A Song of Ice and Fire author George R.R. Martin had been working closely with the writing room of House of the Dragon when the series started, but he has since distanced himself from the show.
While everyone has been speculating as to what went wrong with Martin’s involvement with the series, Martin himself has suggested that he will clear the air about what he thinks about the Game of Thrones spinoff soon.
What Went Wrong with House of the Dragon?
Martin had been dropping hints at what he thought about the series while the second season was ongoing earlier this year, and in a recent post on his blog, he promises that he’ll write a whole entry about what he thinks of the current series direction. He explains:
“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. Not today, though. TODAY is Zozobra’s day, when we turn away from gloom.”
It’s not clear exactly what Martin’s frustrations are with the series, but some think that it could be the number of episodes that have been delegated to the series. Martin had said that Fire & Blood had enough content for 4 seasons with 10 episodes each; and the last season had been nerfed down to 8 episodes instead—something that fans also noticed and have been complaining about.
It’s Not All Bad
To be fair, it’s not like Martin has been overly negative about the series. He also takes his time to praise certain aspects of the show. In his very same blog, he had written about Season 2 Episode 4:
“A lot of you have been wanting for action, I know; this episode delivered it in spades with the Battle of Rook’s Rest, when dragon met dragon in the skies.[…] Our guys knocked this one out of the castle.”
What Do Fans Think?
Admittedly, there is already a chunk of the fandom that has been spending the last few months hating on the show, so a post from Martin affirming their feelings about the series is something that they’ve been hotly waiting for.
On the other hand, though, some people saw the lengthy post on Martin’s blog and immediately just started making fun of him for taking the time to write his notes as compared to finishing the Winds of Winter which has been delayed for years.
Whatever Martin is going to say, some fans are already anticipating the worst, and they are sure that the more toxic side of the fandom is going to be taking that as fuel to endlessly hate on the series when the inevitable third season comes along.
They did it with Mark Hamill and Star Wars, and they’re going to be doing the same thing with House of the Dragon.
As of now, the complete House of the Dragon Season 2 is now available to stream on Max. There is still no release date for The Winds of Winter.