George RR Martin spoils House of the Dragon Season 3 in furious deleted post

In a lengthy, now-deleted blog post, George R.R. Martin highlighted his biggest problems with House of the Dragon Season 2 – and he dropped a huge spoiler for Season 3.

House of the Dragon Season 2’s backlash centered around its changes to Martin’s Fire and Blood; notably, a slightly more tolerable version of Blood and Cheese, the omission of Daeron and Maelor, and the show’s focus on Alicent and Rhaenyra’s relationship.

The author praised aspects of Blood and Cheese in an earlier post. However, he also promised to write another one discussing “all the issues raised” by the way it was adapted by Ryan Condal and co., as well as “Maelor the Missing… there’s a lot to say.”

Last night, September 4, Martin finally delivered (something we can’t say about The Winds of Winter). The author didn’t mince his words: he believes the “butterfly effect” of Condal’s decisions will have a negative and “profound” impact on the series. Spoilers to follow…

HBO

His criticism mainly revolves around Maelor, Aegon and Helaena’s third child in the book. “Sometime between the initial decision to remove Maelor, a big change was made. The prince’s birth was no longer just going to be pushed back to Season 3. He was never going to be born at all,” Martin wrote.

Maelor’s fate is a major catalyst for a big moment in the story. Before Rhaenyra and the Blacks arrive at King’s Landing, Alicent asks Ser Rickard Thorne to look after him. They both flee, and they’re safe for a while… until their cover is blown in Bitterbridge, a Blacks-held territory.

Thorne tries to escape with Maelor, but he’s shot and killed by crossbowmen. The young Targaryen’s fate has never been confirmed, but there are three possibilities: he was crushed to death, an angry mob tore him apart, or a butcher chopped him up.

Bantam Books

In the book, this drives Helaena to suicide. However, according to Martin, “in Ryan’s outline for Season 3, Helaena still kills herself… for no particular reason. There is no fresh horror, no triggering event to overwhelm the fragile young queen.”

Martin seems to fear that without context, what follows (riots in King’s Landing, with people believing she was murdered by Rhaenyra) won’t hold any weight.

“I do not recall that Ryan and I ever discussed this, back when he first told me they were pushing back on Aegon’s second son. Maelor himself is not essential… but if losing him means we also lose Bitterbridge, Helaena’s suicide, and the riots, well… that’s a considerable loss,” he added.

“And there are larger and more toxic butterflies to come, if House of the Dragon goes ahead with some of the changes being contemplated for Seasons 3 and 4.”

Martin hasn’t addressed why he deleted the post, but the reason seems obvious: HBO likely asked him to take it down because he spoiled a major character’s death.

In the meantime, find out what we know about House of the Dragon Season 3, read our breakdown of Season 2’s ending, and check out our other guides on Tessarion, Ulf the White, and every Targaryen king.