CNBC's Catherine Boyle offered a decidedly non-fantastic, nuts and bolts reading of HBO's Game of Thrones Friday morning, giving her own economic analysis of the political gamesmanship and war-faring in George R.R. Martin's wildly popular world of ice and fire.

"While Martin's tales of White Walkers, direwolves, and dwarves may seem as far from the mundane world of modern-day finance and politics as possible," she writes, "many have spotted the economic lessons some of the characters should have learned before they embarked on their quest for power."

PHOTOS: 'Game of Thrones': 20 Game-Changing Quotes

Here are her takeaways:

The Iron Bank is GOT's IMF and World Bank in One – Too Big to Fail and Bankrolling Everyone

The Seven Kingdoms of Westeros is a feudal economy, which generates little income of its own, which forces it to turn to the more mercantile nearby Free Cities nearby for loans to fund its campaigns. The Iron Bank, in the city state Braavos, is the biggest and most powerful, operating as GOT's de facto IMF and World Bank in one. Boyle describes the Iron Bank as a classic case of a "too big to fail" lender – "if one king or another doesn't start paying its debts, there could be trouble ahead. This is an example of 'sovereign debt.'" She also points out that Cersei Lannister's hold on the throne truly goes soft only once she stops paying the Iron Bank. And by then, the Bank views the throne as sub-prime and transfers allegiance to her rival Stannis Baratheon.

Littlefinger, Master of Coin, Is Also a Master of Quantitative Easing

Boyle notes that much like the Federal Reserve, Littlefinger, has been undertaking a pseudo-quantitative easing on the show, "by injecting more gold dragons into the economy (although in a rather less sophisticated way, by clipping coins to create more money)." Meanwhile his duplicity knows no bounds: He weakens the royal family's economic status by drawing heavy loans from the Iron Bank, while raising taxes – and in the backdrop he establishes a booming prostitution business by granting himself loans from the throne, from the very same funds he had it borrow from the Iron Bank. Wolf of Westeros indeed.

TV REVIEW: Game of Thrones Season Four

Cersei's Financial Mismanagement of the Throne Might Prove to Be Her Undoing

As Boyle writes: "Her family has lent much of its vast wealth to the crown, which is likely to prove about as good an investment as mortgage-backed securities in 2007." She raised taxes to the point where the commoners are restless and meanwhile, winter is coming and her wars have destroyed the kingdom's agricultural economy.

"Cersei may want to set up a Bank of Lannisport," writes Boyle, "but it looks like that's come too late."

The Iron Bank Is Probably the True King Afterall

As Boyle points out, the only enduringly viable industry in Westeros is defense, as ships and and mercenaries are increasingly sought-after to protect against piracy and regional conflict. But it's again the Iron Bank that backs most of these military procurements.

"The Iron Bank is always glad to be of service," Tycho Nestoris tells throne contender Stannis after he signs for his debts in blood, in the next book, Winds of Winter.

"But ultimately, the players in this game may all, unbeknown to them, be serving the Bank," Boyle observes.  

Game of Thrones Season 4 returns to HBO on April 17. 

SEE ALSO: Best-rated 'Game of Thrones' episodes

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Warning: If you haven't seen "Captain America: The Winter," there are major spoilers ahead!

If you're heading out to see the "Captain America" sequel this weekend, make sure you stay after the film for two extra scenes.

The first is a mid-credits sequence after the first set of credits roll. The second, shorter clip follows ALL of the credits.

If you're a fanboy, you should have this routine down by now. Marvel loves giving audiences a sneak peek at what's to come in future films.

If you walked out early or are confused by what you saw, here's what you should know.

The First Scene

What happens:

After Captain America helps take down a HYDRA-infested S.H.I.E.L.D., we find out that the terrorist group is still going strong. (You didn't think that was the end of Captain America's most-well known comic threat, did you?)

We open up in what appears to be an underground lair with Marvel character General Baron von Strucker (Thomas Kretschmann) speaking with a colleague about HYDRA having a few big weapons in store for the future. 

The first we see is a staff you'll remember as Loki's from "The Avengers." The Chitauri sceptre was given to Loki by Thanos (the "Guardians of the Galaxy" main villain who we first saw in a post-credits sequence for "The Avengers").

The big crowd-stunner was the reveal of HYDRA's other weapon, a set of twins — Quicksilver and the Scarlett Witch — in cells who look bewitched.

This is the first time we got to see a look at Elizabeth Olsen and Aaron Taylor-Johnson as the twins since both were casted in "The Avengers" sequel. 

What you need to know about Baron Von Strucker:

He's a former Nazi officer and leader of HYDRA (more on that in a moment).

He doesn't have any real superpowers, but in the comics he's good with a sword and has gone under multiple aliases. 

He was injected with a serum to slow down his aging process. He doesn't really have any super powers, but can deliver a mean electric shock in the comics.

What Is HYDRA?

