Next Monday, exclusively on the HBO Max on-demand streaming platform, the highly anticipated finale of the first season of A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms will arrive, and while we wait for the episode to debut, we want to examine the impressive viewing figures for the new Game of Thrones series.
Despite a much smaller budget than the original series and the first prequel House of the Dragon, and a smaller, more intimate story very different from the epic palace intrigues of previous chapters in the franchise, A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms is proving a huge hit on HBO Max: the second Game of Thrones spin-off is on track to become the third biggest series debut in HBO Max history, behind only the video game adaptation of The Last of Us and the first spin-off set in Westeros, House of the Dragon.
The series averaged 13 million viewers per episode in the US during its broadcast, and the season finale has yet to air. Last week’s fifth episode, “In the Name of the Mother,” attracted 9.2 million viewers in the US in its first three days of availability (via Variety). These are staggering numbers, and they are not yet final, confirming the success of the TV series by Ira Parker and George RR Martin. It should be noted that Parker recently revealed that Martin initially wanted the project to be a two-hour film rather than a series, but these HBO Max viewing figures show that Game of Thrones continues to work very well in an episodic format.
With only one episode left in the first season, our time at Ashford Meadow with the knight errant Dunk and his squire Egg is almost over, at least for now: we know that the second season of A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms is currently in production, with filming already underway in Scotland. Furthermore, not only does a third season already seem certain, but Game of Thrones author George RR Martin has reportedly provided showrunner Ira Parker with enough material to make up to 12 seasons, covering the entire lives of Dunk and Egg.
The final episode of A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms will be available next Monday on HBO Max.
