At a certain point, we’re going to have to stop using this as a comp, but it seems particularly apt here: A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms, the new Game of Thrones prequel series heading to HBO, is the boldest franchise reinvention since Andor.
To be clear, the six episode HBO series does not have the sweeping ambition or political savvy of the Star Wars spinoff, and in fact in many ways it’s exactly the opposite. Small scale, small ambitions, and most of all, very, very funny. But in the same way that Andor proved the Star Wars universe has room for different tones from different voices, so too does A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms prove there are more stories to tell in George R.R. Martin’s Westeros than grim and gruesome tales of succession.
Set about 100 years before the events of the original series, and based on a series of novellas by Martin, the show follows Ser Duncan The Tall, aka Dunk, played by Peter Claffey. He’s maybe just been made a knight, though probably not, by his mentor, a “hedge knight” who nobody seems to remember well and only really made an impression on Dunk. In order to prove himself, and the legacy of his mentor, Dunk decides to enter a jousting tournament… Though his first major challenge is getting anyone to allow him to enter the tourney.
Along for the ride is the tiny, high-voiced “Egg” (Dexter Sol Ansell), a bald child who desperately wants to become Dunk’s squire for the simple reason that the latter seems to be kind. It’s the central relationship of the show, and while the season – all six episodes were provided for critics – is much more about Dunk’s emotional journey, Dunk and Egg present an adorably earnest pair worth following.
In fact, some of the best scenes in the episodes are simply Dunk and Egg hanging out. A sequence where the two cook a goose egg sandwich for breakfast doesn’t just look delicious, it shows the simple joys of sharing a meal. When they go to watch the tourney and Dunk realizes the tiny Egg can’t see what’s happening, he puts him on his shoulders. Episode after episode, Knight of the Seven Kingdoms purposefully underplays these simple, adorable moments, thereby emphasizing their impact – and the characters’ growing devotion to each other.
If you’re wondering how this connects to the greater A Song of Ice and Fire universe… Well, it does, though despite the novellas being on shelves for years and a central mystery for the show sitting in the first paragraph of the Wikipedia entry, HBO has asked we not spoil the surprise for viewers. But beyond that deep lore connection, at the tourney there are partying Baratheons, conniving Targaryens, and even House Fossoway, whose symbol is an apple and are obsessed with apple cider.
Of those, Daniel Ings makes the biggest impression as the perennially drunk Ser Lyonel Baratheon, who has vastly more power and influence than Dunk, yet forms a bond with the lunkering hedge knight anyway. And not affiliated with a house, but Tanzyn Crawford features in some fascinatingly staged sequences as Tanselle, a puppeteer who Dunk becomes infatuated with.
A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms is very clear about its intentions and ambitions from the first episode, when Dunk swears he’ll win the tourney and prove himself, the iconic Game of Thrones theme swells – only to be interrupted by a smash cut to Dunk happily and loudly defecating on a tree. It’s the first of many undercuts and surprises in the show, which always seems to be leaning to the abject horror and treachery of Westeros when instead it leans towards kindness and goofy humor instead.
Don’t worry, for those of you who crave violence, the show gets there with an absolutely brutal episode late in the season that also includes a flashback to a key Game of Thrones location, from a new perspective. But that’s the exception for a series that’s more concerned with how one does the right thing in a world that favors those who do wrong. That’s always been a part of previous series like Game of Thrones and House of the Dragon. Where those series had “good” characters broken down, beaten, and punished, here we do get a variation on that, but there’s a hope that being good and true might actually work out in the end… Something that delineates Knight of the Seven Kingdoms from the other shows in the franchise.
To talk about the big picture again, House of the Dragon, though excellently made, doesn’t shake up the Game of Thrones formula too much, despite taking place in a different time period and with different characters. A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms, meanwhile, proves there’s much more to do in Westeros than ride dragons and battle for extremely sharp thrones. It’s simple, it’s sweet, it’s funny, and like Andor it’s less about “Expanding The Lore” than telling an emotionally driven story about two characters, Dunk and Egg.
And that’s the one simple trick to making a good TV show, right? And in particular, how to inject new life into a franchise that’s playing the same notes, over and over again? Think about the theme, the idea, the characters first – and if it connects to the greater world, fine. But you don’t start with that; you start with the characters, stupid. A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms remembers this. As a result, it shows that if the world of Westeros wants to expand further, there are a lot more places it can go. And not all of them need to be grueling slogs of spiraling danger. Sometimes, you can just have a large man and a small boy sitting together and happily enjoying a goose egg sandwich.
A Knight Of The Seven Kingdoms Premiere Dates And Episode Guide:
New episodes of A Knight Of The Seven Kingdoms premiere Sundays on HBO and HBO Max, at 10pm ET. The season will premiere with one episodes on January 18, followed by one new episode weekly until the season finale.
Here’s what we expect from the full list of episodes in A Knight Of The Seven Kingdoms with premiere dates.
- Sunday, January 18, 2026: A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms, Season 1, Episode 1
- Sunday, January 25, 2026: A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms, Season 1, Episode 2
- Sunday, February 1, 2026: A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms, Season 1, Episode 3
- Sunday, February 8, 2026: A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms, Season 1, Episode 4
- Sunday, February 15, 2026: A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms, Season 1, Episode 5
- Sunday, February 22, 2026: A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms, Season 1, Episode 6 *Season Finale*
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