executive producers and co-creators Jonathan Nolan and Lisa Joy continued beating the hype drum for the TV series’ second season with a Reddit AMA (Ask Me Anything) thread on Monday. Ahead of the season’s April 22 premiere on HBO, however, Nolan isn’t just dropping hints of what to expect. He’s suggesting that HBO is fully prepared to spoil the season before a minute of airs.
Nolan closed the AMA by thanking fans for their questions—and pointing out his ongoing interest in their theories. He also pointed out that fans’ theories, once reported by outside parties and news outlets, often function more like full-on content spoilers for what’s to come on the show. This sparked internal HBO discussions, Nolan noted, which led him to post what he’s calling a “potentially highly controversial” question:
If you guys agree, we’re going to post a video that lays out the plot (and twists and turns) of season 2. Everything. The whole sordid thing. Up front. That way, the members of the community here who want the season spoiled for them can watch ahead and then protect the rest of the community and help to distinguish between what’s ‘theory’ and what’s spoiler.
How will HBO determine whether this video should be posted? By waiting for the total upvote count attached to Nolan’s question to exceed 1,000 points. As of press time, the question has a 173-point score (which adds up its collective upvotes and downvotes) and rising.
The show’s full cast has greenlit this course of action, Nolan noted, and he said the idea is a natural result of “a new age and a new world in terms of the relationship between the folks making shows and the community watching them.” He compared the decision to fans taking a far more spoiler-protective approach to discussing that series’ fifth season.
The AMA also included confirmation that the character of Dr. Ford was written specifically with Anthony Hopkins in mind, that the series’ creators dedicated a lot of time to playing modern video games like and “for ‘research,'” and that series actor Jeffrey Wright has a good sense of humor—by jumping into the AMA and being subjected to a “global reset” by Nolan.
If you live in San Francisco or Philadelphia and are eager to dive into the second season (but would rather not go the Nolan-spoiler route), a pair of special sneak-preview screenings (on April 18 and 21, respectively) may be up your alley.
