HBO posted the “Inside the Episode” video for the season finale of Game of Thrones. Executive producers D.B. Weiss and David Benioff, and episode director Alan Taylor have some interesting things to say about the final episode, including the excellent final few moments and the significance they'll have on the series.
Before we get to that, the ratings are in! Entertainment Weekly reported earlier that the tenth and final episode of Season 1 of Game of Thrones brought in a total of 3.9 million viewers when factoring in the repeat showing of the episode at 11:00 p.m. Sunday night. The series has been averaging about 8.3 million viewers if you include repeats, DVR viewings and On Demand viewing.
As a pay-cable network, HBO is limited in terms of the number of viewers they can get to tune in to their shows. There are probably plenty of people who would tune in to Game of Thrones but don’t want to pay for HBO and are waiting for DVD. I don’t think Game of Thrones is the kind of series one would be able to jump into partway through the season. Some might try, but I suspect a lot got caught up via On Demand or reruns over the course of Season 1 and began to tune in on Sunday nights. This, added to word of mouth drawing people in week by week, would certainly explain the slow but steady increase from the premiere’s 2.2 million viewers to the finale’s 3.9 million.
Regardless, to start out with modest numbers and bulk up to nearly 4 million viewers by the finale is a win. If the series gathers even more fans who get caught up through On Demand, reruns and eventually, the DVDs, the Season 2 premiere could top the finale. We have months (and months, and months) to speculate over that though.
In the video below, the writers and director of the finale episode talk about “Fire and Blood.” You really don’t want to watch it if you haven’t seen the episode yet as they discuss the big plot-points from the episode and the season. This includes Daenerys’ fantastic closing scene.
