Warning: The following contains spoilers for House of the Dragon Season 3, Episode 1, and Fire & Blood
House of the Dragon Season 3 roared back onto our screens this week with its depiction of the Battle of the Gullet, a pivotal event in the Dance of the Dragons. Known as the bloodiest sea battle in Westerosi history, it’s rife with significant losses for both Team Black and Team Green. Per George R.R. Martin’s Targaryen compendium, Fire & Blood, the Battle of the Gullet was a tactical win for Team Green and a strategic victory for Team Black.
However, it’s the death of Jacaerys Velaryon (and RIP to that sweet baby dragon Vermax) that fundamentally changed Rhaenyra Targaryen in the source material. It “hardened her, burning away her fears, leaving only her anger and her hatred.” This shift certainly informed her choices in the Dance until its brutal end. While the series could go this route with Rhaenyra, it’s the manner in which Jace died in the Season 3 premiere that is a massive departure from the book. We won’t see it now, but this change will have major repercussions down the road, affecting one crucial storyline on the horizon.
Rhaena and Sheepstealer Weren’t Inadvertently Responsible for Jace’s Death in ‘Fire & Blood’
In Martin’s book, a 16-year-old girl named Nettles claimed Sheepstealer during the Red Sowing on Dragonstone. Nettles did participate in the Battle of the Gullet astride Sheepstealer, as did Addam on Seasmoke, Hugh on Vermithor, and Ulf on Silverwing (no, the dragonseeds weren’t chilling on the Isle of Faces, waiting for Aemond and Vhagar). While House of the Dragon incorporates a familial element by having Jace try to shield Baela and Moondancer from the wild Sheepstealer’s attacks, nothing of the sort happened in Fire & Blood. In the book, one account claimed that a grapnel from a Myrish galley plunged into Vermax’s belly, setting off a tragic chain of events that saw the poor dragon crash into a burning ship, become entangled in its rigging, and sink to the bottom of the sea with it. As for Jace:
“It is said that Jacaerys Velaryon leapt free and clung to a piece of smoking wreckage for a few heartbeats, until some crossbowmen on the nearest Myrish ship began loosing quarrels at him. The prince was struck once, and then again. More and more Myrmen brought crossbows to bear. Finally, one quarrel took him through the neck, and Jace was swallowed by the sea.”
The Nettles of It All – and What That Means for ‘House of the Dragon’
Rhaena and Sheepstealer didn’t distract Jace in the source material. It seems like, more or less, that Rhaena is assuming Nettles’ storyline in Season 3. In the book, it was rumored that Nettles and Daemon were lovers (the age gap is icky, to be sure), but there were also claims that she was his bastard daughter. Regardless, Nettles drove a wedge between Rhaenyra and Daemon. After Rhaenyra seized King’s Landing and the Iron Throne, she grew increasingly paranoid, especially after Hugh and Ulf betrayed her at Tumbleton (I told you there would be spoilers).
In a conversation between Rhaenyra and Mysaria, Addam and Nettles’ loyalty came into question: “The White Worm raised her eyes and said in a soft voice, ‘The girl has already betrayed you, my queen. Even now, she shares your husband’s bed, and soon enough she will have his bastard in her belly.’ Then, Queen Rhaenyra grew most wroth, Septon Eustace writes.” After demanding that the Gold Cloaks arrest Addam and “question him sharply,” Rhaenyra declared that Nettles had Daemon under her spell, as it were. At this point in the story, Daemon and Nettles were hunting for Aemond and Vhagar, and they were in Maidenpool. Rhaenyra issued an order for Lord Mooton:
“Therefore, let a command be sent at once to Maidenpool, but only for the eyes of Lord Mooton. Let him take her at table or abed and strike her head off. Only then shall my prince be freed.”
Daemon and Nettles end up reading Rhaenyra’s letter, leading them to part ways. Then, Daemon sat vigil in Harrenhal until Aemond arrived, and … if you’ve read the book, you know what happened above the Gods Eye.
By giving Rhaena this storyline, House of the Dragon is removing the crux of the conflict between Rhaenyra and Daemon in the latter part of the Dance. Not to mention, Nettles is a fascinating character that fans have been waiting to see on screen. The writers are erasing Nettles, along with an already established discord between two crucial characters, in favor of another departure from Martin’s source material.
Could the Powers That Be use Rhaena’s claim of Sheepstealer to mend her relationship with Daemon? Perhaps. Could Rhaena’s accidental contribution to Jace’s death impel Rhaenyra to demand her head on a spike? Maybe. But why mess with what’s already on the page?
- Release Date
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August 21, 2022
- Network
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HBO
- Directors
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Clare Kilner, Geeta Patel
- Writers
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Gabe Fonseca
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Fabien Frankel
Ser Criston Cole
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