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Cher Thompson is a Senior Staff Writer at Screen Rant, where she covers everything from explosive reality TV moments to cast interviews about the twists and turns of scripted dramas. With a background in creative writing, marketing, and teaching, Cher knows how to spot both the storytelling genius and the guilty pleasures in pop culture. Her work blends wit with insight, making readers feel like they’re chatting with a friend who just happens to know way too much about TV.
Game Of Thrones changed the way that audiences looked at fantasy TV after its 2011 premiere, but years after its end, the franchise is finally releasing its true masterpiece. The series, based on George R.R. Martin’s A Song Of Ice And Fire novels, fundamentally reshaped television as viewers knew it during its run on HBO. While the show was a sweeping cinematic experience, it couldn’t capture Martin’s wide-ranging scope.
The series worked hard to ensure that the cinematic quality of the narrative wasn’t lost, and worked its way through stories of political intrigue, moral ambiguity, and high fantasy over the course of eight seasons. Despite being an entry point for those who hadn’t read A Song Of Ice And Fire, Game Of Thrones had its fair share of limitations.
The show’s global success may have helped legitimize high-budget fantasy as mainstream entertainment, but its departure from fantasy as niche programming meant that Game Of Thrones had heavy expectations when adapting Martin’s work. The HBO series became synonymous with shocking twists, brutal power struggles, and large-scale spectacle throughout its run. Leaning heavily into the warfare elements of the novels, Game Of Thrones found a hook that worked.
While dragons, White Walkers, and magic were present, the approach that proved enormously successful for Game Of Thrones was visceral action, heavy emotional betrayals, and an intricately built world rife for battle. The introspective elements of Martin’s writing were often missing from the series, at least at the depth many viewers expected. HBO continued the same momentum with House Of The Dragon, a prequel series.
While the Game Of Thrones franchise has expanded, the focus of both the original series and House Of The Dragon skewed toward political maneuvering and explosive conflict, reinforcing the franchise’s reputation for high intensity and stakes as it moves through its stories. While viewers have enjoyed both shows, they can sometimes miss the heart at the center of A Song Of Ice And Fire.
Thankfully, it appears things are about to shift within the franchise. Longtime readers of Martin’s work are looking forward to the upcoming series in the Game Of Thrones line, A Knight Of The Seven Kingdoms, as it feels like it will finally unpack some of the more emotional elements of the story that ring true to the original book series.
A Knight Of The Seven Kingdoms Can Capture The True Spirit Of ASOIAF
The upcoming Game Of Thrones prequel series, A Knight Of The Seven Kingdoms, is based on Martin’s collection of novellas, Tales Of Dunk And Egg. The novellas, set roughly 90 years prior to the events of Game Of Thrones, follow Ser Duncan The Tall, a hedge knight from a humble beginnings, and his young squire, Egg, who is secretly Aegon Targaryen.
The new series will be a big change, as the novellas itself are quite different from A Song Of Ice And Fire. Tales Of Dunk And Egg is not only made up of far lighter subject material, the stories are deliberately smaller in scale than what went into Game Of Thrones. Looking at everyday life in Westeros more closely, A Knight Of The Seven Kingdoms will cover new ground.
Game Of Thrones And House Of The Dragon Have Been All About The Action
Although it’s been a successful tactic for Game Of Thrones as a franchise, both the original series and House Of The Dragon have relied on creating a sense of spectacle throughout their individual runs. Both shows have featured major battle sequences, CGI elements with dragons and warfare, and big events full of bloodshed that have defined entire seasons of the series.
The emphasis on action can sometimes come at the expense of quieter the storytelling that’s found in Martin’s books. Rather than focusing on the personal moments and subtle shifts in character, Game Of Thrones and House Of The Dragon centered their narratives on an escalating sense of turmoil fueled by violent battles and intense moments. This action-forward approach only represents one facet of Martin’s world.
George R.R. Martin's Best ASOIAF Moments Are The Quiet Ones
While the high-fantasy battles of A Song Of Ice And Fire’s books are sprawling and engrossing, Martin’s best work in the books is often the powerful, understated narrative it creates. Conversations between knights, small acts of kindness or cruelty, and reflections on what’s come to pass carry more weight than battles on the page.
The stories that explore how history is shaped in a smaller-scale are often the most impactful parts of A Song Of Ice And Fire. With more ordinary people finding themselves the focus of the books, the quieter, more human moments that play out between them are what Game Of Thrones viewers expected to see in the franchise thus far.
Will A Knight Of The Seven Kingdoms Be As Popular As Game Of Thrones?
While it’s not necessarily likely that A Knight Of The Seven Kingdoms will be able to replicate the initial impact of Game Of Thrones, the series will be able to carry its weight with fans of the franchise. HBO’s intense launch created a sense of gravity that was unique to Game Of Thrones, and A Knight Of The Seven Kingdoms will take a far different approach.
As the Dunk and Egg stories are a quieter, slower-paced look at Westeros in a different era, they don’t necessarily carry the same weight in a narrative sense. Thankfully, A Knight Of The Seven Kingdoms can bank on Game Of Thrones viewers being interested while the show is able to do something completely different from its predecessor.
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A Knight Of The Seven Kingdoms
Release Date January 18, 2026
Network HBO
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Peter Claffey
Ser Duncan 'Dunk' the Tall
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Finn Bennett
Aerion Targaryen
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Bertie Carvel
Baelor Targaryen
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Game Of Thrones
10/10
Release Date 2011 - 2019-00-00
Showrunner David Benioff, D.B. Weiss
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Isaac Hempstead Wright
Brandon Bran Stark
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English (US) ·