George R.R. Martin, the architect of the “Game of Thrones” literary universe, called out the changes from his text, specifically those that took place in the second season of “House of the Dragon,” on which he is also co-creator and executive producer.
The author has been teasing this anticipated blog post by saying on Aug. 30 he would finally share “everything that’s gone wrong” with “Dragon.” When the time came, the new blog post stated biggest gripes with “House of the Dragon,” highlighting specific changes from his original work “Fire & Blood,” Variety reported. The author has since deleted the blog post published Sept. 4.
Since nothing on the internet completely disappears, however, Variety had already read and reported on the post. In it, Martin explains his main issue stems from the difference between the “Blood & Cheese” plot line in the book and the show, which features the death of 4-year-old Jaehaerys Targaryen (Jude Rock), whose throat was slit in retaliation for the killing of one of Rhaenya’s (Emma D’Arcy) sons. “House of the Dragon” frames this as a significant political move since Jaehaerys is the only male hair of Helaena (Phia Saban) and Aegon (Tom Glynn-Carney), who was currently claiming the Iron Throne. However, it turns out that the series also entirely eliminated Aegon’s youngest son, Prince Maelor, although they kept Jaehaerys’ twin sister (Lulu Barker). Martin said this absence would largely affect the future of the show moving forward into its last two seasons.
Martin wrote, “When Ryan Condal first told me what he meant to do, ages ago (back in 2022, might be) I argued against it, for all these reasons. I did not argue long, or with much heat, however. The change weakened the sequence, I felt, but only a bit.”
Martin noted that Condal knew casting an additional child actor would cost money: “Ryan had what seemed to be practical reasons for it . . . Budget was already an issue on ‘House of the Dragon,’ it made sense to save money wherever we could. . . . Ryan assured me that we were not losing Prince Maelor, simply postponing him.”
Condal noted that Maelor would be introduced in Season 3, at which point Martin withdrew his concerns.
While that means Maelor can still act as Aegon’s heir in the future, the child’s absence changed an emotional beat in the book in which Helaena must choose which of her sons will die at the hand of assassins. She reluctant chooses the younger Maelor, hoping he’s too young to understand what’s happening, but the assassin instead kills Jaehaerys, meaning that Maelor is alive to know his mother chose him to die.
“Losing the ‘Helaena’s Choice’ beat did weaken the scene, but not to any great degree,” Martin wrote. “There is another aspect to the removal of the young princeling, however.”
At this point, Martin revealed what happens later in the book and there what could happen in Season 3 and 4. Major spoiler alert: for those who don’t want their viewing experience sullied, please stop reading now.
Martin wrote, “Maelor by himself means little. He is a small child, does not have a line of dialogue, does nothing of consequence but die… but where and when and how, that does matter. Losing Maelor weakened the end of the Blood and Cheese sequence, but it also cost us the Bitterbridge scene with all its horror and heroism, it undercut the motivation for Helaena’s suicide, and that in turn sent thousands into the streets and alleys, screaming for justice for their ‘murdered’ queen. None of that is essential, I suppose . . . but all of it does serve a purpose, it all helps to tie the story lines together, so one thing follows another in a logical and convincing manner.”
With those revelations, it’s clear why Martin deleted the post.
The author concluded the post foreshadowing potential issues to come in seasons three and four.
“And there are larger and more toxic butterflies to come, if ‘House of the Dragon’ goes ahead with some of the changes being contemplated for seasons 3 and 4…” he said.
In a statement obtained by Variety, an HBO spokesperson defended the changes made to the second season.
“There are few greater fans of George R.R. Martin and his book ‘Fire & Blood’ than the creative team on ‘House of the Dragon,’ both in production and at HBO,” the statement read.
The statement continued, “Commonly, when adapting a book for the screen, with its own format and limitations, the showrunner ultimately is required to make difficult choices about the characters and stories the audience will follow. We believe that Ryan Condal and his team have done an extraordinary job and the millions of fans the series has amassed over the first two seasons will continue to enjoy it.”
In an episode of HBO’s “House of the Dragon” podcast, Condal said that when it came to Maelor, “we had to make some compromises in rendering the story.”
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