A zombie dragon, an illicit romance and satisfying revenge helped drive the season finale of the second-last season of “Game of Thrones” to a record breaking viewership high, according to HBO on Monday, as the seventh season drew record ratings.
A total of 12.1 million viewers watched Sunday’s seventh season finale, titled “The Dragon and the Wolf,” a 36 percent increase from the 8.9 million viewers who watched the season six finale. The viewership figures include replays and streams on HBO’s on-demand apps boosted the overall Sunday ratings to 16.5 million viewers.
The seventh season of Emmy-winning “Game of Thrones” drew an overall 30.8 million viewers, up nearly 8 million viewers from last season, cementing it as the most-watched show on Time Warner Inc’s HBO network.
The record ratings came after hackers stole data and content from HBO and leaked it online, including scripts and unaired episodes of the season.
The seventh season traced the show’s lead characters heading towards a great battle over the Iron Throne reigning over the Seven Kingdoms of Westeros, while on the other hand a zombie army of White Walkers led by the undead Night King march south to threaten all of mankind’s destruction.
Leading protagonists Jon Snow and Daenerys Targaryen finally came together to join forces against the White Walkers, the remaining Stark children reunite at their home in Winterfell and materialize a satisfying revenge against master manipulator Petyr Baelish that quenches the hearts of all.
The Lannister siblings also reunite in King’s Landing in a nerve-wracking situation that puts their family ties to the test.
Ahead of the show’s final eighth season next year, a series of spin offs being developed is underway.
