'House of the Dragon' Season 2 Episode 6: Why Daemon's daughter may replace this character from the books
Contains spoilers and speculation
LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA: 'House of the Dragon' Season 2 Episode 6 aired on HBO on July 21, 2024. The engaging episode featured some jaw-dropping moments like Seasmoke burning Ser Steffon Darklyn (Anthony Flanagan), and the kiss between Mysaria (Sonoya Mizuno) and Rhaenyra Targaryen (Emma D'Arcy).
One storyline in the show that has slipped under the radar for the past few weeks has been the story of Rhaena Targaryen (Phoebe Campbell) away from the action in Dragonstone and King's Landing.
As viewers would recall. Rhaena was sent away from the action to protect the children of Rhaenyra from the war. She is currently with Lady Jeyne Arryn (Amanda Collin) and hates the fact that she has to stay away from the war. However, in a twist of fate, she finds evidence of a large dragon in Vale and that has got the fans talking as it is inconsistent with the source material 'Fire and Blood'.
Fans think Rhaena has replaced Nettles as the rider of Sheepstealer
As the Blacks look for Dragonriders, in 'Fire and Blood' one of the Dragonriders is Nettles who rides the dragon Sheepstealer. However, the dead sheep found by Rhaena could be evidence of Sheepstealer being in Vale and that could mean that the makers decided to adapt the story in a way that Nettles doesn't feature. Fans of the character have a hard time digesting this omission
A Reddit user wrote, "We knew it was incredibly unlikely to happen at this point anymore, but Rhaena obviously claiming Sheepstealer, and omitting Nettles does sting."
Another Reddit user said, "So Nettles is officially a mix between Rhaena and Mysaria.The father-daughter dynamic is obviously with Rheana. But instead of Rhaenyra being jealous of Daemon and Nettles being in love, it seems Daemon’s gonna be jealous of Rhaenyra getting with Mysaria." This points to the plot point in the book where Daemon Targaryen (Matt Smith) and Nettles fall in love and Rhaenyra wants Nettles killed.
Another Reddit user added, "She's now having an affair with Mysaria and there's no potential Nettles/Daemon affair for her to freak over.. She's already doubting Daemon's loyalty but doesn't seem too paranoid or distraught about it other than worrying about how losing Caraxes and Daemon hurts her chances" talking about the difference in dynamic that the interpretation brings with it
Some fans did find see the reason behind the thinking as it allows us to explore more from Rhaena who the makers have invested in as a character.
A Reddit user said, "Seems confirmed that they combining Nettles into Rhaenas character. Going to miss Nettles a ton but I get the logic I suppose. One less character to follow and more for Rhaena to do."
Who is Nettles in 'Fire and Blood' and what happens to her?
Nettles is the only dragon rider of Sheepstealer who is a dragon that is ill-tempered and wild. Nettles was a young girl who was unkempt, foul-mouthed, and fierce. She would bring Sheepstealer slaughtered fish every morning making the Dragon get accustomed to her.
She becomes a part of the Blacks and fights fiercely on the back of her dragon along with Rhaenyra Targaryen. She later develops a relationship with Daemon Targaryen who has affection for the girl.
There are different accounts of this story as some believe they were lovers and others believe they shared a father-daughter relationship as they took on Vhagar and Aemond Targaryen (Ewan Mitchell) in Riverlands before she was declared a traitor by Rhaenyra.
Before Rhaenyra could get to Nettles, Daemon asked her and Sheepstealer to leave before going into a battle alone with Vhagar and Aemond. Nettles went into oblivion later in the book.
How to stream 'House of the Dragon' Season 2?
'House of the Dragon' is streaming on HBO. New episodes are scheduled to drop every Sunday till August 4, 2024, for Season 2.
The streaming platform typically offers three packages that you can choose from depending on your budget.
The low-cost plan that supports advertising costs $9.99 per month or $99.99 annually. The second package, which does not support advertising, costs $15.99 per month or $149.99 annually. Meanwhile, the third package, titled Ultimate Ad-Free, costs $19.99 per month or $199.99 annually.
'House of the Dragon' Season 2 trailer
'House of the Dragon' Season 2 is streaming on HBO