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GAME OF THRONES Recap: Weary Winter Wights

Hello, fair citizens of the Realm! It’s that time of year again—the most wonderful of them all— Game of Thrones  season. And, in addition to winter: spoilers are coming! As this is a recap, it goes over everything in crazy detail, so proceed at your own risk and don’t say we didn’t warn you!

Holy mother of dragons, one of Dany’s kids has gone to the dark side and Beric Dondarrion is out of lives now that his re-animator, Thoros of Myr is dead and gone (RIP). Surprisingly, however, the majority of the Snowicide Squad actually survived the attempt to capture a wight to bring to King’s Landing and show Cersei the dead are among the living — and brought us an insightful bit of information about how those dead folks and the Night King really work. Oh, and Jon Snow finally bent the knee. WHAT A WEEK! SUCH EMOTION! Let’s get into it, shall we, Game of Thrones fans?

Team SnowDragon

First thing’s first: HOLY HELL VISERION IS AN ICYBOY NOW. We cannot overstate how insane and unprecedented this, not only on the series but in the books as well. The littlest dragon son was taken down by the Night King’s icy javelin after Dany came a-running to save Jon Snow and co.’s lives…only to be reanimated as a gosh dang ice dragon. Y’ALL! WHAT HAVE WE BEEN SAYING THIS WHOLE TIME?! We knew a dragon would go down like this, only we thought Jon Snow would be the undead rider of the beast. (Guess not!) Still: with an Ice Dragon under his will, what in the ever-loving f*** sorta badness is going to go down? Is winter going to come in with the speed of this season’s newly quickened pace?

There was also a bit of political maneuvering with Tyrion trying to give Dany the real talk business about her political tactics. Whatever is going to go down between Dany and Cersei next week is going to change. the. GAME. And it seems as though the only one thinking forward is Tyrion. Remember: Dany believes she cannot have physical kids, which is why she calls her dragons her children. So… does this mean democracy is coming to Westeros?

But perhaps the most major revelation regarding how to defeat the Night King, the White Walkers, and the army of the dead, was learning that the reanimated are a total hivemind connected to the Walker that raised them. That certainly makes the previously daunting task of re-killing a bunch of dead things much, much easier to troubleshoot. Kill the Night King, kill them all. Easy! Except for those wightanimals — like the undead bear! We 100% need more of those and would be fine with a bunch of undead animals hanging out North of the Wall. Give me as many dead animals as you can, please, HBO! What’s next? WightGhost?!?!

Speaking of surprises: Dany’s nephew finally bent the knee to his aunt (after she saw all the questionable scars on his chest – ow ow). It’s extra funny because it ALMOST felt like Dany who was about to bend the knee to Jon. But maybe it’s just because these two so clearly want to smooch it’s ridiculous. Quick question: has the world ever wanted a nephew/aunt pair to bang MORE in the history of the world (fake or otherwise)?

“He’s too little for me,” she said at one point, which: LOL YEAH GIRL HE’S YOUR LITTLE NEPHEW. THAT’S HOW LITTLE HE IS.

Oh and how about that Benjen Stark/Coldhands arrival at the last second to save Jon Snow’s life and send him on his way, eh? Definitely did not anticipate him coming to save Jon (we genuinely thought Rhaegal would swoop in and save the day because, uh, where the heck was Rhaegal in all of this?).

Team Stark

Over at Winterfell, Arya and Sansa STILL aren’t getting along and it is literally breaking our collective hearts here at Nerdist. We’re all big fans of the two sisters who have been through so much and grown after years of struggle and general awfulness. Why not see the truth to Sansa’s letter? Why does Sansa not see Arya’s work was based on trying to survive and thrive and be more than their world lets women be? To which we say: LADIES! You’ve both been through so much—why fight this way?

Could all this annoying in-fighting actually be because they’re secretly teaming up to take Littlefinger down? After all: Arya already proved her ability to see through people’s exteriors in order to get to the truth, so those gosh dang Stark girls BETTER team up and be stronger together for the sake of their family, House Stark, Winterfell, and the Realm.

