*Warning: Spoilers ahead for House of the Dragon season 3 episode 1* Rhaena Targaryen tames Sheepstealer in the House of the Dragon season three premiere, completing her takeover of the book character Nettles. And some fans think George RR Martin ‘definitely’ criticised this move after complaining about Sheepstealer. It’s no secret that Martin isn’t pleased with where House of The Dragon showrunner Ryan Condal has taken the storyline, and how it’s been impacted by deviations to the books. When asked about their relationship by The Hollywood Reporter earlier this year, Martin said, “It’s worse than rocky. It’s abysmal.” He went on to say that they had a good working relationship throughout season one, with Martin giving Condal notes on the early script drafts. “Then we got into season two, and he basically stopped listening to me,” he said. “I would give notes, and nothing would happen. Sometimes he would explain why he wasn’t doing it. Other times, he would tell me, ‘Oh, OK, yeah, I’ll think about that.’ “It got worse and worse, and I began to get more and more annoyed.” This culminated in the author publishing a blog post in 2024, when season two was airing, detailing his issues with the story. It was meant to be part one of six posts delving further into his criticism, but an HBO executive reached out and convinced him to take it down. Now, another 2024 blog post has resurfaced that’s led some fans to believe Martin isn’t happy with how Nettles has been replaced. Why House of the Dragon fans think George RR Martin was talking about Nettles Credit: HBO The theory stems from a blog post Martin published in July 2024, during the height of debate surrounding House of the Dragon season two. While praising the episode ‘The Red Dragon and the Gold’, Martin went on a lengthy discussion about dragon lore and the rules governing the beasts in A Song of Ice and Fire. One section in particular appears to directly speak about how Sheepstealer is portrayed in the HBO series. In the second chapter, Sheepstealer is introduced as a wild dragon living in the Vale, where Rhaena repeatedly tracks and encounters him. In Martin’s version of the story, however, Sheepstealer is one of three wild dragons that make their lairs on Dragonstone. Explaining their behaviour in his books, Martin wrote: “My dragons are creatures of the sky. They fly, and can cross mountains and plains, cover hundreds of miles… but they don’t, unless their riders take them there. They are not nomadic.” He argued that if dragons naturally wandered across continents, the history of Westeros would look very different. “Similarly, the dragons of Westeros seldom wander far from Dragonstone,” Martin wrote. “Elsewise, after three hundred years, we would have dragons all over the realm and every noble house would have a few.” Credit: HBO Moving Sheepstealer to the Vale is what ultimately allowed Rhaena to inherit much of Nettles’ storyline in House of the Dragon, and Martin’s post alongside other comments he’s made has some fans convinced he isn’t happy with this change. One Redditor wrote at the time, “I’ve been thinking a lot about George R.R. Martin’s latest blog post, and in my opinion I’m convinced it’s about his disappointment over Nettles not being included in HoTD.” As for why, they noted his criticism to have Sheepstealer in the Vale, writing, “This seems like a diplomatic way of expressing his frustration with how the show has handled certain elements of his lore.” The Redditor also pointed to the author’s long-standing regret over the portrayal of Melantha Jhirl from his novella Nightflyers, arguing that seeing Nettles removed from House of the Dragon may have struck a similar nerve. “Nettles being cut likely opens an old wound for him because, given his contract with HBO, he has no control over his characters, especially his canon Black characters,” they continued. “Seeing Nettles’ plot parcelled out for others must be gut-wrenching and takes him back to his failure with Melantha Jhirl’s portrayal in Nightflyers.” GRRM’s Latest Post is Definitely About Nettles byu/AdvantageHappy1080 inHouseOfTheDragon The theory gained further traction after another blog post Martin published in May 2024, in which he criticised the tendency of Hollywood adaptations to stray from their source material. “Everywhere you look, there are more screenwriters and producers eager to take great stories and ‘make them their own,’” Martin wrote. “No matter how major a writer it is, no matter how great the book, there always seems to be someone on hand who thinks he can do better, eager to take the story and ‘improve’ on it. “‘The book is the book, the film is the film,’ they will tell you, as if they were saying something profound. Then they make the story their own. “They never make it better, though. Nine hundred ninety-nine times out of a thousand, they make it worse.” So, who actually is Nettles? I'm sooo mad about this change !! And Y TF did we even have the dragonseeds on screen if they weren't gonna be at the Gullet …? They disrespected the character of Nettles and I'll always be mad about it. pic.twitter.com/AVynAN5GXz — ScreenNZup (@bennyvictory) June 22, 2026 Nettles is one of the most important dragonriders introduced during the Dance of the Dragons in George RR Martin’s Fire & Blood. Unlike most dragonriders, she is not a noble-born Targaryen and her exact ancestry is left deliberately ambiguous. She earns a place among the Dragonseeds introduced by Rhaenyra, managing to claim the wild dragon Sheepstealer. Rather than relying on Valyrian blood or a traditional dragon bond, Nettles wins Sheepstealer’s trust by bringing him freshly slaughtered sheep each day until he accepts her. She later becomes a key ally of Rhaenyra’s faction and develops a close relationship with Daemon Targaryen (Matt Smith). How House of the Dragon gave Nettles’ story to Rhaena Credit: HBO In House of the Dragon, much of Nettles’ storyline has instead been given to Rhaena, the daughter of Daemon and Laena Velaryon (Nanna Blondell). After spending much of season two searching the Vale for the wild dragon, Rhaena finally succeeds in taming Sheepstealer in the season three premiere. The moment fulfils her long-held desire to become a dragonrider and effectively confirms that Nettles will not appear in the HBO adaptation, unless her story is also changed. Rhaena’s victory quickly turns into disaster. While attempting to return to Dragonstone, Rhaena is unable to fully control Sheepstealer, who is drawn into the Battle of the Gullet. The dragon’s actions contribute to the chaos of the battle and ultimately play a role in the death of Jace (Harry Collett), Rhaenyra’s eldest surviving son. 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