While HBO head Casey Bloys is appreciative of everything George R.R. Martin has done for his network, he’s standing by “House of the Dragon” Season 2.
“I want [Martin] to be happy. He’s very important to me and to us. But when we put shows together, it’s difficult to make decisions when adapting existing work. It can be fraught, sometimes rocky,” Bloys said at a Tuesday press event in Los Angeles that included TheWrap.
In September, the author behind “Game of Thrones” chronicled what he believes HBO did wrong in the second season of “House of the Dragon,” which is based on Martin’s 2018 book, “Fire & Blood.” His biggest criticism revolved around the elimination of Prince Maelor, Aegon and Helaena Targaryen’s youngest son. The author said that choice will have repercussions as the series moves into Seasons 3 and 4. In the HBO show, Aegon and Helaena only have twins Jaehaera and Jaehaerys.
In a post that has since been deleted, Martin said that when series creator Ryan Condal told Martin he wanted to not include the character, he argued against it. “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 2-year-old toddler,” he wrote.
Condal’s argument especially made sense since “House of the Dragon” was dealing with budgetary problems. “Ryan assured me that we were not losing Prince Maelor, simply postponing him. Queen Helaena could still give birth to him in Season 3, presumably after getting with child late in Season 2,” Martin continued. “I still love the episode, and the ‘Blood and Cheese’ sequence overall. Losing the ‘Helaena’s Choice’ beat did weaken the scene, but not to any great degree.”
At the same press event, Bloys revealed that another “Game of Thrones” spinoff — “A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms” — is expected to premiere next winter.
