HBO Accidentally Broadcast Next Episode of ‘Game of Thrones’

Sunday's episode was quickly copied and leaked online, spreading faster than Grey Scale.

August 16, 2017 2:12 pm

Avoiding Game of Thrones spoilers for this week just got harder.

HBO España and HBO Nordic accidentally released Game of Thrones Season 7’s sixth episode a full four days before it was set to air in North America. The episode was made available on-demand to subscribers in Spanish and Nordic territories for one hour before it was removed—just enough time for it to be ripped and shared elsewhere.

The Independent reports that footage from the episode was posted on Reddit via YouTube, Instagram, Twitch and other streaming services, before “swiftly being taken down.” The Independent confirms that the full episode is posted on torrent sites under the file name ‘Game_of_Thrones_-_S07E06.flv.’ It is the real episode, confirms the news organization, and it is going up on sites faster than HBO can take the links down.

HBO Europe released a statement via AP that said it learned the episode was accidentally posted for a brief time on the Nordic and Espana platforms.

“The error appears to have originated with a third party vendor and the episode was removed as soon as it was recognized,” it added, according to The Independent. 

Game of Thrones has had a tough time with spoilers this season, between the HBO hack and the Indian leak of episode 4. Ratings have not been harmed, however, this Sunday’s episode holds a lot of weight: fans are waiting to see Jon Snow head north of the Wall to square off against the dreaded White Walkers.

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