Earlier this week, HBO suffered a massive hacking attack where up to 1.5 terabyes of data were stolen. Shortly after that, a script for the fourth episode of Game of Thrones season 7, “The Spoils of War,” leaked online. Now, the episode itself has leaked.
No, we’re not going to tell you where you can download the episode, although we daresay you’ll be able to find it easily enough if you look. (Also, please keep discussion of the episode out of the comments — we’ve created a separate post for those of you who can’t stand not to discuss it.)
But here’s the twist: according to The Verge, the leak of “The Spoils of War” had nothing to do with the HBO hack, but was rather leaked by a distribution partner!
That partner is Star India, to which HBO handed off distribution duties in 2015, after it had difficulties managing its own operations in that part of the world. So this is less like the time the first four episodes of season 5 leaked ahead of the season premiere, and more like the time “The Door” leaked because HBO Nordic jumped the gun.
We’re still not sure if the people behind the HBO hack have copies of the episodes, although they did promise to release more of what they stole this Sunday. So maybe “The Spoils of War” will leak twice? Either way, HBO has to have a serious headache right about now.
Next: Leakchat: Discuss 'The Spoils of War' ahead of the air date
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