#sheepstealer is cute but he's also a dragon in a story where dragons are weapons of mass destruction

[lemonhemlock]

I should have been clearer on Nettles. Yes she's is part of the dragonseed and has Valyrian blood but she doesn't look like Valyrian, which is part of why Rhaenyra hates her so much. It's not just because Daemon likes her cause Daemon liked Mysaria too but Nettles just looks like an ordinary black girl, something rare in Westeros and she acquires this ability to bond with a dragon.

There's been discourse on Twitter saying she's not necessary to the plot cause the Velaryons are black as well as the conversation about her being Daemon's daughter.

Oh, yes, absolutely, Rhaenyra's language in regards to Nettles holds racist (and classist) undertones - she straight up calls her a "low creature" and that "You need only look at her to know she has no drop of dragon’s blood in her", i.e. Valyrians can't have her skin colour.

Nettles' story presents an interesting opportunity for a storyteller, because not only is she a WOC, but, unlike the Velaryons, she is also poor and of the commonfolk. So there is intersectionality at play there in the conversation between good and evil and the difficult moral choices that come with acquiring so much power. HOTD is notorious for only focusing on the nobility, so this would be a perfect avenue to interrogate how the war is affecting regular people.

In addition, yes, I believe Nettles being a dragonseed herself was tantamount to her being able to access dragon riding as an ability, but just having the right blood is no guarantee the dragon will accept her, so her being resourceful and clever and using livestock to befriend Sheepstealer is also very important and relevant to her character. But, you know, it is also a decision to transcend and infringe upon the boundaries of humanity, of course with the naiveté and boldness and hope typical of youth, but nevertheless taking hold of that violent capacity for destruction. And I think that fans tend to gloss over that thematic thread for Nettles because they are so fond of her and, thus, are reluctant to view her as anything other than morally uncompromised.

So, in a way, beyond the implication that she might actually be Daemon's daughter who nonetheless gets a grooming narrative, I see Nettles' story as something like hope corrupted, a betterment narrative gone wrong perhaps, in the sense of thinking that this is an opportunity for you to prove your worth to the entire world, that you are more than this fragile flesh or the unlucky circumstances of your birth, making that one wrong decision out of desperation and not realising that you ended up trading your soul instead.

Which is why I think a talented writer could explore many compelling themes with Nettles' character if they were so inclined (hopefully they will be).