With the previous season of HBO’s “Game of Thrones” plagued with leaked scripts, hacked servers and leaked episodes, the cable network is reportedly taking insurance measures to make sure that the finale doesn’t get spoiled. It has been reported that HBO will film multiple endings for the epic series to throw off unscrupulous individuals seeking to foil their momentum.
Leaked scripts, episodes
It can be recalled that even before HBO aired “Game of Thrones” season 7, production was already dealing with leaks. Aside from stolen shots from the filming, a Reddit user already leaked the full script outline of the seventh season that was purportedly hacked from the HBO servers.
A more detailed leak was released which, as the season progressed, proved to be almost entirely accurate. The show faced another setback when its fourth episode “The Spoils of War” was leaked several days before it was scheduled to air. The episode featured the infamous loot train attack where Daenerys first unleashed the power of her dragon Drogon against the Lannister army. Four people were arrested in India after they were linked to the episode hack.
Another leak happened before the penultimate episode where clips of Viserion’s death (and subsequent revival) by the hands of the Night King was leaked on social media sites. The full episode became available soon after. It was reportedly recorded from a mistaken airing from HBO Spain.
Luckily, the leaks did not affect the ratings of the show as fans campaigned to support the efforts of the “Game of Thrones” team even though the hacks resulted in thousands of downloads and millions of views around the world.
Multiple endings
This time around, HBO is taking no chances as it reportedly plans to shoot back up endings in case hackers attack their servers again to leak the episodes before airing.
According to a report from the News Australia, HBO programming president Casey Bloys shared the cable network’s plans to blindside the hackers.
Interest is rife about the final outcome of “Game of Thrones” since it has long surpassed the events of its source material, George R.R. Martin’s “A Song of Ice and Fire” saga. Martin is currently working on completing the sixth book in the series but the show is already tackling the events of the upcoming seventh book.
“I know in Game of Thrones, the ending, they’re going to shoot multiple versions so that nobody really knows what happens,” Bloys said. He also explained that this is their strategy to keep everyone in the dark until the final minute.
With no one but George R.R. Martin and the “Game of Thrones” showrunners privy to the ending, fans will have to buckle up and wait to see how mankind’s final stand will turn out against the White Walkers. It's also a mystery to see who survives in the end to claim the Iron Throne.
