House Of The Dragon Sheepstealer Rider Nettles Swapped For Rhaena Targaryen In Major Twist Fans Shocked

House of the Dragon has made one of its biggest departures yet from George R.R. Martin’s Fire & Blood, and fans spotted it almost immediately. In the season 3 premiere, Rhaena Targaryen claimed the wild dragon Sheepstealer, effectively taking over the storyline that belongs to Nettles in the book.

Rhaena then piloted Sheepstealer into battle at the Battle of the Gullet, just like Nettles did in the novel.

Read more: How to watch House of the Dragon season 3 premiere: Date, time and episode count

The reaction online was immediate. One fan wrote on X, “sheepstealer really adopted rhaena my cuties.” Another commentator joked, “Sheepstealer and Rhaena must’ve watched How to Train Your Dragon.”

One user was shocked and confused with the development and wrote, “rhaena on sheepstealer? correct me if im wrong lol it’s been a while.”

In Martin’s book, Nettles is a lowborn dragonseed who wins over Sheepstealer by patiently feeding the wild dragon sheep each morning. That particular element is important because Nettles questions a fundamental tenet of the franchise: that dragon-riding is closely associated with Valyrian ancestry.

In the Battle of Gullet, Rhaena soon discovered that dragons don't always follow orders from their riders. Sheepstealer decided to start fighting the Triarchy's dragons, Moondancer and Vermax, even though Rhaena had joined the conflict to support her sister Baela and stepbrother Jace.

An X user wrote, “officially lost JACAERYS and VERMAX in the new season of house of the dragon i’m devastated.”

The seeds of this twist were planted in season 2, when Rhaena was left in the Vale and began tracking a wild dragon believed to be Sheepstealer.

Rhaena will now take over Nettles' responsibilities.

In Fire & Blood, Daemon and Nettles grow close during the Dance, with some accounts claiming they become lovers. Mysaria later passes that rumour to Rhaenyra, who orders Nettles’ death, forcing her to flee.

Since Rhaena is Daemon’s daughter, the show is unlikely to follow that same path. But replacing Nettles with Rhaena could still have major consequences for the story ahead.

Shirin Gupta is a content producer with the Hindustan Times. She covers everything between politics, entertainment and sports at the US desk. Shirin got interested in political journalism during her time as a web editor at her college newspaper NCC News in Syracuse when she first started seeing the effects of national politics in life of her fellow colleagues. Shirin has worked on a wide range of fast-moving and developing stories locally when she was at NCC editing accessible reports for the audience. Her current role requires her to track real-time updates, verify information and present balanced coverage across diverse beats. Covering US politics from an international newsroom perspective has further deepened her understanding of how domestic decisions can have far-reaching global consequences. With a keen interest in international affairs, Shirin continues to build her expertise in geopolitics, policy shifts, and cross-border developments. She aims to learn and evolve her reporting in matters of geopolitics and international issues. Outside the newsroom Shirin writes about books and music for her personal blog. She is an avid consumer of pop culture and reveres literature.Read More