‘Game of Thrones’ Is Shooting Different Misleading Versions of the Series Finale to Guard Against Leaks

“Game of Thrones” is taking a page from Arya Stark and the Faceless Men and using disguise and trickery to achieve their goals. And that goal for the eighth and final season of HBO’s fantasy epic is to keep the public spoiler-free.

“I know ‘Game of Thrones,’ the ending, they’re going to shoot multiple versions so that nobody really know what happens,” HBO president Casey Bloys said at Moravian College in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania recently, according to Morning Call. “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.”

It’s a strategy that’s been employed before by other shows, including “Thrones.” In a Vulture story that details how sites like Watchers on the Wall obtain and then double-checks spoilers, it was revealed that “Game of Thrones” had shot a fake scene with Kit Harington and a small dragon’s head at one point, specifically to mislead fans. Over on AMC, “The Walking Dead” also shot multiple murders to confuse the identity of who Negan (Jefftrey Dean Morgan) actually killed.

“Game of Thrones,” which is arguably one of the most recognizable shows worldwide, was particularly prone to episode and script leaks this past season, and thanks to the internet, which is faster than even Gendry or a raven, most Season 7 details were available to the public in some form. Despite this, it was still the No. 1 watched show of the summer.

“Game of Thrones” Season 8 will begin shooting around October through possibly as late as August 2018, according to The Hollywood Reporter. This means that the final season premiere would hit around 2019.