George R.R. Martin Calls His Relationship with ‘House of the Dragon’ Showrunner Ryan Condal “Abysmal” – Here’s Why

George R.R. Martin has opened up about his strained relationship with House of the Dragon showrunner Ryan Condal, calling it “worse than rocky” and “abysmal.” The author of Game of Thrones shared details about how their working partnership broke down over the course of the show’s production. The information comes from a profile published by The Hollywood Reporter.

“I hired Ryan. 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,” Martin said, reflecting on the early days of their collaboration.

According to Martin, problems began during season two when Condal stopped taking his feedback seriously. “I would give notes, and nothing would happen. 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,” Martin explained. Eventually, HBO intervened and asked Martin to submit all his notes directly to them so they could be passed along to Condal.

Martin described a moment during a Zoom call about season three where disagreements over the show’s direction came to a head. “This is not my story any longer,” Martin said, highlighting how frustrated he had become. He also mentioned the infamous blog post he wrote in September 2024 criticizing the show’s creative choices. The post, which praised the writing, acting, and direction overall but expressed frustration over certain plot decisions, was quickly taken down after HBO contacted his manager.

“I would’ve put it back up, but then I would’ve looked like an idiot. And 80 percent of it was praise, but that’s not what people focused on,” Martin said.

Condal has not commented further on the situation but previously stated that Martin had become “unwilling to acknowledge the practical issues at hand in a reasonable way.” Despite the tension, Martin is still involved with the show in some capacity, though he declined to discuss the specifics.

An HBO source told The Hollywood Reporter, “George and Ryan had a disagreement on the direction of season three. At that point, it was clear that the process and communication with them was broken and needed a reset. So there was naturally a period where everyone took a step back for a while until we could figure out a new way forward.”

The revelation offers fans a rare look behind the scenes of one of television’s most popular fantasy franchises. Martin’s comments underline the challenges of adapting a complex, beloved series while maintaining creative partnerships.

What do you think about Martin and Condal’s working relationship? Do you believe it will affect House of the Dragon’s story? Share your thoughts in the comments.