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A VERY IMPORTANT storytelling lesson has been taught in a very public way, via the success of HBO’s A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms. The prestige cable network’s latest Game of Thrones series is, very specifically and purposefully, not a major story. Yes, these are characters we learn to love, and the stakes of the story feel real and important, but we’re not watching a story that threatens an entire world. Those things still exist, but A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms is focused on a very small, very specific story within that world. And we’re learning that that’s OK—and that people will watch.
A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms has been not only adored by critics and fans alike, but it’s earned huge ratings—reportedly averaging 13 million viewers per episode. This comes not long after Marvel also was lauded for its latest series, Wonder Man, which focused on a very specific guy with a very specific focus and problem (who just happened to have super powers). Star Wars, too, has never been better than telling the stories of what happens between the margins with Andor.
House of the Dragon will return later this year on HBO, and, with the third season of that series, HBO will return to its maximalist, fire-breathing dragon storytelling. And that’s also good! But it’s become clear that everything doesn’t have to be like that. With A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms, it’s become abundantly clear that the most important thing is making sure viewers have people they can care for, and care about.
Luckily, there are guaranteed to be more Dunk (Peter Claffey) and Egg (Dexter Sol Ansell) stories for us in the future.
Will there be a season 2 of A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms?
Steffan Hill
Yes! A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms was already renewed for a second season back in November 2025, months before the first season would debut. At press time, production on the second season is already well underway.
There are in total three A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms “Dunk and Egg” novellas, but A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms showrunner Ira Parker said in a Reddit AMA that George R. R. Martin gave him 10-12 more ideas beyond that. Parker has also alluded that he basically wants to make the show for… well, decades, following Dunk and Egg essentially through their entire lives.
“They’re producing Season 2 right now, Season 3 beyond that,” HBO President Casey Bloys said on the show’s future in an interview with Deadline. “I haven’t really gotten into what’s possible beyond that, but if he’s got more stories, it’s certainly something to talk to Ira and George about.”
So, there’s a lot of storytelling potential here!
When would season 2 of A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms come out on HBO?
HBO
Unlike the large gaps between other large-scale shows (like House of the Dragon, Stranger Things, and Andor), the plan is for A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms to return to our screens on an annual basis.
“This will be annual,” Bloys said in the same interview with Deadline, before referring to a point he’d earlier made about how HBO Max’s The Pitt would continue to also return on an annual basis. “Again, it was something that we were trying to—it’s not possible for all shows—but it is something that, where it’s possible creatively, to get back to that and we’d like to try and do that.”
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Evan is the culture editor for Men’s Health, with bylines in The New York Times, MTV News, Brooklyn Magazine, and VICE. He loves weird movies, watches too much TV, and listens to music more often than he doesn’t.