Besides: who needs the knights of the Vale when you’ve got Gendry and his potentially magical steel-making skills (hopefully) heading to Winterfell soon?

After all, we all know LITTLEFINGER IS THE LITERAL WORST. “How far would you trust men like that, they’re bloody wind vanes,” Sansa LOOK AT WHO YOU ARE SAYING THIS TO, okay? Look at how quickly he went from “hey she’s your sister” to “have Brienne murder her”! Littlefinger, I hope you get an White Walker javelin to the dick.

But the fact that Sansa sent Brienne away to King’s Landing leads us to believe that Sansa and Arya are on the same side. PLEASE BE ON THE SAME SIDE, GIRL.

Team Lannister

And then there were these jerks. Ahh, Cersei Lannister, you bloviating fearmonger. Though we didn’t see them at all this week, their presence was certainly felt: particularly in the invitation to King’s Landing that Cersei sent to Sansa to help end the war (twiiiist). Is Cersei going to try to bring all the kings and queens together so she can murder them all? Oy.

Here’s hoping that zombie they’re bringing with them bites Cersei — OH GOSH WAIT WE TAKE THAT BACK BECAUSE WHAT IF SHE BECOMES UNDEAD AND THEN CERSEI MARRIES THE NIGHT KING AND BECOMES THE NIGHT QUEEN LIKE IN THE FIRST LONG NIGHT?!

Oh man, we did not think of that.

Silver lining: at least Gendry is still alive?

Other Odds and Ends:

Dany’s winter look is the best in a long line of epic fashion choices – THANK YOU, MICHELE CLAPTON.
Look at Beric, hinting at the fact that Jon Snow looks nothing like Ned Stark! I C U BERIC—also do you KNOW THE TRUTH TOO?!

What if everyone in the Realm knows Jon Snow is a SecretTarg and have just been holding out on us this whole time?
Also “We’ll meet again Clegane,” WHAT ELSE DO YOU KNOW, BERIC?!


It was nice to  “see” what The Hound saw in the Realm now, but I still wish we saw it in the flames.
Also HOW IN THE WORLD DID THOROS OF MYR GO THROUGH ALL THAT JUST TO FREEZE TO DEATH?!

Like seriously?
“Dick?” “Cock.” “Dick, I like it.” TORMUND!


Also: Tormund admitting his love for Brienne to The Hound was so precious. “You DO know her.”


For real though: how long do you think they were stuck on that rock though, timeline-wise?
Poor Ser Jorah: by getting on that dragon first while Jon Snow hunkily ran around re-murderin’ the dead, he 100% solidified his place as Lord of House Friendzone.
Also we’re going to need more details about Benjen/Coldhands and what he’s been up to all this time.
Sad dragons are the most heartbreaking sort of dragon.
Also: anyone else think that reveal of Arya having LITERAL FACES IN HER BAG as part of the Faceless Men’s trick slightly underwhelming and deeply corny?
That said, “”The world doesn’t just let girls decide what they’re going to be.” was the LINE OF THE NIGHT, for me.

But what about you? What do you think? Let us know in the comments below!

Images: HBO

Alicia Lutes is the Managing Editor, creator/co-host of Fangirling, and resident Khaleesi of House Nerdist. Find her on Twitter but only if you really want because, like—I’m not your boss.

WHAT ELSE IS HAPPENING ON GAME OF THRONES?

How Gendry’s return is way more than just fan service.
Why Gilly’s Rhaegar revelation could have a huge impact on the future of the show.
Why Arya’s Faceless Men training will ultimately doom Littlefinger’s plans.

History of Thrones: The Night King, White Walkers, and the Army of the Dead

Warning: This post contains spoilers for this week’s Game of Thrones, so if the thought of reading them leaves you feeling cold, or if you have an icy disposition towards info from the books, don’t march beyond the Wall of this introduction.

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We hate to engage in hyperbole, but it might be time to start taking the Night King seriously, because killing a dragon with a magic ice javelin and recruiting it into his army of the dead is what you would call a real (blue) eye opener.

