After the House of the Dragon season 2 finale hits the internet early, HBO reveals how it was leaked and what it plans to do next

Rhaenyra in the House of the Dragon season 2 episode 7 trailer
(Image credit: HBO)

HBO has addressed the recent House of the Dragon season 2 finale leak, outlining where the leak originated from and how it will attempt to stop spoilers from spreading before Sunday’s release.

In a statement, HBO wrote (via The Hollywood Reporter), "We are aware that clips from the House of the Dragon season finale have surfaced across social media platforms. The clips were posted after an unintentional release from an international third-party distributor. HBO is aggressively monitoring and removing clips from the internet, and fans can watch the episode in its entirety this Sunday night on HBO and Max."

That answers two main questions fans may have had after portions of the House of the Dragon season 2 finale were found on social media platforms such as TikTok earlier this week, before spreading to the likes of Twitter and Reddit.

One, it appears that the episode was inadvertently released by a third-party international partner. Two, HBO is now actively stamping down on spoilers – including ones which may ruin major reveals in the upcoming finale.

Whatever goes down in House of the Dragon season 2’s final episode – and we’d recommend going on social media lockdown at this point, if you haven’t already – there’s still plenty of story to be told when it comes to the Greens and the Blacks.

House of the Dragon has been renewed for a third season, with showrunner Ryan Condal describing his outline for events to come to GamesRadar+ in a recent interview.

"Hopefully you start with a bang, and then you build to another bang through the series, but you're really trying to arc out the characters, so that each season is a different experience for all of them," Condal said of an (at the time) hypothetical third season. "And then you leave them off all in a place where you can pick up with them next year, and then take them in a new direction, because you don't want to end up in that place where you're doing the same thing again and again."

For more on House of the Dragon, check out our latest coverage:

Bradley Russell

I'm the Senior Entertainment Writer here at GamesRadar+, focusing on news, features, and interviews with some of the biggest names in film and TV. On-site, you'll find me marveling at Marvel and providing analysis and room temperature takes on the newest films, Star Wars and, of course, anime. Outside of GR, I love getting lost in a good 100-hour JRPG, Warzone, and kicking back on the (virtual) field with Football Manager. My work has also been featured in OPM, FourFourTwo, and Game Revolution.