Ryan Reynolds has been teasing photos from "Deadpool 2," for a couple of weeks now, sharing photos of himself and Domino, played by Zazie Beetz.

Now Reynolds has given us the first look at "Deadpool 2's" Cable, played by Josh Brolin.

Brolin shared a photo of himself about a month ago on Instagram, in the midst of his Cable transformation:

And on Monday morning, Reynolds gave us the first look at Brolin fully transformed into Cable:

Minutes after Reynolds' tweet, Brolin shared a more detailed photo of himself as Cable, and honestly we're a bit scared:

 "Deadpool 2" is expected to hit theaters June 2018.

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NOW WATCH: Here’s what celebrities would look like with symmetrical faces

Warning: Spoilers for "Game of Thrones" season seven, episode four, "The Spoils of War." If you aren't caught up on the series, read at your own risk. 

When you play the game of thrones, you win or you die. There is no middle ground.

Now that we're getting closer and closer to the end of the series, that powerful quote from Cersei back in season one is proving to be true.

Any week, anyone can go, and anyone can lose or gain a lot of power.

In "The Spoils of War," there are significant power shifts, as Daenerys wins a major battle after a major loss last week, and Cersei's wins come back to haunt her. This week many characters made good and bad decisions, and they all had some consequences. 

Every week, we'll round up which character was the smartest, the dumbest, the luckiest, and more in our power rankings.

Here's the "Game of Thrones" power rankings based on season seven episode four, "The Spoils of War" in order of who won and who lost. 

SEE ALSO: The 12 biggest questions we have after this week's 'Game of Thrones'

The smartest: Bronn

Bronn's skills in battle and incredible instincts come together in the end when he saves Jaime Lannister from dying via Drogon breath. He also chooses not to reach for his bag of gold, which he drops during the battle, saving himself from likely destruction. 

The dumbest: Jaime Lannister

Tyrion was right in calling Jaime an idiot as he heads toward Daenerys and Drogon. He is clearly blinded by his love for Cersei. When will it end? 

The luckiest: Jaime Lannister, Cersei Lannister

Jaime is lucky Bronn saves him from turning into Drogon ash.

And Cersei is lucky that the money meant to pay the crown's debt to the Iron Bank makes it to King's Landing before Daenerys, Drogon, and the Dothraki attack the Lannister army. She's also lucky her beloved brother/lover didn't die defending her. 

This is a preview of a research report from BI Intelligence, Business Insider's premium research service. To learn more about BI Intelligence, click here.

What is eSports? History & Rise of Video Game Tournaments

Years ago, eSports was a community of video gamers who would gather at conventions to play Counter Strike, Call of Duty, or League of Legends.

These multiplayer video game competitions would determine League of Legends champions, the greatest shooters in Call of Duty, the cream of the crop of Street Fighter players, the elite Dota 2 competitors, and more.

But today, as the history of eSports continue to unfold, media giants such as ESPN and Turner are broadcasting eSports tournaments and competitions. And in 2014, Amazon acquired Twitch, the live streaming video platform that has been and continues to be the leader in online gaming broadcasts. And YouTube also wanted to jump on the live streaming gaming community with the creation of YouTube Gaming.

eSports Market Growth Booming

To put in perspective how big eSports is becoming, a Google search for "lol" does not produce "laughing out loud" as the top result. Instead, it points to League of Legends, one of the most popular competitive games in existence. The game has spawned a worldwide community called the League of Legends Championship Series, more commonly known as LCS or LOL eSports.

What started as friends gathering in each other's homes to host LAN parties and play into the night has become an official network of pro gaming tournaments and leagues with legitimate teams, some of which are even sponsored and have international reach. Organizations such as Denial, AHQ, and MLG have multiple eSports leagues.

And to really understand the scope of all this, consider that the prize pool for the latest Dota 2 tournament was more than $20 million.

Websites even exist for eSports live scores to let people track the competitions in real time if they are unable to watch. There are even fantasy eSports leagues similar to fantasy football, along with the large and growing scene of eSports betting and gambling.

So it's understandable why traditional media companies would want to capitalize on this growing trend just before it floods into the mainstream. Approximately 300 million people worldwide tune in to eSports today, and that number is growing rapidly. By 2020, that number will be closer to 500 million.

eSports Industry Analysis - The Future of the Competitive Gaming Market

Financial institutions are starting to take notice. Goldman Sachs valued eSports at $500 million in 2016 and expects the market will grow at 22% annually compounded over the next three years into a more than $1 billion opportunity.

