Search icon

Entertainment

16th Aug 2017

This is what watching Game of Thrones does to your heart rate

This doesn't include a spoiler, we promise

Darragh Berry

Defibrillator at the ready.

According to Apple Insider, 80% of the scenes that caused Game of Thrones viewers’ heart rates to increase rapidly centred around drama between characters, rather than violence, the Cardiogram app has found.

Entitled ‘What Game of Thrones does to your heart rate,’ 300 people were surveyed and those who were enrolled in the survey were reminded to turn on their Apple Watch at 8:45pm over the first four Sundays of the new set of episodes.

There were over 2 million measurements taken in the first four weeks and the app spotted trends based on what was happening on screen.

Apple Insider said:

“The event with the highest average pulse rate so far was Jamie Lannister’s charge against Daenerys Targaryen and Drogon, an action scene that focused on the conflict between two main characters, preceded by another scene concerning Tyrion Lannister’s internal conflict.

“The scene achieved an average heart rate of 91 beats per minute, higher than the second-place moment by 8 beats per minute.”

With excitement high for the first returning episode of the new season, it comes as no surprise that the very first opening scene caused the highest average pulse rate of all the scenes that didn’t include any major action.

Episode 3’s plea to Daenerys by Davos Seaworth and Jon Snow, and the first episode’s proposal by Euron Greyjoy to marry Cersei Lannister, had audience members’ hearts jumping over the 75 beats mark also.

As Season 7 heads towards its final few episodes, it might be no harm to monitor the heart rates again as more twists and turns come our way.