Why you shouldn't watch the leaked Game of Thrones episode
Yet another Game of Thrones episode has been leaked. HBO just can’t seem to catch a break. Episode six, due to be aired on August 20, has started appearing on file-sharing websites. The latest leak was first reported on a Reddit post. In fact, some Reddit users claimed the episode was accidentally aired by HBO Nordic in Spain for an hour before it was removed.
In fact this is not even the first time this has happened because, last year, a season 6 episode was accidentally uploaded by HBO Nordic a few hours before official broadcast.
Unlike the fourth episode, this leak seems to be an internal goof-up and not part of the HBO hack post which a theft of 1.5 terabytes of data was reported – the silver lining there is that the hackers have so far only published script outlines on the web, rather than full episodes, and of course the “thousands of Home Box Office (HBO) internal company documents” they stole.
The fourth episode ("The Spoils of War") was leaked, allegedly by three current employees of Prime Focus Technologies, the technology partner of TV broadcaster Star India. Along with a former colleague, they had gained unauthorised access to the episode that was scheduled to air in the US and India on August 7.
Media reports suggest that the people responsible for the last leak have been arrested. A Maharashtra cyber crime team, on August 14, arrested the four people in connection with the episode four leak. “This is the first time in the history of Star India that an incident of this nature has occurred. We are deeply grateful to the police for their swift and prompt action,” said Star India and Novi Digital Entertainment Pvt Ltd.
According to Mumbai police, the accused Abhishek Ghadiyal, Bhaskar Joshi, Alok Sharma and Mohammed Suhail (ex employee) illegally downloaded the episode of on August 4 and converted it into Torrent format and uploaded it on the web.
HBO’s history of leaks is worrying. 2015 witnessed the most massive Game of Thrones leak where the first four episodes made its way into the internet. The leak, according to HBO, came from early screeners. "Sadly, it seems the leaked four episodes of the upcoming season of Game of Thrones originated from within a group approved by HBO to receive them." HBO said. "We’re actively assessing how this breach occurred."
Be it a company goof-up, breach or a full-blown hack-attack, whatever be the case, one really shouldn't give in to the temptation of downloading the leaked episode. After all, it is no longer the time when the only way to watch Game of Thrones in India was piracy. One no longer has to watch the massively slashed-up episodes that are aired on television. Streaming websites that charge a really small sum of money allow you to watch the episodes legally.
In fact, the only reason one would have to pirate the episode anymore is the fear of spoilers.
Spoilers are bad. Period.
Just because one has seen the episode unethically, does not mean that one should reveal key highlights and spoil it for other fans. The sixth episode (the one that has been leaked) is the penultimate episode of the penultimate season. And HBO has a habit of reserving the most schocking parts of the story for this episode. So, understandibly, this is perhaps the most important episode this season.
And it's not just hardcore spoilers that are bad. Even merely describing the episode as good, bad, thrilling, shocking etc has an effect. It creates an awful peer pressure that encorages others to watch the leak and the cycle of spoilers continues.
One has to also remember that after this episode, there's only one episode left – and that too may be under threat because, according to a Business Insider report, there are reports of episode seven having been leaked already, but an HBO representative has said that they have no knowledge of this.
This is a show that we, as fans, wait for all year to watch. What's the rush? Why can't we just sit and relax and savour the episode at the right time?