If you missed this in either of the two "Captain America" films, HYDRA is basically the complete opposite of the secret agency S.H.I.E.L.D. The group, formed as a weapon for Hitler during World War II, is a giant terrorist organization that wants to rule the world. 

What you should know about Quicksilver / the Scarlett Witch:

We've been waiting to see the twins on screen for a while since it was announced they'll appear in "The Avengers" sequel. 

Quicksilver has the ability of super speed while Scarlett Witch has but that are usually telekinetic. She's mostly known for being able to alter reality. In the mid-credits scene it looks like we see her creating some sort of spheres.

However, the most important takeaway is that the two are the children of an X-Men, Magneto. 

Comic fans may be scratching their heads since Magneto has been played on screen for years by Ian McKellen in the Fox movies. 

This is where the rights to Marvel characters begins getting a little fuzzy as both Disney and Fox can technically use them on screen. The twins were first introduced in the comics as "evil mutants" which is how Fox refers to its X-Men. However, the duo later became a part of the "Avengers" team.

Don't get excited for a crossover any time soon. Quicksilver will also appear in the "X-Men" sequel this summer played by a different actor. 

What this all means:

Now that we know Marvel's secret spy agency S.H.I.E.L.D. has been compromised with members of HYDRA, Von Strucker will be a pretty big villain in "The Avengers: Age of Ultron" in addition to James Spader's Ultron.

This isn't only a setup for "The Avengers," but for the wider Marvel universe as a whole moving forward.

The return of Loki's sceptre isn't only a nod to the character. If you've been following all of the post-credit sequences in Marvel movies, a common theme has been the discussion of powerful gemstones. The sceptre's Tesseract is one of several powerful Infinity Stones that play into a popular Marvel storyline — "The Infinity Gauntlet."  (We hit on that a lot in our end-credit discussion for "Thor: The Dark World.")

As well, the introduction of Von Strucker, Scarlett Witch, and Quicksilver could spill over into any of Disney's future Marvel TV shows that will be on Netflix, especially the Daredevil one since Von Strucker has appeared with the character before.

Because Fox has been using the term mutants on screen with the "X-Men" for years, we may see Disney develop a different origin story for Quicksilver and Scarlett Witch.

The Second Scene

What happens:

Much like the second end-credits scene in "Thor: The Dark World" we see a brief scene of Bucky Barnes/The Winter Soldier (Sebastian Stan) heading to the Captain America Smithsonian exhibit shown early in the movie. Confused about his real identity, he runs into a portion of the exhibit dedicated to himself. 

What this means:

Here's our basic outline for "Captain America 3." We already know that Steve Rogers (Chris Evans) and new sidekick Sam Wilson/The Falcon (Anthony Mackie) are heading out in search of Barnes. However, they have no idea what to anticipate from him.

The sequel will most likely follow their search for Barnes. We get the feeling he won't be as much of a villain as a future colleague and correspondent to Captain and the "Avengers" team.

Since Stan has a 9-picture(!) deal with Marvel, we can expect to see a lot more of him in the future.

SEE ALSO: All of the post-credit scenes from Marvel's movies

AND: "The Winter Soldier" is one of the best Marvel movies made

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"For thousands of years, guys like us have gotten the shit kicked out of us. But now...we can be in charge and build empires."

So says Richard Hendricks, the protagonist of "Silicon Valley", a television comedy that starts on April 6th on HBO.

In the pilot Mr Hendricks, the mousey-kid inventor of Pied Piper, a fictional compression algorithm, tries to decide whether to sell a small stake in his startup to a venture capitalist or the whole thing to Hooli, a tech giant that sounds suspiciously like Google.

He is living every geek's dream. If only he were cooler.

For years HBO has made programmes that gently mock--and reflect--contemporary culture. "Sex and the City", a show about single women in New York, has sparked a gazillion conversations about how much one should spend on shoes and how soon one should take a new boyfriend to bed. "Girls", which began in 2012, has inspired twentysomethings everywhere to have awkward sex and not find jobs.

"Silicon Valley" lampoons not only gawky youngsters but also the seedbed of American innovation. Look beyond the free food and glittery parties, and Silicon Valley is a savage place.

Friends are ejected from companies they helped launch (one character extols Mark Zuckerberg of Facebook, who "was such a tough negotiator that now all his friends are suing him. I mean, how awesome is that?"). Titans try to sabotage each other's projects. There are so few female executives that hosts hire women to talk to socially inept engineers at parties.

Amusingly, none of the gizmos in the show seems to work. Virtual-meetings software crashes; voice-recognition technology cannot deal with basic English.

Suit-scorning techies nonetheless wear uniforms, sporting grey hoodies like Mr Zuckerberg or black turtlenecks like the late Steve Jobs of Apple. Would-be technopreneurs are encouraged to drop out of college as quickly as possible; in real life Peter Thiel, an investor, offers some clever kids $100,000 to do just this.

"Silicon Valley" taps into Americans' unease about the technology industry. On the one hand, they love its products. On the other, they wince when it buries older businesses or turns arrogant 25-year-olds into instant billionaires.

