“We’re constantly in this trying to serve both worlds”: House of the Dragon showrunner addresses deviations from Fire & Blood

The Season 2 finale of House of the Dragon raised eyebrows among book readers with a surprising revelation about Aegon’s dragon, Sunfyre. Despite characters hinting at Sunfyre’s apparent death, the dragon remains a vital part of the story, even in its weakened state. When pressed for clarification on Sunfyre’s fate, Ryan Condal, the show’s creator, tactfully sidestepped the question, opting to share insights into the collaborative process of adapting Fire & Blood scenes with executive producer Sara Hess.

Balancing act between both worlds

Ryan Condal and Sara Hess find themselves in a delicate position as the custodians of the House of the Dragon world. They must balance creating an engaging TV adaptation that appeals to fans who have read the book and those who haven’t. They aim to craft a well-rounded show with complex characters while remaining faithful to George R.R. Martin‘s original work. Ryan Condal in an interview with Collider says,

“It’s a very tricky position to be in my seat/our seat, Sara [Hess] and I, as custodians of this world, we have to render an exciting television adaptation of this story, knowing that there’s always going to be a percentage of this gigantic TV audience that has not read the book, and a percentage that has read the book very closely, and we’re constantly in this trying to serve both worlds.

We’re trying to make a well-rounded, exciting television show with deep and well-realized characters, but also serve faithfully this book that George wrote that we both love and we understand is beloved by the fans, and do it in a way that both those things kind of can exist and live in harmony to harmony together. 

Credit: HBO

Stream House of the Dragon on Max | Save up to 20%

Stream House of the Dragon, Game of Thrones and more HBO Original series on Max. Sign up and save up to 20% with an annual plan.

Subscribe Now

We earn a commission if you make a purchase, at no additional cost to you.

Ryan Condal’s Approach to Adapting Fire & Blood

Ryan Condal and his team are committed to delivering a nuanced and multi-dimensional adaptation of Fire & Blood, rather than resorting to shock value or deviating from the original story. They aim to provide a thoughtful and detailed interpretation of historical events. By doing so, they hope to enrich the source material and offer a more immersive experience for the audience. In cases where the book leaves gaps or questions unanswered, the team sees an opportunity to creatively address these unknowns.

“What I will say is that we are not looking to do anything for shock value or to totally change the way the history was written. What I think we need to do as adapters and storytellers in television is to interpret things in new and unexpected ways that are given to you one way in the book. 

And frankly, we take on as a charge of ours as dramatists, you have to provide depth and layering to this book, which often, intentionally, only gives you a very surface view of a historical event, or sometimes says we don’t know why this happened we just know that point A is here and point C is here. We don’t know what B was. And some of that is the most fun for us, because then we can really just, we get to invent B and as long as A and C agree, then, then we feel like we’re good, but stay tuned, I would say, on all of the dragon drama to come.”

READ NEXT: “She’s loyal to her mum”: Phia Saban reveals whether Helaena is Team Green or Team Black

Surfshark VPN 86% OFF + 3 months free!

Surf the web all across the world without tracking, secure your devices from threats, & guard your accounts' security.

Get Surfshark

We earn a commission if you make a purchase, at no additional cost to you.