House Of The Dragon Ending A 14-Year Game Of Thrones Streak Can Be Fixed By The Next Spinoff

House of the Dragonbroke aGame of Thronesstreak, and it’ll be on HBO’s next Westeros spinoff to put things right. The first prequel in the expanding franchise has, in many ways, taken up its predecessor’s crown: it’s a ratings smash, and largely a hit with critics too. However, asHouse of the Dragonseason 2’s endingshows, it hasn’t all been smooth sailing.

That episode, along with other aspects of its sophomore outing, proved pretty divisive. And while that sets a challenge forHouse of the Dragonseason 3to get things back on track, it’s already done some damage to the show’s reputation, at least when it comes to the Emmys.

A knight wears a grim countenance as he prepares to put on his helmet in a scene from A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms

The series can fix things as theDance of the Dragonscontinues, but another prequel - which is also filled with Targaryens - could get there first.

A Knight Of The Seven Kingdoms Can Restore GOT’s Emmys Streak

It Has A Lot Of Ingredients The Emmys Like

House of the Dragonseason 2 didn’t pick up any major Emmy nominations, and became the first season of the franchise not to get a nod for Outstanding Drama Series. That’s a blow for HBO, though the network otherwise had a lot of success, butA Knight of the Seven Kingdomshas a chance to correct things.

The show, which adapts George R.R. Martin’sThe Tales of Dunk and Eggnovellas, will be smaller in scale thanHouse of the Dragon, but that doesn’t mean it can’t be an awards hit. The Television Academy historically loved the franchise, and it also likes to nominate a few new things each year.

House of the Dragon, like Game of Thrones, was also nominated in its first season, so would the shiny new GOT show be ignored?

Two shows were nominated for Outstanding Drama Series for their first season this year (The PittandParadise); last year it was four, including the eventual winner,Shōgun.House of the Dragon, likeGame of Thrones, was also nominated in its first season, so would the shiny newGOTshow be ignored?

WithMartin himself giving an early rave review ofA Knight of the Seven Kingdoms, some fantastic source material to adapt, and a chance to do something different with a familiar franchise,there are plenty of reasons to believe this will be an awards contender.

Its early-2026 release date will position it for the Emmys later that year, and with some heavyweights unlikely to be in the mix (network stablemates likeThe Last of UsorThe White Lotuswon’t be back in time), thenHBO should give it a serious push.

A Knight Of The Seven Kingdoms Is What Game Of Thrones Needs

It’s An Important Step For The Franchise

Whether it ends up in awards contention or not,A Knight of the Seven Kingdomsis exactly what theGame of Thronesfranchise needs, and will be like a breath of fresh air.

A Knight of the Seven Kingdomswas originally expected to release in 2025, before being pushed to an early-2026 window. Filming wrapped in September 2024.

The series has plenty of thematic heft to it, to be sure, but at the same time, there is a lighter tone to things, and the scope is reduced.This isn’t about an epic battle of the Iron Throne filled with dragons and White Walkers, but a more human drama about what it takes to be a hero, or simply a good person.

While there will be familiar elements like Targaryens and politics, this is a different sort of show that will prove there’s a great diversity to the kinds of stories that can be told in Westeros. It’s what Martin’s novellas did, and it’s somethingA Knight of the Seven Kingdomscan repeat. Not everything needs dragons in order to set the TV world - or awards season - alight.