House of the Dragon: Is Nettles Being Cut & Left Out of the TV Show?

Fans are wondering whether Nettles has been cut and excluded from House of the Dragon. This is after the fantasy drama series seemingly hinted at the character’s exclusion. This exclusion was hinted by the show’s apparent set up of Rhaena Targaryen likely being the one to tame the sheep-eating wild-dragon Sheepstealer, who in the books is successfully tamed by Nettles.

So has Nettles been excluded or cut from House of the Dragon? Why will Nettles likely not feature in House of the Dragon Season 3? Here is everything we have uncovered.

Has Nettles been cut from House of the Dragon?

It is currently unconfirmed if Nettles has been cut from House of the Dragon.

Moreover, series creator Ryan Condal has also not offered any definite answer regarding Nettles’ inclusion in the show and was evasive when asked about it in a Variety interview. He had said:

“With that character, I’m not ready to comment yet on anything that hasn’t been established in the show just yet.”

However, House of the Dragon Season 2 appears to strongly hint that Nettles may have been cut from the storyline by the creators, or perhaps even had her character combined with Rhaena. This is because of the creators seemingly making Rhaena Targaryen a centrepiece in the storyline involving the discovery of a wild sheep-stealing dragon in the Vale, who is very likely Sheepstealer.

In the Fire & Ice books, Rhaena has no involvement in Sheepstealer’s storyline and instead bonds with Morning, who hatches during the Dance of the Dragons. Sheepstealer is instead found and tamed by Nettles. Nettles uses a smart tactic of bringing it freshly killed sheep everyday to successfully bond with it. Nettles eventually succeeds where Silver Denys and Alyn of Hull fail.

Why Nettles may not appear in House of the Dragon Season 3?

Nettles may not appear in House of the Dragon Season 3. This is because, as mentioned above, the creators are presumably forgoing her storyline or instead merging it with Rhaena Targaryen.

Ultimately, it remains to be seen whether Nettles will appear in the series or be given a reduced role. This is considering the show appears to have cut significant characters from the books or given them reduced roles like Cregan Stark and Sara Snow.

House of the Dragon Season 2 is currently streaming on HBO Max. The series features the talents of Matt Smith, Fabien Frankel, Emma D’Arcy, Olivia Cooke, and Steve Toussaint, among others.