Game of Thrones season 8 premiere recap: Winterfell is here (and reunions are coming) - CNET

All in the family...

HBO

Jon Snow has been mumbling about the coming cold for seven seasons, the citizens of King's Landing have been pulling their winter woollies out of the back closet and now it's finally time. Winter is here! 

Game of Thrones season 8 kicked off with a bang on Sunday and episode one was everything we hoped for. And because this show is more complicated than the Dewey Decimal system at the Citadel library, we've got everything you need to know from episode one in a handy recap.

🚨🚨🚨 Sound the spoiler klaxon! 🚨🚨🚨 

It goes without saying the below is filled with spoilers. But that's what you're here for right? 

Now playing: Watch this: Game of Thrones Season 8: All your questions answered...

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The quick catch-up from Season 7

Where did we end season 7? Here are the basics to get you all caught up. 

The Lannisters

• Cersei Lannister promised to join the fight against the White Walkers, but *psyche* she plans on reneging and leaving the rest of Westeros to fight them up north while she chills in King's Landing. But she's hired a mercenary army to help fight them when they're done killing the undead. Also, Cersei says she's pregnant with baby-daddy-brother Jaime's child, but he bailed from King's Landing to fight the dead at Winterfell.
• Tyrion Lannister has betrayed his fam, and is still advising Daenerys. 

The Starks

• Jon Snow has pledged his allegiance to Daenerys (oh he pledged alright) and the two have officially entered the bone zone. BUT (and it's a great butt) they are related. Still, Auntie Dany and her nephew Jon are planning to fight the undead together.
• Arya and Sansa are in Winterfell, having just killed Petyr "Littlefinger" Baelish. Sisters, doing it for themselves.

• Bran is still sitting in his room, telling people he's the Three-Eyed Raven. That boy real changed after spending the summer at tree camp.

The White Walkers

• The undead have officially breached the wall and are marching south. Oh and they have a dragon now -- Viserion the ice dragon is about to mess things up.

Episode 1 Recap: Reunions are coming

For those of us who just rewatched the wall-melting, dead-marching, ice-dragoning action of the end of season 7, the season 8 premiere was a lot more about establishing action and plot points for the episodes ahead. 

Daenerys' armies are on their way north and that means it's time for everyone to descend on Winterfell and take stock before the battle against the undead starts. 

You want reunions? You'd better believe you're going to see some reunions!

Everyone's here! Tyrion sees Sansa and they have the kind of "whatcha been up to?" banter that you'd have with your ex-husband at parent-teacher night. Jon sees Arya! The two play a game of "check out my sweet sword" and Arya massively downplays how many people she's killed. It was the Winterfell equivalent of your bigger brother asking you how many beers you had at that underage party. Everyone sees Bran, but they all kind of pretend they have to go send that important raven so they don't have time to chat now, sorry. 

Dany marches into Winterfell like it's no big thing.

Helen Sloan/HBO

But there's no time for reunions now! The Lords of the North are dealing with the fact that Jon bent the knee (and his heart, awww!) to Dany. What happened to the King of the North? Since when did pledging allegiance to the Starks mean a 2-for-1 deal with a Targaryen? Jon defends his decision (in between making some pretty hectic "Get down low and Snow, Snow, Snow" eyes at Dany) and the general mood is that everyone needs to band together to fight the dead. Meanwhile, Sansa, who has been doing quite a good job of running logistics in Winterfell, thank you very much, feels a bit like a host who's just found out dinner is going to have an extra 10,000 guests. She definitely doesn't have enough leftovers for all these armies. Also, do dragons eat gluten free?

Meanwhile at King's Landing

TFW your enemies are about to be sorted out by zombies...

HBO

Cersei, who has seriously upped her epaulette game since Season 7 (armoured shoulder pads are in) is quite delighted to learn that the dead have broken through the Wall and are on their way to go full brain-buffet on Winterfell and Daenerys' armies. This lady has a proven record with being pretty chill about the undead (see: Zombie Mountain). 

With all that free time, now that she doesn't have to battle wights, Cersei makes time for The World's Worst Fiancé, Euron Greyjoy. He's torn himself away from playing Xbox on his boat to appear in Cersei's throne room (which has been upgraded since last season with some lovely cast iron fire pits -- $165 on Amazon). Greyjoy presents Captain Strickland, the new leader of the Golden Company mercenary army. Imagine a poor man's Jaime Lannister -- he's kind of good looking, but in a "I just got here, who are you?" way. He's probably going to be important later, hence the borderline hotness. 

But turns out the Golden Company doesn't quite match its Tinder profile pic when it comes to head count or battle elephants and Cersei is visibly disappointed. But nothing that a little bedroom time with Euron won't fix. Just quietly, "I wanted those elephants" is just about the best post-coital line I've heard in a TV show. 

