Author of Sex and the City, Candace Bushnell, as observed that modern dating has apparently led women to be "angrier". Has she heard of the #MeToo movement?
"Women have the same complaints about men as they did before, except their complaints are much harsher now," the bestselling writer told The Sunday Times regarding dating apps.
"They seem angrier. The rejection and the uncertainty of online communication, it hurts people's souls. It seems to be emotionally destabilising."
Image: Instagram/@sex_and_the_city_official
Bushnell was famous for her column for The New York Observer back in the 1990s, which was adapted into the Sex and the City novels.
The books led to a hit HBO series starring Sarah Jessica Parker, Kim Cattrall, Kristin Davis, and Cynthia Nixon as four women in New York City, navigating romances, friendships, and womanhood.
The series ran from 1998 to 2004, and the success led to two films in 2008 and 2010 being released. The Carrie Diaries and Lipstick Jungle, also penned by the 60-year-old, were also adapted into TV shows.
Bushnell has been dating Jim Coleman for two years, and has commented on the two key things she's learned about finding a partner;
"At this age you want someone to be nice, you don't want someone who's critical or demeaning," she told The Sunday Times.
"It feels like when one is younger there can be this competition between partners. Maybe that's part of the sexual attraction, but that kind of stuff just doesn't work when you get older."
She added: "I think romance is something where you're not in a rush to get to the end. It's just about enjoying each other's company. It's doing things together."
She's got some pearls of wisdom, we must say. Some of the most iconic quotes from the hit show from Carrie Bradshaw are still applicable to the complex dating lives of women today.
Samantha Jones' groundbreaking attitudes to sex were also controversial at the time, but arguably educated an entire generation of women on sexual positivity.
Legendary Game of Thrones actress Lena Headey has revealed that a deleted scene in season seven of the show could have changed how everyone saw her character.
If the deleted scene had been allowed to have stayed, the outcome of the iconic series may have been viewed in a different light.
Despised but badass queen Cersei Lannister let slip at a comic book convention in Munich that a key scene had been cut from the final episode showing.
The 44-year-old actress believes that the scene would have aided in explaining Cersei's actions and choices over the final season.
Lena revealed that the edited scene showed Cersei losing the baby that she was to have with her brother, Jaime Lannister.
She described it as a "traumatic" scene and a "great moment for Cersei," which was sadly left on the cutting room floor. Speaking about the potential shock plot denouement, Lena said: "I kind of loved doing that because I thought it would've served her differently."
Cersei had become pregnant with Jaime's child but had spent much of the final season convincing Euron Greyjoy that the unborn child was his, but it turns out Cersei wasn't pregnant at all.
The miscarriage would have arrived at the end of season seven. Lena has always been outspoken about Cersei's tame fate, and how it wasn't the dream death she had envisioned for one of the show's most cruel characters.
Speaking to The Guardian, Lena revealed: "I will say I wanted a better death. Obviously you dream of your death. You could go in any way on that show. So I was kind of gutted."
She explained; "But I just think they couldn't have pleased everyone. No matter what they did, I think there was going to be some big comedown from the climb."
Image credit: HBO.com
Numerous accounts of conflict between the stars and director against the show's creators David Benioff and D B Weiss have been reported since the show ended.
Speaking to IndieWire, director Miguel Sapochnik said that he hoped the Battle of Winterfell would play out very differently; "I wanted to kill everyone. I wanted to kill Jorah in the horse charge at the beginning. I was up for killing absolutely everyone.
"I wanted it to be ruthless, so that in the first 10 minutes, you say, ‘All bets are off; anyone could die.' And David and Dan didn't want to. There was a lot of back-and-forth on that." he continued.
There has been a massive amount of backlash against DW Weiss and David Benioff since season eight aired, but the two lads have stood firm.
Big Little Lies season one had us absolutely GRIPPED with the underlying tension and complex relationships, not to mention the stellar acting from stars like Reese Witherspoon, Shailene Woodley, Zoe Kravitz, Laura Dern and Nicole Kidman.
We can't get enough of the Monterey mums and their crazy tale, and jumped for joy when HBO commissioned a season two with seven new episodes. Oh, and MERYL STREEP. *Weeps*
The sophomore series is due to premiere on June 9, 2019 and the first-look images are ridiculously intense. It looks like plenty of confrontations will take place, and epiphany moments.
The teaser shows plenty of screaming, which proves weirdly entertaining. Meryl is seen throwing some world class shade at the end, playing the role of Perry's mother. If you've forgotten, Perry is six feet under after his abuse escalated and he was pushed down the steps by Bonnie.
