House of the Dragon season 3: EP on Nettles, Rhaena change

We know that House of the Dragon has certainly led to conversation from book fans, and for a number of different reasons — especially in regards to the changes. In the past, some of them have even drawn the ire of one George R.R. Martin but at the very least, we continue to get explanations for many of them that demonstrate why the alterations have happened.

One of the most notable ones, in particular in the aftermath of the Battle of the Gullet, was the decision to have Rhaena ride the dragon Sheepstealer as opposed to the character Nettles, who is very much not around in the HBO show. You can argue that this choice was in part tied to the producers wanting to slim down the cast; however, it also goes deeper than that.

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Speaking per IGN, showrunner Ryan Condal noted that within the world of the show, there is a really interesting narrative to be spun from Rhaena being in this spot:

“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. And because Rhaena has been set up since Season 1 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. It’s a very monkey’s paw kind of moment for Rhaena. She gets her great wish and it becomes her greatest nightmare.”

We do unfortunately think that what happened with Sheepstealer is going to sit with her forever. Can she still find a way to forge a better bond? Absolutely, but by no means does that in itself was away the past.

Related – Be sure to get some more news entering the next House of the Dragon episode

What do you think about these changes head into House of the Dragon season 3?

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This article was written by Jessica BunBun.