Skip to main content

Game of Thrones draws season-high ratings and Twitter buzz for episode 3

HBO

The night was dark and full of terrors for the Battle of Winterfell  (maybe a little too dark), but that didn’t stop the latest episode of Game of Thrones from drawing one of the biggest audiences an episode of the series has ever had.

The third episode of the HBO show’s eighth and final season, titled The Long Night, brought in 17.8 million viewers across various broadcast and streaming platforms, the second-largest audience for any Game of Thrones episode’s first airing.

Related Videos

The 17.8 million viewers who watched the Battle of Winterfell play out was the biggest audience so far for season 8’s episodes, topping the 17.4 million viewers the season 8 premiere attracted. The Long Night was also the second most-watched live episode of the series, airing to an audience of 12.02 viewers who watched it as it aired on HBO (as opposed to online or streaming), which is just shy of the 12.07 million viewers who tuned in live for the season 7 finale.

HBO’s most-watched series of all time and the most popular scripted series on television right now, Game of Thrones has just three episodes remaining in its final season.

The Long Night was just as big on social media as it was on TV, with Twitter reporting 7.8 million tweets about the episode filling the platform before, during, and after the Battle of Winterfell. The social media service indicated that this was the most tweeted-about episode of any scripted series on TV ever, topping the previous record set just a few weeks ago by — you guessed it — the season 8 premiere of Game of Thrones.

Although the award-winning series wraps up in just a few weeks — and will likely set a few new records for its series finale, too — fans of Game of Thrones can look forward to more adventures in George R.R. Martin’s mythical, medieval world down the road. A prequel series is currently in development from Martin and screenwriter Jane Goldman, set thousands of years before the events of Game of Thrones.

Three episodes remain in the final season of Game of Thrones, and HBO’s preview of episode 4 suggests that the battle with The Night King won’t be the final conflict of the series, as the survivors in Winterfell now face the armies of Cersei Lannister for control of the Iron Throne.

Editors' Recommendations

Ted Lasso season 3, episode 1 release date, time, channel, and plot
Ted Lasso standing face to face with Nathan in a first look image from Ted Lasso season 3 on Apple TV+.

One of TV's best comedies is set to return for one last time. That's right, everyone's favorite emotionally damaged yet aggressively optimistic soccer, sorry, football coach is back as Ted Lasso returns for its third and, sadly, final season on Apple TV+.

The good news is that the characters you love to love are all back: Ted, the sarcastic Roy Kent, regal Rebecca Welton, the practical Keeley Jones, the ever-reliable Coach Beard, the lovable Sam Obisanya … you name it, they are back. Nathan's back too, now poised as Ted's main nemesis after season two's stunning betrayal. Can Richmond finally win, well, anything? Or will Nathan and West Ham continue their winning streak? All the answers, plus more of Ted's buttery biscuits, await in season 3.
When does episode 1 of Ted Lasso season 3 release?

Read more
The Mandalorian season 3, episode 3 release date, time, channel, and plot
Din rides a plane in The Mandalorian.

At last, the wait is over! After a two-year hiatus that seemed to last forever, The Mandalorian has triumphantly returned to the small screen. The groundbreaking show proved the Star Wars franchise can work just as well, if not better, on the small screen than in movie theatres, and helped pave the way for successful follow-up series like The Book of Boba Fett, Obi-Wan Kenobi, and the superb Andor.

Because it has been a while, audiences may have forgotten certain specific details about the show or just where and when to watch it. Digital Trends is here with a handy guide to The Mandalorian season 3, including when you can watch episode 3, plot details, trailers, and much more.
When does episode 3 of The Mandalorian season 3 release?

Read more
5 questions we have after The Mandalorian season 3 episode 3
Bo-Katan sits near an R5 Astromech droid in The Mandalorian season 3 episode 3.

Coming off its game-changing second episode, The Mandalorian season 3 has returned this week with one of the Disney+ show’s strangest and most surprising installments to date. Picking up after the events of last week’s The Mines of Mandalore, episode 3 of The Mandalorian season 3 spends its runtime following not only Bo-Katan (Katee Sackhoff) and Din Djarin (Pedro Pascal), but also Dr. Pershing (Omid Abtahi) and Elia Kane (Katy M. O'Brian), two supporting figures from the show’s past seasons.

The episode, titled The Convert, splits its focus between those two storylines. As a result, The Mandalorian’s latest installment raises new questions about the future of Mandalore itself, as well as the fragile, quietly unnerving bureaucratic state of the galaxy’s New Republic.
Why didn’t Bo-Katan tell Din about the mythosaur?

Read more