It is interesting to see how each environment of fantasy fans or literary adaptations acts differently. While some, like those of Reacher, prefer the series to surprise them and change what is in the book – avoiding SPOILERS – in general, those who enjoy fantasy want fidelity to what they imagined in the pages transferred to the screen. And this is more than imagining dragons, demons, or magic, it contains all the complexity of detailed universes in more than 200 pages in just one hour per week. Mathematically it is impossible and artistically? Well, it is difficult.

With this, we should give a lot of credit to those who try. When they succeed, they are idolized. But when they “fail”, people are cruel. Recently, I was struck by Brian Herbert‘s generosity regarding the television version of Dune: Prophecy, which created new characters and changed details from the books in the series: This new series is full of intrigue and suspense. I’m very pleased with it, and my parents would be too,” he shared in November 2024.

Writers are notoriously jealous of their works. Stephen King and especially George R. R. Martin don’t hold back when something crucial in their story is “adapted” on TV. Especially Martin. The writer uses his personal blog to speak positively or negatively about all the series that MAX has produced. He usually starts out praising and then gets disappointed.

We don’t know what his relationship with David Benioff and Dan Weiss is after the Game of Thrones chaos, but we’ve been following that his friendship with Ryan Condal has soured and one day the one who even seemed to be his blessed successor is among his worst enemies. If a list like Arya’s existed in Martin’s life, his name would be on it, without a doubt.

Ryan Condal is a screenwriter, producer, and showrunner who worked with D&D on GOT before taking on the role of showrunner for the series House of the Dragon, the first Game of Thrones spin-off. He is responsible for adapting the book Fire and Blood, which serves as the basis for the series. His collaboration with George R. R. Martin was essential in bringing the political complexity and drama of the noble families of Westeros to the screen, something that delighted fans of the saga.

Everything started well, but when, in the second season, Condal significantly changed one of the most striking passages of the book (Blood and Cheese), Martin hissed very loudly, without mincing words about his displeasure with what ended up being chosen for the series. Now that the third season (there will be four) has started filming, Ryan Condal spoke to Entertainment Weekly about this dispute, as well as what we can expect for the next phase of the story, knowing that many fans are on the writer’s side. Condal’s challenge is almost impossible. MAX’s leadership is not in favor of the astronomical budgets that GOT only managed in the final stage (in the first seasons the battles were offscreen precisely because there was no way to film them without high costs) and in a war with thousands of deaths and aerial attacks with dragons – to avoid looking ridiculous – it demands a significant check. Hence the argument that it needs to change some things to adjust to this reality.

The fans don’t care: they want realism and grandeur in the Targaryen civil war, and let’s face it, what was changed regarding Helaena and her children is not a matter of budget. According to him, what they do is “tell the best story possible” with what they have approved.

“This is certainly our biggest season so far, both in terms of ambition and practical size, the number of sets,” he says. “We’re reaching the top of this narrative parable here and starting to descend, if not the end, then the midpoint and reaching the end of Act 2 and moving towards the beginning of Act 3. Anyone who has read the book knows that the narrative gets bigger and darker as it goes along, and the show has to live up to that ambition in the best way possible.”

There are plenty of reasons for the tension to be higher now: the previous two seasons have set the political stage for the clash that is so bloody and impactful in the saga that SPOILER ALERT determines the end of all the dragons. There will be many even sadder and more impactful losses than we’ve already had, as the showrunner himself knows, the third season will be definitive in taking House of the Dragon out of the shadow of Game of Thrones’ success and establishing it as a phenomenon like its predecessor. Honestly, I think it would be easier for Rhaenyra to beat the greens than for Condal to achieve that feat, but that’s what he has ahead of him.

Given all this, having an author publicly complain about what’s being done is an astronomical problem. Martin made a post announcing that he would list “everything that went wrong with House of the Dragon” and everyone has their own list (I have mine). It’s very boring. And Condal tries to be a politician by saying he “didn’t personally see” the post but was informed about it and was disappointed: as a fan, as a professional, and as someone responsible for the adaptation.

