Netflix appears to have some game announcements in store, teasing appearances at E3 2019 next month. The studio will have a panel at the E3 Coliseum, and has dropped some intriguing hints about what it has up its sleeve.
A tweet announcing the Coliseum panel says it will cover “news about its plans in the gaming space,” and an attached image names the panel, “Bringing Your Favorite Shows To Life: Developing Netflix Originals Into Video Games.” Similarly, a Twitter thread from Netflix’s sci-fi and fantasy Twitter account mentioned the previously announced Stranger Things game adaptation paired with the upcoming Season 3, but also said “there’s definitely more to come!”
Now in its second year, E3 Coliseum is a main stage presentation that takes place at LA Live, adjacent to the LA Convention Center, hosted by Geoff Keighley. It’s part of the ESA and E3’s initiative to make E3 a more public-facing event.
Netflix has approached games in two distinct ways. The first puts out narrative-driven experiences on its video streaming service, marked with an icon to note that it allows you to steer the direction of the story–like Minecraft: Story Mode and Black Mirror: Bandersnatch. The other involves console and mobile releases of games based on Netflix properties, like the Stranger Things games.
The panel’s title certainly seems to imply the latter, but then that raises the question of which properties are ripe for game adaptations. The NX brand tends to promote animated series like She-Ra and the Princesses of Power, Voltron: Legendary Defender, and The Dragon Prince, along with live-action series like Umbrella Academy, and Altered Carbon.
Be warned: We’re discussing Episode 5 of Game of Thrones Season 8, “The Bells,” and thus there will be a great many spoilers. If you are caught up, you can get ready for the finale by checking our out fresh, post-Episode 5 theories and the Episode 6 preview trailer. And if you were hoping recent rumors about the final A Song of Ice and Fire books being done, author George RR Martin has denied they’re written and ready to be published.
As it approaches its conclusion, Game of Thrones feels like a different show than it has in the past. Blame it on any number of issues–two shortened final seasons resulting in rushed character development, a lack of source material to act as a roadmap, or the cause of the constant (if possibly unfair) refrain decrying “bad writing”–but a generalized reaction among many fans is that something feels wrong.
It may be any or all of those things, but there’s something fundamentally underpinning them all that fans are reacting to, even if they’re not quite aware of it. Game of Thrones, it turns out, is not about what we all thought it was about.
In Episode 5, “The Bells,” Game of Thrones finally takes Daenerys Targaryen from “worryingly willing to burn to death anyone who disagrees with her, but generally out for good” to full-on “child-murdering Mad Queen.” She accomplishes what her father never could: She “burns them all” in King’s Landing, regardless of whether they’re civilian or soldier, or whether it wins her the throne or not. Daenerys’s reactions to the loss of two of her dragons, the betrayals in her ranks, and the unwillingness of Westeros to bend to her will finally cause her to snap, and from the back of her last dragon, Drogon, she brings fire and blood to her former home.
Ask many fans/viewers/etc. and they’ll say the show has been foreshadowing Daenerys bringing destruction to King’s Landing all along. Dany has always been a ruthless character when she has to be, often electing to execute people in a generally cruel and unusual way: by burning them alive with dragon fire. She’s particularly unforgiving to people who oppose her, especially when they don’t immediately bend the knee. There have been plenty of times when Dany has wanted to just ravage everyone in her path, only to be curbed from her most merciless instincts by her advisers (most notably Jorah Mormont). With most of those people now dead and Daenerys currently at her lowest, she finally gave in to her Targaryen rage.
It’s true that Game of Thrones has been foreshadowing that this could happen, but it’s unfair to say that it always suggested that it would happen. Really, this goes to the fundamental conflict of Daenerys’s character: She’s struggling not to become her father, or to fall into the patterns of other monarchs who use their power mercilessly. Daenerys can be ruthless, but she learned a lot in Meereen not just about how to conquer, but how to rule. She has a highly tuned sense of justice. She considers herself the Breaker of Chains, and this is just as an essential part of her identity as being the Mother of Dragons.
Midway through “The Bells,” we finally get Game of Thrones’ overall thesis statement. The show is a tragedy in which the characters can’t break free of their pasts. Power corrupts the powerful, even those with the best intentions. Monarchy is bad. The world is a cold, hard place, where you’ll probably die badly and abruptly for no reason; if you’re lucky, you’ll die badly and abruptly because of a mistake you made two seasons earlier, but at least it’ll feel deserved.
The trouble is that Game of Thrones has made thesis statements in the past–or at least, it felt like it did. The most notable was a declaration from Daenerys herself from Season 5, in which she explained her intention to “break the wheel.” The system of inherited wealth and power, and constant war over both, destroy people needlessly. It makes the world a bad place to live. It could be better. And Daenerys intended to use her considerable power to improve it.
Daenerys made another similar statement to the same effect when talking to Tyrion in Season 5. Tyrion dispelled Dany’s notions of her family being unjustly evicted from the Iron Throne by explaining why her father, the Mad King Aerys Targaryen, was deposed: He became a paranoid and vicious tyrant. With an understanding of what her father had become, Daenerys made a decision to become something else.
