He game of Thrones Author George R.R. Martin has spoken out about the issues he has with the changes made to the fantasy drama House of the Dragons, according to The Hollywood Reporter. Martin shared his views on his blog, mentioning that co-creator and showrunner Ryan Condal has made significant changes to his adaptation of the novel Fire & Blood, which he is not happy with as he feels the alteration in seasons two, three, and four may cause serious problems. (Also Read | Kit Harington aka Jon Snow reveals why he can’t watch House of the Dragon)
Though her post was deleted within hours, HBO also responded with a statement: “In the series, Aegon and Helaena have two young children (6-year-old twins Jaehaerys and Jaehaera). In the book, they have three; there’s an even younger brother, 2-year-old Maelor. In a sprawling series with plenty of characters for viewers to remember, having one less child seems like a pretty routine adaptive choice. But, Martin notes, this is resulting in a ‘butterfly effect’ of consequences,” The Hollywood Reporter shared.
There are some changes in the second season, such as the scene of blood and cheese, two people who were hired to kill Jaehaerys in front of his mother. But in the book the sequence was presented in a different way.
George RR Martin “I still believe the scene in the book is stronger. Readers have a right to that. The two killers are crueler in the book. I think the actors who played the killers in the series were excellent… but the characters are crueler, tougher, and scarier in FIRE AND BLOOD… I would also suggest that Helaena shows more courage, more strength in the book, by offering her own life to save her son. Offering a piece of jewelry is not the same… The way I saw it, the ‘Sophie’s Choice’ aspect was the strongest part of the sequence, the darkest, the most visceral. I hated to lose that. And judging by the comments online, most fans seemed to agree.”
“I was opposed to it for all of those reasons,” Martin said. “However, I wasn’t very, very opposed to it. The change weakened the sequence, I thought, but only slightly. And Ryan had what seemed to be practical reasons for it – they didn’t want to deal with hiring another child, especially a two-year-old. Children that young inevitably slow down production, and there would be budgetary implications. Budget was already an issue on HOUSE OF THE DRAGON, so it made sense to save money where we could. Plus, Ryan assured me that we weren’t losing Prince Maelor, just postponing him. Queen Helaena could still give birth to Maelor in Season 3, presumably after becoming pregnant late in Season 2. That made sense to me, so I withdrew my objections and agreed to the change.”
Martin continued: “Somewhere between the initial decision to kill off Maelor, a big change occurred. The prince’s birth would no longer be delayed until Season 3. He would never be born. Aegon and Helaena’s youngest son would never appear.”
—Maybe… but I don’t see how. The butterflies seem to forbid it… From what I understand, that seems to be what Ryan is doing here. It’s the simplest, yes, and it may make sense in terms of budgets and shooting schedules. But the simplest is not the best… Maelor on his own means little. He’s a little boy, he doesn’t have a line of dialogue, he doesn’t do anything important except die… but where, when and how, that does matter.
He further discussed the death of a character and how the way it was shown on the show compared to its portrayal in the book: “None of it is essential, I guess… but it all serves a purpose, it all helps tie the story lines together, so one thing follows another in a logical and compelling way… that’s a considerable loss.”
“And there will be bigger, more toxic butterflies to come, if HOUSE OF THE DRAGON goes ahead with some of the changes being considered for Seasons 3 and 4…” he added.
HBO later responded to the post with a statement: “There are few bigger fans of George R.R. Martin and his book Fire & Blood than the creative team at House of the Dragon, both in production and at HBO. Typically when adapting a book for the screen, with its own format and limitations, the showrunner must ultimately make tough decisions about the characters and storylines the audience will follow. We believe Ryan Condal and his team have done an extraordinary job and will continue to be enjoyed by the millions of fans the series has amassed over the first two seasons.” Martin is a co-creator of House of the Dragons.
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