George RR Martin’s criticism mainly revolves around Queen Helaena Targaryen. (Image source: HBO)
It is commonplace that there are differences between a novel and a series adaptation. HBO’s House of the Dragon is no exception, but a momentous decision has upset the author of Fire and Blood.
George RR Martin published on his blog a post criticizing HBO and showrunner Ryan Condal. The post is now offline again.
Spoiler alert: The following article not only contains details about House of the Dragon Season 2 and the book Fire and Blood, but also information about characters that go beyond the current state of the series.
Three Royal Children
Martin’s criticism specifically revolves around the first episode of the second season and a difference between the book and the series that was already noticeable when the episode was broadcast.
King Aegon II Targaryen (Tom Glynn-Carney) and Helaena Targaryen (Phia Saban) have two children in the series: the twins Jaehaerys (Jude Rock) and Jaehaera (Lulu Barker) aged six. In the novel, however, there is another two-year-old brother named Maelor.
As Martin writes in the Web Archive As he writes in his still accessible blog, Maelor’s absence is problematic in two ways.
1. Helaena’s Choice
Specifically, it is about the scene in which Helaena faces two assassins and has to choose which of her children will die.
In the book, she first offers her own life, but then decides to choose Maelor. The assassins refuse, however, and tell the child that his mother wanted him dead.
In the end, they kill Jaehaerys’ eldest son. He also dies in the series, and the part with Maelor is of course completely missing. Instead of her life, however, Helaena offers the assassins jewelry.
According to Martin, the scene is weaker because »the strongest, darkest and most emotional part« in the form of Helaena’s choice is missing.
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2. Helaenas Tod
According to the author, Maelor will not be born at a later point in the series. This means that his death, which in turn leads to Helaena’s suicide, will not happen either.
Martin says he knows that Helaena is supposed to take her own life in season 3, but without a specific reason. “There is no new horror, no triggering event that overwhelms the fragile young queen”he explains.
Helaena’s daughter Jaehaera can tragic role of Maelor According to the writer, this role cannot be taken on because it is too important for the further course of the story.
The author knew
Since Martin is involved in the series as an executive producer, he says he learned already in 2022 by Ryan Condal that Maelor should not appear in House of the Dragon.
Even then he argued against this decision, but then he understood Condal’s reasons for the change. Firstly, there was the limited budget and the fact that a two-year-old child really slows down a production.
In addition, it is difficult to reconcile such young actors with the aging process of their characters, since the series covers several years in one season.
Martin ends his blog with the warning words that he thinks there will be even bigger problems of this kind if further changes that were already planned are made for seasons 3 and 4 of House of the Dragon. He does not explain exactly what these changes are, but the author seems to know what the content of the series will be moving forward.
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