Fans of Brandon Sanderson’s sweeping Cosmere universe kicked off 2026 on a high note, as it was confirmed that Apple TV has acquired the rights to bring the fantasy universe from page to screen. Loyal fans will be thrilled (and relieved) to hear that Sanderson will retain creative control over the adaptations, including serving as a writer, producer, and consultant, and approval over casting, according to a January report from The Hollywood Reporter. That nearly unprecedented level of control is no doubt thanks to the massive influence he’s proven to have through the success of his many crowdfunded self-publishing ventures and the annual fan convention he hosts—on top of his massive book sales, having sold over 50 million copies, of course.

First up on the adaptation slate are the Mistborn and Stormlight Archive sagas, with the first taking the form of a film series and the latter arriving as a TV show. Though details are scarce, the Mistborn movie seems to be first in Sanderson's docket. Here’s everything we know so far about the Mistborn film adaptation.

What are the 'Mistborn' books by Brandon Sanderson about?

The Mistborn series is slated to span four “eras,” with two completed so far. The first three books in Era One—Mistborn: The Final Empire (2006), Mistborn: The Well of Ascension (2007), and Mistborn: The Hero of Ages (2008)—follow a group of powerful magicians known as Allomancers as they attempt to overthrow an empire in their dystopian, ash-covered world.

Next up are the four books of Era Two, also known as “Wax and Wayne:" Mistborn: The Alloy of Law (2011), Mistborn: Shadows of Self (2015), Mistborn: The Bands of Mourning (2016), and Mistborn: The Lost Metal (2022). They take place 300 years after the original trilogy and feature characters capable of both Allomancy and another magic system, Feruchemy, as they investigate crimes in a gritty city.

Sanderson is now in the process of creating the third era of Mistborn, dubbed “Ghostbloods.” That trilogy will be set about 50 years after “Wax and Wayne,” in a world that looks a lot like the early computer age of the 1980s. Finally, the fourth era is expected to be a space opera with even more advanced technology.

When is the 'Mistborn' film adaptation coming out?

Unfortunately, as with the screen adaptations of several other beloved fantasy series—looking at you, Fourth Wing and ACOTAR—it may be a while. In an early February YouTube video answering fan questions about the Cosmere adaptations, Sanderson said that writing “a fantastic screenplay for Mistborn” would be his main priority for the next few months, with plans to turn it in sometime in summer 2026.

Indeed, the author appears to be making pretty swift progress on the Mistborn screenplay. He helpfully added a progress bar to his website homepage, so fans can keep track of how far he is on the project, and it’s already zoomed from 2 percent at the time of the YouTube video to 33 percent as of late March. (For the record, another progress bar on the site shows that he’s 100 percent done writing the next Mistborn book, which will kick off the third era of the series, though it's not due to be published until 2028.)

But while the screenplay seems to be coming along quickly, that’s about it on the production updates front. Sanderson noted in the February video that nobody else was attached to the project yet, saying, “We’re still not very far along. These aren’t coming next year.”

Considering how long casting, filming, and post-production can take, we suspect it may not be until late 2028 at the absolute earliest that Mistborn could be released.

What else has Brandon Sanderson said about the 'Mistborn' adaptation?

Elsewhere in that February 2026 YouTube video, the Mistborn author expressed his excitement over working with Apple TV to adapt his Cosmere universe. He chose the streaming service after meetings with “all the major streamers and studios,” he said, not only because of the creative control Apple granted him, but also because “the partnership felt right.” As he explained it, “I’ve long been looking for a partner, not somebody just to sell things off to.”

And though the writer warned viewers that there’s “no guarantee” that any of the projects will definitely make it to the screen, he noted, “This feels really different this time. I think this one is really going to happen.”

Fans may recall that Sanderson previously made it pretty far in the production process of a film version of Mistborn—even getting (never-disclosed) cast members and a studio attached, as he wrote in a 2024 blog post—before it fell through. Here’s hoping this one does indeed happen.

Who is in the cast of the 'Mistborn' movie adaptation?

There may not be any stars attached to the Mistborn onscreen adaptation just yet, but that’s never stopped devoted fans from brainstorming their dream casts. One longtime favorite for any of several characters in the series is former Superman and The Witcher star Henry Cavill. Sanderson even seems to be aware of the popular theory. He seemed to refer to it in a 2024 blog post, confirming that a previous adaptation attempt had fallen through and writing that while casting decisions had been made, “No, Henry C. was not one of them.” Maybe the second time’s the charm?

Many across the internet agree that Dafne Keen, who’s appeared in Deadpool & Wolverine, His Dark Materials, and more, would make the perfect Vin, a young Allomancer at the center of the first Mistborn trilogy. There’s also widespread agreement that What We Do in the Shadows star Matt Berry should be the well-spoken nobleman Breeze.

Fans are more split on casting for other key characters. Kelsier, the leader of the crew that recruits Vin, could be embodied by Michael Fassbender, Chris Pine, The Boys actor Antony Starr, Nikolaj Coster-Waldau, or a long-haired Chris Evans, to name just a few casting suggestions. Meanwhile, the role of Sazed, another member of Kelsier’s crew, could go to Babs Olusanmokun, Mahershala Ali, or Djimon Hounsou. And particularly interesting picks for the Lord Ruler include Mads Mikkelsen, Cillian Murphy, Lee Pace, and Nicolas Cage. Your move, Apple TV!

While Guillermo del Toro’s Frankenstein is a faithful adaptation of Mary Shelley’s classic text, it brings its own point of view to the Gothic-Victorian era. The film, which hit Netflix on November 7, is a feast for the eyes: with a jewel-tone palette that’s a far cry from the morose hues we’ve come to associate with the horror story; an ornate production design; and a unique vision of The Creature (played by Jacob Elordi).

But its most enchanting goth girl moment may be del Toro’s integration of a beloved genre motif: a woman descending a staircase in her nightgown, candelabra in tow. Much like the trope of the desolate yet grandiose estate or the fantasy of paranormal romance, it evokes a certain feeling of the divine feminine and female sexuality.

The scene occurs when Mia Goth’s character, Elizabeth, desperate to see The Creature for herself, sneaks out of her bedroom and into the basement. Her nightgown—teal, sheer, embellished with ruching, and inspired in part by Caravaggio paintings—adds to the movie’s mysticism.

It was important to costume designer and frequent del Toro collaborator Kate Hawley (Pacific Rim, Crimson Peak) that the look be instantly memorable. She explains to Marie Claire that great consideration went into Elizabeth’s nightgown because it’s meant to be the first time both she and The Creature, each misunderstood in their own way, feel truly seen by another.

Hawley says it wasn’t lost on her or del Toro how much this scene would resonate with young women in particular. “There is that natural want to escape to the land of fairy tale, and it's not something to be sniffed at all. I was brought up on the works of the original Grimms’ Fairy Tales or Angela Carter, and there's a deep sensuality within that.” she says over Zoom. “I think Guillermo really taps into that with women. There's a sort of erotica of horror and the sensuality of it. I think women respond to that, and it's part of their deep oral storytelling. It's our witch.”

Here, Hawley breaks down Elizabeth’s naked dressing nightgown moment, as well as more details behind the fashion in Frankenstein.

Marie Claire: What did you want to accomplish with Elizabeth’s look in this moment in Frankenstein?

Kate Hawley: Having done nine or so night dresses for Guillermo on Crimson Peak, it was a moment of like, Oh, my God, what do I do? Because we've done this so much, where do I go with it? And the answer came from Guillermo in the end. He said he wanted something really simple. For that moment, it was all about Mia's hair and being in the moment—being almost as close to naked with the creature and as natural as possible—but still luminous because Mia brings all of that.

I did a nod to the Victorian ‘60s. We'd been echoing that world with her color palette. I'd been in the Tiffany archives looking at all the Louis Comfort Tiffany glass. I’d been looking at Biba because we talked about Oscar [Isaac’s character Victor] hitting that ‘60s horror influence, as well. It found itself through all the characters, but particularly that moment. She definitely has that ‘60s horror femme fatale, coming down the staircase. And Mia herself brings so much to the atmosphere. I was worried that we'd overwhelm her, but she's actually got an amazing presence that comes through everything. That woman can just walk in anywhere and take the room.

MC: It’s interesting because there’s a timelessness about that trope and look.

KH: You can name the films, can't you? Whenever we look at all the references, we look at them, but we don't copy and paste. We put it into the language of our film. [del Toro] likes to work with lots of artists, and he likes to see interpretation in the work. We draw, we explore, we reinterpret. And that's how the costumes evolved.

MC: You said Elizabeth was meant to look as naked as possible. What did you see as the significance of this?

KH: When Victor meets his creature for the first time, it's a narcissistic mirror image of seeing man in his own image. It's all these religious themes, but the way he peels his gloves off to show the creature he's real, then that's echoed when the creature peels [Elizabeth’s] gloves off in the very first time they meet in the cell. So you're aware of how the visual language is developing; Guillermo's always weaving repetition through it all.

MC: Why did you decide to make the nightgown blue?

KH: [del Toro] wants his horror to have color. He didn't want a sea of black. So, the first thing was, How do I make color sing in a way that still is evocative of the atmosphere, which is melancholy and loneliness? And how do we do color that's intense but not flat and bright that still answers the tone? The blues and greens are a really important part of it.

[The nightgown] echoes how we first see her in blue when Victor sees her, where she’s [likened to] Madonna. It was a softer version of that, like moonlight. Elizabeth is always, in Victor's story, seen through his eyes in the more abstract form of mother. When we get to this creature’s story, she's reflecting the creature and his version of the world. So she's all these women: She's Madonna, she's mother, all of these things. They're fleeting images, they’re part of the dream world, they're memories. I love that within Guillermo's script, too, the creature talks about memories and wearing them, or that there are memories within him that he can grasp elements of things. When he puts on a dead man's coat in the forest, it's almost like he's putting on the memory of another man's skin. There are all these images throughout.

MC: The nighgtown is hardly the only sheer piece. Victor’s mother is always covered in it, Elizabeth frequently wears a veil, and it’s prominently featured in the design in the funeral and wedding scenes. Why was sheer so important?

KH: It helped us get into the more ethereal language that Guillermo wanted. It also helped me translate color in a way that felt more part of the dream world. If I just put lots of flat fabrics in there, it would've had a very different tonal quality, but because we used the veils in terms of color and the fabric we used, it's almost like a more painterly approach, which is very Guillermo. It becomes part of the brush strokes of the landscape. It was trying to find that dreamlike quality—faces blurred so they felt like memories. We were trying to evoke a mood and tone by using color. It layers through—almost a constant metamorphosis of color.

MC: There’s a lot of debate around historical accuracy in period piece costuming. Do you think it’s a challenge or does it allow you to be more playful when you don’t go for 100% accuracy?

KH: First of all, [del Toro] changed the time period from the book [published in 1818] to the 1850s, which made sense for a more modern world. We have the Industrial Revolution in full swing, the Crimean War in the background. And he always said that he wanted a modern edge to the costumes. There's also the tone of gothic, and how do we do that in a Victorian world?

Because we were still defined by the silhouette, that creates one rule that you can accept; some of the details within the period actually help you tell the story. I go deep into research, then I let it go and go deep into the thematics and the dream of the world. And then at some point, those two things meet.

Even if you look back in time, we all invest the past with a kind of grandeur or correctness or rules that it didn't have. Someone in their 50s might still dress as they did in their 30s, or never could never have afforded clothes. There's stories behind everything. Nobody wears a uniform.

This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity.

The Witcher has finally returned for season 4, with Liam Hemsworth taking over as monster-hunting hero Geralt of Rivia. Amid brewing, continent-wide warfare, Geralt is tasked with battling magical foes and searching to reunite with both his lover Yennefer (Anya Chalotra) and surrogate daughter, Princess Ciri (Freya Allan).

The season 4 finale ended with Geralt officially becoming a knight, Yennefer planning to form a powerful Lodge of Sorceresses, and Ciri in grave peril after being captured by conniving mercenary Leo Bonhart (Sharlto Copley). Oh, and there’s still a prophecy out there warning that Ciri will play a key role in the end of the world. Needless to say, our heroes have quite a lot on their plate heading into The Witcher’s grand finale!

With the show officially renewed for a final season, here’s everything we know about The Witcher season 5 so far.

Will 'The Witcher' season 5 be the last season?

Yep! In April 2024, Netflix officially renewed The Witcher for a fifth and final season, which was filmed back-to-back with season four.

“We’re thrilled to be able to bring Andrzej Sapkowski’s books to an epic and satisfying conclusion,” creator and showrunner Lauren Schmidt Hissrich said in a statement. “It wouldn’t be our show if we didn’t push our family of characters to their absolute limit — stay tuned to see how the story ends.”

When will ‘The Witcher’ season 5 come out?

Netflix hasn’t officially announced when The Witcher season 5 will arrive on the streamer.

During an October 30 interview with GamesRadar+, Hissrich said that, although filming for season 5 wrapped a “few weeks” before season 4’s release, she’ll be “in [post-production] for a very long time for season 5.”

Because fantasy series like The Witcher often have lengthy post-production periods due to their high levels of visual effects, it’s fair to guess that the show won’t premiere until sometime in late 2026 or early 2027. For comparison, The Witcher season 4 wrapped filming in October 2024 and premiered on Netflix in October 2025.

Who will be in the cast of ‘The Witcher’ season 5?

After taking over the role of Geralt of Rivia in season four, Liam Hemsworth will return to star in The Witcher season five. Joining him in the main cast are Anya Chalotra as Yennefer, Freya Allan as Ciri, Joey Batey as Jaskier, Mahesh Jadu as Vilgefortz, and Bart Edwards as Emhyr.

We can also expect to see season four’s many supporting players back in action next season, including Meng’er Zhang as Milva, Eamon Farren as Cahir, Laurence Fishburn as Regis, Sharlto Copley as Leo Bonhart, Mimî M. Khayisa as Fringilla, James Purefoy as Skellan, Anna Shaffler as Triss, and Sha Dessi as Nimue.

What will ‘The Witcher’ season 5 be about?

Season 4 was a loose adaptation of Sapkowski’s fifth The Witcher book, 1996’s Baptism of Fire—which also happens to be the name of the season finale. With that in mind, we can expect season 5 to adapt the events of the final two main books in the series: 1997’s The Tower of the Swallow and 1999’s The Lady of the Lake.

Going into The Witcher’s final season, the show’s central found family of Geralt, Yennefer, and Ciri are still separated from one another. They’ll almost certainly continue to fight their way back towards one another in season 5, while taking on villains like mercenary Leo Bonhart, manipulative mage Vilgefortz, and Ciri’s biological father, ruthless Nilfgaardian emperor Emhyr Var Emreis. Plus, our heroes will once again be forced to contend with the world-ending Ithlinne Prophecy, in which Ciri is fated to play a role.

After a two-year hiatus, Netflix’s fantasy series The Witcher returned for season 4 on October 30, 2025, with Liam Hemsworth taking over for Henry Cavill as powerful monster hunter Geralt of Rivia. We reunite with Geralt in a low place, having been injured by the villainous mage Vilgefortz (Mahesh Jadu) and separated from his lover, Yennefer of Vengerberg (Anya Chalotra), and their surrogate daughter, Princess Ciri (Freya Allan).

As if that weren’t enough, the empire of Nilfgaard is at war with the Northern Kingdoms, and Geralt is once again pressured to take a side. Our heroes are being tested, and as showrunner Lauren Schmidt Hissrich recently told Tudum, don’t expect the show’s many conflicts to be wrapped up ahead of its fifth and final season.

“It wouldn’t be The Witcher if everything ended happily,” Hissrich said. “This is the beginning of a two-season journey for our family to finally reunite and be together—hopefully forever.”

So, where do we leave Geralt, Yennefer, Ciri, and their foes as season 4 concludes? Read on for a breakdown of the ending of The Witcher season 4 and where the Netflix original’s found family wind up ahead of their last adventure.

Does Geralt reunite with Ciri at the end of 'The Witcher' season 4?

Not yet! Geralt and his friends—whom we learn are eventually referred to in legend as “the hansa,” as is the same in Andrzej Sapkowski’s source books—are still searching for his surrogate daughter at the end of the season. In the meantime, Geralt’s longtime dream of becoming a knight comes true…with strings attached.

During their journey, Geralt leads the charge as the hamza help a group of mysterious guerrilla fighters hold a Nilfgaardian bridge from being taken over by Nilfgaardian soldiers. To repay him, the soldiers’s leader, Queen Meve (Rebecca Hanssen) of the kingdoms Lyria and Rivia, dubs him a knight. However, Meve demands that Geralt swear allegiance to her and only her, unexpectedly drawing him into the war.

Is Yennefer able to defeat Vilgefortz at the end of 'The Witcher' season 4?

No, but she’s working on it. In the season 4 finale, Yennefer orders her fellow mage Triss (Anna Shaffer) to use the dagger that the Witcher Vesemir (Kim Bodnia) used to wound Vilgefortz, allowing her to track Vilgefortz back to Stygga. She reasons that because Vilgefortz is weak, she’ll be able to kill him and protect Ciri without forcing anyone else to suffer in the process.

Triss warns Yennefer that if she breaks through her nemesis’s portal matrix, she’ll still wind up in a world he knows well, and one she doesn’t know at all. Nevertheless, Yennefer carries through with her plan to break into Stygga. The last time we see her, she has emerged through the portal, in the middle of a turbulent sea.

What happens to the Brotherhood at the end of 'The Witcher' season 4?

Speaking to the coalition of rogue mages she’s assembled by the end of season 4, Yennefer admits that she wrongfully thought that they must become soldiers to defeat Vilgefortz.

“I’ve been overlooking something that was right in front of me,” she admits. “What would be our strongest asset from here forward. Our sisterhood.”

Yennefer ends the season by leaving her lone wolf ways behind and promising to build a Lodge of Sorceresses and rebuild the magical women’s academy Aretuza. We don’t get to see this plan come to fruition just yet. However, season 4 introduces a young woman named Nimue (Sha Dessi) who is preparing to study at the recently reopened Aretuza, suggesting that Yennefer’s dream eventually becomes reality.

Is Ciri able to save the Rats at the end of 'The Witcher' season 4?

No. Despite her best efforts, Ciri is unable to stop the treacherous Witcher-hunting mercenary Leo Bonhart (Sharlto Copley) from killing and decapitating her ragtag team of outlaw friends, known as the Rats. Season 4 ends with Ciri restrained by one of Leo’s henchmen, with no one around to save her but herself.

What about Emhyr?

Ciri’s biological father, the ruthless Nilfgaardian emperor Emhyr Var Emreis (Bart Edwards), is desperate to reclaim control over his daughter, whom he sees as the key to fulfilling the world-destroying Ithlinne’s Prophecy and ruling the world.

During the final moments of season 4, Emhyr’s mage advisor, Xarthisius (Simon Paisley Day), introduces him to a powerful monster, who he claims could accelerate the prophecy.

“A truly magnificent specimen for you,” Xarthisius says. “Largest and most brutish I have ever seen.”

Emhyr accepts the monster’s help, ordering it to track down Geralt of Rivia, “who stands between me and my daughter.”

Whatever happens next, the stage is set for the most dramatic family reunion the Continent has ever seen.

Romantasy fans everywhere are certainly staying fed for the foreseeable future: Not only is the genre all but taking over the publishing world, but savvy Hollywood executives are also scooping up the rights to beloved series left and right to bring them to life on screen. So far, there are confirmed TV or movie adaptations in the works for Rebecca Yarros’s Fourth Wing books and Callie Hart’s Quicksilver trilogy, and Sarah J. Maas is said to be shopping around the long-awaited TV version of her A Court of Thorns and Roses series.

Also on the horizon is a TV show based on Lauren Roberts’s Powerless series—the rights to which were snatched up by producers last fall, according to Variety, before Roberts had even put out the final book in the trilogy. Since then, more details have recently surfaced about the project, getting many fans of the epic forbidden love story between Paedyn and Kai certifiably hyped to see it go from page to screen.

Here’s everything we know so far about the Powerless series and its plans for portraying everyone’s favorite Ordinary girl and Elite guy.

What is 'Powerless' by Lauren Roberts about?

Roberts’s romance series—technically YA, though it appeals to readers of all ages—is based in a world that’s split into Elites, who each have some superhuman power, and Ordinaries, who do not. Protagonist Paedyn is an Ordinary girl who lives in the kingdom of Ilya, which is technically restricted to Elites. There, she poses as a psychic and steals to make ends meet.

When her act turns out to be a bit too convincing, Paedyn is thrown into the Purging Trials, an intense and deadly competition for the Elites to show off their powers. As she scrambles to keep up the facade (and stay alive), she’s also fighting feelings for a competitor, one of the king’s sons, Kai, who has no inkling of her true identity.

The first season of the planned Powerless TV show is set to focus only on the first book, according to Deadline. However, Roberts has already published two more full-length installments, Reckless and Fearless, that see Paedyn on the run from Kai after the events of the first novel and then, once they’ve reunited, facing a decision that’ll completely change both of their lives. As if that wasn’t enough, she’s also put out a pair of novellas, Powerful and Fearful, that can be tandem-read with the first and third books, respectively.

The Powerless books have sold millions of copies worldwide and have been translated into dozens of languages, thanks in part to their being championed by the kingmakers over on #BookTok.

When is the 'Powerless' TV adaptation coming out?

The Powerless TV series doesn't have an official release date just yet. Development of the show began in late 2024, when a group of producers reportedly bought the rights to the series, without a specific home for it attached. That changed in summer 2025, when it was announced that Amazon MGM Studios had taken on the project, meaning it’ll air on Prime Video—alongside the Fourth Wing series.

Powerless is listed only as “in development” on IMDb, and during a September 2025 appearance on Good Morning America, Roberts’s main update was simply that “it’s happening, it’s in the works.”

The typical TV show development process can take anywhere from one to three years, so it’s really anyone’s guess when we’ll finally get to see Paedyn and Kai come to life on our screens.

Who’s in the 'Powerless' TV adaptation cast?

There haven’t been any official casting announcements for the Powerless TV show, but Roberts did have a good answer to one very crucial question during that GMA appearance: Who will play Kai? “I know the girls are very vocal about finding the right Kai, and so I’m gonna do my best to help with that,” the author said.

When pressed about whether she had any dream casting choices in mind, Roberts said, “You know what, I actually would love to see someone brand new as Kai. I would love to find the Kai and bring him to the world, rather than finding someone who maybe doesn’t quite fit him. I think that would be amazing.”

She added—and rightfully so—that “he’s sacred to the girls. We have to get the right guy, for sure.”

Who is involved in the 'Powerless' TV adaptation?

The first group of producers that snapped up the TV rights to Powerless included Will Gluck, Madison Jones, and Jacqueline Monetta under their Olive Bridge Entertainment group, as well as Lyrical Media’s Alex Black, Jon Rosenberg, and Natalie Sellers. Perhaps most recognizable of the group is Gluck, a certified rom-com king who wrote and directed instant classics like Friends With Benefits and Anyone But You, and also served as director of Easy A. Meanwhile, Lyrical Media has also taken on a few other #BookTok-beloved projects, as producers of the film adaptations of Emily Henry’s Funny Story and Brynne Weaver’s Butcher & Blackbird.

A few months later, when Amazon announced it would house the series, Daphne Ferraro was named the creator and showrunner. Her recent writing credits include series like the addictive enemies-to-lovers story Maxton Hall and the cult-favorite mystery Dark.

Roberts herself will also be involved as a producer. (More on that below.)

What else has Lauren Roberts said about bringing 'Powerless' to the TV screen?

During the September 2025 interview on Good Morning America, Roberts said of the Powerless TV adaptation, “I hope to be as involved as I possibly can be.” She seems to be off to a good start, as the June 2025 Amazon Prime announcement also included the update that Roberts herself would come aboard as a producer of the series.

When the TV adaptation was first announced, the author said in a statement to Variety, “I am thrilled by the prospect of seeing my dear characters come to life. Powerless is a story I have envisioned in my mind for years, dreaming of the day I would watch it unfold on screen. I truly cannot wait to work with such capable teams to accomplish this dream.”

Witches have a complicated history. On one hand, they’re undisputed icons of Halloween and all things mystical and spooky. On the other hand, “witch” has long been used as a (usually misplaced) label for women who dared to break with societal norms—by doing something absolutely earth-shattering like remaining single or childless, speaking for themselves, or (gasp!) growing old.

As we head into spooky season, there’s no better time to explore the many facets of witchdom, and there’s perhaps no better way to do that than by diving into a good book about magical women (although settling in for a spooky movie night is definitely a close second). There are plenty of options out there, so we’ve made things easy and narrowed down the list to 16 of the best books about witches across all genres, from immersive historical fiction to spicy romances to fascinating non-fiction. Now, go forth and be witchy!

The Best Historical Fiction Books About Witches

The Best Literary Fiction Books About Witches

The Best Nonfiction Books About Witches

The Best Romance Books About Witches

When you're looking to get lost in a book, sometimes you need your reading material to match your mood. With Marie Claire's series "Buy the Book," we do the heavy lifting for you. We're offering curated, highly specific recommendations for whatever you're looking for—whether you're in your feels or hooked on a subgenre trending on #BookTok.

In this author-curated rendition, Mona Awad—a short fiction writer, the bestselling author of Bunny, and the Queen of Feminist Horror—shares her favorite books about dark enchantment.

Whenever author Mona Awad finishes a novel, she experiences a “grieving period” when she “[longs] to return to the characters.” Her 2019 bestseller and #BookTok favorite Bunny was no different—except she couldn’t let it go.

“Bunny never left me,” the writer says of the dark academia book about a peculiar cult of young women in the fictional Warren University’s MFA program. “When the book began to find more readers, I felt inspired to follow my heart and return to it.”

The result is the beguiling and darkly funny duel prequel/sequel, We Love You, Bunny (out September 23), in which the Bunnies get the chance to tell their side of the story that turned their classmate Samantha’s school year into a nightmare—and the subject for her debut novel.

As with most of her work, Awad turns to horror to tell yet another honest, yet twisted tale about the female experience. She shares with Marie Claire over email why she often turns to the genre: “Women live in a world where the truth of their experience is constantly being dismissed, denied, devalued. We are gaslit into thinking that we’re the ones who are wrong about our experience. That conflict is horror’s terrain. Horror is the perfect vehicle for exploring womanhood. I wouldn’t have been able to write All’s Well or Rouge, and certainly, Bunny, without it.”

The Canadian author also describes “enchantment” as a critical piece of all her fiction, especially Bunny and its follow-up. “It’s a driving force for fairy tales, but it’s also a crucial part of horror. If we’re not drawn in, how could we possibly stick around for the scare?” she says. “I love exploring what holds us captive, because ultimately that’s what enchantment is all about.”

Awad adds, “Enchantment sounds so light and lovely and magical on its surface, and it can be, but like all forms of desire, it can drive us into darkness.”

To take a journey down that rabbit hole, we asked Awad to share her favorite “dark enchantment” books with us. Below, you’ll find her picks ranging from literary classics to recent mythology-inspired favorites.

We Love You, Bunny by Mona Awad is available now.

They say good things come to those who wait, and if that’s true, A Court of Thorns and Roses fans are certainly due for some good tidings as far as the book’s television adaptation is concerned.

Series enthusiasts have been waiting several long years for the small screen version of Sarah J. Maas’s best-selling romantasy books to come to fruition, with only scraps of information about the project to sustain them in the interim. While the TV show was first announced as in development by Hulu and 20th Television in 2021, it was in limbo for some time, until the streamer ultimately officially dropped it in February 2025.

However, just like when the book's heroine Feyre faced off against the Wyrm in the cavernous pit Under the Mountain, all hope is not lost. Word on the street is that Maas is looking to take the series to a different network once its option expires at Disney’s 20th Television. Below, find everything we know about the fate of the A Court of Thorns and Roses TV series adaptation, from the status of its development to the cast and release date.

Where will the 'A Court of Thorns and Roses' adaptation be released?

A Court of Thorns and Roses was originally slated to run on Hulu with Disney’s 20th Television producing until the streaming service dropped it in February 2025.

Many speculated that the show was not moving forward long before it was announced that Hulu had dropped it, considering the original showrunner had left 20th Television. Ronald D. Moore (known for sci-fi and fantasy hits like Battlestar Galactica and Outlander) was to be the showrunner, but departed the project in July 2024 after leaving Disney for Sony, where he signed a multi-year deal. Since he was no longer with the studio, he would no longer be attached to the series—though he opened up about some of the challenges it faced during a 2024 Comic Con interview. He explained at the time, “The thing about it was [going] from COVID to the [SAG-AFTRA actors’s] strikes to a lot of shakeup in terms of [Disney CEO] Bob Iger leaves, Bob Iger comes back, and as a result, that piece of development just never got traction.”

He added, “I spent a lot of time working on it, and then it didn’t happen, so okay, I just move on.”

Hulu has yet to release a big fantasy franchise on par with HBO's Emmy-winning Game of Thrones and its various spinoffs or Prime Video's Lord of the Rings prequel The Rings of Power. So, it made sense that the streamer would go after something of ACOTAR's caliber. Now that Hulu is no longer attached, Variety reported Maas is interested in shopping the project around to another network. It's currently unclear where, but fans can rest easy knowing that the series isn't totally dead.

When will the 'A Court of Thorns and Roses' TV show be released?

With no official network attached and the ACOTAR show basically back to square one, it will be a long while before it premieres. It's hard to say when, probably not for several years.

When Maas appeared on a March 2026 episode of the "Call Her Daddy" podcast, she explained that she worked hard over the past few years to get the rights back to the adaptation. And while she was able to do so and hopes to have creative control when it's time to move into production, she emphasized that writing the source novels is her main priority right now.

"I have the rights back to everything now and getting the rights back to all my things has been a big part of my journey in recent years that maybe at some point soon I will talk more about, but right now my focus is on books and it's been a little while since you guys have had something, so I'm focusing on that," she said.

With Book 6 coming out in October 2026, Book 7 due out in January 2027, and Book 8 confirmed but still be written, that'll definitely factor into the show's production timeline. Should Maas complete Book 8 sooner rather than later and then turn her focus to the adaptation, if it's fast-tracked, the soonest it might hit screens could be late 2028 or 2029.

We can look to another beloved fantasy series, Fourth Wing, getting the series treatment from Prime Video as a comparison. The project was first announced in 2023 and has undergone similar behind-the-scenes changes, with casting still underway. No release date has been confirmed for Fourth Wing either, so these things take a lot of time.

What has Sarah J. Maas said about the 'A Court of Thorns and Roses' TV series adaptation?

Maas is heavily involved with the ACOTAR TV show and hasn't just expressed her excitement, but also her hopes for creative control.

When the project was first announced, she shared on Instagram just how thrilled she was that Ronald D. Moore was on board and revealed she was a part of the writing process. Per TVLine, the author wrote in a now-deleted post, “​​It’s official … Ron Moore (creator of Outlander and one of my creative idols) and I will co-adapt ACOTAR as a TV show for Hulu! I’m currently hard at work writing the pilot with Ron (!!!!!).”

She added, “It just feels so great to finally be able to talk about this! Stay tuned for more details!!”

Maas opened up further about how she was "heavily involved" in a 2022 interview with The New York Times. “It just seemed like a new creative mountain for me to climb,” she said. “It’s a whole different way of telling stories, bringing them to life, and a whole different way of seeing my characters.”

She told the outlet that she was spending up to four hours a day on Zoom calls with Moore to help her story come to life.

In November 2023, amid the actors's strike, the writer gave another update. “We’ve written some scripts, and we’re just sort of waiting,” she told TVLine at the time. “I think the whole town is kind of waiting to see if we have actors before things really move forward, but it’s still in development.”

Since the change-ups, Maas has only spoken vaguely about what's to come. It's been reported that she's interested in shopping it around, and on "Call Her Daddy," she spoke a bit about her vision.

"I look at any TV movie adaptation as kind of like another facet of the worlds that I've created, and it's something that I want to be in charge of," Maas shared on the podcast. "I'm a type A control freak a little bit, but I want to know everything about how it gets made, not because of that control, but just because I love movies. I love TV. I want to be a part of that, and I want to see everything adapted the way I envision it and the way I know fans want it."

The author continued, "I don't ever want to hear like, 'Oh, we need to change this to appeal to XYZ’s demographic.' I'm like, 'No, that's not how you make art. That's not how I create my stories,' so when I do it, it's gonna be me, and I will dedicate everything that I have to making it right, but I'll be in there, you know, looking at all the design, but also like, 'What does it sound like?' 'cause music plays such a big part, so I'm not just gonna, like, the music is gonna have to be like a huge project."

What is the plot of 'A Court of Thorns and Roses?'

How to explain the fantastical, faerie-fueled fiction that is A Court of Thorns and Roses? Essentially, it’s a story about a young woman experiencing the splendors of love (and sex—lots of sex) for the very first time when she is forced to journey far from home.

However, in this story, the young woman is a self-made warrior named Feyre who has trained herself to hunt to provide for her family—and the object of her affection is a royal faerie named Tamlin, who has taken her to his lands against her will as penance for unwittingly slaying a member of his court.

In addition to their ongoing battle of wills (which, of course, is never not fraught with sexual tension), dangers lurk around every corner for Feyre, who must learn to coexist in a world full of monsters she never knew existed.

Who has been cast in the 'A Court of Thorns and Roses' adaptation?

Casting was never officially announced when the ACOTAR series was at Hulu, and no updates have been made since then. However, that hasn’t stopped fans from taking their best guesses as to who might play their favorite ACOTAR characters.

At the top of their list for Tamlin? Outlander’s own Sam Heughan. The actor’s character in the Starz series, Jamie Fraser, was Maas’s reported inspiration for Lucien, Tamlin’s BFF. Adding fuel to the fan theory fire is the fact that Heughan is also mentioned in the first book’s acknowledgements.

Heughan played coy when our sister site, Marie Claire Australia, asked if he was working on the project. “I guess we’ll have to wait and see, won’t we?” he teased.

The rumor mill also had a heyday with Margot Robbie. The Barbie actress was spotted having coffee with the romantasy novelist in March 2024, sparking buzz that they might be collaborating on something—like the ACTOR adaptation. The Oscar-nominated star notably helms LuckyChap Entertainment and is known for her work as a producer, so she may very well be interested in getting involved behind the scenes.

She's already said to be a major Maas fan: Robbie told Harper’s Bazaar that she’s read all of the books in the novelist’s series “like, a million times over.” When asked if there was anything she could do to help her new friend move the project along, she joked, “We all need that—the world needs that. I’ll see what I can do.”

Maas has also sung her praises of the Wuthering Heights star/producer. On "Call Her Daddy," she spoke highly of their friendship and how she admires what Robbie's work has meant to young women—although she notably stayed hush-hush on whether the two are actually collaborating on something for the big or small screen.

Fans have had fun floating other names for ACOTAR parts, including Henry Cavill, Theo James, Thomas Doherty, Tyler Blackburn, and Katherine Langford, among others.

Stargirl’s Brec Bassinger threw her own hat into the ring while speaking to TVLine in 2023. “Literally, after I finished the first [book], I emailed my team, and I was like, ‘Listen, I don’t care if I have one line. I have to be a part of this,” she said. “I’m not fiery enough for Nesta. I don’t present old enough for Feyre. I feel like I’d make a good Elain, but I’ll be whoever.”

Nothing has been confirmed yet, so, for now, keep the fan casts coming—and continue to check back to this story, as we'll continue to update it when more information becomes available.

Fairies have been taking over our bookshelves for some time now (ahem, A Court of Thorns and Roses), and thanks to Netflix, they’ll soon be taking over our televisions. The streaming service reportedly shelled out a whopping seven figures(!) in a heated bidding war for the film rights to the latest fairy romantasy du jour: Callie Hart’s Quicksilver.

Though the bestselling novel about enemies-to-lovers Saeris and Kingfisher and their journey through a faerie realm initially took a while to pick up steam (“I put it out, and it didn’t do well right away,” Hart has said), it has become a #Booktok sensation. In just two months, the title garnered over three million views on the platform, per Deadline.

Now, following the November 2025 release of Brimstone, Hart's Quicksilver follow-up and the second book in what will be the three-part Fae & Alchemy series, fans are chomping at the bit to see the Quicksilver movie. When the author announced in December 2024 that her book would be adapted, her TikTok announcement quickly blew up and has since garnered over 157,000 likes. “They’ve already attached the most phenomenal producer ever,” she teased.

As we wait patiently to venture off to the Fae realm of Yvelia, we're breaking down everything we know about Netflix's upcoming Quicksilver film adaptation thus far, from the release date to casting news and more.

What is 'Quicksilver' about?

Quicksilver, the first of three books in Hart’s Fae & Alchemy series, is a romance-fantasy hybrid tale about a spirited 24-year-old woman named Saeris. She finds herself transported from her dystopian desert home to Yvelia, a fairy wonderland of ice and snow she never dreamed existed, after an encounter with Death.

Naturally, she meets a handsome fae warrior named Kingfisher, whom she is intrigued by but also simultaneously can’t stand, culminating in a fast-paced blur of love, sex, and violence.

