Yesterday, we learned that A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms — a new Game of Thrones prequel series based on George R.R. Martin's Tales of Dunk and Egg novellas — was getting delayed. Originally, A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms was going to air sometime this year, but now it's going to come in the winter of 2026, which at least means it'll come early in the year.
Still, it's annoying, because TV fans are getting more and more fed up with having to wait eternities between new seasons of their favorite shows, especially when episode counts seem to be dropping. Granted, A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms hasn't aired yet, so we can't miss what we haven't seen. But I'm afraid what this may forebode for HBO's other Game of Thrones prequel show, House of the Dragon.
The second season of House of the Dragon wrapped up in August of last year, with filming on season 3 getting going around March. We've heard that it could run through October, a good long time. That guarantees that we won't see new episodes until 2026, and possibly a good while into 2026; when your show has dragons and battles, post-production can take a long while.
Now, with A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms getting delayed into 2026, I worry House of the Dragon season 3 might get pushed into 2027. Maybe HBO delayed Knight because it knew that post-production on House of the Dragon season 3 was going to eat up a ton of time, and it wanted Game of Thrones fans to at least have something to tide them over through 2026.
Of course, that means they get nothing to tide them over through 2025. I really, really wish HBO would be more proactive about renewing shows earlier. Even with its giant hit shows, it doesn't seem to want to plan ahead. Cameras didn't start rolling on season 3 of House of the Dragon until six months after the season finale. We all know the show is coming back; why not start the process earlier and keep the wait to a minimum? Recently, we heard that filming on the third season of The Last of Us won't start until early next year, which guarantees an agonizing wait between seasons 2 and 3 with nothing to keep fans occupied in the meantime. And The Last of Us is even more popular than House of the Dragon; why wouldn't you want to get moving faster?
Or maybe I'm wrong and the first season of A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms will air the same year as the third season of House of the Dragon, although then we have a new problem: over-exposure. Having the two shows trade off, with a new season of A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms airing one year and a new season of House of the Dragon the next, seemed like a perfect system; we'd still have to wait too long between seasons, but at least we'd have something to entertain us in the interim. Now, not so much.
At the end of the day, this is all just speculation; I don't have a direct line to the powers-that-be at HBO or Warner Bros. Discovery, although if they'd like to give me one I'm open. We'll keep an eye out for more news in the long, long meanwhile.
To stay up to date on everything fantasy, science fiction, and WiC, follow our all-encompassing Facebook page and Twitter account, sign up for our exclusive newsletter and check out our YouTube channel.