The third season of the Game of Thrones prequel House of the Dragon has been set in motion. The production has already begun, but given the controversies surrounding the last season, fans have lingering doubts. And George R.R. Martin jumping on the bandwagon was bad publicity for the show. Showrunner Ryan Condal definitely wasn’t expecting that.
Quick read:
- Season 3 is in production, but fan concerns persist.
- George R.R. Martin criticized changes, disappointing showrunner Ryan Condal.
- Condal defended the adaptation, citing creative and production challenges.
Ryan Condal was disappointed at George R.R. Martin’s comments
When House of the Dragon was first confirmed, Ryan Condal and George R.R. Martin seemed to be the best of friends. Condal promised the show was a faithful adaptation of Martin’s work. But things quickly turned sour as Season 2 arrived, and Martin wrote some posts about the changes he didn’t like. In a recent interview with EW, Condal addressed the whole fiasco,
“It was disappointing. I will simply say I’ve been a fan of A Song of Ice and Fire for almost 25 years now, and working on the show has been truly one of the great privileges of, not only my career as a writer, but my life as a fan of science-fiction and fantasy. George himself is a monument, a literary icon in addition to a personal hero of mine, and was heavily influential on me coming up as a writer.”
Credits: Ollie Upton/HBO
Ryan Condal explains reasons behind backlash
The backlash against the changes made in the House of the Dragon’s storyline was universal, and not just limited to the author. Condal presented his reasoning behind straying away from the source material, acknowledging the limitations of adapting a fictional history book like Fire & Blood,
“It’s this incomplete history and it requires a lot of joining of the dots and a lot of invention as you go along the way,. I will simply say, I made every effort to include George in the adaptation process. I really did. Over years and years. And we really enjoyed a mutually fruitful, I thought, really strong collaboration for a long time. But at some point, as we got deeper down the road, he just became unwilling to acknowledge the practical issues at hand in a reasonable way.
And I think as a showrunner, I have to keep my practical producer hat on and my creative writer, lover-of-the-material hat on at the same time. At the end of the day, I just have to keep marching not only the writing process forward, but also the practical parts of the process forward for the sake of the crew, the cast, and for HBO, because that’s my job. So I can only hope that George and I can rediscover that harmony someday. But that’s what I have to say about it.”
Read Next: George R.R. Martin misses FYC event for House of the Dragon Season 3
Monopoly House of the Dragon Edition – Warner Bros. Shop
- 6 GOLDEN ZINC TOKENS: Includes 6 golden game tokens: House Targaryen, House Hightower, House Velaryon, House Lannister, House Strong, and House Royce. Who will you pledge loyalty to?
- GAMEBOARD FEATURES LOCATIONS FROM THE SHOW: Journey through Westeros and Essos taking control of as many strongholds, lands, and bays as you can. The more your control, the more rent you can collect
- SECURE DRAGON EGGS AND DRAGONS: In this edition of the Monopoly game, plastic dragon eggs and dragons replace houses and hotels. As soon as you have a color set, you can start reinforcing your territory with them
- HOUSE OF THE DRAGON-THEMED MONEY: Includes 102 themed cardboard coins. The last player with coins when all others have gone bankrupt wins
We earn a commission if you make a purchase, at no additional cost to you.
If you have any important filming news about House of the Dragon, or if you want to collaborate with us or want to write for us, please drop us a message here.