Will Pied Piper catch fire or flame out?

Many Americans will root for the latter--as they watch the show on their smartphones.

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In preparation for Sunday's premiere of "Game of Thrones," New Zealand's SKY TV has erected a giant statue of the most-hated man in Westeros — King Joffrey.

The 23-foot statue placed in Auckland is part of a promotional stunt for SKY TV's SoHo (which broadcasts many HBO programs including "Game of Thrones").

The statue is tied to SKY TV's bringdowntheking.com, which gives fans the chance to topple the statue using Twitter.

Tweeting out #BringDownTheKing causes a rope wrapped around the statue to pull tighter and tighter until the statue crumbles to the ground.

“‘Game of Thrones’ is a worldwide phenomenon and King Joffrey is quite possibly the most hated fictional television character of all time,” SKY’s director of programming, Travis Dunbar told Mediabistro's Agency Spy.“It’s exciting to give fans an opportunity they are dying for; to assist in the demise of the King of the Iron Throne.”

#Joffrey has appeared in Auckland. we cannot stand for this. Pull the statue down! #bringdowntheking#gameofthronespic.twitter.com/bhzkMOvS4V

— #bringdowntheking (@downwithjoffrey) April 2, 2014

The site predicts a million tweets will be able to take down the statue along with “Joffrey's reign on the kingdoms.”

Considering the hatred fans of the show have for the vile boy king, it shouldn't take long until the site reaches its goal and the statue of King Joffrey comes crashing down.

SEE ALSO: The 6 Best-Rated 'Game Of Thrones' Episodes

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I was never a huge fan of the first "Captain America" film. It always felt like a necessary final stop on the "Avengers" train before assembling the entire crew on screen. The giant musical number in the middle didn't help. 

Out of all the Marvel movies released up to that point, it was probably the one I liked the least. (It's also the one that made the least money, excluding the two previous Hulk films.)

If you're hesitant about seeing the sequel, don't be. It's pretty awesome and dare I say one of the best Marvel movies made.

Business Insider attended a screening of "Captain America: The Winter Soldier" Monday evening and it's an absolute thrill ride that can easily keep up with Iron Man and Thor.

Was it better than "The Avengers"? 

It’s difficult to top a billion dollar movie with so much star power — and with the absence of Tony Stark — but it comes pretty darn close.

Chris Evans returns (noticeably a bit more fit) as the First Avenger Steve Rogers. Like "Iron Man 3" and "Thor: The Dark World," the sequel shows how the Captain is coping after the events of "The Avengers" and Rogers seems to be adjusting better than the other superheroes.

He's working with S.H.I.E.L.D and Black Widow (Scarlett Johansson) and lives in Washington, D.C. His biggest problems are catching up with decades worth of pop culture and news and finding a girlfriend.

Don't worry, unlike the first film, we're not subjected to any sing-songy montages.

Rather it's action packed from beginning to end *spoilers* following a corrupt S.H.I.E.L.D. agency overrun by Hydra (an organization that wants to rule the world) that's wants to cleanse the world of millions of people. *spoilers*

Want fight sequences, guns firing, car crashes, and explosions? You got them. (For parents planning to take their kids, it's probably the least kid-friendly of all the Marvel movies.)

Captain America steps up his game tenfold in the sequel whether he's taking out an entire crew aboard a ship in the Indian Ocean or escaping pursuers from S.H.I.E.L.D. headquarters. The elevator scene that’s been heavily teased in trailers is even better on screen as part of a much longer fight sequence. 

There's another scene when Rogers confronts the Winter Soldier that really stands out. When his shield gets blocked you could literally feel the reverberation of the two forces colliding from our theater seats. 

Action aside, directors Anthony and Joe Russo did a great job of bringing secondary characters front and center.

Samuel L. Jackson’s Nick Fury delivers one of the most heart-pounding moments of the film in a crazy car chase. Normally, popping up throughout the Marvel universe to unite the Avengers team and dish out assignments, the S.H.I.E.L.D. director never gets his hands dirty fighting the bad guys so seeing him get his own time on screen was a great surprise.

Johansson also has a much larger role as Black Widow. That makes sense since Marvel Studios President Kevin Feige hinted the character may eventually receive her own film. Widow shines showing that Rogers isn't the only one who can take down a group of villains and — at times — serves as a brief comic relief, but ultimately fills the need for a superheroine for girls to identify with.

It's also clear kids are going to want an action figure of new Marvel addition The Falcon (Anthony Mackie) after watching him dive off buildings and soar through the skies.

Marvel fanboys will be delighted with Stan Lee's appearance in the film's final leg while "Community" fans will recognize actor Danny Pudi in a brief cameo.

Finally, the film's antihero is a big reason to see the film. The Winter Soldier — who the film revolves around — is *spoiler* not out right villainous. Rather, he's been brain-washed and we're supposed to empathize with him. (If you're a fan of the comics, you probably already know his real identity.) 

