Tourism in Westeros seems to be thriving, as HBO’s Game of Thrones spinoff, A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms, is shaping up to be its greatest hit yet, with staggering viewship counts since its debut on 18 January.
According to a report from Variety, the five episodes released thus far have averaged close to 13 million US viewers each, with the latest episode, “In the Name of the Mother”, drawing in 9.2 million cross-platform US viewers in just three days. With these figures, A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms is shaping up to be the third biggest series debut in the history of the streamer.
In addition to strong viewership figures, the show has also been highly rated by critics and fans alike, with a whopping 93% critic rating on Rotten Tomatoes, making it the highest-rated show among the three Game of Thrones series to date. A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms is also steadily approaching its season finale on 22 February, which is sure to bump up viewership even more.
A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms centres on Ser Duncan the Tall (Peter Claffey, Vikings: Valhalla), a hedge knight in Westeros, as he wanders the land and teams up with a squire named Egg (Dexter Sol Ansell, The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes). The show is based on George R. R. Martin’s Tales of Dunk and Egg novels, and is set between the events of 2022’s House of the Dragon and 2011’s Game of Thrones.
The show also sees the return of the production team from House of the Dragon, including writer and executive producers Martin and Ira Parker, alongside Ryan Condal. Owen Harris (Kill Your Friends) directed the show’s first three episodes, with Sarah Adina Smith (Birds of Paradise) taking over for its latter half.
With its massive success so far, it’s no surprise that A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms has already been renewed for a second season, which is expected to premiere sometime in 2027 and will adapt the events of the 2003 novel The Sworn Sword.
Kevin is a reformed PC Master Race gamer with a penchant for franchise “duds” like Darksiders III and Dead Space 3. He has made it his life-long mission to play every single major game release – lest his wallet dies trying.
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