House of the Dragon Season 3 immediately paid off one of the biggest cliffhangers from Season 2, particularly concerning Rhaena Targaryen and the dragon known as Sheepstealer. Now, fans are wondering what happens to Sheepstealer in the source material and whether it will be directly translated into the HBO series.
House of the Dragon is finally back with the premiere of Season 3, and saying that it started out with a bang is nothing short of an understatement. A Song of Ice and Fire fans got to witness the long-awaited Battle of the Gullet in the season's first episode, as well as whether Rhaena successfully claimed Sheepstealer.
The dragon named Sheepstealer had a huge presence in the House of the Dragon Season 3 premiere. At the end of Season 2, it was revealed that Rhaena had stumbled upon Sheepstealer, an unclaimed wild dragon that had a reputation for being hostile and dangerous. The season ended with Rhaena in Sheepstealer's presence, but the show didn't reveal whether she could claim him.
In the Season 3 premiere, Rhaena did, in fact, claim the wild beast and began riding him. This is a major change from what happens in George R.R. Martin's Fire & Blood novel (the source material for the show), as in the book, Rhaena never bonds with Sheepstealer. Instead, a girl named Nettles claims him and fights alongside the Blacks.
Later on in the episode, during the Battle of the Gullet, Rhaena arrives on Sheepstealer's back to get in on the action. She takes part in the battle, but because Sheepstealer is a dragon not easily tamed or controlled, he doesn't necessarily respond to commands as well as the other dragons. This leads some of the Blacks to think that Sheepstealer is a foe, distracting them from the ongoing battle.
However, the most shocking part of Rhaena and Sheepstealer's involvement in the Battle of the Gullet comes when the pair inadvertently cause Jacaerys Velaryon and his dragon, Vermax, to be killed. Because Jace and Vermax were trying to fight off Sheepstealer, his attention was turned away from the Triarchy forces; he flew a bit too close to one of the enemy ships, resulting in a massive bolt being shot into Vermax.
Eventually, Vermax falls into the water and is killed, as is Jace. So, in House of the Dragon, Rhaena and Sheepstealer were somewhat directly responsible for Jace's death.
This does not happen in Fire & Blood either. In the book, it simply states that Vermax flies too close to the water, crashes into it, and dies. This results in Jace's death as well. However, their deaths weren't caused by any of their comrades' dragons, like in the show.
As mentioned, in the book, Nettles bonds with Sheepstealer instead of Rhaena. Nettles does take part in the Battle of the Gullet, but she doesn't do anything that causes Jace and Vermax to be killed.
However, it seems as though House of the Dragon is including Nettles at all, and that the creative team is instead combining Nettles' character arc in the book with Rhaena's. Most likely, Rhaenyra will learn the truth about Rhaena's involvement in Jace's death, and Rhaena will be deemed a traitor by Rhaenyra.
In the book, a similar instance happens, but Nettles is the one whom Rhaenyra goes after. Nettles plays an important role throughout the Dance of the Dragons, but she ends up spending a lot of time with Daemon Targaryen. This results in Rhaenyra thinking that Nettles and Daemon are having an affair, sparking Rhaenyra's hatred for Nettles. It is also worth noting that Rhaenyra becomes increasingly suspicious and distrustful of Nettles after Ulf the White and Hugh Hammer betray Rhaenyra. Since Nettles was a dragonseed like those two characters, Rhaenyra became scared that Nettles would also turn on her.
Just before Daemon dies at the Battle Above the Gods Eye, Rhaenyra declares that Nettles should be killed for treachery. Daemon and Nettles learn of this through a maester, and Daemon tells Nettles that she and Sheepstealer should leave. Nettles and Sheepstealer were then seen flying toward the Bay of Crabs.
After that, the next and last sighting of Nettles and Sheepstealer together came a few years later during the reign of King Aegon III Targaryen. Robert Rowan and his army stumbled upon Nettles and Sheepstealer in a cave, and what came next resulted in the death of over a dozen men. After the chaos, Nettles and Sheepstealer flew deeper into the Mountains of the Moon and were never seen together again.
Since it seems like House of the Dragon is combining Nettles' character with Rhaena's in the show, Rhaena will most likely go through a lot of those same events in Seasons 3 and 4. Considering Rhaena is Daemon's daughter, there will likely be no affair (these are Targaryens we're talking about, though, so who knows). But it is possible she could stay beside her father throughout the rest of the Dance of the Dragons in hopes that he will protect her if Rhaenyra finds out what happened at the Battle of the Gullet.
How Does Sheepstealer Die in Fire & Blood?
After Sheepstealer and Nettles were seen flying off together into the Mountains of the Moon, no sightings of either of them ever surfaced again. Some stories say that a clan of the Painted Dogs, who resided in the Vale and the Mountains of the Moon, worshipped a fire witch and would stand in the midst of the witch's dragon's flames as part of a ritual.
Nothing has been concretely confirmed about who this fire witch was, but some in-universe sources strongly believe that Nettles was the fire witch and that her dragon was Sheepstealer.
There are no reports of Sheepstealer dying. By the time the events of Game of Thrones roll around, Sheepstealer is most likely dead, but Martin never confirmed the dragon's fate in any of his books.
This gives House of the Dragon an opening to do whatever it wants with the dragon and Rhaena, especially if the series continues to merge Nettles' character arc with Rhaena's. It is possible that, like in the source material, Rhaena and Sheepstealer will be one of the lucky few who survive the Dance of the Dragons.
