#daemon and nettles

[ride-thedragon]

THE MANY WAYS TO TAME A DRAGON : BY NETTLES.

Find time in the day to be with them.

Keep up with certain rituals.

Know that there will be rumours.

Accept their little gifts.

Know that they'll protect you.

And by then, you should have claimed a dragon.

[horizon-verizon]

Nettles is Daemon’s daughter and absolutely no one can convince me otherwise. First of all, her personality is incredibly similar to Daemon’s mother, Alyssa, which I don’t think is a coincidence. Both are anything but refined and ladylike, Alyssa is “as bawdy a wench as any barmaid in King’s Landing, as she herself was fond of boasting”, Nettles is “a filthy girl with an even filthier mouth”, both are tearaway tomboys, they are both described as not conventionally attractive, Alyssa has a broken nose and mismatched eyes while Nettles has a scarred nose and crooked teeth. And not only Alyssa, but also Baelon’s bravery, bopping Balerion on the nose, Baela and Daemon’s personalities all echo in Nettles, particularly in how she tames Sheepstealer. There are too many similarities between them for it to be random.

Second of all, if we look at Daemon’s reaction to “Rhaenyra’s” letter, there’s something a lot of people miss:

The prince greeted me politely, but as he read I saw the joy go from his eyes, and a sadness descended upon him, like a weight too heavy to be borne. When the girl asked what was in the letter, he said, ‘A queen’s words, a whore’s work.’

He was happy when he got a letter from his queen and wife, but became very sad when he read its contents, he was crushed with grief. He then blamed Mysaria for the content of the letter. This reveals several things:

1. If he lost attraction to Rhaenyra and was cheating on her, why would he be happy to get her letter ?

2. If he didn’t care about Rhaenyra, why would he be sad instead of angry ? Why did he feel no guilt or shame, or try to cover up the truth if he was cheating ?

3. If all he wanted to do was control Rhaenyra as a puppet, if he only cared about himself having power, why didn’t he fly back to King’s Landing after letting Nettles escape and come up with a way to gaslight Rhaenyra, who at this point was beginning to lose her handle on King’s Landing ? Wouldn’t he have wanted to prioritize winning the war ? Persuade Rhaenyra to name their son Aegon heir instead of Joffrey ?

4. A “weight too heavy to be borne.” That isn’t the reaction of a man who got caught cheating and regrets it, it’s the reaction of a man devastated that his queen and wife lost faith in him and made him choose between her and his daughter.

He blames Mysaria for the letter, instead of getting angry at Rhaenyra herself. Why is that ? Because he lived with Rhaenyra in an unconventional joint family for a decade and yet Rhaenyra is unable to accept Nettles and doesn’t trust him anymore. Rhaenyra and Daemon raised all of their children together. He likely expected that he’d be able to officially introduce Nettles as his daughter after the war. But those plans were dashed terribly.

Yeah, it's exhausting to point out all of the things you say abt Mysaria, Nettles, and Daemon time and time again over the past few years to people. As for Nettles being Daemon's bio daughter, I truly believe in it. At first I was like "🤨" but then "��" and now I've been on board for a while. It just makes sense to me, esp when you contemplate that Daemon absolutely would have been sleeping around on Rhea while a few feet/miles from the Stepstones or slept with some pirate or whatever. And yes, it adds so much to see Nettles act Baela-Daemon-like or have more...room to behave contrary to the ideal "lady" when she's had to look out for herself perhaps from very young childhood.

[kataraavatara]

i hate, hate, HATE when nettles “fans” say something along of “omg nettles got Daemon to leave his Valyrian wife for her 💅she’s just that girl” because IF (and I mean IF, because Daemon + Nettles is a highly contested claim within the text, so stop treating it as fact) IF Daemon and Nettles were together, this makes Nettles a victim, not some kind of girlboss. She is a teenager and he is an adult. “Haha she was so much better he left Rhaenyra for her” that is a tragedy, not a flex. How are you a “fan” of her character if you are cheering on something bad happening to her? The answer is you’re not, plain and simple. You do not care about her!!

[theflorasdiary]

The problem with this show are not the characters or how the episodes are made,but the writers that decided to develop a literal masterpiece into a circus.

The campaign for season two literally started with making the audience choose between team black and team green:we had two trailers,two official posters and even the actors were “divided” to promote their teams.

So they basically told us to pick a side since the beginning.

Then they procede to turn team black in the saint team:making them the victims of the patriarchy,the heroes of the story.They showed us team black as if they are more Targaryen then the other team only because they know a prophecy and use this fact to excuse them from anything they do.

