The Walking Dead aired a highly-talked about episode on Sunday night in the form of Episode 9x14. The shocking hour became the number one Twitter trend but this wasn't reflected in the episode's ratings, as a slight downward tick came into play as the show remained on top of Sunday night.

The Walking Dead Episode 9x14 earned a 1.7 rating in the key 18-49 demographic. The episode had a total of 4.566 million viewers. It was followed by Real Housewives of Atlanta in second place before a pair of college basketball games, which put Talking Dead in fifth place on the night. Chris Hardwick's recap show drew a 0.5 rating with 1.559 million viewers.

Three weeks ago, Episode 9x11 had hit a series low with 4.39 million viewers. However, the episode was praised as one of the season's best as newcomer villain Alpha (Samantha Morton) carried out a tense exchange at the Hilltop. As a result, the series saw a pair of rises in the following weeks.

Episode 9x12 grew the numbers up to 4.71 million viewers and Episode 9x13 hauled in an audience of 4.83 million viewers. It was enough to finish atop the charts on Sunday night with a 1.8 rating in the key 18-49 demographic, ahead of Real Housewives of Atlanta, which was the only other title ahead of Talking Dead and its 0.7 rating with 2.03 million viewers.

The slight drop in Episode 9x14's ratings will probably be a thing of the past when the Live+3 numbers arrive. Critics and fans alike have been buzzing on social media and in the news in regards to the hour-long adventure which unveiled Michonne's past in the time since Rick Grimes left Alexandria. Shocking violence involving children dominated the conversation as the AMC series did not worry about steering clear of controversy. The episode, however, was well received as the characters were pushed to their moral limits.

The Walking Dead Episode 9x14 was titled, "Scars." Scars was directed by Millicent Shelton on a script from Corey Reed and Vivian Tse.

What did you think of The Walking Dead Episode 9x14? Share your thoughts in the comment section!

The Walking Dead airs Sundays at 9 pm ET. Fear the Walking Dead will return for its fifth season in 2019. For complete coverage and insider info all year long, follow @BrandonDavisBD on Twitter and watch ComicBook.com's After The Dead each Sunday night following new episodes.

(Ratings via Zap2It)