HBO's New Game Of Thrones Replacement Is R-Rated Lord Of The Rings

Published Sep 21, 2026, 10:00 PM EDT

Angel Shaw is a Lead Writer and Critic on ScreenRant's TV team, covering new-release and classic TV shows across all major streaming platforms. She has been a writer with ScreenRant since 2022 and specializes in Harry Potter, The Lord of the Rings, and fantasy. 

Angel holds a bachelor's degree in language interpreting and is passionate about all things culture and communication—especially in how it relates to popular media throughout history (from Shakespeare to Friends to Game of Thrones).

High fantasy just doesn't feel like it used to. Of course, that isn't automatically a bad thing. A hit like Game of Thrones exists under the high fantasy umbrella, but the traditional heroics and whimsy of, say, The Lord of the Rings is fairly absent. Instead, the modern television landscape centralizes pure grit, gore, and pessimism. There's thrilling political intrigue, a whole lot of sex, and layer upon layer of scheming and maneuvering. This is entertainment at its finest, and HBO's House of the Dragon has carried that ball forward. Still, it's a different vibe.

This isn't to say The Lord of the Rings couldn't be dramatic and intense. J.R.R. Tolkien set the standard for fantasy action, with iconic battle sequences and a bloody in-world history that George R.R. Martin leaned on for his A Song of Ice and Fire series. Still, The Lord of the Rings balances this with a quaint softness. Every moment of darkness is contrasted by heartwarming light. The "bad" of the story is made perfectly evident by the settle-right-in-your-soul peace that the larger picture inspires. Overall, The Lord of the Rings is just the heart of fantasy.

This very specific sort of heart has lost out against the R-rated features of Game of Thrones, but HBO's newest addition to its hit franchise proves that we can have both. A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms is still a Game of Thrones series on paper. It is set in Westeros; you'll come across some Targaryens; the language is foul; there's plenty of nudity; and the shocking, violent twists appear in ways you couldn't expect. However, all of this is layered over with the light, optimistic whimsy of The Lord of the Rings.

The central character of A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms, Ser Duncan the Tall (AKA, Dunk), is precisely the sort of character Tolkien would write. The only thing special about him in the eyes of others is that he is extremely tall. Dunk isn't highborn, he isn't very bright, and he isn't all that talented. He is a big person holding a small space in the world—or so it would seem. A few decisions made with his heart rather than his brain set Dunk on a path that will change Westerosi history forever. It doesn't get more Tolkien than that.

A Knight Of The Seven Kingdoms Is Turning High Fantasy On Its Head

Image via MovieStillsDB

Something rather fun about how A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms embraces the more traditional, heartwarming folklore elements of high fantasy is that Game of Thrones very specifically subverted them. It's undeniable that Martin's A Song of Ice and Fire carries features over from The Lord of the Rings, but it's just as evident that the author went out of his way to turn all those high fantasy concepts Tolkien normalized on their heads. Morality becomes twisted, hope isn't always rewarded, and a hero can exist within the same body as a villain.

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Martin's Tales of Dunk and Egg keeps that ball rolling in the wider universe, but these stories draw attention to the world behind the political chaos of the ruling class. Beneath it all is a simple world of simple dreams and simple joys. Of course, the chaos, comedy, and vulgarity of A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms proves that neither Martin nor HBO had an interest in exclusively embracing that traditional, Tolkien high-fantasy style. Game of Thrones must still be subversive, so HBO's newest addition blends the old and the new to once again create something revolutionary.

This achieves something rather exciting. The fantasy revolution inspired by Game of Thrones is ongoing. However, the franchise itself has fully acknowledged that this isn't the only thing that works these days. So long as there is something fresh, unique, and R-rated, the general population will go just as mad over a quaint fantasy like A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms as they would over anything with that more trendy edge.

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  Peter Claffey

  Ser Duncan 'Dunk' the Tall

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  Dexter Sol Ansell

  Egg