HBO
Rhaenyra Targaryen's (Emma D'Arcy) focus in "House of the Dragon" season two is finding new dragonriders. Her plan comes to fruition in episode seven when she recruits Targaryen bastards from King's Landing to join her war against the Greens.
However, the show has so far omitted Nettles, a lowborn woman who joins Rhaenyra after taming a dragon in "Fire and Blood," the book the HBO series is based on.
Fans on social media are surprised that Nettles has seemingly been left behind, given how faithful the show has been to the book by giving dragons to Hugh Hammer, Ulf the White, and Addam of Hull.
In episode seven, Hugh (Kieran Bew) and Ulf (Tom Bennett) are among the bastards in Dragonstone who try their luck at taming the huge dragon, Vermithor, in the caves beneath the castle.
Predictably, it all ends in chaos until Hugh bonds with Vermithor and Ulf connects with Silverwing.
In the previous episode, Addam (Clinton Liberty) was surprised when Seasmoke sought him out on a beach, and they bonded in a forest.
But in the book, another dragon joins Rhaenyra's new army, Sheepstealer. Nettles tames the dragon by — you guessed it — feeding him sheep.
But while Hugh and Ulf have popped up in several season two episodes, Nettles is nowhere to be seen.
Theo Whiteman/HBO
It appears that the writers have given Nettles' story to Rhaena Targaryen (Phoebe Campbell). In episode seven, she goes searching for Sheepstealer after finding burned carcasses in the Vale.
It makes sense for the series to move a pre-existing character into a bigger position rather than adding yet another person to the roster.
Plus, it also develops Rhaena's story in an interesting way. She was sent away to the Vale to protect Rhaenyra's youngest son, Aegon III (Jake and Rory Heard), from the war — and she was pretty unhappy about it.
At the end of season two, Rhaena finally tracks down Sheepstealer in the Vale while the aptly named dragon munches on a burnt carcass. He stares at Rhaena but doesn't attack her, which implies that they've bonded.
We don't see Rhaena mount Sheepstealer, but she'll probably ride him into battle in season three.
Theo Whitman / HBO
It's unclear whether Nettles had Targaryen heritage in the book, but it's suggested that she managed to befriend Sheepstealer by feeding him.
Regardless, she was loyal to Rhaenyra during the war, even when Hugh and Ulf betrayed the Blacks and started fighting for the Greens.
Shortly after taking King's Landing for Rhaenyra, Daemon Targaryen and Nettles began sleeping together and fell in love. Word eventually got back to Rhaenyra about the relationship, and she declared Nettles as a traitor to the crown.
Nettles fled to the Vale and hid out in the mountains with Sheepstealer for the rest of her life, but it's not known when she died.
It seems highly unlikely that the Nettles' relationship will be folded into "House of the Dragon" because Rhaena is Daemon's daughter. Although there are several incestuous relationships in the franchise, a father-daughter couple could be a step too far.
"House of the Dragon" season two airs Sundays at 9 p.m. ET on HBO and is streaming on Max.