You know how else Cersei likes to ease her stress? By putting a bounty on her brothers' heads! (That's right, brothers PLURAL!) We catch Ser Bronn in a brothel (with naked ladies -- that's your cue to drink if you're playing a Game of Thrones drinking game). Qyburn the mad scientist gives him a sweet crossbow and intimates that Cersei loves a little dramatic irony. Kill Tyrion and Jaime with the same crossbow that killed her father? Bronn, ever the sell-sword, accepts. 

MEANWHILE. Back on the Iron Island's battle boats we have learned that Yara Greyjoy is alive. What disappeared in Season 7 may never die! Younger brother Theon comes to rescue her (hopefully making good for his poor actions last season). After a little sibling jostling (oh, I only headbutt 'cause I care), the two are on good terms again. But Theon's heart is elsewhere and Yara, sensing this, gives him leave to go and fight with the Starks. 

Magic dragon ride!

Back at Winterfell the armies are still gathering, so there's time for a well earned magic carpet ride -- sorry, dragon joyride -- for Jon and Dany. Cue 108 seconds of complete fan service that, let's not lie, we have all absolutely been waiting for. They fly to a waterfall (the ghost of Ygritte quietly curses Jon's apparent penchant for cave sex) and the dragons watch as they make out. 

Yes, this is the equivalent of going home with a date who refuses to kick their three Basset Hounds out of the bedroom (Jon Snow makes some great eye contact with Drogon mid kiss) but it is Grade-A content that is here for the Jon & Dany shippers. 

"I can show you the world..."

HBO

We cut away from Pervy Drogon to Gendry, who is busy smithing weapons out of dragonglass (turns out he's a boss at that) and, what's that, another reunion?

It's the Hound coming face-to-face with Arya! "You left me to die," he says. "First I robbed you," she retorts. It's a bit of a nothing reunion, to be honest, but maybe The Hound is right: Arya is a "cold little bitch" now and she isn't here to have some adorable moment with the man who killed her friend (remember Mycah, the Butcher's Boy? Sweet mercy that was a long time ago -- I'll forgive you for forgetting). 

We get a bit more from Arya's reunion with Gendry (with some more "oh hey, check out my sweet dagger" action). Arya played it very cool and I am definitely willing to consider shipping these two. She also put in an order with Gendry for a custom piece of weaponry. We only get a quick glance but it looks like a piece of dragonglass that attaches to an existing hilt (maybe her Valyrian steel dagger?) Man, I hope this becomes Arya's Knifey-Spoony. 

Meanwhile, Dany's back from Make-out Creek and runs into Sam! An adorable meet cute. Because this is bumbling Samwell Tarly, no one has told him his father and brother are dead. Whose job was that?! Jorah, maybe? Daenerys tells him they died by dragon fire because they wouldn't bend the knee. Sam runs outside to find the nearest toilet cubicle to cry in, but instead finds Bran creeping in the courtyard. (Sorry, it's not Bran. It's the Three-Eyed Raven. FFS, Bran, you make it hard to like you). Raven Boy tells Sam it's time to fill Jon in on his awkward lineage (awkward that it turns out he's a king, awkward because he's been necking his aunt -- not great all round). 

Sam meets Jon in the crypt and tells Jon the truth: "You're the true king. Aegon Targaryen, sixth of his name, protector of the realm. All of it." Jon is... not stoked. But kudos to Kit Harington for acting the emotions of "reanimated bastard who's just learned his Girlfriend-Queen is now his Aunt-Inferior." Those years of acting school just paid off.

Night King woz here

Reveal! Tormund Giantsbane didn't die in the great wall melt of 2017. He's alive! Of course, the show spoiled that in its own trailer for Season 8, but if you didn't know then here was another reunion for you. Tormund is at the Last Hearth (home to House Umber, a family of the north pledged to House Stark) with Beric "Just Wait While I Light My Sword" Dondarrion. They find the last remaining members of the Night's Watch, including Eddison Tollett (man, I did NOT think this guy would survive back in season 1), who reveal that the Night King has been through and left his calling card. 

What's that? A child stapled to the wall surrounded by limb pieces? You could have just left a Post-it note. The wall boy is Ned Umber, who earlier in the episode had been sent to gather the last of his family's men to join Jon and Dany's northern army, but instead got turned into a wight (that was a nice jump scare) and pinned up in the world's most depressing Catherine wheel. They light him on fire (because what's the point of a Catherine wheel if you don't light it up) and get some much needed warmth before trudging on. 

After all the waterfall makeouts and dragon flights, this is the Game of Thrones gore we remember. Plus, the spiral pattern on the wall is one we've seen since season 1, and it definitely holds significance. 

One more thing...

In the closing moments of the show, a dark and mysterious rider arrives at Winterfell (wouldn't it be sweet if this how the Night King rocked up to kill everyone). But it's not the Night King. It's -- reveal -- Jaime Lannister!

Of course, there's Bran, watching him like a creeper across the courtyard. But then again, he probably knew Jaime was coming. Don't you know? He's the three-eyed raven. He's kind of a big deal. Breathe it in, because that's one of Game of Thrones' final cliffhangers ever. 

