Game of Thrones is widely regarded as one of the best TV series ever made. Created for HBO by David Benioff and D. B. Weiss, the show is based on the A Song of Ice and Fire fantasy book series by George R. R. Martin. The hit TV show spanned nine years, eight seasons and 73 episodes during which time it was often the most-watched, streamed, pirated and talked about show in the world.
With the UK still in lockdown, Sky TV has made a selection of its top TV shows free for all Sky+, Sky Q and Sky Go viewers with a basic Sky TV subscription, so you can watch the entire Game of Thrones Box Sets on Sky TV for free. This means that you can now watch every episode of Game of Thrones on Sky TV and its a-la-carte streaming service Now TV Entertainment Pass in the UK for free. To access the latter from abroad, you’ll need to use a good VPN service, like ExpressVPN or NordVPN.
Game of Thrones follows the fate of powerful families in the continents of Westeros and Essos who are vying for the ultimate seat of power – the Iron Throne. After debuting in 2011, the series concluded in 2019, with a six-episode final season that drew heavy criticism from critics and fans, who felt that the truncated seventh and eighth seasons – shortened, some say, so as to allow showrunners to move on to their next project – upended the years of meticulous planning and character development that went into the first six seasons.
However, despite the lukewarm reception of its divisive final season, Game of Thrones still continues to be one of the best TV shows of the last decade. If you haven’t watched Game of Thrones before, want to re-watch it again in lockdown, or maybe you just want to re-watch your favourite episodes, then you’re in luck because Sky TV has resurrected the entire Game of Thrones series from start to finish.
Author George R.R. Martin has yet to finish the final two books in the series, and fans are desperately hoping that his version of events will prove more satisfying than the ending provided by the TV show. With work on the next book in the series – The Winds of Winter – currently being fast-tracked by the global lockdown, however, fans are hoping that it won’t be too long before Martin is able to finally show Benioff and Weiss how it’s done.
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How to watch Game of Thrones for free in the UK: Now TV Entertainment Pass
The best way to watch every episode of Game of Thrones for free in the UK is to get a Sky TV subscription – see the section below. The only drawback is that these contracts usually last 18 months and may include an additional setup fee if you don’t have Sky TV.
What if you just want to binge-watch Game of Thrones over a long weekend, or simply catch up on your favourite episodes from the eight seasons and relive the first time Daenerys emerged out of the flames with her three dragons, or that time when Tyrion gave an encouraging speech to marshall the Lannister troops in the Battle of the Blackwater?
Your best option, in this case, is to get a Now TV Entertainment Pass. Similar to a Netflix subscription, this pass costs £9.99 per month and comes with a one-week free trial for new customers, which may not be enough time to watch the entire series, but certainly enough to re-watch your favourite episodes.
Watch Game of Thrones free on Now TV
How to watch Game of Thrones in the UK: Sky TV
Multi-award winning show Game of Thrones has now been resurrected in its entirety by Sky TV. Previously, you needed the Sky TV Entertainment bundle to avail of Sky Atlantic to watch every episode of Game of Thrones. However, Sky TV’s new Rewatch campaign gives everyone access to over 100 boxsets and 2,000 hours of content throughout May and June, including every episode of Game of Thrones.
Available on Sky+, Sky Q and Sky Go, you simply need a Sky TV basic subscription, although this won’t be available to Sky Essentials customers. The best way to find out if you have access to the complete Game of Thrones boxset is to search for it using your Sky TV remote. If you see that it’s available for free, you can simply download and start watching.
How to watch Game of Thrones in the US: HBO
Game of Thrones was produced by HBO and is possibly its biggest franchise to date, so that’s the only place that you can currently watch it online in the US. HBO subscriptions vary depending on whether you have a TV package with the channel or only want its a-la-carte service HBO Now, which costs $14.99/mnth.
Apart from all 73 episodes, the HBO website also gives you additional information about the series, including a behind-the-scenes look at how it all came together and clips from your favourite stars including Emilia Clark, Kit Harrington, Peter Dinklage, Lena Headey and Maisie Williams.
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Is Game of Thrones on Netflix?
Unfortunately Game of Thrones isn’t available on the world’s most popular streaming service. We’re holding out hope that we’ll be able to rewatch the entire saga via Netflix at some point in the future, but the chances of that happening are non-existent given HBO own the rights to its marquee show.
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Buy the Game of Thrones DVD, Blu-ray and 4K discs
Although we live in the age of Netflix and Amazon Video, there’s still nothing like owning a physical disc. Game of Thrones boxsets comes with all manner of extras and special features that you just don’t get with online streaming services.
You can buy the complete box set of Game of Thrones. This includes all eight seasons and every single episode of the show. The Complete Series Box Set is available in four versions on Amazon UK:
- The DVD collection (38 discs) costs £75
- The Blu-ray version (33 discs) costs £99
- The 4K version (33 discs) costs £200
- The 4K Limited Edition (33 discs) costs £225
At the time of writing, all of the above discs were available for next-day delivery, provided you have an Amazon Prime membership.
