House of the Dragon: HBO ‘disappointed’ as season finale leaks early

HBO has shared its “disappointment” after the season finale of House of the Dragon leaked early.

The fantasy series, which is a precursor to Game of Thrones, airs its final episode of season one on Sunday (23 October) night.

However, on Friday (21 October), the episode leaked online two days early on illegal download websites. The Independent will not be posting spoilers.

In a statement, HBO claimed that the episode appeared to have been shared by a distribution partner in Europe, the Middle East or Africa.

“We are aware that the tenth episode of House of the Dragon has been posted on illegal torrent sites,” the broadcaster said (via Variety).

“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.”

While this is the first episode of House of the Dragon to end up online before broadcast, multiple episodes of Game of Thrones leaked early throughout the show’s history.

The finale of House of the Dragon will see the struggle for the iron throne continuing, after the surprising ending to episode nine that left some fans scratching their heads.

However, actor Eve Best, who plays Rhaenys Targaryen, has explained the motivation behind the scene.

You can find all the talking points from House of the Dragon episode nine here.

House of the Dragon concludes on Monday 23 October at 2am and 9pm on Sky Atlantic. It is also available to watch on Now.