House of the Dragon boss hints beloved character could still appear
Ryan Condal responded to Rhaena's arc incorporating elements of Nettles's journey.
House of the Dragon showrunner Ryan Condal has addressed whether fan favourite character Nettles will appear in the screen adaptation of George RR Martin's Fire & Blood.
Some fans had predicted that Nettles – a dragonseed and close confidante of Daemon (Matt Smith) – would be introduced in season 2, but she was nowhere to be seen. Instead, elements of her story were given to Rhaena Targaryen (Phoebe Campbell).
However, when quizzed on the change at a post-season 2 finale press conference this week, Condal would not definitively reveal whether he has plans for Nettles further down the line.
"I think that's a 'please stay tuned and keep watching the story'," he teased, before delving further into the impact of Rhaena's changing role in the story.
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"I will say that we love Rhaena as a character and we've really done a lot of legwork to set her up from the beginning as somebody in this Targaryen household who does not have a dragon," Condal explained.
"And we see how powerful an idea it is for... somebody that grows up in this family, even in a time of peace, when you don't have a dragon – how it changes how you're identified even within the family.
"And how desperate Rhaena is for that self-identification as a dragon rider and is willing to go to fairly dangerous lengths to try to see that realised."
Condal went on to emphasise that House of the Dragon is an interpretation of the events of Fire & Blood, rather than an exact recreation – and that there's "fun" to be had in that.
Condal continued: "Part of the fun of adapting Fire & Blood is how we interpret the accepted history that these three different historians sometimes argue about and wrote down and we're not trying to tell the objective truth.
"We're providing the television version, one objective truth of this history. And anybody who reads the book is free to interpret it however they want to. But there are a lot of paths to interpretation through this."
He added: And I think the Rhaena story, as we're seeing it unfold, is potentially one of those interesting interpretations that we have to offer. And I would just say that we don't do any stuff lightly or without thought.
"Many of these things we've planned many seasons in advance. So I would just say: buckle up and take the ride with us. And hopefully you like the destination it's going to."
House of the Dragon seasons 1-2 are available to stream on Sky and NOW.
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Authors
David Craig is the Senior Drama Writer for Radio Times, covering the latest and greatest scripted drama and comedy across television and streaming. Previously, he worked at Starburst Magazine, presented The Winter King Podcast for ITVX and studied Journalism at the University of Sheffield.