This is one thing you need to credit Marvel and Disney for. They've been able to bring villains to the big screen who have in-depth character stories and aren't just your typical bad guy. (Look no further than Loki.)

If you've seen Disney's box-office juggernaut "Frozen," there's a scene near the end of "Captain America 2" that parallels the climactic moment in the animated film. No, no one gets "frozen" and there aren't any broken hearts, but while "Frozen" places emphasis on the importance of family, "Captain America 2" reinforces the strong bond between friends. *spoiler*

My main issue with "The Winter Soldier" is one thing that always bothers me while watching any standalone Marvel movie since "The Avengers" — and that I imagine may bother other moviegoers. When there's a catastrophic event occurring none of the superheroes think to call up one of their new friends. Sure, the incidents in "Iron Man 3" and "Thor 2" are (slightly) more isolated; however, the danger in "Captain America 2" is pretty worldly. There are plenty of times Iron Man gets name dropped throughout the film and there's even a scene with someone exiting Stark Industries, but no one ever suggests consulting him.

Obviously, all of the Avengers cannot appear in every movie, but it's the one item that is repeatedly never addressed that slightly affects the fluidity of the entire series. At this point, any name drops become more of a tease than a nod to the larger Marvel universe.

Ultimately, “The Winter Soldier” is one of the most believable Marvel movies (as believable as a superhero movie is going to get). In “Iron Man 3” you get self-destructing humans injected with a top-secret serum and in “Thor 2” we follow an alien villain who wants to make the world dark for questionably unknown reasons.  Instead, we're following the politics of a corrupt secret agency.

Unlike the first film which clearly sets the wheels in motion for "The Avengers" sequel, "The Winter Soldier" is a great standalone that should easily deliver one of the top-opening weekends for the month of April.

"Captain America: The Winter Soldier" is in theaters Friday.

Check out a trailer below:

SEE ALSO: Why "Frozen" is the biggest-animated movie of all time

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Richard Gere has dropped the price of his North Haven mansion in the Hamptons to $56 million, Hamptons.com reports.

Gere first listed the 6.3-acre estate last summer in July for an outrageous $65 million. At the time, we wondered if the 12-bedroom home was actually worth the stunning price-tag.

The property, known as Strongheart Manor, was built in 1902 and comes with two guest houses, an outdoor fireplace pavilion, and a dock that looks out onto the water. 

It's been renovated and expanded to include twelve bedrooms and over 12,000 square feet of space. The home is currently listed through Sotheby's International Realty, which recently added even more high-quality pictures of the mansion to beef up the listing.

The price cut could help Strongheart Manor sell — especially with the new Hamptons season on the horizon — but considering Gere bought the entire property originally for $11.3 million (not including the cost of his subsequent renovation), $56 million still seems awfully steep.

Welcome to Richard Gere's $56 million Strongheart Manor.

Source: Sotheby's International Realty

It sits on over six acres of land and has covetable views of the ocean.

Source: Sotheby's International Realty

Inside, the home has over 12,000 square feet of space inside with six fireplaces.

Source: Sotheby's International Realty

In the 28 years that Pixar has been around, the animation studio has raked in 27 Oscars and over $8 billion dollars in gross revenues — off of only 14 movies. 

That's more than $500 million per feature. 

How does a company reach such insane levels of excellence? 

In new book "Creativity, Inc," long-time Pixar president Ed Catmull reveals the story behind the pixels, from the origin of the name to its wacky company perks and what really happened with Steve Jobs. 

Find the most surprising bits of Pixar's journey below. 

The main building on campus is called the Steve Jobs Building. 

It's named for the Apple icon because he was the brain behind the building's collaboration-inducing structure. As Office Snapshots reports:

Pixar's campus design originally separated different employee disciplines into different buildings – one for computer scientists, another for animators, and a third building for everybody else. But because Jobs was fanatic about these unplanned collaborations, he envisioned a campus where these encounters could take place, and his design included a great atrium space that acts as a central hub for the campus.

The biography adds that Jobs believed that, "If a building doesn't encourage [collaboration], you'll lose a lot of innovation and the magic that's sparked by serendipity. So we designed the building to make people get out of their offices and mingle in the central atrium with people they might not otherwise see."

There's an annual event called "Pixarpalooza."

Since 2009, there's been an annual Battle of the Bands with Pixar employees. 

Animators can go wild decorating their workspaces. 

The Pixar team does much more than put up posters in their offices. The decoration gets a little maximal: 

"(Employees) spend their days inside pink dollhouses whose ceilings are hung with miniature chandeliers, tiki huts made of real bamboo, and castles whose meticulously painted, 15-foot-high Styrofoam turrets appear to be carved from stone," Catmull writes.

They have an ergonomist come in on a weekly basis.

Her name is Arlie Stern. She makes adjustments to the animators' workstations, so they don't get repetitive stress injury from years of hardcore mouse-clicking.

