George R.R. Martin Kept ‘Out of the Loop’ on Four ‘Game of Thrones’ Seasons and Doesn’t Know Why: ‘Ask’ the Showrunners

variety.com:

Zack Sharf George R.R. Martin told The New York Times that he was kept “out of the loop” during the last four seasons of HBO’s “Game of Thrones,” a mistake that “House of the Dragon” co-showrunner Ryan Condal did not want to make during the development of the upcoming prequel series. “House of the Dragon” is based on Martin’s 2018 novel “Fire & Blood.” Martin maintained that he doesn’t know why “Thrones” showrunners D.B.

Weiss and David Benioff let him become estranged from the show.According to The Times: “As Condal got to work on ‘House of the Dragon,’ he leaned on Martin’s expertise a lot — the opposite of what had happened with Martin in the later seasons of ‘Game of Thrones.’ In the early seasons, Martin wrote and read scripts, consulted on casting decisions and visited sets.

Over time, however, as he stepped back to focus on his long-delayed next ‘Thrones’ novel, ‘The Winds of Winter,’ Martin grew estranged from the show.” “By Season 5 and 6, and certainly 7 and 8, I was pretty much out of the loop,” Martin said of his involvement with “Game of Thrones.”Asked why he grew estranged from the show, Martin did not cite his work on “The Winds of Winter” and instead said, “I don’t know — you have to ask Dan and David.”Martin disagreed with Benioff and Weiss’ decision to cut the show short.