The showrunner of House of the Dragon, Ryan Condal, has described George R.R. Martin's criticisms of the series' second season as "disappointing." These comments follow the author's remarks published last year, sparking a notable stir within the Game of Thrones community.
The drama unfolded when Martin promised to delve into "everything that's gone wrong with House of the Dragon" in August 2024, a commitment he upheld by critiquing specific plot elements involving Aegon and Helaena's children. He also expressed concerns about the trajectory of future seasons. Although the post was eventually removed from Martin's website without any explanation, it had already reached thousands of fans and HBO, amplifying the discourse around these grievances.
In a recent interview with Entertainment Weekly, Condal shared his perspective on Martin's criticisms. He highlighted the personal impact of the strained relationship with the Game of Thrones creator, stating, "It was disappointing. I will simply say I've been a fan of A Song of Ice and Fire for almost 25 years now, and working on the show has been truly one of the great privileges of, not only my career as a writer, but my life as a fan of science-fiction and fantasy. George himself is a monument, a literary icon in addition to a personal hero of mine, and was heavily influential on me coming up as a writer."
Condal acknowledged the challenges of adapting House of the Dragon from its source material, Fire & Blood. He noted that the adaptation process often involves significant creative decisions and bridging gaps in the narrative. "It's this incomplete history and it requires a lot of joining of the dots and a lot of invention as you go along the way," he explained. He emphasized his efforts to include Martin in the adaptation process, saying, "I made every effort to include George in the adaptation process. I really did. Over years and years. And we really enjoyed a mutually fruitful, I thought, really strong collaboration for a long time. But at some point, as we got deeper down the road, he just became unwilling to acknowledge the practical issues at hand in a reasonable way."
Condal elaborated on the challenges he faced as a showrunner, balancing creative vision with practical production demands. "And I think as a showrunner, I have to keep my practical producer hat on and my creative writer, lover-of-the-material hat on at the same time. At the end of the day, I just have to keep marching not only the writing process forward, but also the practical parts of the process forward for the sake of the crew, the cast, and for HBO, because that's my job. So I can only hope that George and I can rediscover that harmony someday."
He further noted that every creative decision in the series takes "many months, if not years" to finalize, with all choices passing through him before reaching the screen. Condal's goal is to create a show that appeals not only to Game of Thrones readers but also to a "massive television audience."
While the relationship between HBO and Martin has faced challenges, they continue to have numerous collaborations in development. Although a few projects have been shelved since Game of Thrones' success, fans can look forward to future endeavors like A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms and potentially another Targaryen-centered spinoff. Martin has already praised A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms as a "faithful adaptation."
Meanwhile, House of the Dragon has recently begun production on Season 3. This follows a successful second season, which received a 7/10 in our review, and fans eagerly await its eventual premiere.
