All George RR Martin's complaints about House of the Dragon – a full breakdown

Martin's complaints specifically delve into the first two episodes of season 2 and how certain decisions will impact future seasons - in particular, the absence of Maelor, the third child of King Aegon III (Tom Glynn-Carney) and Queen Helaena Targaryen (Phia Saban) during the Blood and Cheese storyline.

He does say that the two episodes - titled A Son for a Son and Rhaenyra the Cruel - are "terrific", describing them as "well written, well directed, powerfully acted" and as a "great way to kick off the season".

But, in a jaw-dropping end to his statement, he warns of some of the changes coming in season 3 and 4 of the show based on outlines he claims to have seen.

HBO has issued a response, saying: "There are few greater fans of George RR Martin and his book Fire & Blood than the creative team on House of the Dragon, both in production and at HBO.

"Commonly, when adapting a book for the screen, with its own format and limitations, the showrunner ultimately is required to make difficult choices about the characters and stories the audience will follow. We believe that Ryan Condal and his team have done an extraordinary job and the millions of fans the series has amassed over the first two seasons will continue to enjoy it."

Here are Martin's main complaints about the show so far.

All George RR Martin's complaints about House of the Dragon – a full breakdown

Blood and Cheese and Maelor 'the Missing'

Martin's primary complaint deals with how the Blood and Cheese sequence was adapted in House of the Dragon season 2 episode 1, arguing that the scene in the book was stronger, that the assassins Blood and Cheese were more fearsome in the book, and, crucially, that the absence of Aegon and Helaena's third child, Maelor, has negatively impacted the show both in season 2 and beyond.

In both the book and the show, Blood and Cheese sees two brutal assassins, hired by Daemon Targaryen (Matt Smith) to avenge the death of Rhaenyra's (Emma D'Arcy) son Lucerys, make their way into the Red Keep. In the book, the assassins taunt Helaena and force her to choose which of her sons should die - although she offers up her own life instead. She chooses her younger son Maelor - and the assassins go against her wishes, killing her older son Jaehaerys. Maelor is then forced to live with the knowledge that his mother chose him to die.

In the show, various changes are made - largely down to Maelor not existing. The assassins are faced with Helaena's twin children Jaehaerys and Jaehaera and tell Helaena to tell them which is the boy, rather than making her choose which should die. Instead of offering up her own life, Helaena seems more shell-shocked and offers up a valuable necklace. The assassins still end up killing Jaehaerys, and Helaena escapes with Jaehaera.

Martin's argument: Martin argues that the absence of Maelor makes the scene less brutal than it is in the book - but one of his main concerns appears to be Maelor's importance in scenes much later on. While he concedes that Condal could still write the younger son back in, he suggests that from the outlines he's seen of season 3 and beyond, that doesn't seem likely. He also acknowledges the difficulties that casting a young child as Maelor would have caused production in terms of budget, he also says "simpler doesn't mean better" and that he "hated to lose" Helaena's choice.

He also says that knowing more about the backstory of Blood and Cheese (for example that Blood was a former Goldcloak stripped of the honour after beating a woman to death) makes the assassins more fearsome in the book.

What has Condal said? Previously speaking to RadioTimes.com before the premiere of season 2, Condal addressed Maelor's absence at length and said he's not in the narrative "yet" - perhaps hinting that his appearance is still to come. However, Martin has suggested that's not the case in his blog post.

Condal told us: "In our writing of season 1, we had to compress time a bit to get through 30 years of history, essentially, in what ended up being 20 years, just so that we didn't have to recast every character.

"I think as time marches on longer and longer, it became more challenging to tell all that story in one season, and season 1 was a challenge in and of itself.

"So, essentially, we made 30 years happen in 20 years, and that just meant some of the youngest kids in the story weren't around, or were younger than they are in the books - Rhaenyra and Daemon's children, for one, and then certainly Helaena and Aegon. Maelor is not yet in the narrative in this in the story."

He added: "Then you're also dealing with this practical issue of children and acting and being put into perilous situations. There are things that you can do on the page of a book that you actually cannot do on television, because it would either not look realistic or would not be allowed, because of the young ages of the actors involved.

"So it created a situation where we had to figure out a different way into this narrative, but I always saw this as a reader coming into this, the thing that was most interesting about this particular moment was the the character experience through it.

"My hope is that you're with Helaena in this experience, and that that's the thing that carries you through, because, of course, we know these children exist, hopefully we care about them, because we care about the welfare of little children, but we're not engaged with those characters on the level that we are with with Helaena.

"So we chose to make it a point of view experience for Helaena and to follow her through it."

