The latest episode of Game of Thrones is the show's most-veiwed ever, despite being leaked ahead of time. Over the years, Game of Thrones has not only proven to be a global juggernaut, but it's given HBO their biggest hit. Unlike other shows that tend to dip in ratings over time, the fantasy series has posted higher and higher numbers with each season. With just a handful of episodes to go until the show ends, HBO is pulling out all the stops to ensure season 7 is the biggest one yet.

Just a few weeks back, the season premiere of Game of Thrones broke the show's ratings record. Since then, the total has nearly tripled to sit in the 30 million range across platforms around the world. But given how epic this past Sunday's episode was, many have wondered whether it could top the premiere. From the reunion of the Stark children to the massive dragon battle, there was plenty to get people excited. Still, a recent hack of HBO that leaked the episode had the network worried about how the episode would fare. Luckily, it only helped things.

EW reports 'The Spoils of War,' the fourth episode of Game of Thrones, drew 10.2 million viewers. That's slightly up from the 10.1M the premiere attracted. As it turns out, all the buzz around the episode by those who saw the leak only drove more people to tune in this Sunday. While some may have had the final battle spoiled, it looks as if enough people wanted to see how things unfolded.

Nikolaj Coster-Waldau, Jerome Flynn Game of Thrones Season 7 Episode 4

For HBO, this is good news. The hackers have continued to demand things from the network, but they look to have less and less bargaining power. Time and time again, the leaking of scripts, details, and episodes of TV shows only seems to boost the interest in the final product. Given the promise of Dothraki and a dragon in a huge battle sequence, it appears that no amount of spoilers could keep audiences away from the episode.

While the final few episodes won't be all action, fans can likely expect something that will top the dragon battle. After all, there's still plenty of conflicts that remain on the show and Dany can always up the amount of dragons she brings to war.

On the other end of the storytelling spectrum, new character pairings will continue to blossom. The Stark children are each going through an identity crisis that could affect the fate of the North. Meanwhile, Dany and Jon are becoming uncomfortably close given their secret history. With only nine episodes left in the entire series, the coming weeks should be full of excitement for Game of Thrones fans.

Next: The Key Locations in Game of Thrones Season 7

Game of Thrones season 7 continues this Sunday at 9pm EST on HBO.

Source: EW