"The work (of animators) is precision intensive," she says. "Precision is a killer on the body, because in order to do something that requires precision with the body, you need to rest the arm, and if you don't give people a place to rest the arm, they're going to place the wrist on the desk right on the carpal tunnel," which can lead to carpal tunnel syndrome. 

Disney wanted the original "Toy Story" to be a musical. 

Since the conglomerate had so much success with musicals — "Lion King," "Beauty and the Beast," and "Aladdin" to name a few — its execs thought that "Toy Story" should have some musicality, too. But Pixar said no.

Pixar didn't (quite) start as a movie maker.

First it sold hardware, then software, and then it made animated short films and ads, Catmull shares. Its first big product was a high-end imaging computer with professional applications from meteorology to medicine. While the device never sold well, employee John Lasseter made computer-animated films to show off what it could do, like the groundbreaking Luxo Jr. in 1986.

Pixar also did some animated sequences for films, with Disney being an important partner. In order to bring in some cash, Pixar started making commercials for brands like Listerine, Trident, and Lifesavers in the early '90s. Then Pixar signed a three-movie deal with Disney, leading to "Toy Story" in 1995 — and everything changed. 

The name "Pixar" sprang out of a conversation between the co-founders.

Early in Pixar's life, co-founder Alvy Ray Smith thought the name should be "Pixer," since it sounded like a fake Spanish verb for "to make pictures." But another cofounder, Loren Carpenter,liked "Radar," since that sounded futuristic. So they combined the two: "Pixer + Radar = Pixar!" Catmull writes.

When Pixar started in 1986, its biggest product was the Pixar Imaging Computer.

"Who's going to buy a $125,000 image processor that requires a host computer and has software development tools but no applications software?" asked the June 1986 issue of Computer Graphics World. 

Before Pixar was its own thing, it was part of Lucasfilm.

In 1979, George Lucas recruited Catmull to helm the computer division of the rapidly growing film production company.

Pixar became its own company thanks to Steve Jobs.

In 1986, Jobs bought what was then Lucasfilm's Computer Graphics Division, then spun it off, turning it into an independent company.

"Toy Story 2" was originally supposed to be direct-to-video.

Disney didn't dig sequels for animated movies. They tried one, a rodent-filled romp called "Rescuers Down Under," and it promptly bombed upon release. Luckily, Pixar pushed back.

Movies at Pixar take forever to make.

"They are not beautiful, mature versions of the adults they will grow up to be," Catmull writes. "(The first mock-ups) are truly ugly: awkward and unformed, vulnerable and incomplete." And that's why they take forever to make: "Monsters University," for instance, took over four years to complete.

Pixar is guided by a "Brain Trust."

It's a tiny group of leaders — originally early employees like John Lasseter, Andrew Stanton, Pete Docter, Lee Unkrich, and Joe Ranft — who give intensely candid critiques of films in progress.

Pixar has a school called Pixar University. 

Free classes include sculpting, painting, ballet, and live-action filmmaking.

"Simply by providing an excuse for us to all toil side by side, humbled by the challenge of sketching a self-portrait or writing computer code or taming a lump of clay," Catmull writes, "P.U. changed the culture for the better." 

Jobs wanted to sell Pixar to Microsoft.

The animation studio was bleeding money, so he thought to unload it. But then Pixar got Disney to distribute "Toy Story," which became an instant cash cow.

When a Pixar movie blows up at the box office, bonuses are handed out by hand. 

When Pixar produces a run-away hit, Catmull and the rest of the leadership team hand out checks to every person who worked on the movie. 

SEE ALSO: 22 Storytelling Tips For Writers From A Pixar Storyboard Artist

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In 1995, Disney introduced children everywhere to a Native American princess married 400 years ago today — Pocahontas.

The plot goes that Pocahontas, the beautiful daughter of Chief Powhatan, saves English adventurer John Smith from execution when British relations with the "savages" in the New World turned sour. Pocahontas even starts a romance with Smith, and the two almost sail away to Britain together at the end of the film.

History, however, tells a different and darker tale.

To start, Pocahontas was just a nickname, meaning "the naughty one" or "spoiled child." Matoaka, as the Powhatan Nation's website calls her, was taken prisoner at age 17 while on a social visit to the Jamestown colonists. They held her hostage there for more than a year.

Matoaka had met Smith before her captivity, but sparks didn't fly between them. Actually, Rolfe — a cocky character in Disney's second film — showed special interest in Matoaka. As a condition of her release, she agreed to marry him. On April 5, 1614, Matoaka became Rebecca Rolfe, and she soon had a son named Thomas. In 1616, the family, nicknamed the "Red Rolfes," returned to England, where she was something of a celebrity.

When Matoaka and Rolfe tried to return to Virginia in 1617, she, for whatever reason, left the ship at Gravesend in England. That same year, she died there at age 21.

"It is unfortunate that this sad story, which Euro-Americans should find embarrassing, Disney makes 'entertainment' and perpetuates a dishonest and self-serving myth at the expense of the Powhatan Nation," Chief Roy Crazy Horse writes.

On top of that, controversy also arises about whether or not Matoaka saved John Smith.

