During the early seasons of "Game of Thrones," the fans were filled with hope -- not just for the show, but for the books they were based on. The fifth book in the series, "A Dance with Dragons," was published mere weeks after season 1 wrapped up, and author George R.R. Martin seemed confident that he'd be able to finish the rest of the books before the show outpaced it. We were all sweet summer children back then, poor Martin himself included.
Because the fifth book had just come out, book fans throughout
2011-2014 weren't as angry as they are now. If they saw Martin out and about instead of sitting perpetually behind his desk, they weren't as quick to badger him with questions about when he'd finally finish "The Winds of Winter," the long-awaited sixth book in the "A Song of Ice and Fire" series. Back then, if Martin took a month off to write a script for the TV show, that was fine with everyone.
So Martin officially wrote the scripts for four episodes of "Game of Thrones," one for each of the first four seasons. The first was "The Pointy End," the season 1 episode that followed the aftermath of Ned Stark's unjust arrest by the Lannisters. The second was "Blackwater," the game-changing season 2 battle episode between House Lannister and House Baratheon. The third was "The Bear and the Maiden Fair," a mostly quiet outing in which Jaime finally redeemed himself to many viewers.
His fourth episode was season 4's "The Lion and the Rose," in which the miserable boy king Joffrey Baratheon was poisoned at his own wedding. This script was perhaps Martin's most impressive, as it featured countless scenes between characters that were never shown in the books. It was hailed as one of the best episodes of the season, and was held up as further proof that Martin should be writing scripts for the show more often.
But "The Lion and the Rose" was Martin's final episode script for "Game of Thrones." The author never returned to write directly for the franchise, not even with the spin-off series "House of the Dragon" years later. So, what's up with that? Why did such a talented screenwriter stop screenwriting?
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George R.R. Martin Stopped Writing For The Show Because He Needed To Focus On The Books
Here's a line from a 2014 Entertainment Weekly article covering the then-upcoming fifth season of "Game of Thrones": "One bit that's exciting for book fans but mildly disappointing for show fans: When EW asked if Martin would be continuing his annual tradition of writing one episode every season, the author said no — he'll be too busy writing the next book."
Martin confirmed this on his blog a few times. In February 2016, he responded to fan comment by clearly stating, "I am not writing anything until I deliver WINDS OF WINTER. Teleplays, screenplays, short stories, introductions, forewords, nothing."
But as the hardcore "A Song of Ice and Fire" fans know, this was not entirely accurate. In 2018, Martin would publish "Fire & Blood," which told the tale of the first 150 years or so of the Targaryens' reign in Westeros. Although this book is now well-liked among fans, at the time it was considered by many to be a cash grab. Angry fans wondered why Martin, who'd claimed to be hard at work writing "Winds of Winter," had instead written a 600+ page Westerosi history book. And if Martin was going back on his rule of only focusing on "Winds," why didn't he also return to writing "Game of Thrones" scripts too?
The most likely case is that, on top of wanting to focus on the sixth "A Song of Ice and Fire" book, by season 6 of "Thrones," the show had simply veered too far away from its source material. After the fifth season massively streamlined the books it was adapting, the sixth season was now covering events Martin's books hadn't reached yet.
Not only was the TV show in an awkward spot for George story-wise, but the quality of the dialogue had noticeably declined since season 4. In the first few seasons, Martin's skill with dialogue made his episodes strong but not out of place with what the rest of the show was offering. By season 7, the sheer gap between Martin's writing and what the showrunners were serving up might have simply been too jarring.
Why Hasn't GRRM Written For House Of The Dragon?
Much like with "GoT," the obvious reason for Martin declining to write any episode scripts for "House of the Dragon" seems simple: He's over a decade "late" on "Winds of Winter," so surely he should be prioritizing that project. The other part of the explanation is that "HotD" has veered a little too far from the book for Martin to fully take part in it.
From the very first episode, "HotD" has enjoyed more freedom than "GoT" in terms of changing up its source material. The show turned Alicent and Rhaenyra into childhood friends, made King Viserys a far less jovial character, and gave Alicent an entire arc in season 2 that wasn't so much as hinted at in the book. While Martin has been supportive of some of these changes (mainly the ones involving Viserys), for the most part, these are no longer Martin's characters we're seeing on screen.
After the latest season, Martin controversially wrote a blog post criticizing a significant change the show made in its season 2 premiere. Although Martin's criticisms were reasonable and measured by internet standards, they were still surprising coming from a man who'd kept his critiques to himself during the many questionable choices of "GoT" season 8. Martin and "HotD" showrunner Ryan Condal clearly don't see eye to eye on what the "Fire & Blood" adaptation should look like, so it makes sense that Martin wouldn't want to write an episode for the show (or that Condal wouldn't ask him to).
It is a shame, though, because Martin's yearly TV scripts used to be such a treat for "A Song of Ice and Fire" fans. Martin had plenty of success as a screenwriter before he published "A Game of Thrones" in 1996, and you can feel that passion for the medium in all his episodes of "GoT." Perhaps if he finishes "Winds of Winter" soon, we'll get to see him write an episode of "A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms" season 2.
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