George R.R. Martin Complains Of “Abysmal” Relationship With ‘House Of The Dragon’ Showrunner Ryan Condal: “Worse Than Rocky”

After an explosive blog post hinted at some trouble brewing behind the scenes of House of the Dragon, George R.R. Martin has finally shed some light on where he stands with series showrunner Ryan Condal, and it’s not looking good.

Speaking to The Hollywood Reporter, the Game of Thrones creator noted that he was not allowed to share much about where he and Condal stand ahead of House of the Dragon Season 3. But he admitted, “It’s worse than rocky. It’s abysmal.”

Martin, who famously prefers to be very involved in HBO’s adaptations of his books, revealed that his working relationship with Condal was off to a great start until they began working on House of the Dragon Season 2, when Condal allegedly stopped taking Martin’s notes.

“I hired Ryan,” Martin said. “I thought Ryan and I were partners. And we were all through the first season. I would read early drafts of the scripts. I would give notes. He would change some things. It was working really well — I thought.”

He continued, “Then we got into Season 2, and he basically stopped listening to me.”

“I would give notes, and nothing would happen,” he complained. “Sometimes he would explain why he wasn’t doing it. Other times, he would tell me, ‘Oh, OK, yeah, I’ll think about that.’ It got worse and worse, and I began to get more and more annoyed. 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.”

After Martin published a blog post sharing his criticisms of HOTD Season 2 that he was then forced to remove, THR reports the author’s relationship with Condal came to a head when the showrunner shared his vision for Season 3 during a Zoom call with Martin and HBO executives.

Martin reportedly shared his concerns about Condal’s ideas on the call and declared, “This is not my story any longer.” He was then asked to step back from the series but was later brought back on months later.

Decider reached out to Condal’s reps for comment but did not hear back in time for publication. However, in a statement Condal made to Entertainment Weekly in 2024, he said, “I made every effort to include George in the adaptation process. I really did. … But at some point, he just became unwilling to acknowledge the practical issues at hand in a reasonable way .. I just have to keep marching forward for the sake of the crew, the cast, and for HBO, because that’s my job … I can only hope that George and I can rediscover that harmony someday.”

An HBO insider confirmed to THR Condal and Martin “had a disagreement on the direction of season three,” prompting everyone to take “a step back for a while until we could figure out a new way forward.”

It remains to be seen just how involved Martin is in House of the Dragon Season 3 since being brought back on board. However, the series has already been renewed for a fourth season ahead of the Season 3 premiere.

House of the Dragon Season 3 is expected to premiere in summer 2026, with Season 4 expected to premiere in summer 2028.