'Game of Thrones' Has an Ingenious Plan for Avoiding Finale Spoilers

HBO isn't playing around.

The seventh season of Game of Thrones was perhaps its most dramatic yet, but not just when it came to the show's story. HBO dealt with hackers dropping whole episodes ahead of schedule, and for the show's final season, the network is understandably worried about the same thing happening again.

Related Story

Marie Claire

(Image credit: Marie Claire)

So it's taking extra precautions—by filming multiple finales. As reported by BuzzFeed, HBO's president of programming Casey Bloys was giving a talk at Bethlehem, Pennsylvania's Moravian College about the difficulties of writing TV endings.

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

This also means that the actors themselves might not even know how their own shows might end. And while the practice sounds, on its own, somewhat extreme, Bloys did point out that this is somewhat standard TV production practice. (Breaking Bad and The Sopranos also did the same thing.)

Related Story

Game of Thrones

(Image credit: Marie Claire)

Production for season eight begins in October, but the world has yet to learn when any of these episodes will air. And no matter what production (or paparazzi) stills may reveal over the course of filming, it seems the only way to really know who ends up on the Iron Throne is to tune in when the curtain closes on Westeros forever. (Or at least until it's rebooted.)

Follow Marie Claire on Facebook for the latest celeb news, beauty tips, fascinating reads, livestream video, and more.

Lilian Min

I'm the night shift at Cosmopolitan.com and a writer and reporter around the web. I spend my daylight hours playing music, crafting, cooking, scheming, and rearing my pet chameleon.