And industry statistics are already backing this valuation and demonstrating the potential for massive earnings. To illustrate the market value, market growth, and potential earnings for eSports, consider Swedish media company Modern Times Group's $87 million acquisition of Turtle Entertainment, the holding company for ESL. YouTube has made its biggest eSports investment to date by signing a multiyear broadcasting deal with Faceit to stream the latter's Esports Championship Series. And the NBA will launch its own eSports league in 2018.

Of course, as with any growing phenomenon, the question becomes: How do advertisers capitalize? This is especially tricky for eSports because of its audience demographics, which is young, passionate, male-dominated, and digital-first. They live online and on social media, are avid ad-blockers, and don't watch traditional TV or respond to conventional advertising.

So what will the future of eSports look like? How high can it climb? Could it reach the mainstream popularity of baseball or football? How will advertisers be able to reach an audience that does its best to shield itself from advertising?

Robert Elder, research analyst for BI Intelligence, Business Insider's premium research service, has compiled an unparalleled report on the eSports ecosystem that dissects the growing market for competitive gaming. This comprehensive, industry-defining report contains more than 30 charts and figures that forecast audience growth, average revenue per user, and revenue growth.

Companies and organizations mentioned in the report include: NFL, NBA, English Premier League, La Liga, Bundesliga, NHL, Paris Saint-Germain, Ligue 1, Ligue de Football, Twitch, Amazon, YouTube, Facebook, Twitter, ESPN, Electronic Arts, EA Sports, Valve, Riot Games, Activision Blizzard, ESL, Turtle Entertainment, Dreamhack, Modern Times Group, Turner Broadcasting, TBS Network, Vivendi, Canal Plus, Dailymotion, Disney, BAMTech, Intel, Coca Cola, Red Bull, HTC, Mikonet

Here are some eSports industry facts and statistics from the report:

• eSports is a still nascent industry filled with commercial opportunity.
• There are a variety of revenue streams that companies can tap into.
• The market is presently undervalued and has significant room to grow.
• The dynamism of this market distinguishes it from traditional sports.
• The audience is high-value and global, and its numbers are rising.
• Brands can prosper in eSports by following the appropriate game plan.
• Game publishers approach their Esport ecosystems in different ways.  
• Successful esport games are comprised of the same basic ingredients.
• Digital streaming platforms are spearheading the popularity of eSports.
• Legacy media are investing into eSports, and seeing encouraging results.
• Traditional sports franchises have a clear opportunity to seize in eSports.
• Virtual and augmented reality firms also stand to benefit from eSports.  

In full, the report illuminates the business of eSports from four angles:

• The gaming nucleus of eSports, including an overview of popular esport genres and games; the influence of game publishers, and the spectrum of strategies they adopt toward their respective esport scenes; the role of eSports event producers and the tournaments they operate.
• The eSports audience profile, its size, global reach, and demographic, psychographic, and behavioral attributes; the underlying factors driving its growth; why they are an attractive target for brands and broadcasters; and the significant audience and commercial crossover with traditional sports.
• eSports media broadcasters, including digital avant-garde like Twitch and YouTube, newer digital entrants like Facebook and traditional media outlets like Turner’s TBS Network, ESPN, and Canal Plus; their strategies and successes in this space; and the virtual reality opportunity.
• eSports market economics, with a market sizing, growth forecasts, and regional analyses; an evaluation of the eSports spectacle and its revenue generators, some of which are idiosyncratic to this industry; strategic planning for brand marketers, with case studies; and an exploration of the infinite dynamism and immense potential of the eSports economy.

Interested in getting the full report? Here are two ways to access it:

1. Subscribe to an All-Access pass to BI Intelligence and gain immediate access to this report and over 100 other expertly researched reports. As an added bonus, you'll also gain access to all future reports and daily newsletters to ensure you stay ahead of the curve and benefit personally and professionally. >> START A MEMBERSHIP
2. Purchase & download the full report from our research store. >> BUY THE REPORT

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NOW WATCH: Here's the first trailer for the second season of 'Westworld'

"Grand Theft Auto" has always been an impressive video game franchise, but it's never been this impressive before.

The latest game in the series, "Grand Theft Auto V," has been available on PC for over two years. Since its launch in 2015, fans have taken the already gorgeous game and modified into into something truly remarkable.

SEE ALSO: The next major Xbox One game looks like nothing else on modern game consoles

Every image you see here is from "Grand Theft Auto V" on PC, using the "NaturalVision" modification.

The mod's creator, who goes by the pseudonym "Razed," says it took "over 1200 hours" to create this update across six months.

