House of the Dragon Just Teased Its Next Important Dragon

WARNING: This article contains major spoilers for House of the Dragon Season 2! Continue reading at your own risk... As the war between Targaryens rages in House of the Dragon , the focus has shifted from traditional tactics to the flying beasts that adorn the family's sigil. After the Battle of Rook's Rest , dragons are now the key to the war, and the side of the greens has a significant advantage in the form of Vhagar, the biggest dragon alive at the time of the show. Especially with Meleys gone, Rhaenyra and her forces have no answer to Vhagar, but those tides may finally be shifting.

At the end of the fifth episode of House of the Dragon Season 2, Rhaenyra put in motion a plan to find the dragonseeds , potential dragonriders for the riderless dragons living beneath Dragonstone: Seasmoke, Vermithor, and Silverwing. As it turns out, there is a fourth dragon that looks to play a part in the conflict, and its arrival on the show was teased during Sunday night's new episode.

Rhaena was sent to the Vale by Rhaenyra to look after her two youngest sons, as well as her baby dragon and a collection of dragon eggs . While there, she came across a burned area in the grass filled with the scorched corpses of sheep. This was clearly the work of a dragon, and Rhaena gets confirmation later that there is a wild dragon roaming around near the Vale, but it has never been tamed and many don't think it could be.

Sheepstealer and Nettles

The hint about the dead sheep is enough of a hint to indicate that this wild dragon is none other than Sheepstealer, one of the four dragons that bonds with a dragonseed and fights for Rhaenyra. Fans have wondered if Sheepstealer would appear on House of the Dragon, though, because the beast's rider has yet to appear.

While Addam, Hugh, and Ulf have all been made a part of House of the Dragon in Season 2 , Nettles has been completely absent. The character is a favorite amongst fans of George R.R. Martin's Fire & Blood , an a confident young woman without a family or home, who rises to some power after bonding with Sheepstealer. As the other dragonseeds have debuted, there has been doubt as to whether Nettles was going to be included.

Now that Sheepstealer is being teased, there seem to be two main options for the storyline. First and foremost, Nettles could be on the verge of appearing at any time, showing up to bond with the dragon and immediately becoming part of the story. Secondly, there is a popular theory that Rhaena could be having her story shifted to absorb elements of Nettles', which would mean she would be the person to bond with Sheepstealer. After all, there has been a lot of talk about Rhaena not being able to bond with dragons to this point.

Nettles has yet to appear on House of the Dragon , but Sunday's new episode did enough to confirm that Sheepstealer is definitely around, and that there will indeed be four dragonseeds joining the war.

Based on George R.R. Martin 's "Fire & Blood" book, House of the Dragon is set 200 years before the events of Game of Thrones . In Season 2 of House of the Dragon, Westeros is on the brink of a bloody civil war with the Green and Black Councils fighting for King Aegon and Queen Rhaenyra, respectively. New episodes of House of the Dragon premiere every Sunday on HBO at 9 p.m. ET.

The cast for House of the Dragon includes Matt Smith as Prince Daemon Targaryen, Olivia Cooke as Dowager Queen Alicent Hightower, Emma D'Arcy as Queen Rhaenyra Targaryen, Eve Best as Princess Rhaenys Targaryen, Steve Toussaint as Lord Corlys Velaryon, Fabien Frankel as Ser Criston Cole, Ewan Mitchell as Prince Aemond Targaryen, Tom Glynn-Carney as King Aegon II Targaryen, Sonoya Mizuno as Mysaria, and Rhys Ifans as Ser Otto Hightower.