“House of the Dragon” is coming to its season end this Sunday.
What happened? I don’t know. I was in and out with it, as I fear most fans didn’t feel it was urgent viewing.
None of season 3’s episodes cracked the 100,000 viewers mark. It’s possible Sunday’s finale might, but it’s unlikely.
Despite being a spin off of “Game of Thrones,” “Dragon” has never caught on. You never hear anyone talking about it. There’s no buzz. “Dragon” has not crossed ove into the culture the way “Game of Thrones” did. It’s just there for the remaining 950,000 linear viewers on the HBO channel.
Of course, there may be untold millions watching on HBO Max. But those numbers do not get reported, so we have to go with what we’ve got.
HBO is committed to one last season of “Dragon,” and that will be that. The TV world of George R. R. Martin may finally be over.
Maybe a lesson learned here: by setting “Dragon” a zillion years ahead of “GoT,” there was no chance for guest stars from the original series to pop in. A good spin off series always promises a visit from the earlier hit show. An actual sequel might have had a better chance.
Oh, for the days when “Game of Thrones” was scoring 8 million viewers on Sunday nights, when social media lit up with reactions to the Starks, the Lannisters, and Jon Snow. But even the dragons seem worn out at this point. It’s hard to keep those wings flapping.
