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As everyone is now prepared for battle in season 3 episode 8 of Game of Thrones, not only Winter is Coming, but so is the Night King.
Last week’s episode of Game of Thrones gave us kernels of moments between our faves and now reality has hit that all good things must come to an end. Spoilers ahead…
Yet another leak happened this evening, this time leaked photos of the Battle of Winterfell emerged on the net. If you wanted a sneak peep of this great war, you certainly got it. Now let’s dive into one of the most epic battle episodes in the Game of Thrones series.
The entire episode was dedicated to the impending battle between the armies of Winterfell and the White Walkers. As Winterfell’s enemies descend on their territory, several Dothraki soldiers are killed and they are nearly annihilated. Luckily, Greyworm stayed behind and was safe from harm. However, we don’t quite know his fate, since he didn’t appear in the last scenes of the episode. Since we didn’t see him die, it’s safe to assume he survived the battle.
Melisandre makes her first appearance this season and ironically uses the same fire spell she used to kill young Shireen — an innocent and defenseless young girl — to save the lives of hundreds. She sets the swords of every soldier on the battlefield with flames of fire. As the theme of redemption lingers on from each episode this final season, Melisandre also pays penance to her past sins. However, her fire spell is still not enough to subdue the army of white walkers which have them all outnumbered.
Samwell Tarly tries his best to play a part in the battle, but is more of a liability than an actual warrior, getting himself nearly killed at every turn. Unfortunately, his lack of experience and just simply being in the way, caused the death of Edd who risked his life to save Sam’s.
What is remarkable about this episode is that the women have full autonomy and take control as true warriors prepared to fight and destroy. Brienne of Tarth, who is now a knight of the seven kingdoms, fights aggressively, enduring several moments where she is nearly killed. Thankfully, she survives this episode, but just barely.
Daenerys and Jon Snow look off into the distance as they see the chaos happening all around them, and each grabs a dragon to use as a weapon to fight. However, when Dany corners the Night King and yells “Dracarys” to him, expecting him to be extinguished, he emerges from the flames unharmed. This is now confirmation that the Night King too, is a Targaryen.
Sadly there were some deaths that occurred tonight. After Edd dies, Beric was also was killed sacrificing his life to save Arya’s. Then there was the most gangsta moment in the episode when Lyanna aka Lil Bear runs directly to the giant white walker, to which he picks her up and crushes her little body. Before she perishes, she manages to stab him in the eye which slays the giant and she dies a victorious death.
In the #ThronesYall recap of episode 2 of the BGNPodcast, I predicted that Theon Greyjoy would die tonight. The writing was on the wall since episode one and this season was Theon’s redemption tour. His debt was paid in death and it was a sacrificial one indeed. Bran’s last words to him were, “you’re a good man Theon”.
Jorah’s death was quite poetic because he died saving his one true love, his Queen Daenerys Targaryen. There’s a long history between these two and Jorah always was willing to risk everything he had for his queen, and he did so in death. With both Lyanna and Jorah gone, it’s safe to say this brings an end to House Mormont.
The Night King is finally defeated and it was a defeat that we didn’t see coming this soon. As the Night King approaches Bran, and Bran sits there unbothered and expecting that he will be protected, Arya descends onto the Night King and kills him instantly.
Melisandre foresaw her own death and tells us at the beginning of the episode of her impending demise. Her watch is now over, the Night King is dead, and her mission is complete. She takes off her necklace (which keeps her youthful and full of life) and slowly disintegrates as she walks off into the distance.
The haunting score filled with a compelling melancholic rhythm was perfect with the tone of this episode. This episode wrapped up beautifully some of the deceased character’s story arcs and now we anticipate what is to come next week.
Stay tuned for our breakdown of episode 3 of the #ThronesYall Recap Show this week and we will catch you next Sunday to live-tweet episode 4!
Game of Thrones airs Sunday nights at 9pm ET on HBO.
The post #ThronesYall Recap: In The Game of Thrones You Win or You Die appeared first on Black Girl Nerds.
As everyone is now prepared for battle in season 3 episode 8 of Game of Thrones, not only Winter is Coming, but so is the Night King.
Last week’s episode of Game of Thrones gave us kernels of moments between our faves and now reality has hit that all good things must come to an end. Spoilers ahead…
Yet another leak happened this evening, this time leaked photos of the Battle of Winterfell emerged on the net. If you wanted a sneak peep of this great war, you certainly got it. Now let’s dive into one of the most epic battle episodes in the Game of Thrones series.
