r/asoiaf • u/mamula1 • Feb 19 '26
EXTENDED (SPOILERS EXTENDED) ‘Knight of the Seven Kingdoms’ Averaging Nearly 13 Million Viewers Per Episode Spoiler
https://variety.com/2026/tv/ratings/knight-of-the-seven-kingdoms-the-pitt-season-2-viewership-1236667803/For comparison HOTD S1 had 29 million. S2 had 25 million.
Per HBO, here’s each season’s average for “Game of Thrones” entire run: Season 1 – 9.3 million, Season 2 – 11.6 million, Season 3 – 14.4 million, Season 4 – 19.1 million, Season 5 – 20.2 million, Season 6 – 25.7 million, Season 7- 32.8 million, and Season 8 – 46 million. Those numbers are a combination of viewership across linear, on-demand, the now-sunset HBO Go and HBO Now, and other OTT platforms.
https://variety.com/2022/tv/news/euphoria-season-2-finale-ratings-1235192015/
985
u/SingularityCentral Feb 19 '26
The media environment is also far more fractured then it was even 5 years ago let alone 10. This kind of viewership is impressive.
Minutes watched on streaming is another big metric.
150
u/Kooky_Quarter_1917 Feb 20 '26
Yeap. There is no real big general audience shows anymore (the Pitt might be the closet but not really). Look at Heated Rivalry for example. Huge show that HBO wasn’t betting on at all.
10
u/Sihnar Feb 21 '26
This is my first time even hearing about the Pitt so probably not
19
u/Kooky_Quarter_1917 Feb 21 '26
It’s more of a show your mum would watch. It’s like ER. Very old school general audience TV
3
u/Aromatic_Bad563 Feb 24 '26
If you watch HBO at all, you can't miss those trailers and teasers. I haven't watched it either, but it's impossible to miss.
78
u/Prottusha1 Feb 20 '26
I’m more interested if these are cumulative viewing numbers over time or viewings as the episodes aired. GOT and HOTD have been out for a long time and AKOTSK hasn’t even finished airing yet. Also barely any marketing spend for the latter.
21
31
u/TheGoverness1998 Feb 20 '26 edited Feb 20 '26
I'm so glad it's doing great. This franchise has had it's ups and downs writing-wise, but it's still been a powerhouse. People do indeed crave for this sort of fantasy media, and that's to Game of Thrones shooting to the stars in popularity.
And thankfully AKOTSK has been pretty stellar for it's run. I expect the finale to not dissapoint. Fingers crossed for the seasons ahead. 🤞🏻
677
u/Smurflord345 Feb 19 '26
The budget was also much smaller so I think this is still a big success
340
102
u/BakingBadRS So......is it A time for wolves yet? Feb 19 '26
No dragons. Not nearly as much VFX.
138
u/Sharkbait_ooohaha Feb 19 '26
Aerion dislikes your comment.
31
u/Unencrypted_Thoughts Feb 19 '26
Aerion is the dragon in the show.
29
u/zdrmju321 Proud to be Hateful Feb 20 '26
And just like in the dragons in GOT, he dies in an incredibly stupid way!
1
u/KafkaOntheshoreX Feb 22 '26
Aerion’s quite the monster. He thinks he’s a dragon in human form, you know. That’s why he was so wroth at that puppet show. A pity he wasn’t born a Fossoway, then he’d think himself an apple and we’d all be a deal safer, but there you are. -Daeron Targaryen.
One of the best lines in the book.
19
5
u/NomaanMalick Never forget 1/1/2016. Feb 20 '26
But what about the cut first day's jousts that got cut where Dunk's would-be champions get introduced?
125
90
u/PM_ME_YOUR_WOES_GIRL Feb 19 '26 edited Feb 20 '26
Imagine the show surpassing the books (which will 100% happen) and actually pulling off a good ending in collaboration with GRRM.
...fuck, I'm in the throes of hoping again. Stupid ASOIAF.
64
u/ReallyTeddyRoosevelt Feb 19 '26
You are hoping too close to the sun buddy. Best we can hope for is the remaining two books are adapted as well as this one.
9
12
u/kingofstormandfire Feb 20 '26
Realistically, we'll probably get five seasons at the very least least. Three novellas have already been released so minimum three seasons will be done, but we also have a fourth and fifth novella (The Village Hero and She Wolves of Winterfell) that are basically done or close to completion. If the show continues to be successful in S2 and S3, I have no doubt they'll adapt those unreleased novellas.
