Torrenters, play it even!
The medieval fantasy thriller, Game of Thrones, and its entire seasons have consistently been the fan favorite show, and until the last day the spinoff “House of Dragon” was also one of the most-pirated shows airing on television.
House of the Dragon’ Finale Leaks Online
Apparently, HBO is upset that the House of Dragon Season 1 finale was leaked ahead of its Oct. 23 release, and ever since, the streaming service has been accusing its international distribution partners in Africa, Europe, or the Middle East.
“We are aware that the tenth episode (final episode) of the House of Dragon has been posted to illegal websites on torrent,” an HBO spokesperson disclosed. “It seems to have originated from either of the distribution partners from the EMEA region.”
The spokesperson further acknowledged they were “aggressively monitoring and pulling these copies” from those torrent sites.
They added, “We’re unhappy that this illegal action has disrupted the viewing experience of the loyal fans, who will get to watch the pristine version of the episode when it debuts Sunday on HBO Max and HBO, where it will air exclusively in 4k.”
Unfortunately, this is definitely not going to stop the occasional spoiler from surfacing on social media platforms. So the next couple of days, apparently the loyal fans would like walking on the minefields, trying to dodge the spoilers.
Of course, a finale is where the viewers expect the most consequential events so stumbling across them would equal losing after watching the entire 9 episodes of House of the Dragon. At the end of the last episode, Rhaenys Targaryen was seen crashing the party to stop her dragon while threatening to roast teh greens with dragons. Those audiences who have watched the show till there would feel relieved once the Sunday episode gets aired.
Moreover, the fans on Twitter are in a state of dismay which has made them go blank. “I’ve muted House of the Dragon stuff. Spoilers have been shared like crazy,” a Twitter user wrote, “And I accidentally stumbled over two because my friend follows them and twitter recommends things your friends like.”
Meanwhile, another one said, “Why the hell did I watch the show? As***Les is spoiling the last episode of House of the Dragon before its release. Guess, I fu***d around too much and found out. To be honest, I seriously regret what I just did. It would have been exciting to watch it over HBO since I already have the subscription.”
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However, there is a series of funny memes along with the serious ones, like a user wrote, “Me feeling guilty about watching the leaked House of the Dragon episode, but then remembering how much I pay for HBO lol.”
Another one chimed in and said, “Now I can unsubscribe from HBO Max and wait a year till Season 2 of House of the Dragon.”
Besides all the hustle, certain fans of the show are still in shock, wondering what just happened. “Just saw the biggest House of the Dragon spoiler and I am so confused. Is the episode out or?” a user asked in a hunch.
While HBO is rightfully disappointed about the leak, it seems like history is repeating itself as the latter seasons of the original Game of Thrones routinely suffered premature releases just like this one. Ironically enough, when the previous ‘ahead of the time” release was reported in 2019, the majority of opinions budded against HBO which didn’t “completely control every step of distribution.”
Now after years, it’s a bit kind of a throwback situation, however, what could be the excuse now? This time, HBO itself is confidently pointing at the international distribution partner, which proves their lack of distribution control over them, which is still persisting as before.
Even if the naysayers are going to take it with a grain of salt, it must be said that a tiny wrong move cannot hurt the reputation built by Game of Thrones over the years and that it isn’t going to dissuade the crowd from watching the finale. Even in the past, the early unplanned release didn’t cause any harm to the show standing as a massive rating success.
“I SAID A THOUSAND TIMES. HOUSE OF THE DRAGON IS AO3 WILDEST DREAMS BEING MADE INTO A TV SHOW,” a fan wrote on Twitter.
Anyway, the fresh tenth episode of HBO’s House of the Dragon will premiere on Oct. 23, Sunday, where the viewers might be able to see the highly awaited Targaryen civil war.