George R. R. Martin discusses howA Knight of the Seven Kingdomswill distinguish itself from previousGame of Thronesshows. The visionary behindA Song of Ice and Fire, the bestselling book seriesGame of Thronesis based on, has seen much success when it comes to content regarding all things Westeros.Game of Thronesremains one of the highest-rated TV shows, sporting an impressive 9.2/10 rating on IMDb. The series was so successful that it spawned several spinoffs, withHouse of the Dragonhaving just ended its second season, and withA Knight of the Seven Kingdomsdebutingin Summer 2025.
Martin took to his blogNot A Blogto discuss howA Knight of the Seven Kingdomswill differ from previousGame of Thronesshows. The author revealed thatthis new series will have a much smaller budget thanGame of ThronesandHouse of the Dragonand will mostly take place in fields surrounded by tents, removing the lavish and expensive sets needed in the other shows. This shouldn’t, however, as Martin reassures, remove the production quality that’s been associated with theGame of Thronesseries.Read his full comment below:
KNIGHT OF THE SEVEN KINGDOMS is a smaller show than either GAME OF THRONES or HOUSE OF THE DRAGON, with a much smaller budget, but I really want it to be great. Ninety percent of the story is set in a field, surrounded by tents, we would not need the huge sets the other shows had featured, but it couldn’t look fake or cheap either, and the costumes and the heraldry and the fights all had to be splendid, and…I was so so happy when I got there, and saw what Ira and his team had built.
What This Means For A Knight Of The Seven Kingdoms
The Show’s Setting Necessitates The Smaller Budget
In the blog post, Martin goes on to explain thatA Knight of the Seven Kingdomswill take place some 90 years before the events ofA Song of Ice and Fire, and he details thatthis story will be “smaller in scale, more personal, with more humor, more focus on character…but there is danger and death as well.”This is different from the epic scale associated withGame of ThronesandHouse of the Dragon, where whole wars are being fought for the Iron Throne.
Dunk & Egg Explained: What Game Of Thrones' Knight Of The Seven Kingdoms Is About
HBO has greenlit another Game of Thrones spinoff series titled A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms: The Hedge Knight, following the characters Dunk & Egg.
As such, by makingA Knight of the Seven Kingdomsa far more isolated story,it makes sense why its budget would be lower than otherGame of Thronesshows. It also better allows HBO to get a sense of how interested audiences are in seeing spinoffs that are less focused on the grand spectacleHouse of the Dragonhas displayed in its first two seasons, but instead relies almost entirely on its characters. Should it prove to be a success, the network may even look at other spinoff options that can be produced on a similarly smaller budget.
Our Take On A Knight Of The Seven Kingdoms Being Smaller In Scale
The concept ofA Knight of the Seven Kingdomsintroduces the possibility of a story never seen before in previous shows. The franchise so far is associated with epic wars, political intrigue, and the exploration ofWesteros’ various kingdoms. While I’ll miss the scale,I think this new show could be a breath of fresh airand result in something, as Martin said, more intimate and character-focused.
…a smaller budget shouldn’t be seen as a flaw but a promise of a much more focused, compact story with fleshed-out characters.
The best parts abouttheGame of Thronesfranchise are its characters, who are so well-concocted and developed by Martin that for him to sayA Knight of the Seven Kingdomswill be more character-focused is exciting, as it promises the introduction of new characters who will most likely be just as well-developed, if not more so, as the characters fans have come to love. The fact thatA Knight of the Seven Kingdomswill have a smaller budget shouldn’t be seen as a flaw buta promise of a much more focused, compact story with fleshed-out characters.
A Knight Of The Seven Kingdoms: The Hedge Knight
Cast
A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms: The Hedge Knight is set in a time when the Targaryen dynasty rules Westeros.
