Ryan Condal, the showrunner for House of the Dragon, expressed his disappointment in response to George R.R. Martin's critique of the series' second season. Martin, the author behind the Game of Thrones universe, had vowed in August 2024 to delve into "everything that's gone wrong with House of the Dragon." He followed through with this promise, specifically critiquing plot elements concerning Aegon and Helaena's children and voicing concerns about the show's future direction. 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. 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 beloved books like Fire & Blood for television, noting that the source material is an "incomplete history" requiring significant creative input to connect the dots. He emphasized his efforts to involve 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 further explained the dual responsibilities he faces as a showrunner, balancing creative vision with practical production demands. He stated, "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 added that creative decisions for the show take "many months, if not years" to finalize and emphasized his role in ensuring the show appeals to both Game of Thrones readers and a broader television audience.
Despite the tensions, HBO continues to collaborate with Martin on future projects. While some projects have been shelved, fans can look forward to A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms, which Martin has already praised as a "faithful adaptation," and potentially another Targaryen-centered spinoff.
Meanwhile, House of the Dragon has begun production on its third season following the successful second season, which received a 7/10 in our review.