The entire episode was dedicated to the impending battle between the armies of Winterfell and the White Walkers. As Winterfell’s enemies descend on their territory, several Dothraki soldiers are killed and they are nearly annihilated. Luckily, Greyworm stayed behind and was safe from harm. However, we don’t quite know his fate, since he didn’t appear in the last scenes of the episode. Since we didn’t see him die, it’s safe to assume he survived the battle.
Melisandre makes her first appearance this season and ironically uses the same fire spell she used to kill young Shireen — an innocent and defenseless young girl — to save the lives of hundreds. She sets the swords of every soldier on the battlefield with flames of fire. As the theme of redemption lingers on from each episode this final season, Melisandre also pays penance to her past sins. However, her fire spell is still not enough to subdue the army of white walkers which have them all outnumbered.
Samwell Tarly tries his best to play a part in the battle, but is more of a liability than an actual warrior, getting himself nearly killed at every turn. Unfortunately, his lack of experience and just simply being in the way, caused the death of Edd who risked his life to save Sam’s.
What is remarkable about this episode is that the women have full autonomy and take control as true warriors prepared to fight and destroy. Brienne of Tarth, who is now a knight of the seven kingdoms, fights aggressively, enduring several moments where she is nearly killed. Thankfully, she survives this episode, but just barely.
Daenerys and Jon Snow look off into the distance as they see the chaos happening all around them, and each grabs a dragon to use as a weapon to fight. However, when Dany corners the Night King and yells “Dracarys” to him, expecting him to be extinguished, he emerges from the flames unharmed. This is now confirmation that the Night King too, is a Targaryen.
Sadly there were some deaths that occurred tonight. After Edd dies, Beric was also was killed sacrificing his life to save Arya’s. Then there was the most gangsta moment in the episode when Lyanna aka Lil Bear runs directly to the giant white walker, to which he picks her up and crushes her little body. Before she perishes, she manages to stab him in the eye which slays the giant and she dies a victorious death.
In the #ThronesYall recap of episode 2 of the BGNPodcast, I predicted that Theon Greyjoy would die tonight. The writing was on the wall since episode one and this season was Theon’s redemption tour. His debt was paid in death and it was a sacrificial one indeed. Bran’s last words to him were, “you’re a good man Theon”.
Jorah’s death was quite poetic because he died saving his one true love, his Queen Daenerys Targaryen. There’s a long history between these two and Jorah always was willing to risk everything he had for his queen, and he did so in death. With both Lyanna and Jorah gone, it’s safe to say this brings an end to House Mormont.
The Night King is finally defeated and it was a defeat that we didn’t see coming this soon. As the Night King approaches Bran, and Bran sits there unbothered and expecting that he will be protected, Arya descends onto the Night King and kills him instantly.
Melisandre foresaw her own death and tells us at the beginning of the episode of her impending demise. Her watch is now over, the Night King is dead, and her mission is complete. She takes off her necklace (which keeps her youthful and full of life) and slowly disintegrates as she walks off into the distance.
The haunting score filled with a compelling melancholic rhythm was perfect with the tone of this episode. This episode wrapped up beautifully some of the deceased character’s story arcs and now we anticipate what is to come next week.
Stay tuned for our breakdown of episode 3 of the #ThronesYall Recap Show this week and we will catch you next Sunday to live-tweet episode 4!
Game of Thrones airs Sunday nights at 9pm ET on HBO.
The post #ThronesYall Recap: In The Game of Thrones You Win or You Die appeared first on Black Girl Nerds.
Daenerys Targaryen walked into the flames with three stones and rose from the ashes with three dragons, just like she burned the khals alive and emerged from the inferno Khaleesi of all the Dothraki. Her immunity to fire is a power only she possesses, and it has made her fearsome, but is there a limit to what even she can withstand? Would she be unharmed if bathed in dragonflame? There’s reason to think she would, which could help her survive a dragon battle with the Night King.
Of course, if things go wrong for the living and she ends up fighting with the dead, her greatest strength could become Jon Snow’s biggest problem.
A One-of-a-Kind Power
“Fire and blood” might be the words of House Targaryen, and though they have the blood of the dragon running through their veins, they can still burn. Daenerys is the only known Valyrian ever to be immune to fire. Jon Snow, son of her brother Rhaegar, burned his hand throwing a lantern at a wight while saving Lord Commander Mormont, and her older brother Viserys was killed by molten gold.
Past Targaryens weren’t immune either. Maester Aemon’s younger brother, King Aegon V, died during a massive blaze at Summerhall when Aegon tried hatching stone eggs with wildfire. Before that their awful older brother Aerion Brightflame (also known as the Monstrous) thought if he drank wildfire he would turn into a dragon. He did not, but he did die screaming. And the Half-Year-Queen, Rhaenrya Targaryen, died in a dragonflame bath from her rival half-brother’s dragon.
