Sunday night’s “Game of Thrones” Season 4 finale ended with a shocking death — but fell short of setting a new series ratings high.
The finale episode, entitled “The Children,” averaged 7.1 million viewers at 9 p.m., just shy of the record 7.2 million viewers the HBO drama hit earlier this season.
“Thrones” was up 32 percent from last year’s Season 3 finale, which drew 5.4 million viewers. Including its two replays, Sunday’s episode averaged 9.3 million viewers.
“Game of Thrones” recently became HBO’s most watched series ever — surpassing “The Sopranos” — with an average weekly audience of 18.6 million viewers.
The drama will return for its fifth season next year.