George R.R Martin wasn't really involved in House of the Dragon season 3, HBO boss Casey Bloys has confirmed.
Instead, the Game of Thrones creator "took a step back" from the tension-filled prequel to focus on developing the small-screen take on his "favorite" A Song of Ice and Fire stories: A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms.
"He definitely took a step back, and I would say he's definitely been focusing on Knight of the Seven Kingdoms," Bloys recently explained to Deadline. "And I will tell you one of the reasons why [head of drama] Frannie [Orsi] and I really thought about the Knight of Seven Kingdoms as an interesting adaptation is, we had always heard and know that it was George's favorite, that was meaningful to us."
While Bloys doesn't elaborate on the reasons Martin has distanced himself from House of the Dragon, beyond favoring A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms' story, it's worth noting that the author described his relationship with House of the Dragon showrunner as "abysmal" just last month. "I would give notes, and nothing would happen. It got to a point where I was told by HBO that I should submit all my notes to them and they would give Ryan our combined notes," he said.
Based on Martin's A Tale of Dunk and Egg novellas, A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms follows Ser Duncan (Peter Claffey), a hedge knight who takes on a young squire with a mysterious heritage – which was revealed in episode 3, much to the befuddlement of 1-year-old actor Dexter Sol Ansell – and sets out on adventures across a Targaryen-ruled Westeros. Its run concludes on February 22.
The show, which currently holds an impressive 95% score on Rotten Tomatoes, airs on Sundays on HBO in the US and Mondays on NOW/Sky Atlantic in the UK. Never miss an episode with our A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms release schedule.
House of the Dragon season 3 is expected to release in summer 2026. For more, check out our picks of the most exciting new TV shows heading our way.
