Fans Disappointed by Short Runtime of ‘The Knight of the Seven Kingdoms,’ Call It a Greedy Ploy by HBO

The new prequel series is expected to be noticeably shorter than what Game of Thrones fans have come to expect.

Leaked details have revealed the running times for episodes of A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms: The Hedge Knight. According to reports, the show will comprise six episodes of roughly 30 minutes each. That brings the total runtime for the season to about three hours — a small fraction compared with the roughly ten-hour seasons of the original Game of Thrones and House of the Dragon.

Some fans have expressed frustration at the compact format, calling for the tale to be released as a full-length film. Others view the shorter episodes as a deliberate tactic to sustain audience interest.

Episodes are scheduled to air weekly from January 18 through February 25, 2026, and user charlie0824 argues this is “modern engagement farming: most won’t subscribe to HBO Max for a single movie, but they will for six episodes spread across six weeks.”

The series is adapted from George R. R. Martin’s Dunk and Egg novellas, which are set roughly a century before the events of Game of Thrones. The leads are Peter Claffey as Ser Duncan the Tall and Dexter Sol Ansell as Egg.

A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms: The Hedge Knight will premiere on January 18, 2026, on HBO Max.

Source: iXBT.games