‘Game of Thrones’ Breaks Viewership Record

Even though it leaked to the internet a few days early, the most recent episode of Game of Thrones still brought in a record-breaking high for series viewership.

According to Deadline, the fourth episode of the current seventh season, titled “Spoils of War,” raked in an audience of 10.2 million people.

This was a series high with the next highest being the season seven premiere, “Dragonstone,” at around 10.1 million viewers.

HBO suffered a “massive data breach” in the last couple of weeks, and as a result “Spoils of War” was leaked online.

This drew concerns that the episode could suffer a huge hit in viewership as some many fans could simply watch it early and not have to wait for premiere night.

Clearly, as the numbers prove, the illegal leak did not do too much damage, if any, to the series.

This season of Game of Thrones has brought about many surprises, but one of the biggest ones for fans appears to be the budding friendship between actors Nikolaj Coster-Waldau and Pilou Asbæk.

It’s no secret that Jaime Lannister and Euron Greyjoy are not each other’s favorite in the Game of Thrones universe, but their off-screen counterparts are apparently, great friends.

The co-stars were recently seen taking in a soccer match together, and Game of Thrones fans went crazy over it.

The photo was re-shared countless times, each with a hilarious new take on the sight of the two men hanging out together.

One fan joked that this is like “when your sister forces you to spend time with her new boyfriend,” while another quipped, “What has three hands and loves watching soccer?”

“When Euron realised that Jaime is looking good and now has 2 good hands too,” said a Twitter user, and another pretty much summed how we all feel by stating, “I’ll never get used to seeing them outside the show.”

Coster-Waldau has been a staple of the series from the very beginning. Asbæk, however, is a more recent addition to the cast.

He plays Euron Greyjoy, who is the uncle of Asha and Theon Greyjoy, and is described as “ruthless pirate captain.” Asbæk just joined the cast last season and has only been in a total of five airing episodes.