This post contains major spoilers about the Dance of the Dragons from George R.R. Martin’s Fire & Blood. While we have omitted significant plot points where possible, if you want to avoid learning about likely future events on House of the Dragon you can instead check out all of our show-only coverage.
House of the Dragon‘s Red Sowing gave Rhaenyra Targaryen two new dragonriders, but it took one from fans of George R.R. Martin’s Fire & Blood. The season two sequence all but guaranteed a beloved and important character named Nettles would never appear on the show. But, the prequel wasn’t cutting her arc entirely. It sent Sheepstealer to the Vale so Rhaena could claim the wild dragon instead, something Daemon’s daughter finally accomplished in season three’s premiere. The Battle of the Gullet also revealed how, despite being very different characters, Rhaena will fulfill Nettles’ role in the story. Whether that’s a good thing or not is a lot less clear.
Much to George R.R. Martin’s chagrin (and his sound internal logic), HBO’s adaptation created its own dragon lore when it gave the Vale a wild dragon. Those creatures are, by nature, not nomadic. Dragons in Westeros call Dragonstone home and only live somewhere else if their rider does. The show upended that fact when it moved Sheepstealer to the mountains of the Vale. It allowed Rhaena Targaryen, under House Arryn’s temporary protection, to claim the dragon and eliminate Nettles from the story. That was not a small change. Nor is it a welcome one for readers.
Nettles was the bastard daughter of a whore on the island of Driftmark, seat of House Velaryon. She grew up homeless. She did what she had to do to survive. The large slit on her nose she got for theft served as a reminder of that. Nettles was also likely a dragonseed same as Addam, Ulf, and Hugh, but some question her lineage because the brown-skinned, brown-eyed, dark-haired young girl had no Valyrian features. If that were true, she would be the only person to ever claim a dragon without having Valyrian blood. That mystery alone makes her one of the most compelling figures in the history of Westeros.
Her life throws everything anyone thought they ever knew about dragons into question. It would mean a random commoner could claim the world’s greatest power, a literal creature of magic. But that’s not what makes her beloved or important.
What makes the 16-year-old Nettles a fan-favorite is who she was. She was clever and clam, tough but compassionate. The way she claimed the dangerous, seemingly untamable Sheepstealer is also legendary. Others at the Red Sowing merely approached dragons. That’s what Alyn of Hull did with Sheepstealer. He walked away with burns instead of a dragon. (Another hopeful dragon rider walked away from Sheepstealer with one less arm.) Nettles tried a very different approach. She won the wild dragon’s trust slowly. Every morning she brought the mutton-loving creature a sheep carcass. Food proved the way to the dragon’s heart, as Sheepstealer eventually accepted her as its rider. Soon after Nettles fought at the Battle of the Gullet on behalf of Queen Rhaenyra. The massive loss of life and death of Prince Jacaerys greatly affected her.
House of the Dragon also had Sheepstealer participate in the infamous sea conflict, just in a very different way. Instead of fighting against the Triarchy like Nettles, Rhaena was unable to control Sheepstealer. The wild dragon burned ships indiscriminately while also attacking Jace and her twin sister Baela, which ultimately contributed to the Prince’s death. And that’s how the show revealed its plans to pull off its Rhaena/Nettles switch.
Fire & Blood‘s questionable historical account says Prince Daemon Targaryen grew very fond of Nettles while the two worked and lived together at Maindepool. That’s where they stayed while hunting down Aemond Targaryen and Vhagar. History cannot decide if Daemon adored and spoiled Nettles because he saw the lowborn girl as a daughter, or if they had a romantic love affair. It’s a fascinating unknown and there is evidence for both types of relationships. Even them bathing together in the same tub isn’t as definitive as it sounds, as witnesses saw him teaching the lowborn Nettles how to clean herself.
There is no definitive answer in Fire & Blood, and each reader will come to there own conclusions. Everything I know about Daemon before he met Nettles, along with the subtext of Fire & Blood, has always made me think it was both. I believe Daemon loved Nettles as a daughter and that she provided the otherwise bad dad with a chance to right previous wrongs. But I think he also loved the young woman in a way he never loved any of his wives of other paramours. That’s obviously creepy, but we’re also talking about a man who married his niece, so….
There will be no such ambiguity on House of the Dragon. As incestuous as House Targaryen can be, Aemond kissing his horrified mother is very much not normal even for them. They might marry siblings and nieces, but members of House Targaryen do not have romantic relationships between parents and children. With Rhaena fulfilling the role of Nettles, the show won’t have to deal with Daemon having complicated feelings and/or a sexual relationship with Sheepstealer’s rider. That will make a fateful decision he will one day make to protect that person a lot less interesting.
Something will soon happen in the Dance of the Dragons that will completely upend the war. In Fire & Blood, it leads an enraged, paranoid Rhaenyra Targaryen—acting on the advice of Daemon’s former mistress Mysaria—to issue a decree so broad it will target innocent, loyal fighters on Rhaenyra’s side. Nettles will be one of the Queen’s targets.
Rhaenyra’s demand will force Prince Daemon to make a fateful decision. In Fire & Blood, he must choose to protect his possible/likely young innocent paramour, a lowborn commoner with brown skin, from his angry highborn royal wife silver-haired wife who is listening to Daemon’s previous paramour. It’s an end-point in a long history between an infamous husband and wife complicated by both personal and political desires. And the future of the Realm itself hangs in the balance when Daemon must decide what to do. It’s a choice that will also shape how Daemon is remembered by history.
On House of the Dragon, it won’t be nearly as complicated. Highborn Targaryen/Velaryon Rhaena has taken over Nettles story and her dragon. Now the Battle of the Gullet has cleared the path for Rhaenyra to understandably call for Rhaena’s head, unlike how her book counterpart will foolishly call for Nettles’ head. Show Rhaenyra will, at least partially and possibly entirely, blame Rhaena and Sheepstealer for Jace’s death, no different than how she blames Aemond for Luke’s. When she does, Daemon will be choosing whether or not to protect his well-intentioned daughter against his angry wife over a mistake rather than his common affair partner he truly loves against a mad Queen.
The former seems like an easy choice (to everyone except son-sacrificing Alicent Hightower that is). The latter is far more difficult. That doesn’t mean House of the Dragon‘s version of this storyline won’t be compelling or well-executed. Daemon knowing about Aegon the Conqueror’s a Song of Ice and Fire prophecy will complicate his decision, only that would have also been true if the show included Nettles. Instead it eliminated her, a decision that will make Daemon’s a lot less complex or interesting.
Mikey Walsh is a staff writer at Nerdist. You don’t have to bring up Mushroom, he’s also very upset about his absence. You can follow him on Bluesky at @burgermike. And also anywhere someone is ranking the Targaryen kings.
The post HOUSE OF THE DRAGON Made Its Story Less Interesting by Eliminating Nettles appeared first on Nerdist.
This articles is written by : Nermeen Nabil Khear Abdelmalak
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