Although the identity of the Night King might not matter too much on Game of Thrones, you can now confirm your own theory.
Altering photos in real time has become a thing since the advent of Snapchat, and Facebook is attempting to get on in the action. In an emailed press release, HBO announced it’s teaming up with Facebook to release a fabulous new look …
Well, okay, it depends on your definition of fabulous. Basically, you get to become the Night King.
Before you think that it’s just another wacky photo augmentation, it does actually look very good. HBO’s press release says that it’s “chillingly realistic.”
HBO also recruited Kristofer Hivju to show it off for us:
Kristofer Hivju Night King Facebook Effect
Kristofer Hivju wants you to know that Winter Is Here.Prepare for the Game of Thrones Season 7 finale by updating your Facebook app, tap the camera icon on the top left and swipe right now to turn yourself into the Night King.
Posted by Game of Thrones on Friday, August 25, 2017
That’s actually quite impressive, all things considered. It gets rid of Hivju’s beard (or, at least, the long bits that are below his face). The additional snow effects as well as the overlay of the Night King’s clothes makes this a pretty cool look.
Considering that HBO explicitly released this due to “The Dragon and the Wolf,” the Game of Thrones season 7 finale, airing this weekend, it seems like we may not have seen the last of the Night King this season (and for more on what that might look like, yes, there’s something going around). It’s hard not to read into every little Game of Thrones thing as we get closer to this Sunday, right?
However, HBO also confirmed that a second look will arrive on Facebook. It’s a “fiery new Game of Thrones camera effect to be released post-finale.” To continue our trend of deep diving (and also referring back to exactly what you think we’re referring to), is it possible that the fire effect will be based on Viserion, if we end up seeing his new form in this finale? It would match up nicely with the Night King.
Next: Who will die in the Game of Thrones season finale?
Alternatively, it’s easy to think that you might just get a dragon fire effect, since Daenerys has already deployed Drogon’s flames liberally this season.