House of the Dragon is a new HBO show that the network hopes would become their next Game of Thrones. The expectations of the network are not completely illogical given the material the new show is based on is a prequel to Game of Thrones. To be precise the show’s events are set 172 years before our Mhysa or Mother of Dragons: Daenerys Targaryen. The series will focus on House Targaryen’s reigns over Westeros before Ned Stark and Robert Baratheon’s rebellion against the Mad King. The show is based on George R.R. Martin’s 2018 novel “Fire & Blood”. The novel chronicles the glorious reign of House Targaryen and how it reached its disastrous end. Despite the horrendous Season finale of Game of Thrones, the reception to the prequel has been magnificent.
The pilot amassed 9.986 viewers in the first 24 hours of its debut. Episode 2 piled on to viewership base of the pilot with 10.2 Million viewers in the first 24 hours of its release. This convinced everyone that the show’s viewership numbers because of its content and not an extension of the fanbase GOT left behind. Not to take any credit away from Game of Thrones, the prequel was only possible due to the immense success of Game of Thrones. Episode 3 saw the first linear drop (28%) in the show’s viewership but that was limited to cable, its performance on HBO Max was unsurmountable as it clocked 16 Million viewers. That being said, Episode 4 debuted this week and has certainly elevated the show’s quality. So, I was curious to know its viewership numbers and they’re comforting.
House of the Dragon Episode 4: Another Drop on Cable?
Episode 4 debuted this week and was shockingly graphic. This episode had particular emphasis on human emotions. A lot of symbolism was seen and many unexpected things happened rather quickly. We see Daemon’s even worse side, well there’s an argument as to why he couldn’t carry forward with Rhaenyra but still he was able to discredit her even though she is still the heir to the throne. By ruining her name he wanted to make his claim to the throne stronger, however he couldn’t go through with it though, the rumors completed his plan.
Coming to the numbers, Episode 4 as per Nielsen, linear viewing of the series remained mostly steady, with 2.536 million viewers across four cable airings for the week-ago episode compared to 2.474 million this Sunday. But with streaming on HBO Max and other HBO platforms included, Variety has confirmed overall U.S. viewership of the series is up 5% week over week. If we do the math, since we don’t have the actual numbers then the viewership for Episode 4 is anything around 16.8 Million to 17 Million.
House of the Dragon has already become HBO’s biggest debut yet. It has already been picked up for Season 2. The GOT prequel has turned out to be an amazing call by HBO as it is sure shot success. While the show’s numbers are not high as Amazon Prime’s LOTR: Rings of Power, it is certainly up there. To be fair, the GOT prequel is miles ahead of Rings of Power when it comes to quality. The ratings speak for itself even though Rings of Power has been review bombed. You can always judge for yourself, as you’d notice the difference in quality simply by watching the first episode of each.
The GOT prequel has an incredible ensemble cast that includes Paddy Considine, Matt Smith, Olivia Cooke, Emma D’Arcy, Steve Toussaint, Eve Best, Fabien Frankel, Sonoya Mizuno, and Rhys Ifans. Along with the main cast, the supporting cast of the show includes- Milly Alcock, Bethany Antonia, Phoebe Campbell, Emily Carey, Harry Collett, Ryan Corr, Tom Glynn-Carney, Jefferson Hall, David Horovitch, Wil Johnson, John Macmillan, Graham McTavish, Ewan Mitchell, Theo Nate, Matthew Needham, Bill Paterson, Phia Saban, Gavin Spokes, Savannah Steyn, and more.
House of the Dragon’s first four episodes are currently streaming on HBO Max or Disney+. New episodes will debut on every Sunday or Monday on HBO and HBO Max or Disney+ Hotstar depending on the region you live in, at 9 pm or 6.30 am.
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