SPOILER WARNING: Major details ahead for season two (and possibly three)
NEW YORK, Sept 5 — George RR Martin isn’t holding back about his issues with Season 2 of HBO’s Game of Thrones prequel, House of the Dragon. In a recent update on his “Not a Blog”, Martin hinted at serious disagreements over changes to his original plot, cryptically warning of “larger and more toxic butterflies to come”.
According to The Guardian, the author, whose Fire & Blood novel serves as the series’ source material, had previously praised the new season, calling its first episodes “powerful, emotional, gut-wrenching, and heart-rending. Just the sort of thing I like.”
But Martin’s latest comments suggest a shift in tone, as he promises to reveal “everything that’s gone wrong” with the adaptation.
In a now-deleted post titled “Beware the Butterflies” uploaded yesterday, Martin revealed his clash with showrunner Ryan Condal over the decision to cut Prince Maelor from the series — a choice he warned would have far-reaching consequences.
In the book, Maelor is one of the three children of Aegon and Helaena Targaryen, along with twins, Jaehaera and Jaehaerys. The show, however, only features the twins.
Martin said Condal first told him “ages ago (back in 2022, might be)” that they wanted to remove Maelor.
“Ryan had what seemed to be practical reasons for it; they did not want to deal with casting another child, especially a two-year-old toddler. Kids that young will inevitably slow down production, and there would be budget implications. Budget was already an issue on House of the Dragon, it made sense to save money wherever we could.”
Martin also wrote that Condal had assured him that “we were not losing Prince Maelor, simply postponing him.”
“Queen Helaena could still give birth to him in season three, presumably after getting with child late in season two. That made sense to me, so I withdrew my objections and acquiesced to the change.”
However, as reported by The Guardian, Martin said, he had since learned that “the prince’s birth was no longer just going to be pushed back to season three. He was never going to be born at all.”
He then laid out, in detail, major plot spoilers for how the absence of Maelor could affect the final two seasons of House of the Dragon, which will end with season four.
He wrote: “It’s simplest, yes, and may make sense in terms of budgets and shooting schedules. But simpler is not better ... 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.”
He hinted at further behind-the-scenes conflicts, writing, “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 three and four ...”
In response, HBO defended the show’s creative decisions, stating that when adapting a book to the screen, the showrunner must make tough choices about which characters and stories to prioritise, a spokesperson said.
“We believe Ryan Condal and his team have done an exceptional job, and the millions of fans who have embraced the series will continue to enjoy it.”
On a recent episode of the official House of the Dragon podcast, The Guardian said Condal addressed the disagreements with Martin, stating, “everything is made available to [Martin]” during production.
He was quoted as saying, “Of course, there are places where we have not agreed and departed. I’ve always tried to take aboard the notes. I’ve always tried to pivot and make the thing work. Does this help or does this help? Sometimes I think it works and connects and other points, it doesn’t. And I’ve accepted that. I’ve had to accept that as a condition of being a showrunner on a giant franchise.”
