After having the last season's entire plot and final two episodes leaked ahead of its premiere, HBO is going above and beyond to prevent any of those from happening in "Game of Thrones"' final run.
Notably, Ser Davos actor Liam Cunningham already revealed that the scripts are only to be read on set and in digital form, which will be accessed through a two-step verification process. Now, co-star Emilia Clarke said precautions have gone even further than that: they are implementing a strict social media ban as well.
"We have a very strict social-media ban this year," Clarke told The Telegraph in an extensive interview, "because people need to stop spoiling it for everyone. It's really frustrating."
Apparently, fans were using the cast's social media postings last season to piece together a few hints based on who was filming with whom and who was following whom. They even worked out who would play Jon's true father, Rhaegar Targaryen (Wilf Scolding), ahead of the character's debut.
However, the ban is also for the cast to avoid revealing something unknowingly. Clarke herself is guilty of such, photographically spoiling Danny's surprise snowy trip up north by posting an onset selfie with Kit Harington just before the episode aired.
On top of this embargo, the actress reaffirmed earlier claims that they are filming multiple endings as well. While it sounds extreme financially speaking, it does have its advantages. According to Clarke, showrunners D.B. Weiss and David Benioff have "written a number of different endings. So none of the cast know what the actual ending is. If there's ever a leak of any kind, don't believe it because it's probably not true."
It is hard to imagine the creators leaving everybody in the dark about the finale. They revealed in 2014 that George R.R. Martin, the author of "A Song of Ice and Fire" where the show is based on, has briefed them on how the book series would wrap up. This means if none of the cast truly knows the ending, Weiss and Benioff never -- not even once -- in the course of four years gave the actors any hint about their character's fate. If this is the case, the team's restraint is commendable. Hopefully for HBO, that would still be the case when season 8 premieres.
"Game of Thrones" season 8 is currently mid-production with around six or seven months left to go. HBO has yet to announce its exact release date, but Sophie Turner, aka Thrones' Sansa Stark, let it slip last week that it may return sometime in 2019.
