A Knight Of The Seven Kingdoms Trailer Suggests HBO Will Avoid Peter Jackson's Hobbit Mistakes

Sweeping battles, larger-than-life characters destined for greatness, and lots of dragons ... every "Game of Thrones" fan has been conditioned to expect these things from this franchise, but that's finally about to change. Viewers may be in for quite a surprise with "A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms," HBO's latest spin-off/prequel series from the imagination of author George R.R. Martin. Today brought us our first official look at the trailer for the upcoming show, and it's already clear that it will be forging its own identity altogether in the world of Westeros. But a closer look at the footage brings to mind a completely different fantasy property altogether — one that stands as a cautionary tale for what co-creator and showrunner Ira Parker hopes to accomplish here.

Those who found themselves charmed by this glimpse into the rough-and-tumble adventures of Ser Duncan the Tall (Peter Claffey) and his loyal squire Egg (Dexter Sol Ansell) may be reminded of the show's spiritual ancestor: J.R.R. Tolkien's "The Hobbit." Famously (or infamously, depending on your perspective), that roughly 300-page children's novel made its way to the big screen through Peter Jackson's prequel films. It's hardly a secret that the production of the "Hobbit" movies was largely a mess, and much of that boils down to the misguided notion of taking a small-scale story and blowing it up to the level of, well, "The Lord of the Rings."

In an odd way, "A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms" gives its creative team the opportunity to learn a crucial lesson of what not to do. Fortunately, we have a sneaking suspicion that this is exactly what they'll pull off. Here's how.

Here's a somewhat counterintuitive truth that "A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms" appears to have internalized: Not everything needs to be "Game of Thrones." Even when it comes to another significant spin-off series set in the universe first established in the smash-hit original series, less certainly seems to be more. The trailer teases a much more stripped-down, grounded, and (mostly) dragon-free setup this time around, which comes as a significant change of pace from what "House of the Dragon" has established for itself since its first season. Heck, we're now at the point where criticisms of that show's second season revolved around it delaying a major battle until season 3.

But when you look at "A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms," it couldn't feel more refreshing compared to how "The Hobbit" was first marketed in the early 2010s. Jackson's attempt to bring Tolkien's prequel story about Bilbo Baggins' episodic journey through Middle-earth started on a humble enough note, but it quickly became subsumed by the blockbuster expectations of the day. The simplest and most straightforward of narratives (Bilbo is recruited on a quest to help some Dwarves slay a dragon) soon expanded into a trilogy of three-hour epics, none of which could truly sustain themselves over the course of their runtimes. Remember that quote in "The Fellowship of the Ring" (by Bilbo, no less) about "butter scraped over too much bread?" Yeah, let nobody doubt Tolkien's powers of prophecy.

Over a decade later, though, "A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms" could finally show us how it was meant to be done.

Unlike "The Hobbit," which was announced as a two-part blockbuster saga before later transforming into a full trilogy, "A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms" is blissfully lacking any such red flags. "A Song of Ice and Fire" author George R. R. Martin may have developed a reputation as somewhat of a verbose writer through his main saga, but the source material behind this latest show is a whole other animal. Technically a collection of novellas as opposed to an actual novel series, Martin's so-called "Dunk and Egg" books were intentionally crafted as a bite-sized, breezy read. Though actually written first before being retroactively refitted into his more famous novels, Tolkien's "The Hobbit" serves a similar function. Now, "A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms" seems primed to keep this going when it hits HBO early next year — even if fans may not get to experience as many episodes as they're used to.

Unlike "Game of Thrones" and "House of the Dragon," both of which typically ranged between 7-10 episodes per season (with the glaring exception of the final season of "Game of Thrones" and, well, we saw what happened with that), "A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms" is taking a dramatically more restrained approach. The new series will clock in at only six total episodes and, for once, we're actually thrilled about that. This is definitive proof that Ira Parker and his writers aren't feeling pressure to pull a "Hobbit" and add more storylines and scale just for the sake of it. Viewers will have to adjust themselves to a very different treatment of this fantasy world they know so well, but here's hoping this risk pays off ... and leaves our unpleasant memories of "The Hobbit" even further in the rearview mirror.

"A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms" comes to HBO on January 18, 2026.