If you’re hoping to enjoy this week’s episode of Game of Thrones spoiler free, you might want to take a few days off of the internet
What was already a bad week for HBO is capping off with news that hackers have leaked the fourth episode of the show’s seventh season—”The Spoils of War.” To make matters worse, this week’s episode is the shortest in the series’ history.
The leak was first posted on reddit as a Google Drive link (Google has since removed the post). But as with any leaked media file, once it appears in one location, it’s bound to spread to dozens of others quickly.
Earlier this week, news broke that HBO had been hacked, with the digital thieves pilfering episodes of Ballers and Room 104 as well as a script from an undisclosed, upcoming Game of Thrones episode. The hackers reportedly stole 1.5 terabytes of data and said on Monday that more would be “coming soon.”
This hack, though, isn’t tied to the hacking. It originated from Star India, an HBO distribution partner.
“This confirms the compromise of episode 4 of Game of Thrones Season 7, earlier this afternoon,” Star India said in a statement supplied by HBO. “We take this breach very seriously and have immediately initiated forensic investigations at our and the technology partner’s end to swiftly determine the cause. This is a grave issue and we are taking appropriate legal remedial action.”
Game of Thrones, which is nearing its final season, has been a tremendous ratings hit, with this season’s premiere averaging 10.1 million viewers. Unfortunately, that popularity has made it an especially large target for hackers and pirates. That same premiere episode was pirated an estimated 90 million times.
