Episode 4 of Season 2 of “House of the Dragon” Views: 8.1 million viewers

Theo Whitman

“House of the Dragon” drew 8.1 million viewers across HBO and Max in the United States for the explosive fourth episode of Season 2 on Sunday, surpassing the audience for the first episode last month.

On June 16, the second season of “House of the Dragon” premiered to 7.8 million viewers, making the season two premiere 22% below the 10 million viewers that the “Game of Thrones” prequel series reached in 2022.

According to Warner Bros. Discovery, the season 2 premiere of “House of the Dragon” is now approaching 25 million viewers, and viewing over the Fourth of July holiday led “House of the Dragon” season 2 to its “strongest week yet” on Max between July 1 and 7.

Sunday’s episode four, “Red Dragons and Gold,” featured an epic dragon battle scene. Prince Aemond Targaryen (Ewan Mitchell) and his green dragon Vagar, joined at the last minute by his usurper brother King Aegon II Targaryen (Tom Glynn-Carney) and his dragon Sunfire, face off against Princess Rhaenys Targaryen (Eve Best) — who takes her dragon Melleis into battle at Rockrest on behalf of her daughter-in-law Queen Rhaenyra (Emma D’Arcy), leader of the Targaryen Black Faction.

diverse We spoke with Best about filming the episode and the implications of its tragic ending for future episodes of House of the Dragon, which viewers can read more about here.

House of the Dragon has already been renewed for a third season by HBO.

The returning cast for season two includes Matt Smith, Olivia Cooke, Emma D’Arcy, Eve Best, Steve Toussaint, Fabian Frankel, Ewan Mitchell, Tom Glynn-Carney, Sonoya Mizuno, Rhys Ifans, Harry Collett, Bethany Antonia, Phoebe Campbell, Via Sabine, Jefferson Hall, and Matthew Needham.

Newcomers to season two include Abubakar Salim as Allen Hall, Gail Rankin as Alice Rivers, Freddie Fox as Ser Gwyn Hightower, Simon Russell Beale as Ser Simon Strong, Clinton Liberty as Adam Hall, Jamie Kenna as Ser Alfred Brome, Kieran Pugh as Hugh, Tom Bennett as Ulf, Tom Taylor as Lord Cregan Stark, and Vincent Regan as Ser Rickard Thorne.

The series was created by Ryan Condal and A Song of Ice and Fire creator George R.R. Martin. Condal serves as executive producer and executive producer alongside Sarah Hess, Alan Taylor, Melissa Bernstein, Kevin De La Noye, Lonnie Perister, and Vince Gerardis.