Adapting a novel for the screen can be tricky, with pressure to please fans and the writer of the original story.

The first season of House of the Dragon pulled off the feat with roaring success, but changes made during the second season have prompted author George RR Martin to lash out.

After hinting last month he would reveal “everything that’s gone wrong” with House of the Dragon, Martin let loose on his blog this week.

The lengthy post was deleted within a matter of hours, but an archived copy can be viewed here.

Martin, who wrote the book that House of the Dragon is based on, Fire and Blood, is also listed as co-creator and executive producer of the show.

He lauded the “well written, well directed, powerfully acted” first two episodes of the second season.

But he warned the complete removal of a minor character would have “profound” implications on several storylines in future seasons.

HBO has issued a statement in response to Martin’s criticism, and House of the Dragon showrunner Ryan Condal appeared to address a rift between the pair on a podcast.

“The act of doing a solo art form like painting … or writing a book, or even writing a comic book, these things are different, and the demands of television are great and heavy,” Condal said on an episode of Official Game of Thrones Podcast: House of the Dragon released this week.

“And sometimes it’s beyond even the showrunner to be able to change the nature of a thing in order to jam it into place on TV.”

Scene change explained

Warning: Spoilers.

In season two’s premiere episode, A Son for a Son, two men, Blood and Cheese, are sent to kill Aemond in revenge for his killing of Lucerys in the previous season finale.

Instead, they enter the chambers of Aemond’s sister, Queen Helaena, where they end up beheading her young son Jaehaerys as she flees with her daughter.

When the episode was released in June, fans immediately noted the event was markedly different to what occurred in the novel on which the show is based.

In the book, Helaena has three children, not two, and is forced by Blood and Cheese to choose which one they will kill.

As Blood and Cheese refuse to kill her instead, Helaena eventually chooses her youngest son, two-year-old Maelor.

Cheese then tells Maelor his mother wanted him dead, and Blood beheads her eldest son Jaehaerys instead.

Martin’s gripes

In his since-deleted blog post, Martin said he believed the book version of the Blood and Cheese scene was stronger, but his biggest issue was the absence of the youngest son, Maelor, who has not yet been born in the show, and apparently never will be.

Martin said he withdrew his objections to Maelor’s absence when Condal explained budget restrictions and the extra pressures on production.

Condal allegedly promised Maelor would be born in season three – but the decision has since been made to completely leave him out of the show, a move Martin strongly disagrees with.

In Martin’s book, Maelor is eventually torn to pieces by a mob fighting over him in order to get the reward his aunt and enemy Queen Rhaenyra had offered for his capture.

Martin said losing this scene made sense in terms of budgets and shooting schedules, “but simpler is not better”.

He also pointed out Maelor’s death was meant to be the event that finally drives Helaena to suicide out of grief and guilt.

But he said in Condal’s outline for season three, Helaena kills herself “for no particular reason. There is no fresh horror, no triggering event to overwhelm the fragile young queen”.

Also in the book, Helaena’s death, and rumours that Rhaenyra had her murdered, marks the beginning of the end for Rhaenyra’s rule over King’s Landing, which forces her to retreat to Dragonstone, where she is killed.

“Maelor by himself means little. He is a small child, does not have a line of dialogue, does nothing of consequence but die… but where and when and how, that does matter,” Martin wrote in his blog.

“None of that is essential … but … it all helps to tie the story lines together, so one thing follows another in a logical and convincing manner. What will we offer the fans instead … I have no idea.”

He warned there would also be “larger and more toxic” butterfly effects to come if House of the Dragon goes ahead with yet-to-be-revealed changes being “contemplated” for the third and fourth season.

HBO defends changes

As news spread of Martin’s displeasure, HBO responded with a statement that said there are “few greater fans” of Martin and his work than the House of the Dragon creative team.

“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,” a HBO spokesperson said.

“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.”