It’s perfectly understandable that George R.R. Martin, without whom we wouldn’t even have the fictional world of Westeros, is protective of his work — and isn’t happy with larger structural changes that he feels will irreparably alter the trajectory of “House of the Dragon.” I’ll say it, though: this does feel like a bit of an overreaction at the end of the day. It’s possible Martin’s had second thoughts, too, given how quickly he deleted his post after publishing it.
Update: HBO has issued a statement in response to Martin’s deleted post (via Variety):
“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. 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.”
“Fire & Blood” is told in the style of a history book or encyclopedia; it doesn’t delve too deeply into the interiority of its characters, which means “House of the Dragon” has a lot of creative license when it comes to its performances. Phia Saban, who plays Helaena, has done an exemplary job playing the troubled young queen ever since she debuted partway through season 1 (courtesy of a time jump), and in the aftermath of Jaehaerys’ death, the audience doesn’t exactly think Helaena is doing just fine. In fact, it’s quite apparent that the queen — whose husband-brother Aegon II is also grievously injured during the course of season 2 — is constantly struggling with the loss of her child.
Martin’s other concern, though he only mentions it briefly, is that Jaehaera is supposed to marry Rhaenyra’s son Aegon III later in the narrative, so she can’t replace Maelor as Helaena’s second great loss. This is, frankly, just not a big deal. The series is only going to span four seasons, so it’s not like we’re going to see Jaehaera all grown up at any point, and it centers on the Dance of the Dragons specifically, not the sprawling aftermath. There are already, like, 400 characters on “House of the Dragon” and 90% of them are named Aegon. It’s fine to leave a minor character like Maelor, a literal toddler, out of the story entirely.
“House of the Dragon” seasons 1 and 2 are currently streaming on Max.
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