'Game of Thrones' Season 6 Won't Leak: No Westeros Screeners for TV Critics

Last year, days before the premiere date of season 5 of Game of Thrones, the first four episodes of the season were leaked online, after HBO had sent them to TV critics for reviewing before they officially aired. This year, the subscription network is taking no chances with Westeros' Iron Throne: there will be no season 6 screeners, so we'll all find out Jon Snow's fate together.

Entertainment Weekly reports that HBO has put its foot down, tired of the never-ending leaks: no more screeners ahead of time, because there's always someone who uploads them online. Game of Thrones premieres simultaneously across the Americas, and within hours of the U.S. release date in the rest of the world, but HBO has made it clear no country will be getting previews of this season.

"We're not sending out press copies this year, anywhere in the world," Michael Lombardo, the programming president for the subscription network, told the outlet. "There will be no copies for review."

via GIPHY

This is an interesting move, as it's the first time any major series takes piracy into account when releasing previews. Still, it's also clear that GoT, a pop culture phenomenon in its five seasons so far, doesn't need the extra press at this point.

The timing is also peculiar: for the first time since the show began airing, book fans are as much in the dark as those who only watch the series adaptation. George R.R. Martin, the author of the series, said in the early days of January that the next book of the saga, The Winds of Winter, will not come out before season 6, so fans have no idea what's happening next.

At the end of the past season, things were beginning to stir for many of the main characters of the series. Daenerys Targaryen (Emilia Clarke) had reached an unfriendly khalasar; Queen Cersei Lannister (Lena Headey) had been humiliated in front of King's Landing and surely began plotting her revenge and, famously, Jon Snow (Kit Harington) was seemingly stabbed to death.

Season 6 of Game of Thrones will begin airing on April 24 on HBO.