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The Arrow Season 5 finale begins with Oliver approaching Deathstroke to ask for his help in saving his son William from Prometheus. He offers Deathstroke the chance to find his own son and release him from confinement if he complies. After revealing that the Mirakuru super-soldier drug is no longer flowing through his veins and he is in complete control of himself, Deathstroke agrees to help. Oliver offers the same basic deal to Captain Boomerang as well: help me and you walk. The three of them walk into a trap and it is revealed that Boomerang had already been approached by Prometheus with a better offer. When Nyssa and Malcolm arrive, Boomerang and Talia al Ghul retreat leaving Artemis behind to be captured. Oliver’s makeshift team frees Thea, Curtis, Felicity, and William’s mother Samantha from confinement and they all split up.

Thea accidentally steps on a land mine and Malcolm seemingly sacrifices himself to prevent her death and take out Captain Boomerang with him. That group arrives at a plane left by Prometheus on the island, but find that the island is covered in bombs linked to a dead man switch that will activate if Prometheus dies. Green Arrow, Nyssa, and Deathstroke then proceed to save the rest of Team Arrow and a massive fight breaks out. In it, Nyssa overpowers her sister Talia, the Canaries face off, and Oliver forces Prometheus to retreat. He follows Prometheus to a boat where he is forced to choose between saving his son or killing Prometheus and thus blowing up the island with his friends still there. He manages to free his son, but Prometheus shoots himself and the island explodes. All the while there are flashbacks of Oliver killing Konstantin Kovar and escaping the island circa episode one of the series.

This was easily the best DC finale all week. The return of Deathstroke was fantastic and it was great to see him have all his marbles back. I loved the way the writers played with the audiences’ anticipation of that character by having him double-cross left and right but still end up on Green Arrow’s side. There were a lot of cool foil battles in this episode as well. Seeing Nyssa defeat her sister, despite seeing them interact for the first time this episode, was strangely satisfying. The battle between the Black Canary and Black Siren was quick but cool as well. Prometheus was also a huge highlight considering he’s such a wonderful villain and is always 10 steps ahead no matter how much you think Oliver is catching up. Literally every situation he put Oliver in was shocking and had me wondering just how far ahead he planned all of this, especially the ending where he made Oliver choose between his friends or his son. The acting was also superb throughout, with a shout-out to Stephen Amell (Green Arrow) especially.

The most interesting aspect of this episode was the legacy it represented. Arrow has been going for five seasons now and the entirety of the time, it has been showing five years of Oliver’s life in flashbacks leading up to the very beginning of the series. This episode brought the series full circle. Not only that, this episode was an homage to the series as a whole. Season 1 was represented by Malcolm Merlyn and the flashbacks, Season 2 by Deathstroke and Lian Yu, Season 3 by the al Ghul sisters and the relationship between Malcolm and Thea, Season 4 by the romance between Oliver and Felicity and continued plot about William, and Season 5 by Prometheus and the general plot. Every single season was represented perfectly, with the Season 1 moments being especially heartfelt and powerful; I was getting very teary eyed when Oliver called his mother during the flashbacks after five years of not being able to talk to her.

My only gripes are minor nitpicks. I really hate cliffhanger endings, so ending the episode with the island exploding and all of Oliver’s friends seemingly dead was something I’m not a fan of. Also, if Malcolm did die the way he seems to have died, it’s fitting for his character but was very quick and anti-climactic for a series mainstay since the very beginning.

Beyond that this was a fantastic finale episode topping off an amazing season of Arrow. I’ll need more time to process my thoughts on the season as a whole but it might have taken Season 2’s spot as my favorite of the show. Only time will tell.

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I spend most of my days working towards my Writing and Rhetoric degree at the University of Central Florida, but I spend a lot of my down time keeping up to date on the best TV, movies, and video games the industry has to offer. Here I put all of that extended time to use discussing each of them in-depth.

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Geek Culture

In the TV show Fallout, would the “rule of thumb” really work?

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1 week ago

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April 24, 2024

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Walton Goggins’ character, who plays someone in the first episode of the new TV series Fallout on Amazon, mentions a “rule of thumb” when it comes to nuclear explosions.

According to the character known as “The Ghoul,” he learned in military school that if you raise your thumb and extend your arm toward the blast, you can tell if you are going to live or die. According to the rule, some Americans will be safe from the radioactive fallout if the mushroom cloud is smaller than their thumb. If the mushroom cloud is bigger than their thumb, they won’t be as lucky.

Many other survivors will probably ask you why you’re giving a mushroom cloud the big thumbs up. Is it worth it?

The idea has been looked into a bit thanks to the Fallout video game series, which caught the attention of physicists in their first year at the University of Leicester. They had heard a false rumor that the show’s mascot, Vault Boy, was giving a happy thumbs up to show support for the thumb rule. They wanted to find out if the rule was true.

