The only thing more terrible than having your family massacred during your eldest son’s wedding in a double cross that would send ripples throughout Westeros would be having HBO Now stuck on the buffering screen during the Game of Thrones season seven premiere. Unfortunately for some, they lived out this horror, clicking and refreshing like mad, hoping the little bar would fill and they would be thrust back into the dark and magical world full of dragons and Ed Sheeran.
Yes, HBO Now was down for almost half of the Game of Thrones east coast premiere, but it righted itself in the second half and fans got caught back up. A spokesperson said HBO Go was also down for a time in Latin America, but HBO Go was working almost flawlessly in the States.
As The Hollywood Reporter rightfully pointed out, HBO Now went down during last season’s penultimate (and absolutely incredible) episode, “Battle of the Bastards.” Knowing that one of the main ways to watch its marquee show is unreliable must freak out plenty of customers and cord cutters, but probably puts a smile on the face of cable providers who are rubbing their hands together like Walder Frey after butchering the Starks.
HBOGO servers tonight. #GameOfThrones pic.twitter.com/1ajlbxmfle
— sam (@samfickman) July 17, 2017
He he he. HBO GO servers went down. This is live video of their datacenter. pic.twitter.com/4rzWkkhsrO
— J.C. (@JC_Channel) July 17, 2017
https://twitter.com/SerenaSonoma/status/886763972585771008
Did HBO go crash tonight ? I want to watch Game but I get no response ? #HBOGO
— LLM (@LLM1990) July 17, 2017
https://twitter.com/CouslandWriter/status/886784510146338817
https://twitter.com/MudkipMama/status/886754174070861825
@HBO wtf does your app always crash at the worst times. Dont you know we all want to watch?!
— jp (@SirJohnMPorter) July 17, 2017
https://twitter.com/blueseptmx/status/886769044266729472
When @HBONow works perfectly for you for @GameOfThrones. pic.twitter.com/Qf9D9rvRou
— Kyle O'Neill (@kylero_BMTC) July 17, 2017
I wish @hbonow would get their shit together so I can watch game of thrones without the screen pausing 🙃
— Erin Bussey (@erbussey) July 17, 2017
https://twitter.com/davidlectka/status/886752924705181696
https://twitter.com/J_R_Austin/status/886753816623947776
Dammit @HBO I wanna watch the new Game of thrones on the HBO Now app and it's saying you're having trouble with the playback. Help
— Chaz Lutz (@Poseidon_N7) July 17, 2017
At least the HBO Now Twitter account was active in helping people out as best they could.
Thanks for the update. Glad you were finally able to watch. Please DM if you ever need any additional assistance. Enjoy your #HBONOW. ^TW
— @HBONowHelp (@HBONowHelp) July 17, 2017