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Buy Game of Thrones The Complete Series Box Set
How to watch Game of Thrones: Amazon Video
Amazon Video has all eight seasons of Game of Thrones, and since the Amazon Video app is available on every device with a screen, that means you can watch on the big screen or on your commute. The catch? You have to buy each season individually.
Since each of these costs between £20 and £25, it’ll comfortably set you back over £100 to watch the whole series via this method. Of course, you’ll get to keep it permanently, and it’s in HD, but it’s a lot more costly than streaming service subscriptions. You can also buy the episodes individually, for £2.49 each.
Buy Game of Thrones on Amazon Video now
How to watch Game of Thrones online wherever you are
If you want to make the most of either of the streaming options above, but aren’t based in the UK (or you reside in any country where you can’t stream Game of Thrones), you could always try a VPN. VPNs trick your computer into thinking it’s in a different country by changing its IP address. Simply download and install a VPN, choose the correct server location (i.e. the UK), select the service you chose and you can start streaming Game of Thrones.
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Among all the VPNs we’ve used, ExpressVPN is our favourite because it has the fastest speeds. This means that you can watch Game of Thrones lag-free regardless of where you are browsing from. It unblocks all geo-restricted content, has 24/7 customer support and useful online tutorials, so you’ll never an issue.
NordVPN is one of our other favourites and the only VPN service we know of that has had its entire independently audited to prove that it doesn’t store any user data. You can use it to encrypt your connection on up to six devices, meaning you and a group of friends can simultaneously stream Game of Thrones in its entirety.
Surfshark VPN is another great alternative, especially if you’re looking for a budget VPN with great all-round features. Like the other two VPNs mentioned above, it has a wide range of apps, 24/7 customer support and doesn’t log any data.
Game of Thrones: The legacy it left behind
Despite what people think of the final season, Game of Thrones will go down in history as one of the best television spectacles of all time – a TV show that ruled a decade and defined a generation.
The show first aired in April 2011 a whole nine years ago. Back then, President Obama was in his first term in office. Closer to home in the UK, it was the year Prince William and Kate Middleton got married and the year the riots took place in England.
Even though the first season of Game of Thrones was on during each of these events, few people – except for maybe a few ardent book readers of George R R Martin’s A Song of Ice and Fire novel series – paid attention to it. But with the passage of time, Game of Throne soon became water-cooler conversation.
When the first season began, everyone was rooting for its protagonist Ned Stark and his honourable demeanour before we realised that good guys don’t always win in Martin’s world. Another episode that shocked all the non-book readers was undoubtedly The Red Wedding.
Over time, Game of Thrones became one of the most-watched, pirated and talked about shows on the planet. Aside from all the online buzz around a show, you know it has reached another level of popularity when people name their kids after characters in the show (Khaleesi wasn’t even the name of a character) and start quoting lines from the show in everyday conversations.
The most popular lines from the show will undoubtedly be Ygritte’s “You know nothing Jon Snow”, Tyrion Lannister’s “I drink and I know things” and Arya’s series-long mantra: “There is only one thing we say to the God of Death: ‘Not today.'”
Even though most of the characters we have come to root for and love have either been killed off – often in gruesome fashion – or changed to become people we don’t recognise anymore (we’re looking at you, Starks and Targaryens), there’s no denying that Game of Thrones is and will be one of the greatest TV shows of all time.
With the rise of subscription-based TV services like Netflix, Amazon Prime and HBO Go, it may even be the case that the next massive television blockbuster will be one we can binge-watch and not have weeks to anxiously ponder upon. That itself will put Game of Thrones in a rare class of its own.
When does the Game of Thrones prequel release?
Given the unparalleled success that Game of Thrones enjoyed for so long, it came as no surprise when HBO announced plans for further series exploring the fantasy universe’s long history. HBO has already reportedly greenlit a new series called House of the Dragon that is scheduled to release in 2022, starring Matt Smith, Emma D’Arcy, Olivia Cooke and Rhys Ifans.
House of the Dragon is only set a few hundred years prior to the events that began in Game of Thrones. It basically tells the story of the Targaryen civil war that later became known as Dance of the Dragons. Apart from that, there is also an animated Game of Thrones project in the works that is scheduled to release on HBO Max at a later date.
What about George R. R. Martin’s A Song of Ice and Fire book series?
George R. R. Martin is involved in all of these Game of Thrones spin-offs, so this could mean that Martin’s final two books in the A Song of Ice and Fire series – The Winds of Winter and A Dream of Spring – could further be delayed.
Upon seeing the early reactions to Game of Thrones’ final season, it won’t be a surprise if the next two books become instant best-sellers given that it’s almost certain that the TV series and books will have different endings.
