Why Game of Thrones No Longer Ranks as the Best Show in Its Own Franchise

Game of Thrones ended its original run in 2019 as one of television's most-watched dramas, but industry commentary in 2026 increasingly argues it is no longer the strongest title in its own franchise. The shift in ranking centers on how the original series' later seasons performed critically compared with two newer entries in the Westeros universe, A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms and House of the Dragon.

The Season 8 Collapse

Rotten Tomatoes' own editorial team documented the decline in real time as Game of Thrones' eighth and final season aired in 2019. According to the site, the season's Tomatometer score settled at 78%, the lowest of any season in the show's run, with the site noting that even a perfect score for the finale could not have pushed the season above 85%. The episode "The Last of the Starks" became only the second episode in the series' history to be certified "Rotten."

Separate reporting found a steeper drop in audience reaction: Newsweek cited Rotten Tomatoes data showing the final season's audience score at 37 percent from more than 8,000 user ratings. Commentators have linked the season's decline to the production running out of source material once the show caught up to George R.R. Martin's unfinished novels, a constraint showrunners David Benioff and D.B. Weiss faced while writing the ending themselves, according to ScreenRant's analysis of the franchise.

A Smaller, Finished Story Takes the Lead

ScreenRant's assessment argues that A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms, HBO's 2026 prequel series, has taken over as the best-reviewed show in the franchise. The outlet credits this partly to the source material itself: the series adapts Martin's completed novellas rather than an unfinished saga, removing the risk of a rushed, improvised ending that affected Game of Thrones' final seasons.

ScreenRant describes A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms as telling what it calls "the simple story of an underdog hedge knight and his young squire," crediting that narrow focus — one knight, one squire, a contained plot — for helping the series avoid the scope problems that, in ScreenRant's view, affected Game of Thrones' ending.

Where House of the Dragon Stands

House of the Dragon premiered in 2022 and is set roughly 172 years before Game of Thrones, according to the show's Wikipedia entry. ScreenRant's analysis notes the prequel has not had a season reviewed as poorly as Game of Thrones' eighth season, though the outlet says the show's standing in the franchise remains unsettled because its most recent season ended on a cliffhanger still to be resolved in a final season.

House of the Dragon's second and third seasons both received favorable reviews on Rotten Tomatoes, according to data reported on the show's Wikipedia page: season 2 holds an 84 percent approval rating and season 3 an improved 91 percent. Whether House of the Dragon ultimately ranks above or below the original series, according to ScreenRant, depends on how its next season concludes.

Why the Comparison Matters Now

The franchise comparison has become more pointed in 2026 because, for the first time since Game of Thrones ended, HBO has multiple active Westeros series airing in close succession: A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms' first season and House of the Dragon's third season both released this year. That overlap has given critics and outlets a direct basis for ranking the shows against one another and against the original series' uneven conclusion.

None of the current reviews suggest Game of Thrones' earlier seasons, widely praised through roughly its sixth season, have been reassessed negatively. The franchise-ranking argument rests specifically on the finale seasons' reception rather than the show's full run.