'House of the Dragon' season 1 finale leaks online

The much-awaited finale of the first season of House of the Dragon was leaked online two days before its original streaming schedule, reported Variety. The Sunday special was leaked on Thursday morning and the spoilers of the much-talked-about-show made it to Twitter. 

The tenth episode of the show, titled The Black Queen, saw Rhaenyra becoming aware of the Hightowers usurping the seven kingdoms after King Viserys I's death. Soon after the leak, HBO issued a statement regarding the same. 

"We are aware that the tenth episode of House of the Dragon has been posted on illegal torrent sites," the statement read. "It appears to have originated from a distribution partner in the EMEA region. HBO is aggressively monitoring and pulling these copies from the internet."

It further stated, "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 on HBO and HBO Max, where it will stream exclusively in 4K."

This isn't the first time the Game of Thrones franchise has faced piracy issues. Previously, episodes of season eight of the Emmy-winning show appeared on both illegal sites and on legitimate platforms such as DirecTV Now and Amazon Prime Video’s German platform ahead of their scheduled airings.

House of the Dragon stars an all-new cast. The new showrunners, who took over from David Benioff and D B Weiss, are Ryan Condal and Miguel Sapochnik. The show begins with King Viserys Targaryen played by Paddy Considine deliberating who should be his next heir - his brother Prince Daemon (Matt Smith) or his daughter Princess Rhaenyra (Emma D’Arcy). However, a third challenger for the throne arises. Olivia Cooke plays Alicent Hightower, Princess Rhaenyra’s lifelong friend, who marries the king after his wife dies in childbirth. 

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