We covered the first Long Night in our History of Thrones series last year, but now we’re really (REALLY) worried about the present. So to try and understand the awesome, terrifying powers of the ice-demons from beyond the Wall, as well as what the Night King might really be capable of, we’re looking at everything we know about the White Walkers and their leader, from both the novels and the show (including this most recent, dragon-killing episode).

The White Walkers are one of the few topics where the show has given us way more information than the novels—even though this was only the 11th appearance for them in the TV series—and that was true long before Game of Thrones surpassed the books. But the two have overlapped on some of the most important matters.

The White Walkers (known as the Others in the books) are a pale, icy humanoid species from the furthest reaches north of the Wall, in the Lands of Always Winter. They are gaunt with blue eyes, a trait they share with the reanimated corpses they raise to be soldiers in their army of the dead. These zombie-like creatures are known as wights, and they come in all shapes, sizes, and degrees of decomposition.

Until the latest episode “Beyond the Wall,” it wasn’t clear if all White Walkers could raise the dead or just the Night King (a character not yet introduced in the novels), but it seems to be a power they all have now that it looks like their “own” wights also die (un-die? re-die?) when they are killed.

What is still not clear though is how close a White Walker has to physically be to make a dead man rise, or if there is a way to delay when it happens.

Lord Commander Mormont was attacked on the show and in the novels by a dead member of the Night’s Watch, Othor. His corpse was brought back from beyond the Wall, but that night Othor came back as a wight and tried to kill Mormont. Was a White Walker close to Castle Black that night to bring him back, or had they used their unknown magic on Othor before he was found and he was waiting to rise? Whatever it was, Jon stopped Othor by setting him on fire, after stabbing him didn’t stop him.

They do wear armor–on the show they seemed to have started wearing it after Sam killed one with dragonglass–which offers them protection (it’s a more magical type of armor in the books). No one knows if they are responsible for the terrible cold and harsh storms that follow them everywhere, or if they follow the storms.

Wights can be killed either by fire (burning a body is the only way to prevent the dead from becoming a wight in the first place), or if they are completely dismembered–though Othor’s hand kept moving in the books long after he was burnt. However the White Walkers are so cold they extinguish fires when they walk through them, like when the Night King easily strolled through the wall of fire the Children of the Forest set up in front of the Three-Eyed Raven’s hiding place.

White Walkers are also incredibly strong, able to throw men as big as Sam far distances. They also use weapons of ice, which shatter the normal steel weapons of men and can pierce dragon scales. While Sam killed one with a dagger of dragonglass in both versions, only the TV show saw a White Walker die from a Valyrian steel sword, when Jon shattered one with a single blow at Hardhome. Valyrian steel is also the only weapon not to shatter when struck by a White Walker’s ice sword.

Besides dead humans (and on the show, giants), the White Walkers can raise dead animals, and are often seen riding zombie horses. The tales of the Long Night say that when they marched on the living they were accompanied by giant ice spiders, but if the legends are true they haven’t appeared in either version yet. The legend never said anything about dead dragons though.

Two of the most terrifying revelations from the show have included the “birth” of White Walkers. The first was their creation by the Children of the Forest (at least 8,000 years ago, but maybe even much longer), when they pushed a piece of dragonglass into the heart of a man. They eventually lost control of their weapon and had to join with the First Men to defeat them.

There are tales of female White Walkers, the most notorious being the one from the legend of the first Night King (we’ll get to that), but Game of Thrones has only shown male ones. But we know how they “reproduce,” because the show had a scene where a White Walker brought one of Craster’s sacrificed sons back to some sort of home base. The Night King approached, touched his finger below the baby’s eye, and rather than becoming a wight he became a White Walker.

As for proof of female White Walkers, the most infamous tale came from Old Nan’s story about the Night King. The legends say he was the 13th Lord Commander of the Night’s Watch who saw a woman beyond the Wall “with skin as white as the moon and eyes like blue stars.” He pursued her, and then the two ruled together as King and Queen of Night for 13 years at the Nightfort, where they were said to have committed horrible atrocities. The Night’s Watch was eventually freed by the combined forces of the King of Winter, Brandon Stark, and the King-Beyond-The-Wall Joramun. Yes, the same Joramun of the famed Horn of Winter, which legend says can bring down the Wall.

