House of the Dragon showrunner Ryan Condal has expressed disappointment over Game of Thrones author George R.R. Martin's criticism of the series' second season, following remarks Martin made public in August 2024. The drama unfolded when Martin vowed to address "everything that's gone wrong with House of the Dragon," specifically critiquing plot elements involving Aegon and Helaena’s children and expressing concerns about the show's future direction. Although Martin's post was later removed from his website without any explanation, it had already been seen by thousands of fans and HBO.

In a recent interview with Entertainment Weekly, Condal shared his feelings on the matter, emphasizing the emotional impact of the strained relationship with Martin. He stated, "It was disappointing. I will simply say 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 Martin's book, Fire & Blood, into the television series, noting that the source material is an "incomplete history" that requires significant creative input. He emphasized his efforts to involve Martin in the adaptation process over the years, saying, "I made every effort to include George in the adaptation process. I really did. Over years and years. And we really enjoyed a mutually fruitful, I thought, really strong collaboration for a long time. 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 also discussed the challenges of balancing his roles as a showrunner, saying, "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."

He further noted that creative decisions for the show take "many months, if not years" to finalize, and all decisions pass through him before reaching the screen. Condal's goal is to create a show that appeals not only to Game of Thrones readers but also to a "massive television audience."

Despite the tensions, HBO and Martin continue to have several projects in development, including 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 begun production on Season 3, following a successful second season that received a 7/10 in our review.