Meghan Markle and Queen Elizabeth II | Max Mumby/Indigo/Getty Images
Prince Harry and Meghan Markle welcome their royal guests
With Prince Harry and Markle due to welcome their first child very soon, they’ve seen some family members drop by their new home at Frogmore Cottage recently.
After Markle missed the Easter Sunday church service with the royal family, it was reported that Prince William and Middleton paid her a visit to see how she was feeling. Many royal baby watchers assumed that Markle, now very pregnant, was staying home from the service to rest.
A source told Harper’s Bazaar that “William and Catherine
visited because Meghan was unable to attend the service. They wanted to be
supportive and see how she is doing. It was a lovely afternoon.”
The source shared: “Her Majesty wanted to formally welcome
the Sussexes to their new home so she was their first visitor. She visited with
other family members and Harry and Meghan were delighted to show them round.”
The insider added: “The Queen was at Windsor Castle at Easter and wanted to see Meghan before she has the baby.” If true, it was no doubt a lovely occasion and very much appreciated by Prince Harry and Markle.
Buckingham Palace didn’t comment on any of the Sussexes reported royal visitors since these are private visits and not official royal engagements.
Last month, a source told The Sun that workers were wrapping up the renovation details, sharing: “the builders have worked all week whatever the weather. But they [the Sussexes] keep making changes, particularly on the layout. The word is they’ve been quite demanding, which is understandable as what homeowner doesn’t want their house to be perfect?”
The insider added: “Given the scale of the project, a three
or four-week delay isn’t too bad. The couple are pleased with how it’s all
going.”
Among the home improvements were the addition of a yoga studio, new fireplaces, and soundproofing, as well as giving the property a security boost. The reported cost or the renovations was somewhere between $2.5 and $3.8 million.
With all of their recent visitors to Frogmore Cottage, it’s believed that Markle is certainly due to give birth any day now.
It's Team Human, led by Jon "Oh, geez, this isn't going well" Snow...
HBO
Versus Team Undead, led by a formidable tactician who perhaps got a bit too cocky trying to relish the moment as he went for the final prize. Don't get cute on the one-yard line, Night King.
Warning: This story contains plot points and spoilers for the latest episode of Game of Thrones, S8E3's Battle of Winterfell.
Halfway through the last season of Game of Thrones, we put together an after-action analysis of the major military engagements driving the plot of the series in the season's two central episodes—"The Queen's Justice," in which the forces allied against Queen Cersei got seriously pasted, and "The Spoils of War," in which Daenerys Targaryen, her dragons, and her Dothraki rapid response force swept down on the Lannister army's wagon train and turned it into a macabre cookout.
Now we're halfway through the final season of the series, and we're at a similar pivot point. The second episode of the season—"A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms"—laid out the somewhat awful strategic position of the combined allied forces under the command of Daenerys Targaryen and her Warden of the North, lover and likely nephew Jon Snow. And in the most recent episode—"The Long Night"—that situation reached its climax and conclusion in what could set the record for the least number of photons registered in a film or video production of its length ever.
As we were writing this, we were beaten to the punch by one of our favorite military Twitterati and bloggers, Angry Staff Officer, a master of fictional tactical interpretation, in his excellent but perhaps slightly misguided analysis for our sister publication, Wired. It's definitely worth reading, and you should do so right after you read this—unless you have not seen the episode and are averse to spoilers. In that case, come back and read both once you're ready.
Situational awareness
Enlarge/ At first (like the first two minutes), it seems we have a steady human set of hands at the wheel...
HBO
Dany's Dothraki and Unsullied forces, Jon's army of the North, the remaining Night's Watch, the remnants of the Brotherhood Without Banners, and a sundry assortment of other good guys face a dire strategic situation to start. The Night King and his mega-army of risen dead people have them outnumbered; he can challenge their air superiority with his own undead dragon and proven anti-aircraft spear; and instead of getting reinforcements from the double-dealing Queen Cersei, they get a one-handed man famous for pushing a kid out a window and siring kids with his sister.
At their command post in Winterfell, the collected leaders looked at the bleak situation and laid out their battle strategy: hold out as best as possible while luring the Night King into a single combat situation using warg raven/drone operator and cryptic intelligence provider Bran Stark (that kid who got pushed out the window) as the bait. Then they mostly get drunk and wait for the onslaught, until forward scouts signal that the enemy is near. But other than toots on a horn, Dany's leadership has absolutely no battlefield situational awareness. It's like they don't have any sort of flying thing that could do reconnaissance or something.
While scouts have given a rough estimate of force composition and the order of battle is pretty well-known, there's pretty much no operational picture—and pretty much no television picture, either, as the director of photography chooses to present the first half of the episode mostly in various shades of black. As the battle approaches, flame priestess and general portent of doom Melisandre wanders up and provides some much needed lighting—giving the Dothraki cavalry some flaming swords to swing. Meanwhile, non-combatants are withdrawn to the super-safe crypt, surrounded by dead people who could be raised by the Night King. Nobody seems to think twice about this, not even Dany's supposedly savvy advisors Tyrion and spymaster Varys—but we've seen them fall flat on their faces before in the foresight department, so that's not a shocker.
Dany and Jon watch from a mountaintop vantage point, awaiting their cue to deliver air support. They can't see much of anything. But somebody eventually does, as the Dothraki charge the unseen White Walker line.