According to Hart, the film version of her runaway hit book will stay true to its core. "It has graphic content and violence in all kinds of different ways," she acknowledged to Swooon. "My main goal here is to make sure that the basis of the movie isn’t lost, that the book isn’t lost. I really want any adaptation to stay true to the story, for it to be dark and gritty and sexy and all of the things that readers fell in love with." Hear, hear!

Who is involved in the Netflix 'Quicksilver' adaptation?

Hart revealed to her followers that Elizabeth Cantillon—known for her work producing 2024's acclaimed Alien: Romulus, 2022’s Persuasion starring Dakota Johnson, and the upcoming adaptation of Kristin Hannah’s The Nightingale—will be helming the project from a production standpoint.

"Elizabeth Cantillon is a powerhouse," the author gushed in a TikTok. "She has an amazing resume, she has some incredible projects under her belt."

The British writer also announced that she will serve as an executive producer on the film. "I am going to have an active role in the project as it goes forward," she told Swooon.

More recently, in December 2025, Hart shared that she and Cantillon are working hard to find the right director for the project. While speaking at a Brimstone book tour event in December 2025, IGN reported that Hart said, "We're about to start thinking about who will be the director, which is a really fun stage to be at."

Hart explained that she would love to see someone like Nosferatu director Robert Eggers or Oscar-winning horror aficionado Guillermo del Toro because she wants "something dark and twisted and weird. I don't want anything normal."

She added, "I just want someone who has a clear vision, and who is going to stay true to the story and is going to present it in a really, fricken cool way that isn't going to be turned into a meme. That's the requirements."

The author also confirmed that they "have a script, and it's a good one," but wouldn't say who the screenwriter is. However, she hyped her up: "You've definitely watched shows she's written, and she is just phenomenal. She's got a really great sense of humor that's found its way into the script, too."

We trust that the writer/executive producer will assemble the right team to transport us to Zilvaren and Yvelia!

What has Callie Hart said about the 'Quicksilver' Netflix adaptation?

In addition to announcing herself and Cantillon as collaborators on the film, Hart opened up to First for Women about the moment she got the news that her book had been optioned. "When my agent came to me and said, 'Hey, Netflix is knocking at the door right now.' It was incredible,” she recalled, adding, "It’s such an honor."

She also praised the company for allowing her to be such a big part of the experience. "They’re also very inclusive,” she said. "I actually have a very considerable voice in everything as executive producer, which is also amazing."

According to Hart, she and Cotillon are already getting to work. "[Elizabeth] is very collaborative,” she told Swooon. “We’ve sat down and had long, in-depth conversations about where the project should go and the direction that it should take, the vibe, and the atmosphere of the movie. We’re still ironing out all of that stuff."

When will Netflix's 'Quicksilver' film be released?

With the project announced in December 2024 and only a few solid updates coming out since then, it’s too early to say exactly when the Netflix adaptation of Quicksilver will be released. With the film still in very early stages, it leads us to believe that it may not arrive on the streaming service before late 2027 or 2028 at the earliest.

Who has been cast in the Netflix 'Quicksilver' adaptation?

Hart confirmed that several names were "being passed around" for the Netflix Quicksilver movie in an interview with First for Women. She remained tight-lipped about which Hollywood heavyweights were being considered.

"Lots of people are postulating and thinking about who would make a good Kingfisher and who would make a good Carrion and such," she confessed. "They’ve ranged from unknown actors to up-and-coming actors to very big names. So it’s very exciting."

One name Hart did let slip was that of British star Henry Cavill, though she didn’t clarify whether it was merely wishful thinking or if the streaming giant is actually in talks with the actor for a role. "Everyone wants Henry Cavill for everything and, of course, you can picture him in anything too, so it works," she said of the 42-year-old Superman alum.

Hart also floated the idea that her movie's leading man and lady may not be known to the public. "I think a very talented up-and-coming person is also equally as exciting," she raved, adding, "I can’t wait."

Fans have, of course, weighed in with their hopes, as well. Some fan casts have name-dropped everyone from Aaron Taylor-Johnson to Aidan Turner to Theo James to Thomas Doherty for King Fisher. Meanwhile, Odeya Rush (Lady Bird, Memory of a Killer) and House of the Dragon alum Emiley Carey have been thrown around for Saeris. With little confirmed, we can certainly let our minds run wild—but as Hart said, we can't wait to see what unfolds either!

From Rebecca Yarros’s Fourth Wing series to the resurgence of Wicked, fantasy books have all but taken over the best-sellers lists as of late. And if you’re one of the readers who’s been gobbling them up at record speed (who could blame you?), we’re here to tell you that you don’t have to wait for Sarah J. Maas to drop the next A Court of Thorns and Roses book (IYKYK). There are plenty of imaginative mythology-inspired novels worth reading, and they feature all the gods, supernatural beings, and monsters you could ever want, while being rooted in a rich cultural tradition.

No, we’re not suggesting you revisit your seventh-grade English homework. All of the mythology books on this list are modernized retellings of tales from ancient times: Maybe they’re from the perspective of another character, or maybe they offer a female lens on a story that’s been male-centric for too long.

From the much-lauded 2018 hit Circe, which tells the events from The Odyssey of Odysseus’s men being turned into animals from the perspective of the sorceress who made it happen, to The Witch’s Heart, which revisits the Norse myth of Angrboda and Loki, there’s no end of options when it comes to titillating modern day myths. Below are the best mythology books to read now.

Greek Mythology Books

Roman Mythology Books

Norse Mythology Books

Russian Mythology Books

Every so often, a fantasy series comes along that changes the course of literary history. In the ‘50s, it was The Lord of the Rings. The ‘90s, meanwhile, belonged to J.K. Rowling’s Harry Potter and George R. R. Martin’s A Song of Ice and Fire—a.k.a. the basis for the HBO smash Game of Thrones. And in recent years, a new collection of books based on all things mystical and magical was crowned king of the culture mountaintop: Sarah J. Maas’s A Court of Thorns and Roses, or what fans have dubbed ACOTAR.

Despite the first book in the series originally releasing in 2015, the romantasy series centered on faeries, ghoulish creatures, and otherworldly realms experienced a major revival in recent years after earning its stripes as a #BookTok favorite. 10s of millions of copies sold and more than 14 billion TikTok views later, Maas is still exploring the faerie-based world of Prythian, with a sixth (and seventh!) book currently in the works.

Whether you’re new to the series and looking to find out more before this sure-to-be New York Times Best Seller drops, or you're a longtime stan, we’ve got everything you need to know about the latest installment. From the subject (confirmed) to the number of books Maas has planned (suspected), here’s everything we know about ACOTAR book six—and beyond.

What is the 'A Court of Thorns and Roses' book series about?

At its core, A Court of Thorns and Roses is a series about love. Following a young woman named Feyre whose life is forever changed when she is whisked away to Prythian, a magical world full of faeries, wonder, and danger, the books are largely centered around the romantic (and sometimes steamy!) relationships she forges with members of the faerie realm.

Like all great fantasy series, there’s also plenty of adventure as Feyre travels across the seven courts of the fictional faerie lands of Prythian to protect her loved ones.

Will 'A Court of Thorns and Roses' have a sixth book?

While A Court of Thorns and Roses was originally meant to be a trilogy, Maas has already published five books—and more are on the way. The author confirmed that a sixth book is coming during a January 2024 visit to TODAY. “The next [book] I’m supposed to be writing right now…I know much more about. That’s gonna be the next Court of Thorns and Roses book,” she revealed.

She also hinted that there will eventually be a book seven. “The next book in that series, I have the ideas and general, vague thoughts.”

According to a Bloomsbury Publishing press release, Maas, who has also authored two other series (Throne of Glass and Crescent City), is under contract to pen four additional books beyond the three she was already under contract for in 2023. It's unclear which of her three book series she will explore with these new works, but we know that at least technically three ACOTAR books are coming (we'll explain more about that below).

When will 'A Court of Thorns and Roses' Book 6 be released?

Mark your calendar because you're going to have a lot of reading to do this fall! Just in time for spooky season, ACOTAR Book 6 will officially be published on October 27, 2026. Maas officially revealed the news on a March 2026 episode of the "Call Her Daddy" podcast.

"I've been working and working on that. It's been a long time coming...it took me a long time to write, just because there were enough things going on in my life that I had to sort through," the author said on the pod. "It's taken a while because it took me a while to find the right story and to be in the right headspace. And then...it poured out very quickly."

She explained that spending time writing out west helped spark creativity. Maas explained, "I was in Montana this summer and, I don't know, I think there's some kinda like energy vortex, around Big Sky, because I just got there and it clicked. It all came out of me."

That certainly makes sense, considering that in July 2025, the author confirmed on Instagram that she had officially finished the first draft of the book, along with a video from a scenic locale from her writing retreat. "First drafts DONE," she wrote in the caption of a video featuring her hand closing a composition notebook, slamming her laptop shut, and popping a bottle of champagne.

Fans have long predicted that Maas and her publisher, Bloomsbury Publishing, aimed to publish Book 6 in 2026. For example, Bloomsbury launched a major campaign to celebrate the franchise's 10th anniversary in 2025 (brackets! promo videos! ads overtaking the N.Y.C. subway!), so it seemed safe to say it was also to build up hype for the next installment.

Thankfully, we know when the book will hit shelves—and that even more is on the way.

Will there be a seventh 'A Court of Thrones and Roses' book?

Book 6 isn't the only ACOTAR release on the way: Book 7 is not only confirmed, but coming out almost immediately after. As it turns out, the wait for Book 6 has been as long as it is in part because Maas wrote the following title at the same time, and it's due out January 12, 2027. She unveiled the news on "Call Her Daddy."

While it's still a little unclear which characters the novels will focus on, and how the plot unfolds, you can think of Book 7 as a continuation of Book 6. Maas shared this while speaking on "Call Her Daddy," revealing that she needed to write a very lengthy book to tell the story she wanted to, so she started envisioning it in parts. Those parts have now been split up into several installments: Part one in Book 6, parts two and three in Book 7, and part four has yet to be written, so we can assume that'll be ACOTAR Book 8.

"I decided I wasn't gonna approach this project from a, you know, traditional format of a book. And what if this story, like, what if this book was really long? Like, what if it took me more than 1000 pages to tell the story that needed to be told the arc that I wanted to create from start to finish?" she said on the podcast. "It's meant to be read ideally as one massive, massive story, as opposed to a trilogy."

Because Maas wanted to get as many parts of her next story in readers's hands as soon as possible, which is why there's so much ACOTAR coming out at once. We'll take it!

Was the next 'A Court of Thorns and Roses' book delayed?

The book wasn't necessarily delayed; Maas just took a bit longer to write it from earlier installments in the ACOTAR series. That's in part because this next effort—being parsed out in several books—is her biggest in the series yet, and because of major life changes she's experienced.

While the anticipation for Book 6 is very real, Maas's writing pace has slowed in recent years, so this wait isn't a total surprise. The fifth book in the A Court of Thorns and Roses series, A Court of Silver Flames, was released in February 2021, marking Maas’s first series contribution since 2018’s A Court of Frost and Starlight. The gap between the two books was the longest ACOTAR fans have endured. Before that, books had come out once a year since the debut novel arrived in 2015.

Simultaneously, however, she's been releasing Throne of Glass books, and, in recent years, her Crescent City series has hit shelves (the first in the series, House of Earth and Blood, was published in 2020, House of Sky and Breath in 2022, just one year after ACOTAR book five, House of Sky and Breath in 2022, and the House of Flame and Shadow in 2024). So, it's not like Maas hasn't been picking up the pen by any means. Her focus has just been elsewhere—and she's experienced some major life changes.

While speaking to TODAY, the author opened up about how having children (she welcomed her first child in 2018 and her second in 2022) changed her work process. She said, "Before I had kids, I was writing two books a year, but I also had no social life...Like, I was basically Gollum in my little writing cave, just writing all day. But now I get to see the sunlight thanks to my children needing to, like, go out to school. So the writing pace has slowed down a little bit—you know, a book a year, a book every year and a half. It’s a tough thing, to have a job and to need to show up and focus on that job, but then to also be able to focus on your children."

More recently, on "Call Her Daddy," she also opened up about the challenge of returning to the world of ACOTAR after working on other projects and experiencing change in her personal life. "It was obviously hard and again, there's an element to it where I'm like, 'Okay,' shit that was tricky unrelated to the books, but related to the books, that I had to navigate and figure out and I wasn't ever gonna force myself to write a book 'cause like that doesn't make a good book, but I'm also someone who, like I take no shit from myself where I'm like, if I feel like I have writer's block, I'm like, 'Get your in the chair and work,' but this was different."

She continued, "I needed to get something sorted out first, and so this came out. Like, when this right story hit me, it hit me hard. And I had a vision from the start of what it would be, how I would deliver it to you guys, and that's what I want to do, and getting to be in the driver's seat and decide like this is how I wanna tell stories, and if I want to adapt it for every new book or just like arc, I can do that. I can do that, and why not? Why can't we tell, like, why do we have to like stick to these boxes of this is how you tell a story from A to B. I'm like, 'What if we do something different?'"

For eager readers who may have powered through the series in the few short years since it's taken off on #BookTok, it may seem like the wait is endless—but rest assured, she was working hard and being more mindful of her work/life balance.

Will 'A Court of Thorns and Roses' Book 6 be about Elain?

Maas hasn't confirmed the plot of ACOTAR Book 6 (or how it continues in Book 7, for that matter), though many fans are certain it will be about Feyre's youngest sister, Elain. As longtime fans have speculated, the novel may very well be in part about Elain's love triangle with Azriel and Lucien. This seems hinted at in the last book, in which a spark ignites between Elain and Azriel.

How do we know the book might be about Elain? Well, although Maas hasn't shared any updates since then, in a 2021 Instagram live, she did tease the heroine. “I know who it’s about,” she teased, adding, “I thought it was pretty obvious!” (The fifth book, A Court of Silver Flames, is about Feyre's older sister, Nesta.)

In a September 2022 LiveTalksLA interview, the author also spoke about working on a book about the main heroine's younger sister. “As soon as [Feyre's older sister] Nesta and Elain came back onto the page in A Court of Mist and Fury, I knew that they would have journeys beyond, like, what the readers were seeing,” she explained. “They were in the middle of their own journeys.”

What’s more, Maas, who told the outlet that writing about her main characters is almost like a form of “method acting” (“I think so deeply into their psyche that I've, like, become them”), has seemingly spent some serious time in Elain’s shoes. In a Q&A at the back of her 2018 novella, A Court of Frost and Starlight, she reportedly confessed to slipping “into Elain’s head” while gardening. “Elain is a gardener, and everything I did during those weeks became research for her book,” she quipped.

What is the title of ACOTAR' Book 6?

A title for ACOTAR Book 6 hasn't been confirmed yet, but that hasn't stopped eagle-eyed fans from theorizing. All over Reddit and TikTok, fans of the Maasverse have shared their guesses, from the popular A Court of Golden Dreams to A Court of Songs and Shadows and A Court of Tangled Visions. Another intriguing guess is A Court of Iron Vines; if the book is about Elaine, it speaks to her iron ring and Feyre describing the inside of her mind as looking like iron vines with buds on them.

We'll have to wait until Maas herself weighs in, but there's much to spiral about, from the colors she used to announce the pre-orders to character details to even the purple ring she wore while announcing she finished a draft. Tap into those faerie skills, and you might be onto something.

All the details we know about 'A Court of Thorns and Roses' Book 6

With so much anticipation surrounding ACOTAR's newest release, rumors have begun to swirl online. Little is known about the upcoming novel, but fans paying close attention may have picked up a few true hints the romantasy writer has dropped.

We also know that Book 6 will be lengthy—no novellas here. “No surprise, it’s going to be a long book,” the writer shared in a December 2024 video for Spotify Wrapped.

As for more about the plot, Maas remains tight-lipped. “It’s too early for me to tell you…what’s going to happen,” she teased. Still, we have reason to believe that Elain is the focus.

Will 'ACOTAR' Book 6 Connect to 'Crescent City?'

In the interim between the releases of ACOTAR Books 5 and 6, Maas has published books from her Crescent City series. Not only has this made for great reading material as ACOTAR devotees wait for the next title, but it's also been especially thrilling because Crescent City Book 2, House of Sky and Breath, featured one of the most tangible connections within the greater Maasverse. When the book's character Bryce opens a gate between worlds, she travels to Velaris in the Night Court, where she meets ACOTAR character Azriel. Eventually, he leads her to other characters, including Nesta, Feyre, and Rhysand. Azriel, Nesta, and Bryce's journey also continues in Crescent City Book 3, House of Flame and Shadow.

Because of these connections, it's safe to say it's become quite a debate among fans whether to devour the Crescent City series before Book 6 arrives. Maas herself has yet to confirm whether she suggests readers do so—so for now, it sounds like you could go either way. You would certainly get more world-building out of it, and especially learn more about Azriel, who fans suspect will become a main focus of Book 6. As we said, it's been hinted that he and Elain have more of a romantic arc in store—which the bonus chapters of Silver Flames especially imply. We'll have to wait and see where Maas takes us, but it definitely wouldn't hurt to dive into Crescent City in the meantime.

How to read the 'A Court of Thorns and Roses' books in order

To read the ACOTAR books in order, you start with the titular novel, A Court of Thorns and Roses (2015). The second book in the series is A Court of Mist and Fury (2016) and should be followed by A Court of Wings and Ruin (2017). The fourth book is a novella called A Court of Frost and Starlight (2018), while the fifth book, centered on Nesta, is A Court of Silver Flames (2021).

The sixth and seventh books in the series, which are currently untitled, are not yet published but are available for pre-order now.

What is the fifth 'A Court of Thorns and Roses' book about?

If you're getting ahead of yourself and haven't caught up in the series quite yet, at least you have five lengthy reads to enjoy. The fifth book was released in 2021 and is a fan favorite. Unlike books one through four, which focus on Feyre, the fifth installment of A Court of Thorns and Roses, A Court of Silver Flames, is centered on Feyre’s older sister, Nesta, and her budding romance with the Illyrian warrior Cassian. Together, the two must face demons amid their internal traumas to confront the growing threats against Prythian and find their place within its borders.

Is the 'ACOTAR' TV show canceled?

While Maas was previously in talks with Hulu and 20th Television to develop a TV series based on the best-selling books, Deadline reported in February 2025 that Hulu is no longer moving forward with the project. Screenwriter Ron Moore (known for his work on hit sci-fi and fantasy hits like Battlestar Galactica and Outlander) was attached to helm the show; however, he left his partnership with 20th Television to reteam with Sony Pictures Television, which is rumored to be the reason why the show is not going ahead at Hulu.

Fear not, though: Maas is still in talks with Hulu to develop other adaptations of her IP. And according to Variety, the ACOTAR series is being shopped to other networks(!). It just might be a while before it hits our screens.

On "Call Her Daddy," the author confirmed that she got the rights back to ACOTAR and will revisit the show's development "at some point soon," but right now she's focused on the source material.

When she does turn her attention to the adaptation, Maas says she wants full creative control. "It's something that I want to be in charge of, I want to be figuring out, like I want to be learning everything that I can," she said. "I'm a type A control freak a little bit, but I want to know everything about how it gets made, not because of that control, but just because I love movies. I love TV. I want to be a part of that, and I want to see everything adapted the way I envision it and the way I know fans want it."

In the meantime, it sounds like fans will have a lot of reading to do—and channel all the faerie magic, and hope we see the world of Prythian on screen soon!

Folklore and fairy tales have remained among our most beloved stories, even as our storytelling methods have evolved. They've been adapted to the silver screen since the dawn of silent films and continue to be an old, reliable method in Hollywood. And we can't stop watching them because, from the most faithful versions of Cinderella to the most modern reimagining, they rely on our capacity for creativity and wonder. Fairy tales, fantasy stories, or any imaginative fiction often rely on alternative realities, magical creatures, and outlandish plots, but they can also be closer to reality than expected. Below, find the best fairy tale movies for when you want some magic in your life.

'A Cinderella Story' (2004)

If you were growing up when this '00s movie came out, it was likely very influential for you. Is it the most well-made movie ever? No, but this teen romance makes a compelling case for fairy tales working in the context of high school. Hilary Duff and Chad Michael Murray sell it!

'Alice in Wonderland' (1951)

If you haven't watched this movie in a while, it's trippier than you remember. (As far as Disney fairy tales go, this adaptation of Lewis Carroll's delirious novel is quite daring, particularly since it was originally made in the 1950s.) It also throws out many fairy tale tropes while still being wildly fantastical.

'Brave' (2012)

The marketing for this film hid an important plot point, which confused some viewers at the time. But the core story resonated and still does: In a refreshing twist, Merida would rather do anything than get married. Unfortunately, that includes accidentally placing a curse on her mother.

'The Brothers Grimm' (2005)

While this film received mixed reviews at the time, it's still a fun performance from Matt Damon and the late Heath Ledger. As the titular brothers, they have great comedic timing, and it's entertaining to see the inspired take on the famed authors. Here, they're scheming con artists who have to deal with real magic.

'Cinderella' (1997)

If you're unfamiliar with this cult-loved '90s movie, it stars pop star/actress Brandy as the first Black woman to play Cinderella. And yes, that's Whitney Houston next to her playing her fairy godmother. No surprise: The music is exceptional. It's often considered one of the best Cinderella adaptations.

'Coco' (2017)

Featuring an all-Latinx principal cast and inspired by the Mexican holiday Día de Muertos, this movie is literally and figuratively gorgeous. A tween accidentally ends up in the Land of the Dead while searching for his music-loving relatives. But prepare yourself: This is a tearjerker.

'Coraline' (2009)

One of the most critically lauded stop-motion movies of all time, Coraline is a twisted fairy tale. In the eerie take on Alice in Wonderland, a young girl wishes her parents paid more attention to her, only to discover a door in her house that leads to another reality where she has an Other Mother and Other Father. However, their eyes are replaced by buttons...and that's not the only thing that isn't as it seems.

'Edward Scissorhands' (1990)

Many of Tim Burton's movies are dark fairy tales, thematically, and perhaps none more so than Edward Scissorhands. The ghostly man with the hand scissors (Johnny Depp) and his teen paramour (Winona Ryder) are so compelling that this '90s cult classic enters into the pantheon of best modern fantasies ever.

'Encanto' (2021)

Encanto holds up as an example of an inventive modernized fairy tale. In the animated hit, each member of the Madrigal family has a special power...each except Mirabel, the protagonist. There is no clear villain here other than intergenerational trauma, and the ensuing metaphor is compelling.

'Enchanted' (2007)

It's one of those "I can't believe no one thought of that idea before" movies. A Disney-esque animated heroine (Amy Adams) is transported from her woodland home to real-life Manhattan, where she is, understandably, horrified. Patrick Dempsey is the regular guy who takes her in, and one of the most magical, song-filled rom-coms ensues.

'Ever After' (1998)

Taking direct inspiration from Cinderella, Ever After is a refashioning of a classic story from the '90s. Drew Barrymore is "Danielle," who falls in love with the Prince of France. Instead of all the supernatural goings-on, the story is told like historical fiction, and Danielle sets about saving herself.

'Frozen' (2013)

There's a reason the Frozen movies are such an enormous hit. The central relationship is between two sisters, instead of a romantic one, and it touches on some pretty intense themes like parental mistreatment, loneliness, and the dangers of repression. "Let it go," baby!

'The Goonies' (1985)

While this movie is pretty solidly in the realm of fantasy adventure, ask anyone who watched the '80s movie growing up: It's a fairy tale for anyone who wanted to go on a pirate adventure and search for treasure. This is a modernized Peter Pan through and through.

'Hook' (1981)

This Steven Spielberg film dares to ask: What would happen if Peter Pan grew up and forgot all about Never Neverland? The result is this cult classic, which received mixed reviews upon release but is now considered one of the most heartwarming modern fairy tales.

'Howl's Moving Castle' (2004)

This Hiyao Miyazaki movie continues many fairy tale themes featured in Studio Ghibli movies. Based on a popular novel by Diana Wynne Jones, it follows a young woman who is cursed by a witch and turned into an old woman, and is caught up in a bitter war.

'Into the Woods' (2014)

This adaptation of a Broadway musical of the same name is an intelligent satire of fairy tales. Although, it's also a pretty interesting fantasy in its own right, mashing up classic stories with an absolutely stacked cast.

'Labyrinth' (1986)

If you think about it, this Jim Henson-helmed fantasia is wild. It's got kidnapped babies, a pretty fabulous and hilarious Goblin King (played by David Bowie, dialing it up to about 12), and a girl (Jennifer Connelly) who...might have to marry him to save her little brother. Best not to think too hard about it, because this is still a very watchable film with astounding puppetry.

'Legend' (1985)

Ridley Scott directed this epic tale about a young man, played by none other than Tom Cruise, on his quest to stop evil plans from the Lord of Darkness. It's been somewhat lost to cinema history, making it a cult classic. We'd argue that its narrative and romance still hold up.

'The NeverEnding Story' (1984)

The NeverEnding Story drops a young boy into a fantasy land—and, for its time, the practical effects were impressive. It's also a moving story for anyone who's been bullied and wants to escape into their imagination...which happens literally, in this case.

'Ondine' (2009)

This small film is generally accepted to be underrated. It blends fantasy and reality (constantly leaving us pondering whether magical beings are real) and uses that ambiguity to touch on several serious themes. It stars Colin Farrell as a man living off the coast of Ireland who saves a man that he believes may be a selkie, or a mythical creature that can shapeshift between a woman and a seal.

'Pan's Labyrinth' (2006)

This dark story proves that fairy tales don't always have happy endings. This early Guillermo del Toro set in Spain amid World War II draws inspiration from fantasy while playing with the idea of the supernatural: Is the secret magical world the protagonist sees real, or somewhere to escape to in her head?

'Peter Pan' (2003)

If you are only familiar with the Disney version of Peter Pan and less so the original work by J.M. Barrie, this version of the source material is more faithful to the latter—and, as such, more adult. Jason Isaacs plays the father and Captain Hook, so you know it's intense!

'Pretty Woman' (1990)

In its original format, Pretty Woman was an intense drama—but then it was rewritten as a "modern fairy tale." While there's not technically any magic or alternate universes, the endearing film starring Julia Roberts and Richard Gere is fanciful, telling the story of a whirlwind romance between a sex worker and the man who hired her for a weekend.

'The Princess Bride' (1987)

This movie lays out its cards at the beginning, thanks to a framing device: a grandfather reads a fairy tale story to his sick grandson, who's not really into it, but gets drawn in. By the end, he (and we) are fully on board for the saga of Buttercup (Robin Wright) and Westley (Cary Elwes).

'The Princess and the Frog' (2009)

This one goes way back to an actual Grimm fairy tale, but benefits from its modernization. In a comedy of errors, Tiana kisses a prince who assumes she's a princess. She is not, so she turns into a frog too. Despite the fact that our main character is an amphibian for the bulk of the movie, it's still awesome and adorable.

'Raya and the Last Dragon' (2021)

The recent Disney hit Raya and the Last Dragon pulls from its House of Mouse predecessors but also draws inspiration from traditional Southeast Asian cultures. That means it's beautifully rendered and tenderly written, with warrior princess Raya seeking out the titular last dragon to save her homeland.

'The Shape Of Water' (2017)

This film sometimes gets reduced to the logistics of its central romance. But The Shape of Water is a clever rumination on sadness and loneliness as well as a love story between a mute human (Sally Hawkins) and an amphibious humanoid creature (Doug Jones). It's among Guillermo Del Toro's many features that show his deep love for monsters, and even took home the Oscar for Best Picture.

'Shrek' (2001)

There are few adaptations more successful or imaginative than Shrek. The handsome prince is an ogre, the princess has a terrible secret (that isn't all that terrible), the sidekick steals the show, and the bad guy is three feet tall. It's a bonkers movie with wild pop culture references and an adult sense of humor, so if you haven't seen it in a while, you're in for a dream come true.

'Splash' (1984)

Daryl Hannah plays a mermaid who washes ashore in what could have been a silly modern take on The Little Mermaid, but instead is a charming rom-com. She ends up in '80s New York, where she arrives at the Statue of Liberty completely nude and searching for a man played by Tom Hanks who doesn't know who she is or her secret. You'll be rooting for the mismatched couple all the way through.

'Stardust' (2007)

Claire Danes? Michelle Pfeiffer? Robert De Niro? This epic fantasy was a box office success, but isn't as well-known as others on this list. It's a faithful, fantastical adaptation of a man seeking to find a fallen star, only to discover she's a woman.

'Tangled' (2010)

Tangled is a frontrunner among the "semi-modern but still classic" fairytales. This is the classic story of Rapunzel, but she's clever and resourceful—and increasingly aware of her own capabilities. It's a savvy and refreshing update.

'Wicked: Part One' (2024)

Wicked explores the origin of the Wicked Witch of the West. Originally a fantasy book, later adapted into a stage musical, and most recently a blockbuster film, this take on the events before a canonical text (The Wizard of Oz) is beloved by many. Part One brings to the screen the first half of the Broadway show in which we're rooting for Elphaba (Cynthia Erivo), Glinda (Ariana Grande), and Fiyero (Jonathan Bailey) during their school days at Shiz University while darkness looms in Oz.

Count your days, House of the Dragon—eventually, a new dragon-filled TV series will take over. Since its release in 2023, Rebecca Yarros's romantasy novel Fourth Wing has become an instant classic among the #BookTok-obsessed, with a legion of loyal fans who propelled it to the top of The New York Times Best Sellers List.

So, it's no surprise that a streamer is already hard at work bringing the fantasy book to life. In October 2023, Prime Video announced it had nabbed the rights to Yarros's entire Empyrean book series and that the streamer was developing a TV series with actor Michael B. Jordan’s production company, Outlier Society. As each new book from Yarros has come out, fans have been clamoring for any news on the highly anticipated book-to-series adaptation. Below, we're keeping track of everything we know about the Fourth Wing TV show.

When will the 'Fourth Wing' TV series be released?

It's still anyone's guess when Fourth Wing will premiere. However, it seems the show is finally amping up for production. After nearly two and a half years in development, during Prime Video's upfront presentations to advertisers in May 2026, the streamer confirmed it had given a series order to Fourth Wing. Michael B. Jordan, whose production vehicle Outlier Society is behind the adaptation, made the announcement, alongside Yarros, executive producer/showrunner Meredith Averill, and Lisa Joy, who is among the executive producers and will direct the first episode, per Deadline.

It's a good sign that the show was ordered to series. If only a pilot had been ordered, it's possible that it wouldn't have made it to the air. This is the first major update about the show's development that fans have received in quite some time, so signs point to the project finally getting off the ground.

It'll certainly take a while to cast the show and move into filming, but with the behind-the-scenes team confirmed (more on that below!) and the scripts presumably being written, it shouldn't be much longer. With that in mind, we bet episodes could premiere in 2028 at the earliest.

Who is involved behind the scenes of the 'Fourth Wing' TV Show?

Meredith Averill will lead the adaptation as the showrunner. Her involvement was confirmed in September 2025 after the show experienced a behind-the-scenes shakeup in July when the original showrunner, Moira Walley-Beckett, left the production. It should be in good hands, though: Averil is a longtime TV producer, best known for executive producing Wednesday season 2 and The Haunting of Hill House, as well as co-developing and co-showrunning Locke and Key, based on another beloved YA series.

The news that she came on board was reported several months after a report revealed Walley-Beckker (who created Anne With an "E" and was among the writers/producers on Breaking Bad) had exited the series. It's unclear what happened, but Amazon MGM Studios was supposedly hunting for a replacement to keep production moving at the time.

As stated, Michael B. Jordan's Outlier Society is also on board, along with Jonathan Nolan and Lisa Joy's Kilter Films and Premeditated Productions. When confirming the show's series order and that Joy would direct the first episode, Jordan described her as "the right creative partner," ensuring that they're "building a cinematic world...to deliver the series this fandom deserves."

Yarros herself is among the executive producers and has stressed how pleased she is with the entire behind-the-scenes team. At the upfront event, the author said, "These are the people who understand that a story means to its readers, and they’re passionate about the book, which is why I trust them completely."

Jordan himself has also spoken about how much care is going into the series. While speaking with Deadline in a January 2026 interview, he shared, "We are making sure that this is going to be an exciting show that delivers on all of the things the fans want and some of the things that they won’t be expecting either."

The Oscar-winning Sinners star continued. "But trust me, I know how beloved this franchise IP is, and we’re diligently…We’re in the lab, we’re cooking up. We got it. It’s coming. It’s early stages, but I feel how much people care about this one. It’s not lost on us."

Who has been cast in the 'Fourth Wing' TV show?

Prime Video has not announced any cast members for the upcoming series, as the show is still in pre-production. However, there has been plenty of discourse around casting, as passionate readers make their case for who should play 20-year-old heroine Violet Sorrengail and her love interest, Xaden Riorson.

Though no one is attached, Yarros has confirmed that Xaden will be played by a person of color. (The dragon rider is described in the books as having "warm tawny skin," but some fan art has depicted him as white.) Speaking to Variety in November 2023, the author said, "We’re just going to say he’s POC; we’re just going to leave it at that. I didn’t rise to the bait of a lot of those [fan] posts, which I think probably got me some flak, but I knew we were already in development for TV, and I want to make sure that role is open to as much diversity as possible. So I was never going to give the readers my vision because I know that once you give the readers your vision, that’s what they’re gonna stick to. And I wanted to make sure we left it open to as much diversity as possible."

In a February 2026 interview with the BBC, Michael B. Jordan also revealed that there won't be any "obvious choices" when it comes to the casting. He explained that the production team is interested in a mix of up-and-comers and well-known stars, saying, "When it's done the right way, I think you can have a nice balance where casting won't be distracting."

He added, "It allows people to, like, fall in love with the characters that they have imagined in their head without any baggage, with projecting their own feelings on certain casts."

As for whether the A-lister will appear in the show himself, he's remained tight-lipped. He definitely hasn't denied it, though. While speaking to the BBC, when they asked if he would have a part, he reportedly repeated, "I don't know." Here's to hoping he takes on at least a minor role!

Even though nothing is confirmed, the rumor mill is definitely swirling. Fans have rampantly speculated that Australian star Josh Heuston is set to play either Xaden or Bodhi, his younger cousin, especially since he's been spotted reading the Empyrean series on multiple occasions.

The actor (who is of Anglo-Sri Lankan descent and known for roles in The Last of Us, Dune: Prophecy, the Aussie teen hit Heartbreak High, and Prime Video's own Off Campus) has (vaguely) weighed in on the rumors. For example, when Bravo Australia asked if they could call him Xaden on a red carpet while promoting The Last of Us season 2, he bashfully responded, "You have to ask the scribes, I suppose."

As the reporter joked that she would continue calling him Xaden, Heuston, 29, responded, "Interesting, yeah, that's a great nickname."

"It really suits you," Bravo Australia added, while he said, "I hope so."

Similarly, in a recent April 2026 interview with Maire Claire Australia, he didn't confirm or deny his involvement—but he did emphasize that he's a fan. "I think it’s a great world, the books are great, I’ve read them all now," he said. While he reportedly played it cool when the outlet asked if he might be playing Xaden or Bodhi, he did say, "I think they’re both good characters, they have their own signs and signets."

Perhaps an official casting announcement in the coming months will help clarify things. In the meantime, we can keep fan-casting. (If you're curious what other readers have been saying, many do love Heuston, especially for Bodhi, as well as Emilio Sakraya, and Mackenzie Foy is often mentioned for Violet.)

What is the plot of 'Fourth Wing?'

For those of you who have yet to dive into the wonderful world of romantasy, The Empyrean series takes place in a world where dragons exist, and there's an entire college where people learn how to ride them. In the first book, new student Violet is forced by her mother, the commanding general of Basgiath War College, to train as a dragon rider, even though Violet lives with a chronic illness similar to Ehlers-Danlos syndrome (which Yarros has in real life). The chance of being rejected/incinerated by a dragon (think Vermithor and the failed dragonseeds in HotD season 2) isn't the only danger; the school is so cutthroat, with not enough dragons for all aspiring riders, that one of her classmates may kill her instead.

Fourth Wing follows Violet as she enters the school and undergoes initial dragon rider training, all the while encountering more enemies than friends. As with any good YA franchise, there are hints of a world-threatening conflict looming that Violet will have to deal with in the future. There's also the requisite super-hot guy who can't help but be interested in her: a third-year rider and elite student named Xaden Riorson. There's even a Romeo and Juliet storyline going on: Xaden's father was executed by Violet's mother after the same failed rebellion that killed Violet's brother.

We'll stop the summary there to avoid spoilers, but Fourth Wing is the first of a planned five-book series. Its follow-up, Iron Flame, was published in November 2023, just six months after its predecessor. The third novel, Onyx Storm, had its record-breaking release in January 2025. The fourth and fifth books do not currently have release dates.

What has Rebecca Yarros said about the 'Fourth Wing' TV show so far?

During her press tours for the January 2025 release of Onyx Storm, Yarros dropped a few more hints that the Fourth Wing TV series's progress was chugging along. In an interview with Variety, the author revealed that she has given the show's team "the five-book arc" for the entire Empyrean series.

