George RR Martin slams House of the Dragon as ‘underwhelming’ and ‘simple’ in scathing blog post

We’ve all been waiting for it, but the scathing blog post from George RR Martin about his true thoughts on House of the Dragon has finally been posted and phew it’s a juicy one. He has since deleted the post, which in itself is dramatic too.

So, let’s get into it, shall we? The blog post focuses mainly on the Blood and Cheese aspect of House of the Dragon, as that was one of the main plot points that deviated from the original books George RR Martin wrote.

Via HBO

At the time, creator Ryan Condal explained why they’d made the change from Jaehaerys not being murdered in Aliecent’s room, as he in the books. He explained: “We knew it would be horrifying and brutal – we didn’t want it to be gratuitous or over the top. Yes, it’s a little child, and it’s awful. But because we don’t know Jaehaerys as a point-of-view character, it made more sense to experience that terrible event through Helaena’s eyes.

“You instinctually know what’s happening off screen, but I think it’s the emotional grip of experiencing that through Helaena’s eyes that really gets me still, and I’ve seen it 100 times.”

George RR Martin agreed with those who had read the books that he found the series adaptation of Blood and Cheese “underwhelming, a disappointment and watered down from what they were expecting.”

Via HBO

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He then goes on to say that he thinks the scene in the book “is stronger” with the two killers being far more “frightening, crueller and harder” in the books than in House of the Dragon. He explained the original book plot to force Halaena to pick which one of her sons she wants to be killed was incredibly “strong” and something that he “hated to lose.”

George RR Martin then turned his attention to the creator of House of the Dragon, Ryan Condal and he did not escape the clutches of the brutal blog post. He explained that he initially “argued against” the changes with Ryan back in 2022 as he felt the change “weakened” the sequence. One of the reasons Ryan gave him for wanting to make the change is that he didn’t want to deal with “casting another child.”

Via HBO

He goes on to write about some of the things that happened in the book which he thinks will “never” happen in the series. This includes Maelor who is the younger son of Aegon and Halaena. Whilst George speculated about how the show could introduce the character he doesn’t think Ryan has “anything planned” for his introduction and thinks Ryan is just trying to be “simple” which is “not always better.”

Ultimately, and spoilers ahead, the death of Maleor in the books is what drives Helaena to kill herself, and according to the blog post George RR Martin has written, she will still kill herself in House of the Dragon season three but just for “no reason”, according to the outline Ryan Condal gave him.

George finished up the brutal blog post by saying that he thinks there are “larger and more toxic butterflies to come if House of the Dragon goes ahead with some of the changes being contemplated for seasons three and four…” Well there you have it, I’m slightly terrified now for what next season will bring…

For all the latest news and drama and drops, quizzes and memes about George RR Martin and his blog post on House of the Dragon, like The Tab on Facebook. 

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• George RR Martin has dragged Game of Thrones and House of the Dragon for big errors

Featured images via HBO and YouTube.