It appears that HBO’s continued struggles with leaks has thrown up the most ironic of situations yet. It is being reported that subscribers to HBO Spain have been granted accidental early access to Game Of Thrones Season 7 Episode 6, titled ‘Beyond the Wall’. The much anticipated penultimate episode was set to be released on Sunday in the US and Monday in other time zones.
Of course, spoilers have immediately surfaced online, with the episode on the web for an hour before hurriedly being taken down. It has been revealed on Reddit that some managed to stream portions of the episode but all of these links have since been taken down by HBO. However, it seems the episode is now starting to appear on torrent sites.
This is not the first time that HBO has had one of their episodes leak, with episode four ‘The Spoils of War’ hitting a few days prior to its premiere. The continued battle to prevent leaks has plagued the series, with it becoming the most pirated show of all time. However, this has not stopped the ratings soaring, with Episode 4 becoming the most watched episode ever at the time, in spite of the spoiler-filled leaks.
Business Insider is reporting that HBO has “no knowledge of the leak,” so it still remains to be seen whether this was just an accident or perhaps a larger plot surrounding the previous leaks. But, until the official release of the episode on the 20th of August, it is recommended that it is best to avoid the spoilers and not aid the sharing of the episode itself.
