The third season of House of the Dragon immediately wrapped up one of the most gripping plots of the second season, particularly concerning Rhaena Targaryen and the dragon named Sheepdog. Now fans are wondering what happened to Sheepdog in the original story and whether he will be carried over directly into the HBO series.
House of the Dragon has finally returned with the premiere of its third season, and to say it started off with a resounding success is putting it mildly. In the first episode of A Song of Ice and Fire, fans witnessed the long-awaited Battle of the Gullet and learned whether Reyna had successfully retrieved the Sheepstealer.
A dragon named Sheepskin played a huge role in the Season 3 premiere of House of Dragons. At the end of Season 2, it was revealed that Rayna had encountered Sheepskin, a stray wild dragon known for his hostility and danger. The season ended with Rayna finding herself with Sheepskin, but the show didn't reveal whether she would ever claim him.
In the Season 3 premiere, Rayna actually takes possession of a wild beast and begins riding it. This is a significant departure from the events in George R.R. Martin's novel Fire and Blood (the series' original work), as in the book, Rayna never bonds with the Sheep Thief. Instead, he is taken in by a girl named Nettles, who fights for the Blacks.
Later in the episode, during the battle in the Gullet, Reyna arrives riding Sheepstealer to join the fight. She participates in the battle, but because Sheepstealer is a dragon that is not easily tamed or controlled, he doesn't always respond as well to commands as other dragons. This leads some of the Black Dragons to believe Sheepstealer is an enemy, distracting them from the ongoing battle.
However, the most shocking moment of Reyna and Sheepskin's involvement in the Battle of Gulet was their inadvertent death of Jaqueris Velaryon and his dragon, Vermax. As Jace and Vermax attempted to fend off Sheepskin, his attention was diverted from the Triarchy forces; he flew too close to one of the enemy ships, resulting in Vermax being struck by a powerful projectile.
Ultimately, Vermax falls into the water and dies, as does Jace. Thus, in House of the Dragon, Reyna and the Sheep Snatcher are, to some extent, directly responsible for Jace's death.
This doesn't happen in the book "Fire and Blood" either. The book simply says that Vermax flies too close to the water, crashes into it, and dies. This also results in Jace's death. However, their deaths weren't caused by their companions' dragons, as in the show.
As mentioned, in the book, Nettles establishes a connection with Sheepstealer, not Reyna. Nettles takes part in the Battle of the Gullet, but she doesn't do anything that leads to the deaths of Jace and Vermax.
However, it appears that Nettles will not appear in House of the Dragon at all, and instead the creative team will merge Nettles' storyline in the book with Rhaena's. Rhaenyra will likely learn the truth about Rhaena's involvement in Jace's death, and Rhaena will be declared a traitor by Rhaenyra.
In the book, a similar incident occurs, but Rhaenyra is pursued by Nettles. Nettles plays a significant role throughout the Dance of the Dragons, but ultimately spends a lot of time with Daemon Targaryen. This leads Rhaenyra to believe that Nettles and Daemon are having an affair, fueling her hatred for Nettles. It's also worth noting that Rhaenyra becomes increasingly suspicious and distrustful of Nettles after the betrayal of Ulf the White and Hugh Hammer. Since Nettles was a dragonseed, like those two characters, Rhaenyra feared that Nettles would betray her too.
Shortly before Daemon's death in the battle above the Eye of the Gods, Rhaenyra declares that Nettles should be killed for treason. Daemon and Nettles learn of this from the maester, and Daemon tells Nettles that she and Sheepheel should leave. Nettles and Sheepheel are then shown flying toward Crab Bay.
After this, the next and final appearance of Nettle and Sheepseeker together occurred several years later, during the reign of King Aegon III Targaryen. Robert Rowan and his army stumbled upon Nettle and Sheepseeker in a cave, and what followed resulted in the deaths of over a dozen men. After the chaos, Nettle and Sheepseeker flew deeper into the Mountains of the Moon, never to be seen together again.
Since House of the Dragon appears to be teaming up with Rhaena's character on the show, Rhaena will likely experience many of the same events in Seasons 3 and 4. Given that Rhaena is Daemon's daughter, a romance is unlikely (though we're talking Targaryens here, so who knows). But perhaps she'll remain close to her father until the end of the Dance of the Dragons, hoping he'll protect her if Rhaenyra learns of what happened at the Battle of the Gullet.
How does Ovtseman die in the film "Fire and Blood"?
After Sheepstealer and Nettle were spotted flying off together to the Mountains of the Moon, they were never seen again. Some stories say the Painted Dog clan, who lived in the Valley and the Mountains of the Moon, worshiped a fire witch and stood amidst the witch's dragon flames during the ritual.
There's no concrete confirmation of who exactly this fire witch was, but some in-game sources are adamant that the fire witch was Nettles and her dragon was Sheepman.
There are no reports of the dragon Shippollster's death. By the time of the events of Game of Thrones, Shippollster is likely already dead, but Martin never confirmed the dragon's fate in any of his books.
This gives House of the Dragon the freedom to do whatever it wants with the dragon and Reyna, especially if the show continues to combine Nettles and Reyna's storylines. Perhaps, as in the source material, Reyna and Sheepstealer will be among the lucky few to survive the Dance of the Dragons.