D&D faced years of similar harassment (but without Martin saying anything officially against them) before and especially after GOT, but Condal is going through something even worse, which is scary for those who remember the Internet violence against the previous duo. The showrunner insists on remembering that the source is not a traditional narrative and leaves room for another view. He’s forcing it a bit, but he’s right. The book is written as if a historian were gathering facts and gossip to trace the narrative, there is no unbiased voice.

“It’s an incomplete story and requires a lot of joining dots and a lot of inventing as you go along,” he told EW. “I will simply say that I made every effort to include George in the adaptation process. I really did. Over the years and years. And we really enjoyed a mutually fruitful, I thought, very strong collaboration for a long time. But at some point, as we got further down the road, he just became reluctant to acknowledge the practicalities at hand in a reasonable way. And I think as a showrunner, I have to keep my practical producer hat on and my creative writer, lover of the material hat on at the same time. At the end of the day, I just have to keep marching forward not only in the writing process but also in the practicalities of the process for the good of the crew, the cast, and HBO, because that’s my job. So I can only hope that George can rediscover that harmony someday. But that’s all I have to say about that.”

Does anyone else need to elaborate on the behind-the-scenes squabbles?

But look Martin’s biggest complaint has my back. Eliminating Maelor Targaryen, the third son of Helaena and Aegon II, not only took away the impact of an extremely powerful scene (and it was) but also implied significant changes to the fate of the Queen herself and the strength of the Greens’ fight for the throne. Yes, because Condal made a point of including Aegon’s speech that he was mutilated in the genitals when he was attacked by Aemond, therefore he has no direct heir. Of course, this change makes Aemond a more active and frightening antagonist, but SPOILER ALERT Helaena’s tragic death loses some of its emotional impact.

Condal claims that the approach was “different” but has the plan to balance the “side effects”.

“There is nothing we do on the show without talking and thinking very deeply for usually many months, if not years,” he says in the magazine. “I’ll just say that the creative decisions we make on the show flow through me, every single one of them, and this is the show I want to make and believe, as a Fire & Blood fan and a deep reader of this material, is the adaptation we should make to not only serve Fire & Blood but also a massive television audience.”

That’s one of the problems that hindered GOT and is already affecting HOTD: global success. There come arguments for simplification to please a larger number of people who, otherwise, would not approve of the violence of Martin’s stories. In other words: money beats art.

MAX’s hope is to invest heavily in battles and will open the season with one of the most exciting of them: the battle of the Gullet, cited in the book as one of the bloodiest in history, where the forces of the Triarchy defend the Greens and break the Blacks’ blockade at sea. But besides that, there will be “four major events” in the same season. The game now is to anticipate “which ones”.

Not all of the new cast members have been announced. There is a lot of secrecy surrounding who Daeron Hightower will be (the internet claims it is actor Harry Gilby), a character who was solemnly ignored in season 1 and mentioned only in season 2. The strange thing is that as the son of Viserys and Alicent, many were shocked to learn that there was a 4th child. It was really confusing, but the script found a way to justify his absence and now, “return”. On the other hand, the entrance of James Norton as Ormund Hightower deserved to be highlighted in the interview. “This is the biggest new role since season 1”, says Condal. “I think Ormund will really delight and surprise the audience with what he brings to the narrative and with what James does with the character.”

Speaking of “missing”, Condal does not mention Nettles’ exclusion from the story but assures that unlike the book, where Aegon II is missing until his surprising reappearance, we will see more of the wounded king in his hiding place while he recovers.

The confirmation that Tommy Flanagan will play the fearsome Ser Roderick Dustin, leader of the Northmen and the Winter Wolves, is important. In addition to him, Dan Fogler will play Ser Torrhen Manderly, another man from the North with a unique role in the plot.

Filming began in the first week of April 2025, which means we can start speculating about a premiere date any time from June 2026 onwards. And of course, try to see what else is leaking on social media until then.

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