HBO's 8-Part Fantasy Series With Near-Perfect Rotten Tomatoes Score Is One Of Its Best

2 weeks ago 15

Published Mar 9, 2026, 7:44 PM EDT

Felipe Rangel is a Superheroes Lead Writer and Reviewer at ScreenRant. He has been writing about movies and TV since 2021, with a focus on superhero projects. Felipe joined ScreenRant in 2022, working across different teams, covering everything from breaking news to features to reviews and more. Since the launch of the Superheroes vertical in 2023, he has focused his efforts on coming up with insightful analyses of Marvel and DC's projects.

Felipe is a writer who is an avid film and TV fan, with superhero movies and series being his biggest passion. He graduated from college in 2019, having studied Journalism. Before college, he spent a month studying at the Oxford English Centre. His superhero knowledge expands to the comics, with his undergraduate thesis being "Politics Reflected In American Comics."

HBO is the home of many exciting fantasy series, but this 8-part show happens to be one of the genre's best, and even though a couple of its seasons are controversial, every genre fan needs to watch it at least one time. With the many streaming services, live-action fantasy series have been handed bigger budgets and better VFX. Some of the best fantasy shows are recent releases.

Among HBO's fantasy series are some of the genre's most exciting releases in the last few years. In 2026, A Knight Of The Seven Kingdoms showed that the world of Westeros could remain just as immersive with a healthy dash of comedy in it. His Dark Materials, True Blood, House of the Dragon, and more make company to HBO's greatest fantasy show.

This HBO Fantasy Series Is One Of The Genre's Biggest Releases Ever

Emilia Clarke as Daenerys in Game of Thrones

Game of Thrones is one of the best TV shows of all time, not just among HBO releases. The series was so successful in its eight seasons that the world of Westeros continues to be explored through two hit prequel series, with more Game of Thrones spinoffs in development, including potential sequel series. The franchise is not going away anytime soon.

On Rotten Tomatoes, Game of Thrones stands at a mighty 89% critics' score and a solid 85% audience score, showcasing how the show remained phenomenal through most of its seasons. The premium status of the HBO series can also be measured through high viewership and awards, with Game of Thrones having won 59 Emmy Awards, which is a wild feat.

The reason Game of Thrones got to be as big as it was is due to how the show took an immersive world from George R. R. Martin's beloved novels and turned it into a fantasy series full of political intrigue, gorgeous visuals, kinetic fights, shocking deaths, huge plot twists, and perfectly crafted CGI dragons. Game of Thrones offers a gritty world full of spectacle and character development.

Why Game Of Thrones Remains Worth Watching On HBO After A Disappointing Ending

While no one can argue that Game of Thrones is one of the best TV shows of all time, another universal truth is that the show's ending was disappointing. The showrunners rushed to finish the story without the proper setup, many characters got disastrous endings with no real payoff and sudden stops, the battle against the White Walkers was too dark to see a thing, and so on.

Game of Thrones season 8 dropped the ball. That said, the show is better than the portrait that its final season or two painted. Anyone wanting to start watching the series for the first time will have multiple seasons of the best fantasy show they could ever hope for. There are enough surprises and complex characters to keep Game of Thrones worth checking out no matter how it ends.