George R.R. Martin has warned that the decision to stray from the source material in HBO’s House of the Dragon will create “toxic butterflies.”
But one former TV executive thinks the author’s headline-making outburst was not so “negative” and simply a move to placate die-hard fans of his books.
“I think there is a lot of respect for him at HBO and what he’s been able to produce… So I do think it’s kind of surprising when you see somebody of his stature come out and speak negatively about the show,” Rob Rosenberg, former executive vice president and general counsel at Showtime Networks with more than 22 years TV experience, told Newsweek.
“But I’m not sure comments that he made were really all that negative. As an author, his words and his characters are his babies, they are precious to him,” Rosenberg said, adding that Martin also serves as executing producer on House of the Dragon and has a big say in how the show pans out.
Martin is the author behind the Fire & Blood series, which has been adapted by HBO and recently concluded its second season. His series A Song of Ice and Fire was also adapted by HBO and became Game of Thrones, one of the most popular TV shows of all time.
The popularity of the two TV series about warring families in the fictional kingdom of Westeros has made Martin a household name. This is an uncommon feat for many writers because, as Rosenberg said, “most people wouldn’t even know the names of authors of the underlying works of adaptations.”
Why is Martin Mad?
Earlier this month, Martin took to his blog in a since-deleted post to complain about some plot points in House of the Dragon’s second season, namely the showrunner Ryan Condal’s decision to remove the character of Prince Maelor.
In the books, Maelor is one of the three children of King Aegon II and Helaena Targaryen, who also have young twins, Jaehaera and Jaehaerys. The twins appear in the HBO series as the only two children of the monarchs.
Hired assassins Blood and Cheese raid the castle and force Queen Helaena to choose one of her children for them to kill. In the books, she chooses Maelor, but the thugs go ahead and kill Jaehaerys instead.
The plot differs in the TV series during the premiere episode of the second season when Blood and Cheese are tasked with killing Aegon’s brother Prince Aemond Targaryen, but when they can’t find him they wind up murdering Jaehaerys, after Helaena chooses him to be the victim.
Martin wrote that he was told Maelor would be introduced in a later season for “what seemed to be practical reasons,” mainly budget, so he agreed in 2022 to the change. But he became angered upon realizing Maelor would not be appearing in House of the Dragon at all.
“[Condal] assured me that we were not losing Prince Maelor, simply postponing him. Queen Helaena could still give birth to him in season three, presumably after getting with child late in season two. That made sense to me, so I withdrew my objections and acquiesced to the change,” Martin wrote.
He warned that the decision could have serious repercussions for the show and was a sign of more deviations from the source material to come.
“It’s simplest, yes, and may make sense in terms of budgets and shooting schedules. But simpler is not better … Maelor by himself means little. He is a small child, does not have a line of dialogue, does nothing of consequence but die… but where and when and how, that does matter,” he wrote.
Newsweek contacted Martin’s representatives by email on Wednesday for comment.
But Rosenberg thinks too much fuss has been made about Martin’s blog post and he does not foresee a significant long-term impact on the remaining books in the series or on the HBO drama.
“He’s clear in his comments that the kinds of things that got changed aren’t going to be missed by the average viewer, because the average viewer won’t have read the books. But, fans of the books will notice certain discrepancies,” Rosenberg said. “And he’s built a structure that pays out at different points later down in the series, and I think he’s saying, ‘by making this change, you’ve not only impacted an episode or two… but you’re potentially impacting some plot points down on the line’.”
Given that House of the Dragon is a fantasy series, if a missing Maelor becomes more of a thorn between Martin and HBO, the writers could definitely find a way to introduce the character down the line, says Rosenberg.
“If it’s important to the story later in the series there are ways to introduce characters. It wouldn’t be the first television series where there was a child that people didn’t know about and revealed later on,” he said. “Who knows how they will choose to solve it.”
“But I have a lot of faith that the people who are creating the series are quite invested in seeing it succeed. So, if it is something that is important to the future storytelling they’re going to devise a way to address it.”
An HBO spokesperson told Newsweek that some of the biggest fans of Martin and his books are “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,” the spokesperson said.
“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.”
Condal himself addressed the drama in an episode of the House of the Dragon podcast.
“There are, of course, places where we have not agreed and departed,” he said. “I’ve always tried to take aboard the notes. I’ve always tried to pivot and make the thing work. Does this help or does this help? Sometimes I think it works and connects and other points, it doesn’t. And I’ve accepted that. I’ve had to accept that as a condition of being a showrunner on a giant franchise.”
