George R.R. Martin Says ‘House of the Dragon’ Relationship Is “Abysmal”

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George R.R. Martin has offered a possible explanation for why many viewers found House of the Dragon Season 2 less compelling than its first season.

Relationship with showrunner completely deteriorated

In a recent interview with The Hollywood Reporter, the author of Game of Thrones revealed that his working relationship with showrunner Ryan Condal has fallen apart.

“It’s worse than rocky,” Martin said. “It’s abysmal.”

According to Martin, he and the other creators had a good working relationship during the first season of the popular Game of Thrones prequel, but things became strained by the second season.

All downhill after Season 1

According to Martin, his working relationship with House of the Dragon showrunner Ryan Condal deteriorated after the first season, reportedly because Condal stopped taking Martin’s suggestions and ideas into account.

Martin says that after working closely with the show’s creators, his suggestions for Season 2 weren’t used. Eventually, HBO started having his feedback go through other people before reaching the showrunners.

Things became strained after Martin shared a blog post expressing his complaints. HBO quickly took it down, but not before it had already circulated online.

Martin says that Condal began ignoring the detailed notes he was providing, leading HBO to ask him to share his feedback through them instead of directly with Condal. The situation came to a head during a Zoom meeting to plan Season 3.

“This is not my story any longer,” Martin reportedly told Condal and HBO producers on the call.

HBO Asked Martin to Step Back From the Series

After a disagreement, HBO briefly stepped back from collaborating with George R.R. Martin on House of the Dragon. He’s now working on the show again, but the studio hasn’t revealed the extent of his current involvement.

Martin has always preferred adaptations of his books to stay true to the original stories, and he’s concerned that the Dragon series is deviating too much from them.

Condal stated he attempted to collaborate with Martin, but ultimately needed to proceed with production to avoid delays.

The second season of House of the Dragon is coming out later this year, and the production hasn’t been without its own share of conflict, rivaling the dramatic events within the show itself.

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2026-01-15 21:33