Episode 2 of “House of the Dragon” drew in 10.2 million viewers across HBO and HBO Max following its Sunday airing, according to Warner Bros. Discovery.
This marks a 2% increase from the premiere episode, which was viewed by nearly 10 million people, according to WBD’s initial count the day after it aired. The premiere, titled “Heirs of the Dragon,” was HBO’s biggest premiere of all time, more than doubling the viewership of its predecessor, “Game of Thrones,” which was watched by 4.2 million people when it premiered in 2011.
On Friday, the show got an early renewal for Season 2, at which point HBO said that viewership of the premiere had risen to 20 million. Now, the network says that number is approaching 25 million.
Viewership of “House of the Dragon” has not neared that of “Game of Thrones” Season 8, which was viewed by 17.9 million when it premiered and 10.3 million with its second episode. However, as “Game of Thrones” built to became HBO’s most-viewed series of all time throughout its eight years on the air, the network’s more recent hits with fewer years of fandom are a fairer comparison to the start of “House of the Dragon.” “Euphoria” sits at the top of that list, having officially become HBO’s second-biggest hit in history back in February during its second season.
Season 2 Episode 2 of “Euphoria” brought in 2.6 million viewers, 292% less than “The Rogue Prince,” Episode 2 of “House of the Dragon.” In fact, both episodes of “House of the Dragon” so far have surpassed viewership of any individual episode of “Euphoria,” which hit a series high of 6.6 million with its Season 2 finale.