real

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As Season 2 of Westworld heads into the endgame, the penultimate episode adds some major twists to the stakes and character motivations. Normally, I’d follow the flow of the episode and wax philosophical about metaphor and story structure, but we’re in the endgame now. There’s a lot going on, so let’s cut straight to the revelations. William is (Probably) a Host This theory has been kicking around the Internet all season and, though his final scene deftly cut away just shy of confirmation, the episode left plenty of signs pointing to William being a human-host hybrid. Ford “gifts” William a copy of his profile, confirmingRead More →

game of thrones jaime lannister brandon stark

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Some of the most exciting reunions we’ll likely see in season 8 of Game of Thrones are the ones that have so much history behind them. The reunion between Jaime Lannister and Brandon Stark (or The Three-Eyed Raven, as he refers to himself now) will be an intense one. It may not happen. But the fact that we know Bran is at Winterfell and Jaime is riding there seems to suggest the two will meet again. So Many Effects The reason this reunion is so interesting is because the last time these two saw each other, one mercilessly tossed the other out a window. This eventRead More →

character

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So you’ve found a group playing a tabletop RPG and you want to create a character. How exciting! You’re about to enter into one of the most engaging and creative social pastimes there is! However, it’s obvious that the rest of your new party has been playing once a week for years by this point, and you’re afraid of being the obvious noob. So, what do you do? Here are the basic steps to creating your first-ever tabletop RPG character. 1. It’s Actually Okay to Be A Noob One of the reasons that tabletop RPGs are growing so rapidly right now is that a lotRead More →

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Until now, Westworld has focused on the development of consciousness under the watchful eye of the hosts’ creators. We’ve seen the interactions between Dolores and Arnold where he takes a personal hand in guiding her toward self-discovery. Even the current uprising is hinted to be part of Ford’s “final narrative,” implying that the actions (or at least their catalysts) are deliberate. Yet, this week’s episode explores the idea of host consciousness developing without such guidance and what the hosts might become if they were spared constant manipulation by their creators. This season has hinted that the Ghost Nation has a deeper connection to what’s goingRead More →

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Hey, Geeks. Welcome to Your Favorite Thing Sucks, where I get to point out all the worst parts of your favorite things. Are you paying attention to E3? Because Bethesda has had announcements about Fallout 76, Wolfenstein: Youngblood, Doom Eternal, Starfield, Rage 2, Elder Scrolls VI, a mobile Elder Scrolls game, and a DLC for Prey. Can you believe it? That is so much hype! And it is probably going to lead to so much disappointment! Let’s talk about why. Via Giphy Bethesda is Buggy as Hell… Here’s the thing: We all know that Bethesda games are huge. They’re ginormous. And any time you createRead More →

deadpool 2

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Hello and welcome to The Geek Embassy Watches Deadpool 2! Join your host Dante Buccieri and his X-Force sized cast of Evan, Regina, and Tahani on their discussion of the latest irreverent and fourth-wall breaking installment of the Deadpool franchise. We go full-on spoilerific in this episode, so if you haven’t seen Deadpool 2, consider yourself warned. We’ve got fridges and bad jokes for everyone this week, so buckle up and break out the chimichangas. Deadpool 2 Deadpool, our lovable merc with a mouth, joins the X-Men on a trainee basis and becomes the unwitting and unwilling guardian of Firefist, a young pyrokinetic mutant, asRead More →

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Westworld is gathering steam like a locomotive in the hands of an angry robot mob, barreling toward the climax of season two. “Les Ecorches” moves into the endgame, raising the stakes, establishing new rules, and finally paying off plotlines and character moments that have been building since the beginning. By now, we’ve learned to look for hints in the episodes titles and “Les Ecorches” — artistic representations of human musculature depicted without skin — implies not just exploration of the core differences between human and host, but of revelation, of peeling back the exterior to lay bare the truth beneath. Not too much truth, though.Read More →

game of thrones cersei lannister

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As we enter the final season of Game of Thrones, we have two “villains” left: The Night King and Cersei Lannister. It’s easy to hate Cersei. She’s lied, cheated, and even killed in the process of remaining powerful. But was she always this way? There are some who say she was a liar from the start and nothing she did or said was ever the truth. But I don’t think that’s the case. I think a long series of events has brought Cersei to where she is today, each one making her more bitter and vengeful. The Loss of Her Mother The loss of aRead More →

simon and kaylee from firefly

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So here’s the thing…I hate arbitrary romance plotlines in popular media. Be it The Walking Dead TV show (damn it, Andrea) or a popular book defacing religion, forced romance will always kill my interest. The last thing I want to see when consuming media is the trope-y protagonist hooking up with a character meant to be the eye candy. Or mind candy. Usually both. But when there’s an interesting story with engaging characters, forming relationships that feel real, I’m hooked. Not even just limited to romance, but bonds forged in fire and tested by trials that hold strong through the end. Fast friendships, passionate romance,Read More →

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This season of Westworld keeps getting better and better. “Phase Space” returned us to the mysteries of networked minds and control cores, explored thematic parallels on motivation and perceived weakness and, in the final moment, provided confirmation of one of the season’s most talked-about theories. It’s all spoilers from here. Let’s get weird. From the start, Westworld has made liberal use of the host interview motif, behind-the-scenes interactions in which they are placed in diagnostic mode and manipulated by their creators. Seeing this turned on its head in the episode’s opening is so very satisfying, as Dolores flexes her agency, assumes the role of interviewer,Read More →