Notably, this is the "Remastered" version of the original "NaturalVision" mod, which presumably took another few hundred hours and several months of work. It's a huge step up over an already very impressive mod.

The King of Pop reigns atop the all-time list of best-selling albums.

Released in 1982, Michael Jackson's "Thriller" currently boasts a sales mark that no album is likely to touch anytime in the near or distant future. 

We compiled the RIAA's data for the best-selling albums in history (measured in "certified units" sold), and it's fascinating to see some of the names that appear in the top 50 — including a recent entry from Adele's "21."

Check out the best-selling albums of all time:

SEE ALSO: The 50 best-selling music artists of all time

50. Phil Collins — "No Jacket Required"

Certified units: 12 million

Buy it here >>

49. Matchbox Twenty — "Yourself or Someone Like You"

Certified units: 12 million

Buy it here >>

48. Led Zeppelin — "Led Zeppelin II"

Certified units: 12 million

Buy it here >>

Arya Stark has transformed a lot over the course of "Game of Thrones." 

At the beginning of the HBO series, she's a spunky high-born girl who wants to learn how to fight with a sword instead of how to make a dress. But some time after witnessing her father's execution, Arya begins a list of the people she wants to kill that she repeats to herself every night.

We've known for a while that Arya would become a full-blown assassin one day, and now we're here. And as of season seven episode four, "The Spoils of War," it looks like her siblings Bran and Sansa know that she's serious about her little list. 

Arya's already offed some people on her list, and some have been offed for her. In "The Spoils of War," she tells Sansa that she was upset when she found out someone else killed Joffrey. But now she's back in Westeros, reminding enemies of the Stark name while she slowly kills them. Some one at a time, and some dozens at a time. Who will be next?

Here's everyone on Arya's kill list, who's left, and why:

SEE ALSO: The 12 biggest questions we have after this week's 'Game of Thrones'

Who's left:

Cersei Lannister

Why: She falsely accused Arya's father, Ned Stark, of treason and had him arrested, which led to his execution on King Joffrey's orders.

Status: Alive, and sitting on the Iron Throne. And drinking lots of wine while standing on a giant map of Westeros. She has Zombie Gregor Clegane to protect her, but from what we saw in "The Spoils of War," she's not safe for long. 

Melisandre

Why: For taking Gendry away from the Brotherhood Without Banners. 

Status: Alive and headed to Volantis. She'll probably be back, and shell probably come to face to face with Arya. Melisandre tells Varys she will die in Westeros, so we're guessing she already knows her fate. And her death could be in Arya's hands. 

Hackers who leaked a trove of "Game of Thrones" episodes have threatened to leak footage — and the personal contact details of the show's stars — unless they are paid a large ransom.

The anonymous group demanded around $7 million (£5.4 million) to stop them posting the information publicly.

They claim to have personal phone numbers and email addresses for Emilia Clarke, Peter Dinklage and Lena Headey, as well as more as-yet unreleased footage from the HBO series.

The threat was posted as alongside a 3.4 GB cache of other data allegedly stolen from HBO.

According to a report by the Associated Press, it contains:

• A detailed summary of an upcoming episode.
• One month's of email from the inbox of an HBO executive.
• A screenshot of folders, with labels like "Budgets," "Legal," and "Licensing & Retail."
• Documents containing the phone numbers and email addresses for cast members.

The demands came in the form of a five-minute video addressed to HBO CEO Richard Plepler from a "Mr. Smith," outlining the group's latest demands. According to WIRED, the video is set to the "Game of Thrones" theme music.

According to the AP, the letter was written in English "peppered with misspellings and pop-culture references."

The hackers said it took them six months to penetrate HBO's network, and phrased their demand for cash in terms of a "salary" for their efforts.

The video said they want their "6-month salary in bitcoin." The hackers said they usually make $12 million to $15 million a year from blackmail such as this. At that rate, six months of money would be between $6 million and $7.5 million.

The hackers gave HBO three days to deliver the payment, although their letter was not dated, the BBC noted.

On July 31, the group claimed to possess a total of 1.5 terabytes (1,500 GB) of data from the TV network.

The leakers' website — Winter-Leak.com — appears to be down. It is not immediately clear why.

An HBO spokesperson told The Hollywood Reporter that the company was conducting a "forensic review," and that it does not believe that its "e-mail system as a whole has been compromised."

The FBI and cybersecurity firm Mandiant, which investigated the 2014 Sony hack, are working with HBO to get to the bottom of the issue, THR reported.