The verdict

There wasn't a great deal of action, but this episode is definitely laying ground work for what we'll see in the remaining five episodes of this season. It feels like the perfect bridge to connect the action of season 7 with the battles and drama still to come. For die-hard fans wanting a big bang, you'll probably need to wait a little longer. But for those who love the fan service of all their favorites coming together, then this was good fun. 

"How to Train Your Dragon 4" -- 7 out of 10.

We'll be back next week, but in the mean time, you can check out the trailer for episode 2 here. 

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2019-04-15 10:22:00Z
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Khloe Kardashian, Tristan Thompson Come Together To Celebrate True's First Birthday - HuffPost

Mom and toddler wore matching blue dresses and Thompson honored his baby with a post on Instagram:

Kardashian, 34, and Thompson, 28, split up early this year after Khloe’s Cleveland Cavalier reportedly got way too close with Kylie’s pal Jordyn Woods. Khloe has indicated that despite the pain of their breakup, she wants Thompson in her daughter’s life.

Thank you love! You’re so very sweet. But he is a good dad to her. My sweet and special baby True will NEVER be put in the middle of him and I. I can promise that

— Khloé (@khloekardashian) March 16, 2019

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2019-04-15 08:05:00Z
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'Game Of Thrones' S.8 E.1 Recap NPR - NPR

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Queen Cersei (Lena Headey) smiling that smile of hers on Game of Thrones. Shoulder pads courtesy Julia Sugarbaker. HBO hide caption

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HBO

We're recapping the eighth and final season of Game of Thrones; look for these recaps first thing on Monday mornings. Spoilers, of course, abound.

Welcome back, everyone – it's been two years since last we gathered around the flickering electronic hearth to feast our eyes on this world, and these characters, many of whom – I'm thinking here of the dragons and the ice-zombies mostly – would happily feast on our eyes. Because Winter is Here, and it's shaping up to be a long, cruel one, and Sansa didn't pack away enough provisions for everyone.

This first episode back is stuffed to the gills with great big thick chunks of plot – reunions, recriminations, spilled secrets – because the show's sprinting toward the close and there's no time to waste. I mean, sure, the Euron scenes drag on forever, but that's because Euron is so one-note and dull that time slows as you approach him. He's an event horizon of boring, is our leather-panted sea slug.

But everything else? Zipping along at a pace that surprised me, though I knew we've been nearing the exit for the fireworks factory for some time. Again and again, we get set-ups for the kind of conflicts that, in seasons past, would simmer over the course of four or five episodes – instead, they boil over in the very same scene they're introduced. It's not immersive, no – but it's efficient.

Let's begin.

Opening credits! With a considerable upgrade! First off, that spinning sun-mobile thingy that flies over the clockwork map of Westeros has traded its galloping Baratheon stag for a Targaryen dragon immolating the Wall. We zoom down over the map, through the gaping breach in the Wall (nice touch). There's a neat effect of encroaching ice as we approach a location we've never visited before – Last Hearth. Then it's off to Winterfell, which has gotten a serious makeover – and so has our point-of-view, which takes us through the castle and down into the crypts. We soar down to King's Landing, also looking freshly spiffy, and into the catacombs complete with a few facsimiles of Qyburn's ballista and some dragon skulls. We finish in the throne room, as the Iron Throne itself rises out of the floor and pokes out its pokey swords like it's a frilled lizard in courtship display.

We're in a small town just outside of Winterfell's walls. A young kid is running frantically – we're meant to think he's in danger, running from White Walkers, perhaps – but it turns out he's not running away from something, he's running toward it. The something in question: He wants to get a glimpse of the endless line of Unsullied, marching through town on their way to Winterfell. Arya is among the townsfolk lining the street – she looks impassive, they look worried and resentful.

Also on the march: Daenerys and Jon Snow, The Hound (Arya's face falls at the sight of him), Gendry (slight smile), Tyrion and Varys, bickering contentedly, as is their wont, Grey Worm and Missandei. So, most of the call sheet, basically. Also? Not for nothing? Two great big honkin' dragons, which do a screeching flyby, buzzing the townsfolk, who scatter like startled antelope, if antelope wore ratty cloaks and looked like they smelled like feet.

Both Arya and Sansa, who stands atop the Winterfell battlements, get the chance to goggle at their first sight of a dragon. There's an emotional reunion between Jon Snow and Bran Stark, though Bran being Bran, the emotion in question is Jon's. At one point Sansa shoots Jon a look like, "No, yeah, Bran's weird now, bro. And Arya's got her own trippy death-cult vibe going on now, too, just you wait."

Sansa welcomes Daenerys to Winterfell, albeit coolly — nay, icily; she's still sore that Jon swore fealty to Daenerys, giving up his title of King in the North. Also peeved: young Lyanna Mormont, unless that hilariously intense scowl on her face means she needs to get more fiber. Daenerys opts for a butter-wouldn't-melt-in-her-mouth opening salvo, but they are interrupted by Bran, who brings everyone up to speed: The Wall is down, the dragon that she lost fighting the Night King is now the kind of dead that's un-, and the White Walkers are on the move.