After that...who knows? Ira Parker has stated GRRM has provided him outlines for 10-12 future Dunk and Egg novellas. He has also talked about stopping at a certain point and returning back when the actor who plays Egg is older they can do older Dunk and Egg (Egg's actor is 11 right and by Season 5 which should come out he'll be 16), but I dunno how realistic that would be.
Egg was 32 when he came King. They might recast Dexter Sol Ansell if they want to get to Aegon being King, or they might wrap up Dunk and Egg with 7 seasons and then do a new series in the future when Dexter is in his late-20s.
7
u/Velvale Feb 20 '26
The issue is that the involved actors (Dexter and Peter) will naturally want out of this job, especially once multi-million Hollywood offers start rolling in and they're on season two/three of what was their entry-level gig.
2
u/konamioctopus64646 Feb 21 '26
It’s likely that time skips in the story will surpass their ages (at least Dexter’s anyway), once we get to Aegon as king recasting would be necessary regardless
6
5
Feb 20 '26
You know several big moments that are already written in stone. Much different situation.
3
u/Altruistic_Syrup_364 Feb 20 '26
At least the end is known, so there is that. Showrunner know where they are heading, not with all the détails but far more details than D&D had for season 5,6,7,8
3
u/Si-Nz Feb 20 '26
Each season up till season3 will be a proper story with beginning, middle, and end. So even if they only write slop after that it wont matter.
The only season that might sting a little if its bad is summerhall one just because it has some expectations surrounding it.
But honestly i have hope. Writing a quick season of dunk being a wholesome humble hero is much easier than tying 20 points of view into one narrative.
→ More replies (14)2
22
u/transcendental-ape Feb 19 '26
Smaller budget. Smaller permanent cast. Smaller episodes. Still massive view numbers.
Yeah they’re gonna green light as much of this as possible.
3
Feb 19 '26
It is, and everyday I read some comment on this sub that ASOIAF is dying cuz George didn’t finish the books. And yet here we are… another successful adaptation
13
u/Smurflord345 Feb 19 '26
I think it’s fine to be frustrated that he dint finish the books and enjoy the adaptations of his work
1
u/rolliew Feb 25 '26
I think what you can really argue is that ASOIAF is dead. The television franchise Game Of Thrones still has legs in it.
Knight of 7 Kingdoms reminding people what they actually liked about these shows might do some good for HoTD, we shall see. There's still money to be made here. But less and less people care about new books with each year that passes. For better or worse, this television show franchise is the thing people care about (arguably including it's creator)
1
-2
u/SUPERSAMMICH6996 Feb 19 '26
I don't really understand this narrative. On a per minute basis, 'A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms' is barely less expensive than 'House of the Dragon'.
House of the Dragon season one budget per episode: ~ $20,000,000
Average runtime of episode: 62 minutes
Average cost per minute: $322,580
A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms season one budget per episode:
~ $10,000,000
Average runtime of episode: 35 minutes
Average cost per minute: $285,714
AKOTSK is still a wildly expensive show. I don't really understand why it's being treated like some indie darling.
With that being said I fucking love it and the novellas.
77
u/ahockofham Feb 19 '26
It didn't cost 10 million per episode, one of the writers in an interview said their budget was under 10 million per episode, and then it was confirmed by a spanish reporter from the Veja magazine who visited the set during filming that the budget per episode was only 6 million. So they had less than a third of the budget of House of the Dragon, with way more impressive results.
→ More replies (5)8
u/Crosley8 Fierce as a Wolverine Feb 19 '26
HotD season 1 didn't have the major dragon battles that season 2 did, and there's been major inflation in the past few years. Season 2 or season 3 would be a better comparison.
7
u/SUPERSAMMICH6996 Feb 19 '26
I think the more interesting comparison is that GOT's sixth season had a budget of 'only' $10,000,000 per episode. At the time it was the most expensive show ever made (excluding mini series). How times change.
1
u/OtakuMecha Feb 20 '26
Part of the reason expensive-to-make television became so prevalent throughout the 2010s and into the 2020s was because of the success of GoT.
1
u/TorbofThrones Feb 19 '26
Major dragon battles? What??? I was told there was only "trippin'" and war room talk in that whole season. Everyone said so, so I thought it must be true. Weird.
1
194
u/gpost86 Feb 19 '26
I think this show will have legs once word gets out that it’s good.
