Game of Thrones fans experience crashes on HBO/Hulu during premiere: See the emotional reactions

After waiting two years for Game of Thrones’ final season to premiere Sunday night, some members of the show’s diehard fanbase had their patience tested even further when HBO’s live streaming platforms, along with Hulu, seemed to crash.

Down Detector, a website that monitors such outages, reported that HBO GO began having issues at 8:35 p.m. ET, just minutes before the highly-anticipated premiere. Hulu did not immediately respond to EW’s request for comment.

HBO tells EW that they did not “experience any service outages on HBO GO or HBONOW in the U.S. during last night’s Game of Thrones season 8 premiere. We are aware of a small number of comments on social media but are not able to speak to those individual circumstances.”

The season 8 debut was expected to be more popular than last season’s finale, which was watched by 16.5 million people, according to the network.

Needless to say, fans experiencing delays were cursing the gods on Twitter during the added wait:

The season 8 premiere was an especially significant episode. Jon Snow, the Game of Thrones fan-favorite played by Kit Harington, was finally told his true parentage. The news was devastating and impacted Jon’s sense of identity, his relationship with his late father, his present romance with Daenerys (Emilia Clarke) and, almost certainly, his future. Jon’s friend Samwell Tarley broke the news in the crypts of Winterfell that his parents are Rhaegar Targaryen and Lyanna Stark, making Jon “Aegon Targaryen” Snow the rightful heir to the Iron Throne. It unfortunately also means Jon’s lover is his aunt.

For more on the big premiere, check out our exclusive interview with Harington, where he reveals exactly what Jon Snow was thinking when he found out his parentage. In addition, we have a related explainer on why Jon has a better claim than Daenerys; an interview with writer Dave Hill, who breaks down all the big moments; and, of course, our episode recap.

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