Game of Thrones Leak: Did you wait or Did you spoil?

When ‘Spoils of war’ — the fourth episode of the blockbuster HBO show Game of Thrones was leaked six days before the actual release, something extraordinary happened. Something that perhaps would have never happened otherwise. 

It’s safe to say that Game of Thrones will be remembered as one of the epics of our generation.  Would I be pushing it when I say the future generation will know Game of Thrones as the pinnacle of TV in our times? I don’t think so. Of course, there are a lot of other shows in a lot of other genres that people would say are brilliant. I agree, but I also feel Game of Thrones stands tall, uncomparable, magnanimous, something like a work of art.

Now what the recent, really unfortunate HBO leaks have done is it has divided the world into two. Two sections of Game of Thrones viewers.In the future people will be referred to as ‘you’re the one who couldn’t wait?’. I would like to go the extent in calling them the ‘loyalists’ and the ‘weak’. You know who you are. 

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When ‘spoils of war’ was leaked, it was available easily across torrent websites. People started sharing the links on a massive scale to watch the episode ‘before the world watches’ — which is not exactly true if the same link is available to the world — and then the borderline irritating saga of spoilers continued which made life very difficult. 

Why didn’t I just see the leaked version? Mainly because it’s just not fair. The much awaited season seven of the series came after a year of excruciating wait, especially after the way the show ended with the ‘Winds of Winter’ episode. So when it actually released on July 15, why can’t everyone just watch it the way it is supposed to be? In fact HBO ensures that all the episodes of Game of Thrones are released every week without any breaks in between like how some of the other shows do (Very irritating, just saying). 

Is seven days too much of a wait? Okay maybe yeah, looking at the way the show is ending, maybe seven days feels like seven months. But is it worth watching an amazingly shot, an experience of an episode in a bad quality print, adjusting the brightness every now and then? 

Now for the people who waited (loyalists) to watch the official release had a difficult time last week. Because now there are people walking around you, who know things that you don’t know. There is that constant fear of what if they blurt out something? Yes, that was my last week. 

Now is this affecting Game of Thrones in any way. Absolutely not! While these viewer difficulties exist, Game of Thrones as a show is jumping leaps and bounds when it comes to viewership. ‘Spoils of war’ has already broken the record — previously set by the season seven premiere — for the most watched episode even after the leak. 

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When it comes to the quality of the show, the makers of the show have that pretty well covered. Every new episode is a goosebump guarantee with that feeling of nothingness at the end of every single episode. So why encourage a small group of people who are probably hacking the HBO servers for a few bucks? Why can’t we be like Jon Snow of season two and know nothing? (It’s a Game of Thrones article, obviously there had to be a pun)