HBO Solves The 'Game Of Thrones Problem' With New High Fantasy Series

Via MovieStillsDB Published Oct 13, 2026, 1:00 AM EDT Lewis is a Lead Writer for Screen Rant and has written for the site since 2022. This has allowed Lewis to explore a vast array of films, TV shows, books, comic books, and games from across the mainstream world of pop culture, reflecting his lifelong love of all media and typifying his experience in the world of fiction storytelling. To top this off, Lewis graduated from Northumbria University with First Class Honours in Film & TV Studies, truly exemplifying his experience in the medium. Sign in to your ScreenRant account Despite the overall popularity of the Game of Thrones franchise, HBO ran into a problem with the original show that its new high fantasy series is avoiding. In many ways, it is the end of an era for the Game of Thrones franchise. House of the Dragon, one of the show's many spin-offs, will come to an end with the upcoming season 4, paving the way for a Game of Thrones theatrical movie based on the story of Aegon the Conqueror's foundation of the Seven Kingdoms. This comes after a more divisive reaction to the Game of Thrones franchise, which began with seasons 6, 7, and 8 of the eponymous show. At this point of the show's run, its writing team was quickly running out of material from George R. R. Martin's Game of Thrones books, with the author yet to release a sequel to 2011's A Dance with Dragons. This resulted in Game of Thrones' creators following more of their own path, with only loose guidance from Martin on how the show could end. From season 5 onwards, largely regarded as one of the lower-ranked Game of Thrones seasons, the show's storytelling quality began to go downhill. This culminated in Game of Thrones season 8, which is now infamous as one of the worst endings to a high-profile TV show in history. As alluded to, the biggest reason for this was the lack of source material to base the show's ending on. Still, in 2026, George R. R. Martin is yet to release The Winds of Winter, with this becoming the biggest Game of Thrones problem HBO encountered. Thankfully, the network's latest high fantasy show has no such problem: A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms. A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms is yet another prequel to Game of Thrones, but is based on an already-completed set of novellas: The Hedge Knight, The Sworn Sword, and The Mystery Knight. This gives the writing team of A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms a much clearer plan for their show, which is something Game of Thrones' creators lacked after season 4. As evidenced by the acclaim of A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms season 1, this lack of a Game of Thrones problem was a godsend. A Knight Of The Seven Kingdoms Won't Run Into Game Of Thrones' Ending Problem MovieStillsDB What further ensures that A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms won't repeat HBO's Game of Thrones problem, even after all novellas have been adapted, is the outline George R. R. Martin has provided its writers. Martin has stated that he has many more ideas for his Tales of Dunk and Egg series, ranging from six, at minimum, to 12. Many of these have already been formed as rough outlines, which Martin could provide to HBO as a way to continue A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms beyond season 3. Although this was reportedly the case with Game of Thrones post-season 5, Martin has stated how different the ending of the series will be in the novels compared to the show. This indicates that Game of Thrones' team changed elements of Martin's planned ending, which is not likely to happen with A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms after the reaction to the former's final season. Moreover, the latter show has a much more concise narrative by focusing on two characters, rather than being akin to the massive, world-spanning, ensemble saga Game of Thrones was. This means that Martin outlining an ending for the characters, and A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms adapting that, will be much easier than having to conclude a massive story of Game of Thrones' scale without any source material. All of this supports the argument that HBO is avoiding Game of Thrones' biggest problem with its acclaimed new series set in Westeros. Game of Thrones $45 $85 Save $40 TV Show(s) Game Of Thrones, House of the Dragon, A Knight Of The Seven Kingdoms First TV Show Game Of Thrones Cast Emilia Clarke, Peter Dinklage, Sophie Turner, Kit Harington, Lena Headey, Maisie Williams, Nikolaj Coster-Waldau, Iain Glen, John Bradley, Alfie Allen, Conleth Hill, Liam Cunningham, Gwendoline Christie, Aidan Gillen, Isaac Hempstead-Wright, Rory McCann, Nathalie Emmanuel, Jerome Flynn, Rhys Ifans, Matt Smith, Graham McTavish, Fabien Frankel, Steve Toussaint, Eve Best, Emma D'Arcy, Matthew Needham, Olivia Cooke, Milly Alcock, Emily Carey Created by George R.R. Martin