There has been a lot of criticism of the Dothraki cavalry charge. But we are here to say that the criticism should be focused on the lack of close air support. In "The Spoils of War," the Dothraki served as a "fixing force" to line the Lannisters up for mass destruction from the air. Here, the Dothraki are literally lighting the way to the enemy, and all they have is some artillery support in the form of catapulted flaming tarballs.
Had this illumination been used for, say, some timely dragon strafing by Dany while Jon flew combat air patrol above, the Dothraki sacrifice may have been considerably smaller. Instead, we just get to see their flaming swords extinguished by the advancing line of we don’t know what.
The primary failure of the Dothrakis' use as a shock force was that they ran into an enemy (literally) that could not be shocked. Hopefully there are enough of them left to play a role in the next engagement.
The Dothraki charge was just another example of how utterly unimaginative Dany's supporting staff have been in the face of new challenges. As the returning Dothraki retreat back to Winterfell, we get a good look at another major failure of imagination—the defensive works around the castle, which are, to be honest, embarrassing even from a medieval tactical perspective. While the defenses may have been rushed a bit, it's hard to believe nobody remembered that the enemy's main body was a relentless, berserker undead infantry. Winterfell's outer defensive works were:
A line of chevaux-de-frise—spiked anti-cavalry fortifications akin to tank traps
A trench filled with stuff that burns
That's it. There were no other engineering efforts made. There was no effort to use the moving mass of the Walkers against them, using stake walls or other defensive structures. There could have been concentric trenches. Nope. And the Unsullied and Dothraki and everyone else on the field before Winterfell had to retreat through the defenses, causing higher losses.
Sure, all of this would have taken time and resources. But even a little more effort could have bought more time. Unfortunately, this bit of tactical and strategic fail is often reflected in reality, where commanders go into battles thinking the enemy will just fight them by the rules they already know.
Combined arms… and legs
Enlarge/ When in doubt, have a witch light a bunch of trenches on fire.
Command, control, and communication is essential on the battlefield. But the Night King essentially jammed Winterfell's C3 efforts by bringing on a literal fog of war—masking the battlefield with Winter itself. Davos Seaworth waves those flaming sticks to signal to Dany to dragon-flame the trenches alight, but she can't see anything through the low deck. Fortunately (?), Melisandre goes out and does her thing one more time, setting the trench alight.
And then everybody just stands there and watches each other. All the catapults are outside the walls and the trenches. All the archers sit on their hands as the Walkers pause at the wall of flame. Another opportunity to thin the (easily replenished) ranks of the dead.
Meanwhile, Dany and Jon get tangled up in an air-to-air engagement with the Night King, astride his zombie, blue-fire spitting dragon. The Night King has failed to master the use of air power: he could have ignored Jon and Dany and just leveled Winterfell's walls with airstrikes like he did to that Other Wall, but nah. He obviously has no understanding of air-to-air tactics and attempts an attack from below—only to end up entangled with one of his targets. Both the Night King and Jon end up un-dragoned, their reptilian aircraft left to their own devices.
But this is not an apparent problem for the Night King, who has psychic C3 over his minions—and is able to raise all the dead around him as reinforcements. Dany tries to toast the Night King with dragon fire, but it's super-ineffective.
The Night King directs his dead troops to breach the burning barrier in a style reminiscent of World War I trench warfare (or, as Angry Staff Officer put it, "Soviet style")—by throwing their bodies down as a bridge over the obstacle. Suddenly, the lines are not so static. The walls are breached World War Z style by the masses of White Walkers. As the battle rages inside the walls, the Night King strolls into Winterfell with his squad of frozen bros.
Then, there is a lot of dying. Jon finds himself tied down by zombie dragon fire. Dany is defended to the death by Jorah Mormont after her dragon gets weighed down by White Walkers. Theon Greyjoy and a band of archers defend Bran at the bait-point to the end, before Theon is dispatched with his own spear by the Night King. It looks like this is the end… until Game of Thrones' ultimate special warfare operator, Arya Stark, arrives and dispatches the Night King with some really slick Valyrian steel dagger work. The King crumbles, and his minions all collapse. It's like a proton torpedo down the exhaust port. The end.
It's a win, at huge costs—one that considerably weakens Dany's fighting force for the coming battle with Cersei's mercenary reinforcements and fleet. But the win shows that the basic underlying strategy mapped out by the leadership was correct—even if the execution left much to be desired.
In the end, we believe that the Battle of Winterfell played out much as most military conflict does. Success in combat often hinges upon the determination, imagination and ability to adapt and overcome in the face of situations that soldiers haven't trained for. The enemy will not always conform to your tactical paradigm. And fortune favors the bold.
If you want the show's writers to justify the action of team human, HBO's latest behind the episode video does just that.
"F—king hell! Sorry guys!" That's what Maisie Williams said, more than once, while filming her big Game of Thrones battle.
"I think I probably hold the record for the most apologies on set," Williams said when discussing her long battle with White Walkers inside the Winterfell castle.
In the behind-the-scenes video below, Williams and the Game of Thrones crew detailed all the work that went into Arya's heroic day at Winterfell. Williams said she was told to start training a year before it happened.
"Maisie does almost all of this stuff on her own," co-creator David Benioff said about Williams' fight scenes. "She has an excellent stuntwoman for the dangerous stuff, but most of it is actually Maisie."
William's stunt double Kristina Baskett praised the actress. "Her coordination, and she's really quick, can make changes on the spot and it actually—she's really easy to work with," Baskett said over images of Williams training.
