HBO's newest fantasy series, A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms, is a certified masterpiece, and data proves the Game of Thrones offshoot is only improving from greatness. HBO has become the home of premium TV that has spawned hits in every genre from fantasy to drama to comedy. Undeniably, HBO's biggest venture into the fantasy realm came in George R. R. Martin's Game of Thrones, which already spawned a global hit spin-off in House of the Dragon's first two seasons, and will be back for more this summer and again, one last time in 2028.
More recently, HBO premiered A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms, a smaller story about two humble characters in the world of Westeros that is only improving. IMDb user ratings prove that A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms is only getting better week-to-week on its six-episode journey. The average rating has climbed with every episode from a strong 8.2 premiere to a staggering 9.7 for Episode 4:
- Episode 1, "The Hedge Knight" - 8.2
- Episode 2, "Hard Salt Beef" - 8.3
- Episode 3, "The Squire" - 9.1
- Episode 4, "Seven" - 9.7
For context, that rating places "Seven" above even the best-reviewed episode of House of the Dragon's two seasons so far. The height of the Targaryen-centric spin-off scored 9.4 and came with Season 2, Episode 4, "The Red Dragon and the Gold," which finally delivered on the series' promise of epic dragon warfare.
Even when compared to the award-winning flagship series, IMDb's user ratings place the 2026 fantasy spin-off's fourth episode in the Top 10 of HBO's entire Game of Thrones franchise, which includes 94 episodes across three spin-offs and 15 years ahead of A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms Episode 5.
That places "Seven" in good company with the Red Wedding, the Battle of the Bastards, King Joffrey's death, the duel between The Mountain and Pedro Pascal's Oberyn Martell, and more fan favorites:
- Game of Thrones - S3 E9: "The Rains of Castamere"
- Game of Thrones - S6 E9: "Battle of the Bastards"
- Game of Thrones - S6 E10: "The Winds of Winter"
- Game of Thrones - S5 E8: "Hardhome"
- Game of Thrones - S2 E9: "Blackwater"
- Game of Thrones - S4 E2: "The Lion and the Rose"
- Game of Thrones - S4 E8: "The Mountain and the Viper"
- Game of Thrones - S4 E10: "The Children"
- Game of Thrones - S4 E6: "The Laws of Gods and Men"
- A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms - S1 E4: "Seven"
A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms will debut its fifth and sixth episodes on Sunday, February 15 and 22, only on HBO and HBO Max. The series stars Peter Claffey's Ser Duncan the Tall and Dexter Sol Ansell's Egg.
Find out why A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms' release plan may be flawed.
A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms Is the Start of a Longer Journey
A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms is vastly different from anything that has come before George R. R. Martin's Seven Kingdoms. Unlike House of the Dragon and Game of Thrones, which star large ensembles and explore multiple perspectives of political intrigue, HBO's latest is the story of two characters in Westeros.
Some enthusiasts have been turned off by the new series' shorter runtimes, which are down from the usual hour-long epics and run 30 to 40 minutes. However, the 3 hours, 28 minutes is more than enough time to adapt The Hedge Knight short story, given that Martin's 1998 tale is only 85 pages long.
Fans will be excited to hear that A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms has already been renewed for Season 2 and started filming in December. Due to the series' smaller-scale nature, A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms will achieve what House of the Dragon couldn't with an annual release schedule that sees it continue in 2027.
Excitingly, A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms may even have the opportunity to grow beyond the three novellas, as Martin handed the series' crew the "main beats" of 12 more stories that span Dunk and Egg's entire lives. If the series keeps on winning at HBO, fans could be in it with Westeros' latest duo for the long haul.
A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms drew impressive viewership from the get-go, launching to 6.7 million viewers and landing in the top three series launches in HBO Max's history (via Variety). Still, that figure falls behind the 7.8 million who tuned in for House of the Dragon Season 2, which was already a steep decline from the almost 10 million who watched the series premiere in 2022.
