The new year is shaping up to be another great year for TV, and it’s already hit the ground running with the arrival of The Pitt Season 2, His & Hers, and The Traitors Season 4. 2026’s strong lineup of new and returning shows spans network TV and streaming and all genres, with everything from FX’s The Beauty to Hulu’s Buffy the Vampire Slayer: New Sunnydale rolling out in the coming months. As viewers look ahead to those shows and more, the wait for one of the most anticipated shows of 2026 ends today as it gears up for its HBO and HBO Max premiere.
Get ready to head back to Westeros for the next installment of George R. R. Martin’s A Song of Ice and Fire franchise. The Game of Thrones prequel series A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms premieres on HBO and HBO Max on January 18th at 10 p.m. ET. The series is based on the Tales of Dunk and Egg novellas and set 100 years before the events of GoT during an age when the Targaryen line still holds the Iron Throne. It follows the hedge knight Ser Duncan the Tall and his diminutive squire, Egg, as they wander Westeros. Unlike the hour-plus-spanning episodes of Game of Thrones and the House of the Dragon spinoff, A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms consists of six shorter episodes, running around 30 to 45 minutes each.
A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms Continues the Game of Thrones Franchise’s Success
Play video
Game of Thrones was one of the most culturally significant and critically and commercially successful TV shows, and it’s managed to replicate that success not once, but twice now. Although it’s too early for audiences to weigh in, the series is heading into its series premiere with a “Certified Fresh” distinction on Rotten Tomatoes after critics gave it an 87% rating. That number matches House of the Dragon’s average critic score across its current two seasons, and only sits two points below Game of Thrones’ average 89% rating. With strong source material from Martin’s novellas, the series once again transports viewers back to the expansive world of Westeros, shifting focus to the common folk rather than the Iron Throne with a lighter, more character-driven story.
ComicBook’s James Hunt gave A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms a 4.5 out of 5 as a “near-perfect adaptation” that is “exactly what Game of Thrones needed.” The series is a “truly refreshing” entry into the GoT lore that, while not of the same epic, battle and violence-laden scale as other Game of Thrones entries, still “makes everything that happens in the narrative feel just as important.” Looper’s Matthew Jackson wrote that the show is “a charming, intimate, delightful series that’ll change the way you look at Westeros forever,” and Decider’s Meghan O’Keefe wrote that “it’s a story that doesn’t need the pyrotechnics of dragon fire because it has plenty of human heart, soul, and heroism.”
Will There Be A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms Season 2?
The adventures of Dunk and Egg won’t end after the Season 1 finale. In November, HBO renewed A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms for Season 2. The show’s sophomore season is set to debut in 2027, and while its future beyond that is unknown, there are a total of three current Dunk and Egg books to pull from. Season 2 is set to draw from The Sworn Sword, and a potential Season 3 could be based on The Mystery Knight.
A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms premieres on HBO and HBO Max at 10 p.m. ET on January 18th, with new episodes dropping weekly on Sundays leading into the Season 1 finale on February 22nd.
What do you think? Leave a comment below and join the conversation now in the ComicBook Forum!