She explained, "They have the five-book arc and the general big points of what happens in between each book, but they don’t have the specifics between Book 4 and Book 5, because I’m getting ready to go to my crazy plotting board and plot out every single event that happens in each book, so that I make sure that I’m within my two books there. But they have general ideas."

Yarros also revealed that she has read "a couple versions" of the Fourth Wing pilot and praised the original showrunner, Moira Walley-Beckett, for "[handling] the book with such respect and such zeal."

"It really is phenomenal," she said of the pilot. "I was kicking my feet the entire time I read it. Really, just no notes. I think it’s always scary to give your book baby to a person and say, 'Hey, tell me what you think is important.' But she nailed it, and she gets it."

It's unclear whether the pilot Walley-Beckett wrote will move forward, now that she's no longer attached, so we'll have to wait and see. In the meantime, hang tight; we'll keep updating this story as more information becomes available.

For now, you can buy the Empyrean series (Fourth Wing, Iron Flame, and Onyx Storm) on Bookshop.

The romance-fantasy genre, colloquially known by the portmanteau “romantasy,” has massively blown up in recent years, largely thanks to #BookTok. So many of the books that content creators feel most passionately about—and that then go viral as the obsession spreads—seem to be those that involve magic, non-human creatures, and fantastical world-building, all anchored by a powerful love story detailed in a wide variety of so-called “spice levels” to suit any reader.

Romantasy novels are so mega-popular that they were credited in 2024 with helping to boost print book sales into their first positive increase since 2021. Bloomberg estimated that the genre's book sales alone reached $610 million in 2024, a significant jump from the already impressive $454 million total in 2023.

The category is currently dominated by recent heavyweights like Sarah J. Maas’s multi-book series A Court of Thorns and Roses (or ACOTAR, as fans call it) and the absolute phenomenon that is Rebecca Yarros’s Empyrean compilation—but it's been around since long before the term was coined. (Outlander, anyone?) Here, we’ve rounded up the best romantasy books out there, many of which are followed by long-running sequels to keep readers occupied until the next #BookTok-approved epic love story arrives.

Romantasy Books About Dragons

Romantasy Books About Faeries

Romantasy Books About Gods

Romantasy Books About Royals

Romantasy Books About Vampires

Romantasy Books About Witches

Romantasy Books Coming in 2026

After years of speculation, Children of Blood and Bone is finally set to debut as Hollywood's next blockbuster fantasy franchise. In 2018, author Tomi Adeyemi released her bestselling YA novel of the same name, set in a world of magic and royal intrigue heavily inspired by West African mythology. Adeyemi's full Legacy of Orïsha trilogy has sold 3 million copies worldwide and spent over 120 weeks on the New York Times Best Sellers list.

Since the fantasy book first hit shelves, fans have been waiting for the kingdom of Orïsha to be brought to life in a book-to-screen adaptation, and for the Legacy of Orïsha trilogy to join Harry Potter, Twilight, and The Hunger Games on the list of YA franchises turned pop culture phenomena. Now that the film's cast and crew are being announced, fantasy devotees can get excited that that's actually happening. Below, we're keeping track of everything we know about the Children of Blood and Bone movie.

When will 'Children of Blood and Bone' be released?

Children of Blood and Bone is set for a theatrical IMAX release on January 15, 2027.

At this point, it doesn't seem all that much longer until we'll be able to meet Zéile, her allies, and her adversaries, considering how long it's taken for Adeyemi's beloved books to be adapted. The book's rights were acquired before it was even published in 2017, but the Walt Disney Company's acquisition of 21st Century Fox led those rights to expire. Eventually, a "highly competitive bidding war" ensued, as reported by Variety, which Paramount Pictures won. Since then, the studio has prioritized the project as one of its next major franchises. Alas, you can expect fans to be seated, come early 2027!

Who is helming the 'Children of Blood and Bone' movie from behind the scenes?

Gina Prince-Bythewood will direct Children of Blood and Bone. The renowned filmmaker became attached to the project in 2023 and is known for her work directing hits like The Woman King, The Old Guard, Beyond the Lights, and Love & Basketball.

"I am so honored and excited to bring Tomi’s Children of Blood and Bone and the vibrant world of Orisha to life," Prince-Bythewood said in a statement. "Our incredible ensemble reflects the whole of the diaspora. This is where our magic lies."

And, have no fear, book fans: Prince-Bythewood co-wrote the screenplay with author Adeyemi. The best-selling writer also serves as an executive producer.

She's also lauded Prince-Bythewood's work on the adaptation. "She’s the calmest force of nature I’ve ever witnessed, and collaborating with her has been so much fun," Adeyemi told ELLE in a 2024 interview. "What Gina does so well is tell these deep, complex stories of women who look like us front and center, with incredible action set pieces, incredible cinematography. It feels divine. It feels bigger than [just] making this project. We’re really in sync."

We can't wait to see what magic they made together!

Has the 'Children of Blood and Bone' movie wrapped filming?

Yes! Children of Blood and Bone is definitely on track to meet its January 2027 release date, as filming wraped in early June 2025. Prince-Bythewood revealed on Instagram that production wrapped on June 1st of that year by sharing a photo of a clapper board and praising the cast and crew for their hard work.

"That is a wrap on production!" she wrote in the caption. "74 days. Two countries and two islands. A passionate and dedicated crew. And an extraordinary cast who gave EVERYTHING. And the journey has just begun…"

It seems like the movie was filmed during the first half of 2025. According to an Instagram post from the book's author, filming began in February. At the time, she shared a photo of a set chair with the franchise's title on it, with "And…action🎬," in the caption.

The movie will likely have a heavy post-production process, considering all of the special effects it'll need to bring the world of Orisha to life. But at least we know we can plan on heading to the theaters in early 2027!

Is there a trailer for the 'Children of Blood and Bone' movie?

Fans will have to wait a bit longer to see the Children of Blood and Bone trailer, but CinemaCon attendees got a first look at the upcoming film in mid-April 2026. Director Prince-Bythewood and stars Thuso Mbedu, Damson Idris, Amandla Stenberg, Chiwetel Ejiofor, and Regina King were there to reveal the clip, which The Hollywood Reporter described as an "action-packed trailer" that introduced the kingdom of Orisha.

According to Variety, Prince-Bythewood also previewed the film at a separate event, calling her take a "grounded fantasy epic." She explained, "Despite this fantastical conceit of magic and fantasy, I wanted the audience to feel grounded like they were in the real world. And that starts with production design. It goes to costume, it goes to casting, it goes to action."

The director also discussed the importance of filming the feature in various locations across Africa. "I wanted to give the cast a 360 world to play in. That meant building, as opposed to having a CG world. Costumes drawing inspiration from all over the continent. The action: no wires, no stunt doubles. It’s our cast doing the incredible fighting.”

Who is in the cast of the 'Children of Blood and Bone' movie?

On January 22, 2025, Variety revealed the cast of Children of Blood and Bone. The film is led by Thuso Mbedu, who previously worked with Prince-Bythewood on The Woman King. She'll play the book's heroine Zélie Adebola, a young warrior determined to bring magic back to Orïsha after the tyrannical King Saran muted it. Amandla Stenberg will portray Saran's daughter, Princess Amari, who teams up with Zéile and her protective older brother Tzain, to be played by Tosin Cole of Netflix's Supacell. Damson Idris rounds out the main quartet as Prince Inan, Amari's brother, who pursues Amari and her new allies.

Oscar nominee Chiwetel Ejiofor is set to portray the cruel Saran, while Oscar nominee and Wicked star Cynthia Erivo will play his skilled naval commander, Admiral Kaea. Rounding out the confirmed cast is Idris Elba as high priest Lekan, as well as The Woman King alums Lashana Lynch as Jumoke, Zéile and Tzain's mother, and Viola Davis as Mama Agba, the oldest living maji (a magician of Orïsha).

Their castings have not been confirmed, but there are several rumored names among the ensemble, as well. Academy Award winner Regina King is in talks to play Queen Nehanda, Amari and Inan's mother, as well as Diaana Babnicova as Folake and Bukky Bakray as Binta.

What is the plot of 'Children of Blood and Bone?'

Children of Blood and Bone takes place in the mythical African kingdom of Orïsha, inhabited by two groups: divîners, who are born with magical capabilities and white hair, and non-magical kosidán. Divîners cannot awaken their magic until they are 13, which is also when they decide if they want to decide whether to become a full maji. 10 different maji clans perform forms of magic, ranging from manipulating the elements and healing to having power over the mind or death.

11 years before the start of the Orïsha trilogy, King Saran executed The Raid, a brutal attack against the maji after Saran's father, the then-king, was killed by Burners (maji who control fire). All maji and divîners over the age of 13 were killed; the Yoruba language, which the maji use to perform spells, was outlawed; and all maji allowed to live were oppressed and forced into poverty. Zéile watched her mother, Jumoke, be brutally killed right in front of her during the Raid.

To keep spoilers at a minimum, Children of Blood and Bone follows Zéile as she embarks on a quest to restore magic and empower the maji against Saran's regime, with the help of her loyal and protective older brother Tzain and Princess Amari, who rebels after witnessing her father's cruelty firsthand.

What has the cast of 'Children of Blood and Bone' said about the movie?

The stars of Children of Blood and Bone have stayed relatively quiet about what fans can expect, but what they have said is sure to get them excited. Damson Idris, for instance, has spoken about what a thrilling experience it was to film the movie—and teased just how hot everyone looks in it.

"Every day was so amazing," the British actor told ELLE about the production in August 2025. "We filmed in Cape Town, and I was out there just taking it all in...And the cast is stacked. The same feeling you had when you walked out of Black Panther is what you’re gonna feel with this, but to an even greater extent. We’re creating something that you have not seen before, and I cannot wait for people to see it."

He cheekily added, "We gave it everything. We were out there for six months. It was sword fighting, and there were lots of abs. You’re really gonna love it."

Mbedu, who previously collaborated with Prince-Bythewood on The Woman King, has also emphasized that the cast trained hard for the upcoming blockbuster. She told ELLE in September 2025 that it was "a tough project." The actress said it was even "tougher than The Woman King," but was, "It was a lot of fun, but just physically challenging in a good way."

Perhaps most importantly, though, she said that "the girls will not be disappointed." With the cast this stacked, we'd bet she's right!

When you're looking to get lost in a book, sometimes you need your reading material to match your mood. With Marie Claire's series "Buy the Book," we do the heavy lifting for you. We're offering curated, highly specific recommendations for whatever you're looking for—whether you're in your feels or hooked on a subgenre trending on #BookTok.

Between the heaviness of the news cycle, stressful politics (at home and abroad), and endless climate tragedies, just about everyone could use a friendly dose of escapism right now, especially if it’s sprinkled with fairy dust. Thankfully, it’s never been a better time to pick up a fantasy book—whether you’re typically drawn to the genre or not. With their delectable drama, steamy romance, and mindbending worlds, you’ll be so engrossed that you might even forget to doomscroll for a bit.

That’s why we rounded up 13 of the best fantasy novels, new and old favorites alike, to transport you to other realms where your noisy neighbor and micromanaging boss are small potatoes compared to slaying a dragon. From romantasy titles beloved by #BookTok to reimagined Greek mythology and dark academia with a twist, these fantasy novels will satisfy every type of mystical craving. Below, check out 13 fantasy novels for a break from reality and all that comes with it.

We love a good romance series or police procedural as much as the next person, but what really ups the ante when it comes to amazing TV? The supernatural. Series with elements of vampires, ghosts, witches, zombies, or werewolves transport us to somewhere fantastical—and keep us bingeing for hours on end.

Thankfully for us and other fans of all things spooky and mystical, many great supernatural TV shows have been created over the decades. Believe it or not, they date back to the 1950s and '60s, and then really found their form in the '90s and beyond. So, whether you like your magic with a side of humor, or your demonic beings with a sprinkle of psychological drama, below, we've rounded up the best supernatural TV shows of all time to fuel your next binge-watch.

'The Addams Family' (1964–1966)

Many of us grew up watching the '90s film The Addams Family, but long before that, the spooky gothic bunch were the heroes of a 1960s sitcom, inspired by a comic of the same name. Despite being canceled after two seasons due to low ratings, it remains a beloved series that fans of Netflix's Wednesday will likely enjoy.

WATCH IT

'American Horror Story' (2011– )

American Horror Story is such a cultural phenomenon that it has guest-starred the likes of Lady Gaga and Kim Kardashian over the years. The anthology series from Ryan Murphy ranges from terrifying to extremely campy every season, though it's rarely for the faint of heart. If you want to start from the beginning (and what's still its best-ever season), the original installment follows a family embroiled in tragedy who moves into a haunted house. Maybe don't watch it before bed?

WATCH IT

'Angel' (1999–2004)

A successful spin-off of the much-loved Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Angel is the story of a vampire with a soul, played by ‘90s heartthrob David Boreanaz. To redeem himself, Angel helps the good people of L.A. with supernatural-based problems—all while navigating his personal life.

WATCH IT

'Bewitched' (1964–1972)

Bewitched is the exhilarating story of a witch named Samantha (Elizabeth Montgomery), who only reveals to her human husband (Dick York/Dick Sargent) that she is a witch after their wedding. A whole bunch of antics ensue as Samantha tries to keep her word and stay away from magic, but she fails time and time again in ever-funnier ways.

WATCH IT

'Buffy the Vampire Slayer' (1997–2003)

Supernatural TV shows don’t get much more iconic than Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Sarah Michelle Gellar plays a high school student who must learn to accept her fate, which means fighting vampires and other nasty creatures. Thankfully, she has the help of her faithful friends along the way, including some played by very recognizable actors.

WATCH IT

'Charmed' (1998–2006)

Charmed is the wonderful story of the Halliwell sisters who discover they come from a long line of good witches. Now, they're tasked with protecting the world from a series of evil demons, while tending to their various personal dramas.

WATCH IT

'The Chilling Adventures of Sabrina' (2018–2020)

A much darker adaptation of the Sabrina character from the Archie comics, The Chilling Adventures of Sabrina follows a 16-year-old half-witch, half-mortal who has to contend with all the difficulties her nature and abilities entail. Though you won’t find any of the comedy of the '90s take on the teenaged witch here, Kiernan Shipka is brilliant as the titular Sabrina.

WATCH IT

'Dark Shadows' (1966–1971)

We love a good throwback, and Dark Shadows is certainly worth a watch for fans of retro horror. Having graced TV screens for five seasons starting in 1966, this soap opera was a fave of teenagers who reveled in the supernatural events befalling a small community in Maine, including vampires, werewolves, and zombies. Twilight before its time, if you will.

WATCH IT

'Ghost Whisperer' (2005–2010)

It's hard not to fall for Jennifer Love-Hewitt as Melinda Gordon, the titular ghost whisperer in this drama. She can chat with spirits and help them deal with their unfinished business by acting as a messenger between them and the living. Ghost Whisperer ran for five seasons, so there's plenty for you to binge.

WATCH IT

'Good Omens' (2019–2025)

Good Omens is based on Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman's novel of the same name. It was Pratchett's dying wish that Gaiman make sure the TV adaptation was up to scratch—and he pulled through. As for the storyline, it's about an angel (Michael Sheen) and a demon (David Tennant) who team up to stop the world from ending, so that's pretty fun.

WATCH IT

'Grimm' (2011–2017)

Grimm was a fan favorite for the six seasons it was on television. It's the story of a detective in Portland, Nick Burkhardt (David Giuntoli), who discovers he's a kind of warrior called a "Grimm," tasked with hunting evil magical creatures called Wesen.

WATCH IT

'His Dark Materials' (2019–2022)

His Dark Materials is the TV adaptation of Philip Pullman's beloved fantasy book series—and it's a must-watch for fans of the source material. The magical show tells the story of an orphan named Lyra (Dafne Keen), who is on a quest to save her kidnapped friend from a shadowy force. The show has been repeatedly praised for its thrilling world-building.

WATCH IT

'The Magicians' (2015–2020)

The Magicians is the enchanting story of a group of students who find out that—gasp!—magic is real, and that could be really bad news for them. It ran between 2015 and 2020, starred Stella Maeve, Hale Appleman, and Arjun Gupta, and was based on the novels by Lev Grossman.

WATCH IT

'Medium' (2005–2011)

Patricia Arquette as Allison DuBois on Medium was pretty darn cool. She had psychic visions of the dead and used her talents to help solve murders in her local area, working with the district attorney. All while wearing Olivia Pope-esque pantsuits, of course.

WATCH IT

'Not Dead Yet' (2023–2024)

Not Dead Yet is pretty much Ghost Whisperer meets New Girl: a wholesome comedy whose main character just so happens to see ghosts. Played by Gina Rodriguez, Nell Serrano is an unfulfilled 30-something obituary writer whose subjects come to her, ask her for help, or give her unsolicited advice, then disappear once she submits their obit.

WATCH IT

​​'Once Upon a Time' (2011–2018)

Ella Enchanted die-hards, Once Upon a Time is your show. The concept is: Take legendary fairytale characters and transport them into the modern-day world, adding lots of shocking twists and turns. And with the writers of Lost at its helm, you'd better bet this series pulls it off.

WATCH IT

'Russian Doll' (2019–2022)

Natasha Lyonne plays protagonist Nadia Vulvokov in this Groundhog Day-style supernatural show. At her 36th birthday party, Nadia finds herself dying on a loop and returning at the same moment each time. She tries to figure out what is happening—and there you have it: a perfectly formed supernatural show.

WATCH IT

'Sabrina the Teenage Witch' (1996–2003)

Based on the comics of the same name, Sabrina The Teenage Witch is the most delightful '90s sitcom. It stars Melissa Joan Hart as Sabrina Spellman, the aptly named teenage witch who lives in a rather eccentric household, made up of her centuries-old aunts and their ill-tempered talking black cat. Delightful, we tell you.

WATCH IT

'Sleepy Hollow' (2013–2017)

You're probably familiar with Tim Burton's 1999 film of the same name, which was based on Washington Irving's The Legend of Sleepy Hollow, but if you haven't seen this 2010s TV drama, you're missing out. This one is set in modern times, and the protagonist Ichabod Crane (Tom Mison) has been resurrected more than two and a half centuries after the original story took place. Exciting!

WATCH IT

'Smallville' (2001–2011)

The premise of Smallville is simple: It's Superman but as a teen. Tom Welling plays a young Clark Kent as he learns how to deal with the superpowers he's blessed (or cursed) with, all while dealing with typical teenage dramas, including his ongoing romance with Lana Lang (Kristin Kreuk). You're in luck—there are 10 seasons to devour.

WATCH IT

'Stranger Things' (2016–2025)

It’s the show that launched the careers of Millie Bobby Brown, Finn Wolfhard, and many other Gen Z stars, and the one you’ve almost certainly taken a Halloween costume idea from. Stranger Things is the perfect mix of science fiction and nostalgia, thanks to some very strange things happening to this lovable group of kids in Hawkins, Indiana circa the 1980s.

WATCH IT

'Supernatural' (2005–2020)

Surprise, surprise: Supernatural has made our list of the best supernatural TV shows of all time. Starring Jensen Ackles and Jared Padalecki as the Winchester brothers, the series sees the protagonists fight evil beings like ghosts and demons.

WATCH IT

'Teen Wolf' (2011–2017)

The 2010s were a hotbed of supernatural teen dramas, with Teen Wolf a resounding success among them. It follows teenage werewolf Scott McCall (Tyler Posey) as he does his utmost to protect his community from all sorts of paranormal happenings. Bonus: His love interest (Crystal Reed) is descended from a line of werewolf hunters. Juicy!

WATCH IT

'True Blood' (2008–2014)

In True Blood, protagonist Sookie (Anna Paquin) can read people's minds, which is already cool enough. But adding to the whole supernatural shtick, Sookie ends up in a romantic entanglement with a good-looking (and centuries-old) vampire, played by Stephen Moyer.

WATCH IT

'The Twilight Zone' (1959–1964)

Originally airing between 1959 and 1964, the TV series The Twilight Zone has achieved cult status in the collective psyche. This supernatural series straddles science fiction, horror, and fantasy, and won three Primetime Emmys and one Golden Globe in its heyday.

WATCH IT

'The Vampire Diaries' (2009–2017)

The Vampire Diaries premiered at the height of Twilight fever and enjoyed incredible success riding that particular be-fanged wave. It has all the elements of a perfect supernatural teenage drama: an idiosyncratic town, vampire brothers (played by Ian Somerhalder and Paul Wesley), and a love triangle involving said vampire brothers. Ideal.

WATCH IT

'The Walking Dead' (2010–2022)

In The Walking Dead, zombies are known as "walkers," but this is a zombie supernatural drama. It follows survivors of an apocalypse as they fight for their lives, while also battling other groups of survivors willing to do anything to prevail.

WATCH IT

'Wednesday' (2022– )

The Addams Family was a TV show, then a movie, then a TV show again—this time rebranded as Wednesday starring the perfectly cast Jenna Ortega. It's both funny and dramatic, involves psychic powers and murder investigations, and...unforgettable dance sequences.

WATCH IT

'What We Do in the Shadows' (2019–2024)

What We Do in the Shadows is the hilarious tale of a bunch of goofy vampires who like to feed off mortals, and fundamentally misunderstand how the world works. Special mention for the ongoing joke about energy vampires, because who doesn’t know one of those, eh?

WATCH IT

'The Witcher' (2019– )

You’d be forgiven for watching The Witcher simply for the pleasure of witnessing Henry Cavill expertly wield a sword. Still, the plot isn’t too shabby either: It’s about the medieval-times monster hunter Geralt of Rivia as his life intertwines with that of the Crown Princess Cirilla of Cintra (Freya Allan) and the sorceress Yennefer of Vengerberg (Anya Chalotra).

WATCH IT

'The Wizards of Waverly Place' (2007–2012)

Who could forget the show that gave Selena Gomez her big break? Gomez played Alex Russo, a young wizard and somewhat rebellious teenager who had to fight her tendency to use her powers for her own gain. This Disney Channel show is great to watch when you need a laugh and a break.

WATCH IT

'The X Files' (1993–2002; 2016–2018)

Before playing everyone's favorite Netflix mom on Sex Education, Gillian Anderson was Dana Scully on The X Files, starring opposite David Duchovny as Fox Mulder. Following a mystery of the week format, the two FBI agents investigate paranormal and extraterrestrial activity (with a healthy helping of romantic tension between them).

WATCH IT

If you needed proof that the world could use a little escapism, a simple look on #BookTok would suffice. Between the fantasy-based A Court of Thorns and Roses and The Song of Achilles, which has its roots in Greek mythology, the internet’s most beloved book picks are practically a cry for diversion. Enter: Rebecca Yarros’s Fourth Wing series—a charming tale about a young woman who must overcome great peril and hellacious odds to become a kickass dragon rider. (Yes, you read that right.)

In case you’ve been living under a rock, the first book in this romantasy (a.k.a. romance meets fantasy) collection, Fourth Wing, took off like a rocket in 2023, climbing straight to the top of The New York Times Best Sellers list and remaining there for three months. As of January 2025, Fourth Wing and its two follow-ups had sold more than 12 million copies—a number bound to get even higher, with two more volumes left in the series. And don’t even get us started on social media: The hashtag #fourthwing has more than 1 billion (that’s billion, with a "B") views on TikTok alone.

Feeling a bit of book FOMO? We don’t blame you. Below, we've rounded up everything you need to know about the fantasy series, from the number of books the author has planned to the anticipated release date of the latest Fourth Wing drop. (Hint: Fans may have a longer wait than usual.)

What is the 'Fourth Wing' book series about?

The Fourth Wing series, also known as the Empyrean series, is about a 20-year-old woman named Violet Sorrengail who is thrown into the competitive—and dangerous—world of dragon-riding at the punishing military academy Basgiath War College.

Plagued by physical ailments from a childhood illness, assassination attempts at the hands of her competitors, and a growing attraction to rival rider Xaden Riorson, Violet’s quest is a dangerous one, full of secrets, betrayal, and violence.

However, if she can stay alive, she might unlock the power of the winged mythical beasts she’s set out to ride and share in their magic. (How else to channel, oh, say, lightning manipulation?)

How many books does Rebecca Yarros have planned for the 'Fourth Wing' series?

According to Yarros, the series was initially plotted for three books, but she needed five to tell the full story arc. “Probably about 30,000 words in, I called my editor and I said, 'I think this is a five-book series,'” she told Variety in 2023. “And that’s how we went from three to five.”

You'll have to wait a while to read the entire series: Books four and five have yet to be written.

How to read the 'Fourth Wing' series in order:

To read the Fourth Wing series chronologically, you'll want to start with Fourth Wing, then move on to Iron Flame, the second book in the series. Fourth Wing first hit shelves in April 2023, with Iron Flame (divided into two parts) coming just several months later in November 2023.

Onyx Storm is the third book in the series. The third installment was released in January 2025 and became the fastest-selling adult title in 20 years.

As for books four and five, their names and release dates are still unknown.

When was 'Onyx Storm,' the third book in the 'Fourth Wing' series released?

Onyx Storm was released on January 21, 2025. Yarros announced the book's title and publication date in a March 2024 appearance on Good Morning America.

She also cited the book as her favorite in the series while giving fans a look at the back cover on Instagram. With the phrase "I will not die today" crossed out in favor of the words "I will save him," the cover suggests a shift in priorities for our heroine, Violet.

"I can’t wait for you to get your hands on it!" Yarros told fans in the caption of a post on Instagram.

The release came more than a year after the release of 2023’s Iron Flame, which left fans with a cliffhanger ending that had bookworms practically salivating for more.

What is the third 'Fourth Wing' book, 'Onyx Storm,' about?

Yarros originally told Good Morning America only that Onyx Storm was about “politics, new adventures, old enemies, and, of course, dragons.” From her website, it was clear that there would be plenty of guts and gore: There’s a trigger warning for “war, battle, hand-to-hand combat, perilous situations, blood, intense violence, brutal injuries, death, poisoning, graphic language, and sexual activities.”

In September 2024, the author finally released the official summary on her Instagram. The third installment in the series picks up 18 months into Violet’s war college training. “Violet must journey beyond the failing Aretian wards to seek allies from unfamiliar lands to stand with Navarre,” the official logline reads. “The trip will test every bit of her wit, luck, and strength, but she will do anything to save what she loves—her dragons, her family, her home, and him. Even if it means keeping a secret so big, it could destroy everything.”

It ends by teasing, “A storm is coming...and not everyone can survive its wrath." Ominous!

When will the fourth 'Fourth Wing' book come out?

So far, the Empyrean series has been released at an impressive pace, with three 500-plus-page books released between April 2023 and January 2025. Understandably, there will be a longer wait between Onyx Storm and the fourth book than any other Empyrean title thus far.

Yarros revealed on Instagram in September 2024 that she took a writing hiatus after she finished Onyx Storm. In interviews, the author has also spoken about how the much-needed break will give her more time to spend with her family and to recuperate after the past few breakneck years.

"After Onyx Storm pushed my body and mental health to every possible limit, I told myself I could take a year to heal," she wrote in a post. "A year where I didn’t write or so much as open a word document once I turned it in during September. I truly believe it was that self-given permission that’s made it feasible to be back here so much faster than I ever thought possible. Working on Fourth Wing’s graphic novel has been the best bridge to bring me back to my desk!!! Healthy hours—no more 15 hour days—are where it’s at!"

Speaking with Today in March 2025, Yarros shared an update on her immediate writing plans. She told the outlet that her next book will be a "contemporary romance," as she continues to "swing back and forth" between her initial genre and romantasy.

In December 2025, she updated fans about her progress on the two books. On Instagram, Yarros shared a selfie and confirmed she's still writing her traditional, modern-day-set romance novel and will return to Fourth Wing once she's done. "Behold, the happy face of the author who finally gets to settle in for months of doing what I do best…playing with my imaginary friends at my desk!!! (And writing down their antics 😆)," she wrote in the caption. "For transparency’s sake… I’m currently working on a contracted contemporary, and once I’m done, I’ll be living in the Empyrean world! ♥️ I can’t wait for you guys to see what I have in store for you!"

It's hard to say how long it will take for her to complete her latest novel and for it to hit shelves, but it seems likely that she won't be able to shift gears back to the Empyrean books until late 2026 at the earliest. With that being said, the fourth book may not be released until late 2027.

Fear not, though: Yarros still has a foot in the world of Fourth Wing. She has already made her writing playlist for Book 4—and, as a Swiftie through and through, the first song on the list is from Taylor Swift's The Tortured Poets Department. The author has also confirmed she's working on a graphic novel adaptation of Fourth Wing.

What is the fourth 'Fourth Wing' book about?

Spoilers for the ending of Onyx Storm below. Little concrete information is known about the plot of the next Fourth Wing novel, but we can be sure that it'll pick up following the cliffhanger events at the end of Book 3. As fans eager to read on are well aware, the novel ends as Violet wakes up with no memory of the past 12 hours, but a wedding ring on her finger and the goddess Dunne's blessing for her to marry Xaden. Xaden, meanwhile, has started to go darker after using more of his venin power.

Yarros has emphasized that Xaden's transition will become a focus in the next book. While speaking at a late October 2025 event with the "Fantasy Fangirls" podcast hosts, she said that fans "should really be prepared in book four to see Xaden enter his villain era." The author also confirmed that we'll find out what happened in those mysterious 12 hours and what the implications of their marriage could be.

She's also teased what readers should expect about the larger series. For example, while promoting Onyx Storm at an event in February 2025, she pointed to the significance of dragons never announcing their names themselves. The writer explained that this could mean that, when riders share their dragon's name to Scribes, the rider or dragon could be lying. She seemed to imply that this could affect the plot in several ways, namely that the children of rebels could bond with their relatives's dragons and develop signet powers, and that there could be dragons with false identities.

Fingers crossed that, as Yarros makes more progress in the writing process, she shares more updates about what to expect!

Is 'Fourth Wing' being adapted into a TV series?

Great news: In due time, once you finish poring through these page-turners, you'll be able to binge-watch it, too, because Fourth Wing is the latest hit book series to get the on-screen adaptation treatment. Prime Video and actor Michael B. Jordan’s production company, Outlier Society, have teamed up to develop a show based on the popular books.

Yarros is among the executive producers, and Meredith Averill, known for executive producing shows like Wednesday, The Haunting of Hill House, and co-showrunning Locke and Key, will lead as showrunner. (Originally, Moira Walley-Beckett, who created Anne With an "E," was supposed to showrun, but she exited the series for unknown reasons.)

The news that the show was in development came from Yarros herself, with the author sharing her excitement on Instagram in October 2023. “I'm so humbled and thrilled to announce that FOURTH WING has been optioned!!!” she wrote. “I can't wait to see their adaptation of Fourth Wing brought to life! I have all the faith in the world in them!⁠”

It will likely be some time until the Fourth Wing TV series hits our screens. Casting hasn't even been confirmed yet. However, Yarros and the team behind the series have been working hard to find the right names to bring to life her beloved dragon-riders. She's even offered insight into who will be playing Xaden. In a November 2023 interview, she told Variety, “We’re just going to say he’s POC; we’re just going to leave it at that…I want to make sure that role is open to as much diversity as possible."

She added, "I was never going to give the readers my vision because I know that once you give the readers your vision, that’s what they’re gonna stick to. And I wanted to make sure we left it open to as much diversity as possible.”

In 2022, the up-and-coming pop singer Jax made her first hit off a retail store every woman in America knows. "I know Victoria’s Secret,” she trills in the chorus, “she was made up by a dude!”

This radio-friendly allusion to one of America's most recognizable lingerie brands is more of a half-truth. It’s true that the heyday of Victoria’s Secret—a time of ultra push-up bras, darkly-lit stores, and models known as “angels”—was ruled by controversy-courting CEO Les Wexner and chief marketing officer Ed Razek. It’s also true that behind the scenes, high-ranking women at the company tried to craft Victoria’s Secret in their image. They just didn’t always succeed.

Female executives are a surprise presence in Selling Sexy: Victoria’s Secret and the Unraveling of an American Icon, a new book charting the brand’s rise, fall, and influence on American retail. While the book digs into headline-grabbing topics like the brand’s earliest iterations of the Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show and devotes a chapter to Wexner’s ties to the sex trafficker Jefferey Epstein, it’s the quiet but purposeful presence of women in the background that struck me most as a reader. The initial catalog business and series of San Francisco boutiques were created by a wife-and-husband team, Gaye Raymond and Roy Raymond. These businesses were eventually acquired by Wexner's L Brands group, along with the first fictitious persona, Victoria, around whom the brand would revolve.

The famed VS catalog was led by a woman named Cynthia Fedus-Fields from the mid-’80s until 2000, while the store's division had executive Grace Nichols’s direction between 1991 and 2007. Their contributions and opinions were just a few of the many that could get overshadowed by the demands of their male bosses. Where women saw lingerie as a potential tool for empowerment, the highest echelons of leadership saw it ultimately as their own kind of fantasy brought to life. (Per a 1985 interview with Wexner quoted in the book, “We're selling hope in a bottle.”) It's hard, at times, to square what the brand ultimately presented to the world with the aspirations of the people who actually worked there.

Authors Lauren Sherman and Chantal Fernandez didn’t anticipate finding so many women shaping Victoria’s Secret behind the scenes. Once they started reporting, they quickly discovered that some of its key figures turned to roles at the brand instead of the careers otherwise available to women at the time—mainly, teaching and nursing. As Victoria’s Secret’s influence grew in the 1970s and ’80s, “It was also a moment of women's careers shifting, and a lot of women were greatly enriched by working at Victoria's Secret,” says Fernandez.

“I think fashion and retail was an industry where women were able to advance more quickly because of the connection with the customer,” Sherman says. “And Wexner, despite his shortcomings, he trusted and promoted a lot of women in his business.”

Shining a light on this fact is one of the many nuances the reporting duo, who met working together at Business of Fashion, wanted to highlight in the brand's history. Victoria’s Secret undoubtedly had its flaws and its detrimental impacts on culture. Sherman and Fernandez’s reporting leaves no stone in the path to Victoria’s Secret’s eventual fall unturned, including its mistreatment of models and the backlash to its sexed-up imagery in the mid-2000s. Within that, the pair also wanted to paint a fair portrait of all actors that made the brand what it’s known as now. “The way the business press talks about companies is very black and white,” Sherman explains. “A lot of the coverage around Victoria's Secret has been reduced to, essentially, sex and misogyny, but it's way more complicated than that.”

She notes that “the consumer loved it for a time.” At its height, the Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show reached 12.4 million viewers on primetime television; pre- and post-fall, it had the largest share of the U.S. lingerie market.

The brand has lost a lot of its late-’90s and early-2000s sparkle, as Selling Sexy chronicles. Fernandez notes that it’s lost a lot of cultural cachet to the likes of Skims, a brand that understands how to leverage celebrity while also being inclusive. But the Columbus, Ohio, based-retailer is ready to prove whether it’s learned from its own history. Tonight, the Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show is returning in an approximation of its original form, with a glitter-lined runway and angel wings. It’s also set to be more inclusive than eras past: For the first time, plus-size and transgender models will walk the runway with OG Angels like Tyra Banks and Candice Swanepoel. The show’s revamp is the first major move under the leadership of Hillary Super, the current CEO named in August.

A return to the catwalk was already in the cards before Super joined from Savage x Fenty. But it’s hard not to hope that fresh female leadership at the very top of the brand will course-correct for all the times women's voices weren't heard. Either way, Fernandez and Sherman will be watching.

Some pop culture franchises have withstood the test of time and kept their cultural dominance for decades, from Harry Potter to The Bachelor to Game of Thrones. For fantasy and romance fans who came of age in the 2010s, the Twilight saga is the juggernaut that's still going strong, 19 years after Stephenie Meyer's first novel hit the shelves and 16 years after it was brought to life in the 2008 film. Now, to the joy of all Twihards, Bella and Edward's love story will continue (or technically re-start) via Netflix.

On September 4, 2024, the streaming giant announced that Midnight Sun, Meyer's 2020 retelling of the events of Twilight from Edward's perspective, will be adapted into a new TV show. Currently in development, the animated series(!) is set to be executive-produced by Meyer, Wyck Godfrey (who worked on all the Twilight saga films), and others, with Sinead Daly (Tell Me Lies) writing.

News of the new series quickly delighted Twilight Nation, from current Team Edward/Team Jacob diehards to former stans who immediately flashed back to their teenage selves reading the first 12 chapters of Midnight Sun on Meyer's website back in 2008. (Guilty.) When it was eventually completed 12 years later, the Edward-narrated novel sold more than one million copies in its first week, despite controversy around the book's "outdated" romance.

While it's still early days for news on the Netflix show, read on for everything we know so far about Midnight Sun, including the chances that any of the original Twilight cast could reprise their roles.

When will 'Midnight Sun' be released on Netflix?

It's yet to be announced when Midnight Sun will be released on Netflix. The September 4, 2024 announcement is the first anyone's heard of the new series, and it will likely take a while for it to even leave the development stage. What we do know is that (barring a catastrophe) Midnight Sun is happening, as Netflix gave the show a straight-to-series order.

Will the original 'Twilight' cast appear in 'Midnight Sun?'

