Why Sheepstealer Went Rogue at the Battle of the Gullet in House of the Dragon Season 3

Sheepstealer's rampage at the Gullet shattered Team Black's plan

The introduction of the wild dragon Sheepstealer into the Battle of the Gullet during the House of the Dragon season 3 premiere completely shattered whatever little strategy the Black dragon lords had up to that point, and it indirectly caused the death of Prince Jace Velaryon. That said, Jace was always fated to die, regardless of how the show chose to depict it. Sheepstealer was not acting like a trained military asset, because technically he was not one.

Instead of helping Team Black secure a clean victory over the Triarchy fleet, as Rhaena had originally intended, the dragon went completely rogue, burning friend and foe alike. He attacked Moondancer first and later Vermithor. The obvious answer is very simple: he is an untamed, untrained wild beast thrust into a bloody war on his first day on the job. That triggered his deep seated survival instincts over human commands, and the result was more of a catastrophe than the help Rhaena had in mind.

But if you thought that was the real reason Sheepstealer went rogue in the Battle of the Gullet, then you are completely wrong. There are two deeper answers here: one about what dragons actually are, and one about how Fire and Blood handles this very same beast.

Dragons choose to serve House Targaryen; they are not controlled

The harsh truth, first and foremost, is that "the idea that we control dragons is only an illusion." They are a power man should never have trifled with. If anything, the dragons are gods and we men are like dust under their feet. It is only out of necessity, dating from before the Doom of Valyria, that these creatures are bound loyal to House Targaryen through the blood of old Valyria, whether that necessity was born from Aegon's dream of the song of ice and fire, some purpose to serve the realm, or the need to save mankind from the long night.

I fear this is the same reason why so many people hated the ending of Game of Thrones, and I completely understand it that way. I do not even want to defend it. But I also think many people do not really understand why the dynasty of House Targaryen existed in the first place, or why these dragons, however fierce and mighty they are, choose to serve men. Yes, choose. "They only choose to serve, and almost always it's the right person."

Ryan Condal's adaptation of Seasmoke claiming Addam of Hull in House of the Dragon says everything. It is almost as if the dragons intrinsically know the part they are supposed to play in all this, meaning they are not just pawns in the game of thrones. Saying they simply exist to serve men is like saying angels, who are mightier in power and stature (if you believe in the supernatural), are meant to serve men. It just does not make sense. Angels do minister to men, but they do so for a greater purpose and because they serve God.

The Targaryens forgot the Valyrian magic that once bound dragons

I am very aware that dragons were controlled in Old Valyria through blood magic, sorcery and dragon binding horns like the hellhorn. But over the centuries, the Targaryens forgot the dark magic required to bind dragons. They began to believe they ruled dragons simply because of their royal bloodline, which left them completely unprepared when that control shattered.

So in essence, a dragon lord does not necessarily tame a dragon into absolute obedience like a dog. That bond has now become entirely telepathic, though many scholars and texts speculate that blood magic was used to create the species initially and to interweave the dragons' magic directly into the bloodlines of Valyrian nobility. Either way, the dragons retain their own personalities, wild instincts and moods. If a dragon is angry, terrified or hungry, a rider's commands often mean very little.

Aegon conquered Westeros to prepare for the Long Night, not for power

Aegon did not go conquering the world simply because of a want for power. Never. House Targaryen originated as a minor noble family of dragon lords in the ancient Valyrian Freehold before rising to power in Westeros. The family survived the catastrophic Doom of Valyria because of a prophetic dream and established itself on the volcanic island of Dragonstone. Generations later, Aegon the First Targaryen used his dragons to conquer and unify six of the seven kingdoms of Westeros.

But Aegon had a much deeper, messianic reason for taking the realm. Introduced into television canon through House of the Dragon and confirmed by George R.R. Martin as a hidden piece of his lore is the song of ice and fire. Aegon was a dragon dreamer himself. He foresaw a catastrophic winter blowing out of the distant north, carrying an absolute darkness that would destroy the world of the living. To survive the White Walkers, Aegon realised a Targaryen must sit the Iron Throne in order to unite the fractured, bickering kingdoms under a single banner of fire, which is none other than the House of the Dragon.

