House Of The Dragon Season 3 Officially Cuts Major Book Character With New Twist

Warning! Spoilers for House of the Dragon season 3 ahead!It previously looked as if HBO’s House of the Dragon was setting itself up to cut out a canon character, and season 3 has officially followed through. This Game of Thrones spinoff series has a reputation for such changes to canon, and it has gotten it into some trouble. A Song of Ice and Fire author George R.R. Martin has been rather critical of how House of the Dragon has handled his story. The trouble comes when a change has greater implications as it ripples out through the narrative. House of the Dragon season 3’s Nettles change is a prime example.

In Martin’s Fire & Blood, Nettles is a low-born dragonseed, like Ulf White and Hugh Hammer, who wins over and claims the wild dragon Sheepstealer. House of the Dragon season 2 introduced Sheepstealer, but there was no Nettles to be seen. Instead, it was suggested that Daemon Targaryen’s daughter, Rhaena Targaryen, would claim the wild dragon. House of the Dragon season 3 has officially moved forward with that story as Rhaena replaces Nettles by claiming Sheepstealer in the premiere and riding him into the Battle of the Gullet.

Nettles was never a central character within the Dance of the Dragons, but that isn’t to say that cutting her and replacing her with Rhaena comes without consequences, especially since House of the Dragon further alters their roles. In Martin’s version of the Battle of the Gullet, Nettles and Sheepstealer successfully participated in the battle. In HBO’s version, Rhaena’s lack of control over her wild dragon directly causes the deaths of Prince Jacaeyrs Velaryon and his dragon, Vermax. It’s a pretty massive shift, said and done.

Cutting Nettles Completely Changes Daemon & Rhaenyra’s Future Dynamic

Though Nettles was a very different sort of problem than Rhaena now will be, she was a problem nonetheless. In Fire & Blood, Nettles engages in what is widely believed to be an affair with Daemon Targaryen. Rhaenyra learns of this from her Master of Whisperers, Lady Mysaria, and becomes enraged and distrustful of Nettles. The queen concludes that this bastard girl used witchcraft to claim Sheepstealer and demands her head. Thankfully, Daemon learns of Rhaenyra’s plan and helps Nettles to escape on her dragon, never to be seen again.

Admittedly, it’s hard to imagine this story playing out between the versions of the characters we see in House of the Dragon. Season 2 spent a lot of time building up Daemon’s loyalty for Rhaenyra, and the TV version of this queen hasn’t traditionally been someone so jealous that they would demand someone’s head just for an affair.

This shift in how these characters behave surely has everything to do with why Nettles was replaced with Rhaena. Targaryens don’t mind incest, but it’s highly unlikely Daemon will have an affair with his daughter in House of the Dragon. The show has also now given Rhaenyra a more justified reason to hate Sheepstealer’s rider than pure jealousy. HBO has maintained what is sure to become a conflict between Rhaenyra and Daemon, but the context is completely and totally different.

Rhaena & Sheepstealer Killing Jace Is Far Worse Than The Canon Story

Rhaena Targaryen (Phoebe Campbell) looking up in House of the Dragon.

Rather than have Rhaenyra and Daemon at odds over an affair, House of the Dragon is sure to establish conflict as the queen’s lord husband attempts to protect his daughter. It’s a far more sympathetic situation all around. If Rhaenyra learns that Rhaena was responsible for Jace’s death, we could hardly blame her for being enraged and devastated. We also can’t blame Daemon for opposing her to keep Rhaena safe. Overall, it will be a terrible, heartbreaking situation for any of these characters to be in—far worse than Daemon simply taking another lover.

While it makes some sense that House of the Dragon would want to skip over Daemon and Nettles’ affair, it’s a bit strange that the show would bother to replace that arc with anything at all. Jace’s death will be a tragic motivator for Rhaenyra regardless. Providing the queen with another enemy within her own family is overkill. The whole thing feels like another way to pull the protagonist through a Game of Thrones-style Mad Queen decline. It wasn’t a popular choice with Daenerys, so it surely won’t work any better with Rhaenyra.