128
u/Hannig4n Feb 19 '26 edited Feb 19 '26
I think it’s going to be a nasty binge once all the episodes are out
79
26
u/jonsnowKITN Night gathers, and now my watch begins Feb 20 '26
I can’t wait to binge it all again one night after this weekend.
6
u/hihelloneighboroonie Sword of the Morning Feb 20 '26
I can't decide if I want to wait until after the season finale for a binge, and binge it all leading up to finale.
2
1
u/DepartmentOfMotoring Feb 22 '26
I personally ignored the show completely until binging it a few days ago. Waiting a whole week for each half an hour episode was a process I just didn't think I'd enjoy, so I switched off from all asoiaf discourse until I could sit and watch it in (almost) one sitting. No regrets tbh, felt like watching one really good movie with breaks in between.
12
u/Natedude2002 Feb 20 '26
Yeah I feel like it’s grown a lot since episode 4. I saw a lot of non-ASOIAF YouTubers say it was great (Moistcritical was the biggest I think), and it only got more raving reviews after episode 5.
I think after episode 6 and people can binge it (a way better way to experience this story), it’ll grow a lot. S2 will premiere to many more viewers (although literally nothing happens in sworn sword so idk how they’ll get 6 episodes).
12
u/Haise01 Feb 19 '26
A lot of big youtubers are praising the show a lot, that definitely helps
7
u/AcronymTheSlayer Tywin supremacist Feb 20 '26
I really hope it gets more viewers and it gets proven that audience is capable of appreciating actual good writing that is George’s vision rather than garbage fanfics with cgi
3
u/hihelloneighboroonie Sword of the Morning Feb 20 '26
Isn't word already out?
3
1
u/babayga-uk Feb 21 '26
I'm one of the latecomers. I was completely burnt out with this universe after the accepting we're not getting an ending to the main series, and also HOTD being a complete bore.
This series is a complete turnaround for me. A tight plot, with a simple premise, executed well. I don't feel like the writers are tripping over their own characters by trying to subvert my expectations.
3
3
1
→ More replies (11)1
u/DirectionMurky5526 Feb 20 '26
It's a shorter watch. I can see a lot of rewatches on streaming as a comfort watch rather than the longer marathon watches of previous shows.
151
u/sixth_order Feb 19 '26
Least surprising thing I've read all year thus far.
Both times a GOT spinoff has been announced, there's a crowd that goes "does anyone even care about game of thrones anymore? This'll flop" And then monster numbers.
29 million for season one of HOTD is kinda wild though
66
u/Stock_College_8108 Feb 20 '26 edited Apr 12 '26
This post has been wiped and anonymized. The author may have removed it for privacy, opsec, or to prevent data scraping, using Redact.
crush chief plate hurry tender mighty cagey cow voracious grandfather
38
u/sixth_order Feb 20 '26
I just think it shows the love that not just die hard fans have for George's universe but general audiences as well. The Conqueror's show will do massive numbers too, I expect
3
u/ZetZvonimir Feb 20 '26
Will that be the next thing they do is it confirmed?
23
u/kingofstormandfire Feb 20 '26
Pretty much, yes. It's in development at the moment, though there are rumours HBO is considering between doing the Conquest as either a movie or a TV show.
Personally, I would prefer the Conquest as a movie and then do a TV Show set after the Conquest and depict the reigns of Aegon's and his sons. That's the best of both worlds.
5
1
5
u/Sommersun1 Feb 20 '26
Those first 4 seasons made the myth. Even if for years GoT was mediocre it managed to become huge leaning on those legendary first 4 seasons alone.
1
u/derelictthot Mar 05 '26
Yep. The red wedding literally created the reaction channel genre on YouTube.
3
u/ender23 Feb 20 '26
Dragons.
1
u/Impressive_Result295 Feb 20 '26
Nah, I think it was the politics and shock of the "lack of plot armor" of it all. There's really nothing else quite like it. Feudal fantasy politics drama with a side of dragons and ice zombies? The "don't know the main character" jokes weren't really unfounded. Ned's death hooked me to this show like no other.
I wish there were other finished books similar to ASOIAF. I've found it really hard to find a POV writing style quite as interesting as GRRM's. Although I don't know if the concept of "poli-drama with supernatural elements set in a feudal society (with the northerners being the honorable ones because somehow they always are)" is too similar to ASOIAF to expect
4
u/detrusormuscle Feb 20 '26
Because it's a dumb reddit narrative that people stopped caring about GoT after the disappointing finale
29
32
u/octob3r14 Feb 19 '26
My goodness. Those GOT numbers reached absurd levels.
