HBO’s House of the Dragon is back with its third season, and it has made its intentions clear from the very first episode that this is going to be the bloodiest chapter in the saga so far. The Battle of Gullet was epic as promised by the showrunner Ryan Condal, but there were some alterations in how some of the events of the battle transpired, and also in the characters that participated in the naval war compared to what is depicted in George RR Martin’s book, Fire & Blood.

Once such point of contention is the character of Nettles, who is completely cut from the adaptation.

Nettles, a 16-year-old dragonseed, is Sheepstealer's rider in Fire & Blood. Despite her involvement in the Battle of the Gullet, Nettles maintains control of her dragon. Later, she teams up with Daemon Targaryen to pursue Prince Aemond, and their bond grows to the point where Nettles causes friction between him and Rhaenyra. For the Targaryen civil war, Rhaena's fictional counterpart lacks a dragon.

However, House of the Dragon seems to be providing Rhaena with a modified version of her story after removing Nettles from its adaptation. In contrast to George R.R. Martin's Fire & Blood, Rhaena becomes the dragon's rider as the two grow closer in the premiere. They also notice the mayhem taking place close to the Gullet as they fly home to Dragonstone together.

Sheepstealer and Rhaena enter the battle, but the new young rider quickly loses control of her dragon, and as a result starts causing damage to he own side. This is unique to the HBO series, as is the manner in which it leads to Jace's demise. Rhaena was never supposed to get a dragon in the first place, let alone Sheepstealer.

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This new storyline with Rhaena becoming a dragonrider and becoming the cause of the Battle of Gullet mishap will have serious implications going further in the season.

Nettles probably will not appear later in House of the Dragon season 3 due to Rhaena's new plot, but the effects of this shift reach beyond that. Rhaena's character is set to clash with both Queen Rhaenyra and Baela in season 3, episode 2, since she will most likely be held accountable for Jace's demise.

However, like Nettles, she might be inspired to join Daemon's side by Jace's passing. Additionally, since it makes more sense for his daughter to be near him, the HBO series will not have to deal with the awkward nature of Daemon's relationship with Nettles. It is unclear how that shift would affect his romance with Rhaenyra, but the series has had to deal with divergences before.

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