Are you a little disappointed with Season 2 of House of the Dragon?
Well, you’re certainly not flying in those skies alone.
In fact, the hirsute, long-pending genius/procrastinator who created the world of Westeros is accusing the show of “misleading” the storyline originally discovered in his 2018 book Fire and Blood ” change.
In a new blog post, writer and House of the Dragon executive producer George R.R. Martin revealed that he’s not happy with some of the changes being made in the show’s second season.
Specifically, like many other viewers, he took issue with the execution (no pun intended) of the infamous “blood and cheese” sequence.
Martin said he discussed the changes with co-EP Ryan Condal and now wants him to stick with his original vision.
Condal chooses to eliminate one young character, Prince Mailer, who barely gets any screen time before being coldly dispatched by two hired thugs.
Still, Martin felt Mailer’s absence diminished the story’s emotional impact.
“When Ryan Condal first told me what he was going to do, a long time ago (probably 2022), I was against it for all of these reasons,” Martin wrote.
“I didn’t argue long or hard, though. I felt like this change weakened the sequence, but only a little.
Martin, who worked with showrunners DB Weiss and David Benioff on all eight seasons of Game of Thrones, is clearly familiar with the demands of television budgets and production schedules.
Although he acknowledged that certain changes had to be made, he seemed to think that Condal had strayed too far from the original direction of the story.
“Ryan seemed to have a practical reason for doing this; they didn’t want to pick another child, especially a two-year-old,” Martin recalled in his blog post.
“Having a child this young inevitably slows down production and has budget implications. Budget was already an issue on HOUSE OF THE DRAGON, and it made sense to save money wherever possible.
“Mailer himself doesn’t mean much. He’s a little kid, has no lines, does nothing but die… but where, when and how, it does matter.
“Losing Mailer weakens the ending of the Blood and Cheese sequence, but it also robs us of the horror and heroism of the Bitterbridge scene,” the author continues.
“This undermined Helana’s motive for suicide, which in turn sent thousands of people into the streets and alleys, screaming for justice for their ‘murdered’ queen.
“None of this is necessary, I suppose… but all of it does serve a purpose. It all helps tie the storyline together, allowing one thing to follow another in a logical and convincing way. thing.
Martin ended his message with a prophetic harbinger of doom for Westeros, writing:
“If House of the Dragon continues to make some changes in seasons three and four, there will be bigger, more venomous butterflies.”
It’s not often that one EP second-guesses another EP so openly.
Martin has never shaded Weiss and Benioff in this way during GoT’s historic run.
Condal seemed to anticipate this criticism, admitting in a recent podcast interview that he was forced to “make some compromises in rendering the story.”
Even so, he may have been caught off guard by Martin’s recent outspoken thoughts.
Meanwhile, Game of Thrones fans are just hoping the bearded Steamboat Captain hat lover can focus some energy on finishing his long-awaited The Winds of Winter novel!
