While fans of the 2013 video game-turned-HBO-adaptation had, at the very least, an inkling of the potential behind The Last of Us before it landed on our television screens, perhaps nobody expected it to beat the mighty House of the Dragon in a key viewership metric. But here we are.
Back when The Last of Us debuted in January, its premiere episode pulled in an audience of around 4.7 million viewers. Last night’s finale drew in 8.2 million viewers, an impressive feat given that many TV-watching eyes were diverted towards the Oscars broadcast, which happened simultaneously.
This combination of data from both Nielsen and HBO’s parent company, Warner Bros. Discovery, marks a 75% increase in TLOU viewership over the course of season one, per Variety. By contrast, the publication reported a 6.9% decrease in House of the Dragon over the course of its season one run, with its premiere drawing in 9.99 million viewers, and its finale 9.3 million.
To play devil’s advocate for a moment, House of the Dragon already had an established fanbase via Game of Thrones back when it premiered, whereas many people were still gradually discovering The Last of Us for the first time as its first season rolled on – so a higher rate of audience growth was more or less to be expected.
That said, interpreting this data to mean that the Thrones prequel’s viewer interest dipped over its first season run, but rose with successive episodes of The Last of Us, may speak to the series’ comparative quality — but it’s not as simple as a 1:1 comparison, given the factors outlined above.
In any case, there isn’t much need to scrutinize ratings for the time being, given that a second season is already greenlit for both of HBO’s hit franchises. The Last of Us was confirmed to be getting a second season shortly after its second episode. It does beg the question, however, whether adaptations of George R.R Martin’s works might be eclipsed by Naughty Dog’s over time.