George R.R. Martin reveals the changes made to his source material for House of the Dragon that he says causes problems in the narrative

Last Updated on October 1, 2024

It’s not unusual for changes to be made to the source material when adapting it to a different medium. It happens all the time with books as they make the leap onto movie or television screens. However, late last month, Game of Thrones creator George R.R. Martin vowed to detail the behind-the-scenes problems on the new HBO series House of the Dragon. In a new blog post on his official website, Martin said he’d reveal “everything that’s gone wrong” with House of the Dragon, the latest live-action series set in the Game of Thrones universe. Martin co-created the show and is an executive producer, with the series based on his novel Fire and Blood.

According to The Hollywood Reporter, Martin explained (in a post that has since been deleted) that he was strongly opposed to changing Aegon and Helaena’s three children to just two for the show. Changes like that are common and seemingly don’t have an impact on the story. However, Martin professes that it causes a “butterfly effect” of consequences. In the “Blood and Chase” sequence in the season two premiere, Helaena is forced into a “Sophie’s Choice” moment between her two children, but in the book, it’s between all three children.

Martin writes in his blog, “I still believe the scene in the book is stronger.  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 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 on line, most of the fans seemed to agree.”

He also explained, “I argued against it, for all these reasons. 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.”

Martin, then, 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.”