Myrddin

I hope that speculation is wrong.... I'd rather see a clean slate moving forward than clinging to past casting.

Looks like I'm signing up for Hulu in February. I've been meaning to rewatch the 80's miniseries (I actually bought it on dvd way back when). If I wait to rewatch later, it might be like watching Dune 2000 after seeing the new film.

Yes. But it's quite dated now. Pony tails There were some really good concepts (The Watchers, Methos, etc) and story arcs. I liked how half of the seasons were set in "Seacouver" and the other shot on location in Paris. There were also a bunch of lame filler episodes (much of season 1), absolutely awful ones (all of season six), and a movie where they decided to outdo Highlander 2 as the worst HL movie ever (The Source). But the diamonds are worth sifting for, if you like the first movie. The Series is a direct continuation of the first movie if you accept that while the duel with the Kurgan happened, it wasn't the last fight for the Prize. Just a normal day for an Immortal. Connor even shows up in the series premiere. Fun fact: I first adopted the moniker "Myrddin" on a Highlander message board.

Completely different tone from the other trailers. They've gone from buddy film to end of the world with the snap of Tony's fingers. Also, Reddit is all a buzz about the person passing in from of Monica at the end. Apparently, the lower right of the monitor looks like an X-Men logo. Surely they're not introducing Mutants here in this already crowded film?

(That = Use season 2 to wipe Kang) Just have Loki grab a fistful of Infinity Stones from that drawer and wish Kang away.

Seeing how they're starting to backpedal on Kang, they really could've used this season of Loki to eliminate that cosmic threat to reality (and Disney's bank account) and just move us forward to Dr Doom or even the X-Men.

Question is: will they merge Disney+ with Hulu or keep them separate? I can see them doing either. Bolster D+'s weak catalog of new shows (they obviously have strong existing library) with Hulu to justify the rising subscription price. Or hope that households will double dip for both, or pay for a "discounted" bundle price with ESPN.

If the trailer is any indication, maybe Disney+ Daredevil won't be that far off the Netflix version.

I laugh, but I've seen every Marvel movie in the theater since Avengers. (my kids were too little before then, and my wife didn't really care about Marvel until 2014 with Winter Soldier's realistic take on superheroes and then Guardians' exceptional entry a few months later.) That was until 2023. I've felt none of the urgency to see Marvel on release (tv or movies), except for Guardians. I watched Secret Invasions as a background show while working sometime in July. I just saw Quantumania a few weeks ago. I was underwhelmed by both. I did start Loki last weekend, but am enjoying it. I feel no push to see Marvels in theater, even though I liked the trailer. The dynamics between the three leads look fun. Maybe I'm finally old. Maybe I'm just suffering from "superhero fatigue". Maybe I'm just waiting for a sign that the future looks more like GotG3 rather than 2022 MCU.

I've been playing CS since 1.6. I mostly play gun game these days, so I was disappointed when they pulled CS:GO in favor of a new CS2. I tried running CS2 a week or so ago, but it kept hanging up on the menu. I just uninstalled it and went back to Source.

I don't think anyone is 100% onboard with the show or the changes, or even 80%. But many of us have chosen to enjoy it anyway, flawed or not, and enjoy weighing possibilities and discussing areas of strength/weakness. It's a fun way to pass the time. Having people just take a virtual dump on the whole endeavor without any understanding how someone could hold a different opinion, makes this whole thread less fun and more of a sparring match. Some people truly like engaging others in a blow by blow online debate. I'm old. I've grown tired of arguments in my free time. Debate, yes. Back and forth defense against unyielding distaste? Not so much. In my own humble opinion, of course. I do not speak for the trees,

I just plowed through The Italians Before Italy one (yay free Audible trial). Some sections were basic and light (well, for me since I've been reading tons about the Medieval/Renaissance eras), but overall well worth the listen.

So, Harry Potter.

You know, I was disappointed they killed him off at first. His interactions with Nyneave and her judgmental stares always amused me. BUT killing him off and making him Gaidal was a nice concise way to communicate how heroes are spun out and live lives without being aware of their past. So when Birgitte shows up later, we now have a face to the one she's longing for. I'm not thrilled with all of the changes to the show, but there is definitely some economy of story at work here that does work. Sometimes.

As I blew through the last book fairly quickly (and have not re-read any of the Sanderson ones*), I barely remember much except for the broad strokes. You people astound me with what you've retained. *I haven't re-read the Sanderson volumes not from dislike (I enjoyed and appreciated being able to finish the series) but because I haven't done a full re-read of the series since preparing for Gathering Storm. I did start re-reading the series a few years ago at a leisurely pace in between other books. Finished book 6 last Spring. Will pick up 7 in a bit, I think.

So, I've been on a studying the structure of story binge, and decided to look up Tony Gilroy's work to see how he's evolved as a storyteller over the years. His first screenplay? The Cutting Edge. #toepick

So he dies off screen?

Agreed, Arakasi. They bought in elements of both Falme and Tear duels in this finale, so no need to repeat Ishy as the season finale Boss Fight another time. Tear/Callendor will likely be about Sammael or Bael or somebody else instead, and much later in the series.

The speculation about bringing back Fares sent me down the WoT wiki rabbit hole. This line in Ishamael's bio was something I don't remember from the books: That could be the show explanation too about why the dagger makes him decay so fast.

Cate

So you're saying there's a chance!?! /s

That's why I included "movie" before Maul and Grievous. Their characters were pretty thin in their single film appearances. Don't get me wrong. I'm a huge fan of Maul. He was such a menacing presence in tPM. Grievous onscreen was just a mechanical beast. They were both plot driven. As are most things in SW. But let's not pretend all the OT and PT characters were well rounded developed characters. Baylan's story and motivation were short changed in Ashoka, but in the Star Wars universe (outside of Andor), it's more common than not.

Well, he had the same amount of purpose as movie Darth Maul and General Grievous. Or Snoke. Or Captain Phasma. Or OT Boba Fett even. His purpose was to obtain the map for Morgan. He succeeded. His purpose/impact was just over fairly quickly. I think our frustration is not that he had no point; it's that he hinted at something cool beneath the surface but they never scratched deep enough.

I like the "bannered across the sky in fire" being an actual burning banner flapping over the city rather than his image on the clouds. That never made sense to me. At least, I could never really picture it in a non-hokey fashion as a reader. Does this mean the season is going to end with the city chanting "King in the North! The Dragon in the North Reborn! ! The King Dragon Reborn! The Dragon Reborn!

Thrawn needed to win, otherwise he's no threat to anyone, let alone the New Republic. I was surprised that neither dark jedi was featured this week, except in the epilogue. I guess we do need a season 2 to see what happens with the four castaways. I believe the next installment in the "Mandoverse" is Judd Law's Skeleton Crew. And then Mando season 4? If they don't greenlight Ashoka season 2, I guess they can devote an episode of Mando to getting Ashoka and Sabine back home. Maybe they find a copy of The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy wrapped in a towel. Chapter 42: The Encyclopedia Galactica only has three mentions of being able to catch a ride with purrgils. The first one was named Jonah and he basically was taken where he didn't want to go. The other hitchhiker wanted to be a real boy, but became a real snack instead. The third is still waiting for the purrgil to open its mouth to let her out. She's been around the seven galaxies eighteen times at the time of the fourth printing of the encyclopedia.