HBO’s Game of Thrones franchise expands once again with the release of A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms, which marks a major first for the franchise.
A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms is based on the Dunk and Egg novellas written by George R.R. Martin which take place decades before the events of Game of Thrones. These novellas are significantly more lighthearted than A Song of Ice and Fire, putting a focus on the buddy-adventures of hedge knight Ser Duncan the Tall and his squire, Egg.
Not only is the show thematically very different from its predecessors, but the show is also a much more condensed series.
A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms season 1 episode runtimes
The debut season of A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms consists of just six episodes, which makes it the shortest Game of Thrones series yet.
The episode count is shorter than that of the average season of Game of Thrones and House of the Dragon by design, as the show is intended to be more of a limited series. The shorter season is also a result of there being less source material for the seasons given the show is based on novellas. For context, The Hedge Knight novella consists of 184 pages total whereas the first book in Martin’s A Song of Ice and Fire series, A Game of Thrones, is 720 pages long.
In addition to a smaller episode count, A Knight of the Seven Kingdom episodes are all under the 1-hour mark with only one of the first season’s episodes passing the 40-minute mark. This is going to be a noticeable change for Game of Thrones franchise fans who have grown used to longer episodes from this franchise. Whereas Game of Thrones and House of the Dragon episodes were typically an hour or longer, most episodes of A Knight of the Seven Kingdom are about a half-hour.
Here's the full breakdown of the Knight of the Seven Kingdoms season 1 episode runtimes, complete with dates and titles where we know them:
- Episode 101, "The Hedge Knight" - Releasing January 18, 2026: 42 minutes
- Episode 102, “Episode Title TBA” - Releasing January 26, 2026: 33 minutes
- Episode 103, “Episode Title TBA” - Releasing February 2, 2026: 31 minutes
- Episode 104, “Episode Title TBA” - Releasing February 9, 2026: 34 minutes
- Episode 105, “Episode Title TBA” - Releasing February 16, 2026: 37 minutes
- Episode 106, “Episode Title TBA” - Releasing February 23, 2026: 31 minutes
For comparison, the shortest episode of House of the Dragon is season 1, episode 2, "The Rogue Prince,” which clocks in at 54 minutes. Meanwhile, the shortest episodes of Game of Thrones were 50 minutes, a record tied by season 6, episode 1, “The Red Woman,” and season 7, episode 4, “The Spoils of War.” This means that the longest episode of A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms is still 12 minutes shorter than the shortest episode of House of the Dragon and eight minutes shorter than the shortest episode of Game of Thrones.
It’s also interesting that the season 1 finale of A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms is one of the season’s shortest episodes, as Game of Thrones franchise finales tend to be among the longest episodes in the season. Hopefully the season 1 finale will be able to close out the season on a strong note, despite the shorter runtime.