House of the Dragon creator reveals the real reason Rhaena replaced this huge book character

House of the Dragon season three has already made loads of changes from George R.R. Martin’s Fire & Blood, but one of the biggest has to be the removal of Nettles.

People who have read the book had been waiting for the fan-favourite character to finally appear on screen. Instead, the show revealed that Rhaena Targaryen is the one who claims the wild dragon Sheepstealer, confirming that Nettles’ storyline has been given to her instead.

In George R.R. Martin’s book, Nettles is the one who tames Sheepstealer by feeding the dragon sheep over time before eventually riding him into battle. She also goes on to play an important role later in the Dance of the Dragons.

By giving all of that to Rhaena instead, the show has completely rewritten one of the book’s biggest storylines. Now, showrunner Ryan Condal has explained exactly why the writers decided to make such a huge change.

They wanted to keep the story within the Targaryen family

via HBO

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Speaking to IGN, Ryan Condal said, “It just felt to us that because again, this story is told in point of view, that it felt more apt as this is a family story to where we had the opportunity to involve one of the family members in the storyline.”

He also explained that Rhaena has always been defined as the only Targaryen child without a dragon. Because of that, giving her Sheepstealer felt like a natural payoff.

He continued, “And because Rhaena has been set up since season one as the member of this family who doesn’t have a dragon, and basically her sole identity is the Targaryen kid who doesn’t have a dragon, it felt like that was a character that we had already set this long runway for that it could be very satisfying for the TV audience that didn’t have an experience with the book at all to see that character claim a dragon and then in a very, I think, Game of Thrones and Westerosian kind of way, to reap the consequences of having her wish come true.”

But getting her wish comes with a terrible price. After bonding with Sheepstealer during the Battle of the Gullet, she struggles to control the wild dragon. The chaos eventually leads to Jacaerys Velaryon’s death.

Condal described the storyline as “a very monkey’s paw kind of moment for Rhaena. She gets her great wish, and it becomes her greatest nightmare.”

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