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NOW WATCH: This detachable plane cabin could save many lives

Romantic comedies have been a staple in the Hollywood machine for as long as movies have been around. But the 1980s and 1990s was the genre’s golden era, as the likes of Rob Reiner (“When Harry Met Sally…”), Garry Marshall (“Overboard,” “Pretty Woman”), and Nora Ephron (“Sleepless in Seattle,” “You’ve Got Mail”) elevated the movies into emotional tear-jerkers that were perfect for date nights.

For those decades, the titles were solid box office moneymakers for the studios, and went on to become cash cows on DVD and cable (where many still play to this day).

And though the early 2000s saw new classics come into the fold like "How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days" and "Hitch," around 2010 romantic comedies at the studio level drastically slowed down. In recent years, they’ve all but stopped. Since 2010, rom-coms went from nine major studio wide releases (a high water mark for the genre in the 2000s) to zero released at the studio level in 2017.

The last rom-com to earn over $100 million domestically at the box office was 2015's "Trainwreck." 

What happened?

A big factor is the studios realized that comic book movies were where the money was (especially overseas, where rom-coms rarely ever make coin). The major studios only had three wide releases of comic book adaptations in 2010. Since then, there’s been a steady stream of six, sometimes eight (in 2014) comic book movies released by the studios yearly. By the end of 2017, five will have hit the multiplex.

But all the blame can’t be pointed at Iron Man and Wonder Woman. The studios also lost touch with how young people today connect romantically.

“Less people are getting married, or getting married young now than they were years ago, and the whole dating culture with the apps and online, there’s a subtle sea change in what that audience is looking at in terms of romantic comedy entertainment,” Billy Mernit, author of “Writing the Romantic Comedy” and story analyst at Universal, told Business Insider. “So you have the studios still making the same formulaic romantic comedy where it's a courtship story that leads to marriage, and it usually revolves around a young professional woman who gets a leg up by getting involved with an alpha male. The target audience, the twentysomethings and above, just no longer related to that kind of a movie and yet the studios seemed to be tone deaf to that change.”

But romantic comedies haven’t gone away completely. They’ve been modernized at the independent film level and have found success there.

Over the years movies like 2014's "Obvious Child" and 2015's "Sleeping with Other People" have proven that rom-coms can delve into some dramatic waters while still cracking jokes about the dating scene.

One of the most talked about movies of 2017 is Judd Apatow-produced “The Big Sick.” Though it's a romantic comedy, what stands out is its unique multicultural love story between a Pakistani man (Kumail Nanjiani) and white woman (Zoe Kazan). And it manages to find laughs even though it revolves around the guy caring for the girl who is in a coma.

The buzz about the movie going into this year's Sundance led to Amazon buying it for $12 million. Lionsgate is doing the theatrical release, and the movie has grossed over $35 million worldwide to date (it was made for $5 million). 

"There is slowly a shift in perception on what a romantic comedy is," Mernit said. "The smart romantic comedy writer of 2017 is writing a script that they aren't calling a romantic comedy. They have to have a fresh angle."

Or perhaps the smart rom-com writer is headed to TV. As movies find success now with raunchy R-rated comedies like "Bad Moms" and "Girls Trip," Mernit pointed out TV is where you can find the rom-coms, whether its "The Mindy Project" or "Catastrophe."

"The Catch 22 of the industry right now is the fact that tentpoles supersede all other types of filmmaking," Jeff Bock, senior box office analyst at Exhibitor Relations, told Business Insider. "Truth is, the romantic comedy genre doesn’t seem to have too many maestros as it once did. The Nora Ephrons of the world have faded to black, and love and laughs seem to have gone the way of the sitcom, and into streaming content."

So even though occasionally we may see someone like Amy Schumer convince a studio to release a movie starring her in search for love, the rom-com of yesteryear is pretty much extinct.

"The golden era of a romantic comedy coming out every week, we're done with that," Mernit said. "But the romantic comedy genre will never die because whether it's lesbian lovers, a threesome, or a girlfriend in a coma, we are still interested in seeing those stories. I don't think that's ever going to go away."

SEE ALSO: Steven Soderbergh has a new plan to make Hollywood movies outside the control of big studios

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NOW WATCH: Pokémon Go's first real-world event was a complete disaster — here's what happened

The nanny accused of stealing more than $30,000 from Hollywood actress Mary-Louise Parker could be asked to pay it back, NY Daily News reports. 

Amanda Houston-St. Louis was hired by Parker to look after her children. She was given a debit card and pin code for expenses such as food. 

Houston-St. Louis is now accused of using the card to withdraw two large sums of cash for herself from an ATM. 

