HBO responded to George R.R. Martin’s recent blog post, which he has since deleted, about the creative choices made for season 2 of House of the Dragon.
“HBO’s creative team, both on House of the Dragon and in production, are huge fans of George R.R. Martin and his book Fire & Blood,” the statement says. “When turning a book into a show, the showrunner often has to make tough decisions about which characters and stories to focus on. We believe Ryan Condal and his team have done a fantastic job, and we’re confident that the millions of fans who’ve enjoyed the first two seasons will continue to love it.”
HBO responds to George R.R. Martin's #HouseOfTheDragon complaints
“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… pic.twitter.com/zItKiflqjW— Culture Crave 🍿 (@CultureCrave) September 4, 2024Advertisement
Showrunner Ryan Condal talked about the challenge of adapting Fire & Blood for TV in the latest Official Game of Thrones podcast episode. He described Martin’s book as more of a “history book,” which doesn’t always provide fully detailed moments or characters.
“As storytellers, we have to treat this fictional history like adapting a real historical event,” Condal said. “We have to build a complete world with a full story, giving the characters personalities, flaws, and desires that might not be in the book. Fire & Blood has moments where you can see hints of those things, but it often leaves parts of the story missing. So, as writers, we fill in those gaps with our own ideas, adding more details and depth to the lines we’re given.”
Earlier, George R.R. Martin kept his word by sharing his thoughts on season 2 of House of the Dragon. On Aug. 30, he hinted that he would write about “everything that went wrong” with the show. Many expected him to discuss the disappointing finale, which left out the highly anticipated Battle of the Gullet between the Blacks and Greens.
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Instead of focusing on the finale, Martin talked about Ryan Condal’s choice to leave out a key character from Fire & Blood and how that could affect the story. Condal has confirmed the show will end after season 4.
On his blog, Martin praised the first two episodes of season 2 but noted the split opinions on the Blood and Cheese scene. Book readers found it disappointing, while non-readers thought it was intense and emotional.
He explained that in the book, Helaena has three kids, including Maelor. Blood and Cheese force her to choose which son will die, and though she picks Maelor, they kill Jaehaerys. Maelor doesn’t exist in the show, and Blood can’t tell the twins apart. Instead of offering her own life, Helaena offers a necklace, but the scene ends with Blood killing Jaehaerys.
Martin believes his book version of the scene is better. “I still think the book’s version is stronger. The two killers are much crueler in Fire & Blood,” he wrote. While praising the actors, he explained that the omission of a key character could affect future seasons.
Here’s the archived backup of the deleted blog, where you can read his full post for more details.
Source: Deadline