The world of Westeros is coming back to HBO early in the 2026 TV schedule with A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms, once again based on source material from George R.R. Martin. Premiering on January 18 with stars Peter Claffey as Ser Duncan the Tall and Dexter Sol Ansell as young squire Egg, the new prequel is a fresh take on the Game of Thrones franchise with a lighter tone and shorter run time. That's not a bad thing for the author after his recent comments about House of the Dragon, with Claffey explaining how "happy" Martin was when visiting the set.
As he hinted in blog post timed to House of the Dragon Season 2 with its many changes from the Fire & Blood source material, George R.R. Martin became less involved as the series went on. In comparison, he has been openly praising A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms for nearly a year now, and the new leading man weighed in on how the first of Martin's Dunk and Egg novellas was adapted. When I asked the actor what conversations he had with the author, Peter Claffey shared:
