House of the Dragon season 2: George R.R. Martin on ‘The Dog’

House of the Dragon season 2
Photo: HBO

George R.R. Martin is an executive producer on House of the Dragon, and we know that he has helped already with the planning for season 3.

Rather than look too far ahead at the moment, we actually want to spend a little more time thinking about the past. Or, to be specific, the saga of Blood and Cheese. There are a lot of changes that were made to the show from the book Fire & Blood, but there is one that Martin loved in particular.

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In a new post on his blog, the author indicated that the dog who was present alongside Cheese added even more of an emotional impact to the scene:

I am… ahem… not usually a fan of screenwriters adding characters to the source material when adapting a story. Especially not when the source material is mine. But that dog was brilliant. I was prepared to hate Cheese, but I hated him even more when he kicked that dog. And later, when the dog say at his feet, gazing up… that damn near broke my heart. Such a little thing… such a little dog… but his presence, the few short moments he was on screen, gave the ratcatcher so much humanity. Human beings are such complex creatures. The silent presence of that dog reminded us that even the worst of men, the vile and the venal, can love and be loved.

I wish I’d thought of that dog. I didn’t, but someone else did. I am glad of that.

Martin did also praise the show for their changes of Helaena, but said that he would take about some larger changes to the end of the Blood and Cheese story down the line. The show did take some criticism from book fans for omitting Maelor, a character who has yet to exist within the timeline of the show, and reforming the big choice from Helaena in a different manner.

Related Learn more about what lies ahead on the next House of the Dragon episode

What do you think about how House of the Dragon presented Blood and Cheese?

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This article was written by Jessica BunBun.

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