Is Sheepstealer Dead In House Of The Dragon? What Happened To Rhaena's Dragon
Warning: This article contains SPOILERS for House of the Dragon Season 3, Episode 7, "The Dragon in Winter."The penultimate episode of House of the Dragon season 3 raises major questions about the fate of Rhaena Targaryen's dragon, Sheepstealer. After being teased at the end of season 2, the wild dragon has played a major role in the Game of Thrones prequel's third season, having been claimed by Rhaena. Since then, he's played a part in Jacaerys Velaryon's death, and while Daemon Targaryen initially tried to protect his daughter's identity, the truth comes out in fiery, furious fashion in episode 7, with Rhaenyra Targaryen learning who Sheepstealer's rider really is.
That leads us into an epic four-way dragon showdown, as Sheepstealer is forced to contend with Rhaenyra's dragon, Syrax, Daemon's dragon, Caraxes, and Addam of Hull's dragon, Seasmoke. Eventually, Rhaenyra flies Rhaena back to King's Landing, accompanied by Addam, leaving Daemon and Caraxes to finish the job. Though Sheepstealer is actually an older dragon than Caraxes, the latter is much more battle-hardened, and in particular uses his long neck to get the advantage. Sheepstealer is gravely wounded, but is he actually killed in the fight?
Based on what we see, the answer is no. The formerly wild dragon is allowed to limp away, and given that we see in this episode just how much dragons can survive with the reveal that Sunfyre is actually still alive, it's fair to assume that Sheepstealer is as well. It's a good rule of thumb that if we don't directly get confirmation of a death, it didn't happen, and the dragon may still have a role to play in House of the Dragon's future.
Why Daemon & Caraxes Didn't Kill Sheepstealer In House Of The Dragon Season 3, Episode 7
Assuming that Sheepstealer really is still alive, then it raises the question of why Daemon (and Caraxes) allowed him to live. Though Daemon was knocked from his own mount, there was still ample opportunity to finish the job, especially given how badly injured Sheepstealer was and how slowly he was walking away, so this seems to have been a conscious decision from Daemon not to kill him. And the main reason for that is his daughter, Rhaena, with Daemon unable to bring himself to destroy the dragon that she had always wanted.
Before the arrival of Rhaenyra and Addam, House of the Dragon season 3, episode 7 drew a clear parallel between Daemon and Rhaena. He revealed that, like her, his mother had died when he was very young, and that he too had always wanted a dragon, but had long been without one. It's a level of connection that we've never seen between the father and daughter duo, and even by Daemon's standards it would be extremely cruel of him to follow that up by killing her dragon.
Daemon knows Rhaena may not have much of a happy future anyway, given what happened to Jace, but if he were to take her dragon's life, it would not only condemn her to an even more miserable existence. Dragonriders only bond with one dragon, so she'll never get that opportunity again, and it would also likely sever any bond between himself and his daughter completely.
It may also be that there's a small part of Daemon that hopes Sheepstealer could be used in the war. Certainly, he is more aware than anyone of the power of dragons and the numerical advantage Team Black has, and he's been shown throughout the series to be very attuned to the beasts as a whole (e.g. his song to Vermithor). He might think that if there is a chance Rhaena will successfully learn to control Sheepstealer, they could yet play a part in helping to win the Dance of the Dragons.
What We Know About Sheepstealer's Fate Based On George R.R. Martin's Fire & Blood
Warning: This section contains spoilers for future events from Fire & Blood, the book on which House of the Dragon is based.Turning to George R.R. Martin's Fire & Blood does not give a clear blueprint for Sheepstealer's fate, but it might still help with where things are headed. House of the Dragon has made major changes with Rhaena's story, as she has taken on the role of Nettles from the book. Nettles is a bastard girl who claims the wild dragon in the source material, and flies him into the Battle of the Gullet (but notably does not play a role in Jacaerys' fate there).
After that, she spends a lot of time in the riverlands with Daemon, the two of them hunting Vhagar (something this episode loosely nods towards in their conversation). During this period, Rhaenyra becomes increasingly paranoid, convinced that there is more to Daemon and Nettles' relationship, and has the dragonrider declared a traitor, which leads to her having to stop being involved in the war efforts. However, both Nettles and Sheepstealer survive beyond the end of the civil war.
After the Dance has finished, Nettles and Sheepstealer live in caves deep within the Mountains of the Moon in the Vale. This is something else that Episode 7 alludes to, with Jeyne Arryn remarking that the villagers are gossiping of a "wild girl living among nettles and sheep." It's possible that this will still be the endpoint for both Rhaena and Sheepstealer, but given the former declared that she found that life away from her family unbearable, it may just be where the dragon ends up instead.
Rhaena has a more clearly defined future if following the book: she gets married, has kids, and is generally quite happy in King's Landing, and what's more, she does have her own dragon. Named Morning, the dragon comes from an egg that hatches while she's at the Vale. However, that's the problem. In Fire & Blood, Rhaena is at the Vale for almost the entirety of the civil war, and none of this storyline happens to her. That means it's extremely hard to predict what happens next to both her and Sheepstealer, but don't rule out a reunion of some sort yet.
New episodes of House of the Dragon release on Sundays at 9pm ET on HBO and HBO Max.