In a world the place spoilers journey sooner than dragons, Recreation of Thrones wasn’t about to let its fiery finale be ruined by the dreaded leak. HBO took excessive measures to maintain followers on their toes and the plot twists underneath wraps, filming 15 HOURS of unused alternate endings for Season 8. Sure, you learn that proper, 15 hours! With so many twists and turns within the last season, producers knew the web can be attempting to find any scraps of data. So, what did they do?
They filmed a number of variations of key scenes, together with pretend deaths, plot reversals, and even alternate character fates, all to throw off the spoiler-hungry lots. Equipment Harington (aka Jon Snow) admitted to filming greater than his justifiable share of those pink herrings, guaranteeing that nothing would leak with out complicated everybody. It’s like a Recreation of Thrones model of “The place’s Waldo?” however with dragons, betrayal, and actually intense plotlines. Discuss taking part in the spoiler recreation at an epic stage!
Recreation of Thrones Season 8 Alternate Endings Defined
HBO was not about to let Recreation of Thrones slip into spoiler territory like a direwolf in a sheep’s pen. With Season 8 being the grand finale, the stakes couldn’t be increased, this was the final time we’d see Westeros in all its blood-soaked glory. To safeguard towards leaks, HBO rolled out an intricate plan that nearly appears like a Recreation of Thrones plot in itself: shoot a number of variations of the ultimate episode. That’s proper, 4 totally different variations of the collection finale had been filmed, all to maintain followers and the paparazzi guessing.
Based on HBO president Casey Bloys, who spilled the tea by way of The Morning Name, “I do know in Recreation of Thrones, the ending, they’re going to shoot a number of variations in order that no one actually is aware of what occurs. You need to do this on an extended present. As a result of whenever you’re taking pictures one thing, individuals know. In order that they’re going to shoot a number of variations in order that there’s no actual definitive reply till the top.” Principally, they had been taking part in a Recreation of Thrones model of hide-and-seek with the reality.
And it wasn’t nearly filming totally different endings, HBO needed to deal with the true drawback: leaks. In spite of everything, hackers and even their very own staff had a historical past of letting episodes slip early. Essentially the most notorious instance? When a Recreation of Thrones episode leaked on-line after international hackers received their fingers on it, prompting HBO to scramble and pull it down ASAP. However typically, the leaks had been self-inflicted. HBO by accident leaked the season’s penultimate episode themselves. Oops!
Whereas these efforts to manage spoilers had been top-notch, they didn’t cease the web from being its traditional chaotic self. In spite of everything, the extra they tried to protect their secrets and techniques, the extra followers clamored to uncover them. As for the ultimate season’s launch, we’re nonetheless ready for a date. But when there’s one factor we could be positive of, it will likely be one epic, spoiler-free showdown when it lastly airs. Or will it?
Recreation of Thrones Season 7 Leak
In a time when Recreation of Thrones was dominating the TV panorama, the collection discovered itself battling a really totally different foe: leaks. It wasn’t simply the dragons, White Walkers, and Cersei’s schemes protecting the producers up at night time, it was the ever-growing menace of spoilers. Season 7 had its personal leak catastrophe and got here at a very weak second. The fourth episode, Spoils of Struggle, discovered its method onto the web earlier than it was speculated to air, courtesy of an HBO distribution associate, Star India. Sure, you heard that proper. Star India was the wrongdoer, and their watermark made it clear they had been the origin of the leak.
As HBO scrambled to manage the injury, The Verge reported that the community was already conscious of the state of affairs and confirmed that applicable authorized motion was underway. However that wasn’t the one incident; hackers had been additionally within the recreation, importing draft scripts for 5 episodes of Season 7 earlier than they aired.
Discuss a spoiler storm!
This wasn’t the primary time Recreation of Thrones had discovered itself on the mercy of piracy. The present had constantly topped the listing of probably the most pirated TV reveals. And given the huge success of the Season 7 premiere, which grew to become HBO’s most-watched debut, the strain to maintain new episodes underneath wraps was solely rising.
By the point Season 8 rolled round, HBO had had sufficient. They weren’t taking any possibilities. As a direct response to the chaos unleashed by the Season 7 leaks, the community launched an elaborate plan to movie a number of endings for the collection finale. They weren’t simply going to let historical past repeat itself; they had been going to outsmart the web. It was a last-ditch effort to maintain the present’s conclusion underneath wraps, and boy, did they go to excessive lengths. As a result of, as we realized, with Recreation of Thrones, not even the ending was protected from the spoiler wars.
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