Game of Thrones season 8: How to watch episode 5 and has it leaked online?
Warning: spoilers for the first four episodes of season eight ahead
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**Spoilers for season eight, episode three “The Long Night” ahead**
The Night King – leader of the White Walkers – has finally fallen, with Arya Stark piercing the villain’s heart with a very familiar Valyrian Steel dagger. Our heroes (at least, those who remain standing) have now marched South to King’s Landing, where they will face Cersei Lannister and Euron Greyjoy,
Here’s everything we know about the fifth episode of season eight.
Release date and how to watch
Game of Thrones returns every Sunday, with the next episode airing 5 May.
Viewers in the US can watch on HBO. Sky Atlantic and NOW TV will simulcast the episode in the UK. You will also be able to stream each episode via NOW TV.
Has episode five leaked?
Despite the huge security measures put in place by HBO, episodes one, two and three leaked a few hours early than their scheduled broadcast.
Scenes from episode four, reportedly featuring two major deaths, have leaked online and were available on YouTube and Twitter before being taken down by HBO.
So far, episode five seems to have been kept under wraps.
What we have seen so far
Every week, HBO release a trailer and a set of images from the forthcoming episode. Watch the trailer above and flick through the gallery below for the pre-released images.
Episode count and runtimes
Whereas the first six seasons all consisted of 10 episodes, season seven was made up of only seven. Showrunners David Benioff and D B Weiss have decided to likewise limit the length of season eight, deciding on just six episodes. (The duo originally wanted to release three feature-length movies, rather than six episodes, but HBO went against the decision.)
HBO confirmed the runtime for each episode before the season aired, with the third episode being the show’s longest ever at one hour 22 minutes. Here are the final two runtimes.
Episode five 1 hr 20 mins
Episode six: 1 hr 20 mins
Also of note: each episode cost a rumoured $15 million to produce. Reports vary on how much the cast have been paid, but Variety previously claimed Emilia Clarke (Daenerys Targaryen), Nikolaj Coster-Waldau (Jamie Lannister), Peter Dinklage (Tyrion Lannister), Kit Harrington (Jon Snow) and Lena Headey (Cersei Lannister) all got $500,000 (£384,000) per episode.
Episode five writers and director
Miguel Sapochnik, who directed “The Long Night", is also behind episode five of the eighth and final season. Showrunner David Benioff and DB Weiss have written the episode.
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