They made team black loved and worshiped by the small folks after Rhaenys killed hundreds of them during her dumb and useless girl boss scene and after Rhaenyra starved them.When in the book the small folks hates Rhaenyra and her incompetence,they will literally kick her out of the city and she has to run away or they will kill her just like they did with the dragons.The small folks instead loved team green,they loved Helaena as their queen and blamed and hated Rhaenyra for her death.

They forced use to like Rhaenyra just because she is one of the main characters,pushing on her the role of strong female character that is fighting a male society and then again just because she is a woman she is excused for everything that she does.We had to sit and watch two scenes of her giving birth and two of her weddings because we needed to empathize with her.We need to see her on her dragon constantly so that we can see Daenerys resemblance.They had to make her a saint,of course she wouldn’t want to kill a child she is too good,she would never hurt Helaena,everyone is loyal to her and she can do no wrong.They even took down Nettles to not show us Rhaenyra racism and the way she wanted to have a little girl killed because her pedo uncle-husband was rumored to be her lover.

On the other side we have team green that was completely dehumanized,stripped down of every good aspects they had in the book,changing and canceling everything.

We had never saw Alicent give birth to children that came to her out of marital rapes,we also did not see her getting married as a child bride to a man that will abuse her.Apparently the love of her life is Rhaenyra instead that her own children,she betrays them and her own side of the family in favor of her ex best friend that didn’t do anything to help her in the past and instead laughed in her face about her trauma.They keep telling that Alicent has never sacrificed anything when she has sacrificed her all life for duty and family unlike Rhaenyra.

Healena is totally marginal as the “weird bug girl” that just rants things out.She was a dragon rider that enjoyed being with her dragon Dreamfyre,yet in the show apparently she doesn’t like that.Even her dragon legacy was taken by team black,because now Dany dragon eggs comes from Syrax.In Viserys last days Helaena used to visit her father with her children but again this was taken from her and put on Rhaenyra instead.She was also stripped down of her coronation,of the way she was loved as a queen and how Aegon made sure that she was remembered as the true queen during the dance.They took from her the grief and mourning of her son one of the things that will literally drove her to death,because only Rhaenyra can cry her son and no one else.

Aegon was transformed into a rapist,because you can’t like him,you can only like Rhaenyra.There was no scene of him and Sunfyre beside the battle of Rook’s Rest,they have the strongest bond between a dragon and a dragon rider,he loved Sunfyre to the point he changed the family sigil to a golden dragon.They took down his will to fight,his family support and loyalty to him,his rage as a father that had lost his son.They took two of his sons,because Maelor do not exist and now he can’t have any more children because in the show he had lost his penis.They made him useless and pushed him on the sidelines in his own story.

I still don’t understand why they had to make Aemond betray his brother when in the book he was loyal to him,also in the book there was no indication of Aegon bullying him so again i don’t understand why choose this path.Daemon had a “redemption arc” after his betrayal one but of course Aemond can’t,only team black can.

Criston Cole is portrayed as an angry incel that still hates one woman that coerced him into having sex with her after he told her no multiple times.So much wasted potential in this character,when in the book he was one of the masterminds of team green,convinced Aegon to take the crown,took care of Sunfyre and served his king just right.

Daeron…sorry who?What do you mean that there is a third brother?I just know that his character will be completely destroyed,he probably will be a bastard with dark hair and we already won’t have the Maelor storyline for him,we definitely won’t see him making Ser Hugh and Ulf change sides or any of his victories with Tessarion.He will probably be marginalized like he already is,because again you can only like team black and only them can have the best.

How can you “pick a side” like they desperately want you to do,when they do shit like this?Literally forcing you to like team black because they are paint as the saints/good guys and assassinated every good thing about team green?

Keep telling me that this show is not team black propaganda and that’s is fair like this.

[ophelieverse]

Everything is reduced to misunderstandings,mistakes and accidents.No one is plotting to take/steal the power like it was supposed to.

Characters are completely changed or are the opposite of what they are in the book.The is no gray,only black and white,only good people or bad ones.

Different team stans are at each other’s throats.

Daemon and Aemond are plotting against the people they are most loyal to and they want to become kings by themselves.

Daeron is lost somewhere and it’s rumored to be a bastard.

Maelor and Nettles don’t exist.Their storylines were so important for characters like Daeron,Helaena,Daemon and Rhaenyra.

Apparently having dragon blood/being valyrian has no use to ride a dragon.

Other dragons,like Dreamfyre,are long forgotten.