Parker's bank alerted the authorities when they noticed the transactions. 

Houston-St. Louis was arrested in June and charged with identity theft, grand larceny and criminal possession of stolen property.

On Monday, she appeared in Brooklyn Supreme Court – prosecutors told the Judge that they are working on a plea deal that would include restitution payments, the NY Daily News reported. Houston-St. Louis could also face up to seven years in prison if convicted. 

Parker, who is best known for her roles in TV series' West Wing and Weeds, lives in Brooklyn Heights with her two children. 

SEE ALSO: Malia Obama is having an epic 'gap year' before school starts at Harvard — here's a look back at her life

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NOW WATCH: THE BOTTOM LINE: Historical crashes and where the market stands today

The official trailer for "Mother!," Academy Award-winning director Darren Aronofsky's most secretive project to date, has just been released.

Aronofsky is known for his dark and distressing films, but based on the trailer alone, "mother!" could surpass Aronofsky's previous films as his darkest yet. 

Paramount released a chilling teaser for "Mother!" July 31, that gave a glimpse into the dark psychological thriller centered around a couple that is visited by uninvited guests.  

The official trailer released Tuesday morning builds on the ominous vibe of the teaser, and provides a better look into the couple's dynamic, and the unusual behavior of the unwanted house guests. 

And from what we can glean from the trailer, we can probably expect to see amazing performances from the stars of the film, that include Jennifer Lawrence, Javier Bardem, Ed Harris, and Michelle Pfeiffer.   

"Mother!" opens in theaters September 15.

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NOW WATCH: 8 details you might have missed on the season 7 premiere of 'Game of Thrones'

That smell of teen spirit and Nickelodeon slime isn't just you — the '90s are cool again. Look no further than the adorably angular Super Nintendo console above for confirmation of that fact. 

Nintendo isn't going so far as straight up re-releasing the original SNES console, but has instead created an entirely new device called the "SNES Classic Edition." We're just a few weeks away from the console's release, so we compiled everything we know about it in our Trapper Keeper — then published our findings below.

SEE ALSO: You can finally buy Nintendo's new $80 mini Super Nintendo later this month

DON'T MISS: It looks like Nintendo's making a miniature, inexpensive version of the original Nintendo 64 console

As hinted above, the SNES Classic Edition is smaller than the original Super Nintendo. Here's the original SNES — the console is much larger than the gamepad.

By contrast, the SNES Classic Edition is minuscule. The gamepad is far larger than the console itself, which is adorable and hilarious. The console literally fits in the palm of your hand.

Don't be fooled by the look of it, though. The SNES Classic Edition doesn't function anything like the original SNES. You can't put cartridges in it, nor can you plug original gamepads into the ports on the front.

On the original Super Nintendo console, controllers plugged into the front ports and game cartridges went into the slot on top. The blue sliders controlled power and resetting the console, and the grey lever in the middle ejected games. It was pretty low-tech.

Since David Letterman stepped down from his 33-year run as one of the big late-night TV hosts two years ago, he has kept very quiet — outside of the public appearances where he sports his massive grey beard. 

But that's about the change. 

Netflix announced on Tuesday that Letterman will be joining the streaming giant to host an interview series. 

The untitled hour-long show, set to debut next year, will feature “in-depth conversations with extraordinary people, and in-the-field segments expressing his curiosity and humor,” according to the release Netflix sent out.

“I feel excited and lucky to be working on this project for Netflix," Letterman said in the release. "Here's what I have learned, if you retire to spend more time with your family, check with your family first. Thanks for watching, drive safely."

Letterman left his CBS show, "The Late Show," in May of 2015. From 1982-1993 he was the host of NBC's "Late Night," where he built a unique comedy style that would turned him into one of the greatest late-night hosts TV has ever seen.

Letterman is just another major notch in Netflix's belt. The streaming giant on Monday landed its first acquisition with the comic book publisher Millarworld.

This is not Netflix's first foray into the talk-show world. It currently has "Chelsea," hosted by comic Chelsea Handler. However, it seems the show hasn't found its legs yet, as the show's format was changed to just one episode a week for season two, following three episodes a week its debut season.

SEE ALSO: The big Hollywood romantic comedy is dead — here's what happened to it

Join the conversation about this story »

NOW WATCH: Here's everyone left on Arya Stark's kill list on 'Game of Thrones'

Revenue from online streaming services like YouTube TV, Hulu, and others are finally starting to make up for TV distributors' revenue lost to cord-cutters, new analysis from UBS shows.

