Was Criston Cole Head of HBO Security for the ‘House Of The Dragon’ Finale?? It Has Leaked, Again!

UPDATE HBO has released the following statement: ““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.”

The original piece is as follows:

In Westeros, history often repeats itself. And shockingly, so does it at HBO. The season 2 finale of their marquee series, House of The Dragon has leaked online, mere days before its air date. And everyone’s asking the same question: Again?

On Tuesday evening, a bunch of clips from episode 8 of House of The Dragon season 2, scheduled to premiere on Sunday, August 4, 2024, were uploaded to a TikTok account, which appears to have been created for this very purpose. It was reported that it looked like the clips were playing on one device and filmed by another. 

The account and its videos were eventually removed, but you know how this goes, it was too late. Some 100,000 views had already been logged in. And now, you and I are going to have to spend the next five days dodging spoilers, screen grabs, and video clips that have now been shared on other social platforms like X and Reddit. SMH!

Fans, of course, had a field day mocking the lax security at HBO, which has so far declined to comment on the leak. One of the most viral sentiments was that Ser Criston Cole, one of the most hated characters on House of The Dragon, who let King Aegon under his security almost die, was responsible for this mess up. A BTS photo of actor Fabian Frankel napping on set supplied the perfect imagery to go with the memes!

Another picture in a similar fashion of Sir Simon Russell Beale, who plays Ser Simon Strong, the castellan of Harrenhal and official sass master of one king consort Daemon Targaryen, was also used.

We’re considerate peeps, and equally mad about this, so we won’t share the spoilers here. But the memes are definitely cathartic!

House of The Dragon is one of the biggest titles on HBO. The season 1 finale drew in some 9.3 million viewers when it aired in 2022. And this was despite this finale also getting leaked online! Oh yes, this has happened before.

Its predecessor too, Game of Thrones, was marred by several leaks during its run, particularly with its final season. But with HOTD, the dance began with the first season itself. Back in 2022, the season 1 finale too was leaked online. You’d think that the folks over at HBO would be extra, extra careful this time around. 

But as in the show with the players of the Game of Thrones, they never learn from their history. Here’s some friendly counsel for those looking to avoid spoilers: I’d slap on a pair of blinders every time I have to scroll social media now!