There was no interaction,no relationship,not even a conversation between Viserys children.

Laenor simply running away,living his best life in Essos meanwhile his family started a civil war.Same as Daeron,who is trapped in Oldtwon while his siblings are destroying each other.Perfect sense.

Rumors about Alys engaging a relationship with Daemon instead that with Aemond.

Aegon and Criston Cole being the most hated in the fandom when in the book they were completely different,so much wasted potential.

Rhaenyra being paint as saint/mary sue,instead that the political idiot she actually is and the bad person she is(and that’s why i loved her in the book).

Alicent being a scheming little bitch,a Margaery 1.0,not a little scared girl that did what she did because of a misunderstanding.She wanted to usurp the throne,she wanted the power and she didn’t stopped in front of anything.

Rhaenicent scene in the Temple was a comic relief,because otherwise it make no sense if you think about how the characters were supposed to be.Just another proof of how “good” and “misunderstood” they are,acting like it’s the world that goes against them and that is not them that are keep doing a bullshit after another.

Helaena having no reaction after Blood and Cheese,but saying that things like this happen in the world.When in reality this is the event that will forever change her life,she will stop sleeping,bathing and eating.She won’t even look at her other children without feeling guilty for what happened.She literally goes insane with grief.

Rhaena bonding with the dragon that Nettles was supposed to have and that’s mean that we won’t probably see her real dragon:the pink baby Morning,that represents the hope for the dragons because in the dance they all died.

Ryan Condal if you plan to make a show about the Conquest,i beg you to not do it.I don’t want to see Visenya and Rhaenys being rivals and fight over Aegon,because i know this is what will happen!

[addamvelaryon]

Ryan Condal’s practical issues is the reason Corlys was turned into a clueless NPC whose importance is heavily diminished from the source material. Ryan Condal’s practical issues is the reason Laena, Laenor and Addam all had their characterization, relationships and storylines warped in service of other characters. Ryan Condal’s practical issues is the reason characters from the books had their existence erased. Ryan Condal’s practical issues is the reason we got several new OCs whose storylines are fleshed out. Ryan Condal’s practical issues is the reason Nettles’ storyline has been divided amongst the other characters. Ryan Condal’s practical issues is the reason Daeron was retconned out of existence so that his family doesn’t even mention him, before being shoehorned back into existence with a diminished role. Ryan Condal’s practical issues is the reason Criston is obsessed with having relationships with women despite his strict adherence to maintaining his honor. Ryan Condal’s practical issues is the reason he claims that Blood & Cheese was propaganda created by Alicent. Ryan Condal’s practical issues is the reason Alicent doesn’t care about the Green cause and is very willing to sacrifice her family for a crumb of Rhaenyra’s affections. Ryan Condal’s practical issues is the reason Helaena doesn’t care about her children getting hurt and is very ready to get over it. Ryan Condal’s practical issues is the reason Rhaena has no personality beyond her lack of a dragon. Ryan Condal’s practical issues is the reason Alyn has no personality beyond his lack of a father. Ryan Condal’s practical issues is the reason Baela’s only purpose is to give a pep talk to other characters. Ryan Condal’s practical issues is the reason Daemon killed Rhea and raises a hand to Rhaenyra, in the show, though that never happened in the book. Ryan Condal’s practical issues is why Daemon mistreated Laena and now ignores Baela & Rhaena. Ryan Condal’s practical issues is the reason Rhaenys acts like a preacher of peace. Ryan Condal’s practical issues is the reason Aegon regularly bullies Aemond and why Aemond committed treason against Aegon. Ryan Condal’s practical issues is the reason characters’ ages are all over the place. Ryan Condal’s practical issues is the reason characters’ personalities are not consistent over the course of two seasons. Ryan Condal’s practical issues is the reason Rhaenyra is not simply a woman fighting for her birthright but a fanatical cult leader who believes herself to have a divine destiny. Ryan Condal’s practical issues is the reason he won’t let Rhaenyra or Alicent commit to the war, despite their family members dying one after another. Ryan Condal’s practical issues is the reason he created a contrived plot where Rhaenicent have secret meetings with each other. Ryan Condal’s practical issues is the reason the showrunner insists that the succession war that tore a family apart is actually about two old friends struggling to get back to each other.

[tessarionbestgirl]

Daemon redemption arc in the book: Falling off Targaryan supremacy ideology represented by falling in love with an smallfolk girl and abandoning Rhaenyra that represents all that.

Daemon redemption arc in the show: Realizing he is nothing and his wify cult leader is everything as much as Targaryen supremacy.

