Late this Tuesday, social media users all over the web reported that HBO Spain had accidentally shown Game of Thrones’ Episode 6 live as a regular TV broadcast. Viewers in the country who caught it on time took screenshots and streamed the episode, but no full episode leaks are out as of this writing.
4chan users over at /biz/ and then /tv/ boards claimed to have the episode and offered to fully upload it in a matter of hours. Twitter users also got their hands on a stream or a direct source, as did an Instagram fan who streamed the full episode twice before having his account taken down.
The most recently leaked episode is the penultimate of the season, one that is usually saved for climactic events just before the big finale. Earlier today, media outlets reported that four men had been arrested over the Star India leak of episode four.
The episode was available for roughly an hour
Things remain mostly anecdotal at this point, but Spanish viewers who watched the episode live on TV apparently reported that the new episode was also watchable through HBO’s streaming platform, HBO Go.
Some user accounts say the TV broadcast was cut just minutes before the episode ended, while others say they were able to watch the entire thing. Needless to say, subsequent streams proved that the complete sixth episode had indeed been transmitted one way or another.
Instagram user @afaga23 managed to stream the episode live almost twice before the company shut down his account mid-second stream. He used his phone to record his TV screen, which he apparently had hooked up to HBO Go via PS4.
This season’s Game of Thrones leaks appear to be unrelated so far
Reports at the moment say that HBO Spain’s site is down, but more and more HD clips and screenshots are showing up online. 4chan users claim they are uploading it, while wildlings over at Reddit’s r/FreeFolk sub are desperately asking for a download link.
This time around, the leak seems to be unintentional, at least for now. HBO representatives told Business Insider they have no knowledge of the circumstances under which the unaired episode leaked, so now all it remains is to find out whether it was intentional or not.
Game of Thrones’ seventh season will be only seven episodes long, which ramps up the pressure to keep the season finale locked airtight until its premiere date two weeks from now. Before this leak, one other episode saw the light ahead of schedule and the entire plot was revealed months in advance.
Source: Business Insider