How to Watch Game of Thrones in 2020: Winter Has Come
The beginning of the end is here. Almost two years have passed since the Starks and the Lannisters last blessed our TV screens, and now you can get another fix of the fire-breathing fantasy drama with season eight. In this article, we’re going to tell you how to watch Game of Thrones’s final season, so you can find out who ends up on the Iron Throne.
Though the thought of it being the last season may leave you crying into your furs, at least your Sunday night will be filled for the next couple of months. Game of Thrones has produced shocking storylines, such as the Red Wedding. Now, the Night King’s army is on its way and the future of Westeros is at stake.
We can’t blame you for wanting to watch the conclusion to this stunning story by hook or by crook. Thankfully, there are many ways to watch the final season of HBO’s hit series, without having to sing a song of ice and fire. We’ve included a mix of paid and free methods, though some tip the legal scales and should be used with caution.
Watch Game of Thrones Online
There are many online services that you can use to watch Game of Thrones. The most obvious one is subscribing to HBO. If you have a cable subscription, you’ll have access to HBO Go, its on-the-go feature. You can also use HBO’s standalone streaming service, HBO Now, which often has a free trial available when you sign up.
If you’re an Amazon Prime member, you can add an HBO channel subscription to your service. A free seven-day trial is available, too. For people wanting to use the service from outside the U.S., we recommend you use one of our best VPN for Amazon Prime Video picks. All in all, it’s a pretty good service and worth the investment.
Hulu offers a similar service and, as with HBO, there’s a free trial. That said, thanks to geoblocks, HBO and Hulu are only available in the U.S. You can use a virtual private network to mask your true location and get access, though. Our best VPN for HBO Now and best VPN for Hulu articles have good recommendations.
If you’d rather not go through the hassle of choosing one, we recommend ExpressVPN. With it, you’ll be able to spoof your location, as well as benefit from its unlimited bandwidth and excellent security. It’s also the fastest VPN on the market. Those features combined are why it’s our best VPN for streaming. Read our ExpressVPN review for a better look.
Watch Game of Thrones for Free
If your pockets are laden with lint, you’ll be pleased to hear there are ways to stream Game of Thrones for free. A quick look on Putlocker was promising. Other free streaming websites are around, but be careful because the risk of getting infected with a virus is high. It’s a good idea to install one of our best pop-up blockers, too.
You could also go the torrenting route. A quick search on The Pirate Bay showed that episodes from the previous seasons were available, as well as season eight. Just like free streaming websites, though, there are risks attached to torrenting.
Whether it be through a streaming website or torrent, watching or downloading copyrighted material is breaking the law. We’re not here to judge, though, we just want to make you aware of the dangers. Besides that, files and streams are often laced with malware, so protecting yourself before you indulge is a must.
By using a VPN, you’ll keep your IP address hidden from snoopers and protect yourself from cybercrime. NordVPN is a great choice in that respect. It has excellent security, including a killswitch, and custom peer-to-peer servers. No wonder it’s our best VPN for torrenting. Read our NordVPN review to find out more.
It’s also a good idea to arm yourself with our best antivirus software. We recommend Bitdefender because it works well in real time. If a virus were to invite itself to the party via your stream, Bitdefender would protect your device. Read our Bitdefender review for more information.
Watch Game of Thrones on Kodi
Alternatively, you can use Kodi. If you’re not familiar with it, it’s basically an open source home theater. You can stream from it, as well as store and organize media within it. It can be installed on most platforms, and you can tailor it to your preferences. Check out our Kodi guide to get started.
Like torrenting, Kodi itself isn’t illegal (our is Kodi legal piece goes into more detail). You install repositories with add-ons to get access to content. Some are official and legal, while others, such as Covenant, are not. You can access pirated content, such as Game of Thrones, via the latter camp. Our best Kodi add-ons list has recommendations.
Just remember that if you use Kodi to stream Game of Thrones, you’re doing so via a torrent. Using a VPN to shield your identity is a must. You can’t beat ExpressVPN, but CyberGhost offers a solid service, too, as you can read in our CyberGhost review. You can also check out our best VPN for Kodi roundup for more choices.
Final Thoughts
After all the anticipation, we hope you can get your fix of dragons and drama now that you know the ways you can watch Game of Thrones online. You can opt for the easier but more expensive way and sign up for a well-known streaming service or you can use free streaming websites, torrenting or Kodi.
If you choose the latter, make sure you stay safe with one of our best VPNs and a good antivirus. ExpressVPN isn’t just a top provider for security, but it also comes packed with features. Plus, it offers a 30-day money-back guarantee, so you can try it first.
Let us know if you can recommend another way to watch Game of Thrones online in the comment section. Thank you for reading.
Sandra Pattison is from the rolling hills of the United Kingdom where, when she’s not enjoying that one day of summer, she researches and writes on online security and censorship around the world. Writer by day, mother morning, noon and night, during her little free time she enjoys photography and likes to be spontaneous, but mostly ends up sipping tea with her pinky out.