George RR Martin gives his take on House of the Dragon season 2
On August 30, game of Thrones Author George R.R. Martin announced that he blog post About Season 2 House of the DragonHBO adaptation fire and bloodHis book about the history of House Targaryen. Most people believed that this would explain all the filler in this season or uneventful closing which lacked the much-anticipated Battle of the Gulath. However, that last post had more to do with the absence of Prince Maelor in the show and the blood and cheese sequence at the end of “A Son for a Son”. Martin has since deleted the blog post. See what he said here via Deadline,
“I promised to give you some more thoughts on Blood and Cheese and Maelor the Missing after my commentary on the first two episodes of HotD season 2, A Son for a Son and Rhaenyra the Cruel. They were fantastic episodes: well written, well directed, powerfully acted. A great way to start the new season. Both fans and critics seemed to agree. There was only one aspect of the episodes that drew significant criticism: the handling of Blood and Cheese, and the death of Prince Jaehaerys. From the commentary I saw online, opinion was divided. Readers of Fire and Blood found the sequence disappointing, frustrating, and below what they expected. Viewers who hadn't read the book had no such problems. Most of them found the sequence genuinely heartbreaking, sad, horrifying, nightmare-like. Some reported that they cried. I found myself agreeing with both sides.”
“In my book, Aegon and Helena have not two, but three children. The twins, Jaehaerys and Jaehaera, are six years old. They have a younger brother, Maelor, who is two. When Blood and Cheese burst in on Helena and the children, they tell her that they are debt collectors who have come to avenge the death of Prince Lucerys: a son for a son. However, Helena has two sons, so they demand that she choose who should die. She protests and offers her life, but the assassins insist that it must be a son. If she does not name one, they will kill all three children. To save the twins' lives, Helena names Maelor. But Blood kills the older boy, Jaehaerys, while Cheese tells the younger Maelor that his mother wanted him dead. Is the boy old enough to understand that all this is not certain?”
“This doesn't happen in the show… There's no Mellor in House of the Dragon, just the twins… Both look younger than six, but I'm not a good judge of children's ages, so I can't say how old they should be. Blood can't tell the twins apart, so Helena is asked to tell who the boy is (you'd think a look at his pyjamas would tell it, without involving the mother). Rather than give her life to save the children, Helena gives them a necklace. Blood and Cheese aren't tempted. The Blood Prince beheads Jaehaerys. We avoid that scene; a sound effect is enough.”
“I still think the scene is more powerful in the book. Readers get it right… The two killers in the book are more brutal. I thought the actors who played the killers on the show were excellent… but the characters in Fire and Blood are more brutal, harsher and more frightening.”
And here's HBO's response again to the now-deleted blog post via Deadline,
“There are few fans of George R.R. Martin and his books Fire and Blood more than the creative team behind House of the Dragon, whether it's in production or at HBO,” the statement said. “Typically, when a book is adapted for the screen, with its own format and limitations, the showrunner ultimately has to make tough choices about the characters and stories that the audience will follow. We believe Ryan Condal and his team have done an exceptional job, and the series has garnered millions of fans over the first two seasons who will continue to enjoy it.”
And this is what the show's creator, Ryan Condal, said Officer game of Thrones podcast,
“As playwrights, I think we should look at this history, even if it's fictional, as adapting a chapter from real history. So we have to create this three-dimensional reality and this whole story to inhabit the world and give the characters inner lives and flaws and desires that might not have been captured in the historical account. Now, there are so many opportunities to read fire and blood That is to say, there was indeed some flaw or desire or something that doesn't come on record, but it's often an incomplete picture. So, really, all we do is color in the lines that we've been given as playwrights and adapters of this… and a lot of those colors are ultimately our own.”
So, there's a lot here, but Martin seems most upset by the way he handles Maelor's removal from the story and Jaehaerys' death. I haven't read the book, but I've heard this from readers before. I found the scene depicted in the show to be horrific and disturbing, as do Martin's mentions to other non-readers. But I can't ignore the preferences of more knowledgeable fans, let alone the author. I'm still more upset by the lack of material in this season than in the previous seasons Episode 4. Before that, I think the show was still largely on a good track. The second half of the season has a lot of wheel-spinning and absolutely stupid developments, like Rhaenyra and Massaria getting their face chewed off. I think it will actually matter in future seasons, but it felt like a waste of time, because this was a season full of time wasters.
But what do you think? Let us know in the comments below!
