Game of Thrones spinoff A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms will launch on HBO Max in January 2026, Casey Bloys, Chairman and CEO, HBO and HBO Max Content, has confirmed.
Speaking to Variety, Bloys set January as the release date for the hotly anticipated show, which adapts George R. R. Martin’s Tales of Dunk and Egg novella trilogy, itself a prequel to Game of Thrones set 90 years before the events of the main books.
A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms has been an especially exciting part of HBO’s slate of upcoming shows set in the world of Westeros, as Martin teased earlier this year that he couldn’t wait to see Dunk and Egg’s story come to TV screens.
“I’ve seen all six episodes now (the last two in rough cuts, admittedly), and I loved them," Martin said in a blog post in January. "Dunk and Egg have always been favorites of mine, and the actors we found to portray them are just incredible. The rest of the cast are terrific as well. Wait until you guys meet the Laughing Storm and Tanselle Too-Tall.”
Martin continued to celebrate A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms, adding, “It’s as faithful an adaptation as a reasonable man could hope for (and you all know how incredibly reasonable I am on that particular subject).”
Despite Martin’s towering praise, we’ve seen little from the show since it was announced in 2021. After locking in actors Peter Claffey and Dexter Sol Ansell to play Ser Duncan the Tall and Egg, respectively, HBO went on to reveal one image from the show in June 2024. A brief teaser trailer followed in August, showing a glimpse at some of the series’ major players and a few shots of familiar Game of Thrones action.
House of the Dragon Season 3, meanwhile, is set for release early summer 2026. In a separate interview with Deadline, June was suggested.
In March this year, House of the Dragon showrunner Ryan Condal called George R.R. Martin’s criticisms of the series’ second season “disappointing” following remarks the author published in 2024.
Drama in the Game of Thrones world began when Martin promised to dive into “everything that’s gone wrong with House of the Dragon” in August last year. It’s a promise he kept, going on to call out plot elements related to Aegon and Helaena’s children as he expressed concern for how future seasons of the show might play out. The post was eventually removed from the author’s website without explanation but not before thousands of fans — and HBO — caught wind of the grievances it presented.
While Martine sounds more enthusiastic about A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms than House of the Dragon, 2026 is set to be a big year for Game of Thrones spinoff TV with two major series on the way.
Wesley is Director, News at IGN. Find him on Twitter at @wyp100. You can reach Wesley at wesley_yinpoole@ign.com or confidentially at wyp100@proton.me.