While Game of Thrones has revealed most of the horrifying truths about the White Walkers, there is one terrifying fact it has left out: wights seem to retain some memory of who they were. Othor seemed to know exactly who and where the Lord Commander was and specifically targeted him. In the novels Alliser Thorne tells Jon, “You’d best pray that it’s a wildling blade that kills me, though. The ones the Others kill don’t stay dead—and they remember.” When the skinchanger, Varamyr Sixskins, tried to warg into a woman as he was dying, she went crazy, tearing out her own eyes. That attracted wights who killed her, and when Varamyr looked back at her from his new wolf body he thought she recognized him.

Is the Night King of legend the same Night King leading the White Walkers now? We don’t know, but we do know he has incredible powers we don’t fully understand. He can control dead animals, turn baby humans into one of his own kind, raise children and giants alike, and he can make a single dead man or tens of thousands of them rise as easily as he lifts his hands.

But what might be most terrifying is that his army is not made up of mindless wights. In the same way the White Walkers contain some element of humanity, so too do their army of the dead.

What does that mean for a dead dragon? Could its mother be his target, the same way Othor went after his Lord Commander? Could other secret Targaryens, who share an unspoken bond with dragons, also be the ire of the Night King’s newest flying weapon? And since a dead dragon is part of the army of ice, will a deadly cold come from his mouth instead of flames?

The living should have opened their eyes long ago and dealt with the White Walkers, because now the Night King has a dragon, and that might result in all of their eyes turning blue.

Confused About What’s Going Down on Thrones? Read these:

Click here to read about The Long Night and see why this might be its sequel.
Curious about the religions of Westeros? Read this!
Here’s why Jon Snow’s parents fell in love (probably) and why it was so forbidden.
More details on Valyrian steel can be found here!

What other powers do you think the White Walkers have? What did you think of tonight’s revelations about them? Share your thoughts with us in the comments below.

Images: HBO

Fly to Neverland with New PETER PAN Fashion from Cath Kidston and Disney

Floral patterns go with everything as far as I’m concerned, but they get a little something extra when they’re combined with Disney characters. That’s happening with designer Cath Kidston’s latest Disney fashion collection. Her prints have a whimsical nature anyway, so pairing them with characters from Disney’s animated films is ideal. The upcoming line will transport you to Neverland because it’s all about Peter Pan.

Cosmopolitan first brought the utterly charming collection to our attention, and this video from Cath Kidston Ltd. previews a taste of how characters such as Tinker Bell fit into their aesthetic.

Watch as we blend our pretty posies with fine sketches of everyone’s favourite pixie, Tinker Bell! Click the link in our bio to sign up and be the first to shop on Thursday the 21st of September #DisneyXCathKidston

A post shared by Cath Kidston (@cathkidston_ltd) on Aug 17, 2017 at 7:59am PDT

Tinker Bell’s prominent in the collection, which extends to homewares, too. In fact, I’d say she’s the star. Tink appears on mugs, purses, and even on this Peter Pan collar blouse. Get it—Peter Pan collar.

Excuse me, I’m taking a moment to picture all the skirts and pants I have that would go with that top.

The Peter Pan collection won’t be available until September 21. Pass the time by a sampling of the designs in the gallery below. If you want a reminder to soar into the product launch, visit the Cath Kidston website to sign up for an email notification.

Which items are you coveting? I’m the teensiest bit obsessed with the Peter Pan in London skirt. Fly to the comments and tell me what you like.

Images: Cath Kidston

We Still Can’t Make The Closest Thing to GAME OF THRONES’ Valyrian Steel

Now that winter is here, and the time is nigh to do full-scale battle with the Night King and the army of the dead, the limited bits of Valyrian steel strewn across the Game of Thrones world are more precious than ever. It’s the one kind of steel that can kill White Walkers, and most believe it can only be forged using dragon fire and arcane magic. But setting aside anything mystical or dracarys!-related, how similar is Valyrian steel to what could be considered its real-life counterpart? And how close can we get to fashioning an impervious blade using our own form of material-world manipulation, science?

