The Game of Thrones universe has been battered by years of fan backlash over forced messaging, character assassinations, and what many see as heavy-handed progressive insertions — especially in the later seasons of the original series and the more overt identity politics in House of the Dragon. Enter HBO's A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms (premiered January 18, 2026), the adaptation of George R.R. Martin's Dunk and Egg novellas. It's not just surviving — it's exploding in popularity precisely because it ditches the "woke" baggage that poisoned the well.
ZeroHedge's February 2026 piece captures the sentiment perfectly: audiences approached this spinoff with "extreme caution" after the "incredible woke failure" of late GoT and the "insipid gayness" of House of the Dragon. Yet the "complete absence of woke propaganda" delivered a "pleasant shock," turning scepticism into massive viewership. The show now averages nearly 13 million U.S. viewers per episode (per Variety and HBO data), with three-day premieres hitting similar highs and week-over-week growth. That's a ratings slam dunk — outpacing even HBO's Emmy-winning medical drama The Pitt (around 12 million) in many metrics, and placing it among the top launches in HBO Max history.
Faithful, Character-Driven Storytelling Without Lectures: Based on Martin's lighter, more grounded Dunk and Egg tales, the series follows hedge knight Ser Duncan the Tall (Peter Claffey) and his squire Egg (Dexter Sol Ansell) in a buddy-adventure set ~90 years before GoT. It's intimate — no sprawling wars, no dragons dominating every scene, just tournaments, honour, mishaps, and human-scale drama over six ~30-minute episodes. Critics and fans praise its comedic twists, moral clarity (heroes are heroic, not subverted for ideology), and focus on talent, story, and compelling characters over political points.
No Forced Diversity Quotas or Identity Obsessions: Unlike House of the Dragon's complaints about heavy-handed inclusions or GoT's late-season pandering, this show sticks to the source material's medieval realism. No skin-colour fixation, no gender/sexuality agendas shoehorned in. Right-wing and anti-woke commentators hail it as "proof TV can still be great if you ditch woke bulls**t" — morally good protagonists, no lame ideological virtue-signalling, just solid fantasy rooted in Martin's world.
Critical and Audience Acclaim: It boasts a 94-95% Certified Fresh on Rotten Tomatoes (higher than GoT's 89% or HotD's 87%), with IMDb at 9.0/10 from over 119K ratings. Reviews call it "charming," "breezier," "the GOT spinoff that fixes everything," and even "for the haters" tired of the franchise's bloat. It's renewed for Season 2 (adapting The Sworn Sword, expected 2027), signalling HBO's confidence.
From a conservative/Right-leaning perspective, this success validates a growing backlash: audiences are exhausted by entertainment that prioritises activism over escapism. When shows lecture on modern issues through medieval proxies, viewers tune out (woke series often limp to 2-5 million viewers with steep declines). But deliver a faithful, fun, unapologetic story — honour, chivalry, humour, brutality without preachiness — and they flock back. A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms proves the formula: respect the source, trust the audience, skip the agenda. It's not anti-anything; it's just pro-good storytelling.
In a sea of declining franchises crippled by cultural capture, this spinoff is a breath of fresh Westerosi air. No dragons needed — just knights, squires, and zero tolerance for narrative sabotage. If HBO keeps this up, the Game of Thrones brand might finally reclaim its throne.
https://www.zerohedge.com/political/non-woke-game-thrones-spinoff-explodes-popularity