In HBO’s House of the Dragon, the conflict between Team Green and Team Black is about to come to a head. But HBO itself is locked in a battle of its own, as it fights to keep unreleased episodes of the show under lock and key. House of the Dragon spoilers are frequently leaked online, but now a large chunk of its final episode has been leaked, and on TikTok, of all places.
Per Variety, an account uploaded roughly 30 minutes of the Season 2 finale in 14 separate posts (each of which racked up hundreds of thousands of views). The original poster has since been banned, but their videos have already made the rounds on other platforms, and details from the scenes will undoubtedly be shared until House of the Dragon’s last episode officially airs this Sunday. If you’re hoping to avoid spoilers, it may be best to steer clear of sites like Twitter and Reddit, or at least mute keywords that have anything to do with the show.
This isn’t the first time the Thrones-verse finds itself dealing with a leak. House of the Dragon’s first season faced the same issues; its final episode was leaked two days before its scheduled air date. Its parent show, Game of Thrones, dealt with the same problem across its eight seasons. As the series gained popularity, leaked episodes were a common occurrence. The first four episodes of Season 5 were leaked shortly after the press received them for review. During Season 6, a hacker gained access to unreleased scripts. And HBO’s own affiliates accidentally leaked an episode from Season 7 just a month later.
So Thrones fans are no strangers to spoilers, and in fact, many fans actively seek them out. That hasn’t stopped Game of Thrones and House of the Dragon from attracting audiences week after week, with those who wish to avoid spoilers typically taking all the necessary precautions. Still, it’s frustrating, if not especially surprising, to see this trend continue.
TikTok has become an ideal platform for pirating films and shows. TV episodes are often released onto the site in 10-minute increments, while some users livestream entire films. The trend is only worsening with time, and House of the Dragon isn’t the only show suffering. Hopefully, HBO can find a way to combat the problem by the time House of the Dragon Season 3 comes around, and spare fans the need to police their own social media usage. If not, this could become the franchise’s most cursed tradition.
