Next up in the Game of Thrones universe is prequel A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms, which is a very different series to anything we've seen in Westeros so far. Unlike Game of Thrones and House of the Dragon, this spinoff focuses on the common people of Westeros. It's not about kings, queens, crowns, and high politics, but rather about a knight-for-hire and his squire, trying to navigate the Seven Kingdoms.
A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms follows Ser Duncan the Tall (Peter Claffey), a knight-for-hire, also known as a Hedge Knight, and his young squire Egg (Dexter Sol Ansell). Set around a century before the events of Game of Thrones, the series follows the duo as they traverse the Seven Kingdoms, facing numerous trials and tribulations along the way. It's about the day-to-day struggles of a common man, rather than a world-disrupting conflict.
Naturally, the series feels very different to Game of Thrones, but it's still based on novellas written by George R.R. Martin. In fact, Martin got the inspiration to write the books A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms is based on, calledThe Tales of Dunk and Egg, after receiving one piece of fair criticism. "One of the things that one of the (critics) said was, 'Here it is, another fantasy, and we get to hear more about kings and lords, and lords and kings. Nobody ever writes about the common people' – the smallfolk, as I call them," he said at New York Comic Con, per USA Today. "And that resonated with me. Believe it or not, occasionally, we do listen to some of the critics, if they know what they're talking about."
The main goal for the series was to ardently stick to Dunk's perspective. "Everything we see should be through the eyes of Dunk," Martin explained. "That was something to discuss when we were developing [the show]. Do we want to keep with that? And I was strongly in favor of keeping with that."
Martin has so far published three novellas in the series: The Hedge Knight (1998), The Sworn Sword (2003), and The Mystery Knight (2010). He does plan to write more, but nothing further has been published yet.
A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms will be the next to air in the Game of Thrones franchise. It debuts on HBO and HBO Max on January 18, 2026, and consists of six episodes. With the return of House of the Dragon in summer 2026, next year will be the most prolific year for content in the franchise's history!