House of the Dragon’s season 1 finale was HBO’s most-watched season finale since its predecessor series, Game of Thrones ended in 2019.

House of the Dragon’s season 1 finale ratings are HBO’s best since Game of Thrones ended in 2019. As the first spinoff series to HBO’s massively successful fantasy adaptation Game of Thrones, House of the Dragon takes place about 200 years before the events of its predecessor and chronicles the Targaryen civil war of succession known as the Dance of the Dragons. In addition to earning rave reviews from critics and audiences alike, the prequel show has found a massive audience on HBO.

In August, House of the Dragon’s premiere was watched by a record-breaking audience for an HBO series debut and was promptly renewed for a season 2. Since then, House of the Dragon’s viewership has been fluctuating but steadily increasing despite significant changes like repeated time jumps and recastings. Overall, House of the Dragon’s massive audience accounts for an average of 29 million viewers per episode across cable and streaming platforms.

Now, a day after it aired, ratings for the House of the Dragon season 1 finale are in. Episode 10, titled “The Black Queen, was watched by 9.3 million viewers, according to Warner Bros. Discovery (via Variety), HBO’s most-watch season finale since Game of Thrones season 8 concluded with 19.8 million viewers in 2019. The figure includes viewers on the HBO cable channel and HBO Max on the night of.

Could House of the Dragon’s Viewership Surpass Game of Thrones?

With the House of the Dragon season 1 finale aired, the Game of Thrones prequel show has wrapped up a debut season that has defied expectations. The vitriolic response to Game of Thrones season 8 led to the concern that subsequent sequels would turn off a faction of the fanbase. This hasn’t been the case at all with House of the Dragon, which, due to its strong start, could not only one-day match Game of Thrones season 8’s average of 44 million viewers per episode but perhaps surpass it.

Comparing apples to apples, the House of the Dragon season 1 finale vastly outperformed the Game of Thrones season 1 finale, which only 3.9 million viewers watched. Plus, House of the Dragon season 1 was slower-paced as it introduced new characters and developed their relationships over 20 years, slowly setting the stage for the upcoming civil war. If the show could convince viewers to stick around for this slow burn, they surely should be back for season 2, which will be full of Game of Thrones-style spectacle. House of the Dragon has yet to reach its full potential, and when it does, it should continue finding a larger audience.

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