Arya's big episode culminated with the young woman taking down the big bad, the Night King.
"Just when you think that it's all over, and just when you think that Jon Snow is going to be the hero—again—we realize that Arya appears through the mist," Williams said.
In the video above Emilia Clarke, Daenerys Targaryen, gave her honest reaction to Arya's big kill and it must be watched, it's pointless to describe.
"In the read-through when Maisie was doing it, we are all just whooping and cheering," Clarke said.
Kit Harington joked he was pissed it wasn't Jon Snow who took out the big bad. "I would've given you, like—I'd have bet you thousands, before we read the finals, I was like, ‘Yeah, it's definitely me,'" Harington said.
Benioff said they've known for three years it was going to be Arya. "It just didn't seem right to us for this moment," he said about using Jon Snow as the hero.
For the show, director Miguel Sapochnik said, "Dan and David let me break all the Game of Thrones rules."
"The majority of it is shot 96 frames a second, it's all super-slow motion, it's all heightened reality, which is not what they usually do. It was a surreal nightmare," Sapochnik said.
To make the moment even more intense, Sapochnik said they kept cutting to "it's f—ked" shots of characters not going to make it to Bran (Isaac Hempstead Wright) and the Night King.
In the video above, the cast and crew break down the wire right set up for Arya's big jump out of nowhere.
"Shooting that was tedious, but so great to be able to perform all these different beats within, maybe like, two seconds of footage," William said.
"It's exactly what you need…Out of the air she takes him down, it's so good. It's so good. It's perfect," Clarke said.
"Reading what I get to achieve and Arya's whole purpose in this world and everything she's trained for comes down to this one episode, it's just amazing. And it's beautiful, it's poetry," William said. "And I'm grateful it was me and not Kit."
Endgame ranks behind Black Panther‘s all-time record of $40.15M (which was Presidents Day) and Star Wars: The Force Awakens’ ($40.1M) first Monday. Endgame‘s Monday was -58% from Sunday.
Yesterday also repped the best Monday that April ever posted, exceeding Avengers: Infinity War‘s $24.7M Monday by 52%. This brings the domestic total for the Russo Brothers directed sequel to $394.7M. Endgame will fly past $400M today, becoming the fastest movie to do so in five days, beating Force Awakens’ eight-day pace to that milestone.
Currently, Force Awakens’ first Tuesday holds that day’s all-time high with $37.3M. Last year Infinity War‘s first Tuesday grossed $23.4M, -5% from Monday.
Industry estimates expect Avengers: Endgame to clock over $180M in its second weekend, maybe even more, on its way to the best second weekend of all-time for a pic, a record currently owned by Force Awakens ($149.2M). Consider the fact that Force Awakens made that money during the Christmas weekend of Dec. 25-27, when many were off on their holiday breaks. Endgame is doing this monster biz on a non-holiday weekend, which is an ecstatic delight for exhibition and again speaks to the continued power of theatrical, as well as the movie and its gravitational pull not just on fanboys, but non-moviegoers as well. Even if Endgame falls below $180M, it’s still a winner. Avengers: Infinity War eased -56% in its second weekend for a $114.8M take.
After Endgame owned 89% of last weekend’s business, with ten of the 11 titles doing single digit business, do any of the wide entries even have a shot at making money? Those include STXfilms’ long-in-the-making animated feature UglyDolls, based on the toyline, Screen Gems’ Deon Taylor-directed thriller The Intruder, and Lionsgate’s Charlize Theron-Seth Rogen screwball comedy Long Shot. It will be interesting to see if their tracking goes out of the window even though they’re counter-programming. Right now we hear UglyDolls is at $14M, Intruder at $14M and Long Shot possibly $10M.
No. 2 yesterday by stretch? Disney’s Captain Marvel with $718K, -67% from Sunday for a running $414.55M stateside total.
Is Woodstock 50 canceled? The 2019 festival’s principal investor said the three-day event in Watkins Glen, N.Y., has been called off and the county is set to “move on,” but Woodstock co-founder and 50th anniversary organizer Michael Lang insists the show will go on.
“We are committed to ensuring that the 50th Anniversary of Woodstock is marked with a festival deserving of its iconic name and place in American history and culture," Lang said in a statement via Woodstock Ventures. "Although our financial partner is withdrawing, we will of course be continuing with the planning of the festival and intend to bring on new partners. We would like to acknowledge the State of New York and Schuyler County for all of their hard work and support.
"The bottom line is, there is going to be a Woodstock 50th Anniversary Festival, as there must be, and it’s going to be a blast.”
Woodstock 50 was scheduled for Aug. 16-18 at Watkins Glen International raceway with a lineup that included Jay-Z, Santana, Miley Cyrus, The Killers, Chance the Rapper, John Fogerty, Janelle Monae, Dead & Company, Imagine Dragons, and Halsey. Financial backing company Dentsu Aegis Network announced Monday that the three-day 50th anniversary event had been canceled.
“...Despite our tremendous investment of time, effort and commitment, we don’t believe the production of the festival can be executed as an event worthy of the Woodstock Brand name while also ensuring the health and safety of the artists, partners and attendees,” Dentsu reps said in a statement.
But Lang told The New York Times on Monday afternoon that "They (Dentsu) do not have the right to unilaterally cancel the festival.” Lang said all the acts have already been paid in full and plans to continue with another investor.
