House of the Dragon, the new Game of Thrones prequel, began airing exclusively on HBO and HBO Max towards the end of August. Unfortunately, the first episode was leaked early on illegal torrent and free streaming sites. A similar event happened with House of the Dragon Episode 2 when it was leaked a day earlier on similar platforms. However, these leaks haven’t really affected the success of the show so far. In fact, HBO decided to release the first episode for free on YouTube, indicating their confidence in the popularity of the show.
HBO announced on their official Twitter account:
A new episode of #HouseoftheDragon is streaming tonight on HBO Max. Watch the first episode for free at https://t.co/0oIOMAvVpQ.
— Max (@StreamOnMax) September 4, 2022
Fans went wild in response to the announcement, with varies reasoning as to why it was done so:
Not House of the Dragon giving away a free episode to catch up to ROP in the ratings war.
Y’all not even half way through the season.🤣 I guess sexism towards women, patronizing diversity, and Child Brides isn’t working for y’all. 🤷🏾♀️ #RingsOfPower #HouseoftheDragon #HBOMax pic.twitter.com/4eZwaAcVT1— Zerosubstance 2791 (@Zerosubstance2) September 4, 2022
House of the Dragons kinda shady making their first episode free to watch same day as The rings of power came out.
— khush (noah's version). (@notsokhushh) September 4, 2022
I actually really like the first two eps of House of the Dragon, but releasing the first episode for free on youtube on the same day the Rings of Power released seems a little sus to me
— cone (@_estrogenesis) September 3, 2022
https://twitter.com/FrackoffF/status/1566152794591170562?s=20&t=9Ug011LP-nxfDMxJAkW8BA
So it seems like HBO and it's International partners have all uploaded the first episode of House of the Dragon to their respective YT channels for free.
— Jack Sharpe 🇺🇦🏳️🌈 Supports 🏳️⚧️ (@JackJacksharpe5) September 3, 2022
https://twitter.com/w0manofg0ld/status/1565866718978748416?s=20&t=9Ug011LP-nxfDMxJAkW8BA
Do you really think making the first episode of House of The Dragon free on YouTube was a move to spite Amazon’s The Rings of Power? Talk to us in the comments below!
