House Of The Dragon Season 3 Just Took A Huge Blow

House of the Dragon did relatively well with its first two seasons, but comments from Game of Thrones author George R.R. Martin could be a massive blow against the upcoming season 3. Martin has gained a rather endearing reputation for his blunt honesty and has continued to exercise this quality throughout his long career. Game of Thrones showrunners David Benioff and D.B. Weiss faced their fair share of Martin's criticism, but that's nothing compared to House of the Dragon's Ryan Condal.

The first of several planned Game of Thrones spinoffs, House of the Dragon is based on Martin's Fire & Blood, which differs significantly from his central A Song of Ice and Fire books. He wrote it as a found manuscript​​​​​​—an in-world tome recorded by Archmaester Gyldayn as a history of the Targaryen line.

For this reason, it would be virtually impossible for House of the Dragon to seamlessly adapt Fire & Blood, and this seems to be something that Martin understands full well. In a recent interview with The Hollywood Reporter, the author explained that he and Condal initially had a strong working relationship. If the showrunner needed to make changes, Martin was okay with it so long as there was a good reason. However, the author explained that things fell apart by House of the Dragon season 2.

George R.R. Martin Is Not Happy With House Of The Dragon

Back in 2024, Martin posted a sort of review of House of the Dragon on his site, Not a Blog. The entry was titled "Beware the Butterflies," and though the majority was made up of Martin's praise of House of the Dragon's visuals, scale, and actor performances, he didn't hold back on his criticisms.

The "butterflies" mentioned in Martin's post refer to the butterfly effect that could result from House of the Dragon's season 2 changes. Specifically, the author felt that the oversimplification of the "Blood and Cheese" plotline would have major implications for the continued story. Martin emphasized that it weakened the narrative.

Martin's "Beware the Butterflies" was meant to be the first in a series, but after an HBO exec contacted the author's assistant, the post was taken down. Still, this hasn't stopped Martin from discussing his experience working on House of the Dragon. In fact, his comments in the January 2026 article are the most damning yet.

How George R.R. Martin And Ryan Condal's Relationship Fell Apart

Martin makes it clear in his interview that he was initially pleased with the creative process leading up to House of the Dragon season 1. He and Condal had a great start. When Martin had questions or complaints about details that had been changed in his books, Condal was accommodating, either earning the author's approval or changing his approach. However, Martin said that everything changed following a dispute between Condal and co-showrunner Miguel Sapochnik.

According to Martin, Condal asked for Martin's support in a disagreement with Sapochnik, which was earnestly given. Sapochnik left the show, and House of the Dragon proceeded into season 2. "He basically stopped listening to me​​​​​," Martin said, going on to state that his notes went ignored by Condal. After years of cooperation, the showrunner no longer wanted to entertain Martin's concerns, and HBO eventually asked the author to submit his notes to them rather than to Condal.

It should be noted that Condal's version of the story differs slightly. The showrunner told EW that he made "every effort to include George in the adaptation process," but that the author became "unwilling to acknowledge the practical issues at hand in a reasonable way." Regardless of which perspective is more accurate, it's easy enough to conclude a simple truth—one man found changes to the story necessary, while the other did not.

House Of The Dragon Has Been Deviating From The Source Material

House of the Dragon season 1 introduced a variety of changes from the central story, most of which leaned on the idea that Archmaester Gyldayn was an unreliable narrator. This makes some sense, since Gyldayn never witnessed the events himself. It's easy enough to imagine that Martin approved these changes, since season 2 seems to be when things first began to fall apart.

Martin's complaints about changes to House of the Dragon season 2 align with those of general audiences, who also found the shift to the Blood and Cheese storyline frustratingly superficial. However, the author's warning about "butterflies" suggests he anticipates even worse changes to come, all stemming from the smaller changes in season 2. Further reports support this, indicating that House of the Dragon season 3 will be even more controversial.

THR cited a source who claimed that Martin and Condal's troubles came to a head after a meeting with HBO execs, during which Martin objected to Condal's vision for House of the Dragon season 3. The author reportedly stated that this was no longer his story.

Will George R.R. Martin's Public Criticism Hurt House Of The Dragon Season 3?

Book-to-screen adaptations are always a struggle. There truly is no way to capture all the nuance and intricacies of a novel and bring them to film or television without some adjustment. Still, if a project isn't as faithful as possible to the source, it will, without fail, prove controversial among viewers. Despite its existing changes, House of the Dragon has done relatively well. The hype outweighs the controversy, but Martin's words could have major consequences for the upcoming episodes.

We can certainly expect some massive changes to House of the Dragon season 3. However, even if this installment is no worse than its predecessors, Martin's comments ensure that HBO will face more backlash than ever. Martin's objections will make viewers even more vigilant about changes. When they inevitably appear, we all essentially have Martin's permission to cry out our disapproval. It's even possible that House of the Dragon's viewership will decline in season 3 as fans give up on the show entirely. One way or another, it seems that, once again, HBO won't be thrilled about Martin's brutal honesty.

Source: The Hollywood Reporter