Billboard reports more than $30 million has already been spent on the festival lineup. Last week, a representative reportedly reached out to Live Nation and AEG for a $20 million investment to save the event, but both concert booking agencies declined. It’s unclear what other investors Lang might seek.
Getty Images
Woodstock Music Festival co-producer Micael Lang attends a celebration of the 40th Anniversary of Woodstock at the at Rock & Roll Hall of Fame Annex NYC on August 13, 2009 in New York City. (Photo by Michael Loccisano/Getty Images)
While the future of Woodstock’s 50th anniversary festival is uncertain, no refunds are required as tickets still hadn’t gone on sale (though some hotels and B&Bs in the area had already been booked). Cancellation rumors first emerged earlier this month when the ticket on-sale date was pushed back due to a late submission for a mass gathering permit.
Further concerns were raised when Lang said tickets would be $450 for three-day passes and reduced the expected attendance from 100,000 to 75,000. One headliner, The Black Keys, even dropped out due to an unspecified “scheduling conflict."
Still, the New York State Department of Health said it was “surprised” by the cancellation announcement, just 109 days before Woodstock 50 was scheduled to take place. A rep for the DOH told syracuse.com Monday that the cancellation was not related to the state permit application pending for the event.
Schuyler County Administrator Tim O’Hearn confirmed Monday that Woodstock 50 had been cancelled. Watkins Glen is located in Schuyler County, about 80 miles southwest of Syracuse and 150 miles northwest of the original Woodstock site in Bethel, N.Y.
“We have been in contact with the Chamber of Commerce, who has been trying to salvage something from the fallout of this decision,” O’Hearn said Monday, according to Spectrum News. “This was an opportunity for us to showcase our great natural environment... We will lick our wounds and move on.”
But if you’re not ready to move on, you can hold out hope for Lang to pull a rabbit out of his hat. The original Woodstock Music and Art Fair lost its venue in Wallkill, N.Y., in July 1969, but Lang reached an agreement days later at Max Yasgur’s dairy farm in Bethel, near White Lake.
More than 400,000 people attended the first Woodstock festival, held Aug. 15-18, 1969, at Yasgur’s farm in the Catskill Mountains. Performers included Richie Havens, Jefferson Airplane, The Who, Joan Baez, Jimi Hendrix, Arlo Guthrie, Santana, Joe Cocker, the Grateful Dead and Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young.
The iconic concert was revisited in 1994 with a modern lineup of artists like Nine Inch Nails, Sheryl Crow, Metallica, Cypress Hill and Red Hot Chili Peppers in Saugerties, but Woodstock ’99 -- held at Griffiss Air Force Base in Rome, N.Y. -- was marred by riots, fires and allegations of sexual assault. Lang helped organize both anniversary events.
In the meantime, the original Woodstock site is still scheduled to celebrate its 50th anniversary in Bethel, N.Y. The Bethel Woods Center for the Arts scrapped plans for a weekend-long festival, but will have four days of events: A free concert by Arlo Guthrie and a screening of the “Woodstock” documentary on the field Thursday, Aug. 15; Ringo Starr, Guthrie, and The Edgar Winter Band on the pavilion stage Friday, Aug. 16; Santana with the Doobie Brothers on Saturday, Aug. 17; and John Fogerty on Sunday, Aug. 18. Guthrie, Winter, Santana and Fogerty all performed at the original Woodstock festival.
As unexpected as the big twist that ended Game of Thrones' "Long Night" was, the set up for Arya's Great War-ending dagger move traces all the way back to Season 1.
Digging into the Valyrian dagger's history on the show only adds layer upon layer of thematic meaning to Arya's clutch moment of glory. And it also might even foreshadow Arya's next target: Cersei Lannister.
Image: hbo
In the Inside the Episode, David Benioff said they've known for about three years that Arya would be the one to deliver the final blow to the Night King. And its clear now they planted a lot of seeds during that time.
The Catspaw Dagger (as fans came to call it) was first introduced in Episode 2, Season 1 during the assassination attempt on a comatose Bran after his near-fatal fall from the tower. Luckily, both Summer and Catelyn were still around back then to save the future Three-Eyed Raven from getting Night Kinged. But it's one of Game of Thrones classic, full circle callbacks to have the weapon that almost killed Bran return several seasons later only to save him — and the entire world.
It's the perfect way to honor Catelyn, too, who would be so proud to know her daughter took up the the mantle of protecting the Stark kids from all threats, no matter the cost.
Later in Season 1, the dagger went on to become the key piece of evidence Catelyn used to accuse and arrest Tyrion for the attempt on Bran's life. That's because Littlefinger told her that the rare dagger was his once, before he lost it in a bet to the imp. We don't know if Littlefinger was lying there, since at the time he'd been scheming to stir up trouble war between the Lannisters and Starks. But we do know that Tyrion was not behind it (the assassination attempt was actually probably Joffrey's doing.)
Catelyn lives on in Arya now
Image: hbo
What matter most, though, is that the dagger that launched the first major war on the show — the Starks versus Lannister conflict that lead to the War of the Five Kings — was then eventually used to end the Great War.
But it goes even deeper than that. When next we saw the dagger, Littlefinger was giving it back to Bran in Season 7 while trying to ingratiate himself to the Stark kids who were suspicious of him.
The dagger that launched the first major war on the show... was then eventually used to end the Great War.
