Take the Black: George R.R. Martin vs House of the Dragon, Part 2

Somehow, the House of the Dragon-vs-George R.R. Martin drama returned. We cover that, the allegations against Neil Gaiman, Max's Harry Potter show and more on a new episode of Take the Black.
Photograph by Ollie Upton/HBO
Photograph by Ollie Upton/HBO /
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Last week, Game of Thrones creator George R.R. Martin came out guns blazing against House of the Dragon, the prequel show based on his book Fire & Blood. We did not expect one of the world's most prominent authors to be in a public feud with the adapting his book, but we can't call it boring.

Anyway, the feud continued this week, with Martin throwing shade — intentional or otherwise — at House of the Dragon while executives told reporters that they were "frustrated but not surprised" by Martin's critiques. Is there anywhere to go from here? Is there any chance Martin's strategy works and the House of the Dragon sticks closer to his book? Or is he just burning any bridge he comes across? We dig into it in a new episode of Take the Black. Watch below!

Authors are all over the news this week. On a more serious note, we talk about the numerous allegations of sexual impropriety facing fantasy author Neil Gaiman, and how they're now affecting the many TV shows and movies based on his work. Can Prime Video's Good Omens show survive this scandal? Controversial author J.K. Rowling is also in the news now that HBO's Harry Potter TV show is getting off the ground.

So it's all controversy, all the time on this week's episode. We also manage to jaw a bit about what we're watching and reading in our spare time, including one of George R.R. Martin's most infamously dark stories: Meathouse Man. Daniel read the graphic novel adaptation of it by Raya Golden, and has been haunted by it ever since. (Signed copies are available at Martin's bookstore Beastly Books.) And of course, we run through the WiC News Lightning Round!

The Take the Black Podcast is on iTunes and YouTube Music! Please subscribe and download from there if you can. Also, you can help us out by giving us a five-star rating and leaving a friendly comment! We’re also now on Spreaker, so try us there, as well.

We stream new episodes of Take the Black live every Wednesday at 2:00 p.m. CST on the WinterIsComing YouTube and Facebook channels. Join us! At the end of this episode we asked Beyoncé to weigh in on Hot D-gate next week. Will she? No, of course not...but just in case she does, you might as well watch.

Next. George R.R. Martin speaks on his AI lawsuit: "We need rules for all of this" (Exclusive). George R.R. Martin speaks on his AI lawsuit: "We need rules for all of this" (Exclusive). dark

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