Game of Thrones Filmed Multiple Endings so Leaks May Be Wrong

Game of Thrones fans are already feeling an array of emotions surrounding tonight’s series finale, with many unsure how to process or avoid the cavalcade of spoilers online. But as one previous interview points out, there might be more to the leaks about the episode than meets the eye.

Leading up to tonight’s final episode, comments have resurfaced online that HBO’s president of programming, Casey Bloys, made in 2017. As Bloys told The Morning Call, the series was expected to film multiple endings, as a way to avoid spoilers getting leaked as much as possible.

“I know in Game of Thrones, the ending, they’re going to shoot multiple versions so that nobody really know what happens,” Bloys revealed. “You have to do that on a long show. Because when you’re shooting something, people know. So they’re going to shoot multiple versions so that there’s no real definitive answer until the end.”

While there’s no telling if HBO actually followed through with this plan, it does add a bit of a cloud around the leaks that have supposedly surfaced online. Ultimately, fans will just have to prepare for anything – including the Internet probably exploding – when the episode actually airs.

“From the beginning, we’ve talked about how the show would end.” showrunner David Benioff said in a previous interview. “A good story isn’t a good story if you have a bad ending. Of course we worry. It’s also part of the fun of any show that people love arguing about it. I loved the way David Chase ended The Sopranos [with its surprising cut to black]. I was one of those people who thought my TV had gone out. I got up and was checking the wires, unable to believe my cable had gone out in the most important moment of my favorite TV series. I think that was the best of all possible endings for that show. But a lot of people hated it. I’ve gotten into a lot of arguments with people about why that was a great ending, but people felt legitimately cheated and that’s their right to feel that way…Either way, it works for me.. Once it cuts to black nobody knows, and that’s what great about it. The only sad part is nobody can ever do that ending again.”

“Who knows if it will be satisfying for the fans? I think a lot of fans will be disappointed and a lot of fans will be over the moon, I think,” Sophie Turner, who plays Sansa Stark, shared before the season started. “I think it will be really interesting to see people’s reactions, but for me reading the script it was just like heartbreaking to read at the very final page of the script it just says, ‘End of Game of Thrones‘. That was really emotional.”

Game of Thrones will conclude tonight at 9/8c on HBO.