(See what I mean? Eleven minutes in, and the characters have learned all the information that we know. Efficient.)

In Winterfell's Great Hall, they decide to send word to the other Houses of the North to take refuge in Winterfell, and dispatch li'l Lord Umber off to his family's castle, Last Hearth (from the credits!) to retrieve them. Jon sends for the men of the Night's Watch as well. Lyanna Mormon seizes the moment to call Jon out on abandoning his crown in favor of Daenerys, because "calling folk out" is Lyanna Mormont's entire, magnificent deal.

Jon attempts to defend himself, but only succeeds in sending the scruffy assemblage to muttering "peas-and-carrots, peas-and-carrots." Tyrion tries to weigh in, but as soon as he mentions that the Lannister army is on its way to join the good fight, the muttering blossoms from "peas and carrots" into an entire Birds Eye frozen vegetable medley.

Gendry heads to the Winterfell forges with wagons loaded with dragonglass while Tyrion has an awkward, wry and respectful reunion with Sansa. Some air gets cleared between them — enough for him to see that she's been changed by everything she's been through. ("Many underestimated you," he says. "Most of them are dead now.") Sansa correctly surmises that Cersei lied about sending the Lannister armies to help, and mocks Tyrion for believing the lie in the first place.

(The show's placed Sansa in a tough position, here at the start of the final season. She resents Jon's partnering with Daenerys, and is not afraid to get salty about it; this makes her an obstacle in the Dany-Jon-Tyrion story path. So to make sure we stay on Sansa's side, the producers do things like have Tyrion remind her (us) that people underestimate her, and make her able to see things that Tyrion can't. Good for Sansa, but it does seem like they could have found a way to build up Sansa as a savvy leader without making Tyrion look stupid.)

In the Winterfell Godswood, another reunion: Arya sneaks up on Jon, acting all cool and distant and Faceless Mannish, before dropping her guard and offering a glimpse of an Arya we haven't seen in years. He asks if she's ever used Needle, the sword he gave her back in season one. She, um, has. (Has he not been debriefed by Sansa? Or did Sansa figure "Our little sister is a skilled assassin who collects and wears dead people's faces" is the kind of news Jon should get from the source?)

Jon starts to complain about Sansa, only to get slapped down: "She's the smartest person I've ever met," says Arya, and geeeeez okAY we GET it, show.

Down in King's Landing, Queen Cersei receives the news that the Wall has fallen with that same close-mouthed, lizard-like, humorless smile she greets most things with, and welcomes Euron Greyjoy and his Iron Fleet, which has ferried 20,000 mercenaries ("The Golden Company," in point of fact), 2,000 horses and – to the Queen's disappointment – exactly zero elephants across the Narrow Sea. (The Golden Company is led by the symmetrically featured, swoopy haired bohunk Captain Strickland, whose name reads less "George R. R. Martin fantasy character" and more "Delta co-pilot," but let that go.)

Euron Greyjoy is also here, because he's got to be somewhere, I suppose. First he gloats and smarms over his captive Yara Greyjoy, who seems as over him as I am. Next the prattles on before the Iron Throne, where Cersei cuts him down to size before inviting him up to her room, mystifyingly enough. Knew she was evil, but I thought she had taste.

Bronn cavorts with a trio of sex workers who can't seem to stop talking about how weird it is that dragons are back – which seems like the kind of thing that would happen. He's then given new marching orders from Cersei, by way of Qyburn – he's to hunt down his former besties Jaime and Tyrion Lannister, and kill them with a very familiar crossbow.

There's a post-coital scene between Euron and Cersei that, yes, has a lot of Euron in it, but this unpleasant fact is largely ameliorated because it also features Cersei guzzling red wine and smiling that smile, which will always be Peak Cersei, and for which I will always be here.

Theon rescues his sister Yara; she decides to head back to the Iron Islands to wait there, in case Daenerys loses her battle in the North and needs to retreat to somewhere safe from the Army of the Dead, who, famously and conveniently, cannot swim. (No word on whether they can boat, though. I mean, they managed to work together to haul a full-size dead dragon out of an icy lake – they can definitely pilot a Sunfish.)

Theon heads up to Winterfell to join the fight, because his redemption arc needs a button.

At Winterfell, several of the other Houses are showing up for the fight. Davos Seaworth raises the possibility of a marriage between Jon and Daenerys. "They do make a handsome couple," says Tyrion. "Nothing lasts," says Varys.

(Team Varys, always, again, some more.)

This is followed – again, astonishingly quickly – by the sight of Jon Snow hauling his mopey yet no less exquisite butt onto Rhaegal the dragon's back, and taking the beast for a spin. Or getting taken for a spin, technically.

Look: We knew it was gonna happen, but how many of us had "minute 34 of episode one" in the pool? It feels like the show's burning through the stuff it knows we're expecting so it can start doing the stuff we aren't.

