Game of Thrones Finale Draws Record Breaking Viewership, HBO Starts Selling Iron Thrones

Last year, Game of Thrones, a densely plotted fantasy epic with a million characters, a million more pages to go, and a general understanding that if one character died there were 999,999 where that came from, became HBO’s third most watched series. That is, its third most watched series ever, not in the current HBO lineup.

Last season’s finale brought in 3 million pairs of eyeballs, but with this season’s penultimate episode “Blackwater” topping at nearly 3.4 million viewers, it was a pretty sure bet that the finale would garner more. On the other hand, “Valar Morghulis” was going up against the NBA playoffs and the MTV movie awards…

Naturally, it pulled 4.2 million viewers in its first airing that night, a new series record, and by the end of the night’s multiple airings, had 5.1 million.

Now, if each of those people had chipped in a dollar, they could have bought one hundred and seventy Iron Thrones. Well, Fiberglass and Fireproof Resin Thrones. That’s right, HBO is now selling life-size replicas of the Iron Throne, for a measly $30,000 each. Each throne is more than seven feet tall and weighs three hundred and fifty pounds.

In the game of thrones, you either win or shell out 30 grand.

(via The Hollywood Reporter and The New York Times.)