While Game of Thrones fans worldwide were watching the premiere of the latest season on Monday, Chinese fans were disappointed by a censored version that streamed online in the country.
The fantasy epic on HBO is famed for its explicit content and bloody battle scenes, both known to draw the ire of China’s censors.
Tech giant Tencent streamed the season premier simultaneously with HBO, minus a full six minutes of action.
“I thought the censored version meant only cutting the bed scenes!” typed one enraged fan on China’s Weibo social network after watching.
“When I was watching I wasn’t even a little worried about my dad being there, even the fighting scenes are cut, with even those cut, why bother watching!”
The Chinese version came in at 48 minutes compared with the 54-minute original.
HBO’s website is blocked in China, forcing most to watch the approved-for-China version of the Emmy award-winning television series – though some managed to find ways to get beyond the country’s “great firewall”.
“Tencent is making us pay to see a castrated version of Game of Thrones,” tweeted another user, who identified herself as a 19-year-old girl. “Do any sisters have Game of Throne links to share?”
“It is a bit uncomfortable watching the censored version,” tweeted another user with the handle Wang Bubble. “If those scenes are not worth seeing, why would the writer write them? Why would the director shoot them? People who like Game of Thrones don’t like it for the porn and violence but for the whole thing. I don’t want to miss even one second.”