Since the original Twilight film series completed its run in 2012, many of the show's stars have gone on to successful Hollywood careers, most notably Oscar nominee Kristen Stewart and The Batman star Robert Pattinson. KStew and RPattz have been asked about their Twilight years throughout their careers, and with news of Midnight Sun, they'll likely soon be fielding questions on whether they'll make a special appearance in the animated series.

Based on what they've said so far, it seems pretty unlikely that either Stewart or Pattinson want to return to the world of Twilight. Even back in 2018, the pair answered questions of whether they would be up for a reboot with deadpan sarcasm. Still, now that over a decade has passed and they're established as Hollywood heavyweights, there could be a chance that there's enough goodwill left (or a Netflix check big enough) for a cameo.

Watch this space for updates.

Whether you love candles or perfumes, it's hard to talk about the world of fragrance without mentioning Diptyque. Beloved by celebrities (including noted fan Meghan Markle) and everyday shoppers alike, the French-born brand has been developing its popular scents since 1963. Fans with shelves full of Baies candles have been spoiled lately, between the release of a new summer collection as well as a fleeting archive sale. Now we're in for yet another treat in the form of a twist on the fantasy fragrance trend: Diptyque just released yet another new collection, called Les Essences de Diptyque, which includes five fresh, transportive scents.

Some perfumers create a "fantasy" with aromas evoking elements that aren't found in nature. Diptyque is taking a different approach, capturing aromas you can only experience with the brand's help because they're so elusive in nature. (The brand describes them as "natural treasures that are precious and captivate yet, in terms of scent, are imperceptible to man.") This translates into Corail Oscuro, which is inspired by Venice's coral reefs; Lumamaris, an olfactory interpretation of the mother-of-pearl gemstone; Bois Corsé, a woody fragrance; Lilphéa, an ode to water lilies; and Rose Roche, inspired by the crystal formations known as desert roses.

Taking people to far-flung destinations with the spritz of a perfume requires some expertise. Diptyque called upon renowned perfumers including Fabrice Pellegrin, Alexandra Carlin, Nathalie Cetto, and Olivier Pescheux, who have worked with the likes of Do Son, Givenchy, Burberry, and more, to dream up each dreamy scent.

If the fragrances themselves weren't fantastical enough, their bottles are equally evocative. They were designed by Irish plastics artist Nigel Peake, who customized the designs to channel both the natural world and its "poetic essence." The result is a collection of abstract watercolor designs reminiscent of illustrations in a fairytale book.

Each perfume in the Les Essences de Diptyque collection retails at $330. But if, like me, you're indecisive and equally tempted by all of these offerings, you can also indulge in the Les Essences de Diptyque Discovery Set. The lineup includes 10 ml bottles of each fragrance so you can try before you commit to the full size and the otherworldly scent within.

Shop the Collection

Spoilers for The Umbrella Academy season 4 ahead. In 2019, Netflix debuted The Umbrella Academy, an eccentric superhero story based on the comic books of the same name by Gerard Way (of My Chemical Romance) and Gabriel Bá. By season 4's premiere on August 8, 2024, the Umbrellas found a passionate fanbase that adores the series' dysfunctional, super-powered family and their time-twisting adventures, as the seven (and later, eight) supes survive apocalypse after apocalypse after apocalypse. Unfortunately, season 4's catastrophe marks the team's final mission, with The Umbrella Academy reaching a series ending that was bold, heartbreaking, and inevitable.

Still, some hopeful fans are curious whether the Umbrellas could make a comeback, or if this is really the last time we'll see Luther (Tom Hopper), Diego (David Castañeda), Allison (Emmy Raver-Lampman), Klaus (Robert Sheehan), Five (Aidan Gallagher), Ben (Justin H. Min), Viktor (Elliot Page), and Lila (Ritu Arya) in all their glory. Read on for everything we know about The Umbrella Academy's future.

Is 'The Umbrella Academy' coming back for season 5?

Unfortunately, season 4 marks the end of The Umbrella Academy. In August 2022 when Netflix announced the hit series was renewed for a fourth season, the streamer revealed that it would be the final one.

"I’m so excited that the incredibly loyal fans of The Umbrella Academy will be able to experience the fitting end to the Hargreeves siblings’ journey we began five years ago," creator and showrunner Steve Blackman said at the time, per Deadline. "But before we get to that conclusion, we’ve got an amazing story ahead for season four, one that will have fans on the edge of their seats until the final minutes."

Of course, fans who have already completed the six-episode final season know that the Umbrellas finally met their demise in the season 4 finale. After realizing their births had broken the timeline and set off the cycle of apocalypses, the family sacrificed themselves to the Cleanse. The world was finally, truly saved, but the Umbrellas ceased to exist, with even their surviving family members having no memory of them.

That's a pretty final ending for the superhero team. However, in a post-credits scene, eight marigold flowers—a reference to the element that gave the Umbrellas their powers—bloomed in the new, idyllic world. Only time will tell whether this is a touching tribute or a cryptic hint, but, for now, it looks like the Netflix series has truly reached its end.

Will there be a spinoff of 'The Umbrella Academy?'

Even with the final season out, The Umbrella Academy fans have hardly learned about all of the inner workings of the fictional world in which the series is set. Several major questions were left unanswered, leaving plenty of fertile ground for possible spinoffs.

In an interview with The Hollywood Reporter, Blackman revealed that he and Netflix have begun discussing the potential for a new series, but it sounds like, nothing's set in stone.

"It is really up to Netflix at the end of the day—and we’ve talked about it and it’s a lot of variables in play," Blackman explained, "but I think there’s a great story in young Hazel [Cameron Britton] and Cha-Cha [Blige] down the road. There’s obviously the Commission. I think there’s wonderful stories also with some other secondary characters. Then what’s wonderful about our world is we could crossover with our main characters anytime we want to because in a wonderful time-traveling world, you can end up with anyone anytime you want."

He continued, "There are ideas, there’s things I’ve talked about, and if Netflix decides down the road, I’d love to do it. But ultimately Netflix will make that decision. I hope this isn’t the end of Umbrella Academy. I hope there’s another iteration somewhere down the road."

Will there be more 'The Umbrella Academy' comics?

While Netflix's The Umbrella Academy is over, the comics series by Gerard Way and Gabriel Bá is still ongoing. Like many book-to-TV adaptations, the Umbrella Academy comics are very different from the show; they have remarkably different plots and some of the most famous events (such as a battle with the Eiffel Tower) didn't jump from page to screen. (One of the Umbrellas even has entirely different powers.) As of August 2024, three volumes of The Umbrella Academy are out—"Apocalypse Suite," "Dallas," and "Hotel Oblivion"—with the fourth volume, "Sparrow Academy," in the works.

Spoilers for all episodes of The Umbrella Academy season 4 ahead. Since Netflix announced that The Umbrella Academy would end with its fourth and final season, the big question has been: How do you conclude a show that already has an apocalypse every season? The irreverent, must-watch TV series has followed the titular, dysfunctional, super-powered family across decades and timelines, and it has become pretty clear that no matter how many years of peace they can get, catastrophe is always around the corner. Now that the fourth season finally arrived on August 8, 2024, we need to discuss how The Umbrella Academy wrapped up the family's story, and why the story couldn't have ended any other way.

Who are The Keepers in 'The Umbrella Academy?'

The Umbrella Academy season 4 picks up six years after the world-resetting, power-removing cliffhanger from the end of season 3, and starts with the Umbrellas still living normal, non-super-powered lives. The season doesn't actually begin with the family. Instead, it introduces us to Dr. Gene (Nick Offerman) and Jean (Megan Mullally) Thibodeau, a married couple (both on- and off-screen) of professors after some black-market merch. It turns out that the new universe wasn't reset perfectly; now people have dreams in which they're living other lives. Relics from the prime timeline (a.k.a. the timeline from seasons 1 and 2) have still lingered, like figurines and a copy of a movie with a different main actress. Over the years, these dreamers have found each other, connected by memories of the prime timeline that they all share: the footprints of Reginald Hargreeves (Colm Feore) and the Umbrella Academy.

Gene and Jean gathered all these disappointed, frustrated souls into a cult called The Keepers, and taught them about "timeline sickness" and The Umbrella Effect, their theory that they can return to the correct timeline. The profs even (correctly) flag that Reginald and his revived wife Abigail (Liisa Repo-Martell) are the "elites" that want to keep the current timeline in check. When Five (Aidan Gallagher) and Lila (Ritu Arya) infiltrate a Keeper lecture, they learn that the Thibodeaus are seeking out The Cleanse, which would bring an end to the broken timeline and restore the prime one, where all of the Keepers would live happier lives.

Who is Jennifer in 'The Umbrella Academy' and how did the original Ben die?

Even though season 4's an abridged six episodes, it takes its time in only revealing details of the Keepers' plot as the Umbrellas figure it out themselves. Eventually, they learn that it hinges on Jennifer (Victoria Sawal), a mysterious woman who was the same person at the center of the Jennifer Incident which killed the Umbrella Ben in the prime, season 1 timeline. It took four seasons, but The Umbrella Academy has finally revealed how the original Ben died in the Jennifer Incident, and it's just as heartbreaking as you'd expect.

Back in 2006 when they were teen superheroes, the Umbrellas (minus Viktor, who was still having his powers repressed at the time, and Five, who had already vanished) were sent to destroy a mysterious weapon before it could be sold. In the flashback, Reginald tells them not to open the container holding the weapon and stresses how important that is. When they get to the ship, Ben is left to set up Reginald's explosive charges while the rest of the Umbrellas subdue the guards. However, Ben hears a thumping coming from inside the giant container. He opens it and finds a girl his age named Jennifer.

Of course, Ben, being a decent person, immediately went against his dad's plan to blow up a random, innocent girl. Because Luther is still Reginald's brainwashed lackey, he radios Reginald that they have a problem. As soon as Ben gets Jennifer out of the container, both of them are immediately shot in the head by none other than Reginald (who seems to have teleported to the ship). Following Ben's death, Reg altered the kids' memories to forget what happened and parrot the phrase, "It was a tragic accident. We failed as a team."

The Umbrellas (plus Viktor but minus Klaus, who, again, sidelined) find out the truth from the season 4 version of Reginald (who blames it all on the prime Reg, which, that's the best you could do?). In the season 4 timeline, Reg and Abigail have also retained all their memories, and they spent the past six years tracking down Jennifer and hiding her in the town of assassins that shot up the Umbrellas in episode 2. The "perfectly valid reason" for prime Reg to kill his son and another kid was to stop them from setting off a "cataclysmic chain of events leading to the extinction of all humanity," a.k.a. The Cleanse.

Little about Jennifer is revealed in the show's final episodes, although we know a bit about her backstory. It's revealed that she has trauma from being swallowed by and later cut out of an absurdly giant squid. (For what it's worth, we're still confused by this, and so are fans on Reddit.)

What is The Cleanse in 'The Umbrella Academy' and how is Abigail involved?

Season 4's apocalypse comes full circle in two ways: the Jennifer Incident, and the mysterious marigold. As fans may remember, marigold was introduced in season 3 as the magical/alien golden particles that Reginald released onto Earth, which got into all of the women who instantly became pregnant and gave birth on October 1, 1989. In season 4, Reg and Abigail explain that the latter had invented marigold, and at the same time that it synthesized, a second particle "was created" called durango.

In a catastrophic yin-yang situation, when marigold and durango interact, the differing particles cause a physical reaction that leads to "the extinction of everything we know." It's also heavily implied that this Cleanse destroyed the Hargreeves' home world before Reginald released the Umbrellas' marigold particles on Earth. (That's likely why everyone was fleeing the planet in that season 1 scene where we saw the moment Reg released them.)

Both in the prime timeline and season 4, Ben and Jennifer have an otherworldly pull towards each other, one that toes the line between true love and the marigold and durango just doing their thing pre-Cleanse. Eventually, after Sparrow Ben rescues Jennifer from the Keepers (long story short, when this Jen was released from the squid, the only thing she can say is "the cleanse," so that's their girl), their physical interaction sets off particle explosions, ranging in strength from just light shimmers when they touch hands to leveling a 100-ft radius while hooking up. Whether it is love or destruction, Ben refuses to leave her, even as he begins to alter into this thing. What no one knew about The Cleanse is that it involves Ben and Jennifer fusing into a horrific, mutated blob that exponentially grows as it levels everything in its path. (There is one person who may have anticipated this.)

Who is Sy Grossman in 'The Umbrella Academy' and what is Abigail's secret?

While Gene and Jean are busy chasing Cleanse clues and Jennifer, Sy Grossman (David Cross) really sets this whole season off. Sy was the one who contacted the Umbrella Academy, seemingly remembering them from his prime timeline memories, and asked them to rescue his "daughter" (a.k.a Jennifer) from the Keepers. However, when they found her, Jennifer had never heard of him. Sy had also just happened to have a jar of marigold on him, which was how the Umbrellas got back their powers in the first place.

Fast forward to episode 4, and Sy joins Jean and Gene at their Keepers headquarters/commandeered Burger King (or, "King Reg"). Sy mysteriously knows way more about Jennifer and the Cleanse than he should, and it becomes obvious he sent the Umbrellas after Jennifer to start the Cleanse. Sy basically appears to the profs with all the answers, but Gene (Offerman) quickly gets on his "macho bullshit" at this random guy possibly taking over his leader spot. Gene even lures Sy out the back of the burger joint with the intent to shoot him, but before he can, Sy's tentacle(!) pierces Gene through the gut!

Of all the unanswered questions over the seasons of The Umbrella Academy, Reg and Abigail's alien anatomy has undoubtedly been the coolest. The big reveal that Sy is Abigail in disguise combines so many of them: The tentacle straight-up cleaving Gene like Reg did Luther in season 3, Reg taking off his skin like a mask to reveal himself in season 2. That skin-disguise effect is put into use here when Abigail becomes Gene, dumping out all his organs and putting on his flesh like a suit. From then on, Abigail is the de facto leader of the Keepers, assembling them to guard Ben and Jennifer, and even killing Jean when he senses something is wrong.

Once the Ben/Jennifer/Cleanse monster gets going, Abigail reveals herself to Reginald to explain why the apocalypse is for the best. She explains that her previous death in her home world was her "penance" for creating the deadly Cleanse, and confirms that her creation led to the death of her and Reg's home world. She asks why he'd lose marigold on another world, ensuring its destruction, and Reg answers that he was lonely without her, hinting that releasing the marigold was connected to bringing her back to life. However, she says all this was hubris, not love, and that it was her duty to set his actions right. With that, the couple let themselves be killed by the Cleanse, as he tells her "well done." So yeah, in the end, literally everything was Reginald's fault. Worst. Father. Ever.

How does the Umbrella Academy stop the apocalypse? And what's with all the Fives?

At first, the Umbrellas make a valiant effort to save the world in the middle of major emotional turmoil. Reg wants to stick to his shoot first and mourn later M.O., but Viktor gets the chance to try to save Ben and Jennifer by pulling the particles out of their bodies. When Viktor's attempt doesn't seem to work, Reg shoots Ben via sniper, which makes no difference. It just makes Jennifer cradle him, and once they touch, the Cleanse monster truly takes over and starts growing (with Ben and Jennifer's mangled faces appearing on the body and giving us all nightmares).

As the Umbrellas retreat and regroup, Five, still reeling from Lila's rejection, peaces out to the subway between timelines. To his surprise, he finds a deli full of Fives, literally operated and frequented by him from other timelines. The other Fives have all also given up on stopping their apocalypses because in literally every timeline where Five is born, the world gets destroyed. This is how Five learns that the birth of the Umbrellas (a.k.a. Reg releasing the marigold on Earth) broke the original timeline into a multiverse. There's only supposed to be one main timeline, but instead, n infinite amount of Umbrellas have been trying and failing to fix their timelines at least "145,412" times.

The Cleanse is a good thing. If the Umbrellas let it consume all of the marigold inside of them, it'll interact with the durango, cancel both of them out, and put the world back into tune. The chaotic multiverse becomes a stable universe again, but the Umbrellas won't be part of it. And it won't mean their deaths; they'll be erased from history, and they will never have existed at all. Plus, they don't know whether their families (including Claire and Diego and Lila's three kids) will survive or disappear.

There's a brief freakout where Lila decides to escape on the timeline subway with their families, but at the last second, she accepts that she has to be consumed by The Cleanse too to fix the world. The emotional final moments show the Umbrellas accepting their fate and standing in a circle in that dilapidated Hargreeves mansion, waiting for the monster to crash through and devour them. They're consumed by the Cleanse and now they're gone forever. To save the world, the Umbrellas needed to die. It's a heartbreaking reality that also makes the most sense. If the apocalypse follows you around, you stop the apocalypse when you stop running.

In the final scene of The Umbrella Academy, we see Claire playing with Lila and Diego's family in a sunny, crowded park. The rest of the crowd enjoying the summer's day includes so many cameos from previous seasons, from The Handler (Kate Walsh) to Grace (Jordan Claire Robbins) and Pogo (Adam Godley) to even Dolores (Rachel Delduca). (No Mary J. Blige, but shout out Hazel and Agnes together again!) But, even on this ordinary day, the post-credits scene shows an eye-catching detail: eight marigolds growing at the base of a tree.

How does 'The Umbrella Academy' comic book end?

With that, Netflix's The Umbrella Academy comes to an epic, sorrowful, admittedly muddled but still inevitable ending. However, the end of the TV show does not mean that fans can't continue with the Umbrellas' story. The comic book series by author Gerard Way and illustrator Gabriel Bá that inspired the show is still ongoing, and season 4 was even able to fit tons of comic Easter eggs into the season (including an appearance from illustrator Bá himself in the final park scene).

Volumes 1-3 of The Umbrella Academy comics are currently out, with the same characters from the show but quite different plots. The comics haven't even gotten to the Sparrow Academy yet, but a fourth volume introducing the second team is set to come out ... at some point. Per ComicBook.com, Bá confirmed during the season 4 premiere that he and Way (of My Chemical Romance fame) are "working on it."

Summer 2024 saw the release of House of the Dragon season 2, kicking off the Dance of the Dragons. (Sort of.) After airing over two months, the Game of Thrones spinoff concluded with the anticlimactic season 2 finale, capping off an installment that served more as the second prelude to the epic Targaryen civil war. Sure, the war between the Greens and the Blacks did officially start, with its first major battle at Rook's Rest culminating in the death of one main character and the mutilation of another. But HotD thus far has spent more time setting the stage for epic conflicts than actually showing them.

Luckily for bloodthirsty fans, that's all set to change in House of the Dragon season 3, which was greenlit by HBO days before season 2 even premiered. Read on for everything we know about season 3 so far, including how long we'll have to wait for more dragonfire.

When will 'House of the Dragon' season 3 come out?

House of the Dragon season 3 isn't expected to hit our screens until at least 2026. This would follow the pattern of the previous two installments, which premiered on HBO in August 2022 and June 2024, respectively. Plus, season 2 arrived right on schedule; despite the 2023 WGA and SAG-AFTRA strikes pausing most of Hollywood, HotD is a British series that was able to continue filming with no delays. So it officially takes two years to deliver another round of Targaryen-filled episodes.

While a release date is still far off, we do know that work on season 3 is already underway. In May 2024, showrunner Ryan Condal told Entertainment Weekly that the show's team was already "deep into" writing season 3, should HBO renew it. Following the season 2 finale, Condal revealed in a press conference that cameras will start rolling on new episodes in early 2025, per Variety.

When will 'House of the Dragon' end?

Following the season 2 finale, showrunner Ryan Condal dropped some surprising news about House of the Dragon during a virtual press conference, per The Hollywood Reporter. In response to speculation on how long the series will last, Condal revealed that House of the Dragon will end with season 4, making the spinoff half the length of its eight-season predecessor Game of Thrones. (Though, considering how contentious those final GoT seasons are, this could be a blessing.)

"I think it’s four,” Condal said of the series' length, before noting that the overall plan for the rest of the show was mapped out after the first season, per THR. He also shared that season 3 will likely also consist of eight episodes.

Condal had already hinted that HotD could end sooner rather than later while speaking to Entertainment Weekly last May.

"You certainly don't want to rush to get to an end, but you also don't want to overstay your welcome," he told the outlet. "You want to find this very satisfying place to go out that ties up enough loose ends and leaves others intentionally open because, as we know, this history marches on for another 150 years to Daenerys."

Which cast members will return for 'House of the Dragon' season 3?

HBO has yet to announce the official cast list, but here's everyone still standing at the end of season 2: For the Blacks, there's Matt Smith (Daemon Targaryen), Emma D’Arcy (Rhaenyra), Steve Toussaint (Corlys Velaryon), Harry Collett (Jacaerys Targaryen), Bethany Antonia (Baela Targaryen), Phoebe Campbell (Rhaena Targaryen), Sonoya Mizuno (Mysaria), and Tom Taylor (Cregan Stark). Meanwhile, the Greens have Olivia Cooke (Alicent Hightower), Fabien Frankel (Ser Criston Cole), Matthew Needham (Larys Strong), Tom Glynn-Carney (Aegon Targaryen), Ewan Mitchell (Aemond Targaryen), Phia Saban (Helaena Targaryen), Jefferson Hall (Tyland and Jason Lannister), and Rhys Ifans (Otto Hightower), who finally made an appearance in the finale after disappearing for half the season.

Of season 2's new additions, it's most likely that Kieran Bew (Hugh Hammer), Tom Bennett (Ulf), Clinton Liberty (Addam of Hull), and Abubakar Salim (Alyn of Hull) would return. The rest of the cast will depend on where the series takes us, but hopefully season 3 can swing by Harrenhal to bring back Simon Russell Beale (Ser Simon Strong) and Alys Rivers (Gayle Rankin) as well.

Who are the new cast members joining 'House of the Dragon' season 3?

As season 3 heads toward production, HBO has announced the first new cast member to join House of the Dragon. Per Variety, Happy Valley and Little Women star James Norton will play Ormund Hightower, "Otto’s nephew, Alicent and Gwayne’s cousin, and the Lord of Oldtown." Season 3 will be the onscreen debut of the character, who was mentioned throughout season 2, and "is presently leading the Hightower host in a march on King’s Landing to support his house against Rhaenyra."

One highly-anticipated casting yet to come is for Daeron Targaryen, Alicent's youngest son, and younger brother to Aegon, Helaena, and Aemond. As of the start of season 3, Daeron is also marching alongside the Hightower army, or should we say, riding his new dragon, Tessarion.

What will 'House of the Dragon' season 3 be about?

Spoilers for the House of the Dragon season 2 finale ahead. The season 2 finale (which could also have served as a season 3 premiere, tbh) laid the road for some epic battles heading into season 3. Queen Rhaenyra officially has the most dragons, after the Sowing of the Seeds recruited dragonriders Hugh Hammer, Ulf the White, and Addam of Hull claiming their own winged nukes. Prince Jace is nervous about giving these wild cards such power, and readers know he isn't wrong to be worried (even though the whole "mongrels" bit is a horrible look). Rhaenyra and Daemon's youngest kids are on a ship bound for Pentos, while Rhaena snuck away to claim a wild sheep-stealing dragon; Hand of the Queen Corlys and his illegitimate son Alyn are also setting sail to defend the blockade in the Gullet. And in the show's most mystical twist so far, Daemon is fully Team Rhaenyra after Alys Rivers and Helaena(!) showed him a "Winter is Coming" vision, complete with a Dany cameo.

Meanwhile, Prince Regent Aemond is scrambling after realizing the Blacks have more dragon power. Hand of the King Criston and his army are on the move, but they're no help unless it's a land-based battle. Aemond asks Helaena to ride her dragon, but she doesn't want to "burn anyone," so she rebuffs him, asking if he'll burn her like he did Aegon. Alicent, who is completely over the whole "trapped in a prison of her own making" thing, plans to flee King's Landing with Heleana, and she even agrees with Rhaenyra's deal: a son for a son. However, the severely-wounded Aegon has fled King's Landing (whether he'd likely be killed by either Rhaenyra or Aemond) for Pentos, accompanied by Larys. Oh also, unknown to everyone, Tyland Lannister has succeeded in bringing the Triarchy (the pirate army that Daemon and co. fought in early season 1) over to the Greens' side.

Basically, as hinted by Ramin Djawadi's epic score, there are a ton of battles on the horizon. (We'll just have to wait two years.) Fire & Blood readers know some of what's in store: The Battle of the Gullet will likely happen in the season 3 premiere, where Corlys will think he's only going up against the Lannister navy and instead be met with the Triarchy. Some other battles to anticipate for the spoiler-prone: Rhaenyra's plan to attack King's Landing, the Butcher's Ball, the First Battle of Tumbleton, and maybe even the Battle Above the God’s Eye.

Per THR, Condal has heard fan's criticisms of season 2's anticlimactic finale, and he's promising that once these battles arrive, they'll have a huge impact. During the August 5 press conference, the showrunner said the decision to push the Battle of the Gullet to season three came down to how big the show could go.

“One of the things that came into play in season two is: What is the final destination of the series and where are we going? It was a combination of factors that led us to rebalance the season knowing now where we’re going. … we are trying to give The Gullet — which is arguably the second most anticipated action event of Fire & Blood — trying to give it the time and the space that it deserves.”

When will 'A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms' come out?

After the success of House of the Dragon, HBO greenlit A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms, a new spinoff based on a trio of prequel novellas that take place 100 years before the events of Game of Thrones. (The overall Westeros TV timeline goes HotD, then Knight of the Seven Kingdoms, then GoT.) The new series will follow two fan-favorite characters: Ser Duncan the Tall (a.k.a. Dunk), and his squire Egg (a.k.a. Aegon V Targaryen), as they travel throughout Westeros on quests and adventures. In an interview with Entertainment Weekly, Condal described the new series as being about "the small folk who suffer at the hands of the game of thrones as it's played by the nobles."

On August 4, 2024, HBO released a sizzle reel that featured the first-ever look at A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms. The brief clip introduced Dunk (played by Peter Claffey) and the young Egg (played by Dexter Sol Ansell), while confirming that the new series will make its debut in 2025. So, HotD fans will have a new tale of chivalry to hold us over until House of the Dragon season 3.

Spoilers for House of the Dragon season 2, episodes 1-9 ahead. Like a fan-favorite character once said, the Game of Thrones universe has a soft spot for bastards and broken things. This affinity continues in the prequel series House of the Dragon, which returned for its second season in June 2024 with some surprising new characters in the orbit of its dueling Greens and Blacks. In addition to setting up the early battles of the Targaryen family's civil war known as the Dance of Dragons, the series also introduces some common folk populating King's Landing and Driftmark. While the inclusion may have seemed surprising to some TV fans, readers of author George R. R. Martin's original Fire and Blood book series know that no scene included in this stacked fantasy series is truly random. (Let's keep the final Thrones seasons out of our minds for that.)

While GoT had Jon Snow and Ellaria Sand (we're ignoring Ramsey), HotD has the dragonseeds, many of whom we were already introduced to before season 2, episode 4. These men (and maybe eventually women) are set up to play monumental roles in the fight for the Iron Throne, even if they aren't all introduced within season 2. Read on for a primer on the dragonseeds we've met on House of the Dragon so far, including which dragons they've claimed, and some extra details from Fire and Blood.

What is a dragonseed in 'House of the Dragon?'

In the era of Westeros where dragons roamed the sky and Targaryens were on the throne, "dragonseed" was the term for bastards of Valyrian descent. A dragonseed is fathered or mothered by someone from a dragon-riding Valyrian family, typically a Targaryen or a Velaryon. Not all children of Valyrian descent inherit dragon-riding skills, but a great amount do. Since the ability to ride dragons is passed down through blood (look up "why Valyrians can ride dragons" for a fun yet harrowing time), a dragonseed doesn't need to be officially claimed by their family to be able to ride a dragon, though that is likely the only way they'd get anywhere near one.

Being a dragonseed is dangerous at any time before Robert's Rebellion since the odds are they could become cannon fodder for a potential heir securing his throne. As Ulf says, “A dragonseed must watch his own neck when he has no white cloak guardsman to do it for him.” However, at a time when dragons are the most valuable weapon in a war, there is a chance the dragonseeds could become indispensable.

Let's meet some of them below.

Addam of Hull

Early in season 2, we meet brothers Addam (Clinton Liberty) and Alyn (Abubakar Salim), who grew up in the Driftmark town of Hull. Remember when Corlys Velaryon (Steve Toussaint) was thought dead after a battle in the Stepstones? It turns out that Alyn is the one who saved him, and, as his brother Addam hints in episode 2, that's not the only connection the men have to the Sea Snake. In episode 4, Rhaenys (Eve Best) pretty much confirms that Alyn and Addam are the bastard children of Corlys, adding that Corlys should reward Alyn for saving his life. She also mentions that the pair shouldn't have to hide in the shadows, which is some mighty foreshadowing.

In Fire and Blood, Alyn and Addam are confirmed to be of Velaryon blood, though it's unsure whether they are Laenor (John MacMillan) or Corlys's sons. One passage reads, "That Addam and Alyn were dragonseed no man who looked upon them could doubt, though their mother steadfastly refused to name their father." (Judging by Laenor's sexuality, we suspect it's going to be either Corlys or even his late brother Vaemond on the show.) As for their dragonseed heritage, there was a lovely nod in episode 2, where we got a lengthy shot of Addam admiring his half-brother(?) Laenor's dragon, Seasmoke.

In season 2, episode 6, the silver-gray dragon Seasmoke sets off the claiming of the dragonseeds. Seasmoke was originally bonded to Rhaenyra's husband Laenor Velaryon (John Macmillan), but after Laenor faked his death, the dragon roamed wild around Westeros, near Dragonstone and Hull. One afternoon, Seasmoke descends on Addam out of the blue and the pair embark on a fearful chase. Once Seasmoke corners Addam, it becomes clear that the dragon has found her new rider. Though we still don't know of Addam's paternal parentage, it seems as though the dragon somehow senses that he is her old rider's half-brother.

At the start of episode 7, Rhaenyra (Emma D'Arcy)hears word that Seasmoke has been claimed and confronts the new rider. Addam quickly bends the knee to the queen, and Rhaenyra forms the idea to search for dragonseeds among the bastard Targaryen children of King's Landing.

Ulf the White

Ulf the White (Tom Bennett) is one of the residents of King's Landing, who we first see among the crowds learning of the ratcatchers' untimely deaths after the incident known as Blood and Cheese. In episode 3, we properly meet Ulf at a tavern, where he's regaling his crowd of friends with the story of his parentage. According to Ulf, he's the bastard son of Baelon the Brave, and therefore half-brother to Daemon (Matt Smith) and the late King Viserys (Paddy Considine). (In actuality, Baelon was Jaehaerys' heir to the Iron Thorne, but he died before his father, leading to the Great Council of Harrenhal where Viserys was chosen as king over Rhaenys.)

Ulf's friends do not believe him, as he doesn't have white Targaryen hair, but Ulf points out that Rhaenyra's son Jace (Harry Collett) is a brunette. He also dubs Jace the rightful heir to the Iron Throne, though he quickly toasts Aegon (Tom Glynn-Carney) once the usurper shows up at the brothel. House of the Dragon has yet to confirm Ulf's parentage, but Fire and Blood fans know that the loudmouth's claim has some truth to it.

In episode 7, Ulf's friends tell him that Rhaenyra is seeking Targaryen bastards to claim dragons. Though Ulf confesses that he doesn't even know if his claims are entirely true, he has gotten free drinks from his white-haired heritage, so he sets off to Dragonstone partly to save fast. As the attempt to find a rider for Vermithor goes sour, Ulf runs off through the mountain Dragonmont and stumbles upon the unclaimed she-dragon Silverwing. They unexpectedly bond, and Ulf even gets the chance to ride his new dragon over King's Landing.

Hugh Hammer

In the first episodes of season 2, one of the common folk we meet is Hugh Hammer (Kieran Bew), a blacksmith whose family is struggling through the Velaryon blockade of the Gullet. Upon a first look, he represents the many residents of King's Landing who face starvation, along with his wife Kat (Ellora Torchia) and their ill daughter. However, as you can tell by the uncommon white hair, Hammer has some Velaryon heritage.

Once the recruiting drive for the Blacks begins in King's Landing, Hugh reveals to Kat that he had been hiding the truth of his parentage. He says that his mother was a sex worker with silver hair, who was "granted more freedom than most because of who she was." He also adds, "She used to tell me I was no different to her brother’s boys, Viserys and Daemon, but I was ashamed of her."

In an interview with Decider, Bew confirmed that Hugh's mother is Saera Targaryen, the notoriously sex-positive ninth daughter of King Jaehaerys I (Michael Carter), who fled to become a sex worker in Lys rather than become a Silent Sister. That heritage may have played a part in Hugh claiming Vermithor in the Dragonmont, as the second-largest dragon was previously bonded to the late king. Hugh also impressed the dragon in a show of courage, where he confronted it to give another woman a chance to escape.

Are there any female Dragonseeds?

As of season 2, episode 9, all of the dragonseeds introduced in House of the Dragon have been men. However, the most powerful dragonriders (or at least the most beloved) in the Thrones TV universe have been women—so hopefully there's at least one female dragonseed incoming. Hopefully, they'll make their appearance sooner rather than later.

Spoilers for House of the Dragon season 2, episode 4 ahead. On Sunday, July 8, House of the Dragon gave everyone what they were waiting for. From the fictional lords populating the Green and Black Councils to certain carnage-hungry fans, countless voices have been calling for the Game of Thrones spinoff to bring on the action promised for season 2, as the Targaryens and their dragons face off on the battlefield. In episode 4, "The Red Dragon and the Gold," the war truly began with the highly-anticipated Battle of Rook's Rest, which ended with both the first major death and the first major cliffhanger of season 2.

The battle begins when Ser Criston Cole (Fabien Frankel) and the Green Army attack one of the castles in the crownlands close to King's Landing, as a detour on his campaign to retake Harrenhal. Ser Criston (who, despite being the worst, is a great tactician) uses the castle as bait to lure out one of the Blacks' dragons, at which point a hidden Aemond (Ewan Mitchell) and his beast Vhagar will emerge and fight. When Princess Rhaenys (Eve Best) and her dragon Meleys arrive to help defend the castle, Criston sounds a signal for Vhagar to storm in, but they're interrupted by King Aegon (Tom Glynn-Carney) on his (much smaller) dragon Sunfyre. The leader of the Greens flies to battle without alerting his family, his council, or his army, and subsequently gets smoked.

House of the Dragon had spent episode 4 (and every Aegon scene since the season 2 premiere), setting the foundation for this rash act. Even before his son Jaehaerys II was beheaded by Blood and Cheese, he was hungry for bloodshed against his aunt Rhaenyra (Emma D’Arcy), leader of the Blacks and rival for the throne. Being a new king and a horrible strategist, Aegon had no idea what he was doing, and his entire council (including his mother Alicent, played by Olivia Cooke) chose to ignore him. Even his new Hand of the King Criston set out to battle as soon as humanly possible. So, Aegon's decision to ride into battle himself is a desperate grab for respect and deference—gone horribly wrong.

Meanwhile, Aemond (Ewan Mitchell) has already been pissed at his older brother Aegon all season. Sure, Aemond's base state is intimidation, but it's become clear that he thinks his sibling is an imbecile. In episode 3, there was also that scene in which Aegon tormented Aemond at the brothel. So when Aemond and his beast Vhagar join the battle, Aemond chooses to attack Rhaenys and Meleys without any concern about Aegon getting caught in the dragonfire crosshairs. A fatally wounded Sunfyre crashes to the ground, and several minutes later, Rhaenys and Meleys also crash to their fiery deaths. (R.I.P. Rhaenys, the Queen Who Never Was.)

After that confirmed death, the episode ends with Criston searching for Aegon and finding Sunfyre's crash site. Aemond stands next to it, sword drawn. He quietly picks up Aegon’s fallen dagger and uses it to point to his brother's unmoving body, framed by the dying dragon. However, the episode ends before it's confirmed whether the king who sits on the Iron Throne is actually dead. Could the Greens have already lost their leader in the war's first major battle? The series wants to keep this a cliffhanger, but luckily for impatient fans, George R.R. Martin's novel Fire and Blood has the answer. Major spoilers for Fire and Blood ahead.

Miraculously, Aegon does survive a faceful of dragonfire at the Battle of Rook's Rest, where he suffers "broken ribs, a broken hip, and burns that covered half his body." As Martin explains, "His left arm was the worst. The dragonflame had burned so hot that the king’s armor had melted into his flesh." Ouch.

Sunfyre also survives(!), but he's grounded for a long while, due to Meleys breaking one of his wings. The dragon stays near Rook's Rest to recuperate, with Ser Criston stationing men to protect Sunfyre and sending him sheep to eat, and eventually, the dragon recovers enough to fly again. However, he's a little off, with one historian later describing him as "a great golden fire-breathing chicken."

So, while not dead, Aegon's down for the count. Per Fire and Blood, he remains on bed rest for over a year, sleeping "nine hours out of every 10" and suffering from burns that "brought him such pain that some say he prayed for death." He remains king in name, but Aemond takes over as Prince Regent and Protector of the Realm, with Cole remaining as his Hand of the King.

