Sean Mandell
George R.R. Martin said he will reveal “everything that’s gone wrong with” HBO’s “Game of Thrones” prequel series, “House of the Dragon.” But he doesn’t relish the prospect.
The author — whose books were the source material for “GOT” and “House of the Dragon” — took to his blog on Friday, August 30, to speak about the second season of the series, which ended earlier this month.
“I do not look forward to other [blog] posts I need to write, about everything that’s gone wrong with HOUSE OF THE DRAGON… but I need to do that too, and I will,” Martin shared, referring to the posts he’s wanted to write but hasn’t because of his summer travels.
“Not today, though. TODAY is Zozobra’s day, when we turn away from gloom,” he wrote, referring to the Burning of Zozobra festival in Santa Fe, New Mexico, where he lives.
“It is Santa Fe’s way of devouring the darkness, to clear the way for the light and joy that will hopefully mark the new year,” he added of the festival. “And believe me we need that, more than ever before. The world, the country, and yes, certainly me.”
He continued, “This has not been a good year for anyone, with war everywhere and fascism on the rise… and on a more personal level, I have had a pretty wretched year as well, one full of stress, anger, conflict, and defeat.”
“I need to talk about some of that, and I will, I will… I was away from my computer traveling from July 15 to August 15, so a lot of things that needed saying did not get said.”
Martin, who is credited as a co-creator and executive producer on “House of the Dragon,” has previously praised the series’ second season.
“Has there ever been a dragon battle to match it?” Martin wrote in a July 11 blog post about the on-screen face-off between dragons Meleys and Sunfyre in this season’s fourth episode.
“I seem to recall that ‘Reign of Fire’ had a few scenes where a dozen dragons were wheeling through the skies. So, okay, maybe that was a bigger scene, with more dragons on screen…but a better battle? I don’t think so,” he wrote.
“Our guys knocked this one out of the castle.”
However, in that same post, the best-selling novelist also took issue with “HOD” using an inaccurate sigil for House Targaryen. The correct sigil shows a three-headed dragon with two legs. However, the HBO series has used a version of the sigil showing the dragon with four legs.
“They went with the bad sigil rather than the good one,” Martin opined. “That sound you heard was me screaming, ‘No, no, no.’ Those damned extra legs have even wormed their way onto the covers of my books, over my strenuous objections.”
Martin also raved about earlier episodes in Season 2. After viewing rough cuts of the first two episodes in December 2023, he exclaimed that they “were just great.”
“Dark, mind you. Very dark,” he added. “They may make you cry. (I did not cry myself, but one of my friends did.) Powerful, emotional, gut-wrenching, heart rending. Just the sort of thing I like. (What can I say? I was weaned on Shakespeare, and love the tragedies and history plays best of all.)”
“House of the Dragon” has been renewed for a third season and will reportedly end after an as yet unconfirmed season four.
This post was originally posted by NYPost
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