What dragon is in the Vale in House of the Dragon? (Sheepstealer explained)

The sixth episode of House of the Dragon season 2, "Smallfolk," drove us into a new phase of the Targaryen civil war, with new romances, new schemes, and even new dragonriders. Based on the trailer for Episode 207, we'll soon see even more of the flying beasties taking to the sky as Queen Rhaenyra Targaryen (Emma D'Arcy) bolsters her dragon air force. This is a key plotline from George R.R. Martin's book Fire & Blood called the Sowing of the Seeds, and we're finally about to see it on screen!

However, just because most of the dragons live on Dragonstone doesn't mean that there may not be a few surprises in far-flung corners of the map. In "Smallfolk," Rhaenyra's step-daughter Rhaena (Phoebe Campbell) discovered that a dragon has been making its nest in the Vale, where she and young Prince Joffrey stumble across a scorched patch of earth and sheep bones. Later, Rhaena confronts Lady Jeyne Arryn (Amanda Collin) about the dragon, and discovers that it's a large, formidable, wild dragon which has taken up residence in the Vale and so far resisted all attempts to tame it.

Whatever happens next, House of the Dragon seems to be setting Rhaena up for a run-in with this dragon. You may be curious which dragon it is. Read on; but beware SPOILERS from Fire & Blood.

Sheepstealer is here to chomp up your sheep in House of the Dragon

Obviously, we haven't yet seen which dragon lives in the Vale onscreen, but in the book there's one wild dragon in particular with a penchant for eating sheep which lines up pretty well with this introduction. It's named Sheepstealer. Imaginative, right? The people of Westeros know how to pick a good descriptive name.

In the book, Sheepstealer lives on Dragonstone, where it similarly goes around munching on local herds of sheep. He's a big, "ugly mud brown" dragon with a reputation for eating sheep (and the occasional sheep dog) on the islands surrounding Dragonstone. Sheepstealer was born during the early reign of King Jaehaerys the Conciliator, so he's older than beasts like Syrax or Aegon II's Sunfyre, but still a few decades shy of the really big dragons like Vermithor or Vhagar.

Notably, Rhaena does not tame this dragon in the book; instead, it's another character named Nettles who mounts Sheepstealer. Nettles is a commoner who gets into Sheepstealer's good graces by regularly feeding the dragon the sheep it so enjoys. Eventually, Sheepstealer decides Nettles can't be so bad since she brings him snacks all the time, and he accepts her as a dragonrider.

I can't spoil what will happen in House of the Dragon with Rhaena and this dragon, because as of right now we have absolutely no idea. This is uncharted territory. It appears that House of the Dragon is giving some of Nettles' storyline with Sheepstealer to Rhaena. However it plays out, it seems all but certain that Sheepstealer is the dragon who's living in the Vale. According to Lady Arryns' maesters, he probably wandered there from Dragonstone while ranging farther afield for food, which makes sense since there are quite a few dragons living on Dragonstone to compete with for muttony morsels.

I'd bet that we'll find out more about Sheepstealer when House of the Dragon Episode 207 premieres this Sunday on HBO and Max.

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