A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms: Rotten Tomatoes Scores Revealed

The Rotten Tomatoes audience score has debuted for A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms. The new Game of Thrones spinoff is based on George R.R. Martin’s Tales of Dunk and Egg novellas, with season 1 adapting the first installment, The Hedge Knight.

Following the January 18 premiere of the first episode on HBO Max, A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms has a “Fresh” audience score of 77%. This is based on more than 100 ratings and will likely fluctuate as more are added, but the current Popcornmeter score is the third-lowest for any season in the franchise. Only Game of Thrones season 8 at 30% and House of the Dragon season 2 at 72% are lower.

After initially debuting with a Tomatometer score of 82%, critics’ reception to the spinoff has further improved, and now sits at 88% based on 56 reviews. This is also the third-lowest in the franchise, only ahead of Game of Thrones season 8 and House of the Dragon season 2, although it is only 2% away from tying Game of Thrones and House of the Dragon‘s season 1 scores.

One of the primary reasons for this reception is because of how different the new show is from its predecessors. It is a lighter, more comedic, and smaller scale story where the characters are not fighting to claim the Iron Throne and rule Westeros. A Targaryen is still king and the royal family is not embroiled in civil war or having other houses threaten to unseat them from power.

Instead, Dunk (Peter Claffey) is a simple hedge knight trying to make a living by trying to fight in a tourney, while the young Egg (Dexter Sol Ansell) becomes his squire. In ScreenRant‘s A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms review, Jordan Williams describes the series as “an intimately charming and nuanced take on Westerosi life and politics from an often-ignored perspective.”

As indicated by the Rotten Tomatoes scores, this approach appeals to the majority of critics and general audience members, but it does not resonate quite as strongly as most of Game of Thrones or House of the Dragon season 1 did. Those series rely heavily on political intrigue and massive battles that change the fate of Westeros, which is not the story being told this time.

Regardless of the slightly less favorable reception, A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms is off to a promising start with its viewership. Only a day after the premiere, it is in the number one spot on HBO Max’s top 10 for the U.S. and 13 other countries and is fifth overall globally. As more time passes and more episodes are released, it will likely climb even higher worldwide since the only show outperforming it that is in the midst of a new season is The Pitt.

New A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms episodes release Sundays on HBO and HBO Max at 10 p.m. ET/7 p.m. PT.

Release Date

January 18, 2026

Network

HBO

Showrunner

Ira Parker

Directors

Owen Harris

Writers

George R. R. Martin, Ira Parker

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  Peter Claffey

  Ser Duncan ‘Dunk’ the Tall

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