House of the Dragon finale leaks before release, HBO ‘aggressively pulling copies from internet’

The finale of House of the Dragon, the prequel to the hit Game of Thrones series, has leaked online, two days before its premiere on HBO.

It is the tenth and final episode in the series. Based on George RR Martin’s Fire & Blood, the drama is set 200 years before the events that played out in Game of Thrones and focuses on how the House of Targaryen falls into civil war.

An HBO spokesperson has said the leaked episode seems to have come from a distribution partner in Europe, the Middle East or Africa and they have been aggressively pulling the leaked copies from the internet.

“We are aware that the tenth episode of House of the Dragon has been posted on illegal torrent sites. 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,” HBO has said in a statement as reported by Theguardian.com.

The show stars Emma D’Arcy, Olivia Cooke, Steve Toussaint, Eve Best, Sonoya Mizuno, Rhys Ifans, Milly Alcock, Emily Carey, and Graham McTavish. It streams in India on Disney+ Hotstar with new episodes dropping every Monday. It begins with King Viserys Targaryen (Paddy Considine) deliberating who should be his next heir – his brother Prince Daemon (Matt Smith) or his daughter Princess Rhaenyra (Emma D’Arcy).

The portal also reports that the show has been averaging around 29 million viewers for each episode across all platforms. Soon after its first episode turned out to be a hit, the series was renewed for a second season. Game of Thrones first aired in 2011, becoming a global phenomenon. The award-winning HBO series wrapped up in 2019 with a finale that divided fans.