It looks like Winter really is coming, now that author George R. R. Martin has shared an exciting update about two of his upcoming Game of Thrones books. After years of waiting, Martin has confirmed that he has made some progress on both The Winds of Winter, the final installment in the GoT book series, along with Blood & Fire, the sequel to Fire & Blood, which revolves around the history of the Targaryen House.
In a blog posted to his website, Martin shared that while he did produce some pages for both the upcoming books, he would have liked to make a lot more. However, he did clarify that was because his television projects “ate up” a lot of his time. He mentioned that Netflix’s Dark Winds and HBO’s The Hedge Knight — which is also an adaptation of Martin’s short story of the same name — were good experiences. But he added that aside from these two, his other TV projects were stressful to work on.
“Writing came hard, and though I did produce some new pages on both The Winds of Winter (yes) and Blood & Fire (the sequel to Fire & Blood the second part of my Targaryen history), I would have liked to turn out a lot more.”
While Martin did not specify the exact show that caused him to “swing between fury and despair,” he recently criticized HBO’s House of The Dragon for not sticking to the source material, as reported by Variety. In a now-deleted post, Martin called the show out for making changes to his original story Fire & Blood and completely eliminating Aegon and Helaena Targaryen’s youngest son Prince Maelor from the show.
George R. R. Martin Warned the Fans About More Toxic Changes for ‘HotD’ Seasons 3 and 4
In the same blog post, Martin shared that he and showrunner Ryan Condal had a lot of discussions about House of The Dragon. Martin wrote that he had tried to discourage Condal from making certain changes to the story that he felt were weakening the overall narrative. However, Condal believed that the changes made sense for logistical filming reasons. “They did not want to deal with casting another child, especially a two-year-old toddler,” added Martin while revealing why Prince Maelor wasn’t part of the show.
The writer also spilled the beans on the budget for the Game of Thrones prequel and claimed that they were trying so save money wherever possible. Martin then revealed that Condal told him that they weren’t eliminating Prince Maelor, and just postponing his addition to the show. And that’s when the author withdrew his objections and agreed to the change.
He did confess that failing to include Maelor in the story would ultimately have an impact on the final two seasons of House of the Dragon. The show is slated to end with Season 4 and Martin believes that there are a lot more issues his loyal readers are bound to spot. He ended his blog post by writing: “There are larger and more toxic butterflies to come if House of the Dragon goes ahead with some of the changes being contemplated for Seasons 3 and 4.”
House of the Dragon Seasons 1 and 2 are available to stream on Max. Production for House of the Dragon Season 3 will begin in early 2025.
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House of the Dragon |
|---|---|
| Cast | Paddy Considine, Matt Smith, Emma D’Arcy, Olivia Cooke, Rhys Ifans, Steve Toussaint, Eve Best, Fabien Frankel |
| Release Date | August 21, 2022 (Season 1) |
| Stream On | HBO Max |
| Directed by | Various Directors (including Miguel Sapochnik, Clare Kilner, Geeta Vasant Patel) |
| Produced by | Ryan Condal, Miguel Sapochnik, George R.R. Martin, Vince Gerardis, Sara Hess, Ron Schmidt |
| Based On | George R.R. Martin’s “Fire & Blood,” focusing on the history of House Targaryen |
| Plot Summary | Set 200 years before “Game of Thrones,” the series depicts the rise and fall of the Targaryen dynasty during the Dance of the Dragons, a civil war that marked the beginning of the end for the powerful family. |
| Musical Elements | Score composed by Ramin Djawadi, known for his iconic work on “Game of Thrones” |
| Current Status | Season 1 and 2 have been released. Season 3 has been confirmed, with production expected in early 2025 and a release anticipated in late 2025 or 2026. The season will continue exploring the Dance of Dragons storyline. |
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