Is House of the Dragon Season 3 in trouble due to GRRM's rift with Ryan Condal? Details revealed

Even before the release of House of the Dragon Season 3, a dispute has arisen.

In a candid interview with The Hollywood Reporter, George R.R. Martin a.k.a. GRRM has opened up about a certain creative conflict with showrunner Ryan Condal.

Over breakfast, the author of Fire & Blood talked about the working equation between him and Condal with the outlet. Regarding his experience working with Ryan Condal, GRRM said:

"It’s worse than rocky. It’s abysmal."

In the interview, the author opened up about the changing working relationship graph between the two.

Keep reading to know everything about their creative conflict.

House of the Dragon Season 3: George R.R. Martin and Ryan Condal's creative fallout, explained

As per George R.R. Martin's statements, both he and Ryan Condal did not initially set off on the wrong foot. In fact, before, he felt that they worked very well together as creative collaborators. GRRM reflected on their cordial process in House of the Dragon Season 1, where there was a healthy creative engagement between the two. GRRM states:

"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.”

However, things started getting sour over time between them as the show developed. By the time House of the Dragon entered its Season 2 phase, GRRM felt that his elaborate feedback notes had been disregarded. Martin would hope that his insights would lead to Condal making some changes in the series, but it would not happen. As a result, the author found his purpose in the making of the story to be diminished. GRRM continues by mentioning:

“Then we got into season two, and he basically stopped listening to me. 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. Finally, it got to a point where I was told by HBO that I should submit all my notes to them and they would give Ryan our combined notes.”

Things became more dire by the time the writing process for House of the Dragon Season 3 began. There were strong disagreements from GRRM's side, as there was a mismatch between him and Ryan Condal's creative choices. In fact, Martin even felt that the series was shaping in a way that was not aligned with the original material that he wrote.

George R.R. Martin also mentioned that there was a Zoom call meeting arranged between them, along with the executives and producers of HBO. As Ryan Condal narrated his own idea of House of the Dragon Season 3, GRRM strongly condemned many aspects of it. As he stated in the interview:

“This is not my story any longer.”

Irrespective of the conflict, House of the Dragon Season 3 is still on, and we can expect it to grace our screens in the summer of 2026. In fact, the show has been renewed for Season 4 as well. However, George R.R. Martin's sharing of his experience with Ryan Condal does give us an idea about the complicated process behind creating a big-scale show.

There is also a change in GRRM's participation in the creative process of the series. It would certainly impact the series in an indelible manner. Only after watching House of the Dragon Season 3 will the audience fully realize how the creative conflict is impacted in its final product.

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Also Read: House of the Dragon Season 3 is in bigger trouble, especially after the strong remarks by George R. R. Martin

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