We get a three-minute "Whole New World" sequence as Daenerys and Jon swoop and sway through the air, alighting beside a picturesque waterfall to make out – while the dragons look on ... warily? Approvingly? Distrustfully? Hornily? It's tough to tell with dragons.

Back at the forge, Gendry supplies the Hound with a dragonglass axe, and there's a tense reunion between the Hound and Arya, who suddenly appears behind him like some kind of tiny, fantastically eyebrowed Batman. She does that a lot. Arya commissions Gendry to build her a weapon. Watch this space.

Not all of the Houses are agreeing to retreat to Winterfell. Sansa is still seething about Jon and Daenerys, and you'd be forgiven if you found your eyes starting to roll at any point during her dressing down of Jon. But look at it this way – coming as it does here, now, we're only gonna get one episode's worth of it. If this was back in season five, this whole Resentful Sansa thing would fuel a six-episode arc, you know it would. The scene ends with Sansa asking Jon if he bent the knee (ugh) to save the North, or because he loves her.

And here I'd so hoped we'd left "bend the knee," as a phrase, back in season seven. Lord knows they beat it to death back then. But then, dead things don't tend to stay dead in Westeros nowadays.

Daenerys and Jorah visit Sam in the Winterfell library, to thank him for curing Jorah last season. Their talk comes around to the subject of Sam's father and the brother, the late Randyll and Dickon Tarly, whom you'll recall Daenerys, not for nothing, flash-fried in dragon breath last season. She comes out and tells Sam what she did without wasting any time (because six episodes and counting, guys let's go let's go let's go), and Sam reacts. And reacts and reacts and reacts. John Bradley, stealth MVP of Game of Thrones, strikes again: He's got a lot to play in this scene; you can watch his baseline comic mien giving way to waves of successive emotions, as shock and anger and sorrow play across his features.

Sam runs into Bran in the Winterfell courtyard; Bran urges Sam to tell Jon about his true lineage right away. It's clear that Bran's acquired the Three-Eyed Raven's bossiness as well as his impassivity.

Sam finds Jon in the Winterfell crypts, and proceeds to tell him the truth: He's the son of Rheagar Targaryen and Lyanna Stark, and the true heir to the Iron Throne. And following Sam's conversation with Daenerys, he's become convinced that Jon deserves to rule the Seven Kingdoms more than she does, as Jon has demonstrated restraint and mercy countless times, while Daenerys ... fricasseed Sam's father and brother, for example. (To be fair, Tyrion did warn her not to.)

Tormund and Beric, looking astonishingly hale and hearty after the Wall crumbled around them last season, enter the ruins of Last Hearth, home to li'l Lord Umber. Clearly something very bad has gone down here, but there are no bodies to be found (hint). They run into Dolorous Edd and a few men from Castle Black; together, they find the dismembered body of li'l Lord Umber, stuck to the wall and arranged in the spiral formation we've come to associate with White Walkers. Suddenly it screams, they scream, they light it on fire, and this whole piece of business is disturbing.

Back at Winterfell (which should really be the name of the episode) Bran is still waiting in the courtyard. Waiting, we learn, for the rider on horseback who arrives, and wearily removes his hood: a newly beardy Jaime Lannister looks around, and catches the eye of the boy he tossed from a tall tower, years ago.

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2019-04-15 07:26:00Z
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Sound Fails Nicki Minaj and Ariana Grande During Coachella Performance - Variety

April 15, 2019 12:20AM PT

Nicki Minaj took the main stage on Sunday night at Coachella in support of frequent collaborator Ariana Grande. Unfortunately, Minaj couldn’t hear much of her two-song performance with the “thank u, next” star due to ongoing sound issues.

It created an especially awkward scene for Minaj, who seemed to lose audio in both ear pieces before hitting the stage for “Side to Side” and “Bang Bang.” Grande continued to sing and rally behind Minaj, who appeared at a loss for words.

The sound was also problematic for special guests Mase and P. Diddy, who came out to sing a rendition of “Mo Money Mo Problems” with Grande.

The Coachella Music and Arts Festival is set in the Palm Springs desert in Southern California where winds can wreak havoc on performers. Earlier in the night, newcomer Lizzo powered through horrific sound problems during her set.

Back in 2017, the audio was so bad for Radiohead, the U.K. group exited the stage twice after suffering major audio difficulties throughout their set.

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2019-04-15 07:20:00Z
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In Game of Thrones, Jon Snow has to decide if Daenerys is a worthy queen - The Verge

Spoilers ahead for “Winterfell,” episode 1 of Game of Thrones, season 8.

In the premiere of Game of Thrones’ season 8, the audience finally got the payoff from a secret fans have wondered about for years, which was confirmed in season 7: Jon Snow isn’t illegitimate, he’s the descendant of a Targaryen king, and the true heir to the Iron Throne of Westeros. (That’s if you discount the Baratheons’ takeover of the throne, and the Lannisters’ subsequent rule.) Although last season, Sam and Bran pieced together the truth about Jon’s parents, Jon himself has had no clue, and has been inadvertently engaging in incest by sleeping with Daenerys Targaryen, his aunt.

