As promised in his August 30 blog post, "Game of Thrones" creator and writer George RR Martin has gone into detail about what he believes went wrong with HBO's "House of the Dragon" Season 2. He listed specific changes from his original work, "Fire & Blood," and what "Game of Thrones" prequel showrunner Ryan Condal has adapted for the screen, as well as upcoming plans for the show's final two seasons.

Martin's biggest criticism, in a now-deleted blog post from Wednesday titled "Beware the Butterflies," centered on differences between the "Blood & Cheese" storyline in the Season 2 premiere of "House of the Dragon," which includes the death of a child character, and the story as told in "Fire & Blood." "House of the Dragon" completely removed one character, Aegon and Helaena Targaryen's youngest son, Prince Maelor, from the story, which Martin, who is a co-creator and executive producer on the show, said has larger implications for the future of the series moving into Seasons 3 and 4.

“When Ryan Condal first told me what he was planning, ages ago (in 2022, maybe), I protested, for all these reasons,” Martin wrote. "I didn't argue about it long or hard, though. The change weakened the sequence, I thought, but only a little. And Ryan had what seemed to be practical reasons; they didn't want to have to deal with casting another child, especially a two-year-old. Children that young inevitably slow down production and that would have budget implications. Budget was already an issue with HOUSE OF THE DRAGON, so it made sense to save money wherever possible. Plus, Ryan assured me that we wouldn't lose Prince Maelor by simply delaying him. Queen Helaena could still give birth to him in season three, presumably after she got pregnant late in season two. That made sense to me, so I withdrew my objections and went with the change. I still like the episode and the Blood and Cheese sequence in general. Removing the 'Helaena's Choice' beat did weaken the scene, but not by much. Only readers of the book would notice; Viewers who had never read FIRE & BLOOD would still find the scenes heartbreaking. After all, Maelor did nothing in the scene. How could he? He was only two years old. But there is another aspect to the omission of the young prince."

Martin went on to detail how Maelor's elimination could ultimately affect plans for the final two seasons of HBO's "House of the Dragon," which Condal recently confirmed will conclude with Season 4, by revealing future "Fire & Blood" spoiler plots: "Maelor by himself means very little," Martin wrote. "He's a small child, has no dialogue, does nothing of importance except die… but where, when, and how, that matters. Losing Maelor weakened the ending of the Blood and Cheese sequence, but it also cost us the Bitterbridge scene with all its horror and heroism, it undermined the motivation for Helaena's suicide, and that in turn sent thousands into the streets and alleys, screaming for justice for their 'murdered' queen. None of that is essential, I think… but it all serves a purpose, it all helps tie the storylines together, so that one follows the other in a logical and compelling way."