[qyburnsghost]

They deleted Nettles to make Rhaenyra look better, but invented Dyana to make Aegon look worse!

[ride-thedragon]

NETTLES AND RHAENYRA, CHARACTER FOILS.

Because I'm not an English teacher

So the question is, How is Nettles Rhaenyra's foil?

1. Appearance .

Rhaenyra is a pretty standard Valyrian beauty. Silver locks, purple eyes, quite pretty, later on in life we get the change that she didn't lose the wait after giving birth to her kids and becùase of misogyny, her beauty has faded. Features like her long hair worn in the style of Visenya and so on are also mentioned. It's giving the Realm's delight in a real sense (not the weird sense).

Nettles, on the other hand, is juxtaposed as 'ugly'. She's brown, is skinny, has crooked teeth, a nose scar, and has short hair.

The maesters like to play to damn much, basically. But they are described as almost exact opposites. Short and long hair, skinny and fat, white and brown skin, purple and brown eyes, etc.

The narrative purpose is to ultimately show their different upbringing and places in this society.

2. Status

Rhaenyra is shown to be the princess, heir to the throne and queen throughout the book. No matter what happens with her, the security and privilege she has almost always goes over what other women have. Her only real threat is the men (and book Alicent) who have personal stake in her not ascending her throne. She's also entirely spoilt as princess and heir by her father and more so her uncle.

Nettles, on the other hand, is introduced to us as an orphan from Driftmark. We're told she could've been a thief and a sex worker by the time we met her. She has no name, lands, titles, or family that we are presented with in the narrative and her backstory for better or less is a patchwork of what her life was possibly like on Driftmark.

Unlike Rhaenyra, we don't follow every salacious rumour and really don't know much about her past.

3. Dragons

Rhaenyra’s dragon Syrax was a cradle egg hatched to her, a Targaryen custom. She's also the youngest dragonrider at 7 I believe.

Nettles claims her dragon at no older than 16 years old. He is a wild dragon (a distinction given to hatched Targaryen dragons that haven't been riden and live away from the keep) and slaughters many before she claims him.

4. Virtue

The notion of virtue in asoiaf is extremely complex, especially with these two women and the vastly different backgrounds. But virginity and speculation also develops both their characterizations in the narrative.

Rhaenyra allegedly "sleeps" with Daemon to practise what she wants to do with Criston (she's 15-). In the show, it becomes obvious that she almost sleeps with Daemon and officially sleeps with Criston. Either way, promiscuity and naivety are written into her character. The only point of conflict is who is involved with what happened in these instances less than what happened. Later on her promiscuity is brought up when Ser Harwin Strong is said to be the father of her first three children.

On the other hand, Nettles' sexual promiscuity is given to her in the narrative. The claims of her being a whore or sleeping around with shepherds are claims made by men who don't know what she was doing at that time. Men who made similar claims about Rhaenyra and their involvement in her loss of virtue as well. Where these stories differ is in Maidenpool, where the assumption of promiscuity is given a different voice.

This time, maids are alluding to an inappropriately close relationship between Daemon and Nettles (yet again, he finds himself here).

5. Daemon

Speak of the devil, and he will appear.

His dynamic is important to these women and their place in the narrative. Saving one dooms the other, leaving with one isolated the other. His decisions ultimately affect one while benefiting the other.

The cruellest example of this dynamic is him letting Nettles go after being the reason she is trapped in the narrative and ultimately dooming Rhaenyra by choosing to kill Aemond instead of going back to her.

His dynamic with both was also comparable with gift giving and quality time and even inappropriate relationship he developed with both of them, notably around similar ages. ( Both these relationships have significant power imbalances).

Between them both, his affection to one affects the other detrimentally.

6. Jace

Specifically in reference to his death, it's notable that within the narrative, while Nettles is described as crying by herself in response to his death, Rhaenyra is hardened by it.

Also, as symbols for legitimacy and legacy, Jace is the reason Nettles is recognised as a dragonseed, and Rhaenyra's line is secured as her first born, but in his absence, Nettles is delegitimised and said to be not a dragonseed. Around that time, Rhaenyra is beginning to be questioned by all the men around her as well, whereas before, Jace was a notable voice in decisions.

7. Dragons in the End.

They both meet their 'end' in the narrative with Dragons. Rhaenyra is killed by her brother's dragon Sunfyre burns and eats her, killing her in front of her son.

Nettles, however, escapes the narrative on dragonback, with the stories that follow explicitly explaining how dragon fire protects her and leads her to become a deity for the burned men.