Considering war stats, the Battle of Rook's Rest can't be considered a win by either side; the Greens (temporarily) lost their king while the Blacks lost their MVP and biggest dragon. The question going forward is whether having Aemond on the throne will turn the tides in either direction.

Of course, there is the dangling question of whether HBO's televised version of the Dance of the Dragons will decide to kill Aegon off after all. It would be the biggest change from Fire and Blood yet, but House of the Dragon has already made some big book-to-film changes in season 2 so far. Also, the major House of the Dragon spoilers that were included in Game of Thrones are vague enough that the prequel series could meet its canon conclusion with or without Aegon. Still, for the sake of some major story twists going forward, the series adaptation will hopefully decide to keep its plot close to the book.

Netflix's fantasy epic The Witcher returned for its fourth season on October 30, 2025, resuming the adventures of Geralt of Rivia, Yennefer of Vengerberg (Anya Chalotra), and Princess Cirilla (Freya Allan) after over two years. Though the TV adaptation of Andrzej Sapkowski's book series is six years into its run, season 4 marks a new beginning for the show. The big question on everyone's minds: How will The Witcher move forward without Henry Cavill?

Three years ago, the former Superman actor announced that he would be leaving The Witcher after season 3, shocking franchise fans with the loss of the Netflix original's biggest star, who launched a "really annoying" campaign for the role as early as 2017. His departure was paired with the news that Liam Hemsworth, of The Hunger Games and The Last Song fame, would assume the role. To say that fans are heading into season 4 with a lot of thoughts is... a bit of an understatement.

For anyone who needs a refresher ahead of tuning into Hemsworth's Witcher debut, read on for everything to know about Cavill's departure and the new Geralt, including how the show handles the recasting.

Why did Henry Cavill leave 'The Witcher' after season 3?

Netflix confirmed in October 2022 that The Witcher would return for season 4 with Liam Hemsworth playing Geralt, with both Cavill and Hemsworth sharing statements on Instagram regarding the recasting.

"My journey as Geralt of Rivia has been filled with both monsters and adventures, and alas, I will be laying down my medallion and my swords for season 4," Cavill wrote. "In my stead, the fantastic Mr. Liam Hemsworth will be taking up the mantle of the White Wolf. As with the greatest of literary characters, I pass the torch with reverence for the time spent embodying Geralt and enthusiasm to see Liam’s take on this most fascinating and nuanced of men. Liam, good sir, this character has such a wonderful depth to him, enjoy diving in and seeing what you can find."

While Cavill didn't give a deeper explanation for his departure at the time, rumors quickly swirled, with speculation ranging from creative differences with the producers to possible scheduling conflicts. In the same week that the news dropped, Cavill announced that he would return to the DC cinematic universe as Superman, after making a post-credits appearance in Black Adam.

However, just two months later, Guardians of the Galaxy director James Gunn was announced as the new co-CEO of DC Studios, and the company chose to reboot Superman rather than bring Cavill back. (Pearl actor David Corenswet took up the Superman mantle, with his film eventually becoming one of the highest-grossing films of 2025 as of late October). Cavill's final appearance as Superman was a mid-credits cameo in 2022's Black Adam.

What has 'The Witcher' cast and crew said about Cavill's departure?

Following Cavill's final episodes in The Witcher season 3, part 2, showrunner Lauren Hissrich briefly opened up about the actor's departure while ensuring that Geralt would remain as a central character. "It was time for [Cavill] in his life to move on," Hissrich said in May 2023. "I think we’ve all been mourning this in our own way. We had the choice to have Geralt exit and to end the show. [But] that’s not something that we were willing to do. There’s just too many stories left to tell."

"If we replaced Geralt with another Witcher, we would be going fully away from the books, and I don’t think that’s what anyone wanted either," she continued.

In September 2025, Hissrich shared more context for Cavill's exit in an Entertainment Weekly piece, explaining that his departure had been in the works "for a while." She also dismissed the creative-difference rumors.

"He had plans for other roles that he really wanted to commit himself to," she told the outlet. "And for us, you don't want to hold someone and force them to be doing something that they don't want to do. I think that's why it felt like a really symbiotic decision."

"I cried," star Anya Chalotra said of her reaction to the news. "I remember it so vividly. It really impacted me. We were so bonded to these people, and to lose such an important member of the team…I've put everything into this character. I started [Witcher] having not much work under my belt, and this show means the world to me. So it hurt."

Freya Allan added, "He was Geralt for Ciri for so long and that's sad to let that go, but I was also really excited to see what Liam's done with the role...Me, Anya, Joey [Batey, who plays Jaskier], we're all still here. Some of Ciri's most exciting storylines are really coming to fruition in season 5. It's good to remind people that there's still the original people, and there's something exciting to be able to see a new version of that Geralt character."

What has Liam Hemsworth said about joining 'The Witcher?'

The Entertainment Weekly piece also included Hemsworth's first comments about joining the fantasy series. According to the outlet, Hemsworth has been a vocal fan of source video games for a long time, and he was the first actor Hissrich spoke to about the role.

"It came out of nowhere," he said of his initial reaction to the job offer. "I was as surprised as anyone...I'm a massive fan of Henry's, and I'm a fan of what he did in the show."

He shared more of his thoughts in an interview with Radio Times. "When I first got approached, I was pretty reluctant at that point. [I had] a lot of concerns and questions about it all. I was a big fan of the video game and then I watched the series, and was a fan of the series, and I read the books."

"Just the situation [of] coming into a series that's already established a really passionate fanbase. I appreciate these fans, and I appreciate the fact that they care so much about it," he added. "I think if I wasn't a fan myself, if I didn't care about it, I wouldn't have come on board. The reason I came on board was because I was a fan, and because I thought that I could do justice to this character. I thought that could bring an interesting interpretation to this part of the story."

How does 'The Witcher' season 4 introduce Liam Hemsworth as Geralt?

Warning: Light spoilers for The Witcher season 4 ahead. The season 4 premiere of The Witcher introduces our new Geralt of Rivia with a bit of revisionist history. The episode flashes back to some of the series's iconic scenes—including Geralt's fight with the Kikimore monster in season 1, and the first group hug with him, Yennefer, and Ciri—with Hemsworth as Geralt in place of Cavill.

The premiere also introduces a new framing device. 100 years after The Witcher's main timeline, an old man tells a group of children the story of Geralt, but one young girl named Nimue (Sha Dessi) has notes about his accuracy. It appears that Hemsworth's Rivia is her version of the legend. Not only is she a superfan of Geralt, Yennefer, and Ciri, but she also thinks that her destiny will intertwine with theirs. As fans of the books know, this hunch isn't too far off.

All this comprises the first eight minutes of season 4's premiere, where the show introduces our new Geralt, sets up some important plot points, and calls back to the importance of oral storytelling in Andrzej Sapkowski's original book series. While opinions are subject to change based on how the rest of the season goes—and each viewer's thoughts on Hemsworth's performance—all in all, it's a pretty smooth start to season 4.

What will Henry Cavill appear in next?

Since he departed from The Witcher, Cavill has appeared in spy films like Argylle and The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare, as well as a cameo in Deadpool & Wolverine. Of his many upcoming projects—including Enola Holmes 3 and a Highlander reboot—the actor has long been involved in a new nerdy passion project.

In December 2022, Cavill announced that he's set to star in and executive produce a series adaptation of Warhammer 40,000, the popular sci-fi/fantasy miniature war game. The tabletop game, which has been compared to Dungeons & Dragons, takes place 40,000 years in the future, in a world where militaristic humans are in an unending war with aliens, elves, orks, skeleton-like androids, and malevolent gods. (The project's still in development as of December 2024, so we have time to wrap our heads around all of that.)

"I have loved Warhammer since I was a boy, making this moment truly special for me. The opportunity to shepherd this cinematic universe from its inception is quite the honor and the responsibility," Cavill said in a statement. "I couldn’t be more grateful for all the hard work put in by Vertigo, Amazon Studios, and Games Workshop to make this happen. One step closer to making a nigh on lifelong dream come true."

Most recently, in a May 2025 Esquire interview, Cavill said that adapting the game is a "tricky" challenge.

"[It] is a dream come true, but it's different from what I've done before, in the sense I haven't had my hand on the tiller of things before," he said. "It's wonderful doing that. It is a tricky IP, and a very complex IP, and that's what I love about it. The challenges that come with putting this on the page in a way that is doing justice to that complexity, that trickiness, and that nuance, is a challenge I'm enjoying enormously."

Spoilers for Shadow and Bone seasons 1 and 2 ahead. Every fantasy hit has its own intricate version of magic. In the Netflix epic Shadow and Bone, based on author Leigh Bardugo's Grishaverse book series, magic is known as Small Science and practiced by Grisha, members of the fictional countries born with the ability to manipulate the elements. Season 2 of Shadow and Bone follows the fated hero Alina Starkov (Jessie Mei Li) as she trains to defeat the Darkling (Ben Barnes) who has tapped into dark magic to create near-unbeatable monsters made of shadow and an entire region tearing the country of Ravka in two.

Season 2 is even more complex than the first, as Alina continues her journey to collect the Amplifiers and untangles more of the Darklings' history. Read on for our breakdown of all the magic terms to know from Season 2. (We also have primers on the different types of Grisha and the Fold.)

The Stag

Throughout season 2, Alina searches for the final two of the three Amplifiers, a set of legendary magical creatures formed by one of the first known Grisha, Ilya Morozova (known as the Bonesmith). Centuries ago, Morozova was searching for a way for Grisha to increase their powers and better protect themselves from persecution. He says he used merzost and his finger bones to create powerful animals that, when killed and fused into a Grisha’s body, boosts the person's power. While several amplifiers of varying power levels exist, including some humans, the three that Morozova created were super-potent, and knowledge of them has been passed down through Ravkan folklore. (I'll designate them as Amplifiers with a capital "A," but they're also known as Morozova's Beasts.)

We learned of the first Amplifier in Season 1, when Kirigan was determined to hunt down the stag to expand the Fold (though he told everyone the goal was to destroy it). Mal (Archie Renaux) is the one to track the stag down, and when he and Alina encounter it, she discovers she doesn’t need to kill it, since the stag chooses to share its power with her. However, Kirigan is ultimately the one to kill it, and he orders Fabrikator David Kostyk (Luke Pasqualino) to use its antlers to create a link between Kirigan and Alina's powers, by fusing the stag’s antlers into Alina’s collarbone and putting a piece of an antler into Kirigan's hand.

The Season 1 finale sees Alina breaking the link between their powers, by cutting the bit of antler out of his hand. At that point, she completely absorbed the stag's powers (and the antlers). However, some residue of the antler was left in Kirigan's hand, which is why the pair had a psychic link throughout Season 2 (until Baghra finally cut off Kirigan's hand in her dying moments).

The Sea Whip

The terrifying sea whip is the second beast Alina and Mal seek, and she eventually track it down with the help of privateer Nikolai (Patrick Gibson) and his crew. She gives the order to capture it alive, thinking it will act similarly as the stag and choose to bestow its power, but she ends up killing it when it attacks Mal. Later, Alina has two of the sea whip’s scales fused into her body, where they remain visible on her wrist like an embedded bracelet.

The taking of a second amplifier marks a significant moment in Grisha history. Before Alina, Grisha were worried that taking more than one amplifier in their lifetime could cause them to loose control of their powers, since amplifiers were created using merzost (more on that later). However, Alina's convinced that she's destined to collect all three of Morozova's Beasts and use them to bring down the Fold, despite the unknown danger.

The Shadow and Bone book trilogy actually sees Alina collect one Amplifier per book, with the search for the sea whip taking up Siege and Storm. Since the quest is over within two episodes, show fans don't get the backstory on the sea whip that's included in the books: legend says the creature is a cursed dragon prince named Rusalye (hence the episode title), who is forever stuck in the form of a sea serpent and made to guard the waters bordering the Bone Road, a northern portion of the True Sea. Folklore also says the prince routinely kidnapped women to be his underwater companions, but since there was nothing to feed them beneath the sea, they all starved to death, so there's that.

The Firebird

It takes Alina, Mal, and co. much longer to discover that the firebird is much closer than any of them expected. In Episode 6, we learn that orphan Mal's actually part of the Morozova bloodline (and a distant cousin of Kirigan and Baghra). On the trip to Morozova's workshop, Baghra reveals that she's actually the daughter of the Bonesmith. When Baghra was a child, she accidentally killed her sister using the Cut, and Morozova brought the sister back to life. Since that was forbidden magic, he was executed. But Baghra's sister survived and her bloodline flourished all the way down to Mal, who has a special power as her descendant.

Remember how there are some human Amplifiers? When Morozova brought Baghra's sister back to life, he used merzost and his finger bone, with the same process that he used to kill the stag and the sea whip and resurrect them as Amplifiers. So the girl was actually the third Amplifier, and the power was then passed down through her bloodline, and ultimately to her descendant, Mal.

Mal being the third Amplifier explains why he was able to track the stag and the sea whip, since he could naturally track their frequencies. It also explains why Mal and Alina have always been drawn to each other because they're connected as the firebird and the Sun Summoner. After acting on their romantic connection at the beginning of the season, the Firebird discovery devastates them both, as each Amplifier has to be killed for a Grisha to increase their power.

I'll get to the final battle between Alina and the Darkling below, but first a bit about how Mal learning that he's the Firebird affected him personally. After all the fighting's over and Mal is no longer an Amplifier, he can no longer track Grisha or feel his pull towards Alina. His destiny, the grand purpose of amplifying Alina's power, is now over, and he's left questioning both who he is without it, and what he and Alina are to each other without that level of fate. This is why they separate at the end of the season, so Mal can go off privateering and rediscover himself before coming back to fully be with Alina. (Also, she's about to be busy with A LOT in the upcoming season.)

Merzost

The short answer for "what is merzost" is that it's Shadow and Bone's version of dark magic, a corrupted power that brings unthinkable consequences on those who use it. This dark power is what the Darkling used to create the Fold, and over the course of Season 2, it takes over his body to the point that he can't control it and it begins to kill him.

The long version: Grisha don't actually consider their magic "magic," instead calling it "small science" that works in accordance with the law of nature. Remember the rule, "matter can neither be created nor destroyed but only be transferred from one form to another"? Grisha keep their powers in line with that rule, but there are some (most notably Morozova and Kirigan) who use actual magic, a.k.a. creating something out of nothing, an abomination. That is merzost, and it's forbidden because of its hidden cost.

In Alina and Kirigan's final battle, they each use the Cut on each other, with the Darkling building his out of shadow and the Sun Summoner, well, summoning sun. Alina strikes Kirigan and deflects his Cut, but it ends up hitting Mal, leaving him mortally wounded. In order for Alina to amplify her power and destroy the Fold, she has to kill Mal, and after some hesitation she does, plunging a knife into his chest. It's Alina's biggest sacrifice, and it gives her enough power to destroy the Fold and all the Volcra in it.

Of course, Alina never wanted to kill Mal. The plan was for Heartrender Nina Zenick to resuscitate his heartbeat, but she gets knocked out and by the time she tries to restart Mal's heart, it's too late. Instead, Alina is the one to revive him, using Merzost in the same way that the Bonesmith reanimated his daughter all those years ago. But remember how Baghra repeatedly made Alina swear not to use Merzost, warning her that she won't be prepared for the price it requires? As always, Alina should've listened to her teacher, as her use of merzost changes everything we knew about her so far.

Nichevo'ya

In the final scene of Season 1, we saw the assumed-dead Kirigan leave the Fold alive, followed by creatures of shadow. These aren't volcra, the winged monsters created from former residents of the land that was turned into the Fold. Instead, Kirigan used merzost again to create Nichevo'ya, near-invincible monsters of shadow that would emerge out of his body and kill his opponents throughout the season. Tapping into merzost to create these beasts came with a cost, as they fed off the Darkling's life force, leaving him near death by the end of the season.

We only see the Nichevo'ya die twice in the show. The first is when Inej Ghafa (Amita Suman) kills them with Neshyenyer, a mythical sword so sharp that it can cut through shadow. The Crows travel to Shu Han to steal the sword from "the Disciple" and Sankt Neyar, who lends it to them to help fight the Darkling. The second time we see a Nichevo'ya die is when Kirigan does, and the shadow monster that was attacking Nikolai and the Crows disappears. The moment happens as the monster is piercing Nikolai's shoulder, and it leaves much more than a wound.

Fast forward to the scenes before Nikolai's coronation as king of Ravka. It turns out that when the Nichevo'ya pierced the prince, a bit of its darkness went into Nikolai himself. As he gets ready for the ceremony, Nikolai sees himself as a Nichevo'ya in the reflection of a mirror, after the viewer sees merzost spread from his wound. We don't know yet how much Nikolai is changing, as this is one of the many cliffhangers that the series sets up for season 3. 

Alina's new powers

Alina becomes the protagonist of Shadow and Bone in season 1 as she's revealed as the world's first known sun-summoner, a powerful Grisha (known as a Saint) who can, well, summon sun. She's a vision of hope for the country, and a natural foil to the Darkling and his shadow summoning. However, her use of merzost to revive Mal makes her much more similar to her foe, as we see her summon shadow instead of sun to kill the Fjerdan Grisha assassin at Nikolai's coronation.

As the finale ends, it's clear that her sun summoning turning to shadow summoning is the cost of her using the dark magic. It's both the series' biggest cliffhanger and biggest deviation from the books. (In Ruin and Rising, Alina loses her powers after collecting all three Amplifiers and goes off to live a normal life with Mal.) By her smile in reaction to perfectly performing the Cut, a magic move she had been struggling to form with her sun summoning throughout the season, it's also clear that she's in danger of being corrupted by the corrupt magic.

Throughout season 2, Alina had been passionate about her quest to increase her power and be able to eventually take down the Fold. Her single-minded drive has also been driven by her visions of Kirigan throughout the season, as he tried to convince her that they are meant for each other. In some of his last words, the Darkling warned her that after many years of living with humans and TK, she would become like him. Though the two Grisha now have the use of Merzost and shadow-summoning in common, it's unclear as of now how Alina will change going forward. Can her purer motives win out, or will she become the Darkling herself?

The already expansive world of Netflix's The Witcher franchise has gotten a lot bigger. Set 1,200 years before the events of the original hit fantasy series, The Witcher: Blood Origin presents a major event in the show's lore, as it follows a group of warriors and mages who seek vengeance in the wake of a coup on the elven Continent. To bring the story to life, the prequel miniseries, which premiered on Christmas 2022, cast a group of up-and-coming stars as well as esteemed actors. Read on to meet the faces behind the engrossing series.

Sophia Brown as Éile

Éile was born into the fearsome Raven clan of Pryshia. Unable to stomach the brutality of acting as the monarchy's sword, the former warrior eventually leaves her family to become a traveling bard. She's now widely known as the Lark, and her revolutionary songs are a balm for the lowborn who live under the noble class's thumb. Though she's left her duties behind, she still uses her fighting skills to defend the helpless.

Brown is a British actress who made her debut in a UK production of Sister Act the Musical. She previously appeared in shows and films including the Netflix series Girl/Haji, the ITV series Marcella, and Disney's live-action remake of Beauty and the Beast. In her interview with Marie Claire, the actress shared that playing Éile has been a "real rebirth for [her] creatively as an artist." Next, she's set to appear in the upcoming British shows Borderland and You & Me.

Laurence O'Fuarain as Fjall

Fjall, member of the kingdom of Xintrea's Dog Clan, is sworn to protect the kingdom's princess, Merwyn. When he betrays his clan by getting too close to the royal, he's banished and left to travel as a sellsword. Though he and Éile meet as rivals, the former clan members eventually find common ground through their quest.

O'Fuarian is an Irish actor who has appeared in several action series, including stints on HBO's Game of Thrones, Prime Video's Vikings, and AMC's Into the Badlands. The Dublin native will next appear in the supernatural thriller Creepers.

Michelle Yeoh as Scían

Scían is lone surviving member of the Ghost Tribe, a group of nomadic warriors who didn't swear allegiance to a kingdom. She formerly served as Éile's "swordmother" and trainer; when the bard abandoned her duties, Scían was dishonored and banished. She worked as a sellsword to survive, and she longs to be reunited with her ancestral blade, Soulreaver, which was taken by Xintrea.

Yeoh is an action star who began her acting career in Hong Kong's film industry. (Fun fact: Yeoh utilizes her dance training to learn fight choreography and has never trained in martial arts.) She crossed over into Hollywood through projects including the James Bond film Tomorrow Never Dies and the iconic kung fu movie Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon. Recently, she's starred in blockbusters including the rom-com Crazy Rich Asians, Marvel's Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings, and the critically-acclaimed Everything Everywhere All at Once.

Francesca Mills as Meldof

At this point in the show's history of the Continent, elves are in power and dwarves have been forced back into the mountains. When we meet Meldof, she's seeking vengeance for her beautiful bearded lover Gwen, who was killed by Golden Empire warriors. As she hunts down the men responsible, Meldof's accompanied by her beloved warhammer, which she named after Gwen.

Mills is a stage and screen actress who's best known for playing Cherry Dorrington on the Hulu series Harlots. She also appeared in the film Zoolander 2, the Hulu series Pistol, and the British shows Sneakerhead and Worzel Gummidge.

Huw Novelli as Brother Death

Callan, who's better known as Brother Death, is a warrior and expert tracker who seeks vengeance against the Golden Empire for wiping out a village that had taken him in. When he hears of Éile, Fjall, and Scían's quest, he's quick to offer help to the  potential new allies. He's also in love with the mage Zacaré, who saw the fighter at his worst and still accepted him. 

Novelli is a Welsh actor who previously appeared in the BBC series The Pact, the Peacock original series The Capture, and the Lifetime TV movie The Watcher in the Woods.

Lizzie Annis as Zacaré

Zacaré is a mage who isolates herself as repentance for a terrible spell she and her celestial twin, Syndril, performed in the past. (The pair are especially gifted mages who were born in the same village at the same time under the same burning star, and they're especially adept at healing magic.) Zacaré's home is protected by a marsh that is filled with mists which force visitors to relive their worst memories.

Blood Origin is Annis' first major television role. The British actress has previously appeared in several plays and was also a voice actor on the podcast series Crush Hour: A Musical.

Zach Wyatt as Syndril

Syndril was a powerful mage serving in the court of Xintrea when he discovered that the ancient Dwarven monoliths buried under the Continent could be used to open portals to other worlds. He quickly came to regret his research after seeing how his fellow court mage, Baelor, planned to use the new power. 

Wyatt is a stage and screen actor who has appeared in the 2019 film Blithe Spirit and the BritBox series Karen Pirie. He's next set to appear alongside Nick Frost and Jacob Anderson in the fantasy rom-com Timestalker.

Mirren Mack as Merwyn

Xintrean princess Merwyn admires the legendary conquerors of history and doesn't want to be reduced to a pawn who is married off to another kingdom for an alliance. Her ambition leads her to an alliance with the treasonous mage Balor, who promises to help her create a unified elven civilization that brings knowledge and enlightenment to other worlds.

Mack is a Scottish actress who made her TV debut as Florence on season 2 of the Netflix comedy Sex Education. She also starred in the BBC miniseries The Nest, and the British crime series Dalgliesh.

Sir Lenny Henry as Balor

The extremely ambitious Chief Sage Balor is a lowborn who has always wanted to gain power and raise himself up among Xintrea's strict caste system. When he travels through the monolith, he encounters a mysterious force that will give him ultimate power in return for a devastating sacrifice.

Henry is an esteemed actor, singer, and writer who began his career as a stand-up comedian in the late '70s. He has since become one of the most prominent Black-British comedians in the world and starred in his own program, The Lenny Henry Show. He has also appeared in the films Penelope and Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (he voiced the shrunken head on the Night Bus), as well as the series Broadchurch, The Sandman, and The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power.

Jacob Collins-Levy as Eredin

Xintrean military captain Eredin is played by Collins-Levy, an Australian actor who previously starred as Henry VII in the STARZ series The White Princess, alongside Jodie Comer as Elizabeth of York. He also appeared in the Netflix series Young Wallander, a 2020 episode of Doctor Who and the Australian series Ms Fisher’s Modern Murder Mysteries.

Samuel Blenkin as Avallac’h

Avallac’h is a young mage who becomes Merwyn's bodyguard and taps into a surprising power from the monoliths. Before Blood Origin, the British actor originated the role of Scorpious Malfoy in the play Harry Potter and the Cursed Child. He's also appeared in Wes Anderson's The French Dispatch, FX's Atlanta, and the Netflix series Peaky Blinders and The Sandman.

Minnie Driver as Seanchaí

The Witcher fan favorite Jaskier (Joey Batey) learns the story of the Lark and the Golden Empire from the space- and time-traveling storyteller Seanchaí. Playing the mysterious figure is Driver, a British actress whose best known for appearing in films including Good Will Hunting, Grosse Point Blank, I Give It a Year, and Beyond the Lights. She also recently appeared in the Prime Video remake of Cinderella and the HBO Max rom-com Starstruck.

After years of attempts (and decades of fans' fervent wishes), The Sandman has finally been adapted for the small screen. Based on Neil Gaiman's 75-volume DC Comics series, the fantasy saga depicts a world where the Endless—personifications of human phenomena like dreams, death, and desire—perform their duties and keep balance in the world (while also butting heads with each other and an ensemble cast of other non-human beings).

The first season, which was helmed by showrunner Allan Heinberg and with Gaimon on as an executive producer Gaimon, arrived on Netflix in August 2022, as millions of fans watched Dream's journey to reestablish his power after over a century's imprisonment. The next batch of episodes may have hit a delay with the 2023 Hollywood strikes, but Netflix has kept The Sandman television universe alive with its first spin-off, Dead Boy Detectives. More of the original series is on the way soon, though, so read on for what we know about the upcoming season 2 of The Sandman.

How does 'The Sandman' season 1 end?

The first season of the Netflix adaptation spans the first two volumes of the comic series' timeline. It included the answer to Rose Walker's fate, as Unity Kincaid sacrificed herself to become the new vortex, followed by Dream declaring a new era now that he's more in touch with humanity. He also confronts Desire, who apparently set off the whole vortex saga while Dream was imprisoned, as their latest scheme against the king of Dreams.

The big cliffhanger comes with the show's last scene in Hell, which reveals that Lucifer is still angry after Dream defeated her in episode 3. She now has a plan to bring down Dream, using with the armies of Hell to invade the Dreaming, the Waking World, and "one day, even the Silver City." The season ends with Lucifer promising to do something that will "make God absolutely livid, and bring Morpheus to his knees."

Has 'The Sandman' been renewed for season 2?

Yes! Netflix announced the show's renewal in November 2022, three months after the series' premiere. The confirmation also came with a quote from Gaiman, reading, "There are some astonishing stories waiting for Morpheus & the rest of them… Now it’s time to get back to work. There’s a family meal ahead... And Lucifer is waiting for Morpheus to return to Hell."

The official renewal came as good news to fans wondering when the green light would come through, especially since the show's creative team had already been planning new episodes. In an interview with Den of Geek, executive producer David S. Goyer revealed writing for season 2 was already underway.

The creative team has also been thinking ahead for the show's entire run, with Gaiman telling Bustle that season 1's production even included filming some scenes that would be necessary in the far-off future.

"We’ve shot footage in season 1 that we would need if we ever get to season 5. It’s there, and it’s stored,” Gaiman told the outlet. "We know how we would do the entire Sandman storyline up to and including the last one, Sandman Overture."

When will 'The Sandman' season 2 premiere?

The Sandman season 2 has taken longer than anyone expected; production was paused in June 2023 after just three weeks of filming, due to the Hollywood strikes. After a long wait, filming resumed in November 2023, per Deadline.

At the time, Gaiman shared a note to fans about the news. "This week we officially restart production on the next sequence of stories of The Sandman for Netflix," the author/executive producer shared. "Genius showrunner Allan Heinberg and the countless people in front of and behind the camera are building something endlessly special, and bringing these stories to life in a way that would once have been unimaginable."

He added, "A journey is beginning that will take us from Destiny’s garden to Hell, from the Heart of the Dreaming to Ancient Greece and revolutionary France, and from there to places even I cannot quite imagine on the screen. I will be patient. Good things are coming.”

While "good things are coming," it may still be a while for episodes to hit Netflix, given the series' balance of VFX and practical effects. For example, the first season began filming in October 2020 and made it to Netflix in August 2022. With that in mind, we may be waiting until at least mid-2025 for season 2.

Who in the cast will return for 'The Sandman' season 2?

Season 1 of The Sandman had a lot going on, with two arcs—Dream's journey to regain his symbols of power, and his mission to contain the vortex/Rose—propelling the sprawling plot. The fantasy falls along the lines of anthologized shows like Doctor Who, where one main protagonist and their companions go from place to place, having mini-adventures that feed into the fight against a main antagonist. Season 1's overall baddie was The Corinthian (Boyd Holbrook), but the story's done with him by the finale, as well as with the Burgess family and Rose and co.

Netflix has confirmed that the returning cast for season 2 will include several residents of The Dreaming, including Vivienne Acheampong (Lucienne), Patton Oswalt (Matthew the Raven), Stephen Fry (Gilbert), Asim Chaudhry (Abel), and Sanjeev Bhaskar (Cain). Also coming back are the gods we've met among the Endless family: Tom Sturridge (Dream), Kirby Howell-Baptiste (Death), Mason Alexander Park (Desire), and Donna Preston (Despair). And of course, Gwendoline Christie will be back as season 2's relative antagonist, Lucifer.

As for the supporting characters among the living, several of season 1's characters are either mentioned or pop up again throughout the comics' run. We're already set to get appearances from some standout human cast members, including Jenna Coleman (Johanna Constantine), Ferdinand Kingsley (Hob Galding), Razane Jammal (Lyta Hall), and Vanesu Samunyai (Rose Walker).

Who are the new cast members joining 'The Sandman' season 2?

Viewers unfamiliar with the Gaiman-penned comics should prepare now for an onslaught of characters from the source material to arrive in season 2. As longtime fans know, the Endless and Biblical figures (i.e. Lucifer, Cain, and Abel) aren't the only mythical figures that populate this story. Based on season 2's storyline (more on that below), multiple Greek and Norse gods (and a handful of Shakespeare characters) who appear in Gaiman's comics are set to make their debut, including Hades, Persephone, Orpheus, Eurydice, Thor, Loki, Odin, Auberon, and Titania.

In May 2024, Netflix announced who is set to step into a handful of highly anticipated roles: the Endless siblings, Delirium, Destiny, and "The Prodigal" (who's better known as Destruction in the comics). Hanna star Esmé Creed-Miles will play Delirium; prolific British actor Adrian Lester will portray Destiny; and Barry Sloane, best known for playing Aiden Mathis on the ABC soap Revenge, will play the Prodigal.

The streamer announced even more new cast members in July. According to showrunner Allan Heinberg, the new characters are from the comics' Seasons of the Mist and Brief Lives arcs, and they will "ensnare Dream in a web of palace intrigue, glamour, demon battles, and spider-sex."

Irish actor Ruairi O’Connor, who played Ty Fitzgerald in season 2 of The Morning Show, will play Orpheus, the idealist poet who is the only son of Dream and the muse Calliope. Steve Coogan will voice Barnabas, the cynical "canine companion" of the Prodigal. The Norse gods will also make appearances, with Clive Russell playing the all-powerful Odin, Freddie Fox portraying the god of chaos Loki, and Laurence O’Fuarain playing a very different Thor than the Marvel superhero.

There will also be new faces from the Faerie world this season. Ann Skelly and Douglas Booth will play Nuala and Cluracan, siblings and royal emissaries from the court of Faerie who are opposites. Jack Gleeson, who's best known for playing Joffrey Baratheon on Game of Thrones, will play Puck, a malevolent hobgoblin who enjoys toying with mortals for his amusement.

Rounding out the new cast, Pose star Indya Moore will play Wanda, a "professional driver and security agent for an exclusive travel firm" who "proves herself to be an indispensable guide on an Endless road trip to the waking world." Per Gaiman, the comic character Wanda was the first trans woman in a mainstream comic.

There's been no word yet on whether any of the new characters from the spin-off series Dead Boy Detectives—like George Rexstrew or Jayden Revri who play the leads Edwin and Charles, respectively—will crossover into the original Sandman show, but it's worth keeping an eye out.

What would 'The Sandman' season 2 be about?

Season 1's epic final scene sets up Lucifer Morningstar to be the overall antagonist of season 2. This will take the TV adaptation through the comics' Season of Mists storyline, in which Lucifer leaves Dream to handle the fallout of an unexpected choice. In a Variety interview, Gaiman expressed his excitement over the ruler of Hell and the King of Dreams' rematch.

"I take too much f---ing pleasure in saying to people who do not know anything about what’s coming up in Sandman, 'If we do Season 2, we’re going to be having the rematch and Morpheus is going to be going back to hell. And Lucifer has some surprises in store that Morpheus is not expecting.' And they are all like, 'Ahh!' And I’m like, 'Yeah, and I know how that’s going to work, and you don’t. And everybody who’s ever read Season of Mists knows how that’s going to work and you don’t. But that’s good because not everybody will have read Season of Mists and this is going to be so much fun.”

The story of Dream and his ancient love interest Nada is also a large part of the Season of Mists, and Heinberg confirmed in a Rolling Stone interview that season 2 would include the story of how the two fell in love and how she ended up in Hell. Dream and Nada's relationship was already teased in episode four of season 1, where Nada (Deborah Oyelade) was introduced as the woman in Hell who recognized Dream (played in another form by Ernest Kingsley Jr.), calling him "Kai-ckul." Dream later explains to Matthew the Raven that they used to be in love, and that she was in Hell because she "defied" him.

Season 2 will actually go even beyond the Season of Mists storyline. In an interview with RadioTimes, Gaiman confirmed that season 2 will cover stories from the next three volumes of the comics (Dream Country, Season of Mists, and A Game of You). "Our plans for the second season is the second two graphic novels, which technically, in this case, will be books four and five, with some bits of the short stories in book three scattered among some other stuff," he told the outlet.

This means season 2 may have a similar set-up as season 1, with one overall arc focusing on the Endless and other immortals, with a second focusing on a mortal. A Game of You brings back Barbie (Lily Travers), Rose's blonde friend who seemed to be heading for a divorce from her husband Ken (Richard Fleeshman). The fifth volume sees the divorcée returning to her dreamland (which we saw in season 1) after her animal sidekick Martin Tenbones appears in the waking world. She has to face off against the villain of her dreams, the Cuckoo, with the help of Dream.

What have the cast and crew said about 'The Sandman' season 2?

Both Gaiman and Heinberg have made their intentions for the series clear, saying in several interviews that they have plans for multiple seasons and spin-offs. During the show's London premiere, Heinberg told NME, "We’ve got as many as they’ll let us have. If enough viewers show up, we can go for quite a long while. We want to do all of it, we want a spin-off miniseries. We’d love to make it for as long as they’ll have us."

Heinberg also told Rolling Stone that the show could depict more of the side characters' stories if the show is successful enough to get multiple seasons, pointing out Johanna Constantine (Jenna Coleman) as an interesting character

"In success, we could talk about doing all kinds of things," he told the outlet. "If we’re able to do more standalone anthology issues, then it would take longer than if we were just staying on Dream’s track. And we’d love to do more Johanna Constantine in the present. The Corinthian could return, because he’s not really in the comic again – except for one cameo – until later. So it depends on what people respond to, and how many viewers we have and how much success we have as a Season One show. It could go on for quite some time, if we had the viewers."

Dream himself, Tom Sturridge, has also opened up about what he's looking forward to exploring later in the series, saying that he'd like to explore the Endless' complicated family dynamic.

"I think it would be exciting to have all of the Endless in the same room," the actor told Bustle. "And to see how that family of extraordinary beings interacts with each other."

Spoilers for House of the Dragon up to season 2, episode 7 ahead. For its Game of Thrones prequel series, House of the Dragon, HBO has transported fans from the time after dragons to the height of the creatures' and their riders in the Targaryen family's power. While fans first met the fire-breathing beasts with Daenerys' and her three children, the prequel series takes place nearly two centuries prior—where there are many more of the winged creatures taking to the sky and fighting battles.

As House of the Dragon season 2 focuses on the Dance of the Dragons civil war, which unfolds between the two branches of the Targaryen family known as the Greens and the Blacks, it's more important than ever to know which side each dragon sits on. To help keep up, we're breaking down all of the dragons from the hit HBO show based on George R. R. Martin's book series, organized by their allegiance in the Targaryen conflict.

The Greens

Dreamfyre

Rider: Helaena Targaryen (Phia Saban)

When Aemond (Ewan Mitchell) enters the Dragon Pits in season 1, episode 6, he's almost smoked by Dreamfyre, who was hatched sometime during the reign of Aegon the Conquerer. By season 2, the blue female dragon has bonded with Aemond's older sister Helaena. Dreamfyre has also laid several dragon eggs. (There's even a theory that she's the mother to the eggs that will become Drogon, Viserion, and Rhaegal!)

