Game of Thones: Stop the Leaks and No More Trailers, Please!
By Cory Thone
Alright Throners, I think it’s time to talk about leaks and Game of Thrones trailers. Every time there’s a new Game of Thrones leak, someone on this site has to write about it and then I have to talk about it on the Take the Black podcast (available wherever you get your podcasts).
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Here’s the thing…I *hate* talking about leaks. Especially “major event” leaks like the ones we got from the freaky doctor or whatever his name was.
If I had told you right when you started watching Game of Thrones that Ned was going to die at the end of the first season, it wouldn’t have meant much to you. All it did was spoil a moment later in the series. If you were told after watching the first season that Jon would be killed and resurrected, not only would you not get the “how” or even the “why,” you would probably think that the idea of a resurrection was a little too “on-the-nose” even for a show packed full of metaphors and symbolism.
Last year, it was leaked that Jon and his suicide squad would go north of the Wall, lasso a wight and bring it back to King’s Landing to show Cersei. That is the dumbest sounding thing ever without context. Honestly, it was a pretty dumb plan WITH context, but that’s not what we’re talking about here.
The leaks are just spoiling moments for you. If the whole episode was to leak, that’s one thing. At least then you get the context the creators wanted to give you. But some guy just tells you that Arya and Jon hug…what do you get out of that? The creators of the show have spent years building context and nuance to these moments and to have them be leaked and spoiled in one sentence honestly just feels disrespectful. The joy comes not from the content of the leak, but the leak itself.
Maybe I’m a little jaded because I have to talk about leaks when they happen as part of my duties as occasional guest on the Take the Black Podcast brought to you soon by KFC, but not only do these shorthand leaks spoil the ending, they taint the journey. And I hate tainted journeys, you guys.