8. Children

In the narrative, Nettles has no children. Children would explicitly be a burden in her described circumstances as a mouth to feed and someone else to care for. Effectively, children would trap Nettles in a cycle of poverty and inability to experience ethe freedom presented in the narrative.

Rhaenyra is expected to have children to secure her legacy and reign. Children, especially sons, would be her greatest benefit to ensure her ascension to the throne. They are her biggest strategy and losses throughout the war because of that reason.

This dynamic carries out to a head with the death decree for Nettles. The possibility that she would have a child by Daemon is a definitive reason that her 'treason' calls for her head. A child would give her a claimant but also be proof of infidelity by Daemon. It would be a slight to Rhaenyra’s pride and grief as she at this point has lost 4 children during the war.

9. Loyalty of men

This is one of the most interesting for me because the disloyalty of men for Rhaenyra meant the loyalty of men to Nettles. When the Mootons decide not to kill her, they are traitors to Rhaenyra. When Daemon lets her leave, he's a traitor to Rhaenyra. When Corlys stands up for both her and Addam, he's treated like a traitor. Furthermore, the Mootons turn to Aegon’s side directly after because they did not obey her for two reasons, Nettles being accused and sentenced without trial, and Rhaenyra wanting them to break guest right.

Within the narrative, at that point, loyalty to Rhaenyra was a sentence on Nettles' life, and loyalty to Nettles was treason to Rhaenyra.

Conclusion.

In other ways, like the impact of their legacy, the symbols of their identity (dragons), other ways that their narratives with Daemon (the stories) play out and so on juxtapose these women against each other in the narrative. Age and innocence in both a meta and narrative sense also play into Nettles being a foil for Rhaenyra’s character. Personally I think the reason ts written that way is for Nettles to cause a Stark difference in behaviour with men like Daemon and the Mootons as well as to show the contrast of what is expected and what is to be done and what actually happens.

Hope this helps 🩷🤎

[nobodysuspectsthebutterfly]

The Folio Society presents an illustrated collector’s edition of Fire & Blood

George R. R. Martin’s Fire and Blood, the prequel to A Game of Thrones, joins the Folio series. Explore the Targaryen dynasty with beautiful illustrations, detailed maps, sigils and family trees. A must-have for Westeros fans. ​ Coming 28 January 2025. What’s that in the distance? Is it the brush of dragon’s wings against the clouds? Queen Daenerys’s family tree is a rich one, filled with over 300 years-worth of rulers of the seven kingdoms. In Fire and Blood, George R.R. Martin dissects the Targaryen family’s history through the eyes of Archmaester Gyldayn. ​ This is the ultimate book for fans of the original series; it provides rich context of the family responsible for the world of Westeros as we know it. Plus, there are dragons, and lots of them! Artist Audrey Benjaminsen has captured the Targaryen family like no one else. Her illustrations jump from the page – the absentness in Area’s eyes upon returning with Balerion, the madness in Rhaenyra as she sits on the Iron Throne. This is the definitive edition of a definitive story, one that would surely sit in the library of the Citadel for centuries to come.  ​ PRODUCTION DETAILS Bound in three-quarter blocked cloth with a printed and blocked cloth front board ​ Set in Vendetta with Esmeralda as display ​ 616 pages  ​ 4 full-page and 1 double-page spread colour illustrations ​ Prints 2 colour throughout in black and gold with illustrated chapter openings ​ Printed endpapers ​ Coloured tops ​ Blocked and printed slipcase ​ Additional colour illustration inside slipcase ​ Sized at 10˝ x 6¾˝  ​ Printed in Italy​ UK £110, US/Canada $150, elsewhere £125

[ride-thedragon]

Them taking pictures away was a crime but this was beautifully said.

The Sheep & the Ram: Nettles

The Sheep

Sheepstealer

The presence of sheep in media has often been used to symbolize innocence. Now, while this animal is often used to represent children, women and other creatures of chastity, in ASOIAF, the sheep are the people of the lowest caste in Westeros, the smallfolk. This comparison is both contradictory and appropriate for the treatment of the smallfolk narratively and in-universe.

- Contradictory, because the smallfolk are almost never treated as innocents worth protecting by most of the nobility in ASOIAF. They are always associated with impurity, they never get a trial for any suspected crimes, and are often killed for petty schemes.

- Appropriate, because of how they fit the characteristics of sheep,- they lack individuality, much like sheep in a herd. This is due to the fact that ASOIAF is written from the perspective of nobility, whose narratives do not usually pay much interest in the people beneath them, despite the smallfolk taking the brunt of every decision made by them.