"In a way that dagger made you what you are today," Littlefinger told Bran. "Forced from your home. Driven out to the wilds Beyond the Wall... To go through all that and return home only to find such chaos in the world, I can only imagine—"
"Chaos is a ladder," Bran said, cutting him off with a callback to the reasoning Littlefinger gave Sansa for his plots to destabilize Westerosi politics. Indeed, it seems as though Bran used the chaos of the Battle at Winterfell (like Theon charging the Night King) as a distraction to give Arya the ladder she needed to pull off her wild sneak attack.
Weirdly, Littlefinger turned out to be right, though: This dagger did cause a domino effect that lead Bran to become the Three-Eyed Raven, just like his fall from the tower. And that's also true for Arya. The dagger played a large role in making the War of the Five Kings happen, which lead to the Red Wedding. And the Red Wedding is what motivated Arya to go down the path to becoming an unstoppable assassin who could kill the Night King.
Brienne helped prepare Arya for the most important moment of her life
Image: hbo
Later in Season 7, Bran pointedly gives the dagger to Arya with a suspicious lack of explanation. Now we know it's because he saw what she'd do with it. And we also know why the show took the time to have Arya duel Brienne, when she wins by pulling out the dagger with her left hand in exactly the same way she did with the Night King in Season 8.
That's even more impressive when you consider that, despite being right-handed in real life, Maisie Williams made a point to depict Arya as left-handed. And looking back, we can assume that she probably committed to this small detail so that there was precedent for the left-handed trick shot that saves the world.
When Jon and Arya reunited in the Godswood in Episode 1, he's surprised by her sudden appearance. "How'd you sneak up on me?" he asks her. Well, she'll sneak up on a different King of Winter in the exact same spot two episodes later.
Arya's masterclass sneaking saved the entire world
Image: hbo
This all goes to show that on Game of Thrones, hindsight is always 20/20. Someone could have pieced all the hints together to predict this unpredictable twist, but the the foreshadowing only really becomes clear after the fact. And the exchange between Bran and Arya when he gives her the dagger in Season 7 might've foreshadowed yet another twist that flew over our heads at the time.
"I saw you at the crossroads... I thought you'd go to King's Landing," Bran tells Ayra after their reunion.
"So did I," she says. And when Sansa asks why Arya would go there, Bran explains, "Cersei's on her list of names."
At this point, we should take all of Bran's inexplicable actions, reactions, and creepy stares as hints at what's to come. So now we can't help but read this exchange as foreshadowing that Arya will go to King's Landing in the three remaining episodes to finally strike Cersei off her list.
Because at the time, Bran said that his visions were all a jumbled, fragmented mess. He seems to have gotten a better grasp on them in Season 8. But back then it's entirely possible he confused a vision of Arya killing Cersei in King's Landing in Season 8 with her Season 7 choice to go to Winterfell instead of King's Landing first.
Arya and her daggar can wipe that smirk right off Cersei's face
Image: hbo
What's true is that — like the poetic justice of Littlefinger getting executed by Arya with the very weapon he tried to use to manipulate Bran — the Catspaw Dagger has become a symbol of Arya as the avenging angel of death for House Starks. Since its reintroduction in Season 7, she's now slain two of her family's most major enemies with it.
And as we saw in the previews for the upcoming Episode 4, the show is not only going back to King's Landing but also seemingly returning to the Stark versus Lannister feud that started everything. It's also notable that in Melisandre's prophecy, she says that Arya will shut many eyes forever, "brown eyes, blue eyes, green eyes." Walder Frey had brown eyes. The Night King had blue. And Cersei has green eyes.
Arya killing Cersei with the dagger might ruin the popular theory of Jaime as the valonqar. But don't forget that Arya can wear anyone's face, including Cersei's "little brother" Tyrion or Jaime.
Ultimately, though, Arya doesn't need to kill Cersei in order to complete the character arc that her list of names represents. Because to cope with the deaths in her family, Arya clung onto that list like her life depended on it. But after staring into the many faces of death with the Faceless Men and coming back home, she has chosen life, love, and family instead of revenge again and again.
The last enemy was death. And Arya conquered death without even needing her list.
While many characters were killed during Sunday's episode of "Game of Thrones," the demise of the Night King at the hand of Arya Stark, and the disintegration of his army of wights and White Walkers, were likely the only ones met with thunderous cheers from fans. While the Night King may be dead after the Battle of Winterfell, the actor who played him is still very much alive.
The Night King has been played by 48-year-old actor and stunt man VladimÃr FurdÃk since season six of the show, taking over for actor Richard Brake, reports Entertainment Weekly (EW). The Slovakian performer may have blue eyes, but the rest of his look is all prosthetics, makeup and television magic.
The actor regularly posts photos and videos of himself, his fellow actors and his everyday life on Instagram, revealing the man beneath the mask.
He even posts behind-the-scenes images and videos from the show. He shared an image in March that showed the process of becoming the Night King, with his neck fully covered in prosthetics and his face in makeup.
The actor said he was a part of the hit drama before he got the Night King role but made a star turn after his performance as the White Walker who battled -- and was killed by -- Jon Snow in season five's "Hardhome." Afterward, showrunners David Benioff and D.B. Weiss asked if he would take over the role of the Night king for seasons six through eight, he told EW in March. "I never asked why," FurdÃk said. "Maybe they were happy with what I did in season five."
He also explained what his character wanted to get out of all of the destruction and death. "He never wanted to be the Night King,"said FurdÃk."I think he wants revenge. Everybody in this story has two sides — a bad side and a good side. The Night King only has one side, a bad side."
