Fans praised House of the Dragon even if it changed storylines in the source material. George R.R. Martin revealed a key character from his novel will never be introduced in the TV show.
George R.R. Martin asserted (in a now-deleted blog post) that Maelor Targaryen will be written off of House of the Dragon. Martin also revealed how the character’s arc was supposed to be depicted in the show, which since Season 1 has proven capable of crossing moral taboos. “If you have never read FIRE & BLOOD, maybe it does not matter, because all I am going to ‘spoil’ here are things that happen in the book that may NEVER happen on the series,” he wrote. “Starting with Maelor himself. 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. The younger son of Aegon and Helaena would never appear.”
Maelor is Aegon and Helaena’s youngest child. In Martin’s novel Fire & Blood, Blood and Cheese forces Helaena to choose which son to spare, Maelor or Jaehaerys. She chose the latter, but Blood and Cheese killed him and told Maelor Helaena wanted him dead. Maelor becomes heir to the throne, but not for long. When Rhaenyra attacked King’s Landing, Rickard Thorne took charge of Maelor, then two years old. They traveled covertly to Oldtown but locals recognized Rickard as a Kingsguard en route. Maelor’s sister Jaehara was entrusted to Willis Fell, who took her to the Baratheons.
Maelor Targaryen’s Death Would Have Been Too Brutal To Depict On Screen
Martin recounted Maelor’s death in the novel. “Willis Fell delivers Jaehaera safely to the Baratheons at Storm’s End, but Ser Rickard fares less well,” he wrote. “He and Maelor get as far as Bitterbridge, where he is revealed as a Kingsuard in a tavern called the Hogs Head. Once discovered, Ser Rickard fights bravely to protect his young charge and bring him to safety, but he does not even make it across the bridge before some crossbows bring him down, Prince Maelor is torn from his arms… and then, sadly, ripped to pieces by the mob fighting over the boy and the huge reward that Rhaenyra has offered for his capture and return.”
Martin said House of the Dragon Season 2, Episode 2 complicates Maelor’s storyline in the show, that’s if he will even be introduced. Martin asserted the character is not really important, but his death scene was integral to the novel’s plot. “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 explained. The author also expressed his disappointment over Jaehaerys’ death scene in House of the Dragon; he expected the sequence would be faithful to the Fire & Blood passage, which depicted a more brutal, visceral execution.
House of the Dragon is streaming on Max.