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There is a human element toThe Last of Usthat somehow preserves the story of the video game from which it has been adapted while going above and beyond in tuning into the audience’s emotional range even when it diverges from the game’s established plot. Why else would the viewers unilaterally praise Episode 3 (after aggressively bawling their eyes out, of course), especially when it managed to stray so far off from the plot’s natural arc of progression?
Craig Mazin and Neil Druckmann have remained fiercely relevant to the narrative throughout its ups and downs even while taking vast creative liberties with the source material that was given to them. As a result, what the audience at HBO landed up with was an absolutely undeniable experience that will forever be engraved in history as one of the best works of art to exist in modern television.
Also read:The Last of UsGets Rare and Valid Criticism for Skipping Major Plot Device Despite Massive $15M Budget Per Episode Ahead of Season Finale
Fans PraiseThe Last of UsSurpassingHouse of the Dragon
HBO is on a roll this year. WithThe Last of UsandSuccessionmaking splashing headlines on the covers of magazines and publications, one has hardly cared to remember the other great namedrop that was released not too long ago. TheGame of Thronesprequel spin-off,House of the Dragondid make an enormous (and fiery) entry when it launched in mid-2022. At the time, the series was going toe-to-toe with its faux opposition,The Lord of the Ringsprequel spin-off released by Amazon,The Rings of Power.The audience was somewhat merry at the fanmade competition to see which secured a greater viewership and audience/critic scores at the end of the day.
Also read:“If he has a story that he wants to tell, I am there”:The Last of UsOriginal Joel Star Troy Baker Addresses Part 3 Amidst Rumors of Sony Eyeing PlayStation 6 Release
WhileHouse of the Dragondid surpass its contemporary, it isn’t until now that the marker of true greatness is being perceived by the very same audience who once cheered at dragons and dark sorcerers.The Last of Usnow sits comfortably at the top after debuting at HBO with a record 100% rating on Rotten Tomatoes. Now, after its 9-week-long harrowing journey, it ranks at a solemn 96%.House of the Dragon, on the other hand, trails behind at 93%.
And although both are drastically different with regard to content and structural theme, the core quality of the video game adaptation (on the basis of plot and gravity) makes it a far superior show compared to the high fantasy spin-off.
The Numbers Are In –TLOUFans TrollHotDViewership
Also read:The Last of UsSets New HBO Record AfterHouse of the DragonBeats Zendaya’sEuphoriaBenchmark
The season finale ofThe Last of Ushas polled at a record high on its premiere night with 8.2 million viewers clocking in to watch the epic showdown and Season 1 curtain call. The number is almost twice as high as the viewership registered on the series’ opening night on January 15 early this year – 4.7 million. According to reports from HBO, the series is averaging a cumulative eye count of 30.4 million viewers forThe Last of UsEpisodes 1 to 6. The number is way higher thanHouse of the Dragon‘s average count of 29 million across all platforms.
‘THE LAST OF US’ has surpassed ‘HOUSE OF THE DRAGON’ in viewership.
(https://t.co/ctbbHhJymz)pic.twitter.com/JjLGhktdx9
— Film Updates (@FilmUpdates)July 03, 2025
the superior showpic.twitter.com/zBFzifR1mj
— Joré (@venusions)June 20, 2025
PEAK TELEVISIONpic.twitter.com/P4xQibBPiP
— 🦇 (@generalkenobix)July 05, 2025
Can’t wait for season 2.pic.twitter.com/qBuCnRPPly
— Joe G (@joegeis115)August 12, 2025
I’m so glad! Tlou is peak television and truly worthy of all the praise and success because it’s the representation of real source material unlike HoTD where the writers played with the original plot and fill in the blanks with scenarios that never took place in the book.
— lena🍉🫧🕊️ loves emmatt! (@daemyraskid)July 08, 2025
See what happens when you do quality over quantity, Netflix take notes
— bee (@miudosmimados)Jul 14, 2025
pic.twitter.com/z2YLGayGO5
— beza 🌙 (@bezaronii)August 11, 2025
Over the course of HBO’s expansive and wildly successful existence, this era has been the best in its incursion into genre-bending creativity. Craig Mazin’s contribution with his 2019 horror tragedy,Chernobyl, and Mike White’s comedy satire dissecting the world of the elite and the wealthy,The White Lotus, are truly peak creations. And even thoughHouse of the Dragonis currently being subjected to trolling, this too has been a worthy expansion of the inimitable universe established by David Benioff and D.B. Weiss’sGame of Thrones.
House of the DragonandThe Last of Usare currently available for streaming on HBO Max.
Source:Twitter
Diya Majumdar
Senior Writer
Articles Published :2410
Diya Majumdar is a Senior Content Writer at FandomWire with over 2000 published articles on the website. Since 2022, she has been working as an entertainment journalist with a special focus on films and pop culture.Among the countless genres and themes of Hollywood, the ones that particularly favor Diya’s tastes include Game of Thrones, DC, and well-aged thrillers and classics.
