Targaryens Face Biggest Challenge Yet In Game Of Thrones Prequel Series

The Targaryens are set to face their biggest challenge yet in the upcoming Game of Thrones spinoff series A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms, according to the creator. The upcoming series is based on George R. R. Martin’s novellas, Tales of Dunk and Egg, and will serve as a prequel to HBO’s smash-hit series Game of Thrones.

A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms boasts an ensemble cast, and is due to debut on HBO in January 2026. The series is set to explore the world of A Song of Ice and Fire around 90 years before the events of Game of Thrones, with the Targaryens, one of the franchise’s most powerful families, set to feature prominently.

Per EW, showrunner Ira Parker talked about how the Targaryens will face their biggest challenge yet in the upcoming series, with the family’s name having lost some of its luster, and the last dragon having died out 50 years before, removing the main asset that helped them achieve power in the first place. Check out Parker’s comments below:

“With the rise of Dunk, we’re just over 50 years after the death of the last dragon, but that wasn’t even much of a dragon. It was a sort of gnarled thing that it couldn’t even fly. If you can’t fly, what are you really? They’re just a fancy lizard.

They find themselves finally without the thing that put them in power, which is such a precarious position to be in. Fifty years on from the dragons, people are starting to ask the question, ‘Well, why are we still letting them be in power?’

They normally maybe wouldn’t have even bothered with this backwater little town in the middle of the Reach. But they do because they have to be seen as still in charge.”

What This Means For A Knight Of The Seven Kingdoms

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This makes for an interesting plot point for the series moving forward, and presents an intriguing premise for the Targaryens, and what will become of their dynasty without dragons. By the time of the events of Game of Thrones, the Targaryen empire is all but a footnote in history, with the exiled Daenerys the only remaining member of the bloodline.

However, there is a time period before these events, where a lot of questions are likely to be answered about what becomes of the Targaryen family, as well as why they all seemingly die out. Parker’s comments reveal that this could mark the beginning of the end of the Targaryen empire, and the show could document its fall.

Our Take On A Knight Of The Seven Kingdoms’ Targaryan Story

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A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms will be very different to House of the Dragon and Game of Thrones, and the fact it explores an earlier timeline in one epic story means it could have a major impact on the franchise. The Targaryens are the most intriguing and powerful families in Westeros history, and the show fleshes out their backstory.

The series is another extension of the Game of Thrones franchise, and one that adds some essential facts and plot points to the story. The Targaryens are explored the least in the original show, but they have such a bearing on the history of Westeros that A Knight Of The Seven Kingdoms revealing more about them helps fill in gaps.