While it was extremely satisfying to hear Sam tell Jon the truth about his heritage, Jon’s immediate response to that truth raises some questions. His first reaction is to reject his right to rule, saying he gave up being a king when he bent the knee. As the good, law-abiding citizen he has always been, Jon considers it treason to think anything different.

Sam’s response to that is fairly epic: “It’s the truth. You gave up your crown to save your people. Would she do the same?” This revelation comes just after Sam tells Jon that Daenerys executed Sam’s father Randyll Tarly and brother Dickon Tarly for not bending the knee. She lacked the mercy Jon has displayed several times in the past, when he was put in the position of deciding whether to execute people, or spare them. And Jon apparently had no idea Daenerys was capable of such ruthlessness.

Jon must now decide whether he should continue to obey Daenerys, or announce his heritage and have his people follow him as king and potential heir to the Iron Throne. A lot of his decision may boil down to whether he thinks Daenerys would be a worthy ruler, and whether she would be selfless enough to sacrifice for her people, or whether she values power above all. In an eight-season show, Jon has spent less than a full season with Daenerys, and he’s missed a lot of her most dramatic and serious choices — murdering the Khals of the Dothraki, crucifying slavers, and burning a witch to death for betraying her, just to name a few.

So what does Jon even know about Daenerys? Before he sailed to meet her in Dragonstone in season 7, he held court in Winterfell to discuss his plans. During this discussion, it’s made clear that Jon, like most of Westeros, is well aware of the poor reputation the Targaryens share — particularly Daenerys’ father Aerys II Targaryen, aka The Mad King, who nearly burned down the Seven Kingdoms before he was stopped. Still, when Jon meets Daenerys, he mainly sees the good in her, saying, “You could’ve stormed King’s Landing… But you didn’t, which means at the very least, you’re better than Cersei.” That’s a low bar Jon is setting for Daenerys, considering Cersei’s many cruel acts throughout the show, including blowing up the Sept of Baelor in season 6, killing hundreds.

The showrunners did foreshadow in season 7 that Jon might ultimately need to call Daenerys’ character into question — and that she might be more bloodthirsty than he thought. She kills the Tarlys in season 7, by having Drogon burn them to a crisp, in an emotional scene that has Tyrion pleading with her every step of the way to show mercy. When she returns to Dragonstone, Jon remarks, “You weren’t gone long.” Daenerys says, with an air of satisfaction, “I have fewer enemies today than I did yesterday.” Her words vaguely trouble Jon, but he doesn’t really know what she means until Sam tells him in this episode.

Season 7 marked a test of wills where Daenerys and Jon initially approached each other without much trust. They slowly grew to admire each other’s courage and honor. But at this point in the story, while sequences like their waterfall interlude are pushing the romance of their connection, there’s still plenty they don’t know and haven’t confronted about each other. Sam’s latest revelations are bound to have a significant impact on Jon’s decisions going forward. In some ways, it would be convenient for Jon to reject Daenerys’ rule, given the pressure he’s under from the lords of the North. They don’t want her around either, and their various complicated histories with House Stark have left his alliances shaky enough without the question of an interloper demanding his subservience. On the other hand, as he pointed out, he never wanted to be King in the North, let alone King of Westeros.

But he’s also always shown that duty comes before his own desires. Which is why he has to decide how to balance his duty to the Seven Kingdoms with the duty he owes her, both as a loyal bannerman and a lover. It’s a question worth posing to the audience as well: after all we’ve seen of Dany, would she be a fair, just, and wise queen? Jon’s initial answer seems as good as any: at least she’s better than Cersei. But now that Jon might be up for potential ruler, maybe Westeros finally has an even better candidate to consider.

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https://www.theverge.com/2019/4/15/18311004/game-of-thrones-got-season-8-hbo-final-jon-snow-is-daenerys-targaryen-a-worthy-queen

2019-04-15 06:13:57Z
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Winter is here: humans rally as Night King advances on GoT S8 debut episode - Ars Technica

Enlarge / Jon Snow (Kit Harington) brings Daenerys Targaryen (Emilia Clarke) home to meet the family at Winterfell.

HBO

Winter is here! The first episode of the hotly anticipated final season of HBO's Game of Thrones aired Sunday night, and it proved a solid, if not scintillating showing. There were reunions galore, a bit of sniping and tension, a nifty new opening credits sequence, and the dragons (the true stars at this point) got plenty of screen time.

(Spoilers for first seven seasons; mild spoilers for last night's episode.)

Based on George R.R. Martin's best-selling epic fantasy series, A Song of Ice and Fire, HBO's Game of Thrones long ago outstripped the novels in terms of plot, although the author had some early input in shaping the TV series' broad narrative arc. We've seen plenty of sex, blood, and horrifying death over the course of seven seasons, and now it's time for the end game. This being George R.R. Martin, there's no guarantee of a happy ending.

