2 weeks Ago
Fans of HBO’s hit fantasy series House Of The Dragon have been up in arms ever since the Season 2 finale ended on a massive cliffhanger. In fact, the grumbling was so loud that author George R.R.
Martin, whose book Fire & Blood was partially adapted for the show, wrote his own blog past criticizing the many changes the series showrunner and writers had made to Season 2 . Martin’s warning was so dire, in fact, that he wrote—in the now-deleted post— that “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.” A brief perusal of the show’s subreddit and social media is enough to know that fans are not happy with these changes, either, and certainly not with the cliffhanger ending, especially since new seasons take two or more years to release these days.
Whether HBO is aware of this or just in denial is up in the air, but HBO CEO and Chairman Casey Bloys seems blissfully unaware of all the backlash—either that or this is just how the company has chosen to deal with backlash. In an interview with Deadline, Bloys was asked: “Looking ahead to next Emmy season, you already have House of the Dragon. What do you think about its Emmy chances with fans being divided over Season 2?” “Well, I’m not sure that the fans were divided over Season 2,” Bloys replied.
Deadline’s interview responded: “Maybe just George R.R. Martin” clearly in reference to the infamous blog post.
Bloys’ response is . . .
peculiar to say the least. “Yes, maybe one fan was,” he said. “But no, the show did really, really well.
” This is both a weird dismissal of the myriad fan complaints over Season 2 and a strange way to refer to the author of the books upon which both House of the Dragon and Game of Thrones are based, reducing Martin to “one fan” when he is clearly much more than that. I do understand that companies like HBO have to promote and defend their projects, but to simply pretend that fans aren’t divided about Season 2 comes off as deeply out-of-touch. The truth is, fans are bitterly divided over the show after a second season that fell flat for many.
Changes to the Blood and Cheese scene, to Rhaena’s arc and the extended Haunting of Daemon Targaryen sequences left a bad taste in many fans’ mouths. The strange choices made around Rhaenyra, who somehow remains stuck and indecisive after an entire season, and her relationship with Alycent have also caused a lot of trepidation in the fanbase. The general sense that the show’s writers are running too far afield with this adaptation has become pervasive.
This kind of fan backlash is happening much, much faster in House of the Dragon than in Game Of Thrones, which really didn’t start upsetting people until Season 5 (and then progressively more throughout the following seasons). I don’t mean that Bloys should necessarily agree with critics and fans, either. I think it’s fine that HBO executives are fine with the show.
I think there’s room for people to have different opinions. It’s the disconnect between the boots on the ground experience in the fandom and the proclamations from on high that chafe. I also worry that if this is the perception at HBO, will showrunner Ryan Condal and his team take any of the negative feedback to heart.
I hope they do, because this series still has great potential to be amazing. It’s just teetering on the brink. I want to see it succeed very badly.
I suspect it will shed viewers and its reputation will take a hit if they don’t steer the ship back toward the source material. We shall see..
