The showrunner of House of the Dragon, Ryan Condal, has expressed his disappointment regarding the criticisms made by George R.R. Martin, the author behind the Game of Thrones universe, about the second season of the series. Martin had promised to delve into "everything that’s gone wrong with House of the Dragon" in August 2024 and subsequently criticized certain plot elements, particularly those involving Aegon and Helaena's children, raising concerns about the future direction of the show. Although Martin's post was later removed from his website without any explanation, it had already garnered attention from thousands of fans and HBO.

In a recent interview with Entertainment Weekly, Condal shared his thoughts on Martin's criticisms, emphasizing the emotional impact it had on him due to his long-standing admiration for Martin. "It was disappointing," Condal stated. "I've been a fan of A Song of Ice and Fire for almost 25 years now, and working on the show has been truly one of the great privileges of, not only my career as a writer, but my life as a fan of science-fiction and fantasy. George himself is a monument, a literary icon in addition to a personal hero of mine, and was heavily influential on me coming up as a writer."

Condal acknowledged the challenges of adapting Fire & Blood, the source material for House of the Dragon, for television. He explained that the adaptation process involves filling in gaps and making creative decisions that may not align perfectly with the original text. "It's this incomplete history and it requires a lot of joining of the dots and a lot of invention as you go along the way," he said. He stressed his efforts to involve Martin in the adaptation process, noting a period of fruitful collaboration that eventually faced challenges. "But at some point, as we got deeper down the road, he just became unwilling to acknowledge the practical issues at hand in a reasonable way," Condal added.

He further elaborated on the dual role he must play as a showrunner, balancing the creative and practical aspects of production. "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 not only the writing process forward, but also the practical parts of the process forward for the sake of the crew, the cast, and for HBO, because that's my job. So I can only hope that George and I can rediscover that harmony someday."

Condal also highlighted the extensive time it takes to finalize creative decisions, which pass through him before reaching the audience. He emphasized the goal of creating a show that appeals not only to fans of the Game of Thrones books but also to a broader television audience.

Despite some tensions, HBO and Martin continue to have multiple projects in development, although a few projects have been shelved since the original Game of Thrones series. Upcoming collaborations include A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms, which Martin has described as a "faithful adaptation," and potentially another Targaryen-centered spinoff.

Meanwhile, House of the Dragon has already started production on its third season, following a successful second season that received a 7/10 in our review.