The Game of Thrones franchise is expanding once again, in a way that’s not only exciting for HBO’s Westeros-set saga, but the fantasy genre as a whole. Game of Thrones‘ ending wasn’t just divisive, but left a massive hole in the TV landscape, one that HBO has been trying to fill with, well, more Thrones. It launched the prequel House of the Dragon in 2022 (after a failed attempt at making a series about The Long Night), and there’s a myriad of shows in various stages of development, such as a prequel about Aegon’s Conquest and a spinoff following Corlys Velaryon.
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It remains to be seen which of those actually follows House of the Dragon and makes it to the screen, and which ones are killed off like a Stark at a wedding, but there is one we do know is definitely happening: A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms. Based on George R.R. Martin’s The Tales of Dunk and Egg novellas, the series follows Ser Duncan the Tall, a hedge knight, and his squire, a young boy named Egg, on adventures across Westeros. It’ll arrive on HBO in 2026, and promises to be a very different kind of Game of Thrones show – something the franchise and the genre very much needs.
There’ve Been Too Many Game of Thrones Wannabes
Ever since Game of Thrones‘ popularity began to soar – which, it is too often forgotten in a TV/streaming landscape so desperate for instant success, was not with Season 1 – there’s been an attempt to find The Next Game of Thrones. Almost every network and streamer has launched a fantasy series or two (if not several more), usually aiming for the same kind of epic feel, shocking twists, and heady mix of blood, sex, and violence as the HBO hit.
That itself is the problem, though: too often, shows were made simply to be another Game of Thrones, trying to mimic what executives thought made that series so great (you can imagine words like “epic,” “spectacle,” “death,” and “dragons” being all over whiteboards at various companies), rather than focusing more closely on characters, story, and how to get their adaptations right (maybe with such novel concepts as… following the source material?).
Many wannabes, from Shadow & Bone to The Witcher to The Wheel of Time to The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power, to name but a few, have served as pretenders to Thrones’ crown, yet either ended up cancelled and/or divisive, despite so much potential in them. They didn’t just fail because they weren’t Game of Thrones, but they were put in its shadow, meaning they were starting from behind.
A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms Will Prove There’s More To GOT
The first trailer for A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms sets its stall out very early: this is not like Game of Thrones or House of the Dragon. There’s action, but don’t expect epic battles a la “Blackwater” or “Battle of the Bastards.” There are Targaryens, but the House of the Dragon doesn’t actually have dragons anymore. There’s a lightness of touch and a smallness of scale that is completely different from what we’ve seen in the franchise so far, and that’s a good thing.
At its core, this is a two-handed character drama, focused on Dunk and Egg. The books are pretty breezy, there’s humor, and the word “epic” cannot be applied. Thankfully, HBO, alongside Ira Parker (who co-created the series with Martin), seems to have understood and captured this perfectly, rather than trying to change the series and force it to fit into preconceived notions of what a GOT show should be like.
This will broaden the types of series we’ve seen in the franchise, offering something genuinely fresh, which is absolutely needed. Any media franchise like this needs diversification in the stories it tells in order to keep things interesting, and even more so when, like 2026, there’ll be two shows releasing in the same year. It’d feel stale to have A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms and House of the Dragon a few months apart if they both had similar stories and tones, so it’s great to have a show that’s less self-serious, gritty, and not about royals warring for the Iron Throne.
None of that should make A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms feel lesser, however. There are great characters here, and it’s a story that still packs in plenty of thematic heft – and a few major twists – despite being lighter. It will, hopefully, prove you don’t need to be exactly like Game of Thrones to be a successful fantasy TV show, something that more networks should be paying close attention to so that the fantasy genre can continue to survive and thrive on the small screen.
A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms premieres on January 18th, 2026, on HBO and HBO Max.
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Image courtesy of Stage 6 Films -
Image courtesy of Lucasfilm.