Sunfyre

Rider: Aegon II Targaryen (Tom Glynn-Carney)

This male dragon is known as "Sunfyre the Golden" for his bright-gold scales and pink-membraned wings. By the time jump after season 1, episode 6, he's already bonded to young Aegon and remains close to the Greens' heir. In season 2, episode 4, the now-King Aegon rides Sunfyre into the Battle of Rook's Rest, where both dragon and dragonrider are severely injured. (It is currently unknown whether Sunfyre is still alive in HotD.)

Tessarion

Rider: Prince Daeron Targaryen

Though we haven't met him yet, viewers learn in season 2, episode 7 that Daeron's dragon Tessarion has grown old enough to ride into battle as part of Team Green. Also known as "the Blue Queen" in the books, the nimble she-dragon is described as "one-third in size" to Vermithor.

Vhagar

Rider: Aemond Targaryen (Ewan Mitchell)

Female Vhagar is the oldest and largest living Targaryen dragon, an ancient beast who was ridden by Queen Visenya during Aegon's Conquest. She was lost for years, as we heard from young Laena Velaryon (Nanna Blondell) in episode 2 before Laena herself encountered and bonded with her. After Laena experiences complications during childbirth and commands her dragon to kill her, Vhagar is brought to Westeros, where she bonds with Viserys (Harry Lloyd) and Alicent's (Olivia Cooke) third-eldest Aemond in season 1, episode 7.

The Blacks

Arrax (Deceased)

Rider: the late Lucerys Velaryon (Elliot Grihault)

By season 1, episode 8, Luke has claimed Arrax, a just-matured beast who author George R. R. Martin described as "pearlescent white with yellow flame, golden eyes and a golden chest." In the season 1 finale, we see that he's the smallest of the dragons we've been introduced to thus far, which makes it even more terrifying when he goes up against Vhagar and Aemond. Arrax and Luke are eventually killed by the much larger dragon, marking the first blow of the Dance of the Dragons.

Caraxes

Rider: Daemon Targaryen (Matt Smith)

Also known as Blood Wyrm, this red, horned male is bonded to Daemon, and is known for being as fearsome and vicious as his rider. We got to see Caraxes in action during the battle against the Triarchy in season 1, episode 3.

Meleys (Deceased)

Rider: The late Rhaenys Targaryen (Eve Best)

Known as the "Red Queen," this female dragon has copper strips along her red body and is known as one of the swiftest dragons. We (and the Greens) got a good look at Meleys when she emerged as the "beast beneath the boards" at Aegon II's coronation in season 1, episode 9. By the middle of season 2, though, Meleys and her rider both meet their fate when they're killed by Aemond and Vhagar during the Battle of Rook's Rest.

Moondancer

Rider: Baela Targaryen (Bethany Antonia)

In season 2 we meet Moondancer, a young, slender dragon with a pale-green body and pearl horns and wingbones. For anyone wondering why Moondancer and Seasmoke (more on Seasmoke later) have such different names than the rest of the dragons, it looks like Laenor (John MacMillan) and Baela didn't follow the custom of giving new dragons Valyrian names (language that is to thank for all the "ae"s in these characters).

Seasmoke

Rider: Addam of Hull (Clinton Liberty); previously Laenor Velaryon (John MacMillan)

This pale silver-hued dragon is a younger and more nimble dragon, who bonded to Laenor while he was still young. After Laenor faked his death in season 1, episode 7, Seasmoke was considered wild, and viewers saw her roam the skies near Hull and Dragonstone in season 2. In season 2, episode 6, Seasmoke unexpectedly chases down Addam of Hull and chooses him to become her new rider. (It may have helped that Addam is Laenor's half-brother.)

Silverwing

Rider: Ulf the White (Tom Bennett)

In season 2, episode 7, a dragonseed named Ulf the White stumbles upon and then bonds with Silverwing while he's trying to escape Dragonmont. The previously unclaimed beast is a docile, friendly female dragon with a silver body, and was previously ridden by King Jaehaerys' sister/queen consort Alysanne (Emeline Lambert).

Syrax

Rider: Rhaenyra Targaryen (Emma D’Arcy)

This female dragon with a yellow hue bonded with Rhaenyra when the princess was only 9. Syrax opens up the series, though we haven't seen her up close since the first episodes of season 1. Rhaenyra has also never ridden her into battle, though that'll probably change once the Dance of the Dragons starts.

Tyraxes and Stormcloud

Riders: Joffrey Velaryon (Oscar Eskinazi) and Aegon III Targaryen (Jake and Rory Heard)

In season 2, episode 3, Rhaenyra decides to send off her three youngest sons (Joffrey, Aegon "the Younger," and Viserys II) away from Dragonstone, which will not be safe for them as the war continues. The queen has promised a dragon to Lady Jeyne Arryn of the Vale (Amanda Collin) in exchange for an army, so she sends the children (with their cousin Rhaena chaperoning) along with their dragons, Tyraxes and Stormcloud. Both of the dragons are described as no more than "hatchlings," but they will (hopefully) have time to grow as the war goes on.

Vermax

Rider: Jacaerys Velaryon (Harry Collett)

We meet this young horned dragon after the season 1, episode 6 time jump after he's already bonded to Jacaerys and the prince is learning to command him. Vermax was born of the egg that laid with Jacaerys in his cradle, showing that Jacaerys had the "blood of the dragon" and was a true Targaryen (though the Velaryon side was in question).

Vermithor

Rider: Hugh Hammer (Kieran Bew)

In season 2, episode 7, Rhaenyra gathers dozens of illegitimate Targaryen bastards to see if they can claim dragons. Hugh Hammer is the brave man who claims Vermithor, the second-largest living dragon in Westeros. Formerly ridden by Jaehaerys I, he's described in Fire & Blood as an aggressive bronze dragon with "great tan wings."

Unclaimed Dragons

Balerion (Deceased)

Rider: The late Aegon the Conqueror

The largest and oldest Targaryen dragon, known as "the Black Dread," is mentioned several times throughout House of the Dragon, as the characters will bring up him and his rider when they speak of the history of Westeros and the Targaryen line. The black and red mal dragon and his rider have been long dead by the events of HotD, but Balerion's head can be seen on display in the Red Keep.

Cannibal, Grey Ghost, and Sheepstealer

According to Fire & Blood, there are three other dragons residing in the caves of the volcano Dragonmont as of Rhaenyra and Aegon II's coronations. If the show stays faithful to the books' dragons (as they have so far), they'll likely be a part of the plot.

Cannibal, Grey Ghost, and Sheepstealer are all completely wild dragons with no previous riders. The largest and oldest of them, Cannibal, has a black body and his name because he eats the carcasses of his kind, newborn dragons, and dragon eggs (which is probably why dragon eggs are kept in warmers and not in the volcano). Grey Ghost is pale grey-white and shy, avoiding men for years at a time. Sheepstealer is a "mud brown" color who only attacks humans when provoked; his name is self-evident.

'Game of Thrones' Easter Egg

Drogon, Rhaegal, and Viserion

Season 2, episode 3 of House of the Dragon includes a major callback (or call-forward?) to the lead Targaryen of Game of Thrones. When Aegon III and Viserys II are sent off to Pentos under the care of Rhaena, they're accompanied by the fledgling dragons Tyraxes and Stormcloud, as well as a crate of unhatched dragon eggs, one gold, one green, one reddish-black, and one silvery-blue. The first three of those eggs will look quite familiar to GoT fans.

In an interview with Mashable, episode 3's director Geeta Vasant Patel confirmed that those are the same eggs that Daenerys (Emilia Clarke) receives as a wedding gift over 150 years later, in the events of the first episode of Game of Thrones. This answers a major question of how three dragon eggs made it to Essos, especially since Rhaenyra plans for Rhaena, Aegon III, and Viserys II to eventually make it to Pentos should their first destination, the Vale, no longer be safe for them. Hopefully, HotD will continue to follow the eggs' journey to Dany in later seasons.

Spoilers for House of the Dragon up to season 2, episode 9 ahead. Three years after the divisive finale of Game of Thrones, the record-breaking franchise returned viewers to a simpler time in Westeros (though is life in Westeros ever simple?) with House of the Dragon. The highly anticipated prequel premiered in August 2022, instantly becoming a global hit, as the decades-spanning series introduced fans to several earlier generations of the infamous, incestuous, dragon-riding platinum-blonde Targaryen family, over 150 years before Daenerys Targaryen was born.

By House of the Dragon season 2, which premiered on Max on June 16, the living Targaryen family has split in two, with a fight for succession leading to an all-out civil war known as the Dance of the Dragons. With its various timelines and sects, the full Targaryen family tree, which originated in author George R. R. Martin's A Song of Fire and Ice book series, is complicated enough to warrant its own book series (or at least three more spinoffs). To help remember who everyone is and how they're related, we've compiled a guide to the Targaryens in House of the Dragon and how they connect to the Thrones platinum blondes we know and love.

The Beginnings of Westeros

Daenys the Dreamer

In the first episode of House of the Dragon, two dreamers who are pivotal to the Targaryens' conquest of Westeros are mentioned. The first, Daenys the Dreamer, was the maiden daughter or a Targaryen nobleman in Valyria, the ancestral land where the family lived before settling at the island Dragonstone. Daenys had a dream about the destruction of Valyria, and she convinced their family to leave before the land was destroyed in a volcanic cataclysm, known as the Doom of Valyria. The Targaryens were the only dragonriders (with the only dragons) to survive, and they lived on Dragonstone for the next century.

Aegon the Conquerer

Whenever later Targaryens mention the great Aegon I, they're referring to Aegon the Conqueror, the first king of Westeros who united the realm (minus Dorne and the land beyond the Wall) and founded the Targaryen dynasty. He married both of his sisters, Rhaenys and Visenya, and they had three dragons: Balerion, Vhagar, and Meraxes. After conquering the realm, he founded King's Landing, began construction on the Red Keep, and forged the Iron Throne out of the swords of his fallen enemies.

Also, for anyone confused about "A Song of Ice and Fire" being mentioned in throughout House of the Dragon: Upon being named heir, Rhaenyra learns a secret passed down through Targaryen rulers. Rather than ambition, Aegon I's conquer of Westeros was spurred by a dream where he foresaw the end of men. Per the dream, a terrible winter would come to the distant North, bringing a force that would destroy the world of the living.

That dream prophesied the coming of the White Walkers and the second Long Night, with Aegon passing down the solution that all of Westeros must unite for the force to be defeated. Centuries later, his prophecy eventually came true with the events of Game of Thrones.

King Jaehaerys I (Michael Carter)

House of the Dragon begins with a prelude introducing us to King Jaehaerys I, "The OId King," who had the most peaceful reign of any Targaryen. He married his sister Alysanne and together they had 14 children, with nine making it to adulthood and two outliving him. As he approached death with no heir apparent, he convened a Great Council to decide who would succeed him among at least 14 contenders, with the vote coming down to his two grandchildren Rhaenys and Viserys. (This momentous incident took place 172 years before the birth of Daenerys.)

Alyssa Targaryen (Emeline Lambert)

In HotD season 2, episode 5, we're introduced to the late Alyssa Targaryen, the mother of Viserys and Daemon, via a very incestuous sex dream. Per Fire & Blood, Alyssa was the daughter of King Jaehaerys I and was named after his mother/her grandmother; she also previously rode Meleys, the red dragon whom her niece Rhaenys rides during the HotD era. Alyssa was 24 when she died due to childbirth complications, at which time Daemon was around five years old.

Saera Targaryen

Though she doesn't appear in House of the Dragon, Saera Targaryen plays an important role in the Blacks' season 2 mission to find more dragonriders. In episode 7, Hugh Hammer reveals that his mother was Saera, the notorious, trouble-making ninth child of Jaehaerys I and his wife Alysanne. During her eventful life, she had multiple lovers, hosted sex parties, stole a dragon when her father put her under house arrest, and later fled to Lys to become a sex worker instead of being forced to become a Silent Sister. One of her bastard children, Hugh Hammer, eventually claims the dragon Vermithor in HotD.

'House of the Dragon' Era - Adults

Princess Rhaenys (Eve Best)

Rhaenys had a stronger claim to the Iron Throne, as the daughter of Jaehaerys' eldest son, Aemon, and Jocelyn Baratheon (an ancestor of early Thrones king Robert Baratheon). Unfortunately, she was also a woman, so she was skipped over and became "The Queen Who Never Was." Though she doesn't have the throne in House of the Dragon, the shrewd royal still influences affairs from the sidelines, often scheming with her husband Corlys Velaryon, Viserys' Master of Ships.

Rhaenys and Corlys have two children who are involved throughout House of the Dragon, a daughter and son named Laena and Laenor. While Laenor ends up marrying Rhaenyra Targaryen to ally the houses, Laena marries Daemon Targaryen and later dies in childbirth.

King Viserys I (Paddy Considine)

"The Young King" Viserys, the fifth Targaryen king of the Seven Kingdoms, also ruled for peace. His reign was the height of the Targaryens' power, with the family and their dragons thriving along with the realm. Viserys married his cousin Aemma Arryn at an early age and they had one surviving daughter, Rhaenyra. Aemma was pregnant with a second child in the HotD series premiere, with Viserys expecting a son, but neither mother nor son survived labor.

Thanks to the machinations of Otto Hightower, Hand of the King, Viserys ended up marrying Alicent Hightower as his second wife. The couple has four children, and Viserys lived to become an old king with many illnesses. He died of leprosy at the end of season 1, episode 8, and he's best known by the moniker Viserys the Peaceful.

Queen Aemma (Sian Brooke)

Aemma was King Viserys I's first wife and Rhaenyra's mother, who died in childbirth in the HotD series premiere (and deserved so much more). She was a dedicated mother to Rhaenyra, but she had difficulties in childbirth and passed without producing a male heir. Fun facts: Her maiden name was Aemma Arryn (she was a distant ancestor of Jon Arryn, whose death led to Ned Stark being named Hand of the King and everything subsequent in Game of Thrones); and her mother was Viserys' aunt, making them first cousins.

Prince Daemon (Matt Smith)

Known as "The Rogue Prince," Daemon is the younger brother of King Viserys and started HotD season 1 as the presumed heir. He's an arrogant hothead who believes he would be a better king than his brother. (To be fair, he seems to think he would be better than anyone.) He has many friends (especially among the City Watch) and enemies (especially Ser Otto Hightower). In the HotD premiere, he was unhappily married to Rhea Royce of the Vale, and he had a mistress named Mysaria (Sonoya Mizuno).

Things went downhill for Daemon by the end of the season 1 premiere, with Viserys taking away his title as heir and giving it to Princess Rhaenyra. After a failed bit of rebellion and a successful war against Craghas "The Crabfeeder" Drahar, Daemon returned to Westeros and attempted to seduce his niece Rhaenyra. Soon after that didn't pan out (and he was banished from the Red Keep), Daemon's marriage to Rhea Royce ended, with the lady officially dying of a fall from her horse. (It's heavily implied that Daemon killed her.)

Daemon's second wife was Corlys and Rhaenys's daughter Laena Velaryon (a.k.a. his first once removed) with whom he has twin girls, Baela and Rhaena. He became a single father after Laena died by dragonfire while giving birth to a stillborn child. Soon after Laena's funeral, he was married for a third time to...

Princess Rhaenyra (Milly Alcock, then Emma D'Arcy)

When she was young, Rhaenyra, known as "The Realm’s Delight," was a devoted daughter, a talented dragonrider, and a budding tactician. As the king's only child, she would have been the presumed heir if she wasn't a woman. However, rather than let Daemon get the crown, Viserys decided to name her as his successor anyway, in a divisive move that made Rhaenyra the closest female heir to the Iron Throne until her great-great-great-great-great-great-granddaughter Daenerys.

Season 1, episode 6 included a 10-year time jump in the HotD storyline, at which point young Rhaenyra actor Milly Alcock left and Emma D'Arcy took over the role. (Alicent Hightower, a close childhood friend of Rhaenyra, was similarly first played by Emily Carey and, as she aged up, the role went to Olivia Cooke.)

Having previously married Laenor Velaryon in season 1, episode 5, post-time-jump Rhaenyra was mother to three sons by episode 6: Jacaerys, Lucerys, and Joffrey (the latter of which she welcomed in the episode's opening minutes). While Rhaenyra's place as heir was secure, her relationship with Alicent deteriorated to the point where her former friend pushed for her son Aegon to be named heir instead. There were also rumors about her children's parentage (more on that later).

Rhaenyra's marriage to Laenor ended in episode 7 when she married her uncle Daemon after Laenor's "death." The pair welcomed two sons together during the six-year jump before episode 8. They are still going strong when the realm is thrown into conflict in the season 1 finale, where Rhaenyra is named the rightful queen days after her nephew Aegon has usurped the Iron Throne.

'House of the Dragon' Era - Children

Aegon II (Tom Glynn-Carney)

Aegon is a common name for Targaryen sons, which comes up several times in the family tree. This Prince Aegon is the firstborn son of Viserys I and his second wife, Alicent Hightower. As the king's firstborn son, a faction of lords wanted him to be named heir pretty much as soon as he was born, though Rhaenyra had been named heir years prior. After the first time jump in episode 6, Aegon was a bratty teenager who had yet to grapple with his birthright as Rhaenyra's strongest opponent in the succession.

Fast-forward another six-year jump (so the start of episode 8): Aegon has married his sister Helaena (Phia Saban) and they share twins, Prince Jaehaerys and Princess Jaehaera. After his father Viserys' death, Aegon was thrust into the role of king, though he didn't want it; he'd rather drink and gamble and sire rumored illegitimate kids in King's Landing. However, his mother Alicent convinced him to take the throne as the Greens' placed monarch, and he's still sitting on the Iron Throne when House of the Dragon season 2 begins.

Princess Helaena (Phia Saban)

Helaena is Viserys and Alicent's secondborn and firstborn daughter. By the end of season 1, she had become queen of Westeros as her brother Aegon II's wife, and she was mother to twins Jaehaerys and Jaehaera. She also exhibited a touch of clairvoyance throughout her life, making some prophetic-sounding observations earlier in season 1 before she eventually gave a confirmed prophecy in episode 9 ("the beast beneath the boards" being Rhaenys and her dragon crashing Aegon's coronation").

Prince Aemond (Ewan Mitchell)

Viserys and Alicent's third child Aemond is more calculating than his elder brother. When he was younger, he was a timid boy and teased by his nephews Jacerys and Lucerys. He became a major player in season 1, episode 7 when he bonded with Vhaghar, the largest living dragon in Westeros (and lost an eye in an accident with Lucerys). By season 2, he's a fearsome warrior who thinks he would be a better king than his older brother. He also caused the first death in the Dance of the Dragons.

Prince Daeron

Though we never meet him in HotD's first season, Alicent and Viserys have a fourth child, their youngest son Daeron. According to author George R.R. Martin, the young man was living in Oldtown, the second-largest city in Westeros, during season 1. Though the author hasn't confirmed whether he'll be introduced in season 2, Daeron does play a large role in the source novel Fire & Blood.

Prince Jacaerys Velaryon (Harry Collett)

Rhaenyra and Laenor Velaryon's eldest son, known as Jace, is second in line for the throne while his mother is the official heir. Though he and his brother grew up with Laenor as their father, they don't look like him, and there have been long-time rumors that Commander of the City Watch Ser Harwin Strong (Ryan Corr) was their biological dad. By the end of season 1, episode 6, Jace even asks his mother about his parentage and she responds, "You are a Targaryen. That's all that matters."

At the start of season 2, Jace is a thoughtful young man preparing for his duties as king. He's extremely loyal to his mother and has an important place in the war as Rhaenyra's heir.

Prince Lucerys Velaryon (Elliot Grihault)

Rhaenyra's secondborn child Luke was more mild-mannered than his brother Jace, and had a tougher time with his fate as a royal. In season 1, episode 8, he was named heir to the seat of House Velaryon, Driftmark, but he later admitted to his mother that he didn't want it, and even gets "greensick" (Westerosi for seasick). He was fiercely loyal to his mom and honorable, which spelled trouble when his uncle Aemond came after him for revenge after losing an eye. That led to his death in the season 1 finale, as he and his dragon died after narrowly escaping his uncle and his dragon Vhagar in a battle—making his death the first in the Dance of the Dragons.

Prince Joffrey Velaryon (Oscar Eskinazi)

Rhaenyra and Laenor's (but allegedly Harwin's) third son was born at the start of season 1, episode 6, and sports little dark baby curls similar to his brunette brothers. He was named Joffrey after Laenor's late lover, who Ser Criston Cole killed on the night of Rhaenyra and Laenor's wedding. (Joffrey is a common Westerosi name even before the young terror Joffrey Lannister is born centuries later.) Joffrey is barely approaching his early teens when the Dance of the Dragons fully begins in season 2.

Baela Targaryen (Bethany Antonia)

During Daemon's marriage to Laena Velaryon, the couple has two daughters, elder Baela and younger Rhaena. Laena was also pregnant with a third child in season 1, episode 6, but the baby was stillborn and wouldn't deliver, with Laena commanding her dragon to kill her by fire rather than suffer a slow, painful death by childbirth. After episode 7, Baela lived with her grandmother Rhaenys in Driftmark, while Rhaena moved in with her father and Rhaenyra at Dragonstone.

By season 2, Baela is a teenager and dragonrider (bonded with the dragon Moondancer) who will become an important warrior in the Dance of the Dragons. She is also betrothed to her cousin (and Rhaenyra's heir) Jace.

Rhaena Targaryen (Phoebe Campbell)

Rhaena is the younger of Daemon and Laena's children, who grew up at Dragonstone after her mother's death. She was engaged to her cousin Lucerys Velaryon before his death. She has not bonded with a dragon yet, which makes her a bit of an anomaly in her family of dragonriders.

'House of the Dragon' Era - Grandchildren

Princes Aegon III and Viserys II Targaryen

After Rhaenyra and Daemon marry, they welcome two sons whom they name after Aegon the Conqueror and Rhaenyra's father (and Daemon's brother) Viserys. While the blond-haired pair are still babies in season 1, episode 8, they meet their grandfather, King Viserys I, before he dies. Rhaenyra was also pregnant with a daughter, whom she planned on naming Visenya, but she experienced a stillbirth in the season 1 finale.

Unfortunately, the Targaryen tendency to recycle names leads to the moment of confusion that helps fuel the succession crisis: In Viserys I's final moments, he speaks to his wife Alicent and mistakes her for his daughter Rhaenyra, mentioning the Song of Ice and Fire prophecy and naming "Aegon" as the chosen one. Alicent doesn't know that the king was likely referring to the first or third Aegon, not her son the second. Thus, the Greens claim that Viserys I wanted Aegon II to be king—which you can expect to come up a lot in season 2.

Prince Jaehaerys II and Princess Jaehaera

As all heirs do (no matter how young), Aegon II and Helaena's twin children Jaehaerys—named after his great-grandfather, mentioned above—and Jaehaera have roles to play in the Targaryen civil war. Jaehaera less so, because she is a girl, but it is an added point to Aegon II's claim that he already has a male heir at the start of season 2.

'Game of Thrones' Era Targaryens

King Aerys II (David Rintoul)

Before the Baratheons (and the Lannisters behind the scenes) ruled over Westeros in Game of Thrones, King Aerys II was the last Targaryen to sit on the Iron Throne. "The Mad King" was initially beloved during his peaceful reign, before he slowly became paranoid, erratic, and murderous (possibly due to the Targaryen tradition of inbreeding). After he executed Ned Stark's (Sean Bean) father Rickard (Wayne Foskett) and brother Brandon (Isaac Hempstead Wright) during Robert's Rebellion, Aerys was betrayed by his hand, Tywin Lannister (Charles Dance), and killed by Jamie Lannister (Nikolaj Coster-Waldau). The reign of the Targaryens was over, but the lineage lived on through his two younger children Daenerys and Viserys (yes, another Viserys), who were smuggled away to the Free Cities.

Daenerys I (Emilia Clarke)

Daenerys Stormborn (first of her name, thank God) grew up in exile in the Free Cities, intending to return to Westeros and reclaim the Iron Throne. Game of Thrones followed her efforts to raise an army and learn how to rule, first as Khaleesi, then as the Breaker of Chains. Throughout conquering Westeros, she eventually succumbed to the "Targaryen madness," or her family's tradition of becoming erratic and murderous every couple of generations. She razed King's Landing, but before she could even sit on the Iron Throne, Jon Snow (Kit Harington) assassinated her. (#JusticeForDany!)

Dany also had two brothers: Viserys and Rhaegar.

Viserys III (Harry Lloyd)

Viserys spent most of his life with Daenerys in the Free Cities, where they were smuggled as children to stay safe from Baratheon forces in the aftermath of the civil war known as Robert’s Rebellion. The rebellion took the Iron Throne away from the Targaryens; Viserys’ sole focus was reclaiming that power. When we first met the duo in GoT, they were preparing for Daenerys's wedding to Khal Drogo (Jason Momoa)—a union orchestrated entirely by Viserys, without Dany’s consent. Arrogant, self-serving Viserys agreed to allow the Dothraki warlord to wed Dany in return for military support in his plans to reclaim the Iron Throne.

We’d be remiss not to mention how creepy Viserys acted toward his little sister, but luckily, we didn’t have to witness it for long. Toward the end of GoT season one, after Viserys had insulted both his sister and her new husband—under the foolhardy belief that his power outweighed the couples, even when surrounded by loyal Dothraki—Drogo promised to give Viserys the “golden crown” he’s after by pouring molten gold on his head, causing his painful death and paving the way for Dany to seek the Iron Throne instead.

Rhaegar (Wilf Scolding)

Dany and Viserys’ oldest brother was long gone before the events portrayed in Game of Thrones began, but he was still a key player in those events. Rhaegar decided to give Lyanna Stark (Aisling Franciosi)—rather than his wife, Elia Martell (Indira Varma)—a wreath naming her “Queen of Love and Beauty” at a tournament that eventually sparked Robert’s Rebellion since Lyanna was then betrothed to Robert Baratheon, who teamed up with Lyanna’s brother Eddard to avenge his honor.

Soon after, Rhaegar and Lyanna ran away together to be secretly married. The Starks and Baratheons framed their union as an abduction rather than a mutual elopement, officially starting the war. Robert ultimately killed Rhaegar at the Battle of the Trident, and Elia and her two children with Rhaegar were killed, too. Lyanna died early, as well, due to complications after giving birth to her and Rhaegar’s only child.

As for that son…

Aegon, a.k.a. Jon Snow (Kit Harington)

Sorry for the spoiler if you somehow haven't caught up to Game of Thrones (also not sorry, because again, it went off the air in 2019), but we can't mention the Thrones-era Targaryens without the secret, non-blonde member hiding in plain sight. As was revealed in the season 7 finale, the Stark bastard Jon Snow was the secret love child of Rhaegar and Lyanna, named Aegon after several of his ancestors.

After he killed his lover/aunt Dany, Jon was exiled back into the Night's Watch and later traveled with the Wildlings to the land north of the Wall. The Jon Snow sequel series is reportedly "off the table" at HBO, but odds are we'll learn what's next for the hero at some point in the future.

20 months after the first blood was spilled, the Dance of the Dragons will officially begin on House of the Dragon season 2. In its time-jumping first season, House of the Dragon set the stage for the legendary Targaryen civil war—which takes place around 150 years before the events of Game of Thrones—while focusing on the friendship-turned-rivalry between King Viserys' declared heir Princess Rhaenyra (Emma D'Arcy) and his second wife Queen Alicent (Olivia Cooke). After Viserys the Peaceful's (Paddy Considine) death, Alicent and her father Otto Hightower (Rhys Ifans), leaders of the Greens, placed the king's firstborn son on the Iron Throne before Rhaenyra could even hear news of his father's passing. The season ends with the aftermath of Rhaenyra and her allies, known as the Blacks, learning about the usurpers' rise.

With season 1 serving as a prequel for the conflict that spelled the beginning of the end of the Targaryen dynasty, the jam-packed finale (which aired in October 2022) teased the carnage to come with a devastating tragedy, the first death of many in the civil war. While fans undoubtedly remember the shocking scene, the many machinations of which Westerosi families were siding with which side of the conflict may be difficult to remember before diving into the long-awaited season 2, which premieres on June 16. Below, read on for a breakdown of the episode and how season 1 ended so you can prepare yourself—and perhaps choose a side—for House of the Dragon season 2.

Rhaenyra is crowned the rightful queen after losing her unborn child.

When the finale begins, Rhaenyra and her family are settled in Dragonstone with their thoughts still on the events in episode 8. Her secondborn Lucerys (Elliot Grihault) is nervous about being the heir to Driftmark, but Rhaenyra comforts him and says she will help prepare him for his future lordship. The sweet moment is brief before Rhaenys (Eve Best) arrives with the news of Viserys' death and Aegon's (Tom Glynn-Carney) Dragonpit coronation. Daemon (Matt Smith) is immediately furious, assuming that Alicent murdered Viserys and asking Rhaenys why she didn't dracarys them all (as we all were asking at the end of episode 9!). Rhaenys says this war isn't hers to initiate, a stance of neutrality she'll keep for most of the episode.

While Daemon jumps to anger, Rhaenyra is devastated after learning she's lost her father and maybe her throne. She begins bleeding, as the stress of the moment induces an early labor. While Daemon begins planning for war, calling a council around Dragonstone's carved map table, his wife's screams echo from her bed chamber into the Great Hall. Even while she's in pain, Rhaenyra is the one who tells Jaecaerys (Harry Collett) and Luke about their grandfather's death, and she doesn't want Daemon to make any war moves without her. Jace tells Daemon to stand down, but instead of going to his wife/niece's side, he threatens some members of the Kingsguard to swear loyalty to Rhaenyra, under the threat of being executed by his dragon Caraxes.

Like the series' other childbirth sequences so far, Rhaenyra's stillbirth is brutal, visceral, and arguably gratuitous. She refuses help from her nurses, delivering the stillborn baby herself. Once it's over, she silently holds the unliving child, as Daemon finally comes to the chamber. They don't speak before the scene cuts to Rhaenyra performing the burial rights, followed by a beachside funeral where they burn the body in the Targaryen tradition. During the funeral, Ser Erryk Cargyll (the one of the twin knights who was anti-Aegon, played by Elliott Tittensor) arrives and offers Rhaenyra her father's golden crown. Daemon places it on her head, calling back to the emotional scene between himself and his brother Viserys. With that, Rhaenyra becomes queen.

Alicent and Otto Hightower hold off on attacking the Greens.

The next several scenes demonstrate Rhaenyra's restraint while facing a ruinous, dragon-filled war. While she was indisposed, her bannermen received confirmations of some of her alliances, but several houses' alliances are up in the air, including the Arryns, the Starks, and the Baratheons. (We saw in episode 9 that the Lannisters are with the Greens.) The Blacks have the most dragons—13 total versus the Greens' four—and Daemon wants to lead with that, taking over the war meeting and commanding his plans. Before any decisions can be made, Ser Erryk alerts them that a ship is arriving, flying a banner of a three-headed green dragon.

Otto leads the Green party, and Daemon meets him outside on the Dragonstone steps. In a callback from episode 2, Rhaenyra arrives late on dragon-back, with Syrax landing behind the Greens. Otto has a stacked offer if Rhaenyra steps down and supports Aegon: She and Jace get Dragonstone, Luke gets Driftmark, her allies get pardoned, and she and Daemon's young sons receive places in Aegon's court. Daemon's response is classic: "I would rather feed my sons to the dragons than have them carry shields and cups for your drunken, usurper c--t of a king."

Otto's argument is based on the optics that the Greens have built: Aegon II wears his namesake Aegon the Conqueror's crown, carries his sword, and is crowned before the public. He has the "symbols of legitimacy," while Rhaenyra has 20-year-old oaths, taken before Viserys had a son. The Hand's final blow is emotional, as he gives Rhaenyra a torn page from a history book. It's the same page Rhaenyra tore out all those years ago when the girls were studying the story of Nymeria—a warrior princess who ruled over Dorne for two decades, not Arya's direwolf—back in the premiere. It's Alicent's olive branch, to show she remembers their friendship and wants to bloodshed. With that, Rhaenyra tells Otto that she'll give him her response later, to the annoyance of trigger-ready Daemon.

Daemon Targaryen tries to claim the second largest dragon.

At the next war council, lit by candles and the awesome glowing table map, Rhaenyra explains her resistance to attack. She reminds her men of Viserys' stories of ancient Valyria, saying, "When dragons flew to war, everything burned. I do not wish to rule over a kingdom of ash and bone." It's a wise stance (that does ring in our ears as a Daenerys apologist), but Daemon refuses to listen, saying that Rhaenyra's father taught her his feckless ways. The queen clears the room, and in private, she reminds her uncle/husband of the duty that surpasses their personal ambitions: the Song of Ice and Fire prophecy. At its mention, as Rhaenyra says Viserys shared the dream with her when he named her heir, Daemon clutches her throat. It's a show of power that reveals weakness, as Rhaenyra realizes her father never told his brother about the prophecy. It's another sign that Viserys never wanted Daemon as his heir, wounding the prince.

Daemon's missing from the next day's war council, with Rhaenyra assuming he's nursing his wounds. He is, but he's also still building power—just as the queen is. His solution to victory is still dragons, so he heads into the active volcano under Dragonstone, known as Dragonmont, where the wild and unclaimed dragons live. He approaches Vermithor, the second-largest dragon, previously ridden by King Jaehaerys, while singing a High Valyrian song. We don't see what happens between the dragon and the potential rider, but Daemon makes it out of the cave alive, so he and Vermithor are at least on decent terms if they didn't claim each other.

Rhaenyra's son Lucerys is fatally attacked by Prince Aemond.

That third war meeting includes the return of Lord Corlys (Steve Touissant), whose near-fatal injury was the catalyst for the events of episode 8. He arrived at Dragonstone earlier in the episode, while his wife Rhaenys was staying neutral and waiting for his recovery. Once they're awake in the same room, she shames him for running off to war in the wake of their children Laena (Nanna Blondell) and Laenor's (John Macmillian) deaths. She also tells him of his brother's death, which came courtesy of Daemon in episode 8.

After hearing all this, Corlys finally lets go of his ambitions for the Iron Throne and tells his wife they should return to a quiet life in Driftmark with their four grandchildren. But Rhaenys has also switched her stance; she reminds her husband that Jace and Luke will not be safe as Aegon is king. She also supports Rhaenyra after seeing her hesitance to go to war, as she's the only one holding the realm together.

Corlys officially gives his loyalty to Rhaenyra, and shares that their side now has his massive fleet and control of the Narrow Sea. They now have a legitimate plan to attack King's Landing (sounding like another Battle of the Blackwater) but Rhaenyra says she will not be the one to make the first attack of the war. Instead, she wants to send ravens to the Arryns, Starks, and Baratheons, but Jace offers that sending the princes on their dragons would be faster, and more impressive. So Jace heads out to the Eyrie, then Winterfell, while Luke flies to the nearer Baratheon castle Storm's End. Before they leave, she makes her sons swear that they will go as messengers, not warriors, and she has another sweet moment with Luke, saying that she expects him to receive a warm welcome (a.k.a. one of the biggest jinx in TV history).

When Luke arrives at Storm's End on his dragon Arrax, Vhaghar is outside. Instead of turning and running, the brave prince still enters, where Aemond (Ewan Mitchell) waits after arriving with a head start and a marriage pact. Ser Borros Baratheon (Roger Evans) is rude and refuses to read, asking Luke which of his daughters he will marry. (Luke's already betrothed to his cousin Rhaena.) Baratheon derisively sends Luke away for arriving empty-handed, but Aemond quickly jumps to antagonize his nephew, demanding he cut out his eye if he won't fight. Before Aemond can charge Luke, Baratheon orders his guards to escort Luke to his dragon, wanting no bloodshed in his hall.

The chase that ensues, with Aemond and Vhaghar pursuing Luke and Arrax through a literal thunderstorm, is a harbinger of doom for the upcoming war. Remember when Viserys said at the beginning of the season that the relationship between dragons and riders is challenging, as a dragon will never entirely be tamed? That foreshadowing is fulfilled as the large and tiny dragons go rogue, with their riders fruitlessly ordering them to listen to commands. Arrax gets a sneak attack on Vhaghar, the equivalent of a house kitten scratching a lion, and Vhaghar gets upset. It briefly looks like Luke will get away, as he and Arrax emerge through the storm into the sunshine. It's very short-lived, as Vhagar flies up and bites into the pair, tearing both the dragon and the boy in half.

Aemond's expression after Luke's death is a mix of what have I done" and what will I tell my mother? He knows he just set off the war; sure Vhaghar rebelled, but Aemond started the chase. Though it would've been great to see the conversation when he returns to the Red Keep, this episode is Rhaenyra's, so the final scene sees Daemon coming up to the queen and telling her of her son's death. Their backs are to us as he gives the news, so we can only see the devastated sag of the mother's shoulders. But then she turns around, with one tear trailing down her face and a look of fury rivaling all others. Next season, the war is on.

What will happen in season 2 of 'House of the Dragon'?

The House of the Dragon team's goal was to leave with an ending that would have been pleading for a second season, and they delivered. Luckily, new episodes are finally on the way.

