Warning: The following article contains spoilers for House of the Dragon Season 2, Episode 7, “The Red Sowing.”
House of the Dragon‘s latest installment, “The Red Sowing,” boasts a secret George R.R. Martin cameo – and it’s not easy to find. So, where exactly is George R.R. Martin’s House of the Dragon Season 2 cameo?
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George R.R. Martin’s House of the Dragon Cameo, Explained
Let’s get something out of the way up front: George R. R. Martin’s House of the Dragon appearance isn’t a cameo in the strictest sense. The A Song of Ice and Fire scribe’s likeness shows up in Season 2, Episode 7, not the man himself. But it’s a fun Easter egg all the same, so here’s how you find it.
During the scene between Prince Daemon Targaryen and the Riverlords in Harrenhal’s courtyard, keep your eyes peeled for the heart tree’s trunk. The bearded face carved into the tree’s trunk is modeled on Martin’s mug. According to production designer Tim Clay, Martin’s “cameo” was House of the Dragon co-creator and showrunner Ryan Condal’s idea. “Ryan wanted to do [the tree carving] as a bit of a tribute [to Martin],” Clay told Gamespot in a recent interview.
Why didn’t Condal feature Martin himself in House of the Dragon Season 2, Episode 7? Because the author is on a self-imposed cameo hiatus while he continues work on the long-awaited sixth A Song of Ice and Fire novel, The Winds of Winter. Per IGN, Martin outlined his writing first, acting second position at San Diego Comic-Con 2022.
“For the last couple years since COVID hit I’ve barely left my house,” he said. “Also, you may not know this but there’s this book I’m writing and it’s a little late. So I won’t be doing any acting until I finish and deliver that book and if the show is still running then, then maybe.” Even so, Martin still visited the Harrenhal courtyard set (and posed in front of his wooden stand-in) during principal photography.
Did George R.R. Martin Cameo in Game of Thrones?
No, although he was originally supposed to. George R.R. Martin filmed a cameo as a Pentoshi merchant for the unaired Game of Thrones pilot, however, it doesn’t appeared in the series proper. A replica of the author’s visage was also supposed to adorn a severed head prop at one point, but that didn’t happen either. Martin reflected on these unrealized Game of Thrones cameos at the same San Diego Comic-Con 2022 panel.
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“I did do a cameo in the original pilot of Game of Thrones but they reshot most of that so I wound up on the cutting room floor,” he recalled. “I was also supposed to be a severed head. In the scene where Joffrey shows Sansa the heads one was supposed to be mine. Then they found out how expensive it was to make a severed head so they just bought a box of severed heads. One of them turned out to be George W. Bush, and they got in a lot of trouble.”
House of the Dragon Season 2 is currently airing on HBO and Max.
Published: Aug 2, 2024 07:08 am