It's a complicated show with a massive cast, even after killing off so many major characters to clear the board a bit. When we last left off, Cersei Lannister (Lena Headey) had improbably outlasted all rivals (including her own children) and ascended to the Iron Throne, with the help of her own Doctor Frankenstein, Qyburn (Anton Lesser). Her younger brother, Tyrion (Peter Dinklage), had joined forces with Daenerys Targaryen (Emilia Clarke), who also won the loyalty of Stark family bastard and new King of the North, Jon Snow (Kit Harington). Dany came to Westeros to battle Cersei for the Iron Throne, but is convinced to call a truce by Jon, who proves that the White Walkers (led by the Night King) and their undead zombies, the wights, (a) exist, and (b) are preparing to conquer Westeros and wipe out the living once and for all.

The Stark family has regained its ancestral home, Winterfell, with Sansa (Sophie Turner) in charge in Jon's absence, aided by her sister-turned-faceless-assassin Arya (Maisie Williams). Their only surviving brother, Bran (Isaac Hempstead Wright), is now a powerful seer called the Three-Eyed Raven, although his exact role in the end game is still unclear. (He spends most of his time looking dreamily solemn and occasionally makes portentous observations.) We know from earlier teasers that Dany and Jon come to Winterfell, and Sansa reluctantly cedes Winterfell to her, since Jon had "bent the knee" and declared his loyalty to the Mother of Dragons.

• Arya Stark knows the many faces of death.

  HBO

• Tormund and Beric survived the falling of the great wall of ice.

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• The people of Winterfell hide and await their fate.

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• Sansa sees her first dragons.

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• Dragons over Winterfell are a glorious sight.

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• Daenerys and Jon Snow arrive at Winterfell with her army.

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• The Golden Company arrives at King's Landing

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• A smirking Cersei thinks her hold on the Iron Throne will soon be secure.

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• Tyrion Lannister, the Queen's Hand, ponders his next move.

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• Jon Snow communes with the family weir-wood tree.

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• Dany and Jon with her two remaining dragons.

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• Missandei and Grey Worm share a moment alone.

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• Grey Worm ready to lead the Unsullied into battle.

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• Why, there's Jorah Mormont, preparing to do his part.

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• Is that Gendry? We haven't seen him since, what, season 2?

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• Brienne of Tarth will fight with honor.

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• Prepare to meet the Night King.

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Dany also lost one of her dragons to the Night King, got it on with Jon Snow, and is unaware that he is, in fact, a legitimate Targaryen by birth. (The incest here is less relevant than what this means for her claim to the throne.) In the final scene, the Night King took down the great wall of ice that has protected Westeros for centuries. So things are looking very bad for the human race indeed.

The first full trailer dropped last month, giving us brief glimpses of all the surviving characters. Everyone is basically gearing up to take on the Night King and his ice zombie hordes—everyone except Cersei, that is, whose genius plan is to wait it out and let her enemy's forces be depleted (if not wiped out entirely). That means a whole lot of people are converging on Winterfell, starting with Jon and Dany, accompanied by her Unsullied and Dothraki armies—and remaining two dragons, of course. It's a grim homecoming for Jon in one respect, since Northerners don't trust outsiders and resent their king for bending the knee to a foreign queen and relinquishing his shiny new crown.

The emotional payoff for viewers is all the reunions that inevitably take place at Winterfell. Jon hasn't seen Bran or Arya since season 1. Arya is pleased to see Gendry (Joe Dempsie) still alive—and surprised to see her frenemy, the Hound (Rory McCann), still breathing, seeing as she last left him for dead.  Tyrion hasn't seen his ex-wife Sansa since the Purple Wedding, when she fled and he wound up on trial for a murder he didn't commit. But not all the reunions are happy ones, as one might expect when former adversaries must reluctantly join forces to defeat a common threat.

As always, the dragons steal the show, and the sight of them soaring over a snowy Winterfell is glorious. "What do they eat?" Sansa snippily asks Dany, after complaining that she never expected to have to provide for so many extra mouths. "Whatever they want," Dany responds.

Game of Thrones has always had its share of placeholder episodes, where things advance incrementally and very little of major import happens. Such episodes serve a purpose in the overall narrative arc, setting up the relationships and conflicts—and just moving people from place to place—that make the big set pieces all the more powerful. This isn't quite one of them, since rather a lot happens in an episode that clocks in just under an hour.  But the big fireworks are still to come with the upcoming Battle of Winterfell, rumored to be the most massive staged battle sequence of the series. We should expect to see at least some of the fan favorites fall, and fairly early in this final season. So taking the time to relish some bittersweet reunions before all hell breaks loose seems like a fitting opening salvo.

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2019-04-15 05:59:17Z
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Star Wars: The Clone Wars season 7 trailer, Siege of Mandalore reveals - CNET

The fallout of Ahsoka Tano leaving the Jedi Order will be revealed when Star Wars: The Clone Wars season 7 hits the Disney Plus streaming service.

Many of the upcoming season's storylines as well as a trailer were shown on Sunday at a Star Wars Celebration Chicago panel. Executive producer Dave Filoni and members of the cast took the stage to discuss how they found out about the new season and the events the season will depict, including a major moment between Ahsoka and Maul.