The two sides of the Dance of the Dragons are pretty evenly matched at the end of the premiere. The Greens have King's Landing, the Kingsguard, the Lannister fleet, and four dragons, but mostly Vhaghar. They're also absolutely the less honor-bound side, at least during the finale.

Meanwhile, the Arryns' support for the Blacks is nearly guaranteed (Rhaenyra's late mother Aemma was an Arryn before marriage), and there's a good chance that Jacaerys will over the Starks in Winterfell. We won't spoil what happens the original book series, but if the Blacks get the support of the North, that plus the Velaryons plus the dragons will put Rhaenyra ahead even if Alicent didn't have a home-court advantage. Also, that look on Rhaenyra's face hints that those pesky problems of honor and integrity will likely fade away next season.

The Dance of the Dragons will be the war of Fire & Blood as promised by George R.R. Martin's novel. (A bloodbath? Firebath? Dracarys-fest?) The first battle between Aemond and Lucerys shows that the bulk of the fighting in the Targaryen civil war will happen between Alicent and Rhaenyra's children. The opening scene foreshadows their place in the conflict, as Lucerys tells his mother that he doesn't even want Driftmark. It was never really these kids' choice whether or not they would have to fight and bleed and die over the Iron Throne, just as Rhaenyra's and Alicent's places were never entirely their choice. (Viserys at least tried to give Rhaenyra agency over being heir, unlike Otto leading Alicent towards marrying the king, but still.)

There's also very little chance that two of the show's major relationships will ever be the same. However Daemon stans want to frame the event online, the finale shows Daemon and Rhaenyra's absolute differences of opinion, and they may not be able to make it through the war as commander and sovereign, as well as loving husband and wife.

Also, Rhaenyra and Alicent's friendship became much harder to salvage after Luke's death. Even if Aemond admits it was an accident, this goes deeper than an eye for an eye. It'll be interesting to see who comes out alive the next time the two queens face each other (which probably won't happen until season 4 or 5). Time will tell how much Targaryen blood must be spilled for peace to return to Westeros.

Spoilers for House of the Dragon seasons 1 and 2 ahead. The legendary Targaryen civil war finally begins in House of the Dragon season 2. HBO's fantasy hit, the Game of Thrones prequel based on the George R.R. Martin novel Fire and Blood, depicts an earlier time in the Targaryen family dynasty when the strongest family in Westeros split into two factions battling over the Iron Throne. On one side we have King Viserys I's named heir Rhaenyra (played by Emma D'Arcy), the first woman to get this close to the crown. On the other, we have the king's wife Alicent Hightower (Olivia Cooke) and her son Aegon (Tom Glynn-Carney), the oldest living male descendant.

HotD season 1 was a time-jumping prologue to the epic conflict, illustrating how Alicent and Rhaenyra went from best friends to strained enemies as tension built amid discussions of succession and the inevitable fighting among their heirs. After Viserys (Paddy Considine) died in episode 8, both opposing sides, known as the Greens and the Blacks, crowned their rightful monarchs of Westeros, setting off a war that set family member against family member, and dragon against dragon.

Read on for our tally of who falls on each side of the conflict as of the end of season 2, which side has the most dragons, and why they're called the Greens and the Blacks in the first place.

Why are they called the Greens and the Blacks in 'House of the Dragon?'

The conflict may as well be Team Alicent vs. Team Rhaenyra, but in House of the Dragon, the sides are known by the subtler designations of the Greens and the Blacks. The Greens' name comes from a standout moment in HotD season 1, episode 5, where Alicent arrives late to Rhaenyra's wedding, wearing a green dress. The pair's friendship had taken its final blow that episode; Rhaenyra had lied to Alicent about losing her virginity, and Alicent's father Otto (Rhys Ifans) had lost his position as Hand of the King for "falsely" accusing that Rhaenyra had been "sullied." Alicent's grand entrance signaled the shift in her alliances, from being the perfect wife and stepmother dressed in the Targaryen colors of black and red to focusing more on her self-interests and wearing her Hightower family color of green.

For viewers who can't list off the colors of the noble houses of Westeros (i.e. most of us), Ser Larys Strong (Matthew Needham) also explained the strength of Hightower green. He says the light at the top of the Hightower in Old Town, the seat of Alicent’s family, glows green to symbolize war. The color change shows that Alicent is ready to protect herself and go to war with Rhaenyra if needed. As the princess gives birth to more brunette sons over the next decade, that resentment only grows stronger.

As for where the name of the Blacks comes from, black is one of the traditional House Targaryen colors, from their sigil having a red dragon on a black background.

In the source material, the name makes even more sense. While Alicent's green dress moment happens at Rhaenyra's wedding in the series, in the original book, it happens at her and Viserys' fifth wedding anniversary. Rhaenyra was wearing a black and red dress at the time, thus her side became known as the Blacks. So both of the names come from the women's symbolic fashion choices.

Who are on Alicent's side with the Greens in 'House of the Dragon?'

The center of the Greens is Alicent and her children: Aegon, Aemond (Ewan Mitchell), Helaena (Phia Saban), and the yet-to-be-seen Daeron (Henry Ashton). Their side of the succession battle supports Aegon as the true heir since he's the king's firstborn son and many lords of Westeros expected Viserys to name him as heir as early as his second birthday. Instead, Viserys steadfastly supported Rhaenyra as his heir until his death, even turning a blind eye to her baby daddy rumors. However, once he died, Otto and Alicent quickly worked to her crown firstborn son Aegon as king before news of Viserys' death could even reach Rhaenyra at Dragonstone.

Fast forward to the end of season 2, and just a few months of war has seen drastic changes to the Greens. Aegon is initially an impatient and ignorant king, and he fires his grandfather Otto as Hand of the King, giving the role to Ser Criston Cole (Fabien Frankel) instead. Then, in the Battle of Rook's Rest, Aegon was severely wounded by his brother Aemond, who was named the interim ruler and Protector of the Realm as Aegon recovered. In the season 2 finale, Aegon fled King's Landing with Larys Strong, fearing that Aemond or Rhaenyra would kill him if he were a sitting duck in the capital.

Outside of the Red Keep, the Greens have allied with House Hightower, House Lannister, House Baratheon, and House Tyrell, counting these Great Houses and their vassals among their army. In the season 2 finale, Tyland Lannister (Jefferson Hall) and the Triarchy strike a deal to create, an alliance of three Free Cities, to fight for the Greens at sea.

On the dragon front, the Greens have held the upper hand with Vhaghar, the largest living dragon whom Aemond rides into battle. However, with Sunfyre presumed dead after Rook's Rest and Helaena refusing to ride Dreamfyre into battle, the Greens only really have Vhaghar and Tessarion, Daeron's young dragon, to go up against the Blacks' many new dragons.

Who are on Rhaenyra's side with the Blacks in 'House of the Dragon?'

Meanwhile, the Blacks' line of succession includes Rhaenyra and her sons Jacaerys (Harry Collett), Joffrey (Oscar Eskinkanzi), Aegon (Jake and Rory Heard), and Viserys. Rhaenyra's eldest sons Jace and Joffrey were sired by the late Harwin Strong (Ryan Corr). Her two youngest are hers with her uncle/husband Daemon (Matt Smith), who she married in season 1 out of love and strategic alliance. Of course, the pair had both been married before, so Rhaenyra also gained two step-children: Baela (Bethany Antonia) and Rhaena (Phoebe Campbell), whose mother was the late Laena Velaryon.

In season 2, Rhaenyra also had an ally in Rhaenys (Eve Best), Viserys' cousin known as "The Queen Who Never Was." She and her husband, Corlys Velaryon (Steve Toussaint), offered her counsel and support.

Ultimately, she met her demise in battle when Aemond killed her and her dragon Meleys at Rook's Rest. Following Rhaenys' death, Corlys remained loyal to Rhaenyra and became the Hand of the Queen. The Sea Snake also leads one of Westeros's largest navies, giving the Blacks an advantage at sea (for now).

The Blacks' allies include House Velaryon (as mentioned), House Stark (woo!), House Arryn, and the smaller houses represented among the members of the Queen's Council. Throughout season 2, Daemon reunited the fractured Crownlands to unite all of them on the side of the Blacks, giving Rhaenyra a sizable army closer to King's Landing. Rhaenyra also has a useful ally in her Master of Whispers, Mysaria (Sonoya Mizuno). Though Otto forced her to flee King's Landing, the White Worm still has serious connections in the city and was integral in the Blacks' biggest win of season 2.

In season 2, episode 9, Rhaenyra made a controversial decision that turned the tide of the war. After Seasmoke (the dragon of her "deceased" husband Laenor, who is hopefully still very much alive out there somewhere) claimed Addam of Hull (Clinton Liberty) as his rider, the Queen recruited dozens of Targaryen bastard children from King's Landing in search of dragonseeds—a.k.a. potential dragonriders. At the end of the brutal, fiery Sowing of the Seeds, Rhaenyra found two new dragonriders: Hugh Hammer (Kieran Bew), who claimed the second-largest dragon Vermithor, and Ulf the White (Tom Bennett), who bonded with Silverwing. With these three new riders, the Blacks have seven battle-ready dragons (or eight, if Rhaena succeeds in claiming Sheepstealer) to go up against the Greens' three max (Vhaghar, Tessarion, and potentially Dreamfyre or Sunfyre).

Who is undeclared in the Targaryen civil war in 'House of the Dragon?'

By the end of House of the Dragon season 2, most of the Great Houses of Westeros chose sides, but not every house familiar to GoT fans has been mentioned. House Greyjoy has a small arc in Fire & Blood, but they may have been left on the cutting room floor for the TV adaptation. However, one notable house that will remain undeclared throughout the Dance of the Dragons: House Martell of Dorne. This is mostly because Dorne isn't even a part of Westeros at this point in history; the southern region won't become a part of the Seven Kingdoms until roughly 68 years after the Dance of the Dragons set off.

Which dragons are Greens or Blacks in 'House of the Dragon?'

For anyone keeping a dragon tally as the civil war begins, there are currently 14 living dragons that have been introduced in House of the Dragon. The Blacks currently have the larger number of battle-ready dragons with seven: Syrax (bonded to Rhaenyra), Caraxes (Daemon), Vermax (Jacaerys), Moondancer (Baela), Seasmoke (Addam of Hull), Vermithor (Hugh Hammer) and Silverwing (Ulf the White). As of the season 2 finale, we don't know if Rhaena has bonded with Sheepstealer, but if so the tally goes up to eight. They also have Tyraxes (Joffrey) and Stormcloud (baby Aegon), who are too young to ride, and four dragon eggs, but odds are none will grow fast enough to join the war.

The Greens only have three dragons as of the end of season 2: Vhaghar, Tessarion, and Dreamfyre (still holding out hope that Sunfyre's alive tho!). Aemond and crew have had the upper hand so far, thanks to Vhaghar being massive and many of the Blacks' dragons being relatively small. (Caraxes, the Blacks' largest dragon at the start of season 2, is only half of Vhaghar's size.) However, now that big boy Vermithor and two new dragons are in play, even Aemond is intimidated by the show of force.

There are several more factors to consider than just the dragons, but heading into season 3, the Blacks have an advantage. However, the winds of war may shift once the battles really begin.

In December 2021, Netflix's fantasy epic The Witcher returned with a bang. It came two years after the first season introduced audiences to the streaming giant's attempt at a Game-of-Thrones-esque universe—complete with multiple spin-offs—and season 2 of Geralt of Rivia's (Henry Cavill) adventures as a dad promptly topped the Netflix Top 10 with its gorgeous meditation on found family and existential pain (plus plenty of brutal fight scenes).

For those of you who haven't checked out one of the best fantasy show since GoT's earlier seasons, The Witcher follows three main characters across a medieval land of monsters called The Continent, based on Polish author Andrzej Sapkowski's works. In season 2, immortal-ish warrior Geralt (the titular Witcher) claims his fated Child of Surprise Ciri (Freya Allan) and vows to protect her against a new crop of uber-deadly monsters. Meanwhile, the mage Yennefer (Anya Chalotra) has survived the Battle of Sodden from last season, but she's still wrapped up in the wars and politics of both the kingdom of Nilfgaard and the Brotherhood of Sorcerers.

After eight episodes of war and monsters, season 2 ended on the biggest cliffhanger of the series so far, one that will probably upset the balance between our three main characters. Luckily, season 3 is already in the works, and will return with a less than two-year wait. Here's everything we know about The Witcher's upcoming third season.

'The Witcher' Season 3 Release Date

Netflix has revealed that the third season of The Witcher will get a two-part release. The eight-episode season will air in two volumes, with the first arriving on June 29 and the second hitting the streamer on July 27.

The streaming giant previously confirmed that The Witcher season 3 was set to release in the summer of 2023. The official Twitter account dropped the news alongside an ominous teaser image, which shows a shattering Wolf medallion (symbolizing Geralt of Rivia), alongside a swallow, the symbol of Geralt's adopted daughter, Ciri.

The series was actually renewed for a third season months before the second even aired, to the delight of fans. Netflix announced that season 3 was a go during their Tudum fan event in September 2021. The streamer also revealed that the Witcher Cinematic Universe would continue to grow through a second anime film (separate from this summer's Nightmare of the Wolf) and a kids and family series.

Creator Lauren Schmidt Hissrich said during the livestream event, "We're so excited to continue to grow this universe and cannot wait for you to join us on this ride," per Entertainment Weekly.

Netflix usually tends to wait a few months after a season's release to announce a renewal, leaving fans waiting some time for the new season to drop. As the crew for The Witcher season 3 got a three-month head start, the season 2 premiere was coupled with the good news that season 3 is almost completely written. 

Hissrich told TechRadar that the writer's room for season 3 would be done by the end of 2021: "Actually, this is our last week [December 3] in the writers’ room," Hissrich said. "We’re almost done with the scripting phase, and it’s amazing. I’m really thrilled with how the season is shaping up because it’s based on my favorite book in the saga, which is The Time of Contempt.

"I feel like seasons 1 and 2 have been laying the playing field for everything huge that’s about to happen," she added. "But the creative process is now really just starting. We have the scripts, and now we’ll bring directors on, the actors back in, and really start delving in deeper and reflecting back and making sure that it’s the perfect season."

In January of 2022, The Witcher season 3 officially went into production, per PC Gamer, with the show's crew sharing photos of location scouting and preparing to film. And in March, the show began filming, with its official Twitter account sharing a photo from the set:

'The Witcher' Season 3 Trailer

Netflix has dropped the first look at the new season along with the release date, posting a one-minute clip with clips hinting what Geralt, Ciri, and Yennefer will be facing. It also includes narration from Geralt as he says, "For the first time, I understand real fear," followed by a title card reading "This summer, everything changes."

What Could Happen in 'The Witcher' Season 3?

The show's Twitter account has also shared an official synopsis of the third season:

"As monarchs, mages, and beasts of the Continent compete to capture her, Geralt takes Ciri of Centra into hiding, determined to protect his newly-reunited family against those who threaten to destroy it. Entrusted with Ciri’s magical training, Yennefer leads them to the protected fortress of Aretuza, where she hopes to discover more about the girl’s untapped powers; instead, they discover they’ve landed in a battlefield of political corruption, dark magic, and treachery. They must fight back, put everything on the line — or risk losing each other forever."

A quick summary of where the characters stand at the end of season 2: Geralt, Yennefer, and Ciri are together and safe (for now) at Kaer Morhen after Ciri sent Voleth through the monolith to the demon world. They're also reeling from the Wraiths of Mörhogg (a.k.a. the Wild Hunt, in simplest terms the WCU's horsemen of the apocalypse) inviting Ciri to join them and bring the end of the world. Luckily, Yennefer has her magic back, and she and Geralt plan to train Ciri to become the savior of the world instead of its destroyer.

Outside of the main trio, seemingly everyone else on The Continent is after Ciri. The Brotherhood plan to kill her, and anyone who protects her, to stop any chance of the apocalypse. The leaders of one of the nations, Redania, wants to have Ciri in order to stake a claim to Cintra and become the most powerful kingdom. The elves think Ciri will be their savior, thanks to her Elder bloodline. Meanwhile, while main aggressor nation Nilfgaard wants Ciri for her power, its mysterious leader has a more personal goal. Turns out Emperor Emhyr, a.k.a. the White Flame, is actually Ciri's dad, who was presumed dead. All roads point to Ciri.

As with season 2, season 3 of The Witcher will adapt the main events of one of the books, with some new plotlines and character upgrades added by the show. (Season 1 was adapted from several short stories.) Hissrich confirmed that the third season will be based on The Time of Contempt, the second full book in Sapkowski's saga. In that book, Yennefer, Ciri, and Geralt (reunited in the season 2 finale) journey to the Brotherhood's headquarters of Aretuza. In Contempt, a coup takes place, forcing the main trio to separate again.

As for the changes that might come up, Hissrich already revealed a future plot point to Polygon, while noting a big change that season 2 made from its source material, Blood of Elves.

"Viewers will notice we concentrate a lot on the elven storyline in season two, which is not as prominent in [the main novel being adapted], Blood of Elves. And yet, I know that in season three, we’re introducing the Scoia’tael, this army of elves that's fighting on behalf of Nilfgaard. And they don't come off so great. It's a pretty sort of harsh, dark storyline.

"So I want to make sure that we understood and humanised their part of the battle. Where are they coming from? What are they fighting for? Even if they lose their way along the way. what is sort of their backdrop? So we're constantly looking at the Witcher as a whole."

Cavill, meanwhile, told IGN: "To be true to the books, I think there's a chance to explore the Nenneke relationship a little further. Of course, I would love to work with the Witchers some more, but it all depends on how much the story allows. I'm a huge fan of the books and staying loyal to them, and it's about making sure that story happens without too much in the way of diversions or side things going on to muddy the waters."

Speaking to the same outlet, Anya Chalotra, a.k.a. Yennefer, said: "It's habitual, isn't it? She's how old, and she's lived the kind of life she's lived, and, you know, the rules that she lives by, and that's the end, and she doesn't trust anybody, and it's going to be hard to just delve into a new way of being. She might have learned to consider things more, but in the moment, in such a violent world, you have to watch out for yourself as well."

The Cast of 'The Witcher' Season 3

Netflix first announced the addition of two familiar faces last April, revealing that Robbie Amell and Meng’er Zhang will join the cast. Amell, who's best known for starring in CW's Arrow and the Prime Video series Upload, will play Gallatin, a fighter leading an army of rebels called Scoia’tael who fight on behalf of Nilfgaard. Zhang, who played fan-favorite Xu Xialing in Shang-Chi and The Legend of the Ten Rings, will portray Milva, a huntress and expert archer adopted by the dryads of Brokilon Forest.

The streamer also announced that The Windsors actor Hugh Skinner will play Prince Radovid, a younger brother to King Vizimir of Redania and a royal playboy, while Christelle Elwin will play Mistle, a member of a teenage gang who steal from the rich and give to themselves (and sometimes the poor) called The Rats.

In July, Redanian Intelligence reported that six new actors would join the fantasy saga in season 3. Four of them will be joining as mages, with Carnival Row actor Ryan Hayes playing Artaud Terranova and Polish actress Michalina Olszanska playing an unknown mage. Harvey Quinn and Poppy Almond were also spotted filming a scene with the mages. Meanwhile Kate Winter and Martyn Ellis will play new characters called Putney and Barker, respectively.

Season 3 will also be the last installment staring Henry Cavill. The star confirmed that he will be leaving the fantasy series last October, shortly after he announced he was planning to return to the DC Cinematic Universe to reprise the role of Superman. Even though a planned solo Superman film starring Cavill was scrapped, he still isn't returning to The Witcher, and Liam Hemsworth will instead take over the role of Geralt of Rivia in season 4.

After two long years, Netflix's irreverent superhero show The Umbrella Academy returned to Netflix in June 2022 with a new apocalypse and double the amount of heroes. Season 3 saw the superpowered siblings returning to 2019 to find that Reginald Hargreeves (Colm Feore) has built a new family called the Sparrow Academy, who are hostile to the Umbrellas. As our original heroes took shelter in the mysterious Hotel Oblivion, they also discovered that their time-traveling set off a black hole of a paradox that's sucking up the universe.

The 10-episode run, which kept the no. 1 slot on Netflix for a full month, ended in one of the show's famous cliffhangers and left fans wondering where the inventive series could go next. Here's what we know about season 4 so far.

How did 'Umbrella Academy' season 3 end?

Season 3 picks up right where the season 2 finale ended in 2020: After meeting the Umbrellas in 1963—and being immediately disappointed in them—Hargreeves decided to choose a different set of superpowered kids to form the Sparrow Academy, six new additions plus an a--hole version of Ben (Justin H. Min), who he hadn't met. It turns out the Sparrows aren't the biggest change in the timeline; it's Harlan (Justin Paul Kelly), who kept his powers after the Umbrellas returned to the future. He grew up bullied and isolated, and when he sensed the Umbrellas about to be born in 1989, he unintentionally killed all their mothers so they were never born. When the group traveled back to 2019, it caused the Grandfather paradox that ripped into the Kugelblitz that wiped out the universe.

While the season 3 apocalypse is happening in the finale, Hargreeves manipulates the Umbrellas (plus Sloane, Sparrow Ben, and Lila) into entering the mirror of the Hotel Oblivion, and kills Luther and Klause in the process. There we finally learn the magnate's reason for creating the Umbrellas and the Sparrows: The hotel is actually a machine that the alien can use to create a new universe. He always needed seven warriors to defeat the machine's guardian (a multi-formed spinoff of the minotaur guarding the maze in Greek mythology) and act as keys to power the machine, killing them in the process. He always saw his adopted kids as tools to be sacrificed, confirming that he's the ultimate villain of the series and the absolute worst.

As the machine sucks the life out of the Sparbrellas (Umbrows?), Allison (Emmy Raver-Lampman) realizes she's been tricked by Hargreeves once again and kills him to save everyone. But she still wants to press the button to reset the universe, and Victor (Elliot Page) lets her as a show of trust. The next thing we see is Allison arriving at her LA home to find her daughter Claire (Coco Assad) and Ray (Yusuf Gatewood), now her husband again and the father of her daughter. The rest of the Umbrellas (now plus Lila and Sparrow Ben) emerge from the hotel's elevator into a courtyard and find all their wounds are healed. Luther (Tom Hopper) is no longer half-ape, but his celebration ends when he realizes Sloane (Genesis Rodriguez) is missing, and that all their powers are gone. The final shot shows a new timeline of New York, where Hargreeves rules over everything with his revived wife at his side. (There's also a final post-credits scene where a version of Ben is alive in South Korea.)

Has 'The Umbrella Academy' been renewed for a fourth season?

Netflix made the official announcement two months after season 3's premiere: The Umbrella Academy will return for a fourth and final season.

"I’m so excited that the incredibly loyal fans of The Umbrella Academy will be able to experience the fitting end to the Hargreeves siblings' journey we began five years ago," showrunner Steve Blackman said in a statement to Variety. "But before we get to that conclusion, we’ve got an amazing story ahead for season four, one that will have fans on the edge of their seats until the final minutes."

Immediately after season 3's premiere, Blackman told The Hollywood Reporter that he already had plans for a fourth season.

"We haven’t been picked up—I have my fingers crossed," Blackman said at the time. "But I know what season four is in my head. I’ve already sort of worked out the beginning, middle and end of it. When I started this thing, I sort of knew four seasons of the show. I have nothing passed that in my brain, but I’ve sort of kept to a trajectory. So, I have a really good sense of what season four would be, and it should be just as bonkers as the other seasons—what a challenge these superheroes, this family has being powerless."

On November 9, 2023, the series' cast teased the new season in a clip from Netflix's Geeked Week, where they shared their spoiler-free thoughts on the show's highly-anticipated return.

"There are some unbelievable new characters and new villains that are super exciting," said Emmy Raver-Lampman, with Elliot Page adding that the final episodes include "excitement, surprises, humor." Raver-Lampan also said the season will be "really, really packed with the classic Umbrella Academy family nonsense and shenanigans that you look forward to."

When will 'The Umbrella Academy' season 4 be released?

Netflix has announced that The Umbrella Academy will take its final bow this summer, with all episodes of the fourth and final season hitting the streamer on August 8, 2024. To accompany the good news, the streaming giant also released first-look posters for all the main characters, showcasing the Hargreeves family as they walk into frame in their uniforms and out of frame as adults, teasing their growth. In another image from the series premiere, the Umbrellas (plus official addition Lila) stand together while appearing to prepare for a fight (by taking a shot).

Is there a trailer for 'The Umbrella Academy' season 4?

The official trailer for The Umbrella Academy's fourth and final season dropped in early July and teases the answer to a question fans have held for the series' entire run: How did Ben die? It looks like the key to stopping the Umbrella's last apocalypse will come from the siblings unpacking their late sibling's initial death, as the reincarnated superhero (played by Justin H. Min) becomes a threat to the world. (Exactly how is yet to be revealed.) In one foreboding voiceover, Nick Offerman's new character says, “The world we live in is one big phony baloney lie. That tentacle boy is the key to understanding all the timelines.”

There's also a tease that you can check out. The additional clip arrived in late May 2024 to tease what the Umbrellas will face in the new season. But before they concern themselves with taking down Hargreeves once and for all, it seems the group will have to reunite with each other. In the footage, each Umbrella is introduced in what appears to be new lives, with Viktor working as a bartender, Allison sharing an emotional moment with a young girl, Ben getting out of prison(!), and Diego (David Castañeda) being a doting dad. It seems like season 4 could start with the Umbrellas living normal lives after losing their superpowers.

Of course, some things never change. The Umbrellas start bickering as soon as they're all back together. As Viktor tells Hargreeves in one short scene, "We drive each other crazy. But when things go to Hell, they're there for me." Let's blast "The Final Countdown" and get ready for one last apocalypse.

Which of the cast will return for 'The Umbrella Academy' season 4?

Based on the season 3 ending (plus the anatomy of the show as a whole), the core eight cast members—Elliot Page (Viktor), Tom Hopper (Luther), David Castañeda (Diego), Emmy Raver-Lampman (Allison), Robert Sheehan (Klaus), Aidan Gallagher (Five), Ritu Arya (Lila), and Justin H. Min (Ben)—are all set to return. In the season 4 announcement, Netflix confirmed all these actors had signed on, including Colm Feore (Reginald Hargreeves) as the Big Bad. Others who are highly expected to appear in season 4 are Yusuf Gatewood (Ray) and Coco Assad (Claire), and Lisa Repo-Martell as Hargreeves' partner Abigail.

Other fan-favorite cast members who could return are Genesis Rodriguez as Sloane and Jordan Claire Robbins as Grace since there's always the possibility of people who died in previous timelines coming back. If Sloane does reappear, then there's a chance for the rest of the Sparrow Academy—Justin Cornwell (Marcus), Britne Oldford (Fei), Jake Epstein (Alphonso), and Cazzie David (Jayme)—to show up too. Also, this is a stretch, but it would be great to see Javon "Wanna" Walton back in some capacity.

Which new cast members are joining 'The Umbrella Academy' season 4?

In February 2023, Netflix revealed that three new faces had signed on to join the final season. Per Entertainment Weekly, married actors Nick Offerman and Megan Mullally will play Drs. Gene and Jean Thibedeau, a married couple and pair of community college professors from New Mexico who "wear sensible footwear and suffer from the most extreme case of deja vu this timeline has ever seen." Offerman's best known for his starring role on the beloved sitcom Parks and Recreation (as well as his stunning dramatic turn in an episode of The Last of Us), while Mullaly won two Emmys for playing Karen Walker on Will & Grace.

Meanwhile, Arrested Development actor David Cross will play Sy Grossman, an "upstanding, shy business owner and family man who will stop at nothing to reconnect with his estranged daughter and get her back."

What will 'The Umbrella Academy' season 4 be about?

Netflix revealed the official season 4 description along with the first teaser:

"The Hargreeves siblings have scattered after the climactic showdown at the Hotel Oblivion led to a complete reset of their timeline. Stripped of their powers, each is left to fend for themselves and find a new normal—with wildly varying degrees of success. Yet the trappings of their uncanny new world prove too hard to ignore for very long. Their father Reginald, alive and well, has stepped out of the shadows and into the public eye, overseeing a powerful and nefarious business empire. A mysterious association known as The Keepers holds clandestine meetings believing the reality they’re living in is a lie and a great reckoning is coming. As these strange new forces conspire around them, the Umbrella Academy must come together one last time—and risk upsetting the shaky peace they’ve all endured so much to secure—to finally set things right."

While we now have confirmation that season 4 will lead up to the final Umbrella-Hargreeves battle, there are also a ton of little details in season 3's ending that can be spun off into other theories. Allison and Hargreeves were the only ones who were involved in powering the machine, and it looks like they both have their hearts' desire in this new universe. While the rest of the Umbrellas are uninjured but their powers are gone, Allison still has the bloody wrap around her arm, so she may still have her powers. There's also a big question of whose side she'll be on in Umbrellas v. Hargreeves; if taking their father down means losing Ray and Claire again, she may stay on the villain's side.

In an interview with Tudum, Blackman teased that the Umbrellas will be up for dealing with all this change. "The siblings are always up for a challenge," he told the outlet. "This new timeline has been dictated by Hargreeves, who reprogrammed the Universe at the end of the Season 3 finale. But because of Allison’s actions, he didn’t get to finish what he started before Allison pressed the reset button."

He continued, "So, the siblings losing their powers isn’t going to be the only oddity in this timeline. There are new enemies who want to see them wiped out of existence, but how do they manage without their powers? Is there even a way to get them back? The stakes have never been greater."

There's also the big question of how post-credits Ben factors in. Showrunner Steve Blackman confirmed to Men's Health that this is Sparrow Ben, and that season 4 will answer questions including "why he's there, or what the glasses are all about." There's also the question of what happened to Sloane, who helped power the machine but didn't emerge with the rest of the group. Other loose ends include Diego and Lila's bun in the oven, Five founding the Commission at some point in his life, and whether taking down Hargreeves means defeating him or restoring/creating another timeline. (Or just the destruction of this one. After all, what's the show without an apocalypse to stop?)

What have the cast and crew said about 'The Umbrella Academy' season 4?

As fans of the comic series know, the show has officially outpaced the comics with the end of season 3. While some may fear a Game of Thrones situation for the upcoming seasons, showrunner Steve Blackman told Newsweek that he has a plan for upcoming seasons and consulted with comic writers Gerard Way and Gabriel Bá about his plans.

"We've deviated from the graphic novel to some degree, probably more this year than other years. You know, I love what Gerard and Gabriel do with Hotel Oblivion. Some of it was hard to sort of translate financially, as well as sort of how we would turn it into storylines, but I do have a very, very good idea of what I want to do next season."

The creator also spoke to TheWrap about how the fourth and final season will explore the Umbrellas' reactions to their loss of powers.

"I want to pose to the viewer and the fan, 'Would they be happier without their powers?' I mean, all they do is complain about being who they are," the showrunner said. "So will Victor, will Diego be happy without it or will they feel like they’re missing an appendage? Will the world not be right for them anymore without powers? Can they be 'normal'?"

In an interview with PEOPLE, Diego Castañeda shared that he's also excited to examine the Umbrellas' new dynamic.

"I honestly really do like the fact that we don't have powers because The Umbrella Academy was never really about the powers," he told the outlet. "The power was just a little seasoning to [the show], [this season] has de-escalated and it's become much more about, 'Let's just watch these people that we really love bantering with each other.'"

When asked her thoughts on the end cliffhanger and where Allison ends up, Emmy Raver-Lampman said that she expects her character to have to deal with some consequences, and possibly lose her powers, as well.

"I think, for the first time maybe, we don’t know where this show could go, and that’s exciting," she told Collider. "Yes, Allison got her happy ending, but as per most stories where people sacrifice anything and everything to get their happy ending, it usually will catch up with them in some way—the butterfly effect of messing with time and space and the universe. I think there’s gonna be some sort of repercussion for Allison. I also don’t think she’s realized that she doesn’t have power yet. Once she realizes that, she’s probably gonna assume that everybody else also doesn’t have powers and that guilt is gonna catch up to her in a really fun way that could be cool to play around with. Hopefully, we get another season to figure that out."

When it debuted in theaters in May 1996, The Craft, a horror-fantasy film about a group of teenage girls dabbling in witchcraft, wasn't expected to make a huge splash. But seemingly overnight, the witchy tale cast a spell (sorry!) on moviegoers across the country, earning nearly quadruple its budget in box office earnings, cementing its status in cinematic history as a cult classic, and, just this year, spawning a soft reboot-slash-sequel, The Craft: Legacy. In the more than two decades since The Craft premiered, the movie has only grown in relevance, with many citing it as a seminal example of "female outsiderdom" and of the rarely-seen-onscreen phenomenon of young women coming into their power outside of the bounds of the patriarchy. The movie also helped launch the careers of many of its young stars—here's what the coven (and the targets of their spells) are up to now.

Tunney played Sarah Bailey, the new girl at an L.A. private school who is recruited to join the coven of three aspiring young witches after they spot her showing off her supernatural abilities in class. Though her new friends end up turning on her after the effects of their spells take a turn for the worse, Sarah is the only one to keep her powers at the end of the movie.

Since starring in The Craft, which was one of her earliest roles, Tunney has had a busy and varied career in Hollywood, with lead roles on The Mentalist and Prison Break among her most prominent. She has two children with her fiancé, interior designer Nicky Marmet.

As Nancy Downs, Balk played the most power-hungry of the young witches, and the one who ultimately leads her friends in tormenting Sarah. After casting a spell for more power, Nancy leaves a trail of death and destruction in her wake (and suddenly gains the power to walk on water?!) before being stripped of her powers and placed in a psychiatric hospital.

Balk went on to star in dozens more film and TV roles, many of them just as dark—American History X, The Island of Dr. Moreau, and Ray Donovan, to name a few. She's also dabbled in music and art, and is the owner of an occult shop in L.A. where she researched her role in The Craft.

Upon gaining her occult abilities, True's Rochelle Zimmerman starts immediately by casting a revenge spell on the leader of a group of racist bullies. Though successful, Rochelle is then forced to contend with the effects of the spell and the unrest within the coven, eventually resulting in the loss of her powers.

Like her costars, True, too, has had a very successful Hollywood career since her breakout role in The Craft, including a long stint as Mona on Half & Half and, most recently, a guest appearance on Better Things. And, like Balk, she's also embraced her witchy side in the years since the 1996 film: As of 2017, she was working as a tarot card reader in L.A.

Campbell's Bonnie Harper was the only member of the coven who cast a spell that affected only herself—though that turned out to be her downfall, as her beauty spell eventually made her cripplingly narcissistic. Like Rochelle, though Bonnie first followed Nancy's orders and turned against Sarah, that plan quickly backfired and resulted in the loss of her powers.

When The Craft premiered, Campbell was already a certified star thanks to her long-running role on Party of Five, and she cemented her status as a horror darling when she appeared in Scream later the same year. More recently, she's had roles in House of Cards and the Disney film Clouds. Campbell has two children with actor JJ Feild.

Ulrich played Chris Hooker, the object of Sarah's affections and the target of her love spell. After Nancy becomes jealous of his infatuation with Sarah, he taunts her, to which she responds by throwing him out of a window to his death. A totally reasonable response.

The Craft was Ulrich's first credited movie role, and he also joined Campbell in Scream later that year. Though he's appeared consistently on the big and small screens over the years, he's now perhaps most recognizable as FP Jones on Riverdale. He has a twin son and daughter with ex-wife Georgina Cates.

Taylor's Laura Lizzie is the racist bully who becomes the object of Rochelle's spell. The spell causes her to start losing her hair, leaving her traumatized and forcing Rochelle to reconsider her actions.

Taylor had already made a name for herself in Hollywood before The Craft thanks to her role as Marcia Brady in The Brady Bunch Movie—she's the face of the "sure, Jan" GIF!—and she went on to star in a stream of blockbuster comedy films and shows, including The Wedding Singer, Zoolander, Dodgeball, and Arrested Development. She has two kids with ex-husband Ben Stiller.

As Mitt, a friend of Chris, Meyer avoided the wrath of the four witches wreaking havoc on his school, though it's anyone's guess why, since his main personality trait is being a jerk to Sarah, their classmates, and their teachers.

In the '90s and early 2000s, Meyer seemed to pop up in just about every teen/young adult/coming of age film: Clueless, Can't Hardly Wait, Josie and the Pussycats, and the list goes on. And he's continued to stay booked and busy, most consistently as writer, producer, and star of Adult Swim's Robot Chicken for the last 15 years. He also has two children (was that in The Craft's contracts?)—two daughters with ex-wife Deborah Kaplan.

Marston played Trey, another friend of Mitt and Chris. Like his friends, he seems to thrive on harassing his female classmates, and also is shown to be a friend or boyfriend of notorious bully Laura Lizzie.

After appearing in The Craft, Marston became a bonafide soap star, with contract roles on As the World Turns and One Life to Live, playing two roles in the latter. Sadly, Marston died in 2015 due to complications from surgery following a car accident.

Serna had a small but powerful role in The Craft as Lirio, a witch who owns an occult shop that the teen witches frequently visit. She's also the first one to suggest to Sarah that she might be a natural witch, and helps the girl out when her friends begin to torment her.