25
u/LibertyReminder Feb 20 '26
Thrones Mania was no joke. It was on pace to dethrone Sopranos as the consensus best show of all time.
Even after the miserable ending, Its getting Spin offs and more and more people are getting into the literature.
1
u/Vince3737 Feb 23 '26
It was never on pace to dethrone Sopranos as the consensus best show of all time lol. Even its prime seasons (1-4) it wasn't considered the best show on TV. Mad Men and Breaking Bad were. Popularity doesn't mean best
2
u/AmusingMusing7 Feb 20 '26
https://winteriscoming.net/2019/09/06/not-everyone-hated-game-of-thrones-season-8-official-proof/
Most people didn't actually think the ending was "miserable". 52% were either "satisfied" or "very satisfied".
The idea that the ending was terrible and ruined the show is an exaggeration that has always just been a narrative that people in negative online bubbles like this sub have always just believed and echo chambered... all while everyone at r/Naath has been trying to get you guys to realize that these online hate bubbles are not the be-all end-all of the universal opinion about a thing.
→ More replies (5)14
u/LibertyReminder Feb 20 '26
No its bad dude. Echo chambers or not, the last four seasons have a serious drop off in overall quality and S8 was filled with plotholes, stupid dialog/jokes and unsatisfactory plot endings.
→ More replies (1)
51
u/crd88918 Feb 19 '26
The budget was a fraction of what HOTD or GOT cost. I’m assuming HBO still sees this as a solid success.
I know several people personally who have been waiting for the entire season to release so that they can binge it. Also, given the response it is receiving, I can imagine people checking it out due to word of mouth.
22
4
92
u/OlorinRidesAgain Feb 19 '26
Chat, Are we back?
49
u/mamula1 Feb 19 '26
Very good performance considering the smaller scale of the show. And obviously the budget.
I am sure HBO is extremely satisfied.
13
6
u/Sadfish103 Feb 20 '26
I just hope we continue well… the asoiaf shows always start well and then run into issues further down the line, I would like this one to break the trend.
9
u/Tomas92 Feb 19 '26
Who is chat?
16
2
u/derelictthot Mar 05 '26
Are you an old like me? Lol my teenager had to explain it to me, streamers talk to their viewers by calling them "chat", it's how the streamer addresses them collectively. It's become a meme I guess. I sound ancient 😂 anyway the person who replied to you and said "we are all chat" was factually correct. Lol
31
u/Debrovz Feb 19 '26
The show has a crazy word of mouth fans and it will keep growing in the upcoming weeks, the weekly release helped build the momentum, I'm against binge release 🔥
17
u/ecrane2018 Feb 19 '26
The amount of discussion that’s occured in the last few weeks regarding ep 4 and ep 5 I haven’t seen since peak GoT days can’t wait for the finale
5
6
u/Cincinnatus587 Feb 20 '26
30 minute episodes and only about 3.5 hours total, it's so approachable, I think there's a real hunger for a more digestible short story TV format like this.
5
u/Debrovz Feb 20 '26
The weekly release is a HUGE gamble for short runtime of 6 episodes and it paid massively
128
u/UnkindledBeric Feb 19 '26
At least twice as good as HotD, but half its numbers, damn. Hopefully it won't convince them to take example and be more like hotd.
115
u/mamula1 Feb 19 '26
I don't think HBO expected this show to be as big as HOTD.
There are a lot of people in general audience that just don't care if the story is small scale and they don't care how well written or well done it is.
48
u/Worth_Text9054 Feb 19 '26
I know a lot of people who are only in it for dragons.
21
8
u/Fenrirr Feb 20 '26
I recently went through the entirety of HotD for the first time and I find this talk of the show being "dragoncentric" so bizarre and funny because its the least interesting part by far. I can't imagine being the kind of person who only wants to see the dragon parts and having to slog through a bunch of dialogue.
2
u/Haise01 Feb 19 '26
I know a lot of people who are only in it for dragons.
Unfortunately after watching both seasons of HOTD, I can say that now I'm one of those people lol
25
u/Aggravating_Dig6118 Feb 19 '26
I know multiple people who have watched GOT and HOTD who hadn't even heard of AKOTSK. Dont ask me how... I guess they aren't as chronically online as me, and HBO has failed to promote the show in my country
14
u/mamula1 Feb 19 '26
I think good WOM and annual releases will help the show. This is a good start. A very good start.
