The second season of ‘House of The Dragon‘ focused on finding new riders for the unclaimed dragons on Dragonstone. Rhaenyra Targaryen spreads the word in Kings Landing to all the Targaryen bastards to claim a dragon. In the episode titled The Red Sowing, after a perilous attempt, all the riderless dragons are bonded. Hugh claims Vermithor, also known as the Bronze Fury with copper hide. Uff claims Silverrwing, the third largest dragon. And for the first time in Valyrian history a dragon, Seasmoke claims Addam of Hull.
However, fans who are familiar with the House of The Dragon book series patiently kept waiting for yet another character to claim a dragon for the Black Council. Three wild dragons roam about Westeros unclaimed. Sheepstealer is one such dragon who is claimed by a character named Nettles in the books. However, it seems that HBO has chosen to do away with her plot as the season came to an end on Sunday. Let’s learn who is Nettles and why is she not included in the Game of Thrones prequel.
All About Nettles
Nettles was born on Driftmark and grew up in Spicetown and Hull. Since was the bastard daughter of a dockside whore her Valyrian descent is not confirmed. In the books, she is described as a small, skinny, brown girl, with black hair and brown eyes. While other Targaryen bastards had to rely on bravery and luck to claim a dragon, Nettles used her wit. Sheepstealer was a wild dragon with a ‘mud brown’ color that roamed about the lands of Vale. It had a liking for mutton and devoured herds of sheep while sparing the shepherds.
In the books, when Nettles was 16 years old she brought slaughtered sheep to the beast every morning. Hence, Nettles was able to tame the dragon and eventually claim it. During the Dance of Dragons, Nettles supported the Black Council. She was coarse-mouthed, dirty yet brave. She fought valiantly in the Battle of Gullet alongside dragonseeds Hugh and Uff.
She joins Daemon Targaryen in his task to defeat Aemond Targaryen and his dragon, Vhagar. Daemon believed that at least two dragons were necessary to bring down the largest dragon in the series. However, both Daemon and Aemond are swallowed in the Gods Eye and their bodies are never found. Lady Mysaria feeds the distrust of the dragonseeds in Rhaenyra including Nettles. She declares that Nettles used witchcraft to bond with Sheepstealer. Hearing this Nettes flees from God’s Eye to the Mountains of the Moon, never to be seen again.
Related: 7 Things ‘Game Of Thrones’ Did Better Than ‘House Of The Dragon’
Why Nettles Is Not In ‘House Of The Dragon’
During Rhaena Targaryen’s stay at the Eyrie in the Vale, Lady Jeyne Arryn tells her that a wild dragon is roaming about the lands stealing sheep. With this reference, fans hoped that Nettles’ character would finally be introduced. Instead, we witness Rhaena herself going on a search hunt for the dragon. Since the beginning of House of the Dragon, we have watched Rhaena long for claiming a dragon. She has once risked her life attempting to claim Seasmoke and another chance to bond with Vhagar slipped from her fingers as Aemond claimed the green beast first.
The season finale ended with Rhaena finally finding the dragon, eating burned sheep. While it is not explicitly confirmed that Rhaena has claimed Sheepstealer, we can safely make the assumption. With this, the HOD fandom can infer, that HBO is trying to amalgamate the two characters of Rhaena and Nettles. HBO has confirmed that House of the Dragon will end by season 4. Hence, including Nettles’ character might make the plot more complex with already many fresh faces.
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