'A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms' release date: HBO Max announces streaming window for 'Game of Thrones' prequel

HBO Max has announced a premiere date for the new Game of Thrones prequel series A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms. Based on George RR Martin's "The Hedge Knight", the first in his "Tales of Dunk and Egg" series of fantasy novellas set in the world of his "A Song of Ice and Fire" novels, the show has been slotted a January 2026 window.

These novellas revolve around the adventures of 'Dunk' (the future Lord Commander of the Kingsguard, Ser Duncan the Tall) and 'Egg' (the future King Aegon V Targaryen), some 90 years before the events of the Fire and Ice novels.

The other two novellas in the series are "The Sworn Sword" and "The Mystery Knight".

Recently, Martin praised the series in his blog post, sharing that he had seen and loved "all six episodes (the last two in rough cuts, admittedly)," and found the cast commendable too. "Dunk and Egg have always been favourites of mine, and the actors we found to portray them are just incredible. The rest of the cast is terrific as well. Wait until you guys meet the Laughing Storm. And Tanselle Too-Tall."

Martin added that the Knight of the Seven Kingdoms adaptation is "as faithful as an adaptation as a reasonable man could hope for (and you all know how incredibly reasonable I am on that particular subject)."   

However, he said the series is not for viewers who go into it seeking "action, and more action, and only action…"

He revealed there's a "huge" and "exciting" fight scene but one shouldn't expect dragons, huge battles or white walkers, clarifying that it's more of a character-centric story with its focus on "duty and honour, on chivalry and all it means."

"The Hedge Knight", Martin shared, was published between "A Game of Thrones" and "A Clash of Kings" in Robert Silverberg’s epic anthology "Legends" and was so popular that it brought tens of thousands of new readers to Westeros. "Sales of my novels were much higher after Legends than before, and for that, I credit Silverbob, Anne Groell, and Dunk and Egg.  This one ranks as one of the best stories I’ve ever written, and I am so so so pleased that Ira Parker, Ti Mikkel, Aziza Barnes (may they rest in peace), Owen Harris, and our astonishing cast and crew did right by them."

Creator Ira Parker, too, confirmed that tone will be different from that of the previous GoT shows, in an interview with Entertainment Weekly. “Nobody's thinking about magic. This could basically be 14th century Britain. This is hard nose, grind it out, gritty, medieval knights, cold with a really light, hopeful touch. It's a wonderful place to be. We are ground up in this series, we are starting right at the bottom. We're not with the lords and ladies, the kings and queens."