George R.R. Martin teases ‘TOXIC’ modifications for House of the Dragon

 Game Of Thrones author George R.R. Martin has criticized controversial changes made to the House Of The Dragon TV series from his books and HBO has hit back at his complaints.

In a since-deleted post titled ‘Beware The Butterflies’  on his official website, the 75-year-old author – AKA G.R.R.M – seemingly spoiled the future seasons of the fantasy series – which ended its second season last month – by saying more ‘toxic’ changes would be coming.

The post was documented by trade publications Variety, Deadline, and The Hollywood Reporter. 

In the entry, the writer went into detail about what he believed went wrong with the recently concluded season and how it deviated from his original work Fire & Blood.

He also gave his thoughts on what House Of The Dragon showrunner Ryan Condal has adapted for the screen and even seemingly spoiled some of the plans for the final two seasons of the series. 

Martin had originally prefaced his rant on August 30 as he said he would write ‘about everything that’s gone wrong with House Of The Dragon.’ 

Then on Wednesday the blog entry went up as it began in a complimentary way as he wrote: ‘I promised you some further thoughts about “Blood and Cheese” and Maelor the Missing after my commentary on the first two episodes of HOTD season 2, A Son for a Son and Rhaenyra the Cruel.

‘Those were terrific episodes: well written, well directed, powerfully acted. A great way to kick off the new season.’

His biggest issue, however, seemed to come from the choice to omit the toddler-aged son of Helaena Targaryen (Phia Saban) and King Aegon (Tom Glynn-Carney) named Maelor which he believes will have larger repercussions in the upcoming seasons.

Showrunner  Condal opted for Aegon and Helaena to only have two children in twins Jaehaera and Jaehaerys.

Martin continued: ‘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. And 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. Moreover, Ryan assured me 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.’

House Of The Dragon is set nearly 200 years before the events of Game Of Thrones. 

 Martin said that he eventually became fine with the change and continued to praise the episode before going on to criticize it.

The author wrote: ‘That made sense to me, so I withdrew my objections and acquiesced to the change. I still love the episode, and the Blood and Cheese sequence overall. Losing the “Helaena’s Choice” beat did weaken the scene, but not to any great degree. 

‘Only the book readers would even notice its absence; viewers who had never read FIRE & BLOOD would still find the scenes heart-rending. Maelor did not actually DO anything in the scene, after all. How could he? He was only two years old. There is another aspect to the removal of the young princeling, however.’

 Martin went on to detail how the elimination of the character of Prince Maelor could impact the final two seasons of the prequel series as he went on to spoil major plots from Fire & Blood.

He 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.’

Martin also said that he believes that the way that he has written the book is much more effective than the television series could be.

He said: ‘I still believe the scene in the book is stronger. The readers have the right of that.

‘The two killers are crueler in the book. I thought the actors who played the killers on the show were excellent… but the characters are crueler, harder, and more frightening in Fire & Blood.’

He concluded the very lengthy post by casting some serious doubt that the series will be able to properly convey the drama which he had authored to the television screen.

Martin finished the post 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 3 and 4.’

Soon after the post went up HBO released a statement defending the changes made by showrunner Condal and the rest of his team had mad.

It read: ‘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.

‘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.’ 

The network went on to praise the job that the showrunning team have done as they finished the statement.

They concluded: ‘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.’

Last month it was revealed the fantasy series  will end after four seasons, according to Condal.

He said during a news conference in early August – a day after the second season’s finale aired – that the third series is in the writing process, Variety reported Monday.

Condal said that pre-production work on the series will continue this autumn, with a targeted production date of early next year.

The show’s first season ran 10 episodes, with the second season going eight. Asked how many episodes the third season would be, Condal said, ‘I haven’t had discussions with HBO about it.

‘I would just anticipate the cadence of the show, from a dramatic storytelling perspective, will continue to be the same from season two on.’

The first two seasons of House Of The Dragon are up for streaming on Max.