Nettles being low born means that she has lived most of her life as a part of nameless, faceless, herd. The sheep she slaughtered at the beginning of her story is meant to represent her, and its death represents the birth of the identity she gained through becoming a dragon rider.

Sealed in Blood

Nettles’ bonding with Sheepstealer as described in Fire and Blood :

“In the end, the brown dragon was brought to heel by the cunning and persistence of a “small brown girl” of six-and-ten, who delivered him a freshly slaughtered sheep every morning, until Sheepstealer learned to accept and expect her. ”

As stated in the quote above, Nettles claims Sheepstealer by feeding him freshly slaughtered sheep everyday. Freshly slaughtered, meaning there was always blood on them, blood shed by Nettles. In my post about Nettles and her relations to the Maiden, the Mother and the Crone, I stated that her bond with Sheepstealer protected her in a way that mirrors the protection motherhood gives the noblewomen in Westeros. Blood in ASOIAF is often used as the seal for transactions,- the blood shed from a woman in the consummation of marriage validating the union, sacrifices needed for blood magic,etc.

Narratively, GRRM’s characters are given new identities after a blood sacrifice is done. When Daenerys sacrifices Mirri, Drogo, and herself to hatch her dragons, Drogon, Viserion and Rhaegal, she comes out of the pyre as the mother of dragons. When Jaime is knighted by Ser Arthur Dayne, he is cut by the sword Dawn, and stands up Ser Jaime Lannister. When Nettles sacrifices sheep to Sheepstealer, she comes out as the Unlikely Dragonrider.

Disillusionment

One of the most explored concepts in the main series of ASOIAF is disillusionment.

Regardless of how they came to be, all of GRRM’s characters have their own motives and ambitions. He never plays his tropes straight though, so the journeys that his characters go on in pursuit of fulfilling their intentions is usually plagued with trauma, loss and disillusions,-all of which Nettles would come to face while fighting in the Dance.

We are not explicitly told Nettles’ reasoning for approaching Sheepstealer, but the most compelling arguments are ambition, and the need to protect the innocent. GRRM has told the stories of people born in the lowest class of Westeros trying to make better for themselves by climbing up the social ladder and getting as integrated as possible with the noble-class of Westeros. In the Game of Thrones series, we meet Ros, a sex worker from the North who goes to Kingslanding, and began working with Petyr Baelish. Petyr was on the King’s small council as the Master of Coin and was the owner of several brothels. His position and alliance with Ros brought her more profit and better protection than she would’ve got working alone. In both the books and the show, we meet Shae, a young teenage prostitute who is hired by Tyrion Lannister. Tyrion is the son of the Lord of Casterly Rock, and later becomes the Hand of the King. Shae and Ros would’ve had clients from all social backgrounds in their time of being sex workers, but their proximity to these men grants them individuality, and puts them a mere step up from the faceless women in the brothels. (It’s important to note that both of these women met a tragic end at the hands of high-born lords and ladies, despite their proximity to powerful men.)

Nettles’ climb up the social ladder was a more ‘masculine’ approach by Westeros’ standards. She gains her personhood through violence and participating in a war, the way the low-born men in the series do; Davos would be the best example. Fire and Blood does not explicitly state what Rhaenyra planned to reward Nettles with, but we do have a conversation from Ulf the White and Hugh the Hammer:

“We are knights now, truly,” Hard Hugh declared. And Ulf laughed and said, “Fie on that. We should be lords.”

The reward for fighting in war for men is either knighthood and lordship, both of which Nettles could never attain, due to the gender expectations in Westeros. She could also be granted further legitimacy, by being legalized as a Velaryon, and maybe be married off, but I find this to be very unlikely due to how much Fire and Blood emphasizes how undesirable she is by Westeros’ standards. Regardless, there had to be something compelling enough for her to look upon a beast that had slain all the men that tried to mount it, and dare to approach it.

I’ve limited it down to to two plausible explanations:

- She wanted to protect her home. Her people. Her entire story is told by Maesters who’ve never met her and it only starts when she claims Sheepstealer. We know nothing of her life prior the dance, but Nettles is human. She likely lived in Spicetown all her life. She must’ve had friends, family, or a community she wanted to protect.

- She wanted to be in a better situation. There are many speculations on what Nettles may have had to do in order to survive. All of them tie her to theft or sex work, which are both plausible possibilities, there aren’t many viable options for low-born girls.

In the previously quoted conversation, Ulf and Hugh are celebrating a victory that was mourned by many, including Nettles.

