The One Thing House of the Dragon Boss Promised George Martin
Ryan Condal is enjoying his laurels as House of the Dragon co-creator.
His show had the biggest premiere in HBO's entire history, and the biggest finale since the last episode of its predecessor, Game of Thrones. According to HBO, 9.3 million viewers tuned in to watch the conclusion of House of the Dragon Season 1.
This fantasy drama is, like Game of Thrones, based on books by George Martin, and serves as Game of Thrones' distant prequel, exploring events of the Dance of the Dragons, a civil war within the Targaryen dynasty that happened nearly two centuries before.
This success is doubly important for Ryan, because for him the show was a work of passion. Later seasons of Game of Thrones, although still popular, were heavily criticized for divergences from their literary source, subpar additions to George Martin's unfinished story, and general shutting Martin out of the production process, while the finale resulted in a severe controversy.
Ryan Condal not simply took these reactions into account. Being Martin's personal friend since 2013, he promised him that this show will stay true to the books and the world of Westeros.
"I was going to render a faithful adaptation of his books and make a series that I would wanna see as a fan," Condal says (via EW). "And I feel like I've done that."
The promise was not easy to keep, as the Dance of the Dragons is by now described in several books, all of which are framed as in-setting historical chronicles, with unreliable narration in full force, while the show presents itself as the objective telling of events (filming it simply would have been very difficult otherwise).
Across the web, you can hear a lot of criticism of the show's interpretations of various characters and events. While Ryan is aware of the Internet feedback, he'd much rather focus on what is in the books than on the fanbase's opinions:
"I come to this show as a massive, longtime fan of the books: I read the books multiple times, I've listened to all the audio books, I've now read Fire and Blood probably more times than any volume of the Song of Ice and Fire, I communicate with George regularly. I am as in it as you can be. I am still going to make choices that not all of you are going to like, but, on the whole, I am really looking after the sanctity and wellbeing of George's work. I care about it immensely as both a fan and as the steward and the showrunner."
Well, judging by the results, so far Ryan Condal had really done it.