Just when you thought George R.R. Martin's Game of Thrones empire was nothing but a cash grab wrapped in dragons and despair, along comes A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms.
The HBO spinoff, based on Martin's Tales of Dunk and Egg novellas, is being hailed as one of the best shows of 2026 so far by Rolling Stone. It's the buddy comedy nobody knew they needed in Westeros.
Set roughly a century before the flagship series, the show follows bumbling would-be knight Dunk (Peter Claffey) and his young, bald-headed squire Egg (Dexter Sol Ansell) on their adventures. It's fun.
Unlike the final season of Game of Thrones, which buckled under the weight of spectacle and sprawling mythology, this spinoff refuses to take itself too seriously. It cracks wise, gets properly bawdy, and doesn't obsess over connecting every dot in Martin's massive lore.
There are incredible set pieces—legitimately stunning jousting battles that'll make your jaw drop. But the show is freed from the exhausting burden of wrapping up the entire saga. It exists in the margins and has a laugh.
Rolling Stone's full breakdown reveals a broader pattern in 2026's best TV: the shows actually sticking with audiences are packed with anxiety about work, class, and identity. The ones mixing genres, smashing expectations, and deploying razor-sharp humour are the keepers.
A Game of Thrones spinoff delivering genuine, gut-busting laughs without relying on dragons and betrayal alone suggests Martin's TV empire has life in it yet.