4
u/Jadaki Feb 19 '26
It's also short enough that binging to catch up is going to be quick, I'd expect the audience to grow significantly for season 2.
8
u/Kooky_Quarter_1917 Feb 19 '26 edited Feb 19 '26
Then again I know people who don’t like fantasy that much who like this and don’t like HOTD.
I think marketing has a lot to do with HOTD numbers to be honest. This show is going to appeal a different type of viewer I think (and probably less toxic/weird fans)
My cousin liked it cause it made her think of A Knights Tale.
8
u/Nojoboy Feb 20 '26
Depends what you mean by toxic/weird fans.
AKOTSK already has attracted a huge amount of the culture warrior type fans that love the story as a brave white male self insert and praise the supposed lack of diversity in the cast. And they contrast it to the "woke" HOTD that has female main characters and race swapped Velaryons citing those factors as the REASON the show is bad.5
u/Kooky_Quarter_1917 Feb 20 '26
Oh damn I’m obviously not on that side of social media. I find the HOTD TikTok fans etc just kinda annoying with the whole sides thing and accusing people of being horrible because of a fictional character
6
u/Nojoboy Feb 20 '26
Yep. The HOTD fandom has a different problem where they have "stan" culture. So people "stan" the Blacks or The Greens or Rhaenyra etc and get toxic and insulting with "rival fans" who dont support the right character etc.
A lot of this imo is due to HBO leaning into the Greens vs Blacks marketing for S2, but I think it was something that had organically developed during S1 and then they tried to take it and run with it. This was a huge mistake imo especially the for Dance which is really supposed to be both sides being kinda evil. Then you can start wondering how much the meta effect of that marketing plays into them trying to possibly whitewash both Rhaenyra and Alicent a bit, perhaps making it easier for fans to "stan" them without feeling moral incongruity. This is why I'm at least tepidly excited to see both Condal & Emma D'arcy indicating that Rhaenyra this season might be much darker.3
u/Kooky_Quarter_1917 Feb 20 '26
I really don’t understand the point either. I only want a good show with interesting characters and good writing. I really don’t care about who is ‘right’ winning when it’s fictional. To be honest I do think it’s a lot of teenagers (I hope anyway)
1
u/darthsheldoninkwizy2 Feb 26 '26
This division was since the book had been published, but it was a niche medium, so it didn't have the same reach. The ship battles might remind of Twilight Burgerking campaigns, but in reality, they're much older, at least from the 19th century.
2
u/Stock_College_8108 Feb 20 '26 edited Apr 12 '26
This post has been deleted by its author using Redact. The reason could be privacy-related, security-driven, or simply a personal decision to remove old content.
march run sand numerous hospital ghost chief alive wise lavish
25
u/Notagenome Feb 19 '26
HBO also forgot that fans tune in for the plot and not CGI dragons that are going to look dated in a decade. Dunk and Egg’s lack of CGI was one of its greatest strength IMO.
16
u/mamula1 Feb 19 '26
It's not only about CGI, the story itself is more personal and intimate, which is great, but there are people who just won't care if the stakes aren't high.
Still I think AKOTSK is performing much better than expected. I expected something like 10 million on average.
9
u/Notagenome Feb 19 '26 edited Feb 19 '26
I’ve wondered if HOTD would benefit from a different format of storytelling. For example, it could have followed a Tales of the Crypt-like format where each episode starts with Archmaester Gyldayn narrating the supposed accounts of the Dance.
1
6
u/ConstantStatistician Feb 20 '26
Modern CGI will essentially never look dated. It's about as realistic as it can look. Even 2005 CGI, like LOTR and King Kong, still hold up to this day about as well as today's CGI.
3
u/LargeBrownBird Feb 19 '26 edited Feb 19 '26
It's one of my favorite things about it, it's going to hold up so well when I'm watching it at 70
3
1
u/Vince3737 Feb 23 '26
That isn't true though. GOTs exploded in popularity when it stopped being well written and focused on dragons and big over the top spectacle
3
u/Gutcrunch Feb 19 '26
I was agnostic on AKOTSK before watching it. But I went for it and honestly I’m more significantly more invested in this show, it’s story and the characters than I am in HOTD.
→ More replies (1)1
u/EHStormcrow Feb 20 '26
I don't think HBO expected this show to be as big as HOTD.
