Skip to main content

George R.R. Martin is not happy about ‘House of the Dragon’ season 2

The author has been teasing his displeasure about season 2 for some time.

The Targaryen family is documented in House of the Dragon
Matt Smith and Emma D'Arcy play the lead roles Ollie Upton / Warner Bros. Discovery

After teasing that he would be blogging about his issues with the second season of House of the Dragon, George R.R. Martin, the creator of the Game of Thrones universe, has made good on that promise. The show, which is based on his novel Fire & Blood, had to make some changes to Martin’s original story in order to accommodate the realities of TV. Now, Martin has weighed in on one change in particular that he didn’t approve of.

The change relates specifically to the “Blood & Cheese” plotline in the first episode of season 2, in which the death of one of Aegon and Halaena Targaryen’s children. The show chose to elminate one of their children, Maelor, entirely, and Martin is worried about the ramifications of that decision in the show moving forward.

Recommended Videos

“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,” Martin wrote. “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.”

Martin continued by saying that the elimination of Maelor will have ramifications for the final two seasons of the show. “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,” he added.

Martin has been complaining about the show’s second season for some time. Amidst all that complaining, he has not provided any updates on when he may actually deliver The Winds of Winter, the next Game of Thrones book.

You can read the author’s full blog post here.

Joe Allen
Contributor
Joe Allen is a freelance culture writer based in upstate New York. His work has been published in The Washington Post, The…
‘The Flash’ director says the movie flopped because it didn’t have a broad enough appeal
The movie was a failure both at the box office and with critics.
Ezra Miller in The Flash

2023 was not a banner year for superhero movies, and one of the most distressing was The Flash. The movie, which had been long-delayed, was not the huge success that many suspected it might be. Instead, it was something of a disaster both critically and commercially.

Now, Andy Muschetti, who directed the film, has weighed in on why he thinks that is.

Read more
The most popular Netflix movies: Which one tops the list?
Carry-On enters the top ten, but what else is on the list?
Netflix on a phone

Remember when Netflix used to be just be the streaming service to watch old movies and shows? It was unheard of for the biggest stars in Hollywood to dedicate their time and energy to making a film specifically for Netflix. As the company grew bigger and competition increased from others such as Hulu, Max, and Prime Video, Netflix started to allocate more resources into original content and people have responded by watching these movies in binges.

In case you're not as in the know as we are about the most popular Netflix movies, we have you covered. The most popular Netflix movies feature actors such as Leonardo DiCpario, Jennifer Lopez, and Ryan Reynolds. The theater is no longer the only destination for big pictures. These popular Netflix movies will have you addicted and excited for your next movie night.

Read more
The first trailer for ‘Daredevil: Born Again’ brings Marvel back to the streets
The trailer suggests the show will be as violent as ever
daredevil born again first trailer charlie cox in

Marvel's history of making TV has been mixed, to say the least. That's why the return of Daredevil, the star of the very first Marvel show, is such a welcome one. The first trailer for Daredevil: Born Again gives us everything we might want from a return to Charlie Cox's version of the character, including a confrontation with Vincent D'Onofrio's Kingpin.

As the trailer establishes, this version of Matt Murdock has given up his vigilante ways and decided to take on criminals using the law. Kingpin, meanwhile has ascended to the role of mayor of New York, and appears to be trying to go straight as well. As the many cutaways to fairly brutal fights suggest, though, it doesn't seem like either one of them is going to be able to keep their hands clean for long.

Read more