The team looked at smaller blasts that would fit with the setting of the show and chose a 15-kiloton blast, which is the same size as the blast that happened when the US dropped “Little Boy” on Hiroshima. The first thing the team did was figure out how far away you would have to be from the mushroom cloud for your thumb to cover the blast. They came up with a number that was about 12.6 kilometers (7.8 miles).

“Assuming the detonation occurred on the ground, the radius for avoiding all burns is 4.67 km [2.9 miles] away from the blast center, and the radius for radiation sickness symptoms is 1.56 km [0.97 miles],” the team said in their paper. “This would mean that you would be safe from the initial blast effects of radiation and burns.”

Even though you just saw a nuclear explosion nearby, that doesn’t mean you are safe. And that’s before you worry about nuclear winter. The radiation coming at you from the wind should be your main concern.

“Assuming an average wind speed of 24 km/h, the fallout would reach you within approximately half an hour if you were to be standing directly upwind.”

Getting caught in this wind will give you enough rads to make you sick. One more rule, though: run like hell. This might help you lower your dose.

“This investigation showed that if a 15-kiloton nuclear bomb was to detonate and your thumb extended at an arm’s length just covered the blast, you could survive most negative radiation effects by running laterally in the direction of the wind for a minimum of 1.65 km [1 mile] in half an hour, given that you are standing directly upwind from the blast,” the team said.

But this only works for a blast much smaller than the weapons the world has now. And even for smaller blasts, the rule probably won’t help because of the radiation that is released into the air and the fact that the wind can change quickly. Ruth McBurney, who is the executive director of the Conference of Radiation Control Program Directors in Frankfort, Kentucky, told Inverse that “shelter is the best thing to do if you think you might be in a place where fallout might be present or coming.”

More plans call for temporarily taking refuge in whatever is available, and then moving to better nearby shelters about 30 minutes after the blast. There are, of course, official rules about what to do during a blast. In short, you should stay inside and away from windows, wash your hands, and wait for more instructions. Please don’t condition your hair while you’re doing that.

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Gaming

Sony is reportedly engaged in discussions to form a partnership for a potential bid on Paramount

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2 weeks ago

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April 19, 2024

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There hasn’t been much buzz lately about any new acquisitions in the world of video game intellectual property. According to a recent report, Sony is currently engaged in discussions with a well-funded partner to potentially acquire the renowned film studio Paramount, along with all the exciting possibilities that come with such a merger.

As reported in the New York Times (thanks, ResetEra), Sony Picture Entertainment is reportedly in discussions with Apollo Global Management, an investment firm, as per two sources familiar with the matter. In the past, Apollo had made an offer to acquire Paramount for a minimum of $26 billion, but their bid was ultimately turned down.

The terms of the joint bid are currently under discussion, and there is a chance that the two parties may decide against making a formal offer. Unnamed sources have revealed that Paramount is currently in exclusive discussions with Skydance, preventing any official offer from being made at this time. Investor opposition to the recent deal that Skydance brought seems to have been significant.

The potential impact of such an acquisition is immense. First and foremost, it would introduce adaptations of Sonic and Halo into the expanding media empire of the PlayStation platform holder. Following the announcement, Paramount’s stock experienced a significant 11% surge in after-hours trading.

What are your thoughts on the news? Is there a possibility of Sony acquiring Paramount? Feel free to share your thoughts in the comments section below.

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Geek Culture

Fallout Season 2 has been confirmed as the show continues to captivate audiences, making it one of Amazon’s most-watched series

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April 19, 2024

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Amazon has just made the exciting announcement that a second season of the highly acclaimed Fallout TV adaptation is in the works. Fans can look forward to another thrilling installment of the series, which will be exclusively available on the Amazon Prime streaming service. Confirmation has arrived regarding the second batch of episodes for the series, following the acquisition of $25 million in Californian tax credits.

In just four days after its release, Fallout has already captivated audiences, quickly becoming one of Amazon Prime’s most-watched TV shows of all time. It has garnered immense popularity, rivaling even the acclaimed season of The Lord of the Rings: Rings of Power.

The Fallout TV show has caused a massive surge in sales for the newer games, resulting in a staggering 7,500% increase in purchases of Fallout 4 in Europe. Fallout 76, Fallout 3, and Fallout: New Vegas were also among the top 10 best-selling games across the continent last week. Next week, the highly anticipated PS5 version of Fallout 4 will be released, offering players an enhanced visual experience with new graphical modes. Additionally, players can look forward to exciting new content from the Creation Club.

Considering the potential for character development and narrative arcs, it would be intriguing to see where season two takes Lucy, Maximus, and The Ghoul. Without revealing any spoilers, it’s exciting to speculate on the possible directions their stories could go. We would greatly appreciate your feedback in the comments section.

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