Ultimately, his conquest was not born out of a simple lust for power but out of a desperate survival directive to prepare the world for the Long Night. This greater purpose, I believe, is the reason why the dragons serve the realm, knowing everything would eventually come down to the song of ice and fire. Likewise, I believe it is the same reason Game of Thrones ended the way it did, with Bran the Broken being king. The dynasty was spared from the Doom of old Valyria by a prophetic vision and existed for this single purpose, and that purpose was served.

In Fire and Blood, Sheepstealer never turned on Nettles

Second, the beast, however wild or untrained he is, never went rogue in George R.R. Martin's Fire and Blood. Sheepstealer remains entirely loyal and cooperative with his rider Nettles throughout the Dance of the Dragons. That is primarily because Sheepstealer and the lowborn girl had a certain kind of understanding in the books that Rhaena clearly lacked in the show. Unlike Rhaena, who came bearing no gifts, Nettles, regardless of her common status, figured out a very brilliant way to tame the animal.

In Fire and Blood, Sheepstealer was a terrifying wild dragon, well over 50 years old, who had never known a rider. He was fiercely aggressive and had already killed more dragonseed hopefuls during the Sowing than any other dragon except the Cannibal. He routinely burned anyone who approached his lair on the back side of the Dragonmont. Nettles, a clever and impoverished camp follower of 16, realised that trying to dominate a wild apex predator through High Valyrian would only get her killed.

Instead, she used logic, patience and a steady supply of food, which went on to create a very strong visceral bond with the beast. Every single morning, Nettles slaughtered a fresh sheep from the local flocks, carried it up the mountain and left it at the mouth of Sheepstealer's cave. At first the dragon would simply take the meal and ignore her. Over several weeks, he began to anticipate her arrival and to associate her presence not with a threat but with an easy meal. Once he grew completely accustomed to her and stopped snapping, Nettles finally climbed onto his back, and because she had fed him so well, he accepted her without a fight.

This achievement would go on to shock the Targaryen nobility. It strongly implied that you did not need pure Valyrian blood to ride a dragon. Sometimes, just understanding animal behaviour and showing patience was simply enough, at least in the case of Sheepstealer. So I am beginning to imagine what Sheepstealer was probably thinking when Rhaena came with no food, trying to claim him with her bare hands: "At least your parallel version in the books had the decency of feeding me."

Rhaena never met Sheepstealer in the books, so the show rewrote the rules

I hope it is now evident that Rhaena in the show did not get as much bonding time with the animal as Nettles did in Fire and Blood, so we could not possibly have expected things to go right. In the books, when the Triarchy's war fleet launched a surprise attack on the Gay Abandon to kidnap Rhaenyra's younger sons, Team Black scrambled five dragons into the air, Sheepstealer among them. The Battle of the Gullet was a chaotic, bloody nightmare, much more terrible than what was depicted in the live adaptation, and yet Sheepstealer, wild dragon or not, was right in the thick of it without going rogue. So it makes sense to think the bonding difference between the two dragon riders is all that mattered.

In fact, Rhaena Targaryen never lays eyes on Sheepstealer in Fire and Blood. She remains in the Vale, eventually hatching a small, healthy, pink dragon named Morning from an egg, a creature far too young ever to fly into the Dance of the Dragons. By completely cutting Nettles from the show and forcing Rhaena into her place, showrunner Ryan Condal had to fundamentally change the logic of how a wild dragon behaves on a battlefield if not properly bonded. They needed to make Rhaena's sudden acquisition of a wild dragon feel unearned and dangerous, turning her dire want to claim one into an instant tragedy.

In House of the Dragon season 3 episode 2, Rhaena and Sheepstealer were back in the Vale, seeking asylum from Rhaenyra's half cousin, Lady Jeyne Arryn. Rhaena could not go back to Dragonstone, considering her abandonment of the little princes and the mess she made at the Gullet. To add insult to injury, she learned from Lady Arryn that Jace was killed in the battle and that Jeyne was not going to jeopardise her standing with the queen. Rhaena made an unusual deal, offering Lady Jeyne a bigger dragon than the queen had initially offered, but Arryn declined the offer and dismissed her.

Do you think Sheepstealer turned on Team Black because Rhaena skipped the bonding Nettles did in Fire and Blood, or because dragons were never truly under human control at all?