A ‘House of the Dragon’ leak has HBO on high alert

Scenes from the season 2 finale are now available on social media.

By Joe Allen Published July 31, 2024

Emma D'Arcy in House of the Dragon season 2 — HBO

In its second season, House of the Dragon has confirmed what many of its most ardent supporters thought. The show has remained intriguing and is still one of the best-rated shows on TV. Ahead of the show’s finale on Sunday, Aug. 4, HBO is now dealing with a leak of the episode.

Clips from the episode were leaked on social media on July 30 and appeared to be taken from a phone that was recording the episode on a screen. In response to the leaks, HBO issued a statement saying that it was on the hunt for spoilers.

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“We are aware that clips from the House of the Dragon season finale have surfaced across social media platforms,” HBO said. “The clips were posted after an unintentional release from an international third-party distributor. HBO is aggressively monitoring and removing clips from the internet, and fans can watch the episode in its entirety this Sunday night on HBO and Max.”

This incident is a perfect replay of the season 1 finale, which also leaked online ahead of its official release. Game of Thrones had a similar issue throughout its run. The high profile of both shows understandably makes them major targets for leaks, and HBO has been unable to fully solve the problem. Part of the reason for that problem is that HBO has dozens of international partners who need to subtitle or dub episodes prior to their official release. It’s usually as part of this process that leaks occur.

Fortunately, the low quality of the footage means that most fans will just wait for the epsiode to actually air. Will Rhaenyra get one step closer to the Iron Throne? You only have to wait a few days to find out.

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Joe Allen is a freelance culture writer based in upstate New York. His work has been published in The Washington Post, The…

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