had to be maintained.

That is easy to forget because Westeros treats dragons like weapons. A sword does not care whether its owner feels respected. Silverwing does not belong to the crown in the same way a sword does, because the dragon’s usefulness is inseparable from the human being who can ride her.

Ulf therefore becomes the political version of the lesson Rhaena learns with Sheepstealer in Episode 7. Rhaenyra can surround herself with dragons and still discover that possessing access to power is not the same thing as controlling it.

So Why Does Ulf Betray Rhaenyra?

Ulf betrays Rhaenyra because becoming a dragonrider changes what he believes he deserves, while Rhaenyra’s court continues treating him like the lowborn man he used to be. Ormund Hightower sees that resentment and offers Ulf exactly what he wants to hear: Silverwing has made him powerful enough to demand respect, land, freedom, and a place among the people who once looked down on him.

That does not make Ulf innocent, and it does not make Ormund sincere. It makes the betrayal dramatically stronger because all three sides contribute to it. Ulf wants validation, Rhaenyra assumes gratitude, and Ormund understands how to weaponize the distance between them.

Rhaenyra thought Silverwing gave her another dragon. Ormund understood that Silverwing gave Ulf a new idea of who he was—and the moment Ulf started believing that idea, Rhaenyra was already losing him.