George R.R. Martin Details His 'Abysmal' Relationship With House Of The Dragon Showrunner: 'He Stopped Listening To Me'

There's a volatile war for control on HBO's "House of the Dragon"... and it's happening behind the scenes.

George R.R. Martin, who wrote the books the "Game of Thrones" spin-off is based on and is credited as a co-creator and executive producer, lays out just how rocky his relationship with "House of the Dragon" showrunner Ryan Condal has become in a new interview with The Hollywood Reporter. "It's worse than rocky," he admits. "It's abysmal." (TVLine has reached out to HBO for comment.)

In the early going, Martin says things between him and Condal were fine: "I hired Ryan. I thought Ryan and I were partners. And we were all through the first season... It was working really well — I thought." In fact, when Condal butted heads with "Dragon" co-showrunner Miguel Sapochnik, Martin took Condal's side, and Sapochnik exited the series after Season 1.

But "then we got into Season 2, and [Condal] basically stopped listening to me," Martin recalls. "I would give notes, and nothing would happen... It got worse and worse, and I began to get more and more annoyed."

Martin then vented his frustrations with Condal in a blog post, warning that Season 2's decision not to include Helaena and Aegon's son Maelor in the Blood & Cheese storyline could have a negative "butterfly effect" on the rest of the series: "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." HBO backed Condal at the time, stating that "we believe that Ryan Condal and his team have done an extraordinary job and the millions of fans the series has amassed over the first two seasons will continue to enjoy it."

After the blog post went viral, an angry HBO executive called Martin's agent and got the post taken down, but the damage was done. A contentious Zoom call followed, with Condal laying out his vision for Season 3 of "Dragon" and Martin declaring, "This is not my story any longer." HBO then asked Martin to step away from the series, but he was later brought back onboard. "At that point, it was clear that the process and communication with them was broken and needed a reset," an HBO source tells THR.

HBO drama boss Francesca Orsi emphasizes that "we always value" Martin's input on their various "Game of Thrones" spin-offs — he's credited as a co-creator and EP on "A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms," premiering this Sunday (read our review) — "but building, producing, and running a series is a massive undertaking. While we care deeply about George's and our showrunners' perspectives, we ultimately make decisions that make the best show."

"House of the Dragon" was renewed for a fourth season in November — which is rumored to be its final season, though HBO has yet to confirm that — with Season 3 set to debut this summer.

Whose side are you taking in this power struggle? Hit the comments to share your thoughts!