We May Know Why Game of Thrones’ Next Prequel Was Delayed (& It’s a Good Thing)

Back in May, HBO announced that its next Game of Thrones spinoff, A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms, has been delayed to premiere in 2026, and now we may know why. Last week, the fan account “House the Dragons” reported that A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms Season 1 is undergoing reshoots in Belfast, Northern Ireland, where principal photography took place last year. If true, that might help explain the unexpected delay. It might also be a good thing, especially considering the praise this series has already gotten from those who have seen it. It’s possible that the reshoots will help set up a second season, though the show hasn’t been officially renewed yet.

A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms filmed in Belfast from June of 2024 to September, with six episodes total. At the time, author George R.R. Martin even predicted that it would be ready to premiere in “early 2025,” and that seemed to be the plan when the first teaser dropped in the fall. However, after a few quiet months, HBO CEO Casey Bloys announced the delay at the Warner Bros. Discovery upfront presentation. The show is now expected in early 2026, followed closely by House of the Dragon Season 3 later in the year.

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Reshoots don’t mean much on their own, though fans are prone to infer reasons and motives behind them. It’s true that some shows and movies go through reshoots in the hopes of improving them or correcting errors, but that doesn’t seem to be the case here. Martin himself has praised A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms enthusiastically on his blog, even while he was criticizing House of the Dragon Season 2 just as vehemently at the same time.

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We May Know Why Game of Thrones’ Next Prequel Was Delayed (& It’s a Good Thing)

Martin’s endorsement, along with positive comments from HBO executives and producers, seem to indicate that there was nothing major to corrector touch up in A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms Season 1. The season is an adaptation of Martin’s novella The Hedge Knight, so we can assume there are no major changes to the story underway. We can’t know for sure, but one of the remaining reasonable explanations is that HBO is expecting to renew the series, and is looking to set up a second season better.

There are other positive reasons the show might be reshooting as well — it’s possible that the post-production and CGI processes exposed some issues with the practical effects, and producers are using the time they have to fine tune these two aspects of the project. It could also be that the show is establishing some connections with House of the Dragon — while the two stories are set nearly a century apart in the timeline, they will likely be connected in some way by prophecies and dreams, like most of Martin’s stories in Westeros. Whatever the case, it’s easy to imagine good reasons for reshoots on this series.

A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms is based on a series of prequel novellas by Martin, which start about 90 years before the events of the main story. They follow Ser Duncan the Tall, a.k.a. Dunk (Peter Claffey) and his mysterious squire, Egg (Dexter Sol Ansell). The first season will be an origin story for this duo, and the two other novels depict their adventures across Westeros together seeking righteous work for a wandering knight. Martin has hinted that the climax of this novella series will eventually tie into his main series, so these are not unimportant side stories by any means. He has discussed plans to write as many as nine of these novellas eventually, and many fans are hoping the series will be renewed long enough to see that story to its conclusion.

Martin’s novellas are available now in print, digital, and audiobook formats, most accessible in a single book titled A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms. The TV adaptation is expected sometime in early 2026.