“Our fathers were evil men,” Daenerys said. “All of us here. They left the world worse than they found it. We’re going to leave the world better than we found it.”
Over and over again, Game of Thrones has felt like this was what it was really about: When given the choice, even in the face of tragedy and hardship, what do you leave in the world? It’s central to the stories of the Stark kids: Jon Snow fights for the good of the realm, up to and beyond his own murder; Sansa Stark learns how to be the best power-seeker in Westeros, but uses those lessons to win independence for the North; Arya Stark is driven by nothing but revenge, until she reestablishes her connections with her family. It was Daenerys’s story too, obviously. And it was the story of the Lannisters, who represented the other side of the coin, fully willing to add ruin to the world so long as they were protected. Really, just about every character, from Jaime Lannister to Brienne of Tarth to Sandor Clegane, is trying to shake off the weight of their pasts, to turn away from the path determined by what they’ve done and what was expected of them, with each achieving varying degrees of success.
In fact, this line of thinking was why the elimination of the Night King mid-season could have been a brilliant move for the show. Fighting the army of the dead brought unity to a variety of people, including former enemies, in the middle of Season 8–but unity against a common enemy only survives as long as that enemy does. When the Night King is vanquished, can you resist the inertial pull to go back to the old petty squabbles that end up costing lives? Dealing with that question is what made Cersei Lannister a better villain than the wordless Night King because she held up a dark mirror of what Daenerys (and other rulers) could easily become. The Night King was an external existential threat, but Cersei represented the threat the characters pose to themselves and each other.
With Daenerys’s choice to go full war criminal over King’s Landing as the bells start ringing, Game of Thrones makes a choice about which show it is. If Daenerys had felt rage and suffering and considered giving in to those feelings (how easily someone with her power could), but turned awayfrom that choice even with no better angels like Jorah or Tyrion to mutter in her ear, the show really would be about breaking the wheel. Its ultimate message would be that people aren’t beholden to our cycles and our baggage, or to the sins and expectations of our parents. The world can be better, but you have to make it better, just like you have to make yourself better.
Instead, Game of Thrones chooses a darker, more nihilistic meaning. Throughout “The Bells,” characters fall back into their old ways. No matter how good a man Jaime tries to become, the one person he can’t convince that he’s changed is himself. No matter how much Sandor Clegane might hope for a life free of violence, the desire for vengeance consumes him. Cersei can’t give up her stranglehold on power and control, even in the face of annihilation. Jon Snow’s unyielding dedication to his father’s ideals of honor leaves him complicit in a massacre. No amount of good intentions (or slaves freed, or cruel institutions crushed) can keep Daenerys from giving in to her worst impulses and becoming the Mad Queen.
The world is bad, it’s going to stay bad, and we can’t break free of our pasts. Your baggage defines you and even if you try to improve, you’re always an inch away from backsliding into becoming the very thing you feared and hated. Life is nasty, brutish, short, and most of all, explicitly, extremely sad because of what we do to each other. The wheel is much bigger than any one person or even any 300-year dynasty, and not even dragon fire can break it. This is just another war in a history full of them.
That seems to be the finality that Game of Thrones has chosen. It’s an end that, in a way, has always been written into the show’s DNA–but it also seemed as though the whole point of the show was for its characters to overcome it. After having meant so much to so many people, it seems a shame that the “bittersweet” ending Game of Thrones’ creators have chosen leans so hard into bitter, and so little into sweet.
As Game of Thrones reaches its very end, the show continues to break records. The most recent, penultimate Episode 5 has set a new audience record for the show and was watched by a massive 18.4 million viewers.
The episode, titled “The Bells,” is the most-watched episode in the show’s history. This figure includes replays and streaming; in terms of on-air viewing, the episode drew an audience of 12.5 million across two airings on Sunday night. The previous record was held by Episode 3 of Season 8, “The Long Night,” which was watched by a total of 17.8 million viewers two weeks ago. Notably, both Episodes 3 and 5 featured massive battle scenes. Prior to those, the record was set by the 17.4 millions viewers who watched the season premiere.
While these figures make Season 8 the most popular to date, the show has been a ratings hit from the very start. The show is HBO’s most popular series of all time and the most watched scripted show on TV. There is just one episode remaining in Season 8–and the whole show entirely. Episode 6 airs next Sunday, May 19.
Despite the huge viewings figures, like most of the episodes in Season 8, “The Bells” received a mixed response from some critics and viewers. In his review, GameSpot’s Michael Rougeau stated that the show has become a “fiery sea of nihilism and cynicism about human nature.” Nevertheless, he praised it on a technical level, stating the episode was “a masterpiece of cinematic fantasy television.” Also be sure to check out our look at how the show takes place in its darkest timeline.
PlayStation Nation, assemble! Now is your chance to win* this custom longboard featuring PlayStation’s iconic symbols thanks to Sony and their new gear shop.
But what do you have to do to enter this online giveaway? Fill out the form below after reading the official rules and accepting our terms and conditions. Remember that you have the option to get extra entries by completing actions like following us across social media or visiting different sites.