We just KNOW that Meryl is going to bring something special to the show. Perry's mum arrives in town with plenty of questions about her son's death.
Nicole Kidman shared the first picture of Mary Louise Wright (Meryl's character) last August, alongside Celeste's "darling boys." What are they looking at, we wonder? Perry's mum and Madeleine also appear to have a showdown.
Reese and Meryl were seen filming a scene involving an ice cream cone being thrown in Los Angeles; basically Madeleine hurls the cone at Mary Louise. They both appear to be fiery characters, and it's unsurprising that they clash.
The show finally has it's own Instagram account, so we're guessing that it'll be riddled with BLL hints about the new season fairly soon. Currently, it's just a grid of videos and gallery posts about the cast.
A new director is also attached to the project: Andrea Arnold. Every episode of season one was directed by Jean-Marc Vallée, but he was quoted saying, "If we do a season 2, we’ll break a beautiful thing and spoil it."
He decided not to do season two, basically. Arnold previously worked on episodes of Transparent and the Oscar-winning short film Wasp.
So happy to be able to finally share this—Big Little Lies’: Denis O’Hare Set To Recur In Season 2 Of HBO Series https://t.co/kodnpiJa7O via @deadline
News also broke that This Is Us and American Horror Story actor Denis O'Hare is set to become a regular cast member for season two. His role is yet to be described though, we're waiting.
It also looks like all the OG members of the Monterey Mom patrol are returning. Reese Witherspoon and Nicole Kidman will also return as executive producers (girl power) and Laura Dern, Shailene Woodley and Zoë Kravitz are reprising their cast roles.
Rumour has it, Alexander Skarsgård could be back? The actor won a Golden Globe, an Emmy and a SAG Award for his incredible portrayal of Celeste's abusive husband, Perry. Though he's definitely dead (thank you, stairs)…he could appear in flashbacks.
Celeste's husband could still appear in her nightmares. Executive producer Bruna Papandrea recently responded “not that I know of” when asked if Alexander will return.
Alexander has also teased, “I don’t even know if I’m really dead or not. I feel okay right now, but we’ll see.” He's keeping the option open, it would seem.
Liane Moriarty is the author of the book, Big Little Lies. She also wrote the story for season two, despite never publishing a sequel to the book. The season one showrunner and writer David E. Kelley is also returning.
Word on the street is that Bonnie's parents show up to stir trouble.In April 2018, the Hollywood Reporter broke everyone's hearts by claiming Zoë’s real-life VIP parents Lenny Kravitz and Lisa Bonet will not play Bonnie’s parents on BLL.
Crystal Fox plays Elizabeth Howard, and Martin Donovan (Weeds) will portray Bonnie's father, Martin. Bonnie will struggle to process what she did to Perry, and it has an important emotional link to her past. Deadlinereports that Perry's death drags up unsavoury memories from her childhood.
Renata is also due to have a few alterations to her marriage, according to Deadline.
Good news: a hot, "offbeat" surfer hits up Monterey. Give a warm round of applause to actor Douglas Smith, who will play Corey Brockfield. The character is an “aspiring marine biologist” and Jane’s (Shailene) co-worker. Romance alert?
The Canadian actor has worked on The Alienist, CSI: Crime Scene Investigation, and Big Love. All we know about him is that he looks damn good on the beach.
The cast are getting some TASTY pay raises (#TimesUp). ABC Newsreported in April 2018 that the cast will get increases for the season season.
Casey Bloys, president of HBO programming told THR in a different interview that this was a “direct result” of the Time’s Up movement, so clap clap to Reese for that;
“One of the things that’s come out of thinking about the movement and some conversations with Reese, who’s really at the forefront, is something we’ve done recently. We’ve proactively gone through all of our shows- in fact, we just finished our process where we went through and made sure that there were no inappropriate disparities in pay, and where there were, if we found any, we corrected it going forward.”
THR claimed in January of last year that Nicole and Reese, who produce the show, will earn $1 million per episode on season two, compared to $250,000 to $350,000 per episode on season one.Did someone say, "glow up"?
Their children's school will get a brand new teacher at Otter Bay Elementary. Mo McRae, of Pitch fame, will play Michael Perkins; a second grade teacher who causes Renata's daughter to have panic attacks about the environment.
HBO confirmed that P. J. Byrne will reprise his role as the school’s principal last May, and Poora Jagannathan (Gypsy, The Night Of) will play a new character named Katie Richmond. We're assuming she's a mum, but nothing's been set in stone.
Meryl has been having a WHALE of a time on set with the ladies, even going group bowling with the cast. Nicole Kidman is set to create more projects with Liane Moriarty, specifically her upcoming book Nine Perfect Strangers.