“The girl Nettles did not share their celebrations. She had flown with the others, fought as bravely, burned and killed as they had, but her face was black with smoke and streaked with tears when she returned to Dragonstone.”

This would have been her very first battle, ever, and one of the most destructive battles in the Dance of the Dragons. If we operate under the assumption that Nettles joined this war to better her life, then immediately fought in this battle, it would lead to the question: Was it worth it?

It’s a question that GRRM has his readers ponder on after allowing his characters to get something they aspired to have at the beginning of their story. Nettles’ claiming of Sheepstealer has always been transactional,- offering of freshly killed sheep, identifying as the bastard of a noble house, becoming a dragon-rider, fighting in war,- all of these actions led to her gaining individuality, worth and safety she would’ve never had before the Dance, but, the cost was her playing a hand in the bloodshed and violence nobility would enact on her people.

After the Battle of the Gullet, thousands of people died, including Prince Jacaerys, the Velaryon fleet lost a third of its strength, and the young Prince Viserys was thought to be dead. It’s no surprise that these losses were included in the accounts of Fire and Blood, as they all affect prominent people in Westeros,- Queen Rhaenyra lost her two sons, and Lord Corlys Velaryon has lost an good amount of his wealth, assets and his fleet. But the part of the aftermath that stood out the most in its relation to Nettles:

“Spicetown was brutally sacked, the bodies of men, women, and children butchered in the streets and left as fodder for gulls and rats and carrion crows, its buildings burned. The town would never be rebuilt.”

“and two “cousins” from Driftmark, left homeless when Spicetown was destroyed.”

Her sacrifice, her bravery all meant nothing as her home was destroyed. If she had friends, neighbors, family, they would’ve likely been dead.

The Ram

The Rogue Prince and Misogyny (-noir)

The only relationship of hers that was recorded in Fire and Blood, was her relationship with Daemon :

“Maester Norren writes that “the prince and his bastard girl” supped together every night, broke their fast together every morning, slept in adjoining bedchambers, that the prince “doted upon the brown girl as a man might dote upon his daughter,” instructing her in “common courtesies” and how to dress and sit and brush her hair, that he made gifts to her of “an ivory-handled hairbrush, a silvered looking glass, a cloak of rich brown velvet bordered in satin, a pair of riding boots of leather soft as butter.” The prince taught the girl to wash, Norren says, and the maidservants who fetched their bath water said he oft shared a tub with her, “soaping her back or washing the dragon stink from her hair, both of them as naked as their namedays.”

“Each dawn Caraxes and Sheepstealer flew from Maidenpool, climbing high above the riverlands in ever-widening circles in hopes of espying Vhagar below…only to return defeated at dusk.”

“By the dwarf’s account, Daemon Targaryen had come to love the small brown bastard girl, and had taken her into his bed.”

In the quotes above, there are two accounts with different interpretations of their relationship. Maester Norren insists that their relationship is that of a father and daughter, and provides examples of Daemon’s “fatherly” affection, which oddly includes sharing baths with his daughter. On the flip side, you have Mushroom stating that their relationship was in fact a romantic one.

Now, it is explicitly stated in Fire and Blood that Daemon was not loyal to Rhaenyra, so loyalty to his wife cannot be used as a reason why he would not be romantically involved with Nettles. Nor could age, as he was known to enjoy the company of young maidens in brothels.

“Nettles was no more than ten-and-seven, Prince Daemon nine-and-forty, yet the power young maidens exert over older men is well-known. Daemon Targaryen was not a faithful consort to the queen, we know. Even our normally reticent Septon Eustace writes of his nightly visits to Lady Mysaria, whose bed he oft shared whilst at court…with the queen’s blessing, purportedly.”“Nor should it be forgotten that during his youth, every brothel keeper in King’s Landing knew that Lord Flea Bottom took an especial delight in maidens, and kept aside the youngest, prettiest, and more innocent of their new girls for him to deflower.”

This leads us to main issue with Norren and Septon Eustace’s argument and that is the fact that it is entirely dependent on how “unattractive” Nettles is. Munkun and Eustace emphasize how undesirable she is by focusing on the fact that she was a lowborn woman whose only options to survive were likely prostitution or theft. In terms of her physical appearance, she’s described as skinny, with brown skin, a scar across her nose and crooked teeth. This description does not make her relationship with Daemon any less unlikely, given the author who wrote it. Even if Nettles is in fact physically unattractive, and does not resemble any of Daemon’s previous lovers, she is still capable of being loved. George has written a similar dynamic with Brienne and Jaime in the main series. Daemon, like Jaime, fits comfortably with the expectations of men during their time- he fought in wars, he’s been married, he produced children, etc. Nettles, much like Brienne (though their situations are not exactly the same), does not fit into the ideal expectations for women in Westeros. The two of them are consistently described as unattractive. They also take on more “masculine” positions, with Brienne serving as a knight, and Nettles fighting in a war.

