The fever for game of thrones is far from having subsided, and in fact it does not seem that the current spin-offs (between the dragon house and The Knight of the Seven Kingdoms) are going to be even remotely the only strategies you employ Warner Bros. Discovery to continue squeezing the phenomenon.
But for now they are what we have and their follow-up illustrates that interest is maintained, even going through new upswings as demonstrated by the excellent reception of The Knight of the Seven Kingdoms a few months ago.
This commitment to lightness and moving away from dynastic intrigues was very well received, to the point of detracting from what the dragon house (more continuous and focused on House Targaryen as described by George R.R. Martin in Fire and blood) had achieved in two seasons. It is a possible way to read the slight drop in viewership that has been experienced the dragon house upon premiering its third season. The numbers for its first three days have been slightly disappointing.
The first episode of the third season has achieved between HBO and HBO Max 21.5 million viewers. Which is not bad at all: the problem is that it represents a 8% decrease of what the premiere of the second season of the dragon house in 2024. So, the prequel to game of thrones got 23.4 million of viewers, so it must have lost impact on the audience.
We can blame it then on the much warmer reception of The Knight of the Seven Kingdoms…or simply to the television competition: the arrival of this first chapter has coincided with the Soccer World Cup. So perhaps there is nothing to be alarmed about.