Nicole has bought the film and tv rights, so we're in for a treat. We have no word on whether or not there'll be a Big Little Lies season three. BLL creator and executive producer Kelley has said,
“It’s one and two, and we like our closure with season two, but that will probably be it.” Nicole seemed to disagree, saying, “There’s no plan for it to end, specifically. This was a long shoot for us, and it was an enormous amount of work, and we’re just amazed that we can be here.” Hmmm
(Warning: This article contains BLL season one spoilers)
We already love Nicole Kidman, that's confirmed. However, we may just have fallen in love with the actress even more after she dropped a huge hint regarding Big Little Lies season two…
Poor Reese Witherspoon had to tell Kidman to stop talking, before she spoiled the entire season. *gasps*
We've been feeling down in the dumps ever since season one ended, after Zoe Kravitz pushed Alexander Skarsgård's abusive character down a flight of stairs at a costume party.
Bonnie killing Perry was a twist none of us saw coming, and HBO is taking it's sweet time bringing us back to Monterey Bay, California. We are CRAVING more drama from the mums in the community.
The cast had a panel discussion recently to celebrate the upcoming launch of season two, but Nicole Kidman may have let a few things slip about the plot that could get her in trouble.
Nicole was mentioning how incredible it was to act alongside Alexander in the debut season, and dropped a huge spoiler regarding his return to season two…But he's dead? He went splat on the tarmac?
"He was the most incredible acting partner, and then he came back for season two." Directly after this comment, her co-star and fellow producer Reese Witherspoon laughed and immediately made a gesture that was literally code for; "SHUT YO MOUTH."
Nicole tried to dig herself out of that massive hole and added, "He has a little bit of a part in the sense of…the basis of…okay, I’ll be quiet. He didn’t abandon us. We’ll put it that way." AHHHHH.
In the teaser trailer for the next season, Perry is nowhere to be seen so the fact that he'll be in the coming episodes is a MAJOR suprise.
Perry is confirmed as a dead character, unless he somehow gained rejuvenating powers to bring himself back to life. Somebody needs to make sure Melisandre from Game of Thrones is nowhere near him.
Nicole's truth bomb could mean that there will be flashbacks involving Perry, and his assault on Shailene Woodley's character, Jane. His abuse of his wife Celeste, portrayed beautifully by Kidman, may also be a focus.
Perry's mother will be played by Meryl Streep, who comes to Monterey to find answers about his shady death, so that should be interesting.
Big Little Lies season two returns to HBO on June 9, get ready gals for some high-quality gossip to obsess over. These mums have mad sh*t going on in their lives, and now a murder case to escape from.
Let's get real for a second; Arya Stark is the Game of Thrones GOAT. No doubt about it. So why shouldn't we expect to be given more badass ninja assassin content from HBO, considering she's a fan fave?
In the series finale, which divided critics and fans alike, Arya told her family that she wouldn't be returning to Winterfell. Instead, she decides to go off the maps, to discover what's "west of Westeros".
"Nobody knows," she ponders. "That's where all the maps stop. That's where I'm going." Maisie Williams has played the role for a decade, but HBO bosses have since shut down our hopes for a spin-off.
The final shots of the baby Stark sis shows Arya boarding a ship, looking very much in charge. HBO programming president Casey Bloys dashed everyone's hopes in an interview with The Hollywood Reporter, and we may cry.
When asked about everyone's favourite ninja getting her very own show, Bloys said;
"Nope, nope, nope. No. Part of it is, I do want this show- this Game of Thrones, Dan and David's show- to be its own thing. I don't want to take characters from this world that they did beautifully and put them off into another world with someone else creating it.
"I want to let it be the artistic piece they've got."
With three Game of Thrones prequel projects in the works at HBO, this isn't the last we'll be seeing of author George RR Martin's humongous literary world.
"That's one of reasons why I'm not trying to do the same show over," Bloys added.
"George has massive, massive world; there are so many ways in. That's why we're trying to do things that feel distinct- and to not try and re-do the same show. That's probably one of the reasons why, right now, a sequel or picking up any of the other characters doesn't make sense for us."
We see his point, but can't forgive him for depriving us of more iconic scenes surrounding the assassin.
From her butchering of Walder Frey, stabbing the Night King and banter with the Hound to her Many Faced God training and ruthless attitude; her character has become a cultural icon.
Maise Williams spoke to ET ahead of season eight, and opened up about saying goodbye to the show, where she began working at age 12.