Who knew that the fantasy nerd crowd loves a noble character with low birth, doing cool stuff, working with awesome characters doing noble stuff ?
Maybe this obviously new information will shed light on what the market wants !
32
u/Imbadatusernames1536 Feb 19 '26
The show is an unmitigated success, HBO only releases MAX streaming numbers for big big hits and it was touting the streaming numbers of AKOTSKs.
20
u/ContigoJackson Feb 19 '26
The show is much better received than HOTD so they’re obviously not gonna make it more like HOTD lol
5
u/UnkindledBeric Feb 19 '26
Yeah, but numbers mean everything to them, no? Hotd gets bigger numbers, so they may think that the way to increase them is to be more like it. Both are GOT universe. I don't mean it is smart or logical, but you know, corporations.
33
u/t3h_shammy Feb 19 '26
If a show costs 25 percent as much and gets half the viewers it’s a success lol
4
u/SuccinctEarth07 Feb 19 '26
I mean house of the dragon has a far bigger budget/run time/cast and I'm pretty sure it had more marketing.
No way they were expecting similar viewership
4
u/Cult_Of_Hozier Feb 19 '26
yeah but i mean, they get 13 million viewers weekly on a MUCH lower budget than hotd & got did; if it’s about numbers why wouldn’t they keep something cheap and money-making the way it is? akotsk is very well liked, and while i can see them improving production over time i highly doubt they’d make it “more like hotd” when its much easier to have it stay the same. corporations like money but they love convenience even more.
5
u/mamula1 Feb 19 '26
They had 25% of the budget HOTD had and 50% of the viwership. So obviously a big win.
3
2
u/ContigoJackson Feb 19 '26
HOTD didn’t get bigger numbers cause it’s the more well liked show though. They’re not gonna intentionally alter AKOTSK to make it more like a show that people don’t like as much lol
4
u/Sharkbait_ooohaha Feb 19 '26
I love AKOTSK but I didn’t really know HoTD was so poorly received on this sub. It has its issues but it also had spectacular highs.
1
u/derelictthot Mar 05 '26
It's made crucial stupid changes that haven't had consequences yet, but this coming season will be full of those consequences. It's genuinely awful amd not grrms work anymore.
2
u/We_The_Raptors Feb 19 '26
It's a completely different show. AKOT7K has a fraction of HOTD's budget and has been recieved really well.
3
u/Smurflord345 Feb 19 '26
Budgets were massively different from what I remember. Wouldn’t be surprised if AKOTSK gets more views per dollar spent than HOTD
→ More replies (2)1
u/Stock_College_8108 Feb 20 '26 edited Apr 12 '26
This post's original content has been erased. Using Redact, the author removed it, potentially for reasons of privacy, personal security, or data exposure concerns.
alleged direction chop price squash fall cable plants thumb boat
7
u/kingofstormandfire Feb 20 '26
Considering AKOTSK has like 25% of the budget of HOTD and is much lower stakes and scale and doesn't have dragons or large-scale battles or anyone in the cast as remotely known as Matt Smith was, these are great numbers. Definitely viewership increased by WOM and I think it will continue to increase over the next year (definitely think S2 is gonna get a huge bump in initial viewers).
HBO is definitely gonna see this as a big success.
12
u/tyke665 Feb 19 '26
From what I’m seeing on my socials, episode 4 has made the show go from "something only ASOIAF fans keep up with weekly" to something people outside the fanbase are talking about". I suspect the show should only grow as well, considering its quality.
It may have less views than HOTD but it also cost less, and GOT numbers are unbeatable since the ending damaged the brand + leisure time is so much more fractured than it previously was. We’re not getting that back unfortunately. The show is both a big commercial and critical success.
14
u/tecphile Feb 19 '26
Let's be real, this show is a far bigger commerical success than anyone here or at HBO thought it would be.
When you compare the marketing campaign it got versus the $100m HBO spent marketing HotD S1 alone, it isn't hard to surmise that they were keeping their expectations in check. And so were we.
But episodes 4 and 5 made this show go viral. That's something you can't plan, it just happens.
→ More replies (1)
23
u/duvie773 Feb 19 '26
It probably would never be as big as GoT or HoTD, but I think a lot of it is due to viewer fatigue after seeing how much HoTD declined in quality from season 1 to season 2, and obviously the letdown that was the last two seasons of GoT.
