George R.R. Martin clearly didn’t love everything about “House of the Dragon” Season 2 – and he plans to let everyone know what didn’t work very soon.
Martin posted to his blog Friday morning largely about the Burning of Zozobra during Santa Fe’s Fiesta, but amid that he mentioned his thoughts on the second season of the “Game of Thrones” prequel were on the horizon.
“I do not look forward to other posts I need to write, about everything that’s gone wrong with HOUSE OF THE DRAGON … but I need to do that too, and I will,” Martin wrote in his blog Friday. “Not today, though. TODAY is Zozobra’s day, when we turn away from gloom.”
“House of the Dragon” is the adaptation of Martin’s “Fire & Blood” book which both serve as prequels to HBO’s mega-hit “Game of Thones” which adapted the author’s – yet unfinished – “A Song of Ice and Fire” series. He took to his blog for both compliments and callouts earlier in Season 2’s run as well. One thing he said the show got right was the dragon battle that took place in the middle of the season.
“Has there ever been a dragon battle to match it?” he asked. “I seem to recall that ‘Reign of Fire’ had a few scenes where a dozen dragons were wheeling through the skies. So, okay, maybe that was a bigger scene, with more dragons on screen … but a better battle? I don’t think so. Our guys knocked this one out of the castle.”
He also complained about things like the Targaryen sigil. According to Martin, the dragon on the banners had an incorrect number of legs. The show included four legs, but the author was adamant about their only being two legs on dragons.
If Martin has more complaints about the show it could be about where and how Season 2 wrapped up. The finale saw a number of factions marching to war – likely the Battle of the Gullet – and Alicent (Olivia Cooke) and Rhaenyra (Emm D’Arcy) making a secret deal to get the latter on the Iron Throne. Many claimed it to be a good episode but a weak finale for a show that likely won’t air a third season for two years.
Showrunner Ryan Condal spoke in a press conference after the finale and defended his thoughts on ending the season where they did.
“We were trying to give the Gullet, which is arguably the most anticipated — well, I would say maybe the second most anticipated action event of “Fire & Blood,” trying to give it the time and the space that it deserved,” Condal told press.
He continued, “I know everybody wants this to come out every summer. It’s just that the show is so complex that we’re really making multiple feature films every season. So I apologize for the wait, but I will just say if Rooks Rest and the Red Sowing were good then the team that we have together … we’re gonna pull off a hell of a win The Battle of the Gullet.”
It’s unclear what exactly didn’t work for Martin about “House of the Dragon” Season 2, but it sounds like he’s about to let everyone know soon.