"It was just really emotional. You can start to get yourself so down on everything, being like, 'This is the last time I'm gonna read scripts. This is the last time I'm going to be in this location.' I got to a point where I had to stop doing that, because then I was just going to have a nervous breakdown."
The 22-year-old actress explained that she found herself "putting off" her last scene, where she sails into a new world.
"I watched so many people wrap and cry. I had to like, stay out of that emotion because there was so much to do- like, some really difficult scenes to do. And then I wrapped and I was emotional," she recalled. "I really did feel numb."
"That's when my numbness came, and then it wasn't until like a week later that I was like- you know when you’re just doing something and then you drop a spoon? I was like , 'Ahhhhhhh!' like, overreacting entirely and I just felt like an insane person a little bit," she added.
Understandable, seeing as her entire adolescence was spent on a huge set playing a teenaged murderer seeking vengeance for her father's death and family's demise. SOB.
Let's watch some of Arya's most badass moments below to reminisce on her legendary nature, while trying not to cry:
It's hard to imagine anyone other than Khaleesi Emilia Clarke playing the Mother of Dragons, and another actress who auditioned to play the infamous character clearly agrees.
Now that Game of Thrones has finally come to an end after eight seasons of blood, sweat and MANY tears, we can hear the behind-the-scenes tea on the actors.
As it turns out, Avengers star Elizabeth Olsen auditioned for the role of Daenerys Targaryen, saying it was "the most awkward audition I've ever had".
Would things have ended very differently for Dany, had another actress played her? Speaking to Vulture on last week, Olsen revealed she tested out two different accents during her GOT audition, and the result was awkward AF.
The baby sis to the Olsen twins is most famous for playing Wanda Maximoff in the Avengers franchise. Her career would have turned out less action adventure and more fantasy, had she not lost out to Emilia Clarke.
"It was the most awkward audition I'd ever had," she said. "When I first started working, I just auditioned for everything because I like auditioning. The producers didn't know if they wanted a British accent or not.
"It was terrible. Bad audition story," she said. She made sure to add that she's now a huge fan of the show, and is especially obsessed with a certain Northern Wolf;
"I'm just so deep in Game of Thrones that all I can think about is Kit Harington. I mean, he's just brainwashed me." You're not the only one thinking the same thing, gal. He knows nothing.
Joe Dempsie, who plays Gendry on the HBO show, told Cosmopolitan that he actually auditioned for the role of Jon Snow in the early days, but affirmed that pretty much every young lad did as well.
"Initially I auditioned to play Jon Snow, but the thing to remember is, originally, HBO only commissioned the pilot, and then after that was made, there was still another 18 months between that and it being commissioned for a full series."
"So, ages and ages ago I auditioned to be Jon Snow. But I think pretty much every Caucasian actor of a certain age auditioned to play Jon Snow at that point," he added.
Kit made the role his own, and honestly nobody else could have worked those dark tresses better than himself. But nice try, Gendry.
Don't 'Dracarys' our asses if you read anything you shouldn't have…That's our final warning.
Now, without further ado, we are in mourning. Mainly because of how absurd that Game of Thrones finale was, but we had to sob when Drogon tried to wake his dragon mama and flew away with her body.
not gonna lie drogon trying to wake dany up ripped my heart right out of my chest pic.twitter.com/qtTNvkPoN9
Honestly, that broke us. What also broke us was how weak the storyline ended, and how pointless Jon Snow's parentage was and Bran's warg skills were. We pretty much just sat there shouting, "WHY?!" every five seconds.
We searched the net to find the most hilarious reactions to the HBO classic show's ending, and there are some absolute crackers, sit back and enjoy while wearing black and signing the petition to have it remade…
1. Arya's faceless men skills will really come in handy when she starts her long career as a landlord…
So Arya became a stone cold killer just to eventually start a bunch of Air BnBs west of Westeros. #DemThrones
Drogon received best character development in this finale—exercising judgement when experiencing blinding anger and grief, destroying the symbol of power and the very source of evil, and choosing to mourn in solitude, now brotherless and motherless. #GameofThronespic.twitter.com/ycjM77PvpX
16. HODOR and MEERA REED are the reason Bran is alive and nobody cares??!
tyrion was praising bran for surviving beyond the wall when meera reed was the actual reason he made it alive. and this girl not only never got a proper sincere "thank you" but also was never even mentioned again and we don't know if she survived, eye
Tyrion: Jon Snow should be the rightful ruler. He deserves to be King. He's the rightful heir to the Iron Throne. He knows how to lead. He's the chosen one. The people love him. Convinces Jon to kill Dany.
Time to choose a King.
