I am convinced that House of the Dragon cuts a key character from the book and I would be so upset if that were true

Warning: Contains SPOILERS for Season 2, Episode 6 of House of the Dragon and the book Fire & Blood.

As House of the Dragon As Season 2 progresses, I am increasingly concerned that Nettles, a character from the book Fire & Bloodwas cut from the series entirely. The series made several major and minor changes to George RR Martin’s text, which is simply the byproduct of any adaptation, let alone one where the book itself is written as an in-universe story with varying accounts and not too many in-depth character details.

Despite it, House of the Dragon makes the part of the story that revolves around Nettles: the dragonseeds. Rhaenyra Targaryen and Jacaerys Velaryon’s plan to find non-Targaryens who ride dragons didn’t quite go to plan with Ser Steffon Darklyn, but Seasmoke has a new rider in the form of Addam of Hull. It’s safe to assume that Silverwing and Vermithor will be claimed by Ulf the White and Hugh the Hammer, as in the book. Nettles are the fourth of the dragon seeds in Fire & Bloodbut is nowhere to be seen in the show.

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Whoever has nettles is in fire and blood

The character is a dragon seed and part of Daemon’s story

In Fire & BloodNettles is a 16-year-old illegitimate girl from the island of Dragonstone, described as “black-haired, brown-eyed, brown-skinned, thin, vulgar (and) fearless.” She first appears in the story when Rhaenyra and Jace search for dragon seeds and actually end up claiming the wild dragon named Sheepstealer for themselves. Nettles’ bond with the dragon is more unusual, as she builds a bond with it by feeding it sheep every morning, and the dragon eventually accepts her.

Nettles becomes a member of Rhaenyra’s Team Black, and an important one at that, since Sheepstealer is a large, powerful dragon. She fights in the Battle of the Maw – which is currently probably in House of the Dragon Season 3 – and later forms a bond with Daemon Targaryen. Some of Fire & BloodSome sources say they were like father and daughter, others say they became lovers, but there is no doubt that they were very close.

Why House of the Dragon may have cut nettles

The show may have paired the character with Rhaena Targaryen

There have long been fears that Nettles could be dropped from the showsimply because there was no word about their appearance. The other Dragonseed actors were all confirmed to be part of House of the DragonThe cast of was announced before the broadcast of Season 2, but there was no such news for Nettles. Condal was interviewed by diversity in June 2024, but declined to comment on whether it would appear or not, saying:

“With this character, I’m not ready to comment on anything that hasn’t been established in the show yet.”

While this was vague, it did not lessen the concerns that she might be circumcised. What really worries me, however, is the presence of a wild dragon in the Vale of Arryn in House of the Dragon Season 2, Episode 6. Since the dragon eats cattle, it really seems as if it will actually be sheepstealersthe dragon that Nettles bonds with in the book. And if Sheepstealer shows up but Nettles hasn’t, then there may well be a discrepancy.

There have been rumors that Rhaena Targaryen will be in a relationship with Sheepstealer rather than Nettles in the series. Given that Rhaena learns of the dragon’s existence in Season 2, Episode 6, and is a character who has always wanted a dragon but never had one, this now seems much more plausible. In the book, Rhaena finally gets her own dragon, called Morning (who hatches from one of the eggs she brought with her to the valley), but the show might change that, as it feels like a clear starting point.

It should be noted that nothing is confirmed about Nettles, so I’m clinging to the hope that the character will show up. It could be that they’re just laying the groundwork for Nettles to show up in Season 3 and claim Sheepstealer for herself, with the Rhaena storyline either being a ruse or her trying to form a bond with the dragon and failing, making the reward of hatching her own egg more meaningful.

Since the Dragon Seed story is happening now and everyone else is already established, it’s a weird approach for Nettles’ character in this case. It’s absolutely not impossible, since the Dragon Seed story could extend into season three or Nettles could even be introduced in the season two finale (and for some reason the cast hasn’t been announced), but it just doesn’t make sense.

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Why cutting nettles would be a mistake

Nettles are important and bring a different perspective

Nettles is obviously important because she claims Sheepstealer, and that is different from the other dragon seeds. While the other claimed dragons already had bonds, Nettles is the only person in Fire & Blood capture a wild dragonand it shows a completely different way of building a bond with a dragon that we haven’t seen from either the Targaryens or the Dragonseed.

The question also arises whether Nettles even has Valyrian bloodwhich is in no way confirmed. It exists in part to raise the question of whether or not Valyrian blood is really necessary to ride a dragon. Since House Targaryen’s history in Westeros is built on them being dragon lords, making them closer to the gods than to men, this is a potential challenge to the idea of ​​their exceptionalism.

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Nettles is also different from the other dragonseed, even though they are also bastards. They may be, but they are also all men – and in the book they are all white and look like Valyrians, although the show changed this by making the members of House Velaryon (which includes Addam of Hull) black. This is a good change for representation, but Nettles is a young, lowly girl And a person of color adds another layer to what they could contribute to dragonriderswho are otherwise all either men or nobles (and often both).

The character is also very important to the plot, particularly the story of Daemon and Rhaenyra. She accompanies Daemon as he searches for Aemond Targaryen in the Riverlands, but Rhaenyra becomes increasingly paranoid about their relationship in King’s Landing. While Rhaenyra becomes a darker, more bitter character in the book, her view of Nettles helps to portray this, and also shows a different side of Daemon.

Rhaena cannot fulfill these roles. She is a good book character and Phoebe Campbell is very good in House of the Dragonbut Rhaena has her own story that doesn’t really fit with Nettles: She doesn’t fit into the Daemon/Rhaenyra story because Rhaenyra knows her and she Is Daemon’s daughter, so the question of a love affair doesn’t arise, nor does she bring the same element of low birth into the Dragon Riders. There should be room for both in the show, rather than adding a person of color to simply replace another.

New episodes of House of the Dragon Season 2 premieres Sundays at 9 p.m. ET on HBO and Max.

House of the Dragon

About 172 years before the events of game of Thrones, House of the Dragon tells the story of the rise of the Targaryens, the only family of dragon lords to survive the fall of Valyria. The popular HBO spin-off series initially starred Milly Alcock and Emily Carey as Rhaenyra Targaryen and Alicent Hightower, before being replaced by Emma D’Arcy and Olivia Cooke, who play the older versions of the characters. Also starring in the series are Matt Smith (Prince Daemon Targaryen) and Paddy Considine as Rhaenyra’s father, King Viserys Targaryen.

Pour

Jefferson Hall, Paddy Considine, Fabien Frankel, Ryan Corr, Eve Best, Gavin Spokes, Graham McTavish, Steve Toussaint, Olivia Cooke, Sonoya Mizuno, Bill Paterson, Matthew Needham, Emma D’Arcy, Matt Smith, Rhys Ifans, David Horovitch

Release date

21 August 2022

Seasons

2

network

HBOMax

Showrunner

Ryan Condal

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