Ever since the final season of Game of Thrones, the hyper-critical (and often misogynist) chunk of the Thrones fandom has been getting louder online, and they would do anything in their power to nitpick every single new property that comes out—including the spinoff series House of the Dragon.
Though HOTD was met with divisive online reactions throughout its run, it didn’t seem to be a problem when it comes to HBO head Casey Bloys.
House of the Dragon Did ‘Really Really Well’ Apparently
Talking to Deadline, Bloys was asked about House of the Dragon looking to jump in on the next Emmy season, and when it was mentioned that the series had a divisive fan reaction, Bloys replied, “Well, I’m not sure that the fans were divided over Season 2.”
When he was reminded of George R.R. Martin’s recent rant about the changes that were done to the series, Bloys brushed it off saying, “Yes, maybe one fan was. But no, the show did really, really well. I expect that will be in competition.”
Bloys doesn’t make any more mention of House of the Dragon, but he does say that they are expecting other HBO shows in the lineup to compete for the Emmys including the second season of The Last of Us, and the Batman spinoff The Penguin starring Colin Farrell and Cristin Milioti.
House of the Dragon – A Fandom Divided
Though House of the Dragon successfully rejuvenated the Thrones fanbase after the original series ended in 2019, it has always been followed by this highly critical fanbase that had been spending most of its time looking for something to hate in the series.
They barely had any solid nitpick for the first season, but by the time Season 2 of HOTD rolled along, there were constant criticisms for changes to events in the books, and bashing of character choices which really just felt like excuses to hate women on the show.
To make matters worse for the series, the author of the books George R.R. Martin had posted and quickly deleted a blog post detailing his disappointment with the changes in the second season and how it could lead to bigger omissions in future stories.
The fans then took the rant and used it as fuel for criticisms that HBO had ruined the series, and they did so with the confidence that Martin was agreeing with them.
Can the Series Still Mend Fences with GRRM?
Despite the fan outcry online, it has been understood that the internet can be kind of a bubble, and if what Bloys is saying about the series is true, then maybe the majority of House of the Dragon watchers are just regular people who don’t really feel the need to voice out their opinions on the internet.
Either way, some fans are just hoping that the showrunners come to a compromise with GRRM. Though technically he has no power over what they do, the show would do well for itself and the fans to make sure that what they were doing was sticking true to the themes of the source material.
Fortunately, there’s enough time between now and 2026 for them to start mending fences with Martin.
Catch the first two seasons of House of the Dragon now on Max. The third season is expected to come out in 2026.