When Smith first wrote about his experiences with the Powhatan people (in two letters in 1607 and 1612), he characterized his time there as rather nice and never mentioned Matoaka saving his life.

But in his book, "General Historie of Virginia," published in 1624, Smith mentioned that Powhatan had tried to stone him to death, but Matoaka threw herself in the way to save him:

[T]wo great stones were brought before Powhatan: then as many as could layd hands on him [Smith], dragged him to them, and thereon laid his head, and being ready with their clubs, to beate out his braines, Pocahontas the Kings dearest daughter, when no intreaty could prevaile, got his head in her armes, and laid her owne vpon his to saue him from death.

Skeptics find it odd that Smith wouldn't write about the occurrence until 17 years later and after Matoaka's death, when Europe started to take notice of her story. Indeed, the prevailing viewpoint is that Matoaka's self-sacrifice never happened.

Research from J.A. Leo Lemay, an English professor at the University of Delaware, however, makes the opposite case. As one of the first to fully analyze all the historical evidence, he found we have little reason to consider Smith's later writing as untruthful. Some scholars might have even had political motivations for poking holes in his claims. On top of that, similar occurrences in other Native American tribes suggest that the attempted execution was a ritual to allow outside members into tribes.

But other accounts show Matoaka and Smith didn't have the special relationship Smith claimed. According to the Powhatan Nation, Matoaka disliked Smith, and when she saw him in London, she refused to speak to him and called him a liar.

The debate continues about whether "Pocahontas" truly saved John Smith, but we do know her life didn't look like what Disney portrayed. While the second movie introduced her real husband, John Rolfe, Matoaka's short life ended in tragedy.

SEE ALSO: 14 Historical "Facts" That Are Completely False

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We saw a live performance of the "Game of Thrones" theme song a few weeks ago at a fan event; however, this performance blows it away.  

Ahead of the season four premiere Sunday night, check out members of the New York Philharmonic play the series' theme song. It's nothing short of amazing.

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This weekend's "Saturday Night Live" mocked how "Fox and Friends" covered this week's Obamacare and climate change news.

Meet the show's "hosts" Steve Doocy, Elisabeth Hasselbeck, and Brian Kilmeade.

"President Obama did his best to make us all sign up for Obamacare," Doocy started off the show by saying.

"And wow, it wasn't easy," noted Hasselbeck.

To which Kilmeade responded, "It's tough to sign up for things, I've tried for years to sign up for the NAACP."

Getting things back on track, Doocy explained, "Now that the deadline has passed, the White House is claiming that they've met their goal. But look at our Fox News chart. As you can see, Obama needed to get 7 million new subscribers and he only got 7.1 million. Not anywhere close."

"I made a pie chart," added Kilmeade. "This area represents the part where I was hungry."

After talking to a "victim of Obamacare" played by "SNL" host Anna Kendrick, the show switched gears to address the study that came out this week about climate change.

"It's so confusing, so we thought we would bring in a scientist to help us out," said Doocy. "From Fox's 'Cosmos,' please welcome Neil deGrasse Tyson." 

"This report actually represents the consensus of the vast majority of scientists," explained deGrasse Tyson, expertly played by Kenan Thompson. "It is an indisputable fact that the earth is getting warmer."

To which Kilmeade added, "I saw a documentary about a town that was always cold because of a princess."

"That was 'Frozen,'" Hasselbeck corrects.

DeGrasse Tyson continued, "Addressing this problem should be a goal that we all share. No one wants to see the extinction of the polar bears."

"Whoa, whoa, whoa, Dr. Tyson, the polar bears are just fine," exclaims Doocy. "In fact, just the other day I saw one wearing sunglasses and drinking Coca-Cola."

"I think you're referring to a commercial," deGrasse Tyson points out, continuing, "I would advise each of you to study the science, for science is truth indeterminate and science allows us to detect when people's philosophies are interfering with the dissemination of those essential truths."

These were the hosts' stunned responses:

Before the show was over, they issued a list of corrections from the first hour.

Watch the full sketch below:

SEE ALSO: GM CEO Mary Barra’s Testimony Before Congress Mocked In 'SNL' Open

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It's been a long wait, but "Game of Thrones" finally returns to TV tonight.

If you haven't re-watched all of season three before the HBO series starts again, here's what you need to know before returning to the realm of Westeros.

Warning: There are spoilers ahead.

The last time we saw Daenerys (Emilia Clarke), she gained an army of slaves after setting them free.

She also gained Missandei (Nathalie Emmanuel) as her servant.

Now, she'll be dealing with her ever-growing dragons. If trailers have been any indication, they may start becoming a source of problems.

General Motors CEO, Mary Barra, was mocked on "Saturday Night Live" for her testimony before Congress about the recall of Chevrolet Cobalts and Saturn Ions.

"I represent the new GM, and the new GM is all about honesty and transparency," Barra begins by saying, but quickly answers every tough question with, "We are looking into that."

