‘Knight of the Seven Kingdoms’ Hits 13M, Sets HBO Record

Westeros still rules the streaming charts. A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms, HBO’s latest adaptation of George R.R. Martin’s Dunk and Egg stories, is averaging 13 million U.S. viewers per episode — and it’s now on track to become one of the biggest series debuts in HBO Max history.

The milestone lands just days before the Season 1 finale, proving that audiences are more than ready for a return to Martin’s quieter, knight-errant corner of the Seven Kingdoms.

A Major Win for Dunk and Egg

According to Collider’s report on the new viewership figures, the series is averaging 13 million U.S. viewers per episode. Episode 5, “In the Name of the Mother,” drew 9.2 million cross-platform viewers in its first three days alone, with three-day totals climbing week after week.

The show is also riding a wave of critical acclaim. It currently holds a 93% critic score and 75% audience score on Rotten Tomatoes, while IMDb users have pushed Season 1 to a 9/10 rating. Episodes 4 and 5 sit near-perfect at 9.7, briefly making Episode 5 one of the highest-rated TV episodes on the platform.

Set roughly 80 years after the events of House of the Dragon, the series adapts Martin’s Tales of Dunk and Egg, beginning with The Hedge Knight. Peter Claffey stars as Ser Duncan the Tall, a hedge knight with more honor than status, alongside Dexter Sol Ansell as his young squire, Egg — who just happens to be a Targaryen.

Proof the Westeros Appetite Is Strong

The success of A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms underscores just how durable Martin’s world remains, even years after the divisive finale of Game of Thrones. Industry watchers have already dubbed it one of 2026’s biggest fantasy hits, edging out other high-profile debuts and solidifying HBO’s grip on prestige genre television.

Martin himself has praised the adaptation’s fidelity to his novellas, and the author remains involved as the series moves forward. Season 2, already in production and set for 2027, will adapt The Sworn Sword, continuing Dunk and Egg’s journey across the Seven Kingdoms.

The show’s momentum also adds another chapter to the author’s ever-expanding screen legacy, which recently included plans for a two-hour take on the same material, as we reported in George R.R. Martin Wanted ‘Knight’ as Two-Hour Film. And with Martin promising that his literary ending to Westeros will differ from HBO’s version, as explored in George R.R. Martin Promises His Book Ending Won’t Match HBO’s Game of Thrones, the appetite for his stories shows no sign of fading.

The Season 1 finale airs this Sunday on HBO Max. If the numbers are any indication, Dunk and Egg’s road through Westeros is only just beginning.