Identity

Nettles is theorized in text and by the fan base to be the daughter of Daemon, and other Lords with Valyrian blood. This usually is used as an explanation for her being able to ride a dragon. Narratively, Nettles and Sheepstealer are quite different from House Targaryen and their dragons. For starters, Sheepstealer is a wild dragon, who are described to be notoriously untamable. After rejecting Alyn and eating the other dragonseeds, he accepted Nettles. Nettles in Fire and Blood looks nothing like the other dragon riders who are all fair-skinned with light hair. So even though her being a dragon rider gives her proximity to the ruling class, it is made clear in Fire and Blood she does not have prominent Valyrian ancestry.

Departure

When her and Daemon part, Nettles is recorded killing and feeding the largest black ram in Maidenpool to Sheepstealer. After she disappears from Maidenpool, she is not seen again. Nettles lost everything to the Dance of the Dragons, including her connections to humanity. Her home, her loved ones, her identity, all gone. The sheep in the beginning of her story represents the birth of her identity, and when she kills it she is no longer faceless like the rest of smallfolk. The ram represents Nettles after seeing the horrors of war, of sex, of people, etc. Nettles kills her newfound identity as a bastard of House Targaryen (or House Velaryon), as Daemon’s alleged mistress, as the Unlikely Dragonrider.

[amuelia]

Daemon Targaryen and Nettles / Aemond Targaryen and Alys

[rynnthefangirl]

Bastards in Westeros have my whole heart. To constantly be told that you are lesser, unworthy of titles, unworthy of inheritance, inherently evil and distrustful, not because of anything you did, but simply for being born the “wrong” way. If you are high born, you may even live among the very nobles who revile and mistrust you. You— a child who has done them no wrong. And even if you are lucky enough to have your bastardy be mere rumor, you still are not spared. Because whether or not people wish to raise you high or burn you to the ground hinges entirely on whether your mother slept with the right person 9 months before you existed… even though you are the same person regardless. Wars will be fought just to punish you for being born.

[evagreen-stories]

Honestly, I'm DEVASTATED they've completely cut Nettles and are doing this whole Rhaena x Sheepstealer thing.

Not just because that means we will most likely never see Morning but because Nettles was such an important part of the story. Not just because of the battles she fought but because of her crucial role in Daemon and Aemonds battle and deaths.

Believe what you want, whether she was Daemon's lover or bastard daughter, it was Rhaenyra growing so paranoid after the two dragonseeds changed sides and ordering the ASSASSINATION of that young woman that pushed Daemon to go on that su*cide mission after Aemond.

With Nettles needing to flee and Daemon realising Rhaenyra doesn't trust him anymore and is willing to go after him/his lover/his daughter, he was willing to sacrifice himself and his dragon while bringing down Aemond & Vhagar.

Had it not been for that, the whole story would have been totally different. Perhaps the war would have raged on for far longer as well.

At this point it feels like they won't even do Rhaenyra's paranoia arch and her demise. That they won't have her order Addams arrest, imprison Corlys, order the assassination of Nettles, etc.

It feels like they've turned her into an empowered, always rational, never doing any wrong feminist-icon while her book version was SO much different.

That's what I liked so much about the books and the entire GoT/HotD universe; that there are no good people, only bad people and worse ones.

"Choose your favourite war criminal" type of stuff. That's totally missing from this show, in my opinion. It's all too black and white. It's almost... boring at this point.

At this point, I hold little hope for the rest of this show to get much better. Even George has (indirectly) spoken out against this change.

[balls-heheh]

“He’s kind.”

In this moment, I like to imagine that she feels pure unbridled bittersweetness.

He’s kind, there is apart of me out there that is kind.

But it could only exist without my presence.

[drakaripykiros130ac]

Believe it or not, scrapping Nettles and giving her storyline to Rhaena is a big disservice towards Team Black.

Why?

Because Rhaena being able to hatch a dragon after Rhaenyra died (whereas the Greens couldn’t), was a symbol of hope for victory for the Blacks (the right side). Even the Greens were scared of what Morning being born meant for the Realm.

It was basically proof of the Gods favoring the Blacks, and it’s what inspired Rhaenyra’s forces to strike and defeat the usurper.