Surprising almost no one, last night’s season premiere of Game of Thrones season 4 brought in record ratings for HBO.
All men must die – and apparently, watch Game of Thrones. Entertainment Weekly reports that 6.6 million viewers tuned in to watch the first airing of Game of Thrones season 4, episode 1 last night. More than a million additional viewers watched the encore screenings, bringing the total to 8.2 million viewers.
The news puts Game of Thrones head-and-shoulders above its previous ratings high – the 5.5 million fans pulled in by the sixth episode of season 3. In fact, the 6.6 million viewers who tuned in to last night’s premiere make Game of Thrones season 4, episode 1 HBO’s second most-viewed hour since the series finale of The Sopranos in 2007.
In layman’s terms, people kind of dig Game of Thrones.
An additional marker of that popularity was less pleasant for other fans. Many who tried to watch Game of Thrones season 4, episode 1 on the streaming service HBO Go found themselves faced not with dragons, swords, and cutting commentary, but with an unresponsive website punctuated by “fatal errors.” HBO attributed the crash of their streaming service to “overwhelming demand.”
Related: Game of Thrones season 4, episode 1, “Two Swords”: A GIF reaction post
And it doesn’t seem like the numbers will fall any time soon. Game of Thrones season 4 is based on the second part of A Storm of Swords, the heart-pounding third novel in George R.R. Martin’s A Song of Ice and Fire series. Far from letting up, the action and intrigue only increase from this point forward.
Game of Thrones season 4 continues next week with episode 2, titled “The Lion and the Rose.” The official synopsis says:
Tyrion lends Jaime a hand. Joffrey and Margaery host a breakfast. At Dragonstone, Stannis loses patience with Davos. Ramsay finds a purpose for his pet. North of the Wall, Bran sees where they must go.
Game of Thrones airs on Sundays at 9:00 p.m. on HBO.