In addition to "Game of Thrones," FurdÃk has worked on stunts for a number of high profile projects including "Thor: The Dark World," the James Bond film "Skyfall" and as Channing Tatum's stunt double in "The Eagle," according to his IMDb page.
Warning: Contains ice-shattering spoilers for Game of Thrones Season 8, episode 3.
All men must die.
We know this. But we also know that it's possible — if you're well equipped with some ninja fighting skills and a pointy dagger — to delay the inevitable for a little bit.
It came in the form of a video of her co-star and BFF Sophie Turner singing "Crank That" by Soulja Boy, coupled with a photo of the Night King himself (swipe right).
"How am feeling after that episode," wrote Williams. "Not today bby."
'GoT' CinematographerDefends Ep. 3's Darkness ...I Promise We Shot 'The Long Night' Right!!!
4/30/2019 1:00 AM PDT
EXCLUSIVE
"Game of Thrones" Battle of Winterfell left fans cheering and complaining -- the latter due to it being too damn dark -- but the cinematographer wants to make it clear ... the gripes aren't his fault.
Fabian Wagner -- who was also the cinematographer on lauded 'Thrones' episodes like "Hardhome" and "Battle of the Bastards" -- tells TMZ, he's aware folks are upset that "The Long Night" looked TOO nightly, and he has an explanation.
First, Fabian believes the pixelation and muddy dark colors fans saw on their TVs and mobile devices are due to HBO's compression of the episode ... which leads to poorer visual quality. This is made worse if it's being viewed on a streaming service with a weak connection ... or in a room that's too bright.
As Wagner puts it ... "[GoT] has always been very dark and a very cinematic show" and should be watched in a dark environment. Ideally, this means viewing it like you would a movie -- in a dark theater.
Since that's not realistic for 'Thrones,' Fabian suggests making your viewing room at home as dark as possible, avoid watching on your phone or in places that are lit up ... and adjust your TV settings.
The cinematographer also points out ... the showrunners and director wanted the episode to be dark. Wagner says the battle scenes were intended to be intense, claustrophobic and disorienting -- like they would be in real life -- but not confusing.
Fabian says, "We tried to give the viewers and fans a cool episode to watch," and he believes they did, adding ... "I know it wasn't too dark because I shot it."
Avengers: Endgame is finally in theatres, and it brings about an end to storylines and narrative arcs that started a decade ago.
One major storyline has been the Infinity Gauntlet narrative that's been the driving force of the interconnected stories thus far with the evil Thanos . Jim Starlin, who created Thanos (and Gamora and Drax) and also wrote the Infinity Gauntlet comic, has now shared his thoughts on Avengers: Endgame and Thanos's fate.
SPOILERS FOR AVENGERS ENDGAME FOLLOW BELOW
Speaking to IGN, Starlin said he was "amazed" and "flabbergasted" by the events of Endgame. "The up and downs that you have on it. There's some really heartbreaking moments mixed in with a lot of really funny little instances here and there," he explained.
Thanos is killed twice in Endgame; once by Thor, who lops his head off, and a second time--for good--when Tony Stark wields the Gauntlet and snaps Thanos out of existence. Starlin remarked that he was particularly impressed by the way actor Josh Brolin performed Thanos's final moments, when he accepted his fate and sat silently, awaiting his doom.
"His final moments in the movie I think are just priceless," Starlin said. "His demeanor once he realizes what's happening, I think that's just one of those little moments in film that everyone is gonna remember. It's like acceptance and taking it like a man, you know? I thought that was perfectly played."
Also in the interview, Starlin said the character Gamora in the Marvel movies is above all the closest representation of what he created in the comics.
“Avengers assemble!” That battle cry has been part of Marvel Comics lore since 1964 but the 55-year-old motto may have taken on new layer of meaning thanks to a behind-the-scenes video posted Sunday night on Instagram by Marvel Studios ensemble star Chris Pratt. The video, which quickly became a viral sensation, is purported to be a forbidden glimpse at an Avengers: Endgame set that was packed with the famous faces of Hollywood’s history-making superhero franchise.
By all appearances, the short clip was filmed surreptitiously with a smart phone during the making of Endgame, which just blew away every significant box office record with Hollywood’s first billion-dollar opening weekend. The wagging and bobbing of the camera might leave some viewers seasick but the more common symptom reported Monday by diehard Marvel fans was dizziness from the collective star-wattage in the guerrilla footage.
Chris Hemsworth, Benedict Cumberbatch, Paul Rudd, and Sebastian Stan are some of the stars visible in video, which was pinging across social media with great fervor all day. More than 14 million views of the video were logged in its first 20 hours on Instagram.
Chris Evans, who plays Captain America in the Marvel films, is one of Pratt’s compatriots who reacts to the presence of a banned phone camera in action on the ultra-secretive set. “Big trouble, big time,” Chris Evans says with a jab and laugh to Pratt. Pratt, who plays the wise-cracking, anti-authority maverick Star Lord, ends this video by confessing his crime. “This is a highly illegal video,” Pratt is heard to say.
While it’s doubtful that the Marvel’s star is truly in hot water, there had been an intense level of secrecy over the many months leading up to the Avengers: Endgame release. Co-directors Joe and Anthony Russo publicly implored fans to not divulge the secrets (and should have also asked NFL superstars, too) of the third act of the superhero epic and Marvel Studios chief Kevin Feige is an avowed believer in tightly guarded secrets whose perspective might be best summed up as, “Loose lips sink scripts.”
