A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms (HBO)

Set nearly a century before the events of *Game of Thrones*, *A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms* delivered one of HBO's strongest recent premieres, attracting 6.7 million viewers across HBO and HBO Max within three days of its January 18, 2026 debut. This strong opening positioned the show as the third-largest premiere in HBO Max history, trailing only *House of the Dragon* and *The Last of Us*. The series trades the grand scale of its predecessors for a more intimate story, following a hedge knight and his squire as they wander a Westeros that has not yet succumbed to the tragedy of the later wars. It proved the franchise's ability to succeed with a smaller, character-focused narrative, earning positive reviews from critics and demonstrating that high-quality fantasy worlds continue to attract substantial audiences. By February 2026, the first season was averaging 14 million viewers per episode in the United States and 26 million worldwide.