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Note to screenwriters: You can’t go wrong by adding an adorably scruffy pup to the mix.
Case in point: House of the Dragon executive producer George R.R. Martin took to his personal blog on Friday to salute the writers who gave Cheese — aka the ratcatcher involved in Prince Jaehaerys’ murder — a canine companion. The dog does not appear in the show’s source material, Fire & Blood.
“I am… ahem… not usually a fan of screenwriters adding characters to the source material when adapting a story. Especially not when the source material is mine,” Martin wrote. “But that dog was brilliant. I was prepared to hate Cheese, but I hated him even more when he kicked that dog.”
He refers to the events of the Season 2 premiere, “A Son for a Son,” in which Daemon hires a thug (referred to as “Blood”) and the aforementioned ratcatcher (“Cheese”) to infiltrate the Red Keep and murder Aemond Targaryen. But the pair of vicious idiots bungle the job and wind up killing Helaena and Aegon’s young son, Jaehaerys. On their way to the royal family’s private quarters, the pair get frustrated and angrily kick the loyal dog who’s been by Cheese’s side the entire episode. Cheese eventually is apprehended and hanged in Episode 2; our final shot of the pup is as it gazes up at its master’s swinging body (Read a full recap.)
“That damn near broke my heart,” Martin writes. “Such a little thing… such a little dog… but his presence, the few short moments he was on screen, gave the ratcatcher so much humanity. Human beings are such complex creatures. The silent presence of that dog reminded us that even the worst of men, the vile and the venal, can love and be loved.”
He added: “I wish I’d thought of that dog. I didn’t, but someone else did. I am glad of that.”
However, Martin seems less glad about how the HBO series resolved the Blood & Cheese storyline, which played out much differently on screen than it did in the book. (Hear what showrunner Ryan Condal has to say about that here.)
“Well, there’s a lot of be said about that, but this is not the place for me to say it. The issues are too complicated,” he writes, promising to compose a post at a later time about “all the issues raised” by the storyline and the character of Maelor Targaryen, who figures prominently in the tale in Fire & Blood but who has not yet been introduced in the show. “There’s a lot to say.”
Still waiting for those last couple of books George
I’ve given up hope that he’ll ever finish them.
He’s rewriting everything once more, adding dogs.
Every person needs a dog!
Waiting for Godot RR Martin to finish the books. Yeah, you’re not going to like how this ends…
Actually, he has two more books without a release date. Fire & Blood Part 2 and another about Dunk & Egg
Honestly I was a fan of asoiaf since 2003..waited for Feast, dance, then decades for winds, the show coming, becoming obnoxiously popular, going to hell, and ending .id dug into all the theories, read all the side content..and while I dig the show, im just over it 😆
The cosmere, stormlight/mistborn/warbreaker etc is sooo much more satisfying, amazing and awesome. Hes written 4 stormlights, 5 mistborns and like 8 novellas in the time GRRM hasn’t finished ONE book.
I totally understood him enjoying fame after the show began, when we still expected Winds before season 5/6, but even with the whole mereenese knot it’s been so damn long, I don’t give a crap. Even IF he finishes winds..what, another 10-15 years for Dream of Spring..? When he’ll be like 90? It isn’t happening. Brandon will already have 15 more books and be done with the cosmere by 2040
My personal theory is that he is taking this long time because he will release Winds and Dream at the same time
My theory is considering the fans’ dislike of the end of GoT, he’s modifying some of the storylines to end ASoIaF. Of course the story is not the same if only with the presence de fAegon that will change lots compared to the show… Not really hoping to ever read those books…
So GRRM does know how to write? I though he lost that ability over the last decade…
Maybe he should think about finishing those books instead of thinking about this. My bet is he dies before he finishes even one of them.
I’m convinced that when GRRM saw the negative reaction to how the show ended on HBO, especially since he advised them on it, that it sent him back to the drawing board and he had to start the last two books over again. As for when we will get them, who knows? Thank goodness we have Brandon Sanderson and his Cosmere books.
Haha George doesn’t know his own f story it was Blood that kicked the dog not Cheese
To me the original series was richly textured and well plotted within reasonable proximity to the books except for last series.
House of the Dragon suffers from lack of both because as usual Hollywood has found something successful and has to beat it to death with mediocre follow ups.
I eagerly await Dragon Child series 82.