The 2026 Fantasy Finale That Could Dethrone George R. R. Martin’s Two Game of Thrones Spinoffs
Outlander takes its final bow in 2026 with a gripping Season 8, closing a decade-long time-traveling romance when new episodes arrive March 6, 2026.
TV in 2026 is going to be crowded. Starz is sending Outlander off with a final season, HBO is dropping not one but two trips back to Westeros, and a certain Prime Video juggernaut is wrapping up too. Translation: a lot of big, loud shows are about to fight for your weekends.
Outlander is taking its final bow
After more than a decade, Outlander ends with Season 8, kicking off March 6, 2026 on Starz. The time-traveling historical fantasy romance has been one of those steady, legacy series since it launched on August 9, 2014, and it still pulls real audience numbers. Critics have generally stayed on its side too — the show sits at 90% on Rotten Tomatoes.
Behind the scenes, it has had a few hands on the wheel: Ronald D. Moore led Seasons 1–3; Toni Graphia steered some of Seasons 3–4; and Matthew B. Roberts has been running the show from Season 3 through the end. It is based on Diana Gabaldon’s novels, which matters here because the show has now outpaced the books — the same bind that tripped up Game of Thrones late in its run.
HBO doubles down on Westeros
HBO is loading next year with two costly Game of Thrones spinoffs:
A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms lands January 18, 2026. It is a fresh corner of this world with a different tone, which is exciting — but also untested. There is no guarantee it hits like the original.
House of the Dragon Season 3 is reportedly aiming for late summer 2026. That show’s Season 2 finale left a fair number of people cold, and the series took heat for some notable changes from the source material. Season 3 is the shot at redemption — or at least a reset — for the Targaryen drama.
The ratings cage match
Outlander’s farewell season will not be quietly slipping out a side door. It is going to be a real player in the 2026 ratings race, right up against HBO’s Westeros one-two punch. Different genres, sure, but eyeballs are eyeballs — and Prime Video’s The Boys is also closing its chapter next year, which just makes the calendar even more packed.
Can Outlander stick the landing where GOT didn’t?
Like Game of Thrones in its later years, Outlander has outrun its source material. Thrones showrunners David Benioff and D.B. Weiss consulted George R.R. Martin once they passed the books around Season 6, and we all remember how that ended. Outlander’s team is trying to avoid that fate by staying in tight sync with the author.
Charles Vandervaart told Popverse that the production checked in directly with Diana Gabaldon about where her final book is headed:
"We did a lot of talking to Diana [Gabaldon], the writer, about what she thinks is going to happen in the final book that she writes. So there has been a little bit of collaboration there on the book side and the film side."
Given the show’s track record for sturdy storytelling and that level of coordination, expectations are pretty high that Season 8 lands the plane better than Thrones did. Cautious optimism feels fair.
Dates to circle
- A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms (HBO): January 18, 2026
- Outlander Season 8 (Starz): March 6, 2026
- House of the Dragon Season 3 (HBO): reportedly late summer 2026