The world of Westeros has continued on HBO following Game of Thrones‘ divisive finale, mostly maintaining the dramatic and often bleak tone of the original series. Now, a full trailer has released for A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms, and I was surprised to see the footage lean into comedy for the 2026 TV schedule. The House of the Dragon Season 2 finale may have aired a long time ago, but I definitely don’t remember any laughs the last time I saw a Targaryen or tourney, and the trailer for the new show has me flashing back to A Knight’s Tale. Check it out, above!
Sure, the trailer doesn’t feature Queen’s “We Will Rock You” as an in-universe tourney song or include an unexpected dance number a la Heath Ledger’s A Knight’s Tale, but there are definitely some laughs to be had out of the setting at a tourney with some jokes that feel modern enough to almost be anachronistic within the fantasy world. For Game of Thrones and House of the Dragon, a sense of anachronism (up to and including the infamous Season 8 coffee cup) might feel out of place. For what we’ve seen of Dunk and Egg’s series so far, it could be just what the world of Westeros needs.
It remains to be seen how accurate this is to the finished product, but a greater emphasis in the trailer is focused on Dunk, a.k.a. Ser Duncan the Tall, played by Peter Claffey. He’s evidently a hedge knight, which doesn’t make him too popular with the ladies at the tourney, and he has higher ambitions to serve the Targaryens. His bulk makes for a fun contrast to his small squire, Egg, played by young Dexter Sol Ansell, who seems to be the savvier one of the duo when it comes to the society they live in.
The trailer also includes characters who haven’t been seen in other HBO properties, with tracks with the setting chosen by George R.R. Martin in his novellas that inspired A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms. While the world of Westeros is familiar to anybody who has watched Game of Thrones or House of the Dragon, the new show should be set nearly a hundred years before the original series, and about seventy years after the end of the Targaryen civil war, as detailed in our Targaryen family tree. This will be after the time of Daemon and Rhaenyra, but well before Jon Snow and Daenerys.
I haven’t read the novellas just yet despite reading Martin’s A Song of Ice and Fire saga and Fire & Blood, but I know enough about the era to be intrigued by the royal Targaryens who will be included: Bertie Carvel as Baelor Targaryen, Sam Spruell as Maekar Targaryen, and Finn Bennett as Aerion Targaryen.
Aerion should be interesting, to say the least, if AKOTSK follows Martin’s lore of the dynasty, and I got a kick out of the trailer acknowledging the rampant incest in the family. Martin previously expressed that he was “so so pleased” with the new show., which definitely contrasts with how he went off on House of the Dragon‘s changes from Fire & Blood.
So, will the new show be as funny as the trailer indicates? Or were the jokes a misdirect, and the characters will be as serious as HOTD‘s Otto Hightower and Game of Thrones‘ Stannis Baratheon? Are Dunk and Egg going to be a depressing duo, or as much fun as they seem from this early footage? Only time will tell, but fortunately, this upcoming Game of Thrones series will premiere early in the new year.
In fact, A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms will follow the tradition of Game of Thrones and House of the Dragon by airing on HBO and streaming via HBO Max subscription on Sunday nights. You can check out the first episode on Sunday, January 18 at 10 p.m. ET, as well as both of the other Westeros-set series on the HBO streamer.
If you’re also now in the mood to revisit (or watch for the first time) Heath Ledger’s iconic 2001 film, you can find A Knight’s Tale streaming with a Hulu subscription now. Fun fact: the movie also features future Game of Thrones star Mark Addy, who played the ill-fated Robert Baratheon.