“I am… ahem… not usually a fan of screenwriters adding characters to the source material when adapting a story,” George R.R. Martin says in a new blog post, “Especially not when the source material is mine.” Of course, poor George has been put through the wringer with the Song Of Ice And Fire adaptations over at HBO. Game Of Thrones went quite infamously off-book (in fairness, the show ran out of book to draw from). Meanwhile, House Of The Dragon is based on the Fire & Blood anthology, which isn’t a traditional narrative but a history of the Targaryens written by a fictional Westerosi historian. That makes the job of adapting even more challenging. Luckily, it seems that Martin is not only supportive but genuinely impressed by what Ryan Condal and the writers have so far pulled off.
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Martin is full of praise for the second season so far, particularly the second episode “Rhaenyra The Cruel,” which he agrees should be “in contention” as one of the best episodes in the entire GOT franchise. There were some changes to the highly anticipated “Blood & Cheese” storyline that fans took issue with in the premiere, but Martin “really really” liked it anyway. In fact, some of the changes to that episode he prefers to his own creation, like the addition of the dog: “Such a little thing… such a little dog… but his presence, the few short moments he was on screen, gave the ratcatcher so much humanity,” Martin writes. “The silent presence of that dog reminded us that even the worst of men, the vile and the venal, can love and be loved. I wish I’d thought of that dog. I didn’t, but someone else did. I am glad of that.”
He’s also a big fan of Phia Saban’s Helaena Targaryen, writing that her “performance is especially noteworthy” because “very little of what she brings to the part was in my source material.” Book Helaena was described as pleasant and cheerful; “None of the strangeness she displays in the show was in evidence in the book, nor is her gift for prophecy,” Martin explains. “Those were born in the writers’ room… but once I met the show’s version of Helaena, I could hardly take issue. Phia Saban’s Helaena is a richer and more fascinating character than the one I created in FIRE & BLOOD, and in ‘Rhaenyra The Cruel’ you can scarcely take your eyes off her.”
Now, as an executive producer, Martin obviously has a vested interest in making sure folks are pleased with the television series. Still, this is pretty high praise from the mastermind himself—and not a bad way to kick off a new season of HOTD.