George RR Martin complains House of the Dragon changes ‘weakened’ the story

Author also warned there are ‘larger and more toxic’ changes planned for seasons three and four

George RR Martin has complained that changes made to the House of the Dragon storyline from his original books served to “weaken” the story, and added that there could be “larger and more toxic” changes planned for seasons three and four of the HBO fantasy show.

The acclaimed author, 75, reflected on season two of the Game of Thrones prequel series in a new blog post.

After praising the first two episodes in the season, Martin went on to question the decisions made in later episodes to change certain aspects of his 2018 novel Fire & Blood.

*Spoilers for House of the Dragon follow – you have been warned*

In the book, Helaena Targaryen has three children: twins Jaehaerys and Jaehaera and their younger brother, Maelor. The character of Maelor does not appear in the television series.

Martin’s story has the assassins known as Blood and Cheese forcing Helaena to choose which of her children dies. They then do not abide by her wishes, killing a different child.

George RR Martin attends a screening of ‘House Of The Dragon’ in LA in March 2023 (Jon Kopaloff/Getty Images)

In the television version, Blood and Cheese (Sam C Wilson and Mark Stobbart) do not offer Helaena (Phia Saban) a choice.

Martin writes: “As 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 from the comments online, most of the fans seemed to agree.”

Sophie’s Choice is a 1982 film about a mother who is forced to choose which of her children is killed.

Martin then goes on to say that he still loved “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.”

However, he warns that showrunner Ryan Condal’s decision to lose the character of Prince Maelor will create a “butterfly effect” that will have far-reaching implications for the rest of the story.

“Maelor is a two year old [sic] toddler in Fire & Blood, but like our butterfly he has an impact on the story all out of proportion to his size,” writes Martin.

He adds: “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.

“From what I know, that seems to be what Ryan is doing here. It’s simplest, yes, and may make sense in terms of budgets and shooting schedules. But simpler is not better.”

Martin concludes his post with a warning to expect further deviations from his story, 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…”

HBO responded to Martin’s post in a statement obtained by Variety.

“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,” said a spokesperson.

“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.”

The author had said earlier this week that a lot had “gone wrong” with season two of House of the Dragon.

Condal confirmed in August that the show will end after four seasons and that production on season 3 will begin in “earlyish 2025.”