Large battles in television often induce key casualties, and the anticipation by fans for major characters to fall has driven monster ratings for HBO during the Game of Thrones final season’s run of episodes.
A little more than two weeks ago, The Long Night, the third of six episodes in Season 8, set an all-time viewership record with 17.8 million total viewers across the HBO, HBO Go and HBO Now viewing platforms.
A week later, GoT took a breather with a more intimate episode that saw viewers shrink rather than continue to ascend. That episode setup yet another large battle in the penultimate episode this season, The Bells, and anyone who skipped the previous episode came flocking back — and them some.
Another 600,000 new viewers beyond The Long Night piled onto HBO platforms to watch The Bells and easily break the viewing record yet again with 18.4 million total viewers.
Up next is the Game of Thrones series finale which will undoubtedly rewrite the show’s records one last time despite mixed reactions to Season 8.