Game of Thrones writer George RR Martin has revealed he has had ‘more influence’ over the spin-off prequel series, House of the Dragon, than he did on the original show.
The new series, which stars Matt Smith, Emma D’Arcy, Olivia Cooke, Rhys Ifans and Paddy Considine among its stellar cast, comes three years since the the divisive season 8 finale of the original show aired, which saw the stories of the likes of Jon Snow and Daenerys Targaryen wrap up.
A Song of Ice and Fire author Martin created the world and its characters, however, he revealed he had ‘no contribution’ to the later seasons of Game of Thrones.
Speaking to WSJ. Magazine, Martin revealed: ‘I had no contribution to the later seasons except, you know, inventing the world, the story and all the characters.’
He added: ‘I believe I have more influence now than I did on the original show.’
This follows Martin revealing he had mixed feelings visiting the Game of Thrones set for the first time and seeing his vision come to life.
Speaking to the official Game of Thrones podcast, he shared: ‘I remember with Game of Thrones when I first visited, they were shooting in Belfast, on an island, and I came to visit the set and they were still working on the first episode, the pilot.
‘David Benioff showed me a clip of the scene with Arya (Maisie Williams) and her father Ned (Sean Bean) on the stairs, where she was standing on one foot trying to balance. And it was great.
‘I mean, I’d seen rehearsals with these actors, but I hadn’t seen them in character, hadn’t seen them do it. It was my scene, come alive, these were my characters, and nothing felt better than to see that happen.’
However, he added: ‘But of course, there’s always the flip side of that, where suddenly you’re seeing a scene and saying, man, what the hell have they done here?
‘That’s not how it’s supposed to go, my character would never do that, my character would never say that. That can be frustrating, so like anything else in life, it’s complicated.’
Earlier this year, Martin teased details about other spin-offs, including those that follow House of Dragon, revealing that he is ‘heavily involved’.
In a new blog post, the man whose imagination brought the Targaryens, the Starks and the Lannisters to life on-screen in the HBO series opened up on what he’s been working on for the past year, assuring fans that he is – still – chipping away at The Winds of Winter, the sixth book in the A Song of Ice and Fire series.
After opening up about the other written works in the world of Westeros that he has been focusing on, he then went on to address the ‘successor shows’ that will follow the finale of Thrones, saying: ‘Those have taken a ton of my time and attention this year.
‘I have seen some comments out there questioning how much I am involved in these new series. The answer is: a lot. Deeply, heavily involved in every one of the new shows.
‘It’s my world, and while I have been working closely with some fantastic writers and showrunners, ultimately it is up to me to try to keep the canon… well, canonical… and to do all I can to help make the new shows great. (And I love these stories too).’
George expressed his excitement over the upcoming release of House of the Dragon, which he said wrapped filming in London and is now in post-production.
‘What I have seen, I have loved. I am eager to see more. I am excited about the other successor shows as well, however… I am dying to tell you all about them, but I am not supposed to, so…’ he added.
House of The Dragon airs on Sky Max and HBO from August 21.
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