Head out to the comments section and let us know your favorite PlayStation game and what kind of prizes you would like to see in upcoming giveaways on GameSpot.
Every once in a while, a good anime series will pop up as a free download on PSN, and the latest anime freebies available for PS4 owners are worth grabbing now. The first seasons of Tokyo Ghoul and Black Clover are each available for free to download and keep on US PSN. And while each show is technically available to stream through services like Hulu, Crunchyroll, and Funimation, it’s nice to actually own a piece of media that may eventually get pulled from said streaming platforms.
To claim each series, you have to search the title on your PS4 console or in the PlayStation Video app on Android. The shows won’t appear if you try just searching in PlayStation Store online. Twitter user Wario64, who first spotted the deal, shared screenshots of the anime series marked as free when you search on PS4:
Tokyo Ghoul Season 1 and Black Clover Season 1 Part 1 are free on US PSN (claim on PS4 or using PlayStation Video app on Android) pic.twitter.com/5fQDsmypkx
Tokyo Ghoul is a must-watch anime that follows Ken Kanedgy, a college student who gets attacked by a flesh-eating creature known as a ghoul and subsequently becomes a half-ghoul who must learn to live in the worlds of both humans and ghouls. Then there’s Black Clover, which tells the story of Asta, a young orphan boy born without powers in a world where everyone is born with a magical ability. Together with his friend Yuno, Asta becomes determined to grow stronger (despite his lack of magical prowess) and become the next Wizard King, the most powerful wizard around.
There’s no knowing how long these anime series will be free, so act fast and claim them now if you’re interested in owning them.
With AEW’s Double or Nothing PPV coming next week–as to where to watch it, we don’t know yet–we’re all aboard the hype train to see what All Elite Wrestling has in store for its first official PPV. Because this new wrestling promotion is making waves–AEW has been signing a ton of wrestling talent–the new promotion has become a hot commodity.
If you’ve purchased a Bullet Club (in the United States), The Elite, or AEW shirt, then you’re probably familiar with Pro Wrestling Tees, the company that prints… well… pro wrestling t-shirts. The company has a monthly subscription service called Pro Wrestling Crate where they ship blind boxes of products based around a theme directly to your home. May’s theme was AEW.
Of course, I ordered one, and we’re going to check out what’s inside the box. Make sure to come back to GameSpot on Saturday, May 25 for a live review and coverage of AEW’s Double or Nothing, as long as it’s available to stream. Here’s what is in the box.
Detective Pikachu may be a cute PG movie, but it does star Ryan Reynolds, best known for portraying Marvel’s foul-mouthed Deadpool. Though Pikachu charms his way through the movie and drops no filthy language whatsoever, Reynolds did let plenty of filth loose during filming.
According to CinemaBlend, Reynolds recorded dialogue unfit for the version of the movie in theaters. “Yeah, not hard R, but there’s some stuff in there,” Reynolds told the site. “Because you just sort of want to be free. Sometimes you have to get it out. You have to say the worst thing that’s on your mind just so it goes away and then you can focus on the stuff that can actually be in the movie. So yeah, there’s a version out there that will never see the light of day.”
While Warner Bros. and Legendary may never release an R-rated version of the movie, there is dialogue where Pikachu cusses up a storm. Unfortunately, Reynolds refused to give any specific examples. “There was some very sweary hyphenates. I remember that but otherwise no,” Reynolds said. “They don’t even animate that, they’re just like, ‘OK that goes right in that little garbage can shaped icon on the computer and that’s it.'”
There were plenty of moments where Pikachu could have flipped his lid, so our imagination is all we have in this situation. Still, seeing Pikachu cuss out Justice Smith’s (Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom, Paper Towns) Tim Goodman or Mr. Mime would be a sight to behold.
Harry Potter: Wizards Unite is coming to iOS and Android devices soon. While the game doesn’t yet have a firm release date, it’s already begun rolling out in beta form in select countries, and now co-developers Warner Bros. and Niantic (the studio behind Pokemon Go) have shared a new live-action trailer hyping up its impending release.
The video, which you can watch below, takes the form of an emergency broadcast from the Ministry of Magic, laying out the premise of the new mobile game. Strange phenomena has begun occurring all around the globe, risking exposing the existence of the wizarding world to Muggles. As part of the Statute of Secrecy Task Force, players will need to contain these traces of magic before they can be discovered.
Much like in the aforementioned Pokemon Go, you’ll need to explore the real world to locate these magical items and creatures, known within the game as Foundables. Each of these is trapped by Confoundable magic, and you’ll first need to dispel it by casting the appropriate spell before you can send the Foundable back to the wizarding world.
Unlike Pokemon Go, however, Wizards Unite places a greater emphasis on RPG elements. You can brew potions using different ingredients you’ve collected, level up lengthy skill trees, and swap between different professions. The game also features voice-acted characters who divulge tips and story details. You can read more in our Harry Potter: Wizards Unite impressions.
Wizards Unite is already available in beta form in Australia and New Zealand. You can watch lots of new gameplay footage of the game above. If you’re eager to try it yourself but don’t live in the region, pre-registration for Wizards Unite is open now on Google Play.
