It is a well-known fact that George R.R. Martin, the author of A Song of Ice and Fire, had disagreements with Ryan Condal, the showrunner, regarding his vision for the third season of House of the Dragon. Now, the noted writer is sharing the details of his disagreement, which he described as "worse than rocky" and "abysmal."
In George's initial view, Ryan was a partner whom he believed would work together seamlessly. Their collaboration was evident throughout the first season, where George would read early drafts of the scripts, provide notes, and see Ryan make changes. However, cracks within their creative partnership began to appear when Miguel Sapochnik, the co-showrunner, reportedly exited due to creative control issues.
George said he sided with Ryan after he asked for his support. But as they moved into season two, the relationship between the two started to deteriorate. "Then we got into season two, and he basically stopped listening to me," George recalled. "I would give notes, and nothing would happen. Sometimes he would explain why he wasn't doing it. Other times, he would tell me, 'Oh, OK, yeah, I'll think about that.'"
The tension between them reached a boiling point during a Zoom call where they clashed over the story direction for House of the Dragon's third season. "It got worse and worse, and I began to get more and more annoyed," George said. "Finally, it got to a point where I was told by HBO that I should submit all my notes to them and they would give Ryan our combined notes." George added, "This is not my story any longer."
After the matter reached its zenith, George called out the changes made in House of the Dragon's second season, but they were subsequently deleted after HBO executives were involved. Despite this setback, George remains involved in the production of House of the Dragon, whose third season is slated to drop in the summer of 2026.