First off, a quick refresher of what Valyrian steel is exactly. As its name implies, Valyrian steel was forged using dragon fire in the Freehold of Valyria before the city’s demise. It keeps its edge forever, is much stronger and lighter than normal steel, and it’s gone unmade since the fall of Valyria. And while it can’t be forged, it can be manipulated—by only the most skilled bladesmiths—as in the case of Ned Stark’s great sword, Ice, which was refashioned into Widow’s Wail and Oathkeeper. (By the way, if you have any qualms with this description, we refer you to this young George R.R. Martin fellow describing the material himself in the clip below.)

As for the blades’ closest visual analog, Damascus steel, that has its own somewhat mythical origin story, rooted in the Near East. It can be traced back to India to around 500 AD, where it was known as Telangana, Wootz, or Ukku steel. Like Valyrian steel, Damascus steel was christened with a name (given by invading crusaders) based on the place where it was made, Damascus, Syria. After gaining a reputation for being able to cut through swords made of lesser steel, and for displaying distinctive watery swirls on its face, Damascus steel weapons became downright legendary, coveted by many great warriors. It’s even said that Alexander the Great was armed with a Damascus steel sword.

Although the technique for making Damascus steel doesn’t involve dragon fire, it does require very high temperatures and a unique forging technique that is still, to do this day, shrouded in mystery. It’s thought that the process generally required heating up Wootz steel to an abnormally high 2,300 degrees Fahrenheit before cooling it down to room temperature over the course of a day.

As it cools, the Wootz steel is reheated, reshaped, and then abruptly doused with water. This quenching process, suddenly cooling the glowing hot steel with water, gave the blade a special hardness (by shrinking the crystal grain size of the material). The water used to quench the blade was referred to as “Dragon Blood.”

Damascus steel blade with trademark “Damask” pattern on its surface. Image: Wikimedia / Tamorlan

Many bladesmiths have claimed that they’ve been able to revive the ability to forge Damascus steel, although it seems that the consensus among those in the know is that nobody’s been able to crack the process. The New York Times reported on two metallurgists at Stanford University back in 1981 however, noting that “the mystery of Damascus steel appears solved.” That may not be exactly the case however, because even though the alloy they came up with was rich in carbon (with around 2% carbon content vs. 1% for normal steel), the material used to forge original Damascus steel swords utilized metals with trace impurities of Tungsten and Vanadium. Sometimes you need imperfection for perfection, right?

But what if we wanted to ignore trying to make any link between Valyrian steel and Damascus steel? What’s the strongest sword we could make today?

It seems like for ultimate blade strength, you’d go with a titanium alloy — a combination of titanium and several other elements like iron, chromium, cobalt, nickel, etc. As for sharpness, you’d be looking at the volcanic glass known as obsidian, which can have a cutting edge merely nanometers thick. (Except you couldn’t in reality use obsidian because it fractures too easily.) Its Game of Thrones correlate is dragonglass, another one of those materials that Jon, Daenerys, and every other breathing thing is going to need to fight off the army of the dead.

What do you think about the relationship between Valyrian steel and Damascus steel? Does it blow your mind that even with all of our modern technology, we still can’t recreate a smithing technique that’s more than 1,500 years old? Forge your thoughts in the heat of the comments section below!

Images: HBO

 HAS GAME OF THRONES ALREADY SHOWN ITS ENDGAME?

JURASSIC WORLD EVOLUTION Trailer Lets You Run Your Own Theme Park

Back in 2015, Jurassic World  reinvigorated the Jurassic Park franchise and it also proved that John Hammond’s dream of a dinosaur theme park was viable. And yet even at the pinnacle of its success, something inevitably went wrong at Jurassic World. Next summer, gamers will get their chance to build and guide their own theme parks when Jurassic World Evolution arrives.