Tyrion: Bran#GameOfThronespic.twitter.com/vEQ2ENsule
We really don't know how to feel at this moment in time…mostly p*ssed at how the show-runners misused the character arcs and plot-lines going back nine years but at least we can laugh about it?
It's incredibly difficult to believe that on Sunday night at 2am, the last EVER episode of Game of Thrones will air on Sky Atlantic.
The hugely successful HBO show has broken barriers of television, despite mixed reviews of season eight, and its fan-base is hopelessly devoted to GOT's amazing characters.
We've got plenty of questions to ask ahead of the grand finale that have yet to be answered, and we're not certain that the show can resolve every plot in just 90 minutes.
Time will tell, but after last weeks' mad destruction of King's Landing by Dark Dany (we're devastated for Emilia Clarke), the teaser for next week's final is looking incredibly bleak indeed.
The Mad Queen's reign as arrived, but will it be ended before it truly begins? And by whom?
I mean, Olenna Tyrell did tell her to be a dragon. She just did what she was told…okay?! Some of us clearly haven't come to terms with Dany's downfall yet. We're in Dany Denial over here.
Here's a comprehensive list of all our questions, before our hearts get ripped out this Sunday. Get the tissues out.
1. Why the hell did Danaerys chargrill King's Landing after they surrendered?
Interestingly, the show didn't give visuals of Danaerys' face during the total destruction and murder of innocent people in the city; all we saw was her tear-stained, furious face just before she made the decision which will inevitably change her life.
Most people surmise that Dany pulled the trigger on her logic because she realised that even though the people had surrendered, they would never love her. They would always want to follow Jon, and a man, as Varys pointed out.
Her tragic villain origin story was definitely turned dark way too suddenly, and didn't do her character justice.
She always had a ruthless streak, but who wouldn't after being sold as a mule by your gropey brother, raped, experienced the death of your baby and husband, leading to the inability to have children, imprisoned, laughed at, ridiculed, losing two of her dragons (AKA her babies), her long-time advisor Jorah and her BFF Missandei.
She also must have had the knowledge that her claim to the throne was totally lost, and her lover Jon betrayed her, as well as Tyrion and Varys. She knew that she had to rule with fear, and if the people found out that Jon is the true heir, they'd be too afraid to challenge her.
We're not surprised that she went to the dark side, we've seen her roast her enemies alive on numerous occasions but there was always a reason behind it.
2. Is Arya going to kill Dany?
It's important not to forget the prophecy told to Arya by Melisandre when the pair first met in season three;
“I see a darkness in you. And in that darkness, eyes staring back at me: brown eyes, blue eyes, green eyes. Eyes you’ll shut forever.”
The Red Witch later gave Arya that all-important pep talk which led her to kill the Night King (blue eyes), but now fans are speculating that it was never Cersei's green eyes that Arya was meant to shut. It was Dany's.
Viewers are convinced that the mini assassin's destiny has changed since 'The Bells', and the white horse at the end symbolises death. Essentially, the trailer for next week shows Arya watching Danerys take her lead, and it's looking like a sure thing that Dany's days are numbered.
At the start of episode four, Varys told Danaerys that Yara had retaken the Iron islands, yet she didn't show up at King's Landing for the big battle.
Will she turn up next week? She has had that many scenes over the last while in the show, but we were so excited to see her kill Euron Greyjoy. It would have been far more poetic and just an end than Jamie killing him.
We really hope this isn't the last we've seen of Yara; she's got some of the best lines in the script and is a total badass.
4. Will Dany find out that Jamie escaped, and because of Tyrion?
Jamie is RIP underneath all of that rubble, dying with his arms wrapped around Cersei, the woman he's always loved.
We're sure their deaths will be discovered eventually, but will it be found out that Tyrion let Jamie go to try and save the city? Ser Davos Seaworth would also be in trouble, and he's one of Jon's closest advisors. Killing him would put Jon in a rough position.
With vengeance firmly on the Mad Queen's mind, and her hatred of betrayal, we're fairly sure Tyrion would be BBQ'd by Drogon if she found out.
5. Will Jon's claim to the throne be investigated, if Varys' letter got out before he died?
At the moment, a LOT of people know Jon has the true claim; Sansa, Arya, Sam, Bran, Tyrion, Dany at a minimum. Who was Varys addressing his letter at the beginning of 'The Bells' to, we wonder?
He also tried to poison Dany, in case you missed that nugget at the beginning, which is wild. Sam and Bran appear to have the most information on the claim, which came about as Crown Prince Rhaegar Targaryen and Lyanna Stark were married in secret and bore a child together.
