The Season 1 finale of “House of the Dragon” was leaked online on Friday, two days before the episode airs on HBO and begins streaming on HBO Max.
It appears that the leak came from a distribution partner in Europe, the Middle East or Africa, a spokesperson for HBO told Variety.
“We are aware that the tenth episode of ‘House of the Dragon’ has been posted on illegal torrent sites. It appears to have originated from a distribution partner in the EMEA region,” the full statement reads. “HBO is aggressively monitoring and pulling these copies from the internet. 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.”
While this is seemingly the first-ever leak for “House of the Dragon,” the franchise is no stranger to this issue. “Game of Thrones” frequently fell victim to piracy, especially in the final seasons, when so many leaks occurred that HBO opted to cease offering advance screeners to the press. This still didn’t prevent the problem. In Season 8, for example, episodes appeared on both illegal sites and on legitimate platforms such as DirecTV Now and Amazon Prime Video’s German platform ahead of their scheduled airings.