The first trailer for Jurassic World Evolution dropped at Gamescom, and it follows a T-Rex at the moment of its birth before jumping ahead to the moment it goes on a rampage. Hopefully the game will provide players with better options for the fences! The trailer also offers a glimpse of a theme park that seems more impressive than the one in the movie.

Jurassic World Evolution is being developed by Frontier Developments, the company behind Elite Dangerous, Planet Coaster, and the RollerCoaster Tycoon series. As hinted in the trailer, players will have numerous options for their own Jurassic World parks on Isla Nublar and its surrounding islands. But it won’t be enough to simply build the park and keep the guests from becoming dino-snacks. Players will also have to find new ways to keep visitors pouring in, which means they will have to build additional attractions and create brand new dinosaurs using a bio-engineering team.

While Jurassic World Evolution only has a vague summer 2018 release planned for Xbox One, Playstation 4, and PC, we’re willing to bet that it will arrive in June 2018 to take advantage of the cinematic debut of Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom, the fifth film in the franchise.

What did you think about the first teaser trailer for Jurassic World Evolution? Share your thoughts in the comment section below!

Image: Frontier Developments 

Make Your Fandom Fashionable with Jewelry Made from Comic Books

When fashion and fandom come together, it’s like the greatest superpower ever: being able to take a small piece of your favorite heroes with you! Full cosplay and dresses may make a strong impression, but if you’d like to add to your already full closet of outfits, jewelry makes the perfect accessory for everyday wear. One fan turned her love of comic book heroines and fashion into a business by crafting handmade jewelry created from her own comic book collection.

After attending her first Free Comic Book Day event, Gretch Corely was in a store perusing the clearance jewelry. “I saw these plated geometric necklaces, and thought, ‘These are so ugly, why would someone wear just plain plates?'” she told us. Questionable fashion choices turned to inspiration as Corely bought up the unwanted accessories and started combining them with her comic book haul. Her first piece of jewelry was an homage to Wonder Woman, and while the first try wasn’t perfect—it inspired her to keep creating and experimenting with different mediums.

Since that first experiment in 2011 Corely has honed her process, recently switching to an aluminum base for her accessories. “I sustained a neck injury a few years ago, and wearing heavy necklaces aggravates my nerve damage,” she shared, “so having these ultra lightweight pieces means I can wear jewelry again. I figured I can’t be the only one who can’t handle weight around the neck, so that’s become a huge selling point.”

She now hand cuts the pieces out of aluminum sheet metal, which allows her to make each piece custom for the images. After hammering loop holes, she then buffs everything down with a Dremel. Specific comic images are gathered for the piece, glued down then coated with a modeling enamel. The streamlined process results in beautiful custom works of art.

Powerful female comic book characters provide Corely inspiration, in addition to Wonder Woman she has a few go-tos that are her favorites: “Josie Schuller from Ladykiller. Storm, Red Sonja, Faith, Angela, Batwoman. I love strong, independent women in my comics.”

Corely has come a long way since her very first Free Comic Book Day, inspired by the many strong women she uses in her art pieces, she has decided to crowdfund to open her own store in West Virginia. “I’ll be using the space to host events like Batman Day and Halloween Comics Fest, and talk to parents and educators about the use of comics in reading development. I’ve been working a lot with the Philippi Public Library to help them develop their graphic novel section, coordinate new events in town, and this year I’m giving them all my kids’ HCF titles to pass out.”

Whether it’s creating jewelry or talking about her passion for comics, Corely has taken her fandom to the next level by spreading her joy of comics.

Check out the gallery for more comic book jewelry and Corely’s store for the full collection.

Which comic book necklace would you wear to show off your fandom? Let us know in the comments!

Images: Gretch Corely

Inventive Pet Owner Creates LEGO Wheelchair for Sick Hedgehog

There’s a lot of garbage in the news, so when a bit of cute good news like this comes along we’re compelled to share it. What’s a pet owner to do when their hedgehog becomes too weak to walk? Build a wheelchair out of LEGO, that’s what.

