Since its premiere last month, HBO’sHouse of the Dragonhas drawn from the strength of the dragons and their silver-haired riders to soar to great heights and new records. The buzz on the first episode had yet to fully settle when the series was renewed for a second season by HBO. It was a move that was validated by the series premiere breaking the viewership record at HBO Max with10 million viewers on its first night– truly, all the dragons roared as one. However, just like the fire-breathing creatures in the series have proven, everything is vulnerable at some point, and the third episode of the series has seen the show’s first drop in viewership.
PerVariety, the third episode ofHouse of the Dragonhas seen the first decline in viewership from traditional TV viewers. Watched across four cable airings on HBO, the episode titledSecond of His Namewas watched by 2.5 million people with a drop from the second episode of one million. Per Nielsen,House of the Dragonsaw a 9.4% increase between episodes one and two with 3.2 and 3.5 million viewers respectively. When put together with the numbers released by Warner Bros. Discovery for the first two episodes, we see a 2% increase with 9.99 million viewers for the first episode and 10.2 million a week later for the second episode. Keeping with the Nielsen numbers, the third episode has seen a 28.6% decrease from the second episode.
The third episode of the prequel series saw a deepening rift emerge between the Targaryens at the top of the chain. The king, Viserys Targaryen (Paddy Considine), has finally gotten himself a male child by virtue of his marriage to Alicent Hightower (Emily Carey), daughter of the King’s Hand, Lord Otto Hightower (Rhys Ifans). The king’s decision to wed Alicent has strained his relationship with his daughter, Princess Rhaenyra (Milly Alcock). The princess perceives that her position as named heir to the Iron Throne is under threat by her half-brother. The somewhat unpredictable Daemon Targaryen (Matt Smith) whilst initially losing the war in the Stepstones alongside Lord Corlys Velaryon (Steve Toussaint) has managed to snatch victory against the Crabfeeder.
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The preview for the next episodesees the triumphant return of Daemon to King’s Landing with a new title “King of the Narrow Sea”. The preview shows the rift growing between the Targaryens and an intensifying quest for the Iron Throne.
House of the Dragonpremieres new episodes on Sundays on HBO and HBO Max. Watch the fourth episode preview below:
