House of the Dragon S2 finale episode leaked, HBO issues statement

Fans of House of the Dragon are eagerly awaiting the release of its season 2 finale on Monday. However, unfortunately for some, the season finale episode has leaked online days before it's release date. 

The X handle of Westerosies posted on Wednesday, "The season finale of #HouseOfTheDragon is titled, 'The Queen Who Never Was.' Unfortunately, the episode has been leaked online. Please beware on Twitter and going into the tag until it airs on Sunday. MAJOR spoilers are already circulating." It later corrected the episode title to 'The Queen Who Ever Was.'

On Thursday, it shared an update in the form of HBO's official statement on the episode leak. The network stated, "We are aware that clips from the season finale of House of the Dragon have emerged on social media platforms. The clips were posted after an unintended 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."

House of the Dragon takes place two hundred years before the events of Game of Thrones, the HBO megahit that ran for eight seasons from 2011 to 2019. It once again follows the Targaryen family as they vie for control of the Iron Throne in the fictional land of Westeros. The network has already ordered a third season.

Season 2 plunges the viewer into the brink of a bloody civil war between King Aegon (Tom Glynn-Carney) and Queen Rhaenyra (Emma D'Arcy), each representing factions within the family. New episodes were released every Sunday on HBO and Max (and every Monday morning on JioCinema). This season had eight episodes, compared to the 10-episode first season, with each episode about an hour in length.

House of the Dragon returned to an audience of 7.8 million total viewers on Sunday night, a 22% decline from last year. It was the highest-rated HBO series premiere of all time when it debuted last year, drawing about 10 million viewers. This year, contributed to the largest single-day audience ever for Max, HBO's streaming platform.