According to a since deleted blog post, the miffed author believes the erasure of Aegon and Helaena’s third child Maelor has caused a “butterfly effect” that weakens the plot and will cause bigger issues in the subsequent third and fourth seasons.
Not all change is good change. Author George R. R. Martin recently spoke out against storyline alterations made in HBO’s House of the Dragon series. Making good on a previous promise to fans to point out everything wrong in the project, Martin took to his blog to reveal his thoughts on the adaptation. The original post has since been deleted.
Notably, Martin admonishes co-creator and showrunner Ryan Condal’s erasure of Maelor, Aegon and Helaena’s third child. In the TV series, they have only two children, twins Jaehaerys and Jaehaera. This choice alters the “Blood and Cheese” sequence that ultimately leads to (SPOILERS!) Jaeherys’ death. Apparently, he feels the small change will cause a “butterfly effect” that weakens the plot and will cause bigger issues in the subsequent third and fourth seasons.
“I still believe the scene in the book is stronger,” Martin wrote. “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… I would also suggest that Helaena shows more courage, more strength in the book, by offering her own life to save her son. 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.”
According to the miffed author, he attempted to fight the change in 2022.
“I argued against it, for all these reasons,” Martin continued. “I did not argue long, or with much heat, however. The change weakened the sequence, I felt, but only a bit. And Ryan had what seemed to be practical reasons for it; they did not want to deal with casting another child, especially a two-year old toddler. Kids that young will inevitably slow down production, and there would be budget implications. Budget was already an issue on HOUSE OF THE DRAGON, it made sense to save money wherever we could. Moreover, Ryan 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.”
However, Martin added, “Sometime between the initial decision to remove Maelor, a big change was made. The prince’s birth was no longer just going to be pushed back to season 3. He was never going to be born at all. The younger son of Aegon and Helaena would never appear.”
HBO has since responded. “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,” said a formal statement. “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.”
Journalist, antique shop owner, aspiring gemologist—Laurén brings a diverse perspective to animation, where every frame reflects her varied passions.
