The “House of the Dragon” Season 2 finale nabbed 8.9 million cross-platform viewers in the U.S. on Sunday, a season high, according to a spokesperson for streaming service Max. The eighth and final episode of the sophomore season outperformed the season premiere (7.8 million viewers) by 14 percent.
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Episode 208 marked the best day during Season 2 on Max both domestically and globally. Of course, this is just night 1; Season 2 episodes are averaging nearly 25 million cross-platform viewers when counting the in-season delayed viewing. The platforms we’re talking about here are linear HBO and Max.
All good stuff, but not a series high — not by a long shot.
The first season boasted four episodes (of 10) with a bigger same-day audience. The series premiere (10.0 million viewers) and the Season 1 finale (9.3 million) topped Sunday’s episode, as did the first season’s second episode (10.2 million) and its sixth (9.3 million).
Sunday’s Season 2 finale , as with the prior weekend’s episode , had the 2024 Paris Olympics (on NBC and Peacock) to contend with.
Episodes 101, 102, 110, and 208 all make sense for large audiences. “Game of Thrones” was HBO’s most-watched series of all time so it is only natural that the prequel series would get off to a hot start. The season finales are also appointment viewing — fans do not want to be late to the party where spoilers are expected. Ironically, nothing explosive really happened on Sunday’s episode. (Alicent’s family might take issue with that statement.)
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But what’s up with episode 106? Titled “The Princess and the Queen,” the sixth overall episode, originally aired September 25, 2022, featured a 10-year time jump. The episode passed the torch (and the show, essentially) to Alicent (Olivia Cooke) and Rhaenyra (Emma D’Arcy), which fans were waiting for. One week (and 10 story years) earlier, Rhaenyra got married — for a first time.
Sunday, August 4, 2024’s episode was critical for the portmanteau known as Rhaenicent, with director Geeta Vasant Patel striking the right balance between the platonic and the romantic.
“I always thought about the metaphor for it as two lovers that have been divorced and still love each other,” Patel told IndieWire . “Part of it is that they both want to be with each other in a way they can’t understand and can’t explain — it’s like first love.”
On Monday, the “House of the Dragon” showrunner Ryan Condal revealed the series will end with Season 4 ; Season 3 is currently being written and should begin production in “early-ish” 2025, Condal told reporters.
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