When asked about GM's history, all Barra will say is, "The first rule about new GM is you never talk about old GM."

She continued, "I cannot speak to how the old GM would handle an issue like this, I can only speak to the new GM."

"And how would the new GM handle that?" she is asked

To which she clearly responds, "We're looking into that," and then tries to roll her chair out of the room.

Watch the full sketch below:

SEE ALSO: 'SNL' Mocks 'Fox And Friends' Coverage Of Obamacare And Climate Change

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Warner Bros. and Legendary Pictures released a new extended look at the “Godzilla” reboot out in theaters next month. 

It’s essentially another trailer that gives us more insight into Bryan Cranston’s character in the film.  

The big reveal is a good look at Godzilla himself at the trailer’s end.  

“Godzilla” is in theaters May 16 and stars Cranston, Ken Watanabe, Elizabeth Olsen, Juliette Binoche, and Sally Hawkins.

Here's the final scene showing "Godzilla" again:

Update: As a commenter points out, it looks like we'll be seeing at least one other monster in the film. We went back to the trailer for a closer look.

From the 2:20 mark:

From 2:16:

Take a look at 1:45 and it looks like the entire monster is captured on the screen:

SEE ALSO: How Legendary Pictures marketed Gozilla during the LA earthquake

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Here we go again.

HBO GO is crashing for fans trying to watch the season 4 premiere of "Game of Thrones" online.

Here are the screens people are being met with:

This comes less than a month after fans had similar issues tuning into the "True Detective" finale through the HBO service.

HBO has acknowledged HBO GO isn't working for some customers.

Looks like there's trouble in the realm. Apologies for the inconvenience. We'll be providing updates, so please stay tuned. #GameofThrones

— HBO GO (@HBOGO) April 7, 2014

The network is suggesting fans wait for it to come on demand through their cable providers.

Having trouble accessing @HBO GO? Send a raven. @GameOfThrones will be available soon on HBO On Demand with some cable providers.

— HBO GO (@HBOGO) April 7, 2014

Naturally, fans are not happy. 

Lol hbo go you had 1 job

— onome (@thoriniums) April 7, 2014

Winter is buffering. #HBOGO

— President Spencahhh (@SpencerStidd) April 7, 2014

.@HBOGO had weeks to get ready for the Game of Thrones premiere, and apparently spent it thinking up unfunny phrases. pic.twitter.com/VUBM36cXRM

— Alex Konrad (@alexrkonrad) April 7, 2014

Can't tune in? Catch up with season 3 before watching the premiere

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(Reuters) - Actor Mickey Rooney, the pint-sized screen dynamo of the 1930s and 1940s best known for his boy-next-door role in the Andy Hardy movies, died on Sunday at 93, the TMZ celebrity website reported.

Rooney, who was one of the biggest box office stars of the movies' studio era, had been ill for some time, TMZ said. It did not give a cause of death and a spokesman was not immediately available for comment.

Rooney, who spent almost his entire life in show business, teamed up with Judy Garland in the 1939 movie musical "Babes in Arms." He also starred with Elizabeth Taylor in 1944's "National Velvet," which launched Taylor's career.

Rooney was best known for his role as Andy Hardy, the popular all-American teenager, which he portrayed in about 20 movies.

Rooney was married eight times, the first time to screen beauty Ava Gardner. Asked once if he would marry all his eight wives again, he said, "Absolutely. I loved every one of them."

(Reporting by Ian Simpson; Editing by Kevin Gray and Michael Perry)

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After Sunday's season 4 "Game of Thrones" premiere, the HBO show couldn't be more popular.

It's one of the highest-rated cable shows, its twists make the Internet go crazy, and viewers sell out fan events in minutes. 

To find out what helped the series become such a phenomenon, we have to go back to season 2's climatic "Blackwater" episode.

"Blackwater" not only brought "Thrones" to the masses; it was also one of the most costly episodes ever produced for television.

Here's how the epic $8 million episode came together.

Preparing For Battle

According to series creators Dave Benioff and Dan "D.B." Weiss, preparation for the Battle of Blackwater episode started all the way back in season 1.

"This whole story of Blackwater goes back to the first season ... we were supposed to have that battle with Tyrion and we ended up not able to shoot it," Benioff told EW. "We always promised ourselves, we’re gonna have our major battle."

That major battle would turn out to be season 2's penultimate episode, "Blackwater." However, bringing a key conflict to life would be a serious production and financial challenge. Luckily, the creators were able to go to the source for help.

"Dave and Dan gave me the hardest episode of the season," author of the series and writer of the episode George R.R. Martin told GQ. "I think it was their subtle revenge for creating such a difficult-to-produce show."

Hardest episode is an understatement. In the second book, "A Clash of Kings," the Battle of Blackwater is a war by land and sea that blows up a fleet of ships and takes up six chapters. Putting it together would undoubtedly be a challenge — but not as challenging as getting HBO to pay for it.

"You Guys Need A Million Dollars?"

