Game of Thrones' YouTube channel is a spoiler-fest – House of the Dragon is over for now, but that annoyance lives on
Give me a moment, for pity's sake
It's not exactly new to viewers of US shows here in the UK that there's an unhelpful gap between when an episode becomes available over the pond, compared to our experience. Still, House of the Dragon's third season has been a salient reminder.
Every Monday for the last eight weeks, I've had to wait through a workday on a Monday, after the episode went live on Now (my streaming service of choice for HBO right now) at midnight, to coincide with the air time in the US on Sunday evening. That wait has been made way harder by HBO's dedicated Game of Thrones YouTube channel.
After each episode airs, that channel uploads two different behind-the-scenes features. One is generally a short, seven- or eight-minute reel of actors and producers talking about the episode and what it means for the story of the show. The other is a far longer affair, generally around 20 minutes long and showcasing all of the craft and practical work that went into the episode's stunts and sequences.
They're both interesting and give real insight into how the show is made, but I've got a real axe to grind with their thumbnails and titles. Those longer practical featurettes, in particular, have routinely had titles and thumbnails that give away major plot points for episodes that only became available within a few hours of their upload.
From here on, beware spoilers if you haven't watched the last few episodes of the show – because I'm going to give some examples of those titles!
Scroll back to the sixth episode of this eight-episode season, and within a few hours of the episode becoming available, HBO had published a two-minute video titled "Ser Criston Cole's Final Farewell" with a thumbnail of that character's bloodied face. That basically confirms the fate of a major character during said episode.
Just after the eighth episode aired, we got a 20-minute featurette titled "Setting an Army Ablaze", this time saving the spoiler for the thumbnail rather than the title, since it showed Aegon Targaryen looking triumphant, sword aloft and lit by fire. Again, a massive plot development spoiled.
Finally, even for the season finale, the 20-minute video is this time called "Torching Tumbleton", and while that might not seem an obvious spoiler given that half of this season has built up to a battle at Tumbleton, the question of whether dragonfire will engulf the city has been a huge variable. Again, that spoiler bell ultimately goes "ding".
I understand that HBO wants to capitalise on the interest in the show while it airs, and I'll be clear – I'm glad these extra featurettes are being made. They showcase the level of craft and set building and prop work that the show is committing to, and underline why so much of it looks so good.
My issue is with a social media strategy that brands it fine to publish spoilers for your own show before around half the viewing world has any realistic chance to see an episode for itself. I've done my best to stay away from YouTube on Mondays, but my job means keeping on top of streaming trailers, and the algorithm ruthlessly pushes me HBO's content, so I've had minor and major spoilers put in my path left, right and centre.
So, this is me registering some feedback – don't do this, HBO. Upload the videos, by all means, and keep the same tight cadence with the show itself, but put a little more thought into the titles and thumbnails. You can edit them a few days later, after all, if you're that keen on your more attention-grabbing versions. So long as you stop making it so hard to avoid spoilers in the immediate aftermath of your broadcasts, I'll be happy.