The potential loss of the Bitterbridge scene

Martin goes on to say that, if we do lose Maelor from the show completely, it would stand to reason that we could lose some scenes in later seasons that involve him heavily, including what the author refers to as the Bitterbridge scene, Maelor's tragic death scene in which Ser Rickard Thorne fights to protect him, but he's torn apart by a mob.

As Martin points out, it's worth noting that another character could take Maelor's place, although the author struggled to think who that could be (it can't be Maelor's sister Jaehaera due to her having a big role to play as Aegon's next heir).

Martin's argument: The author says it would be a shame to lose the Bitterbridge scene from the show due to its "tension, suspense, action, bloodshed, a bit of heroism and a lot of tragedy".

What has Condal said? Of course, with the potential Bitterbridge scene still way in the show's future, Condal has not revealed whether it will be included or spoken about it specifically. Previously chatting to RadioTimes.com, though, he asserted the importance of big book moments to him as an adapter.

He told us: "In the making of this series, the one thing that we do have as adapters are these big moments and we do need to service them in a way to honour the history. That's the idea, that we're trying to honour this history as closely as we possibly can, while building a very complex TV show around it.

"So all the big moments from the books, the things that you expect, you can continue to expect them to be covered and dramatised in some way. Sometimes it is just acknowledging that that thing happened over there. But this is a dramatisation of this period in the history and we're not looking to make our own version of the Targaryen history.

"Although I will say some things will happen unexpectedly, because the accepted history of an event, particularly many years later, is not always what actually happened. And I think that's part of the fun of adapting the series.

"I read that book for the first time when George handed it to me and I highlighted all the same things that everybody did so, trust me, as a maker of television, I'm as interested in landing on all those things as people are in seeing them."

The motivations for Queen Helaena's suicide

In the book, Helaena takes her own life and Martin says that this will be reflected in the show - however, he also claims that, in an outline for season 3, Helaena appears to take her own life "for no particular reason".

Martin's argument: The author argues that the loss of Maelor from the show would "undercut" the motivation for Helaena's suicide, which in turn leads to the beginning of the end of Rhaenyra's rule of King's Landing (as, when rumours start that Rhaenyra killed Helaena instead of the Queen taking her own life, the smallfolk are quick to believe them and begin to riot).

Ultimately, he argues that, individually, the loss of Maelor in Blood and Cheese isn't disastrous - but it could lead to the loss or diminish the importance of other crucial events, like Bitterbridge, Helaena's suicide, and the riots before Rhaenyra's downfall.

What has Condal said? Condal has not addressed the potential inclusion of Queen Helaena's suicide in the show.

Further changes in future seasons of the show

Signing off, Martin alluded to his displeasure of further changes being spoken about for future seasons of the show. We can't know what changes Martin is referencing or if they'll even happen now - but safe to say, he doesn't seem too happy.

Martin's argument: Comparing the loss of Maelor and the potential loss of consequential events to the butterfly effect, he asserts: "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…"

What has Condal said? Of course, Condal hasn't directly referenced which parts of the book he'll be changing for season 3 and beyond. However, previously speaking to RadioTimes.com, Condal emphasised Martin's wishes for a faithful adaptation - and admitted how that can be a "challenge".

He said: "He just wants a faithful retelling of the text of the book, which, of course, is a challenge because it's a history book. And it's a history book with three competing accounts of what happened and why and it's not a traditional narrative. So even on a great day for us, where we have a section of the history that's very well described, a ton of invention is required, because we don't have scenes or dialogue or internal thoughts or characters, which we love as adapters, as as a challenge.

"I think it would be easier in a world where this wasn't a from a book series that had sold 100 million books, and it was just a nonfiction book, that had these competing accounts in history - it would be a very fun adaptation because you you sort of feel less worried about people coming up to you on the tube and saying, 'Why did you do this?'

"I think that's just the challenge, is to try to hew close to the history, which is his most important thing. I'm a giant fan of the series. I know this world very well, anybody that knows anything about me and how I came to this, I came to it as a fan. That's why I got the job. So that's where I begin.

"But then I also have this other challenge of being a television writer and a showrunner that has to deliver this deeply intricate and unique and engaging retelling of the story for a totally different medium. So I think it's constantly walking the balance between those two things.

"My hope is that George, as much as possible, is along for the ride."

House of the Dragon seasons 1 and 2 are available to stream on Sky and NOW – find out more about how to sign up for Sky TV.

If you’re looking for something else to watch in the meantime, check out our TV Guide and Streaming Guide, or visit our dedicated Fantasy hub. For more from the biggest stars in TV, listen to The Radio Times Podcast.