According to E! Online, an average episode of "Game of Thrones" costs $6 million, making it one of the most expensive series on television.

"Blackwater" is not your typical episode, so the creators went to HBO to ask for more money, they told GQ:

Benioff: "We had one really intense conference call with the HBO brass. It was awkward: They said, 'So, what are you guys talking about, an extra $500,000?' We said, 'Noooo....' 'You guys need a million dollars?' 'Ummmm....'

Weiss: "I think we asked for $2.5 million. We got $2 million-something. That's a lot of money in TV."

In comparison, the average cable episode costs $2 million, so the extra costs for "Blackwater" alone equaled the price of one episode.

Where the Money Went

Typically, the show's large budget includes filming on location in places like Northern Ireland and Croatia.

For the "Battle of Blackwater" episode, the large budget went toward a three-part fight sequence that consisted of a large naval battle, beach fight, and castle storming. 

Filming for the scene took place in Belfast, where Benioff said they shot every night for about a month.

According to a season 2 featurette, the budget was spread across building ships, visual effects, and more than 250 extras that needed costumes and fight training.

A full-size battleship, based on those from the 14th century, was constructed; it included a large deck above and below ground.

They built a castle battlement that guards overlooked while enemies approached.

Custom set props filled in for weapons.

Cast members, including Peter Dinklage, said they never had to pretend with the amount of detail put into the set.

In addition, the crew built a giant 4-foot-deep water tank for stuntmen who were set on fire.

An impressive number of visual effects were used to create a fleet of ships, their explosive destruction, and to add hundreds of more extras in battle.

This scene below of roughly 100 horses started out with just 13.

Benioff told EW the scene used more effects than any other episode up until that point.

“We try to avoid excessive VFX on the show, but with 'Blackwater' there was no alternative,” Benioff told EW. “[Visual effects team members] Steve [Kullback] and Rainer [Gombos] look over a large team of tech wizards and what they’ve accomplished is, in our completely unbiased opinion, some of the best effects work in television history.”

All of it would go into making "Blackwater," but would the price tag be worth it for HBO and "Game of Thrones"?

A Fire And Blood Phenomenon

In short, "Blackwater" blew away both critics and fans.

Reviews of the episode were so positively received some called it the show's best episode "filled with as much spectacle as any episode of TV."

It would become one of the series' highest-rated episodes, pulling in 3.38 million viewers. 

This would lead to a greater interest in the series. Ratings haven't gone down since.

By the end of season 3, the "Game of Thrones'" audience would nearly double, to 5.39 million viewers — not to mention the millions more watching through HBO's online streaming service, HBO Go.

Even though "Blackwater" would go on to help make "Game of Thrones" one of the most popular shows, the greatest battle may be yet to come.

"There's another battle bigger than this one coming up, but not until the end of season four," Benioff told GQ. "So we're preparing our speeches for how we're gonna ask for more money."

NOW WATCH: The Truth About 'The Most Interesting Man In The World'

SEE ALSO: HBO Made Thousands Of 'Game Of Thrones' Fans Surrender Their Cell Phones To Watch An Early Season 4 Screening

SEE ALSO: How To Drive A $300,000 Ferrari

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We knew the "Captain America" sequel would have a massive opening weekend, we just weren't sure how big it would be.

Early numbers released Sunday have "Captain America: The Winter Soldier" making $96.2 million for the weekend.

This makes "The Winter Soldier" not only the largest April box-office opening (beating out "Fast Five"), but also the largest debut for the year so far.

Maybe more impressive is how much better the sequel performed compared to "Thor: The Dark World" during its November release.

"Thor 2" made $85.7 million opening weekend in comparison.

So far, "Captain America 2" has made more than $300 million worldwide. It cost approximately $170 million.

SEE ALSO: There are 2 end-credit scenes in "The Winter Soldier" — Here's what they mean for future Marvel movies

AND: Here's how the sequel is different in other countries

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If you're one of many fans upset with the "How I Met Your Mother" finale, there may be hope yet.

Series co-creator Carter Bays confirmed over the weekend there will be an alternate ending to the series available on the season 9 DVD and the series box set.

Update for those who've been asking: Alt #himym ending will be on s9 DVD and also in the series box set.

— Carter Bays (@CarterBays) April 5, 2014

Fans were upset when the final episode deviated from the entire final season.

Earlier, Bays expandedonTwitter about the alternate ending.

"16 days ago today we were in the HIMYM edit room, trying to decide between two very different endings," Bays wrote. "We only shot one script, but through edit room magic we had two possible outcomes for the series. We chose the ending we chose and we stand by it. But we loved the other version too."

The full series box set will be available this fall as a nod to Barney's Playbook.

The #HIMYM Series DVD Collection comes out this fall, and it's full of other cool stuff. Here's what it looks like: pic.twitter.com/bsRNHNAUkG

— Carter Bays (@CarterBays) April 4, 2014

SEE ALSO: Fans were not happy with the "How I Met Your Mother" series finale

AND: The final HIMYM scene was filmed 8 years ago

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