The House of the Dragon season 1 finale has leaked, HBO “disappointed”

HBO is “aggressively monitoring” the situation and “pulling these copies from the internet.” Feels like old times for Game of Thrones fans.

Back when Game of Thrones was at the height of its popularity, episodes would leak like clockwork. There seemed like nothing HBO could do to stop it. The leaks got especially bad in the later seasons, which was ironically after HBO stopped sending review screeners to critics.

Well, it’s déjà vu all over again, because while HBO sent advance screeners to critics for the first nine episodes of Game of Thrones prequel series House of the Dragon, it opted not to for Sunday’s finale, “The Black Queen.” And of course that’s the one that ends up leaking. I’m not saying that sending out screeners somehow makes episodes less likely to leak, but if that’s the lesson HBO wants to take, I’d be fine. Basically, please send me all the House of the Dragon screeners in the future.

Anyway, the finale is out there, and HBO is nettled. “We are aware that the tenth episode of ‘House of the Dragon’ has been posted on illegal torrent sites,” the network said in a statement, per Variety. “It appears to have originated from a distribution partner in the EMEA region.” That means the leak likely came from a distribution partner in Europe, the Middle East or Africa, which…doesn’t really narrow things down a ton.

“HBO is aggressively monitoring and pulling these copies from the internet,” the statement continues. “We’re disappointed that this unlawful action has disrupted the viewing experience for loyal fans of the show, who will get to see a pristine version of the episode when it premieres Sunday on HBO and HBO Max, where it will stream exclusively in 4K.”

Just in case you’re wondering, no, we’re not going to point you toward any leaks…but I mean, you probably know how Google works. For everyone else, enjoy “The Black Queen” when it airs on HBO and HBO Max this Sunday.

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