The Spanish actress has appeared in films around the world, written multiple books on acting technique, and taught communication and acting courses. She has been married to Scott Cleverdon, her costar in Sharpe's Company, since 1993.

Nancy's mom, Grace, played by Shaver, is one of the sole benefactors of the girls' spells: After Nancy kills her abusive stepfather, Grace immediately cashes out his life insurance policy so she and her daughter can move into a luxury apartment. No red flags here whatsoever!

Shaver has been working as an actress and director for decades, and has the Emmy noms to prove it. Directing has taken precedence in recent years, with Shaver at the helm of episodes of Westworld, Snowpiercer, and Lovecraft Country just in the last year alone. She has one son with Steve Smith, her husband of more than 30 years.

It must be hard to play a sword-wielding heroine in a time after Game of Thrones, forever in the shadow of Arya Stark and her Needle. Such was the feat in front of Katherine Langford in her new show, Cursed. Premiering today on Netflix, the fantasy show—based on the 2019 book by the same name—reframes Arthurian legend through the point of view of Nimue (or as she is more commonly known, the Lady of the Lake).

Langford, in the starring role, seems acutely aware that GoT's and Arya's legacy looms large over the fantasy genre. But that doesn't mean she's willing to succumb to the comparisons.

"It's kind of sad that there are so few women that we see fighting or with swords in this genre—at the epicenters of this genre—that as soon as there's one that's kind of similar it becomes a talking point," Langford tells Marie Claire.

In fact, other than their access to swords, Arya and Nimue have very little in common. Nimue—a young woman burdened by her extraordinary magical powers who must embark on a journey to protect her people and serve her family—could more fittingly be compared to Mulan or Katniss Everdeen or Harry Potter. And considering that Nimue is regularly bestowed such designations as demon or "Wolf-Blood Witch," a more fitting GoT comparison might be Daenerys Targaryen.

Langford continues: "As a credit to Game of Thrones and Lord of the Rings, the fantasy genre has amassed such a huge mainstream audience. What makes these fantasy pieces stand out is they put their own stamp on the genre. We know what Game of Thrones looks like; we know what Lord of the Rings looks like. As we were filming, [we were] finding out what makes this Cursed, what makes this unique identity ours."

In its 10 episodes, Cursed never seems to find any type of identity, unique or otherwise—the legend that serves as the show's inspiration feels like an afterthought, with fantastical elements shoe-horned into what would have been better as a coming-of-age story—but Langford manages to captivate. Her Nimue is vulnerable. She's smart. She makes you want to root for her.

That initial vulnerability is what attracted Langford to the character. "We see her in the beginning of the season as a really breathless young woman. She's on the cusp. She is an adult, but she's still not 100 percent there. She hasn't quite come into her womanhood yet. She's been ostracized for having this mysterious curse that she doesn't understand and other people don't understand so they fear it and they also fear her," the actress says. "That initial adversity that she's grown up with made me really curious about her."

For anyone following the 24-year-old's career, her standout performance shouldn't come as a surprise. She blew critics away in 13 Reasons Why, grew a cult-following in Love, Simon, and held her own against heavyweights like Jamie Lee Curtis and Chris Evans in 2019's Knives Out.

Langford signed on to the Netflix show before seeing any scripts. She explains she was a "huge fan of fantasy" (as a child, Mars Attacks was a favorite movie) and Frank Miller's work (he illustrated the book and worked on the show). She simply read Tom Wheeler's manuscript before committing to the role. (Wheeler also acts as the show's executive producer, screenwriter, and showrunner.) She credits Nimue's "honest" story to Wheeler's willingness to collaborate on the character's journey.

"Part of Nimue's story as a woman is she's told she's never able to be in a position of power, so when she does possess the sword and is told the sword belongs to the 'One True King' it never even crosses her mind that she could use this sword. And there's a really powerful moment that changes her thoughts towards that. During the rewrite, that moment disappeared. So I went to Tom and said, 'This is really important. Nimue needs to have this moment.' Out of the conversation, he wrote this really beautiful [scene]."

Such emotional awakenings make up the show's (only) memorable moments. It's those instances, not her sword, that puts Nimue among legends like Arya or Mulan or Frodo Baggins—something that Langford realized while filming.

"When it comes to these hero genres or these hero stories, it's not just about putting a woman in a man's shoes and telling a hero's story with a woman at the center," she says. "Cursed is not only the retelling of Excalibur and the Arthurian legend, but it's also an opportunity to tell the story of a heroine and all of the obstacles that are specific to a woman on that journey."

Though the quiet moments are the show's strength, Langford also executes commendable action sequences that would put any of her fantasy contemporaries to shame. She learned sword-fighting and horseback-riding in just four weeks and says that, as a former athlete, she reveled in the physicality of it all. She shares a particularly gruesome story of filming the show's pinnacle fight scene, rolling around in mud and fake blood made of sugar syrup in 111 degree heat, while wearing three sets of armor during wasp season.

"One of the things I'm really proud of in regards to Cursed is the way that these women are written highlights their capabilities. That's something I worked on a lot with Nimue—making sure she didn't become this damsel-in-distress. For example, if Nimue is running and then she falls over. Why does she fall over? It's about honoring the capabilities in someone and acknowledging the obstacles they have to overcome."

Literally and figuratively, Langford proved that Nimue is a fantasy character to be reckoned with; she is her own woman and not just another fantasy archetype. But if we must make the Thrones comparison, Cursed is perhaps best compared to Arya's "House of White and Black" storyline from the show's fifth season: pointless and circuitous and un-impactful. But, regardless, Arya will forever be remembered as the one who took down the Night King. And similarly, thanks to Langford, Nimue's legacy will now have its proper place in Arthurian legend, despite the show's shortcomings.

"We have always been heroes as women," Langford says, "I just don't think we've been recognized as heroes, particularly in stories. I think [this show] is a small step into that direction."

For more stories like this, including celebrity news, beauty and fashion advice, savvy political commentary, and fascinating features, sign up for the Marie Claire newsletter.

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In recent weeks, I've stretched my streaming options thin. I've finished Ryan Murphy's Hollywood, cringed for eight-plus hours watching Too Hot to Handle, and, of course, binged every new (and old) movie Netflix has to offer. Enter: Cursed. It may not be HBO's Game of Thrones, but the streaming giant's latest conquest looks intriguing—and entertaining enough to fill all our binge-watching voids. Ahead, here's everything you need to know about Netflix's newest medieval fantasy series.

Cursed is based on the graphic novel of the same name.

The new show finds its story from the young adult graphic novel Cursed. The book was written by Tom Wheeler and illustrated by Frank Miller, who's known for his work on films like Sin City and 300. Both of them are executive producers on the series, with Wheeler also serving as showrunner.

As for the plot of the novel, it's a retelling of the legend of King Arthur. In the fabled tale, Arthur is the one who retrieves the sword, Excalibur, from the Lady of the Lake. But in Cursed, it's the Lady who ends up with the powerful weapon. (We stan a feminist twist.)

Cursed is going to be released on Netflix pretty soon.

Great news: Netflix announced an official premiere date and its going to be July 17. You can expect all 10 episodes of Cursed to hit the streaming service this summer.

Also, still freaking out over this promotional poster featuring the show's tagline: "What if the sword chose a queen?" Iconic!

The trailer for the show looks pretty epic.

The trailer is only two minutes, and it's given me enough goosebumps to last until 2021, so who knows what the show will accomplish.

The clip features the lead actress, Katherine Langford, traveling through like, all the four seasons, tasked to deliver a sword by her mother. "You are not some fragile maid. You are a warrior," says one of the characters in the preview. (AGAIN, GOOSEBUMPS.) The clip ends with her absorbing some of the powers from the sword and proceeding to wipe out two bad guys in front of her. I smell loads of medieval drama.

Katherine Langford leads the cast.

As if I couldn't be more excited, Langford of 13 Reasons Why and Knives Out fame is set to play the lead, Nimue. Langford announced that she was joining the cast in September of 2018 (yes, the show has been in the works for a long time). Newcomer Devon Terrell, who previously played a young Barack Obama in Barry, will take on the role of Arthur.

The rest of the Cursed cast features Gustaf Skarsgård (yes, his brother is Alexander Skarsgård) as Merlin. Daniel Sharman (Teen Wolf) will play the "Weeping Monk," Sebastian Armesto (Harlots) will play the part of King Uther Pendragon, and Lily Newmark (Sex Education) will star as Pym.

"I think first and foremost when casting for Cursed, Frank and I were looking for a mythological truth, actors who could bring the emotion and the humanity to legendary characters without losing the sense of elemental magic and epic stakes," Wheeler tells Entertainment Weekly. "Led by Katherine Langford, who is equal parts classic hero and sword-swinging badass, this extraordinary cast has brought such depth, commitment, and heart to this story. We can't wait to introduce them to audiences around the world."

What else do we know about Cursed?

While the trailer feels like a teaser, we do have photos to quench your thirst. And from these photos, we can't complain.

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If the Neiman Marcus Christmas Book isn't the peak of holiday season, I don't know what is. The luxury department chain's annual catalog of top-tier holiday gifts are well worth getting on Santa's nice list for—a $35,000 Moët and Chandon vending machine, anyone?—and past Fantasy Gifts include everything from a $150,000 Arch motorcycle designed by Keanu Reeves to a $20 million submarine.

The Christmas Book was first published in 1926 as a 16-page booklet and delivered as a Christmas card to Neiman Marcus' best customers. Over the past six decades, it's expanded to signify the ultimate in luxury gifting. Neiman Marcus celebrates the 60th anniversary of Fantasy Gifts this year, and you better believe the company hasn't held back when it comes to this year's gifts.

An 007 Aston Martin Designed By Daniel Craig

Yes, you read that correctly. 007 himself has designed seven (!) limited edition Aston Martins. The car comes in a sexy ink blue with a twin-turbo 5.2-liter V12 engine. Oh, and did we forget to mention it includes tickets to the world premiere of the 25th James Bond film, No Time to Die? $700,007.

A Very VIP Taste Of Italy

Always wanted to go on a food tour of Italy, but didn't know where to start? Look and eat no further! This trip for two starts in Modena, Italy, where you'll visit the Pastificio Di Martino factory and learn how to make pasta from third-generation pasta maker Giuseppe Di Martino. (Take that, Food Network reruns!) The following day, you'll enjoy a cooking lesson from Chef Massimo Bottura, followed by a dinner at Bottura's three-Michelin-starred restaurant, Osteria Francescana. The rest of your trip will be spent on a guided tour of the local markets while driving in exotic cars through the Emilia Romagna region, otherwise known as "Italy's Motor Valley." $200,000.

Experience Fashion Week Like An Insider

You and a friend will be flown to New York City to join a Neiman Marcus insider at Fashion Week. You'll be sitting front row at the week's most anticipated shows and later hanging out backstage, plus you'll take home a look from each designer. Worried about how you'll stand out from the crowd? Have no fear. You'll be treated like an A-lister with hair, makeup, and styling every day during your visit, thanks to Neiman Marcus. $250,000.

Kick It In Tokyo With Sneaker Legend Jeff Staple

If you're a sneaker-head, this is the ultimate gift. Head to Tokyo for a once-in-a-lifetime experience of meeting and hanging with streetwear mogul Jeff Staple. You'll get to visit Jeff's favorite stores, eat dinner at his favorite restaurant, Narisawa, and stay at the five-star hotel Aman Tokyo. Throughout 2020, you'll also receive a minimum of eight collaborations by Staple, each featuring a signed letter of authenticity. $110,000.

Star In A Makeup By Mario Instagram Video

Sit in the chair of legendary makeup artist Mario Dedicanovic for an hour as he does your makeup using some of his favorite products from Neiman Marcus. You'll see firsthand why celebrities have to book him a year in advance. Your hour in the chair will be recorded and featured on his Instagram channel, where he'll show your transformation from start to finish. The party doesn't stop there: You'll also receive tickets to one of Mario's makeup master classes, a meet-and-greet, and photo opportunity, and take home some of the products used during your glam session. $400,000.

A Custom Pet Paradise By Rockstar Puppy and Denise Richards

Have your pet feel like a king or queen in a one-of-a-kind pet home made by Rockstar Puppy in collaboration with actress Denise Richards. There are no limits when it comes to making your pet's dream home, so go big or go home. You'll be chatting about your plans with designer Jessica Clark, and then you'll video chat with Richards to make your vision come to life for your special furry friend. $70,000.

A Behind The Scenes Experience With Boucheron

Meet with creative director Claire Choisne at the iconic Maison Boucheron in Paris. You'll get an exclusive look at what goes into each piece at the house's workshops and design studio. Don't think you'll walk away empty-handed—the exclusive Perle Au Trésor will be coming home with you. It's a prized objet d’art that opens to reveal a necklace, bracelet, and two brooches. As for accommodations during your stay, you'll retire in luxury with a two-night stay at Le 26, Boucheron’s Place Vendôme apartment, formally known as Hôtel de Nocé. $695,000.

Create A Couture Pair of Christian Louboutins

Yes, you read that correctly. You and a guest will fly out to Paris and visit Christian Louboutin's favorite stores, one of them being the original Christian Louboutin boutique on rue Jean Jacques Rousseau, where you can pick five (!) pairs from the latest collection. You'll also visit the designer's atelier to work with the atelier director and a group of artisans to design your custom shoe. You'll wrap up the day by wining and dining at Michelin-starred restaurant Divellec and experience the legendary cabaret show Crazy Horse Paris. Then you'll go back to your two-bedroom signature suite at the Mandarin Oriental, a five-star hotel on chic rue Saint-Honoré in Paris. When you return home, your custom shoes will be waiting, along with the original sketch of the design from Mr. Louboutin himself. $125,000.

Bonus: Incircle Around The World

For the first time, Neiman Marcus presents an additional Fantasy Gift exclusively for InCircle card members. You'll taken abroad via private jet to five different destinations, each with a different luxury accommodation. Your adventure begins at Kasbah Tamadot near Marrakech, Morocco, then you'll be off to Lefay Resort & Spa near Dolomiti, Italy; next the IceHotel in Sweden; then Jade Mountain in St. Lucia; and you'll wrap up the trip at The Lodge at Blue Sky in Utah. Guests will stay three nights at each location. $575,000.

Looks like I'm going to need to re-evaluate my Christmas list and scoop up a lot of Neiman Marcus promo codes.

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UndoneThe OA

When we meet Alma (played by Rosa Salazar) at the start of Amazon’s stunning new series Undone, she is speeding down the street in state of panic and ends up with her car wrapped around a telephone pole. Suddenly, Alma’s having visions of her dead father. More troubling, she keeps getting transported to moments from her past, often without warning. Is it the result of brain damage from the accident? Or is the mental illness that runs in her family catching up to her? Over the course of eight half-hour episodes, a more tantalizing possibility unfolds: What if Alma has an inborn ability to manipulate time? With guidance from her dead (imaginary?) father, she might even be able to change the events that led to his untimely death.

Watching Alma—sardonic and jaded at age 28—start to take control of her life, you might have the tingly sensation of your own mind expanding along with hers. That’s because Undone is animated with a hypnotically trippy technique known as rotoscoping (in which animators digitally trace over video footage of actors). It looks like nothing else on TV, but in spirit, it has much in common with two recent shows that also focus on a woman navigating fantastical circumstances. Netflix’s The OA revolves around Prairie (played by Brit Marling), a young woman who recruits a handful of local outcasts to help her break through the barrier between parallel universes. And the Emmy-winning Russian Doll charts the misadventures of Nadia (Natasha Lyonne), a video game designer who finds herself caught in a metaphysical time loop in downtown New York City.

The fantasy genre has long been dominated by boys and men who suddenly find themselves with the power to change the universe, from Back to Future's Marty McFly to Neo in The Matrix to Harry Potter. It’s easy to take for granted the sense of agency this steady media diet of male heroes instills in the male audience. But does this void of female superhuman role models put girls at a formative disadvantage? Do years of ego-boosting fan-boy entertainment lead to society's cabal of mansplainers and office bullies? You can bet the over-talker in your last meeting is fresh off his 10th viewing of Guardians of the Galaxy 2. Dude thinks he’s Chris Pratt.

As the conversation around female representation in media evolves, the showrunners at the helm of Undone, Russian Doll, and The OA have found creative ways to portray female agency. Each show pulls elements from fantasy and sci-fi flicks like Groundhog Day (repeating loops) and Donnie Darko (time travel), while managing to stay grounded in relatable settings. For Russian Doll, it’s an East Village birthday party. Undone’s plot hinges on Alma’s sister’s wedding. Many of the characters in The OA are just ordinary high school students. By keeping one foot in reality, the shows are able to connect with viewers who might normally veer away from anything with a sci-fi label.

Watching this trio of well-realized characters is like a TV tutorial for tapping your own superpowers. Here, how streaming each offers an empowering boost that will help you crush your everyday dilemmas.

Ever feel like family-related baggage is making every day 2 percent more stressful than it needs to be? Undone’s prickly protagonist Alma knows your pain. Stuck in a rut with her daycare job and a perfectly nice boyfriend, Alma's life-altering car accident is triggered by an ugly fight with her younger sister. And it’s at this rock bottom point, recuperating in the hospital, that she starts slipping into scenes from her past. She ends up with a fly-on-the-wall view of some painful memories, like the Halloween night that her father left her alone on a sidewalk and never returned. By reliving these difficult moments from a new vantage point, Alma starts to see how her present-day family dynamic was shaped by his mysterious death that night. Her mother and sister carry the loss in different ways, and for Alma, it makes her push away anyone who gets too close. If Alma’s time trips are more than a figment of an injured brain, then she's actively moving toward the kind of closure that can redefine her current relationships for the better. One standout moment late in the series finds Alma recklessly sabotaging her sister’s wedding with an ill-advised rant; but her developing powers allow her to rewind the moment and make a different choice.

Binge benefit: Juggling your own family issues? Alma’s journey is a mini-masterclass in how to not let your buttons get pushed by the people who know all your buttons.

Russian Doll's first season found a rabid audience soon after its February premiere, thanks to its unforgettable lead character, Nadia. Hard-partying, pessimistic, and lacking a filter, she’d be a lot to take if actress and series co-creator Natasha Lyonne didn’t imbue her with sad-sack charm. She floats through life in a careless way that’s almost enviable until her 36th birthday, when she finds herself caught in a time glitch that forces her to question everything. Repeating the same day allows her to see the ripple effects of her actions and gain insight into her relationships. The show is all about choices, and most of the fun is in seeing Nadia experiment with little changes to her routine. The way she deals with her ex-boyfriend John, her BFF Maxine, and her fellow East Village denizens evolves in telling ways over the course of Season one’s eight episodes. She dies by electrocution, gas explosion, freezing temperatures, and a very sinister flight of stairs. But she lives in just as many new ways, and it’s thrilling to see her uncover new possibilities with every decision.

Binge benefit: Watch this show if you’re wanting to reignite an ailing friendship. By channeling Nadia, you’ll come at the situation with a more open energy, mindful of the bigger picture.

The OA has a very compelling take on female agency because Prairie, the show’s somewhat mysterious central figure, has endured years of captivity as part of a rogue science experiment. She knows what it’s like to have no freedom, and the trauma hangs over her even after she finds her way back home. But Prairie does something quite bold that many of us actively avoid doing: She asks for help. In a series of nighttime meetings in the attic of an unfinished house, she relays her harrowing backstory with gut-wrenching honesty to a rag tag handful of kids (and one teacher). Little do they know, Prairie is enlisting them in a mystical undertaking to save her friend Homer who wasn’t fortunate enough to escape the basement lab where she was imprisoned. By the time Prairie has convinced her friends to perform the Five Movements, a wild series of choreography that can open dimensional gateways, you’ll be rooting hard for them—even if they all look like they’re dancing in Sia music video.

Binge benefit: Dealing with a group project at work? Take inspiration from Prairie’s ability to get even the biggest skeptic on board with her plan.

Next up in the fantasy TV universe: Based on a Philip Pullman’s beloved Y.A. trilogy, HBO’s His Dark Materials premieres November 4. A resourceful girl named Lyra finds that she holds the key to saving multiple universes. Just don’t call her Harriet Potter.

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Fantasy suites are, in theory, supposed to be the sexiest part of Bachelor shows. But they can also lead to some of the most cringeworthy, awkward, and iconic moments of the entire franchise: Becca's "fantasy tent," Nick Viall's admission from "After the Final Rose," Emily turning down all three of her guys, and poor, exhausted Ed on Jillian's season, just to name a few. And recent seasons have given us even more drama—Bachelorette Hannah had FOUR dramatic fantasy suites, and Colton gave us that epic fence jump (some tea from Colton himself on that moment, here). As we prepare ourselves for this season's Bachelor in Paradise fantasy suites, let's relive some of the show's most dramatic overnight moments ever.

Alex and Trista

It's the season that started it all: Future Bachelorette Trista Rehn admits to Alex Michel that she has never had an orgasm during sex. Alex says he's, um, game to try and solve it. In the end, though, the season was rough for Trista—Alex told her he'd pick her, but selected Amanda Marsh instead. Spoiler alert: This also won't be the first sex-related confession in franchise history.

Trista and Ryan

Ah, the OG Bachelorette pair. The fantasy date shows Trista Rehn and Ryan Sutter were meant to be: The pair is a little nervous, and trying to find ways to connect and relax. Then, the fantasy date card comes, and that's that: "Check please!" and they speed off to be together. They're both all-in, and their sweet chemistry is incredible. It's the best kind of drama—because Trista and Ryan have been married for 15 YEARS now. 

Jillian and Ed

Season 5 Bachelorette Jillian Harris and Ed Swiderski were super into each other and seemed ready to have the most perfect overnight date. And then there were some, uh, performance issues. “I was very nervous, and it just didn’t happen. I couldn’t show her that I am really, truly am in love with her,” Swiderski explains. It's very cringey. Still, Jillian ended up selecting him and he proposed. What makes it all worse? Ed may have cheated with two women eight days after getting engaged—the same two women he was allegedly sleeping with before and (incredibly) during the show.

Ali and Roberto

What's most dramatic here isn't necessarily the overnight date itself (which is mostly sweet and straightforward) and more about what happened after. Ali was only intimate with Roberto, the two got engaged, and then they broke up publicly. A source close to Ali said Roberto's temper was a problem, stemming in part from his traditional and conservative values. “He is very old-fashioned when it comes to a woman’s place.” That lens makes this date—and Roberto's eager acceptance to spend the night—intriguing.

Ashley and JP

Another example of "good drama." The date in Fiji is picture-perfect, and JP tells her all about how much his family loved her. Ashley drops a little love bomb, too: She actually got rid of two guys this week, and it makes the couple feel better about their future together. Long after Ashley picked JP for her final rose, the two are actually making it work, with marriage, two kids, and even vow renewals.

Ben and Courtney

One of the biggest female villains in Bachelor Nation history is Courtney, who made it allll the way to an engagement with Ben Flajnik in Season 16. The couple had actually already had sex before overnights while they were skinny-dipping, but the fantasy suite was just as controversial. Courtney revealed in her book and interviews after the fact: They did it three times, and there wasn't any protection provided that she could see. (Other contestants and Chris Harrison have since said that there is.)

Emily and Jef

For Emily Maynard, family (most specifically her daughter) was a big part of her focus on her season. Jef Holm turns down the opportunity to spend the night together partially because of her young daughter watching the show, which Emily totally agrees with and thinks is incredibly respectful. The problem is that this might not have been the whole truth, according to another of her bachelors...

Emily and Sean

Emily said (and show footage supported it) that she have a fantasy suite date with any of her guys. But Sean says this was all a ruse—apparently she made it look like she would refuse, and then they hung out in the fantasy suite together surreptitiously. Sean also claims she hooked up with the other two guys (yes, including Jef).

Sean and Catherine

Sean and Catherine had a particularly strong bond on Season 17, but she initially balks at the concept of a fantasy suite. Catherine did ultimately go for it—and he picked her as his final rose, and the two ended up getting married (and now have an adorable family). What's more interesting, though, is that it was revealed off the show that Sean was a born-again virgin, which was never addressed during his season. So it's very likely that they didn't hook up during their overnight date, after all.

Desiree and Brooks

This is one of the most heartbreaking fantasy suite moments ever. Desiree was clearly head over heels for Brooks, and said she planned on giving him her heart. But after chatting with his family and during their fantasy date day activities, Brooks lays it all out, in the bluntest way: He isn't madly in love with her, and he tells her in no uncertain terms. "I didn't know before this," he explains. Ouch. I guess it's good he was honest?

Juan Pablo and Andi

Before Juan Pablo Galavis was pretty much hated by everyone, the women on his season were still hopeful and professing their love. Andi Dorfman, however, was different—they had a overnight, and she did NOT like what she saw when the cameras stopped rolling. In a conversation the morning after, they get into it, and Andi flat-out says she isn't in love with him. It's an impressive outburst, and most audience members joined her in their dislike of Juan Pablo by the end of the series.

Andi and Nick 

On her own season, Andi Dorfman and Nick Viall had major chemistry—their date was smokin' hot, so it wouldn't have surprised anyone if they'd gone all the way during overnights. The problem was that Nick spoke openly about it during their post-show interview—which came across as though he was trying to shame her. He even outs their hookup, in detail: "If you weren’t in love with me, I’m just not sure why you made love with me." Andi retorts angrily that his comment is "below the belt." Pun intended?

Jared and Ashley

This controversial couple has had quite a road. Ashley Iaconetti was known as the virgin of her various seasons (The Bachelor season 19, Bachelor in Paradise seasons 2 and 3, and the first season of Bachelor Winter Games), as well as the girl who basically cried at everything. She met Jared Haibon during BiP; the two were on and off for a looong while, and this fantasy card is a big moment—but though this clip looks happy, it turns out that Jared breaks up with her and leaves her in tears. Alls well that ends well, though: The two rekindled their romance in 2018, got engaged in a cameo on last year's BiP season, and tied the knot just last week.

Ben and Lauren/JoJo

It's an unwritten rule that the Bachelor or Bachelorette should reserve the "L" word for their final selection. During season 20, however, Ben does no such thing, telling Lauren Bushnell he loves her, and then saying the same thing to JoJo Fletcher during their one-on-one time, too. Ben ended up choosing Lauren, but the pair have since split. Lauren spoke about various warning signs—citing the dual "I love you"s as one of her major concerns.

JoJo and Jordan

JoJo got a much happier ending on her season of The Bachelorette. She and Jordan Rodgers are still together and had a quiet and drama-free fantasy suite date. But that doesn't mean it was dull: Interviewed by People after the fact and asked if it was ok to hook up on the date, they answered with a resounding “Yes!” JoJo added, “We’re going to be honest, we’re not lying.” So, watching the video, yes, they do hook up. And no, they're not ashamed about it. (More interesting context: the couple had to work through some post-show cheating rumors.)

Nick and Raven

Before their overnight on season 21 of The Bachelor, Raven Gates explains to Nick Viall that she has never had an orgasm during sex (just like season one's Trista!). Then, cut to the morning after, and Raven. Is. THRILLED at life. It's very clear what happened, even though Raven doesn't say anything explicitly. "I think I don’t really have to say too much. I think the show pretty much captured it.” she said.

Nick and Vanessa

The signs for Nick Viall and Vanessa Grimaldi's future were right there during their overnight date. Vanessa tells Nick she loves him, but Nick explains to the camera that the relationship has the potential for "more conflict" in the future, given both of their big personalities and similarities. In fact, after their eventual broken engagement, Vanessa alluded to them being a bad fit, so Nick's comment ended up being telling.

Nick and Rachel

After a disappointing fantasy suite date, Nick Viall sends Rachel Lindsay home in an agonizing conversation. What we didn't know at the time was context: Rachel later admitted her head wasn't in the game for the entire situation because she found out Trump had won the 2016 election while they were abroad. Thus, according to her, they didn't hook up during their fantasy suite date—in fact, she just passed out from exhaustion, which she said is what potentially ruined her chances. “I did nothing! I did nothing but sleep,” she claimed.

Rachel and Peter

Rachel went on the become the Bachelorette and she and Peter Kraus had insane chemistry, and he was the odds-on favorite to win it all. But during a long conversation, Peter drops a bombshell during overnights—he may not be ready to propose at the end of this. Rachel still goes to the fantasy suite with him, but the issues linger. Ultimately, Peter won't commit to a proposal, hoping to date instead after the show. So, he goes home in the finale, and Rachel's so devastated that she cries off her lashes.

Adam and Raven

Bachelor in Paradise is mostly known for ridiculous hookups, but there are also real moments of connection. Such is the case with Adam Gottschalk and Raven Gates: They had a sweet chemistry throughout the show, culminating in a sweet fantasy suite. Though they left went home without a proposal, Raven said she knew she loved him as soon as they left they show and started hanging out with him IRL. The two would later go on to get engaged in 2019, proving that (weirdly) sometimes BiP really is the place to find your husband/wife. 

Derek and Taylor

While Bachelor in Paradise fantasy suite was being aired, Derek Peth and Taylor Nolan were in the middle of an interview with Chris Harrison that (spoiler) was about to become an engagement. At the first part of the overnight date, she says she isn't sure if she feels as deeply for Derek as he does for her and that sex is an important part for her to develop feelings. Then, after their evening together, she says she totally adores him—a RAPID turnaround. Sadly, the couple split not long after they got engaged.

Arie and Lauren

Oh, Arie. This is weird and prescient, knowing what we know now (that Arie Luyendyk Jr. didn't pick Lauren Burnham, but then subsequently dumped Becca Kufrin for her). The two clearly have crazy, easy chemistry and they talk about being even closer—Arie even drops the "L" word. The couple is now married—and I wonder if this whole situation ever comes up...

Arie and Becca

With the benefit of context, this date is devastating. Arie drops the "L" word on Becca Kufrin, too. Becca's so into him his cheeks hurt from smiling, and their date is "exotic" (read: in the middle of nowhere). Perhaps things didn't work out with them, because their date wasn't that fantastical? Becca explained later that the fantasy "tent" wasn't all that glamorous after all. "Chris Harrison exaggerated when he called it the fantasy suite,” she said.

Becca and Garrett

Oh god, ANOTHER tentlike situation for Becca?? (Technically it's a treehouse, but, whatevs.) During the overnight, Garrett Yrigoyen reveals he's worried about getting engaged again—even talking about having "cold feet" before the show. The two end up heading to the fantasy suite together anyways. He needn't have been worried—Becca chose him in the end, they got engaged, and they're still together.

Becca and Blake

Poor Blake Horstmann got his heart broken at the end of Becca's season, and the fantasy suite was the beginning of the end for him. It seems like he's worried about the other guys, and he keeps making comments about the relationship. "There's no way she has this with any other guy," he says at the end, trying to convince himself. This is also so, so awkward knowing what we know now about Blake's playboy behavior on Bachelor in Paradise. 

Becca and Jason

Becca admitted she was in love with two men and falling in love with a third, so she refuses to take Jason Tartick (the latter) into an overnight. Initially she has to excuse herself, she's feeling so emotional, then she says through tears that she doesn't think she can get there in the end. It's long, and awkward, and heartbreaking—not to mention, Jason comes back after his elimination but gets zero closure or answers from her.

Colton and Tayshia

Poor Tayshia. She'd been super-supportive of Colton during the whole 23rd Bachelor season, and goes in trying to reassure the virgin about their fantasy suite experience. She later admits they had a great time, but there was no sex. This may have had its origins in Colton's interest in another contestant, and the hopes that his first time might be with her, which went...not totally according to plan, as we'll soon see.

Colton and Cassie

Oh boy. This fantasy suite didn't lead to sex, but it did lead to one of the crazier moments in Bachelor history. Cassie Randolph, fueled in part from her conservative dad dropping in before the date, says she doesn't know if she can get to the place where she'd be ready for an engagement with Colton. She flip-flops, lamenting that she has no idea what she wants, then finally leaves in tears. Colton takes off his microphone, walks away from the producers, and jumps a motherf*cking fence into the wilderness.

Colton and Cassie (again)

It was a whirlwind few episodes, in which Colton broke it off with Tayshia and Hannah G. and told Cassie he wanted to just date her. Cassie met Colton's parents, and the two tried an overnight for the second time. This time, Cassie is relaxed, and they both reiterate how much they care about each other. Colton won't dish on his virginal status afterwards (much to Chris Harrison's chagrin) but the smile on his face said it all.

Hannah and Peter

By the time fantasy suites rolled around, Bachelorette Hannah Brown was feeling...sexually charged, let's put it. She was literally dancing and singing at the very thought, and since Peter Weber was the first to go, he gets to deal with all that energy. Hannah later told Luke (don't worry, we'll get to him in a minute) that she "f*cked in a windmill...and we did it a second time." Even better, she admitted in an interview with Chris Harrison that it was actually FOUR times. Sooo, best overnight ever?

Hannah and Tyler

This one is heartbreaking, in retrospect. Hannah, who shows more self-control than I would have had, tells model Tyler Cameron that their physical relationship is so strong that she needs to develop their emotional relationship during their fantasy suite time. Tyler handles it like a pro. "I would never press you or pressure you at all," he said. "I would love to spend more time with you and just be us." Hannah says he's the most respectful guy she'd ever dated, ever. It had the rest of Bachelor Nation wondering about what could have been, considering he goes home in the finale.

Hannah and Jed

Oh, Jed. Hannah is clearly looking forward to connecting physically with the musician, but he uses his fantasy suite date time to call Hannah out for keeping Luke on so long instead. Jed Wyatt even speaks about how her refusal to kick him off the show makes him want to "retract" his feelings—causing Hannah to freak out, since he's clearly the frontrunner in her eyes. The worst part? He's right about Luke, and he makes a lot of good points. Yet, his behavior before and after the engagement wasn't a whole lot better.

Hannah and Luke

This one was the moment most Bachelorette fans had been looking for. Luke Parker, after a season's worth of toxic actions and comments, finally goes too far. He refers to Hannah potentially being with other guys as "slip-ups" and says he'd leave the show if she'd been with anyone. Thankfully audiences got the iconic "I have had sex, and Jesus still loves me" line in exchange, and Bachelor Nation fell in love with Hannah's honesty all over again. It's also where we learned about "Windmill Sex"—Hannah uses it as a (perfect) parting shot while he gets in the limo. So, in a way, thanks Luke!

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In a very unexpected role reversal Monday night, The Bachelor fans saw Colton Underwood pledge his love to one of his top-three picks, Cassie Randolph, prior to their intended Fantasy Suite date—and Cassie reject the current Bachelor with the immortal words, "I love you...I'm not in love with you." Colton promptly put on his jacket, walked calmly down the driveway, and jumped the freaking fence, after which point the producers and Chris Harrison apparently lost him. The only silver lining: Twitter was ready and waiting with Colton-jumping-the-fence memes.

And thank goodness! Because that, my friends, was one dark moment, even for The Bachelor, a show that features approx. 25 rejections per season. Watching Colton pledge himself entirely to Cassie—"I love you," he repeated in confusion, as though completely unprepared for this outcome—and Cassie sob out a clichéd variation of "it's not you, it's me" and disappear in a waiting car was...hard! I felt sad! I still feel sad!

But as the age-old saying goes, for every kind of pain, there's a meme for that. (Okay, that's not an age-old saying. I just made that up.) So let's take a deep breath and try to enjoy these memes about the Fence Jump That Finally Happened, shall we?

Oh, Shoot

There's a Friends Meme for Everything

Chris Didn't Know What to Do

But How Did He Get There So Fast?

Will Someone Think of Hannah G?

A True Match Made In Heaven

2016 All Over Again

It's Just Like Noah and Allie

Just Checking In

It was everything I was waiting for, and more. Sorry, Colton.

Well, at least we're all laughing about something!

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Every girl has princess ambitions at one time or another. And this year's royal wedding fever has only encouraged our royal fantasies. Most of us would still jump at the chance to the tie the knot in Alexander McQueen (or even just walk the aisle a la Pippa).

Yet, the death of Princess Diana will forever serve as a rude reminder of how quickly a fairytale can turn tragedy. Add a little suspense to your summer with Monica Ali's latest novel, a thriller chronicling a different fate for the Princess of the People. What if her car did not crash in the Paris Alma tunnel? What if, instead, she was plotting an escape?

Untold Story

Author: Monica Ali, Man Booker shortlisted author of Brick Lane.

Genre: Historical fiction meets beach read

What Happens: On August 31, 1997 Princess Diana died in a devastating car accident, leaving the world to mourn the loss of their cherished royal sweetheart. But in Ali's version of the tale, Princess Di tosses the tiara and her so-called charmed life for Midwest America. Haunted by her celebrity and husband's betrayal, the fictional princess believes "the Establishment" is planning her assassination. She consequently decides to go undercover as Lydia, a small-town American woman. Her transformation brings both peace and inevitable paranoia as she struggles with keeping her identity secret, finding true love and missing the children she left behind.

Why Read It: Ali eloquently blurs fact and fiction and highlights the very real audacity of Princess Di, a woman who refused to live within the lines drawn for her. The enchanting plot will keep you rooting for the modern-day icon from cover to cover.

Details: Scribner, June 28, $25.