UPDATED: Coming in just shy of its recent record, the HBO drama closes out its third season as the cable network's second-most-watched of all time.

Game of Thrones finished off its third season on Sunday night -- and though it fell just short of hitting a new record audience, it solidified its status as the second-most-watched series in network history.

Coming in just over one hour, the premiere telecast of the Game of Thrones season finale averaged 5.4 million viewers. It marked a year-to-year increase of 28 percent from the sophomore ender's 4.2 million.

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The latest gross numbers (a combination of originals, encores, DVR, On Demand and HBO Go) have the third season of Game of Thrones averaging 13.6 million viewers. That's an increase of 2 million viewers from last season (11.6 million viewers) and makes the series HBO's most watched since the 2004 season of The Sopranos.

Game of Thrones hit four new series highs over the course of its third season. The most watched first run ever came in week six with 5.5 million viewers.

Prior to this season, True Blood ranked as the second-most-watched series in network history and the most watched currently running program. The vampire drama returns for its sixth season on Sunday.