You can watch the panel on the Star Wars YouTube channel, which we've embedded here. The trailer is not separate yet, but can be found at the 52:20 mark of the panel video.

We'll get more Ahoska Tano on Sunday.

Video screenshot by Bonnie Burton/CNET

The show focused on Padawan Ahsoka, her master Anakin Skywalker and his master Obi-Wan Kenobi as they battle in the titular galactic conflict between the events of Attack of the Clones and Revenge of the Sith.

The trailer opens with the season 5 scene of Ahsoka leaving the Jedi Order in sepia tint, before changing to color as we move on to fresh footage. We get shots of her descending into Coruscant's underworld to start a new life, and the implication that she later escapes on a ship belonging to her new friends.

Clone Commander Rex remembers his fallen brothers, while Yoda is "no longer certain one ever does win war." We also see Ahsoka's reunion with Anakin, who gives her back her lightsabers (which now have blue blades instead of her original green ones).

"They're good as new... maybe a little better," says Anakin, who also presents her with an orange-helmeted clone squad to lead into battle.

The trailer ends with a few hints of The Siege of Mandalore plot arc, which was meant to act as the concluding arc of show before its cancellation. It'll feature an epic dual between Ahsoka and Maul, and we got a little taste as the trailer came to an end.

"I was hoping for Kenobi, why are you here?" says a disappointed Maul, before they clash sabers.

The cast of Star Wars: The Clone Wars and executive producer Dave Filoni onstage at Celebration Chicago.

Sean Keane/CNET

During the panel, Filoni noted how technically challenging making the show always was, but thinks this season is better than ever.

Ahsoka actress Ashley Eckstein found out about the show's return while in line for a ride at Walt Disney World, remarking that she learned about it from a furtive text conversation with Dee Bradley Baker (who voices all the clones).

"Tell no one, Jedi promise," Baker apparently wrote.

Sam Witwer, who voices Maul, kept pushing Filoni for details on the Siege of Mandalore, but Filoni's wife Anne tipped him off about the show's return when she said, "Dave, can I tell him?"

Designs for Rex during The Clone Wars panel at Star Wars Celebration Chicago.

Sean Keane/CNET

Since The Clone Wars ended, Eckstein has played an older, wiser Ahsoka in Star Wars Rebels, which takes place many years later.

"It took me a while to go back to Clone Wars Ahsoka," she said.

Thanks to the pickup of 12 episodes, Filoni was able to complete concepts that were only partially finished but have been revealed to fans since the show was cancelled.

"We revamped the show a tiny bit,"he said, noting that some facial features were tweaked compared to the original run due to improvements in animation technology.

The Bad Batch has been fully realized for the new season of The Clone Wars.

Screenshot by CNET via Star Wars/YouTube

The Bad Batch, a group of genetically enhanced clones, were previously seen in the unfinished story reels. The crowd was treated to a completed clip of the Bad Batch taking out a massive squad of battle droids.

Ahsoka's life on Level 1313 of Coruscant's grimy underworld, where she meets twins Trace and Rafa was also hinted at. She'll be learning from the new people she surrounds herself with.

Ahsoka will have a new design when The Clone Wars returns.

Screenshot by CNET via Star Wars/YouTube

"There's a lot of character development in these episodes," Eckstein said,

A second clip from the new season was more action focused, showing Ahsoka's bumpy descent into Coruscant's underworld.

Filoni noted that the Siege of Mandalore is "something fulfilled that I never got to do," since it was meant to conclude the show and bring Maul to the forefront again.

Darth Maul as he will be seen in the upcoming Clone Wars season.

Screenshot by CNET via Star Wars/YouTube

"He's not crazy old grandpa Maul from Rebels, he's the younger guy," said Witwer.

Maul's new look is inspired by his Solo appearance and Ray Park, who has physically portrayed Maul since Star Wars Episode 1: The Phantom Menace was suited up in a MoCap suit for an "epic" Maul-Ahsoka battle, Filoni said. 

A third clip revealed at the panel is an unfinished scene where Anakin introduces Ahsoka to a Clone Trooper squad, led by Rex, with orange detailing painted onto their helmets.

After this, Matt Lanter (Anakin Skywalker), Catherine Taber (Padme Amidala), Tom Kane (Yoda), Matthew Wood (General Grievous) and James Arnold Taylor (Obi-Wan) joined the panel and expressed their gratitude to the fans.

"Appreciate it we do, yes," Tom Kane said in his Yoda voice.

Filoni brought it home by highlighting that Star Wars creator George Lucas may be retired, but he remains a big part of the momentum that got The Clone Wars going.

"The reason why it works is because I was taught by the master," Filoni said, noting how he "listened" to Lucas instead of trying to impress him.

We don't have a release date for the new season yet, but it's likely to hit Disney Plus either late this year or early in 2020.

Now playing: Watch this: Star Wars: The Clone Wars returns

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2019-04-14 23:17:00Z
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