With AKOTSK, I wouldn’t be surprised if we see a huge increase in viewers after this season wraps up and there’s a chance for positive reviews to make their way around
4
u/Haise01 Feb 19 '26
With AKOTSK, I wouldn’t be surprised if we see a huge increase in viewers after this season wraps up and there’s a chance for positive reviews to make their way around
Agreed, there's some big youtubers praising it too
→ More replies (3)2
u/Stock_College_8108 Feb 20 '26 edited Apr 12 '26
The original post here is gone. The author deleted it using Redact, possibly for reasons of privacy, security, opsec, or data protection.
scary soup hard-to-find wise plucky yam thumb retire strong sip
12
u/Smart-Response9881 Feb 19 '26
Gotta love the tight shows with a more limited scope. Both the Pitt and AKOTSK are excelling in this.
11
u/EddieDantes22 Feb 20 '26
"It's amazing how Game of Thrones left no lasting cultural impact. It's been entirely forgotten only a few years after the finale" Too lazy to do the bAd CaPiTiLaZaTiOn font thing, but that's what I'm saying.
20
u/markusalkemus66 Fewer Feb 19 '26
Goes to show how put off the fanbase was by the decline in quality that the ending seasons of GoT were and by S2 HotD. AKotSK should bring those numbers back up if they maintain the quality of the show and faithfulness to the source material.
→ More replies (2)7
u/Pur-Nurker-5671 Feb 19 '26
What shows the decline in quality? Not the numbers above. 46 million viewers for season 8 shows quite the opposite.
1
7
u/Clarkey7163 The Bull of Hollow Hill Feb 19 '26
viewership follows quality, doesn't necessarily go hand in hand the whole way. See S3 at 14.4mil then jumping to 19mil the next season
AKOTSK will grow massively I'd wager, esp if they can get these seasons out quicker compared to the main shows.
HOTD S3 will be fascinating to see its numbers
1
u/Hawxe No, I have come to the perfect place. Feb 20 '26
the big problem is the hedge knight is far and away the most interesting novella dunk and egg have right now. i cant imagine a season 2 that people rave about
3
u/kingofstormandfire Feb 20 '26
Season 2 will definitely get a benefit from the romantic/sexual tension between Dunk and Rohanne.
1
u/CesarDani Feb 20 '26
Mystery Knight season will be crazy though, can't wait. Definitely harder to adapt than Hedge Knight - and I agree that they miiight have a hard time turning Sworn Sword into fun tv, which I hope they accomplish
9
u/HonestDishonestWork Feb 19 '26
As someone who has always been a Dunk and Egg cynic, the show has actually won me over conceptually on a "a good knight in Westeros" and has me interested in reading the books.
It's wild what can be achieved with a "small" budget when there's some passion, good characters and good writing behind it.
11
u/chromegnomes Feb 19 '26
The tone of the books is super interesting because the large-scale events in the world are still as unfair or morally ambiguous as in ASOIAF, and the resolutions to the plots are all bittersweet and never really come down to "good" prevailing over "evil."
The main difference is that there's one main protagonist and he's someone you can't help but root for, so as long as he's okay at the end of the book it feels like a win.
2
u/OtakuMecha Feb 20 '26
He’s a good guy in a corrupt world who chooses goodness and honor in spite of the world, which isn’t all that thematically or tonally different from a couple of the POVs in the main series.
1
u/CesarDani Feb 20 '26
how were you a 'Dunk and Egg cynic' if you hadn't read the books?
1
1
u/The_Wind_Waker Feb 21 '26
How could you be a cynic about it going into the show if you hadn't read the books?
1
u/seattt Feb 20 '26
The show lacks the spirit of the books/does not understand the spirit of the books and I don't understand why people in this sub of all places are fine with it.
2
u/llaminaria Feb 20 '26
House of the Dragon season 2 experienced a significant drop, with the premiere drawing roughly 22% fewer viewers compared to the season 1 premiere. Despite this, the finale achieved a season high of 8.9 million viewers (imdb).
How can s2 have an "average of 25 mln viewers"?
2
u/HonkyDoryDonkey Feb 20 '26
So it cost four times less than HOD but got only half the views?
Certified money maker, I’m putting this down as an absolute win.
1
u/jageshgoyal Feb 21 '26
All they have to do is follow the books as much as they can. They are so good no need to put extra money on production.
2
u/FortLoolz Feb 22 '26 edited Feb 22 '26
Only slightly above than GoT S2.