However, just because Daenerys is immune to regular fire doesn’t mean she’s immune to flames that come from magical beasts known as “fire made flesh.” The fact she appears to be magical herself does though.
A Revealing Change in George R.R. Martin’s Original Plans
Her fire immunity was hinted at in both the books and show before she hatched her dragons, when she entered a scalding bath and picked up her burning hot eggs without being harmed. But originally George R.R. Martin planned for her special birth to be a one time only event.
In an archived 1999 online chat Martin did ahead of the release of the third book (a.k.a simpler times), the author was asked by a fan if “Targaryens become immune to fire once they ‘bond’ to their dragons?” His animated response answered a lot more though, when Martin said:
“Thanks for asking that. It gives me a chance to clear up a common misconception. TARGARYENS ARE NOT IMMUNE TO FIRE! The birth of Dany’s dragons was unique, magical, wonderous, a miracle. She is called The Unburnt because she walked into the flames and lived. But her brother sure as hell wasn’t immune to that molten gold.”
Another fan followed up by asking, “So she won’t be able to do it again?” and Martin replied, “Probably not.”
Her burning of the khals, which hasn’t had a chance to happen in the books but certainly feels like it will, clearly altered Martin’s intent. The hatching of the eggs wasn’t a miracle. Daenerys seems to be magical herself, and that makes her like her dragons.
That might not guarantee she’s immune to dragonflame, but all the evidence we have makes a convincing argument.
Advantage Fighting the Night King
While some body parts are vulnerable, especially their eyes, dragons themselves are mostly immune to dragonflame. The older they get and the thicker their scales grow, the safer they are from their fellow dragons’ fire, so they primarily fight by biting at each other’s necks and tearing at their bellies with their claws.
They can still kill opposing dragon riders with their fires though, so Jon Snow could easily be melted by the Night King.
As for the Night King, himself a magical creature whose powers we do not fully understand, not even Bran knows if he can be hurt by dragonflame, since “no one’s ever tried.” We did see the White Walker leader walk through a ring of fire at the Three-Eyed Raven’s cave, flames parting as he stepped through, so it’s very possible that like Daenerys his fire immunity will also makes him safe from dragonflame. But at the very least the Night King won’t have any advantage on Daenerys while they are fighting in the skies.
The problem will be if he kills Daenerys another way and then recruits her into the army of the dead, because then the living might not be able to kill her with any kind of fire.
How to Kill a Night Queen Immune to Fire
If the Night King kills Daenerys she will become a wight, not a White Walker, but that difference might not matter. White Walkers can only be killed by drgaonglass and Valyrian steel, but wights can also be killed by fire, which is why dragons are the living’s greatest weapon.
But if Daenerys the Unburnt, whose dragons might not know she is dead when they see her walking around, is still immune to fire even in death, it will mean someone with a dragonlass dagger or a Valyrian steel sword – maybe someone like Jon or Jorah – will have to kill her while looking right into her blue eyes. Will they be able to do that? Can anyone withstand a moment so terrible?
Or even worse, because dragonglass and Valyrian steel are both connected to dragons themselves, will there be anyway to kill her directly? Could she be invincible to any known way of killing a wight?
Is Daenerys immune to dragonflame? The living might be better off if she’s not.
Images: HBO
The post Is Daenerys Immune to Dragonflame? appeared first on Nerdist.
Life is good for Kyanna Simone Simpson.
After playing the teen version of Oprah Winfrey’s character (Deborah Lacks in HBO’s The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks), the rising actress stars in the currently streaming Netflix original series Chambers with veteran actors Uma Thurman (Kill Bill movies) and Tony Goldwyn (Scandal). Kyanna has a recurring role on the CW hit series Black Lightning, and she will play the teenage version of Academy Award winner Octavia Spencer’s title character in the horror film, Ma. Kyanna will also co-star with Academy Award winner Jamie Foxx in an untitled Netflix original movie.
In her fourth year at the University of Georgia, Kyanna is majoring in entertainment and media studies. “I just finished my final oral presentation, and I have a final next week. You caught me at the right time!”
I talked with Kyanna about Chambers, math — she’s a true Black Girl Nerd — and having Oprah as a mentor who wants the budding actress to play her in a biopic.
I see that you are a busy person. I will try not to keep you on the phone too long!
[Laughs.] No problem, I’m excited to talk with you!
That’s good to hear! Congratulations on the new Netflix series! Tell me about Chambers and your character.
