Will Corlys's secret come out in House of the Dragon?

The start of House of the Dragon Season 2, Episode 7 picked up with Rhaenyra facing Seasmoke’s new rider. Addam of Hull kept the secret of his Velaryon heritage at first, but will that remain that way as the story goes on?

We know that Addam is the son of Corlys. This is a man who has longed for his father’s approval and attention, jealous that his brother Alyn was getting it due to Alyn’s work on the ships and saving Corlys’s life. However, the episode sees Corlys visit Addam after learning he claimed Seasmoke—well, actually, Seasmoke claimed him.

Corlys is proud of the man. It’s everything Addam wanted, but Addam still kept the fact that Corlys is his father a secret from Rhaenyra. He knows that Corlys doesn’t want this coming out just yet.

Will Corlys tell Rhaenyra why Addam is able to ride a dragon in House of the Dragon?

It’s clear to Rhaenyra that Addam has some sort of Targaryen blood. She doesn’t know how yet. Maybe she will slowly work things out as she gets to know her new dragonriders.

Ulf is likely the son of Baelor Targaryen. He is now the rider of Silverwing, whose former rider is Ulf’s grandmother. Hugh is potentially the son of Saera Targaryen, also a child of Jaehaerys and Alysanne. This makes Hugh their grandson, and his dragon Vermithor was Jaehaerys’s dragon. Again, Vermithor chose a grandchild of his previous rider.

If Rhaenyra figures this out, she may just figure out how the dragons are choosing their riders. Is it possible that it’s linked to close ancestry of previous riders? Could that allow her to work out that Addam is a close relative of Seasmoke’s previous rider, Laenor Velaryon?

This could allow Rhaenyra to work out that Addam is somehow linked to either Laenor or Corlys. It wouldn’t take her too long to realize that Addam is the illegitimate son of Corlys, especially if Corlys can’t keep a poker face for too long. Plus, as Addam proves his worth as a dragonrider, there’s a chance that Corlys will be proud enough to publicly claim Addam and then Alyn.

In fact, we’ll need to see Alyn claimed in some way eventually. It’s clear that Alyn will become Corlys’s heir to Driftmark. The only way to do that is to legitimize him. While he could legitimize one and not the other, that’s unlikely considering Addam’s success as a dragonrider.