Inside the Plan to Keep HBO’s Best Fantasy Series Going 15 Seasons — And Make TV History

HBO has been flirting with fantasy on TV for decades, but its latest Westeros detour might be the one that sticks around the longest. And yes, I know that sounds wild given how young the show is, but hear me out.

How we got here

Back in the 2000s, HBO dipped a toe into ambitious, genre-heavy worldbuilding with Carnivale. It lasted two seasons and vanished, but it proved the network was game to try big, weird swings. Then 2011 happened, Game of Thrones bulldozed the TV landscape, and suddenly high-budget fantasy was not just viable, it was the main event. Since then, we’ve had House of the Dragon and the His Dark Materials adaptation. Good runs, both. But right now, the crown belongs to A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms — and based on Season 1 alone, it beat House of the Dragon’s debut.

What A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms actually is

This one adapts George R.R. Martin’s Tales of Dunk and Egg, set roughly 90 years before Game of Thrones. It follows Ser Duncan the Tall, a wandering hedge knight with more conscience than coin, and his sharp, secretive squire, Egg. The show is smaller in scope and budget than the flagship series, but it makes that work: it leans into warmth, humor, and character, and still swings hard when the swords come out. Season 1 wasn’t just strong — it’s one of HBO’s best of 2026 so far.

The plan to run forever (give or take)

Here’s where it gets delightfully audacious. HBO’s longest-running scripted series is Curb Your Enthusiasm, which wrapped in 2024 after 12 seasons. (If you’re counting unscripted, Real Sports with Bryant Gumbel reigns with 29.) A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms could match or even top Curb. That’s not me dreaming — that’s the creative team’s target.

• Source material: Martin has ideas for up to 12 Dunk & Egg novellas.
• Season count: Showrunner Ira Parker has talked about 12–15 seasons in total.
• Release pattern: Think Curb’s stop-start approach, but supersized — 4–5 seasons, then a decade off, then another 4–5, another long break, and a final 4–5.
• Why it tracks: Dunk and Egg’s story stretches about 50 years in the lore; we know the endpoints, but there’s a lot of road in the middle to fill in.
• The record to beat: Curb ran 12 seasons across roughly a quarter-century, with seven seasons in its first 10 years, a six-year gap, and a few more runs after that.

Does that actually make sense?

On paper: extremely risky. You need HBO’s full buy-in, serious long-term logistics, and you have to convince the two leads to come back after each long break. In terms of story, though, it lines up nicely. Egg doesn’t stay a squire forever — he becomes King Aegon V Targaryen. That evolution bakes in natural time jumps and fresh dynamics as the characters age and the stakes change. Following Egg from kid squire to an actual reign is something we haven’t really seen in this franchise; unlike Bran’s arc, which more or less stops once he’s crowned, this would keep going.

The endgame they’re aiming for

If the show only adapts the three novellas Martin has published so far, it won’t feel done — no real climax, no proper goodbye. The ideal path is the big one: 12–15 seasons culminating in the Tragedy at Summerhall, which is the event that effectively closes the Dunk & Egg chapter in this world. Even dialing that back to end with Egg taking the throne still requires multiple seasons and a lot of years to land properly. And yes, doing it with the same actors — aging with the roles rather than recasting — would be the special sauce. It asks a lot from HBO, the cast, and the audience. If the show can keep the Season 1 level, it’s worth the ride.

The immediate future

We haven’t even hit Season 2 yet — that’s coming to HBO and HBO Max in 2027 — but the ambition is out there. For now, Season 1 is streaming on HBO Max, and it’s a sharp reminder that smaller-scale Westeros stories can still hit hard.