Ned Stark took care of the child so that Robert Baratheon didn't murder him in one of the great wars, and Jon (Aegon Targaryen) grew up thinking he was a bastard his entire life. When this information gets around, what will the realm do?
6. Who are the new lords and ladies of the lands? Is Tyrion finally the Lord of Casterly Rock
Tyrion's dickhead of a dad Tywin Lannister refused Tyrion his birthright of one day becoming Lord of Casterly Rock, but after Cersei and Jamie died, he's the only living Lannister.
Danaerys (if she lives) would rule the Crownlands, the 'new prince' would rule Dorne, Yara Greyjoy has the Iron Islands, the Starks (Sansa) have the North, Gendry Baratheon has the Stormlands, Robin Arryn has the Vale, Tyrion would have the Westerlands but Highgarden and the Riverlands are unknown.
7. If Drogon dies, and magic officially dies out, what will happen then?
We were absolutely devastated when Rhaegal and Viserion were killed; Rhaegal by Euron Greyjoy in a surprise attack and Viserion by the White Walkers.
Seeing Viserion transformed into a wight demon and blowing blue flames was intense, and we truly felt Dany's pain at losing two of her children. If Drogon dies, who knows if dragons will ever live in the realm again?
Mrs Targaryen shares a type of telepathic communication with her babies, but it's looking more and more likely that Drogon will die alongside Dany in the finale. If Dany dies and Drogon lives, he would fly away, but if Drogon dies, Dany is powerless.
Just like the white walkers, it seems dragons will have to go extinct for this war to end.
8. What will the series finale be called?
The show-runners (DB Weiss and David Benioff) have kept the names of each episode this season a secret until after they've already aired, which is shady. Will the finale be called A Song of Ice and Fire, AKA the name of the Book Series?
9. Will the Iron Throne still exist by the end?
We saw the Mother of Dragons blow King's Landing to rubble, so is the throne even left standing after all of that turmoil? It could be buried beneath the rubble, but the whole seat of power could be erased.
Daenarys once said she wants to "break the wheel," and destroying the throne could be step one of the process.
This theory has genuinely scared us. At the end of 'The Bells', we saw Arya running terrified around the city, with various rocks and buildings falling on her and flames getting caught around her, and she went unconscious.
Some fans believe that she died in the city after all, and the white horse at the end symbolised her own death. This explains why the ending seemed so strange and spiritual, but then again she's seen in the trailer for next week.
The show does seem to have a knack for bringing people back to life, so there's that idea too.
11. Where is Brienne? And will Bronn end up killing Tyrion Lannister?
Our gal loves a good battle, so why did she stay behind? We're furious that they turned her into a weeping woman after Jamie left, they should have left that at a respectful friendship. As for Bronn, perhaps he'll wipe out the last member of the Lannister family?
12. What will happen to the Night's Watch?
Seeing as all of those pesky White Walkers are dead and dusted, thanks to Arya, and the wall is wrecked (bold Viserion) will there be a need for a Night's Watch any more?
13. What will be Bran's role in all of this?
Ah Bran. There have been countless theories about the three-eyed raven's role since the very beginning, even some fans guessing that he'll be the new Night King.
Seeing as Bran can time travel, it's thought that he could represent all of the Brandon Starks in history, from old Nan's tales. That means the Brandon Stark that built the wall.
Bran may warg back in time, and try to stop the White Walkers from being created, but accidentally get stuck there with the Children of the Forest.
He then may have travelled in time to have the wall built, and have Arya kill the Night King with the dagger that was used to try and kill him when he was only a boy.
Both Bran's vision and Danaerys' prophecy came true in 'The Bells'; Back in season six, Bran saw flashes of the Night King's death as well as the Mad King Aerys screaming, "Burn them all!".
He was referring to his daughter, who ended up fulfilling his mad wish. Shots of a dragon flying over King's Landing can be seen, echoing Dany's dark destruction of the city last week.
Dany's vision in the House of the Undying saw snow in the Red Keep, but actually it was ash from her dragon's burning of the city. We wish they had adequately portrayed Dany's downfall over the last two season.
The foreshadowing is mind-blowing, but will Bran have more to offer? He could be the key to unravelling the future of the realm, and whether magic lives on.
14. Finally, will Ghost get a hug from Jon before the show ends?
We're guessing not. If Jon gets the Iron Throne, he'd be the perfect hand to the king (or would it be paw to the king?).
"This is strange…It's like looking around and seeing your family."
The trailer for Game of Thrones: The Last Watch sees the HBO's co-creator D.B. Weiss describe the emotional impact of seeing the cast together for the read-through of the final season.
The final series of the groundbreaking show, season eight, has been filmed for the sake of a new documentary by British filmmaker, Jeanie Finlay.
