Related Articles
After 8 years and 73 episodes, we finally arrived at the end of Game of Thrones, exhausted and defeated. There was disappointment, memes, rage and fire. There was joy. When it was all said and done… we had a lot of thoughts.
Although the show is over, there’s still one more week of Thrones content to inject into our Song of Ice and Fire-hungry eyeballs. “The Last Watch” goes behind the scenes on the final season and airs in the Game of Thrones slot on HBO tonight. If you’re playing catch up, you can watch the super sweet trailer here.
If you’re keen to see what happened off camera to bring us the final six episodes, you’ll need a way to watch HBO. Thankfully there are plenty of easy ways to subscribe, even if you don’t have cable, starting with HBO Now and HBO Go. Note that CNET may get a share of revenue from the sale of the services featured on this page.
Online HBO options compared
| Service | Starting monthly price (US) | What you get |
|---|---|---|
| HBO Now/HBO Go | $15 at HBO | Live and on-demand HBO content. “Free” for existing HBO cable/satellite subscribers. |
| Hulu | $21 at Hulu (or $15 for existing Hulu subscribers) | HBO plus a huge library of on-demand content from over 30 broadcast and cable channels |
| Amazon | $25* at Amazon (or $15 for existing Prime subscribers) | HBO plus Amazon Prime video library |
| PlayStation Vue | $15 at PS Vue | Just HBO, but larger live TV package available for more |
| DirecTV Now | $50 at DirecTV | HBO plus dozens of live TV channels |
*$25 monthly = 1/12 of annual $120 Amazon Prime fee plus $15 per month for HBO
From Chowhound: Raise these Game of Thrones goblets for toasting the final season
Now playing:
Watch this:
How Game of Thrones language High Valyrian comes to life
8:25
Game of Thrones season 8 schedule
This last season was composed of six supersize episodes. The premiere had the shortest runtime of the season at 54 minutes. Episode 2 was 58 minutes, and the final four are each roughly 80 minutes. It will all be over — sniff — on Sunday, May 19.
Plan to clear out Sunday evening at 9 p.m. (8 p.m. Central) in the US for The Last Watch of Game of Thrones.
Now playing:
Watch this:
Game of Thrones season 8 finale: Our watch has ended
6:42
HBO’s main two streaming options
HBO Go
If you’re already a subscriber to HBO as part of a cable or satellite TV package, you get HBO Go for free. It lets you stream Game of Thrones along with the rest of HBO’s shows on supported phones, tablets, connected TVs and gaming consoles. Not only can you watch all seven past seasons of GoT with HBO Go, but you can livestream the new episodes as they air on HBO.
HBO Now
As opposed to the free streaming add-on mentioned above, HBO Now is a standalone subscription to HBO — no cable or satellite TV subscription required.
It costs $15 a month and lets you watch HBO via the HBO Now app or in a browser at HBONow.com. The HBO Now app is available on a number of devices, including mobile devices, smart TVs, Amazon Fire TV, Apple TV and Roku. As with HBO Go, you can steam the new episodes live on Sunday nights, the same time that they air on HBO.
36 of the best Game of Thrones fan theories
+35 more
Add HBO to a streaming service
You can add HBO to four of the TV streaming services below for an additional monthly charge. If you’re a GoT fan and also a subscriber to Sling TV or YouTube TV, then I’m sorry to report that you’re out of luck: neither service offers HBO. Here are four that do.
Hulu
HBO is a $15-a-month add-on to any Hulu plan, which start at $5.99 a month. So, your minimum Hulu plus HBO buy-in is about $21 a month. Unfortunately, the $10 Hulu plus Spotify offer is not currently eligible to add HBO (or any other step-up Hulu plan).
Amazon Prime Video
Prime members can add HBO for $15 a month. A Prime membership costs $119 a year.
PlayStation Vue
PlayStation Vue’s priciest $80-a-month Ultra plan includes HBO (and Showtime), but you can also purchase HBO as a standalone channel for $15 a month — no other plan is needed.
DirecTV Now
DirecTV Now now includes HBO, but upped its price from $40 to $50 a month. It also dropped a number of other channels in the process, making it a bad streaming deal, even for GoT fans.
Game of Thrones in the UK, Australia and elsewhere
Game of Thrones, according to HBO, airs in all but four countries around the world — but not necessarily on HBO itself. In the UK, for example, HBO shows are on Sky Atlantic and Sky’s online services Sky Go and Now TV. In Australia, Game of Thrones airs on TV and online on Foxtel. In both countries the show airs at the same time as in the US (i.e., early Monday), and is repeated on Monday night.
And for the record, HBO restricts the use of VPNs used to stream any of the above services from outside the US.
More Thrones
- Every season ranked from worst to best
- Thrones already lost its greatest hero
- The coolest gear for Westeros watchers
From Chowhound: How to make the food you see in Game of Thrones
See all the Game of Thrones season 8 photos
+184 more
Originally published March 5 and regularly updated as episodes air.
Get the best price with CNET Shopping.
Love shopping online but don’t have time to compare prices or search for promo codes? Our CNET Shopping extension does that for you, so you always get the best price.
