George R.R. Martin Speaks Out on House of the Dragon Season 2

Television

On August 30th, Game of Thrones author George R.R. Martin announced that he would make a blog post regarding season 2 of House of the Dragon, HBO’s adaptation of Fire & Blood, his book about the history of House Targaryen. Most people assumed this would reveal insight into all the filler in this season or the uneventful finale that lacked the highly-anticipated Battle of the Gullet. However, that eventual post ended up having more to do with the absence of Prince Maelor in the show and the Blood and Cheese sequence at the end of “A Son for a Son.” Martin has since deleted the blog post. Check out what he had to say here via Deadline:

“I promised you some further thoughts about Blood and Cheese and Maelor the Missing after my commentary on the first two episodes of HotD season 2, A Son for a Son and Rhaenyra the Cruel. Those were terrific episodes: well written, well directed, powerfully acted. A great way to kick off the new season. Fans and critics alike seemed to agree. There was only one aspect of the episodes that drew significant criticism: the handling of Blood and Cheese, and the death of Prince Jaehaerys. From the commentary I saw on line, opinion was split there. The readers of Fire & Blood found the sequence underwhelming, a disappointment, watered down from what they were expecting. Viewers who had not read the book had no such problems. Most of them found the sequence a real gut-punch, tragic, horrifying, nightmarish, etc. Some reported being reduced to tears. I found myself agreeing with both sides.”

“In my book, Aegon and Helaena have three children, not two. The twins, Jaehaerys and Jaehaera, are six years old. They have a younger brother, Maelor, who is two. When Blood and Cheese break in on Helaena and the kids, they tell her they are debt collectors come to exact revenge for the death of Prince Lucerys: a son for a son. As Helaena has two sons, however, they demand that she choose which one should die. She resists and offers her own life instead, but the killers insist it has to be a son. If she does not  name one, they will kill all three of the children. To save the life of the twins, Helaena names Maelor. But Blood kills the older boy, Jaehaerys, instead, while Cheese tells little Maelor that his mother wanted him dead. Whether the boy is old enough to understand that is not at all certain.”

“That’s not how it happens on the show… There is no Maelor in House of the Dragon, only the twins … both of whom look younger than six, but I am no sure judge of children’s ages, so I can’t be sure how old they are supposed to be. Blood can’t seem to tell the twins apart, so Helaena is asked to reveal which one is the boy. You would think a glance up his PJs would reveal that, without involving the mother). Instead of offering her own life to save the kids, Helaena offers them a necklace. Blood and Cheese are not tempted. Blood saws Prince Jaehaerys’s head off. We are spared the sight of that; a sound effect suffices.”

“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.”

And here’s HBO’s response to the now-removed blog post, again via Deadline:

“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,” the statement reads. “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 and the millions of fans the series has amassed over the first two seasons will continue to enjoy it.”

And this is what showrunner Ryan Condal said on the official Game of Thrones podcast:

“As dramatists, I think we have to approach this history, though it is fictional, as anyone would do, as trying to adapt a chapter from real history. So we have to construct this three-dimensional reality and this full story for the world to inhabit and provide the characters with internal lives and flaws and desires that might not necessarily have made it into the historical account. Now, there are plenty of opportunities in reading Fire & Blood to say, well, there was actually a flaw or a desire or something that does not make it into the record, but it’s often an incomplete picture. So, really, a lot of what we do is, as dramatists and adapters of this is coloring in the lines that we’re given… and a lot of that color is ultimately our own.”

So, there’s a lot here, but Martin seems the most disturbed at Maelor’s excision from the story and the way Jehaerys’ death was handled. I haven’t read the book, but I have heard this before from readers. I found the scene as it played out in the show horrifying and disturbing, as Martin says of other non-readers. But I can’t discount the preferences of more knowledgeable fans, let alone the author himself. I’m still more annoyed at the lack of substance in this season past episode 4. Before that, I think the show was still on a good path, for the most part. The second half or so of the season has a lot of wheel-spinning and downright dumb developments, like Rhaenyra and Mysaria chewing face. I guess that will actually matter in future seasons, but it felt like a waste of time in a season full of wasted time.

But what do you think? Let us know in the comments below!