George R.R. Martin Has Some Bones to Pick With 'House of the Dragon' Season 2

Anyone who has ever read a book and then watched the adaptation of it knows that every TV writer has to make decisions about how to adapt the story. That's particularly true in House of the Dragon, which is adapted from George R.R. Martin's book Fire & Blood.

While George has generally been kind to House of the Dragon, he recently posted and then deleted a blog post in which he explained his concerns about one particular change in Season 2. According to George, this change has already had an impact on Season 2, and will further weaken subsequent seasons of the show.

In his blog post, George called out one change in particular that may seem minor at first glance. In the show, Aegon II and Halaena Targaryen have two children, twins Jahaerys and Jahaerya, but in the book, they also have a younger son named Maelor who is just 2 years old. Martin says that showrunner Ryan Condal made the call not to include Maelor to avoid casting another child, and for budgetary reasons, but Martin's post suggests that removing Maelor will have a "butterfly effect."

In his post, George said that the immediate effect was in the scene where one of Halaena's children is killed.

“I still believe the scene in the book is stronger. The readers have the right of that. The two killers are crueler in the book. I thought the actors who played the killers on the show were excellent … but the characters are crueler, harder, and more frightening in Fire & Blood," he wrote.

"I would also suggest that Helaena shows more courage, more strength in the book, by offering her own own life to save her son," he continued. "Offering a piece of jewelry is just not the same … As I saw it, the Sophie's Choice aspect was the strongest part of the sequence, the darkest, the most visceral. I hated to lose that. And judging from the comments online, most of the fans seemed to agree.”

George then goes on to explain that he argued for Maelor's inclusion, and at the time, Ryan said that he could just be born later. George now worries that will not be the case, and he goes into spoilers for future seasons to explain why he believes that change may be for the worse.

George, who serves as an executive producer on the show, then pulled the post down. It's unclear why he did this, or whether he was asked to by someone affiliated with the show.

HBO responded to the post with a statement of their own: “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 its own format and limitations, the showrunner ultimately is required to make difficult choices about the characters and stories the audience will follow. We believe that Ryan Condal and his team have done an extraordinary job."