A post shared by Chappaquiddick

Why Ewan McGregor Is the Chosen One to Star in an Obi-Wan Film

Lucasfilm and Disney could be making the next Star Wars standalone film all about Obi-Wan Kenobi. Word about the possible solo film for the Jedi dropped on Thursday from The Hollywood Reporter, and while the project is reportedly in quite early development with no script or cast attached, Lucasfilm and Disney are “in talks” with director Stephen Daldry. And if the Obi-Wan focused movie happens and if it takes place during the time between Revenge of the Sith and A New Hope, Ewan McGregor is the Chosen One for the role.

First of all, McGregor is more than willing to return to the Star Wars universe. While promoting a film at the Edinburgh International Film Festival in 2015, McGregor shared enthusiasm about reprising the role of Obi-Wan. He said: “I’ll say it publicly, here, now. I’d be happy to do the story between Episode III, that I finished in, and Episode IV that Alec Guinness started in. I think that would be good. Disney should definitely do that.”

Yes, they should.

McGregor made a similar statement to Collider in 2016 about wanting to do an Obi-Wan movie in that time period. Collider asked him about whether he’d discussed the possibility with Lucasfilm or Lucasfilm president Kathleen Kennedy, and he replied with a mysterious: “I’m not sure I’m at liberty to say, really, but I’m very interested in doing that. That would be great. Maybe there’s even a trilogy!”

And of course, McGregor’s voice was in The Force Awakens. He can be heard in the Force vision Rey has while in Maz Kanata’s castle. Obi-Wan says, “Rey, these are your first steps.” The first part, Rey, is pulled from Alec Guinness’ performance as Obi-Wan in A New Hope, and the rest is McGregor.

So, McGregor’s already come back to the Star Wars universe, and he seems to be ready to be Obi-Wan once again. He’s possibly already discussed the matter with Lucasfilm, too. Those are solid reasons for him to become the crazy old wizard known as Ben Kenobi, but they’re not the only ones.

He’s just the right age to play an older and more grizzled Obi-Wan. It’s been 12 years since Revenge of the Sith. Roughly 19 years passed in the Star Wars galaxy between Episodes III and IV. Much is made about how rapidly Obi-Wan aged in that time and went from McGregor to Guinness (desert climates are harsh, y’all), but if they set the film five or so years into Obi-Wan’s self-imposed exile, it all balances out.

On top of being in the right age range to be convincing in the role, McGregor knows the character. He played Obi-Wan in three films. He spent time as Obi-Wan in different stages of the Jedi’s life. McGregor was the young and earnest learner under the tutelage of Qui-Gon Jinn, he was the reluctant teacher and mentor to Anakin, and then he was the confident and wise Jedi. It’s only natural for him to pick up the baton and take Obi-Wan into the hermit protector era of his life.

Finally, McGregor was one of the best parts of the prequels. He took wooden and/or silly dialogue and owned it. He infused Obi-Wan’s lines with a certain energy and often brought an edge of humor to his scenes. He could also flip the table completely with his delivery of words such as “You were the Chosen One.” Merely thinking about the intensity McGregor gave that line almost brings me to tears.

Imagine what McGregor could do with a pensive and maybe bored Obi-Wan who’s trying to restrain his impulses to get involved and instead stay out of sight and out of mind. He could kill it. Plus it means he would have to grow out his beard again, which I count as a win.

Do you think McGregor should play Obi-Wan? Tell us what you think and/or share your pick for Obi-Wan in the comments.

Images: Lucasfilm/Disney, Giphy

What else is happening in Star Wars?

Why the rumored Boba Fett spin-off should take its cues from Judge Dredd.
Are Porgs the key to Star Wars: The Last Jedi ?
Everything we know about Star Wars Land so far.

SILENCE OF THE LAMBS Hannibal Action Figure is Terrifyingly Lifelike

It’s been over 25 years since Thomas Harris’ novel The Silence of the Lambs made it on to the big screen, where it made an icon out of the brilliant serial killer Hannibal Lecter. Since then, there have been two sequels, not to mention the beloved cult series Hannibal. But none of these would have happened without the iconic, Oscar-winning portrayal of Hannibal from Sir Anthony Hopkins.