Paid TV subscriptions, including both traditional cable subscriptions as well as streaming services, declined by just 313,000 during the second quarter of 2017, much lower than the 590,000 and 593,000 in the same quarter of 2015 and 2016, respectively.

“Fundamentals have generally been playing out as expected with streaming still growing rapidly (strong NFLX subs),” UBS analysts wrote in a report out August 4. “On a trendline basis, US  cable network sector core affiliate rev  was +6.3% Y/Y in 1Q17 and is estimated +6.4% in 2Q17 and +6.8% in 3Q17.”

But while revenue is doing better than in previous years, traditional distributors are still quickly losing subscribers.

AT&T felt the brunt of these losses, losing 351,000 subscribers last quarter — 46% more than Wall Street analysts expected. Other traditional providers fared slightly better, but the six largest traditional pay TV distributors still managed to lose 709,000 total subscribers in the quarter.

However, these steep losses among traditional subscribers were mitigated by a big rise in virtual subscriptions, which left the industry down a net 313,000 subscribers for the quarter — a number that would have been over triple without them:

Most TV distributors have already reported earnings for the second quarter, with Scripps Interactive leading the pack and beating analysts' expectations by 2.2%. NBC Universal, Discovery, and Time Warner had slight beats, while AMC and Viacom missed expectations by 3.0% and 2.2%, respectively.

“In our view, the most important event for Media earnings is yet to come,” warns UBS. “Which is any commentary  next Tuesday night from DIS regarding sub or affiliate trends at ESPN.” 

Analysts expect Disney to report earnings $1.55 per share after Tuesday’s closing bell, according to Bloomberg.

Join the conversation about this story »

NOW WATCH: Apple is lagging the market as iPhone 8 woes mount

Prominent producer Diplo has tried for years to get Rihanna on a song with Major Lazer, his electronic music trio, but she has repeatedly dismissed him, at times in a brutal and hilarious fashion, he revealed to GQ. 

Diplo told the outlet he initially offered the group's multi-platinum, 2015 single "Lean On" to Rihanna, but she rejected the offer by saying "I don't do house music." (Rihanna has, however, had numeroushouse-pop hits.)

Diplo went on to describe how he again solicited — and comically failed to convince — the Barbadian pop star at a subsequent, star-studded recording session.

"I had a session with her, and Future was also invited. The Weeknd was there. Metro Boomin was there before anybody knew who he was," Diplo said. "I was so contact high. Future played her, like, 700 songs. It was four in the morning. Finally, I was like, Yo, G, I'm leaving unless you let me play her a song.

"So I played her a song. And she was like, This sounds like a reggae song at an airport," he continued. "I was like, I'm gonna go kill myself."

Despite being burned in an epic way, Diplo remains somewhat confident that Rihanna will end up on a Major Lazer song in the future.

"I think before we're all done, she'll be on a song of ours. Hopefully, " he said. "But if not, I don't really care."

Read the entire interview over at GQ.

SEE ALSO: The 50 best-selling albums of all time

Join the conversation about this story »

NOW WATCH: Pokémon Go's first real-world event was a complete disaster — here's what happened

"Game of Thrones" always delivers surprises, tears, and tension. But the battle in "The Spoils of War" rivaled the Battle of the Bastards, because we were seriously conflicted who to root for. Jaime, Bronn, and the Lannister/Tully army? Or Daenerys, Drogon, and the Dothraki? 

Going into the battle, we wanted Daenerys to win. But seeing how brutal Drogon's fire breath is, and seeing Jaime watch his army turn to ash, and blow away, changed things a bit. 

The battle, which the "Game of Thrones" showrunners have named The Loot Train Attack, is reminiscent of another battle in Westerosi history, called The Field of Fire. The Field of Fire took place during Aegon I Targaryen's Conquest of Westeros, and the similarities are uncanny. 

Here's everything you should know about The Field of Fire, and its similarities to The Loot Train Attack:

SEE ALSO: The 12 biggest questions we have after this week's 'Game of Thrones'

What is Aegon's Conquest?

Centuries before the events of "Game of Thrones," Aegon I Targaryen started a campaign to invade Westeros. He wanted to take control over all Seven Kingdoms as the one and only king. The campaign lasted two years, and he won, becoming the first Lord of the Seven Kingdoms and king on the Iron Throne.