WATKINS GLEN (WBNG) — On Monday Schuyler County Administrator Tim O’Hearn said he was told the 50th anniversary concert of Woodstock, set to take place in August at Watkins Glen International, is canceled. However organizers of the three day festival say not so fast.
In a statement to 12 News Woodstock 50 organizers said:
“We are committed to ensuring that the 50th Anniversary of Woodstock is marked with a festival deserving of its iconic name and place in American history and culture. Although our financial partner is withdrawing, we will of course be continuing with the planning of the festival and intend to bring on new partners. We would like to acknowledge the State of New York and Schuyler County for all of their hard work and support. The bottom line is, there is going to be a Woodstock 50th Anniversary Festival, as there must be, and it’s going to be a blast.”
Monday, financial investor in the event, Dentsu Aegis Network’s Amplifi Live said it’s pulling funding stating:
“Despite our tremendous investment of time, effort and commitment, we don’t believe the production of the festival can be executed as an event worthy of the Woodstock Brand name.”
Michael Lane, a Woodstock founder and organizer of Woodstock 50 said Dentsu executives don’t have the right to “unilaterally” cancel the event.
O’Hearn said earlier on Monday that the concert cancelled would cost Schuyler County millions of dollars, but “we’ll lick our wounds and we’ll move on.”
Jeremy Wilson, manager of Jerlando’s Pizza in Watkins Glen, said summer is a profitable time of the year and hopes some event can make up for it. If the festival is no longer in Watkins Glen, Wilson said it would be awful for hotels and its guests who would have to cancel plans.
While event organizers said it will go on, there’s no mention if it will still be at Watkins Glen or rescheduled at another time or place, still residents are in shock about the announcement they heard from O’Hearn Monday afternoon.
“There were going to be a lot of bands coming that you didn’t think would’ve came to Woodstock then others well known and respected, still shocking,” said Kyle Hancharik of Watkins Glen.
The festival lineup was released weeks ago with dozens of bands and well known artists to celebrate the 1969 Woodstock music festival in Bethel, NY. A Woodstock anniversary concert in Bethel is still planned to go on.
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After years of anticipation leading up to the epic battle between the living and the dead on "Game of Thrones," fans finally know the fate of their favorite characters — and the dreaded Night King — after Sunday's episode of the hit drama. However, two characters were notably missing from the post-battle scenes: Jon Snow's direwolf Ghost and one of Daenerys Targaryen's two remaining dragons, Drogon and Rhaegal.
Season eight's 82-minute third episode, "The Longest Night," depicted Ghost at the start of the battle of Winterfell standing on the front lines alongside long-time adviser and friend to Daenerys, Jorah Mormont, as well as the Dothraki army. The army was the first to fight the White Walkers and wights in the episode, running into the darkness with weapons blazing. However, as the flames extinguished, and some surviving soldiers came running back to Winterfell's gates in terror — Ghost seemed lost for good.
Daenerys' two surviving dragons, with the undead Viserion lost to the Night King's army, were also seen going into battle many times in the episode. The dragons fought Viserion above the clouds, set fire to many of the wights as they charged toward Winterfell — and Drogon even unsuccessfully attempted to burn the Night King to a crisp with its fire-breath. While one dragon is seen surrounding Daenerys as she mourns Jorah's tragic death, the other is nowhere to be seen at the end of the episode.
So, did they make it out alive? Well, fans won't have to wait until the next episode for the answer, because the new preview appears to have given it away.
HBO played the preview for the fourth episode after the credits rolled, and a few familiar faces make quick appearances in the clips. At the 18th second of the 40-second teaser, Daenerys and a group of victorious soldiers appear outside of Winterfell, with some carrying torches. Ghost also appears to be in the shot, standing in the crowd. Then, 22 seconds into the clip, a pair of dragons fly in front of Sansa Stark as she gazes from the turrets of Winterfell.
Two dragons appear to fly as Sansa Stark watches.
HBO
Ghost, Jon Snow's direwolf, appears to be standing among a crowd outside of Winterfell in the trailer for the season's fourth episode.
HBO
So, it appears the show's favorite animals have survived the bloody battle, but they may not be safe for long. As, "the last war" against Cersei and her followers is still to come.
WARNING: This post contains spoilers for Avengers: Endgame. Only read if you have seen Avengers: Endgame. Seriously. So many spoilers.
It might have seemed impossible for one movie, however long, to wrap up the first ten years of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, but Avengers: Endgame managed to do just that.
While some Avengers sacrificed themselves to save the universe and others chose a different path for themselves, the end of the Infinity Saga is only the end of one chapter in Marvel's ever-expanding story.
Some of the surviving characters will live on as stars of their own TV series on Disney's upcoming streaming service, and others still have something of a future in the MCU. Here's where the main characters ended up after Endgame and our best guess for where (and if) they'll turn up next.
Spider-Man, Black Panther, Doctor Strange, and Captain Marvel
Spider-Man and Black Panther both have movies coming up, so the only mystery there is the usual speculation as to what those movies will be about. Fans won’t even have to wait that long for Spider-Man: Far From Home, which is said to be the last movie in Phase 3 and comes out on July 5th. Doctor Strange 2 and Captain Marvel 2 have not yet been confirmed, but as the only solo heroes that don’t yet have planned sequels (not including The Hulk), it’s likely they’ll get their second outings in Phase 4.
