HBO's next Game of Thrones spin-off has officially been delayed and won't premiere until 2026, which could, in turn, affect the release date of House of the Dragon Season 3. House of the Dragon Season 3 began filming in March 2025, with the expectation that it would be released sometime in 2026, roughly two years after the premiere of Season 2. A new spin-off series in the Game of Thrones franchise was set to be released in 2025, but that is not the case anymore.
A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms has reportedly been delayed by HBO. The series, which will be an entirely new spin-off set in the Game of Thrones universe, had no official release date attached to it, but was slated to be released sometime in 2025. After House of the Dragon Season 2 aired its finale, Max treated fans to a promo showcasing clips from major projects that would be released throughout the rest of 2024 and 2025. Footage from A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms was included, reinforcing the idea that the spin-off would undoubtedly be released sometime in 2025.
According to Variety, a first look at the official trailer for A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms was shown at Warner Bros. Discovery's Upfront presentation. Near the end of the footage, the title card popped up on the screen and included "2026."
No specific release date for 2026 was revealed, but HBO CEO Casey Bloys announced that the series would be coming in the winter, indicating that it could be released sometime in the very early months of 2026, since that would still be the winter season.
A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms' delay could greatly affect the release of House of the Dragon Season 3, which is currently in production and expected to also be released sometime in 2026.
A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms will star Peter Claffey and Dexter Sol Ansell as Ser Duncan the Tall and Egg, respectively. The show will contain six episodes and be adapted from George R.R. Martin's novella titled The Hedge Knight, which is the first in a series of novellas about Dunk and Egg. A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms is set roughly 100 years before the events of Game of Thrones.
Will House of the Dragon Season 3 Be Delayed?
Since A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms was officially pushed back to 2026, House of the Dragon Season 3 could suffer the same fate. House of the Dragon Season 1 premiered in August 2022, with Season 2 following 22 months later, premiering in June 2024.
Due to the similarities in filming schedules, the expectation has been that House of the Dragon Season 3 would be released roughly two years out from the premiere of Season 2. If that were to happen, House of the Dragon Season 3 would come out around June 2026.
However, now that A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms will seemingly be released in either January or February 2026, HBO may not want two major shows from the same universe to debut in the same year.
Even if House of the Dragon Season 3 is still released in 2026, it will likely be pushed back to sometime later in the year so that the two shows do not debut close to one another.
However, it seems likely that House of the Dragon could be pushed back to 2027. If HBO were to release both shows in 2026, then it would be highly unlikely that any Game of Thrones series would come out in 2027.
With so many Game of Thrones spin-offs in the works, HBO's plan is most likely for there to be one season of a show per year. That way, if the shows are staggered, each will get two years per season for development.
Official word regarding House of the Dragon Season 3 will likely be given from HBO sometime in the near future.
