Game of Thrones' controversial ending might still be infamous, but audiences have still returned to Westeros thanks to its spinoffs. Chief among them is the prequel House of the Dragon, which is currently deep into its third season on the air. Fans are tasked with remembering which dragon belongs to who, and while some book readers are mad about the character Nettles being cut, I would still fight for Sheepstealer.
House of the Dragon Season 3 has featured a number of deviations from the source material, which is fairly common for book-to-screen adaptations. Chief among them is Rhaena claiming Sheepstealer, and the show cutting the character Nettles entirely. Personally, I don't mind this change, although I'm feeling really bad for the wild-winged beast who has suddenly been dropped into the Dance of Dragons.
HOTD Needs To Get Off Sheepstealer's Neck
It was thrilling to see Rhaena finally claim a dragon with Sheepstealer in the Season 3 premiere, but things soon got complicated. She flew into the Battle of the Gullet, but Sheepstealer didn't obey commands and quickly made the fight more chaotic. This is partly why Jace was killed, prompting Baela to hide alone in The Vale with her dragon.
She tried living in solitude to avoid Rhaenyra's wrath and in order to keep Sheepstealer away from future conflicts. But that situation blew up in Episode 7, "The Dragon in Winter." While hunting Vhagar in hopes of winning her Queen's forgiveness, her father Daemon and his dragon Caraxes take them down to the ground. Before long, Rhaenyra and Addam of Hull show up with Syrax and Seasmoke, respectively, and Sheepstealer basically gets jumped by three other dragons in an epic (and upsetting) skirmish.
I felt so bad for the wild dragon in this moment. To start, it wasn't a fair fight, as it was 3 against 1. And while Sheepstealer was protective of his rider, it was actually Syrax who started the fight (without being told to by Rhaenyra, BTW). Not only was he seriously messed up by the other dragons, but Rhaena ended up abandoning him and being taken to King's Landing. There are plenty of book purists who are still mad that his OG rider Nettles was cut from the show, although Episode 7 did include a line from Lady Jeyne Arryn that nodded to her.
Is Sheepstealer not the saddest dragon ever? All of the other winged creatures on HOTD were trained to obey commands and understand High Valyrian, but Sheepstealer doesn't have those same skills. He's been living alone with his very first rider, Rhaena, and then got beaten up and left for dead. We don't deserve this ugly king!
New episodes of House of the Dragon air Sundays on HBO as part of the 2026 TV schedule, as well as streaming with an HBO Max subscription. Fingers crossed nothing bad happens to my favorite dragon in the Season 3 finale.