Thor and the Guardians of the Galaxy
For all of Thor’s bad dealings with Thanos, he lucked out in Endgame’s final moments. After bequeathing the crown of New Asgard to Valkyrie, the Guardians of the Galaxy accepted him as a member of their crew (which Star-Lord wasn’t nuts about, but whatever) so he can find a new purpose somewhere in space. It seems likely that Thor is an official Guardian now and will appear in Guardians of the Galaxy 3, ensuring the God of Thunder’s continued presence in Phase 4 of the MCU.
Gamora
The Gamora from Guardians of the Galaxy 1 and 2 is definitely dead after Thanos traded her life for the Soul Stone, but Endgame found a way to bring Zoe Saldana back to the MCU by having a pre-Guardians Gamora arrive in the current timeline with Past Thanos. She betrayed Thanos to fight with the Avengers in the Battle of Upstate but disappeared after the battle was won. Peter Quill’s last Endgame scene shows him using his ship’s scanners to search for Past Gamora, and it seems unlikely he’ll give up looking for her. She’ll probably turn up in Guardians 3.
Ant-Man and The Wasp
Ant-Man & The Wasp ended with Scott Lang and Hope Pym trying to help former villain Ghost with her painful phasing condition, but the Snap got in the way of them tying up that loose end. If Ant-Man gets another movie in Phase 4 or beyond, it’s possible that Ghost will be cured and may possibly join up with her ex-nemeses as a hero. Or just a buddy. There’s also plenty more to explore with the Quantum Realm and its many secrets...or horrors.
Loki
Nothing’s ever simple with the God of Mischief. Even though Loki died for real in Infinity War, he’s also set to star in a yet-untitled series on Disney’s upcoming streaming service Disney+. It’s possible that Loki’s series will be a prequel to the events of Thor, but Endgame introduced another option for Loki’s appearance.
When the Avengers go back in time to the Battle of New York, the Loki in that timeline escapes capture with the Tesseract. Captain America may have fixed that blip when he returned the infinity stones, but in the off chance he didn’t, Past Loki is still floating around somewhere, very much alive. The Loki series may follow that Loki, who is ignorant of the events of Thor: The Dark World and Thor: Ragnarok, and who knows? He might even find his way back to the current timeline of the MCU.
Sam Wilson, Bucky Barnes, and Steve Rogers
Sam and Bucky will be starring together in their own Disney+ series. There’s not a lot of info about their show Falcon & Winter Soldier, but Sam inheriting Captain America’s shield is sure to change the expected dynamic between Steve Rogers’ BFFs. Steve himself is an old, old man now and unlikely to appear in future MCU movies in the capacity of a fighting hero, but it would be neat if he showed up for a quick cameo in Falcon & Winter Soldier to formalize Sam’s new role. Also — is Sam keeping the Falcon name even though he’s the new Cap?
Hawkeye
After not appearing in Infinity War and apparently going on an anti-crime murder spree for half a decade, Clint Barton came in clutch for Endgame and won a hard-earned retirement to the farm and family he loves so much. Disney+ has a Hawkeye series on their future roster, but early reports show that the Hawkeye of that show will likely be Kate Bishop, another Marvel hero to use the Hawkeye name. It would be silly to have a Hawkeye show without the OG though, so maybe look for Clint to pop up on Disney+ to pass the bow onto his successor.
Hulk
First there was Banner. Then there was Hulk. Now, there is BannerHulk. It took Bruce years to reconcile the duality of man and monster within him and his all-green, all-the-time new look in Endgame spelled a promising future for everyone’s favorite gamma ray–laden science bro. Even though his happy ending with Black Widow was ripped from him on Vormir, Bruce seemed to come out of Endgame with a lot to live for. As for this place in the future of the MCU, it’s hard to tell. There’s no obvious place for him in any upcoming movies, but he’d be a nice cameo for Thor in Guardians of the Galaxy or a replacement mentor for Peter Parker.
Wanda Maximoff
Wanda rarely fares well in Avengers movies. In Age of Ultron she lost her brother, in Infinity War she lost her robot boyfriend, and while she was incredibly badass in Endgame she didn’t get a lot of screen time. Luckily, Wanda is another character who will be back in a Disney+ show, this one titled WandaVision. Since Vision died in Infinity War, WandaVision might take place in the past, but some fan theorists think that Wakandan genius Shuri may have completed her download of Vision’s consciousness during Infinity War’s Battle of Wakanda and has the technology to build a new Vision 2.0 without the aid of the mind stone. So...Wanda will be back, either in the past or with an upgraded vibranium boyfriend. Only time will tell which.
Happy Hogan
OK, so Happy isn't exactly an Avenger, but he did manage to survive all the way from the first Iron Man until now, so he's at least an honorary member. Also, the trailer for Spider-Man: Far From Home showed that he's back in New York wooing Aunt May and making Peter uncomfortable. Happy will always mourn Tony Stark and take care of Stark's daughter Morgan, but perhaps he and May will take it to the next level in later Spider-Man movies. It's about time Peter got a new uncle. Hopefully Happy will last longer than Ben.
First, Fabian believes the pixelation and muddy dark colors fans saw on their TVs and mobile devices are due to HBO's compression of the episode ... which leads to poorer visual quality. This is made worse if it's being viewed on a streaming service with a weak connection ... or in a room that's too bright.