Now, Silence of the Lambs fans can celebrate their love for one of the greatest on-screen villains of all time, as Bluefin is bringing “Hannibal the Cannibal” to life as it opens pre-orders for Blitzway’s new line of 1/6 scale Hannibal Lecter action figures. Two poseable figures are scheduled for release in the first quarter of 2018, and each figure will come at a price tag of $269.99 each.

The customizable figures allow depiction of Hannibal in a straitjacket, in his iconic face mask, and also in a pristine, white prisoner’s uniform (complete with a police officer’s nightstick) from the scene in the original film where he escapes from his cell.

Blitzway worked with the world’s best sculptors to achieve a disturbing level of realism (in a good way) for each design. Each figure stands nearly 12 inches tall and features over 30 points of articulation to allow for realistic posing possibilities.

You can check out early images of the figure in our gallery down below.

Do you want this amazing figure of Hannibal sitting on your shelf, looking at you with hungry eyes? Let us know in the comments below.

Images: Bluefin / Blitzway

Thank the Maker This Artist Is Creating Squishy STAR WARS Porgs

Thanks to the reveal of Star Wars: The Last Jedi images we have a new character to fixate on leading up to the movie’s big release in December—all hail the porg! The cute (yet possibly fierce) little creature has big eyes you can get lost in, is incredibly cuddly, but as with most things Star Wars you never know if it’s capable of turning on you.

The mystery behind these inhabitants of the planet Ahch-To makes them all the more coveted. Fans will have to wait to see if porg toys will hit the market come Force Friday—the annual big Star Wars merchandising event—on September 1st. Until then, artist Toby Markham has taken porg obsession into his own hands by creating life-size cuddly porgs for fans to have of their very own.

Like all of us Markham caught his first glimpse of the creatures in the behind the scenes footage that was released during the D23 Expo, he immediately noticed their bird-like qualities, “those little faces really stood out to me. Last year, while in Iceland, I made it a point to visit their aquarium. It’s known as the place where you can hold a puffin. Being a bird lover, I wasn’t going to pass up the opportunity. So it was a combination of birds and my desire to create that made me want to make one.”

The porg experiment started out as a sculpting exercise but since there were no specifications, Markham had to improvise, “My sculptures generally just start as a rough buildup of shapes. Usually if it’s something like a mask, I just build up over a casting of my head. So in this case, there was nothing to build upon.”

The process became a series of steps, “After the clay sculpt is completed, I add a few coats of silicone, until it becomes thick enough to stay sturdy. Then that gets a rigid mother mold, so the emptied silicone retains the original shape of the sculpt. So once everything gets demolded, resin is poured in and slush cast.”

Markham created his little porgs in both resin form and an irresistible squeezable rubber version. Since rubber doesn’t take well to paint the squishy porgs are left as is, while the painted resin sculptures take on a much more lifelike quality, “once the castings have cured, I break out the airbrush, mix the proper colors, and paint away. Those initial five castings must’ve taken about two hours to get through. Luckily it’s a fast drying paint, so once I’ve gotten through all five with one color, the first one’s paint has set and I can continue onto the next color.”

Suddenly, more squishy rubber #porgs were ordered. #starwars #porg

A post shared by Toby (@sithcamaro) on Aug 10, 2017 at 2:42pm PDT

Since we know so little about porgs, detail is key for the curious creature. Markham said, “Luckily it wasn’t a very unusual shape, so it really just became more of an exercise in texture. I almost skipped the teeth, but I’m glad I didn’t! They really add character.”

Markham has sculpted creatures inspired by each of the last two Star Wars films and hopes to create more in the future. We’ll have to wait and see how this whole porg obsession turns out, fingers crossed that Episode 9 will be titled, Revenge of the Porgs!

If you’d like to own your own custom porg, you can find them on Markham’s website, www.sithcamaro.com.

Do you think porgs will be magical or mercenary in Star Wars: The Last Jedi? Give us all your porg theories in the comments!

And for more The Last Jedi, check out our theory that Porgs might be the key!

Images: Toby Markham