The show centers around a 17-year-old girl named Sasha, who has a freak heart attack. She gets a heart transplant, and things start getting really creepy. Sasha sees, hears, and does things that she can’t control. I play Yvonne, Sasha’s best friend. I help her along the way in trying to figure out what’s going on with her body, her life, and her mind.
Yvonne is a super-intelligent Black girl. I am so happy to play a character like Yvonne because she’s a tech geek and she loves math. She is a true Black Girl Nerd! I love how the creators wrote and developed Yvonne as an intelligent Black girl. I can relate to Yvonne because, as a college student, I take a lot of classes where you are pushed above and beyond your goals. Math and science are my forte. If I wasn’t acting, I would’ve majored in mathematics.
Really?
Yeah. I took a calculus class a couple summers ago, just for fun. I got an A! [Laughs.] I’ve always been in love with math.
How did you fall in love with acting?
Well, when I was a kid, I was into math and acting. My mother noticed that I was doing very well in math classes, and, my teachers would reward me. The first thing I wanted to be was an astronaut. My mother would take me to space camp and the Georgia State Science Fair. I won so many prizes there, like microscopes. I changed my mind and wanted to be a microbiologist, then a chemist, a lawyer. I eventually started pretending to be these professions and realized that I could be an actress and play these people. I’ve always kept math and my imagination close to my heart.
I’m not a doctor, but I play one on TV!
Yes! That’s it! [Laughs.]
How did you get the role of Yvonne?
I was filming a Lifetime movie titled, Three’s Complicated, with Shanola Hampton (Shameless) and Tyler Lepley (Tyler Perry’s The Haves and Have Nots) and got an audition for Chambers. When I saw that it was for Netflix, I said, “Whoa!” When I finished a scene, I ran to my trailer and had my mom tape me reading the part. I was so excited about playing Yvonne, I think it showed on my tapes. I got the callback to meet for a test, and I gave my all. When I got the call that I nailed it, I was screaming, “I’m going to be on Netflix!”
You attend the University of Georgia. Are you on campus or do you take some online courses?
I am a full-blown college student! I ride the UGA bus, go to my classes, eat cafeteria food, and hang out with my friends.
Do other students recognize you? Especially as Kiesha from the CW’s Black Lightning?
Yes! It’s so cool! I’m not always wearing makeup, and I wear the usual college student attire sometimes. If someone notices me, I’ll say, “Hi! I’m sorry that I don’t have a completely made-up face today!”
Don’t apologize for that! Just say, “What’s up” and keep moving!
It’s so much fun, though. I like meeting new people. If they bring up Black Lightning, I thank them and ask what they think about the show.
Getting back to Black Lightning, your character Kiesha is BFF with Jennifer Pierce (China Anne McClain), daughter of Jefferson Pierce in the show. Kiesha’s a bad girl who pushes Jennifer to do bad things.
Kiesha likes to party, but she’s a smart girl, too. She ran for student government president. I’m just loving that the Black girls I portray are also intelligent.
Was there a favorite movie or TV show with an intelligent Black girl that you loved watching?
Yes. My favorite movie was, Akeelah and the Bee. I loved how far she’d gotten in the spelling bee. That movie made me enter my school’s science fair. When films like that are made, there are little girls watching and becoming inspired. I hope to do a film where my character inspires Black girls to do great things.
Let’s talk about you playing teenage versions of adult characters played by Oprah and Octavia Spencer, especially Octavia’s role in the horror movie, Ma. That trailer!
[Laughs.] It’s a good horror film. I’m so happy to be a part of it. I was called to audition for it. I loved how director Tate Taylor (The Help) guided me during the audition. I told myself that one day, I was going to work for him, and I got the role in Ma.
Oprah Winfrey calls you KeeKee and told Vanity Fair she wants you to play her in a biopic. How does that feel?
When I did my scenes as a younger Deborah Lacks, Miss Winfrey would be on the set watching. We’d talk and laugh a lot. She gave me so much knowledge and advice. I am happy to have her as mentor. I don’t have the words to describe [what it’s like to have] Miss Winfrey wanting me to play her in a biopic! I spoke it into existence —as a teenager I always told my family and friends that I was going to play Oprah Winfrey and work with her. When I got the part in The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks, I cried. It was a blessing.
I look forward to seeing you star in that Oprah biopic!
Yes! Whoop, Whoop!
Chambers is currently streaming on Netflix. Ma opens in theaters on May 31.
The post Kyanna Simone Simpson Talks about Her Role in the Netflix Series, ‘Chambers’ appeared first on Black Girl Nerds.