House of the Dragon Season 3 Hinges on a Major Book Change

After the widely hated ending of Game of Thrones, its spin-offs faced an uphill battle to win back fans' trust. House of the Dragon began strongly, and many of Season 2's biggest problems stemmed from budget cuts rather than the creative team. One significant change from George R.R.

Martin's Fire & Blood now threatens to undermine the series. Martin has taken veiled shots at the alteration on his blog, and his feud with showrunner Ryan Condal remains ongoing. Season 2 introduced the "dragonseeds" — smallfolk with traces of Targaryen heritage given a chance to ride dragons for Queen Rhaenyra (Emma D'Arcy).

A notable absence from the screen was Nettles, the "black-haired, brown-eyed, brown-skinned, skinny, foul-mouthed, fearless" girl from the book; the show appears to be grafting elements of her story onto Rhaena Targaryen (Phoebe Campbell), though Condal has been cryptic when asked.

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