10 TV Shows Like a Knight of the Seven Kingdoms You Should Watch Next.
We’re going back to Westeros, baby! Although, we haven’t really left, really, as we’re just between seasons of another Game of Thrones spinoff, and rumor has it there are several more in development. It seems like the only place the Game of Thrones universe has completely stalled is on the show’s pages, but I digress.
While the original series saw the kingdom in decline, and House of the Dragon returns to the Targaryen dynasty at its height , A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms picks up somewhere in the middle, shifting the focus from the kingdom’s powerful figures to the lesser (at least for now) commoners: Ser Duncan the Tall (Peter Claffey), a low-born knight-errant, and his loyal squire, Egg (Dexter Saul Ansell), who may be destined for a greater destiny. It’s this approach to power that sets the series apart from the rest of the franchise, and it’s what binds these 10 “analogues,” whether they’re fantasy or historical fiction, together.
Alchemy of Souls (2022–2023)
This popular South Korean series, consisting of two seasons, rivals “Knight” in its gripping drama and medieval action scenes. Set in the fictional city of Daeho, reminiscent of Joseon-era Korea, Lee Jae-wook plays Chang Wook, a nobleman of dubious origins whose natural magical abilities were taken away at birth. Nak-soo (Jung So-min), meanwhile, is an assassin killed by a rival family. Fortunately, she manages to survive (with the help of alchemy) by transferring her soul into the body of a weak, blind woman. When Wook and Nak-soo (in her new body) meet and he discovers her true identity, they strike a deal: she will publicly act as his squire and teach him everything she knows about martial arts and magic, provided he helps her get revenge.Watch “Soul Alchemy” on Netflix.
House of the Dragon (2022 – )
An obvious choice, given that it’s a Game of Thrones spinoff, since (minor spoiler for the new series!) House of the Dragon also focuses on the Targaryen family, whose members are always up to something. While Game of Thrones showed the fall of the dragonriders, and Knight takes place a bit earlier, House of the Dragon goes further back in time to show us the royal dynasty at its height, before incest and idleness drove them completely mad. Watch House of the Dragon on HBO Max .
Merlin (2008–2012)
This film is fairly lighthearted, at least compared to everything else going on in Westeros, but we still see a pair of mismatched friends, one with a more pressing destiny, traversing a medieval landscape. Colin Morgan plays the title character, a sorcerer who arrives in Camelot to find magic forbidden—which doesn’t stop a dragon voiced by John Hurt from explaining to him that he must protect the king’s only son (Bradley James), a boy who will grow up to unite the country. (The boy’s name is Arthur, if that wasn’t already obvious.) Watch Merlin on Prime Video and Tubi.
Shogun (2024 –)
This adaptation of James Clavell’s novel is set at the end of the Warring States period in Japan. Ambitious English sea pilot John Blackthorne (Cosmo Jarvis) is shipwrecked on an island and falls into the clutches of a leading warlord, Lord Yoshi Toranaga (Hiroyuki Sanada), each with something valuable to offer the other. Blackthorne becomes Hatamoto Toranaga, his standard-bearer and most trusted retainer. Reluctantly serving as their interpreter is Toda Mariko (Anna Sawai), fiercely loyal to Toranaga but with a troubled past. With all the main characters based on real-life figures, and much of the plot reflecting world history, this (mostly) Japanese drama has a verisimilitude that rivals anything George R.R. Martin ever devised. Watch Shogun on Hulu .
The Wheel of Time (2021–2025)
The Wheel of Time is a stunning piece of fantasy storytelling, following a group of young people kidnapped from the secluded village of Moiraine Damodred (Rosamund Pike), a powerful sorceress who believes one of them is the reborn Dragon, a creature that will either heal the world or destroy it. The series is more epic in scope than A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms , but it skillfully focuses on the otherworldly villagers as they grapple with the dangers of the world around them at the same time the audience does. The series was canceled after its third season, which had just found its groove, covering roughly the first four books of Robert Jordan’s long-running fantasy series, so I suppose you could always start watching it with the intention of finishing the story on paper—rather the opposite, unlike Game of Thrones , which gave us an ending George R.R. Martin hadn’t yet written. Watch The Wheel of Time on Prime Video .
Vinland Saga (2019–2023)
In this beautiful anime series, set in England in 1013 AD, conqueror Sweyn Forkbeard is on the brink of death, sparking a struggle for the throne between his sons Harald and Cnut (it’s true!). Amid this upheaval, the series follows Thorfinn Karlsefni, a dramatized version of the real-life Icelandic explorer who eventually traveled to Greenland and then Vinland (roughly modern-day Newfoundland and Labrador). Initially a vengeful mercenary in the service of a Viking warlord, Thorfinn navigates the complex politics of his world before coming to grips with the horrors of the bloodshed he has witnessed and for which he is responsible. It’s one of the most impressively realized anime series of the last decade. Watch Vinland Saga on Prime Video , Hulu , and Netflix.
The Witcher (2019 – )
Beginning with a somewhat convoluted, temporally-confused narrative structure in which we follow multiple storylines at different points in time, The Witcher eventually finds its rhythm as a show about a big guy fighting creatures in a Tolkien-esque kingdom. The protagonist, Geralt of Rivia, a genetically enhanced (in some ways) magical monster hunter, played first by Henry Cavill and then by Liam Hemsworth, refuses to kill a young woman accused of monstrosity by some rogue mage—a decision that leads him on a path to protecting and mentoring Ciri (Freya Allan), the crown princess many want dead.Watch The Witcher on Netflix .
The Pillars of the Earth (2010)
This historical drama (adapted from Ken Follett’s novel) features relatively few knights and lacks fantasy elements, but The Pillars of the Earth shares with A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms a roughly medieval setting (in this case, literally medieval) and a story featuring men tangentially connected to power living through extremely tense times. Set during the English Anarchy, when the designated heir, Matilda, fought Stephen of Blois for the throne, the series centers on mason Tom Builder (Rufus Sewell), who is tasked with building a cathedral in Knightsbridge after he and his family have lost almost everything. Starring Ian McShane, Matthew Macfadyen, Eddie Redmayne, and Hayley Atwell, The Pillars of the Earth is available to rent on Prime Video.
Those About to Die (2024)
Once again, we’re talking about people on the fringes of power in uncertain times (or maybe they’re all uncertain). Roland Emmerich is one of the main creators of this short-lived series, which captures the atmosphere: it’s big, loud, and often predictable, yet incredibly funny. Imagine a soap opera set in the early days of the Roman Colosseum under Emperor Vespasian (Anthony Hopkins): while the emperor’s sons struggle for dominance, Tenax (Iwan Rheon), the owner of Rome’s largest gambling tavern, forms an unlikely alliance with Kala (Sara Martins), a Black Numidian woman who has come to Rome in search of her children, enslaved by Roman soldiers. She’s willing to do anything ( anything ) to ensure their safety. Watch “Those About to Die” on Peacock .
The Lord of the Rings: Rings of Power (2022–)
Want prequels? Here’s one for you. Though vastly different in tone and execution, both Martin’s Westeros and J.R.R. Tolkien’s Middle-earth represent attempts to craft unique fantasy worlds from the raw clay of Western European history and mythology. Set several thousand years before The Lord of the Rings , this story has many subplots, but the protagonist is almost certainly a young (or younger) Galadriel (Morfydd Clark). When the sympathetic but enigmatic Annatar offers to help the elves forge rings of power, Galadriel is the only one who realizes something is wrong. As in The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings , it is the less powerful who suffer the most from the machinations of Middle-earth’s elite. Watch The Lord of the Rings: Rings of Power on Prime Video .