George RR Martin has addressed House of the Dragon adding ‘a brand new character’ and ‘recreating’ others.
A Song of Ice and Fire author – later adapted into hit HBO series Game of Thrones and Fire & Blood now being adapted for the prequel series – George Raymond Richard Martin has shared his honest review of the first two episodes of season two of House of the Dragon.
Game of Thrones stayed pretty faithful to George RR Martin’s novels, featuring the same main characters and themes. However, leaving out certain events and moments – given just how long the books and overall series is, this didn’t come as much of a surprise to fans.
But House of the Dragon – based on the book Fire & Blood – has introduced a ‘brand new character’ by season two episode two.
And the character is noticeable enough that even George RR Martin has taken to social media to address their presence. Not only to address the character either but actually admit he ‘wish[es]’ he’d ‘thought’ of it first.
Mark Stobbart and Sam C Wilson in House of the Dragon (HBO)
In a ‘Not a Blog’ post uploaded on 5 July, Martin revealed he’s ‘not usually a fan of screenwriters adding characters to the source material when adapting a story[…] especially not when the source material is [his]’. However, he can’t deny that House of the Dragon season two screenwriters’ decision to add ‘that dog was brilliant’.
By ‘that dog,’ Martin is referring to Cheese’s dog – Cheese (Mark Stobbart) and Blood (Sam C. Wilson) a pair of rat-catcher assassins hired by Prince Daemon Targaryen to murder one of the two sons of King Aegon II Targaryen.
Martin said: “I was prepared to hate Cheese, but I hated him even more when he kicked that dog. And later, when the dog say at his feet, gazing up… that damn near broke my heart. Such a little thing… such a little dog… but his presence, the few short moments he was on screen, gave the ratcatcher so much humanity.
“Human beings are such complex creatures. The silent presence of that dog reminded us that even the worst of men, the vile and the venal, can love and be loved.
“I wish I’d thought of that dog. I didn’t, but someone else did. I am glad of that.”
And the dog wasn’t the only tweak from the original books that Martin had praise for either.
The poor kicked dog (HBO)
The writer commended House of the Dragon for ‘essentially recreat[ing] King Viserys’ in the last season, ‘giving him a much different backstory and far more depth than the jolly party-loving king [Martin] created for Fire & Blood’.
“I talked about that last year, so I won’t repeat myself, save to say it was very well done, and DAMN but Paddy Considine was glorious in the role. (He should have won an Emmy),” he added.
Martin also praised actor Phia Saban for her ‘wrenching, powerful, heart-breaking performance as Helaena Targaryen, Aegon’s doomed, haunted queen and mother to his children,’ explaining Saban’s performance is ‘especially noteworthy’ because ‘very little of what she brings to the part was in [his] source material’.
He added ‘none of the strangeness’ Helaena’s character ‘displays in the show was in evidence in the book, nor is her gift for prophecy’.
Martin resolved: “Those were born in the writers’ room… but once I met the show’s version of Helaena, I could hardly take issue. Phia Saban’s Helaena is a richer and more fascinating character than the one I created in FIRE & BLOOD, and in “Rhaenyra the Cruel” you can scarcely take your eyes off her.”
High praise indeed.