House of the Dragon: a clash between George RR Martin and HBO?

“Would I prefer that everyone got along and everything went well? Of course…” The HBO boss tries to ease the tension.

He did not hesitate to speak his mind, after the disappointing season 2 of House of the Dragon. In September, about a month after the finale aired, George RR Martin published a long essay on his blog, detailing what went wrong and pointing the finger at the showrunner's choices, Ryan Condal : “When Ryan Condal first told me what he intended to do, I objected to it…” regretted the author of the novels, fearing in particular doubtful repercussions in seasons 3 and 4.

So how was this public rant against his own camp perceived? On the HBO side, we put things into perspective. No, there is no clash, assures its president Casey Bloys in front of the American press: “We love George! Of course! George and Game of Thrones really changed the course of HBO. So I want him to be happy. He's very important to me, to us.”

That being said, the boss of HBO does not take a position for the writer against his showrunner. Defendant Ryan Condalhe details:

“When you're making an adapted series, you're building a marriage. And marriages can be difficult, especially when Ryan is making creative decisions, making choices. It can be difficult to accept and like any marriage, it can create turmoil.”

And Casey Bloys to conclude by nevertheless confirming some tensions: “Would I prefer that everyone gets along and everything goes well? Of course. But it's a creative process. There will always be challenges to overcome. That's normal.”

Tensions which will not fail to fall again, if season 3 of House of the Dragon turns out to be at the expected level.