George RR Martin, the author of the books based on the popular series "Game of Thrones" and "The House of Dragons", has opened fire on the latter series, just as he announced recently that he would do. Martin criticized the second season of "Dragon House" for plot changes that he said he tried to stop because of the "butterfly effect" (the theory that very small variations that may seem innocuous bring about huge changes over time), warning that "bigger and more poisonous butterflies are yet to come."
The author of the bestselling "Game of Thrones" and the prequel "Fire and Blood", on which the series "House of Dragons" is based, previously reacted very positively to the second season of the HBO drama, describing the first two episodes as "powerful, emotional, heartbreaking. what I love". However, last week Martin wrote on his blog that he would soon reveal "what went wrong" in the adaptation.
In a blog post on Wednesday - which has since been deleted - titled "Beware of Butterflies", Martin detailed his disagreement with show producer Ryan Kondal over the decision to remove one character, Prince Melor, from the show entirely, which will, according to the author, have serious consequences in the future.
In the book, Melor is one of three children of Aegon and Helen Targaryen, who also have twins, Jahera and Jaheris. In the series, they only have twins.
Martin said Kondal first told him in 2022 that they wanted to remove Melor for "what they felt were practical reasons." "They didn't want to hire another child, especially a two-year-old toddler. Children at that age inevitably slow down production, and that would have budgetary consequences. The budget was already a problem in 'Dragon House,' so it was logical to save wherever we could." , wrote Martin.
In the book, Helena is forced by two thugs, called Blood and Cheese, to choose which of her children will be killed in front of her. She chooses Melor to spare the twins, but they ignore her choice and kill Jaheris instead.
In the first episode of the second season of the series, Blood and Cheese are tasked with killing another member of the Targaryen family, but they cannot find him, so they kill Jaheris instead.
Martin wrote that when he objected, Kondal assured him "that we are not losing Prince Melor, but only delaying him". "Queen Helena could give birth to Melor in season three, I guess after she gets pregnant late in season two. That made sense to me, so I withdrew my objections and accepted the change," explains the writer.
However, Martin said that he later learned that the prince's birth will not only be delayed until season three, but will not happen at all.
Martin then explained in detail how the absence of Melor can affect the last two seasons of "Dragon House", which will end with the fourth season.
"It's simpler, yes, and it can make sense in terms of budget and shooting schedule. But simpler isn't better... Melor means little by himself. He's a little kid, he doesn't have a single line, he doesn't do anything significant except die... But where, when and how, that's important," the author pointed out.
He alluded to other disagreements about the series behind the scenes, writing: "Bigger and more poisonous butterflies are yet to come, if 'Dragon House' continues with some of the changes being considered for seasons three and four...".
HBO issued a statement in response, defending the show's creative team. "Usually, when adapting a book for the screen, given the format and limitations, the producer of the series makes tough decisions about the characters and stories that the audience will follow. We believe that Rajan Kondal and his team have done an outstanding job and that the millions of fans who series gained over its first two seasons will continue to enjoy it," said an HBO spokesperson.
In a recent episode of the official villain "Dragon House", Kondal said that everything was available to Martin during the production. "Of course, there are places where we disagreed and deviated. I always tried to take his remarks into account. I always tried to adjust things. Does this help or does that help? Sometimes I think it works and connects with other things, and in other cases, no. And I accepted that. I had to accept it as a condition to be a producer on a big franchise," explained Kondal.
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