Before the Conquest, Westeros was divided into separate kingdoms, each ruled by a local king:

• Kingdom of the North, ruled by House Stark of Winterfell
• Kingdom of the Mountain and the Vale, ruled by House Arryn of the Eyrie
• Kingdom of the Isles and Rivers, ruled by House Hoare of castle Harrenhal
• Kingdom of the Rock, ruled by House Lannister of Casterly Rock
• Kingdom of the Stormlands, ruled by the House Durrendon of Storm's End
• Kingdom of the Reach, ruled by House Gardener of Highgarden
• Dorne, ruled by House Martell of Sunspear

Some of these names might sound familiar, and some may not. 

What is The Field of Fire?

The Field of Fire was a major battle that occurred during Aegon's Conquest. It was a definitive battle that won the war for the Targaryens.

King Mern Gardener of the Reach and King Loren Lannister of the Rock combined their armies to try and defeat Aegon. They had 60,000 men. Aegon's army was outnumbered with only 10,000. But Aegon won the battle because he brought three dragons: he rode one, and his sisters rode the others.

4,000 men were burned alive by dragons alone, and 10,000 men were so badly burned that they were unable to fight. After the battle, Aegon used the swords of the defeated to make the most uncomfortable chair: the Iron Throne. 

These are the similarities with Dany's attack in "The Spoils of War:"

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Business Insider is proud to announce that Robert Bakish will speak at IGNITION 2017: The Future of Media.

As the president and CEO of Viacom, Bakish is tasked with growing the conglomerate's leading brands including BET, Comedy Central, MTV, and Nickelodeon along with the Paramount Pictures film and TV studio.

Before being promoted to this role, Bakish thrived as the president and CEO of VIMN, the international arm of Viacom. During this time, he succeeded in expanding Viacom's international footprint by focusing on high-growth markets such as India, where he launched the entertainment channel Colors through the Viacom18 joint venture with Reliance Industries.

Bakish was also integral in bolstering Viacom's digital presence. By launching multiplatform products like My Nick Jr., My MTV, and Viacom Play Pex, Viacom has eclipsed 16 million downloads and 500 million digital streams to date, according to the company.

Bakish joins 21st Century Fox executive chairman Lachlan Murdoch, HBO CEO Richard Plepler, and Verizon executive Marni Walden as speakers at this year's IGNITION conference. We will continue to announce new speakers throughout the summer, so continue to check in to see who else will be attending.

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The anonymity of bitcoin, the blockchain-backed cryptocurrency, has made it a useful tool for some criminal outfits looking to operate in the shadows. 

The Italian mafia has used bitcoin to launder money for its illicit activities, for instance, and the notorious WannaCry hackers extorted over $140,000 worth of the cryptocurrency from their malware victims

And now an anonymous group of hackers is demanding HBO fork over millions of dollars in bitcoin to keep them from leaking sensitive information about the hit show "Game of Thrones." 

The demands came in the form of a five-minute video addressed to the network's CEO, Richard Plepler, from a "Mr. Smith," as reported by Business Insider's Alexandra Ma. 

The hackers said it took them six months to penetrate HBO's network to access draft scripts of the show and emails from top execs at HBO.

They demanded their "6-month salary in bitcoin" and claimed they usually made $12 million to $15 million per year from similar hacks, according to the AP, implying a ransom demand of between $6 million and $7.5 million.

The release of the hackers' video comes one day after British glamor model Chloe Ayling told reporters her kidnappers said they could fetch more than $300,000 in bitcoin for her on the black market.

Since transactions on bitcoin's blockchain network are decentralized and anonymous, the cryptocurrency provides an attractive option for criminals looking to conduct business outside of the watchful eye of government officials. 

To be sure, the use of cryptocurrencies among criminal organizations is still very low, despite recent headlines.

"If you look at reports such as this recent one from the Council of the European Union, you will see that the amount of organized crime that use bitcoin is actually much lower than perceived," Ross Wilson of bitcoin exchange operator CoinCorner said in a recent email to Business Insider.

The report from June found such cases involving cryptocurrencies and organized crime were "quite rare."

SEE ALSO: A model who says she was kidnapped says auctions for women like her go for $300,000 worth of bitcoin

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Disney's second-quarter profits topped analysts' forecast but revenue missed expectations. 

The company on Tuesday said it earned $14.24 billion in revenue, less than the estimate for $14.42 billion according to Bloomberg. Disney earned $1.58 per share on an adjusted basis, topping the forecast for $1.55. 

Disney's stock fell nearly 3% in extended trading after the earnings release. 

Disney also announced that it would launch an ESPN-branded streaming service for sports content in early 2018, and a Disney-branded service in 2019. Disney said it would end its agreement to release new titles for streaming on Netflix, starting with movies released in 2019.

