House of the Dragon showrunner Ryan Condal has expressed his disappointment in response to criticisms from George R.R. Martin, the author behind the Game of Thrones universe, regarding the series' second season. Martin's critique came to light after he promised to delve into "everything that's gone wrong with House of the Dragon" in August 2024. He specifically took issue with plot elements concerning Aegon and Helaena's children and voiced concerns about the future direction of the show. Although Martin's post was later removed from his website without any explanation, it had already garnered significant attention from fans and HBO.
In a recent interview with Entertainment Weekly, Condal shared his thoughts on Martin's criticisms, highlighting the emotional impact of the strained relationship with the Game of Thrones creator. "It was disappointing," Condal stated, emphasizing his long-standing admiration for Martin's work. "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 Fire & Blood, the source material for House of the Dragon, into a television series. He explained that the adaptation process often requires filling in gaps and making creative decisions. "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 said. He also noted his efforts to involve Martin in the adaptation process, expressing a desire to maintain their collaborative relationship despite the challenges. "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 further elaborated on the complexities of his role as a showrunner, balancing creative and practical responsibilities. "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 emphasized that every creative decision in the show takes "many months, if not years" to finalize, and all decisions pass 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 broader television audience.
Despite the tensions, HBO and Martin continue to have multiple projects in development. While some projects have been shelved since the success of Game of Thrones, fans can look forward to collaborations like A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms, which Martin has described as a "faithful adaptation," and potentially another Targaryen-centered spinoff.
Meanwhile, House of the Dragon has begun production on its third season, following a successful second season that received a 7/10 in our review.