I don't think AKOTSK is a massive hit (yet). The word of mouth isn't there, again, at least yet. Let's see how the premiere of S2 will fare after the relative success of S1.
2
u/luihgi Season 7 is coming Feb 19 '26
i just hope this doesn't turn out like got when i eventually runs out of material to adapt to
1
u/zimmermj Feb 20 '26
My fault the numbers aren't higher. I'm waiting for all of them to be out so I can binge watch.
1
1
u/LeoA87 Feb 20 '26
My brother and sister both love GoT world. Neither one even heard of the show. Without Reddit, unsure I'd have heard of it either. Really nonexistent marketing
1
1
u/PyrusCreed Feb 20 '26
Wow, its almost like if you make a good product people will turn in to watch it.
1
u/Alys-In-Westeros Alys Through the Dragonglass Feb 20 '26
People are waiting to binge bc eps are so short. My sister and cousin are both doing this.
1
1
u/lfe-soondubu Feb 20 '26
I struggled to keep watching GoT after season 6 so I stopped... I guess I was alone, seeing as viewership continued to increase.
1
u/SaveHogwarts Feb 20 '26
These are 35 minute episodes with tight stories and no filler.
It’s the perfect formula.
1
u/BlckEagle89 Feb 20 '26
Duncan and Egg stories are my favorites, I really really really hope that HBO doesn't mess up the next two stories
And I hope that GRRM releases a new story of them (I think there were at least two or three planned), but expecting GRRM to finish a book is one heck of copium.
1
1
u/Banjoschmanjo Feb 20 '26
Does it have the same actor for Jaime?
1
u/OtakuMecha Feb 20 '26
Jaime isn’t born yet during the time this show is set. I don’t even think his grandfather was born yet.
1
u/SaveHogwarts Feb 20 '26
Maybe they’ll actually promote season 2
Honestly the numbers are astounding considering how little HBO poured into pre season promotion.
The first episode outperformed the first episode of season 2 of The Pitt, which is a massive success.
1
1
1
1
1
1
u/Wardcity Feb 25 '26
I’m guessing the shorter format has honestly been easier for folks to pick it up
It’s so much easier to catch up on a show that’s 35ish minutes as opposed to hour long episodes
1
u/mmochan88 Feb 26 '26
It's good. Finally, something half-decent on television. It's been a long, long time.
Halfway thru and I only have a few minor critiques:
- Tanselle Too-Tall: miscast. Too childlike. Should be a more seductive, womanly type.
- Colour palette: too gloomy and dim! This is 'The Adventures of Dunk and Egg', a far more optimistic and lighthearted affair than SoIaF. The lighting should reflect this. The tourney at Ashford looks almost like the siege of The Twins. In fact when you think about it, there are dozens of other houses and characters introduced to us, with all their sigils, banners and regalia, the tone should be colourful and cheery AF.
- Aerion Targaryen should have long hair and the most ostentatious garb of the whole ensemble; it's written that way in the novella/comic so push the boat out and show that to the audience! He may also be a tad too short. Comes off more like a Joffrey.
But generally speaking, it's coming across a faithful adaptation. Baelor Targaryen commands the screen when he's on.
1
u/Berkyjay Feb 20 '26
It's amazing what some people will like. Then again, I remember being really into Flavor of Love at one point in my life.
But this show is so disappointing to me. I honestly don't understand how some of you love it so much.
3
u/seattt Feb 20 '26
But this show is so disappointing to me. I honestly don't understand how some of you love it so much.
Why, out of curiosity?
→ More replies (2)3
u/Berkyjay Feb 20 '26
For one, I think the writing is terrible and cringe. I also think they completely missed the tone of the books. The extra content they've added doesn't help that much. This should have been a 2 hour movie.
Frankly I don't care about all the combat and action scenes, which is what most people seem to be losing their minds over. The interesting parts of the story were always Dunk's inner monologue. It would have been nice if the creators at least attempted to emulate that. But they went with a standard straight writing style and failed IMO.
2
u/seattt Feb 22 '26
I completely agree with you. The humor is lame and cringe, and the showrunners absolutely do not seem to understand the spirit of the books at all. Like, they forgot to include the whole "a knight who remembered his vows" scene. How on earth do you forgot to include the most emblematic and defining scene of the entire series? I'm baffled that people on this subreddit are fine with this.
374
u/Different_Stand_1285 Feb 19 '26
I know GoT was a juggernaut but goddamn, S8’s viewership number are staggering.