In order to keep the ending of the final season of Game of Thrones a secret, HBO has decided to use misdirection to keep spoilers from hitting the internet.
According to reports, HBO’s president of programming Casey Bloys said several different endings will be shot to prevent the ending from being spoiled online.
“I know in ‘Game of Thrones,’ the ending, they’re going to shoot multiple versions so that nobody really know what happens,” Bloys said during a speech at Moravian College, per local outlet The 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 is important to point out the show’s most recent season was hit by hackers who released episodes online early when HBO would not meet their ransom demands.
The multiple endings strategy is not new. Apparently, AMC’s Breaking Bad, and HBO’s The Sopranos both created false endings to avoid spoilers.
The final season of Game of Thrones will start filming in October and may continue until late August 2018.
“Our production people are trying to figure out a timeline for the shoot and how much time the special effects take,” Bloys said.