In the trailer, you can't help but notice the blood, sweat and tears as well as careful planning went into the last six episodes of the show.
The cast and crew have been forced to be secretive over the years to avoid letting any spoilers slip, so witnessing behind-the-scenes action seems like a huge treat to us.
The two-hour documentary is coming to HBO on May 26, and emotions are DEFINITELY running high. Check out the trailer below, and get yourself ready for the finale this Sunday night:
Game of Thrones is one of the biggest shows on the planet, and has turned some of it's cast into superstar actors on the global stage, but it might have turned out pretty differently.
One of these iconic roles is none other than Jon Snow, but we just can't imagine anyone other than the handsome Kit Harington playing him. Guess who else auditioned for his role, though?
Nicholas Hoult. That's right, About A Boy and Tolkien star went out for the protagonist role but claims his hair and fake tan got in the way of thing…
Imagine Kit Harington didn't land the role and then never met his wife in Iceland, Rose Leslie, AKA Ygritte and the love of Jon Snow's life? Nicholas Hoult had a pretty odd excuse for the audition going badly.
“I think I auditioned for Jon Snow,” Hoult told Page Six at Montclair Film Festival’s screening of his new film.
“I remember it because I was filming Clash of the Titans at the time, so I had long hair extensions. They gave me a ponytail and also a very patchy fake tan. So I remember being like, ‘This is probably not what they’re hoping for,’ and it obviously wasn’t.”
Hoult admitted to watching the first season of the massive HBO series, but failed to keep up after that. Maybe Ned Stark's death was too much for him? He apparently is waiting "to be laid up in bed with the flu" to binge-watch GOT.
"I auditioned for the pilot. I had no idea what Game of Thrones was. Didn’t get it. Kind of forgot about it." Little did the showrunners and cast know, the show was about to BLOW UP.
Despite not landing the key role, the 29-year-old wasn't too hard done by. He's super busy promoting the new X-Men film Dark Phoenix and Tolkien with Sophie Turner and Lily Collins.
He randomly practised painting while filming X-Men as preparation for playing Lord of the Rings author JRR Tolkien.
“I painted … and copied his illustrations because I didn’t know that,” he said. “I didn’t know he drew the maps and illustrations for his books.
“It was just something that I was like, ‘Oh, he was interested and did that and that’s something that maybe can give me some subconscious element of his nature.'”
Fair play to the lad, but we're so glad Kit Harington became a household name after landing the role of Jon. He seems pretty perfect to us, and is just as modest and shy in real life.
*SPOILER INCOMING*
This casting news comes after Maisie Williams confessed that she almost didn't audition to play Arya Stark…imagine. Who would have killed the big bad Night King?!
We simply adore the insane theories floating around about the finale of HBO's Game of Thrones. Hook it up to our veins; we simply can't get enough. No matter how unlikely or fantastical the theory seems, we're suckers for conspiracies.
This latest one truly has us shook, and it's essentially the matter of Drogon possibly having a royal baby of her own. Yes, you read that right…MORE DRAGONS?
We are well aware of how clever George RR Martin and the show-runners are, and they truly love a good twist in the scaly tail. Eagle-eyed fans are speculating that a clue is hidden in plain sight, in the season eight theme tune.
Did Daenerys Targaryen’s most badass dragon have babies? The theme song relates to Dany's most valuable dragon, who has been absent from the tail end of season four until halfway through season five with no explanation.
Well, what if good old Drogon is actually FEMALE and spent her spare time laying eggs and hatching new dragons. One of the rings in the theme tune has four dragons clearly branded on it, with one larger than the other three.
Imagine if Mrs Drogon flew back to absolutely torch Euron Greyjoy's fleet and the Red Keep with her spawn? We would be absolutely shrieking with the drama.
Meanwhile a fan on Reddit, Justzxcvbnm, suggested;
"Drogon is the only one who disappeared, the only one who drove herds and took them all like roasted sheep. What made me rethink this theory was after I saw an episode five promo where Euron Greyjoy looks up at the sky and hears a roar of himself."
"Hears that the 'grunt' is very different and gets scared. Since he has seen the dragons for a long time he wouldn’t be scared for just a dragon, but what if theres more dragons? They also came up with counter-arguments to those convinced that Drogon is male."
It's believed in Westeros by Septon Barth and Maester Aemon that dragons don't have a defined sex, but this means that they can possibly change sex if needed.
Dany is currently down two dragons (RIP Rhaegal and Viserion), so this plot twist is absolutely crucial for her takedown of Queen Cersei Lannister and King's Landing.
