George RR Martin Deletes House Of The Dragon Critical Post
Many fans of George RR Martin have been fervently hoping he would write more, but the last thing they expected was for him to pick up a keyboard and put the HBO Game of Thrones spinoff House of the Dragon on blast. While he is nominally the co-creator and executive producer of that spinoff, he apparently has very little control over what the network does and has been immensely displeased with the show so far. Recently, he made a post about his grievances on his official blog but has since deleted it, though archived copies remain online for those who are curious.
Time To Complain, But Can’t finish Winds Of Winter?
In a bit of dark irony, George RR Martin’s angry blog post (titled “Beware the Butterflies”) about House of the Dragon was delivered in a much timelier manner than his long-awaited book Winds of Winter. The author promised on August 30 that he would be expounding on why he hates this prequel to his hit Game of Thrones series so much. The author followed up with the scathing blog post just a few days later, but it didn’t take long for him to take it down.
What did George RR Martin have to say about House of the Dragon? For one thing, he is very angry that a character named Maelor, who appears in his Fire & Blood book, will not appear in the show. That may not sound like a very big deal, but Martin sees this as having a very negative “butterfly effect” on future seasons and episodes, the details of which might be considered spoilers for the show (don’t say you weren’t warned, y’all).
Diverting From Martin’s Vision
According to George RR Martin, Maelor’s absence from House of the Dragon is going to create problems that showrunner Ryan Condal is either unaware of or just doesn’t care about. For example, Maelor has been cut out of the show altogether, and Martin warns that this will make a Season 2 scene where Helaena has to choose which of her children to sacrifice far less meaningful.
It’s apparently the complete absence of Maelor that has George RR Martin up in arms about House of the Dragon, as he insists he was not consulted about omitting the character from the series. He claims that Condal originally said they were merely delaying the introduction of this character but later blindsided the author with the fact that the character won’t appear at all. This led Martin to speculate about what the showrunner had planned for future seasons.
“I have no idea what Ryan has planned — if indeed he has planned anything — but given Maelor’s absence from episode 2, the simplest way to proceed would be just to drop him entirely, lose the bit where Alicent tries to send the kids to safety, drop Rickard Thorne or send him with Willis Fell so Jaehaera has two guards,” Martin said. This “seems to be what Ryan is doing here,” and the author acknowledges that “It’s simplest, yes, and may make sense in terms of budgets and shooting schedules.”
Martin Has Concerns Over The Show’s Future
However, George RR Martin is adamant that “simpler is not better” when it comes to House of the Dragon. He started wrapping the post up on a somber note, rhetorically asking, “What will we offer the fans instead, once we’ve killed these butterflies?” He went on to admit that “Maelor himself is not essential… but if losing him means we also lose Bitterbridge, Helaena’s suicide, and the riots, well… that’s a considerable loss.”
HBO Responded To Martin
As if George RR Martin hadn’t already gone scorched earth (with wildfire, no less) on House of the Dragon, he ended his post with an ominous warning: “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.”
This led to an HBO spokesperson responding that when adapting a book to screen, “the showrunner ultimately is required to make difficult choices,” but they are confident in Condal’s ability to continue doing “an extraordinary job.”
The Showrunner Reacted
Later, Condal himself echoed some of these ideas on The Official Game of Thrones Podcast: House of the Dragon, detailing what he saw as the practical reasons for not wanting “two four-year-olds to play through that level of drama” and worries about the “things that you can expose young children to on a film set.” The showrunner also pointed out that “We had to make some compromises in rendering that story so that we didn’t have to recast the whole cast multiple times and really just frankly, lose people.”
Game Of Thrones Veered Away Too….That Ended Well
At this point, hardcore fans must decide for themselves if George RR Martin’s criticisms of House of the Dragon are valid or not. The show has been a major success so far, which seemingly validates HBO’s point that the changes they are making help make for a more successful adaptation. Of course, the last time HBO veered away from Martin’s vision this completely we got an awful final season of Game of Thrones, and we can only pray to R’hllor they don’t make a mistake of that magnitude again.
Source: Internet Wayback Machine
