After the Season 8 Fiasco, George R.R. Martin Issues a Stark Warning to the Game of Thrones Spinoff Showrunner

George R.R. Martin swung by the set of HBO's next Thrones spinoff and dropped the one line every showrunner dreads. It was half pep talk, half warning, and very clearly a message from a man who is not interested in another adaptation going off the rails.

What Martin said on set

Series star Peter Claffey told a crowd at CCXP in Sao Paulo that Martin visited that week, chatted with the team, and made two things crystal clear: the novella they are adapting, 'The Hedge Knight,' is his favorite thing he has ever written, and he wants it treated like it matters. Then came the kicker to showrunner Ira Parker, relayed by Claffey (per IGN):

'Please don't mess it up.'

Why that lands different now

Given how Game of Thrones ended and how loudly fans have debated changes in House of the Dragon, you can see why Martin is protective here. He adores his Dunk & Egg stories and has said so for years. He is also directly in the mix this time, credited as co-creator and executive producer, which usually means less telephone-game between page and screen.

Parker's approach: make George happy first

Ira Parker has been blunt about his goal. In an interview with Temple of Geek, he said he wrote Season 1 for an audience of one.

'This season, Season 1, I did that for George. The fact that he's happy makes me very happy as well, too.'

Martin's early verdict

On his Not A Blog, Martin praised Parker and the cast and called the adaptation about as true to the text as he could reasonably hope. His words, with the trademark dry poke at himself:

'It's as faithful as adaptation as a reasonable man could hope for (and you all know how incredibly reasonable I am on that particular subject).'

Translation: he thinks they got it right, and he's not shy about letting people know when he thinks they don't.

What's next

Martin says Season 2 is already moving, adapting the second Dunk & Egg novella, 'The Sworn Sword.' So yes, they are planning beyond the pilot glow. And yes, he's keeping a close eye on it.

• Show: A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms
• Showrunner: Ira Parker
• Based on: George R.R. Martin's Tales of Dunk and Egg (starting with The Hedge Knight)
• GRRM's involvement: Co-creator and executive producer; set visit; ongoing oversight
• Notable on-set moment: Martin to Parker — 'Please don't mess it up.'
• Parker's stance: Wrote Season 1 'for George'
• Martin's take so far: Calls it about as faithful as he could hope
• Season 2: Underway; adapting The Sworn Sword
• Premiere: January 18, 2026 on HBO
• Where the tidbits came from: Claffey's CCXP talk (via IGN) and Parker's Temple of Geek interview, plus Martin's Not A Blog

Short version: Martin loves Dunk & Egg, the showrunner knows it, and everyone involved is treating this one like it cannot be the next adaptation people argue about for a decade. Good. That's the energy this story deserves.