Netflix shares fell nearly 4% after-hours following the news. 

Disney said it was investing $1.58 billion to raise its stake in BAMTech, a video-streaming company, giving it majority ownership.  

More to come ... 

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Disney is making a big change in strategy, and one of the first things to go is its exclusive movie deal with Netflix.

On Tuesday, the company announced it would launch its own ad-free Disney-branded streaming service (in addition to an ESPN one). This Netflix-like service will become the "exclusive home" for subscription streaming of Disney and Pixar's live action and animated movies, starting in 2019.

That is bad news for Netflix, which saw its marquee movie deal with Disney come online this year. Starting in 2017, Netflix became the exclusive subscription streaming home of all new Disney movies. Now it has been partially replaced by Disney's own ambitions.

Netflix may still get to keep Star Wars and Marvel, however. On Disney's earnings call, CEO Bob Iger clarified that the company hasn't decided how to deal with the Star Wars and Marvel franchises, and said it could choose to continue to license those movies to a service like Netflix.

But movies branded "Disney" or "Pixar" will for sure be part of the new Disney service, and be dropped from Netflix's exclusive deal in 2019. That means you likely won't be able to stream Disney movies on Netflix at that point, unless a new deal gets brokered.

Why the shift?

Disney thinks that the future of entertainment will be defined by "direct relationships between content creators and consumers," it said in a statement.

In other words: No more middle men. Disney needs to own its own streaming services. To help do so, Disney announced it will take a majority stake in streaming tech company BAMTech (which is already owned 33% of). Disney CEO Bob Iger described this as a "big strategic shift" on CNBC.

This all might be one reason that Netflix made its first-ever acquisition on Monday: a cult comic-book publisher called Millarworld that has been responsible for Kick-Ass, Kingsman, and Old Man Logan. Netflix might see a world where intellectual property powerhouses like Disney become a lot more reluctant to make deals.

Here's the relevant piece of Disney's statement:

"The new Disney-branded service will become the exclusive home in the U.S. for subscription-video-on-demand viewing of the newest live action and animated movies from Disney and Pixar, beginning with the 2019 theatrical slate, which includes Toy Story 4, the sequel to Frozen, and The Lion King from Disney live-action, along with other highly anticipated movies. Disney will also make a significant investment in an annual slate of original movies, TV shows, short-form content and other Disney-branded exclusives for the service. Additionally, the service will feature a vast collection of library content, including Disney and Pixar movies and Disney Channel, Disney Junior and Disney XD television programming."

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NOW WATCH: 7 details you might have missed on season 7 episode 3 of 'Game of Thrones'

The Xbox One has a ton of abilities.

You can plug your cable TV box right into it and control television. You can play bleeding-edge blockbuster games on it. You can watch Netflix and HBO and whatever other streaming service you can think of, directly from the Xbox One. It's a cable-TV box and a set-top box and a game console, all at once.

But, in the case of the Xbox One, with great power comes great sluggishness.

To put it nicely, the Xbox One feels muddy and old in general practice — navigating through menus, or even just moving around the console's home screen, feels like a chore. Microsoft says that's all about to change in the next major update to the Xbox One's software.

Here's everything we know about the next major update to the Xbox One, which arrives this fall.

SEE ALSO: The 20 biggest games coming in the 2nd half of 2017

The most obvious update is visual: The Home page of your Xbox One is going to look really, really different.

Gone are the dozens of individual boxes and advertisements and sub-menus and whatever other madness has defiled the Home page of the Xbox One since 2013.

In a move toward austerity, the new Xbox One Home dashboard screen is entirely customizable. In its default format, it contains a list of your most recently used stuff, a link to this month's "Games with Gold," and a direct link to whatever you were last playing. There's also a "suggested friend" box now, and a quick accessibility box for re-mapping gamepad layouts.

There are also two advertisement boxes, because of course there is, but at least one's for something you might actually want (it's based on your usage history).

Just for a quick comparison, here's the current Home screen on the Xbox One:

The next step of the revamp is a concept called "Content Blocks." It enables you to extend your Home screen without cluttering it up.

Perhaps you want your Home screen to house all of your "pinned" applications/games in one place? Or maybe you want a bunch of "Overwatch" content front and center? 

With "Content Blocks," you can create a custom "Block" of whatever you want. Scrolling down from the main screen, you'll find whatever "Blocks" you created. Alternatively, you don't have to do any of that.

"If you're a minimalist, you can have your Home and that's it," said Microsoft's Mike Ybarra of Content Blocks. "Or your Home and your Pins, and that's your entire gaming service."