‘House of the Dragon’ Episode 6 Ending Explained: Is Rhaena Getting a Dragon?

“House of the Dragon” Season 2 hinted at a major departure from the books by the end of Episode 6.

After being sent from Dragonstone to the Vale to watch over the young children and a few dragon eggs, Rhaena (Phoebe Campbell) learned that a dragon has been attacking the wildlife in the area. Without a dragon, the princess seems convinced that connecting with this wild one might be her way back into the war rather than being sidelined.

This move all but confirms theories — and fears from some — that Rhaena’s story was going to merge with a fan-favorite book character named Nettles. In the books, a commoner bastard named Nettles pacifies a dragon known for eating sheep on Dragonstone and becomes its rider. While other dragonseeds like Hugh Hammer and Ulf the White have been introduced in Season 2, Nettles’ absence made people wonder if she was being written out of the show.

Here’s what you need to know about the Rhaena, Nettles, their situation, and how this merger could affect the story going forward.

What’s happening with Rhaena in The Vale?

Rhaena was sent to The Vale a couple of episodes ago to keep watch over Rhaenyra’s youngest children: Joffrey, Aegon and Viserys. With her dragon having died shortly after hatching and her being unbonded to another, keeping her on Dragonstone was too much of a risk. Along with the children, Rhaenyra gave the girl four dragon eggs to watch over.

In Episode 6, Rhaena was informed of a dragon roaming the Vale killing the livestock for food. She seems to be pondering what it would take to get the dragon back out in the open for her.

Her claiming this dragon would be a major departure for her character. Rhaena famously remains dragonless for nearly the entirety of the Dance until one of the eggs given to her hatches. The birth of the dragon — named Morning — is considered a miracle to most as the war had taken it’s toll on most of the older dragons. Team Green worried that the dragon’s birth would again solidify to the smallfolk that Team Black had the stronger claim to the throne.

Which dragon is hunting in The Vale?

There are a few wild dragons roaming Westeros but in the books they were said to mostly stick to Dragonstone. The one that’s terrorizing the livestock in the Vale is likely the aptly named Sheepstealer. The latest dragon is a male that’s described in the book as an ugly “mud brown” color.

As the name implies, the dragon mostly left humans alone unless provoked but had a penchant for sheep and mutton. Moving Sheepstealer from Dragonstone makes more sense when you note that the region is known for an abundance of sheep.

Who is Nettles?

The shift to focusing on Rhaena getting Sheepstealer means the show is likely erasing the beloved and fan-favorite book character who claims the dragon — a young girl named Nettles.

In the books, Nettles is a commoner who manages to persuade Sheepstealer’s trust by offering him a slaughtered sheep each morning. Eventually, the dragon grew accustomed to the girl because of this and eventually let her become his dragonrider.

Rumors in the books claim that Nettles eventually had a romance with Daemon and it was one of the reasons Rhaenyra soured to her as the war went on. Hopefully that’s a rumor that won’t be proven true in the show with Rhaena taking her storyline. Other theories claim Daemon and Nettles were father and daughter, which explained why the two were so close — something that could be more closely followed in the show.

Losing Nettles means losing one of the key factors of her story. The fact that she was a commoner helped to despell a lot of the rumors and lore of what it took to be a dragonrider.

New episodes of “House of the Dragon” air Sundays on HBO and stream on Max.

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