Rhaegal tragically lost his life last week at the hands of Euron, and we're betting Danaerys wants cold, hard revenge. We want it too.
Poor Viserion was murdered by the Night King and then turned into an evil blue-eyed wight that could breathe crystal flames. Thank God for Arya Stark and her ninja ways for ending that mess.
Stay tuned to see whether this amazing theory comes to life, we are PRAYING that it does for Dany's sake. If her character arc ends in her madness we will be writing letters to DB Weiss and David Benioff.
On the latest episode of Game of Thrones, the fourth offering from HBO's hit show has made a LOT of people furious, and we can understand why.
Missandei, the darling of Narth, AKA Nathalie Emmanuel, AKA that poor woman who has to plait all of Danaerys' hair on the daily, was brutally murdered by Cersei Lannister.
The actress has responded to her character's final scene, when the evil queen took her head in front of her right-hand-woman and boyfriend Greyworm. Her last word gave us chills; 'Dracarys'. She basically told Dany to burn King's Landing to the ground…and we don't blame her.
The internet was submerged in grief at the character loss, having watched her grow from an enslaved woman to the Dragon Queen's advisor and personal friend over the last few seasons. A white woman ended the life of only woman of colour on the show, which has seen criticism for it's lack of diversity in the past.
Nathalie herself presumably wasn't best pleased when she read the script, as her character was already way too underdeveloped as it is. The potential which the writers had to work with was monumental, yet she was captured and brutally beheaded instead of being granted a deserved hero moment.
Let's not forget that the word 'Dracarys' was uttered by Dany when she freed Missandei and acquired the army of the Unsullied. The word set her free, and was perfect as her last uttering. We adore symmetry.
the same word daenerys used to set missandei free was then missandei’s last word pic.twitter.com/kXAOoRPlfI
One critic of Missandei's death was none other than Ava DuVernay, one of the most successful and influential black female directors of all time.
“So…the one and only sister on the whole epic, years-long series? That’s what you wanna do? Okay. #GOT” she wrote on Twitter. Nathalie retweeted it, with a string of love heart emojis to boot. It's clear she is grateful that the online community took notice of her undignified ending.
She may have just retweeted it as a show of admiration for the iconic movie producer and filmmaker, but we feel a subtle 'YAS' from those love hearts.
The actress also wrote a gorgeous tribute to her character on Instagram, cherishing Missandei for the gentle woman she was; "It’s been one of my greatest joys playing Missandei of Naath… The quiet and kind translator. A brilliant woman who overcame so much suffering and found herself, her voice… and her one and only love."
"She represented so much for me, personally, that I have no choice but to carry the things she has taught me into my life going forward. Thank you to everyone who made it possible for me to play this part."
She gave Emilia Clark a shout out for acting alongside her for so many years, and being the perfectgalpal: "I’ve loved playing your BFF for the past 7 years. Thank you for being such a wonderful person in my life and a source of light and laughter. The Bad Ass Boss Lady Warrior Goddess club will live on forever."
She referenced Greyworm/Baeworm, played by Raleigh Ritchie, and our hearts exploded:
"I literally cannot tell you what sharing the screen with you has meant to me. I found performances I didn’t know I had inside me, simply because you gave me so much to work against. Playing Missandei and Grey Worm’s journey has been so special. I couldn’t have asked for a more generous and supportive co-star."
"We’ve been out in these streets together negotiating so much but always having each other’s back. Thank you for all of it… you have been a dear friend at every point," she added. Baeworm and Missandei were destined to return to the beaches and live out a happy life together as a couple, and we are FUMING this was taken away.
Raleigh played the other person of colour on the show, and certain scenes set in the North showed the discomfort which Missandei and Greyworm felt surrounded by Caucasian people.
She made sure to thank the fans for their continued support, and the entire crew; "You will always hold a special place in my heart. The love and energy we shared will be hard to match. I feel like I hit the jackpot meeting and working with you all. I love you. To the fans of the show, and of Missandei… It’s been a pleasure playing her for you."
The actor who plays the Mountain also posted a hilarious photo of himself with Nathalie to Instagram;
"So sorry. Cersei made me do it. Hope we’re cool!" he wrote. Bless his wee soul, but we're still raging at him for taking our girl Missandei's head.
We are 100 percent committing to the fantasy that the lovely lady is "sipping a rum on a beach somewhere in sky."
Next time you hire one woman of colour for the show, Game of Thrones, maybe give her a better death? Not by a woman who clearly embodies white feminism? Problematic much?
We'd like to end this rant by showing you Jared Leto attending the 2019 Met Gala as Missandei, head in hand:
