Yesterday was the day the world had been waiting for; the season premiere of Game of Thrones season 8. This is the show’s last season, so fans are super pumped to see how the plotline of their favorite show ends. There were a lot of expectations from this episode, and boy oh boy, did it meet ALL of them.

This morning, HBO released the audience numbers for the premier and they are staggering. 

HBO claims that 17.4 MILLION people watched the episode when it was released, both on TV and on their digital streaming platform. This surpasses the previous record of 16.9 million for season 7’s finale. This just goes to show that the show is only increasing in popularity worldwide.

The TRUE number of people who watched the episode within the first 24 hours of it releasing will definitely be much higher, especially when you bring into account the many *other*, untraceable ways people watch the show in places where HBO services aren’t available.

This information does not come as a surprise given the upwards trend the show has seen. 

The episode itself, outside of the record, was a pretty memorable one. 

The season premiere paid homage to the first ever episode of Game of Thrones. For example, the scene where Jon and Daenerys walk into Winterfell harkens to the first episode and the scene where Robert Baratheon and Cersei Lannister enter the Northern Kingdom.

Fans were also gifted with multiple reunions. Chief amongst those was Jon Snow and Arya Stark. 

Have you seen the episode yet? If so, what was your favorite moment, and if not, how on earth are you avoiding the spoilers?

Let us know in the comments

11 Of The Sexiest Scenes From The “Game Of Thrones” Episode Last Night

Game Of Thrones Fans, Don’t Fucking Download The Torrents Because You Might Be At Risk

Cover Photo Courtesy: HBO