One change from the books in House of the Dragon ended up improving King Viserys Targaryen as a character.

The first spin-off to Game Thrones, House of the Dragon, which debuted in 2022, was a major success for the IP, and its second season is slated to premiere sometime this summer. But the series, helmed by showrunner Ryan Condal and Miguel Sapochnik, wasn’t completely faithful to George R.R. Martin’s works, as the duo took their fair share of creative liberties.

Interestingly, the decision to stray away from the books, especially in King Viserys Targaryen’s case, improved upon the book, which left Martin wishing he’d written the character that way in the books.

George R.R. Martin Wished He’d Written King Viserys Similar to His Live-Action Counterpart

In the book, King Viserys Targaryen is more of an amiable character, who didn’t engage George R.R. Martin while he was writing Fire & Blood. But with House of the Dragon, Ryan Condal and Miguel Sapochnik change the character into more of a tragic figure, which is further elevated by Paddy Considine’s performance. Speaking on the Game of Owns podcast, the GoT writer stressed that he wishes he’d written King Viserys Targaryen similar to his live-action counterpart. He said:

“Viserys…was not a character who particularly engaged me [in the book]. What Paddy Considine has done, to my mind, has made him much more of a tragic figure, and less of an amiable guy who doesn’t really realize what’s going on about him.”

Considering that in most cases, diverting from the source material often results in less-than-stellar outcomes, this was a rare anomaly. Martin also acknowledged the rarity of this situation, admitting that it doesn’t happen very often, stating, “More often it’s the reverse.”

George R.R. Martin’s Reason for Not Helming House of the Dragon

While George R.R. Martin was thoroughly impressed by Ryan Condal and Miguel Sapochnik’s work, in the podcast, he revealed that a part of him would’ve loved to be the showrunner instead. However, Martin reasoned his commitment to writing The Winds of Winter, which has been in the making since 2011, for not helming the keys to the show, as it’d have taken his focus away from writing.

He explained:

“There’s part of me that would love to be actually writing and running all of these shows…but I can’t! You may not know this, but there’s this book that I’m writing…it’s a little late, but I gotta keep working on it and finishing it!… It’s 24/7 to be a showrunner…You’re the one they call at 2 in the morning when something has gone wrong in Morocco…There’s no way I could do that and hope to do any of the novels. So my part in all of these things is generating some ideas, helping setting up, keeping it consistent with the world, and finding good partners to work with.”\

Unlike the first season, Condal is helming House of the Dragon 2 alone following Sapochnik’s exit from the series, but fans will hope the show continues to move in the right direction.

House of the Dragon is available to stream on Max.