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TL;DR: Get more done this summer and beyond with a lifetime license to Microsoft Office 2024 Professional Plus, on sale now for $54.99 (reg. $249.99).
Opens in a new window Credit: Microsoft Microsoft Office 2024 Professional Plus: Lifetime License $54.99When a piña colada poolside is calling, and it’s hard to get work done this summer, you may need to call in some reinforcements. Give your workflow a little productivity refresh with Microsoft Office 2024 Professional Plus.
The tools you used in the ’90s have been updated and come with some new friends with this Microsoft Office 2024 Professional Plus lifetime license, on sale now for $54.99.
Mashable Deals Be the first to know! Get editor selected deals texted right to your phone! Get editor selected deals texted right to your phone! Loading... Sign Me Up By signing up, you agree to receive recurring automated SMS marketing messages from Mashable Deals at the number provided. Msg and data rates may apply. Up to 2 messages/day. Reply STOP to opt out, HELP for help. Consent is not a condition of purchase. See our Privacy Policy and Terms of Use. Thanks for signing up!If you need a little help tackling the old to-do list, let Microsoft Office 2024 Professional Plus get you back on track. This suite of apps gives you six new tools to handle both personal and professional tasks, and there are no subscription fees.
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SAVE $700: As of June 29, the Roborock Qrevo Slim robot vacuum and mop has been discounted to $699.99 at Amazon. This is $700 off its list price of $1,399.99.
Opens in a new window Credit: Roborock Roborock Qrevo Slim Robot Vacuum and Mop Combo $699.99 at AmazonPrime Day may be behind us now, but don't let the post-summer sale blues get you down. Amazon's still holding onto some amazing deals. Particularly if you're looking for a robot vacuum: The Roborock Qrevo Slim robot vacuum and mop is still 50% off, but only for a limited time.
As of June 29, the Roborock Qrevo Slim is on sale for $699.99 at Amazon. That's $700 off its original price of $1,399.99, and just a cent away from its lowest-ever price at the retailer. There's no telling how long it'll stay at this price, so now is your chance to save.
SEE ALSO: Prime Day is over: We found 50+ deals still live on our Apple, Ninja, Lego, Sony, and DJI favoritesNow that summer has arrived and more time is being spent outside, the Roborock Qrevo Slim is a helpful pick-up to make sure your floors stay free of pet hair, crumbs, and dirt that may get tracked inside. This cleaner can scoot underneath furniture in your home to hit hard-to-reach areas. Its side brush and mop help cover corners, so every spot gets a good clean.
When it comes to vacuuming, it boasts 11,000Pa suction power with dual counter-rotating all-rubber brushes that help keep hair tangles from slowing it down mid-clean. And as for mopping, it comes with dual spinning mops that reach speeds of 200 rotations per minute to scrub up any stubborn stains. It can even lift the mop up as it moves across carpets so they don't get all wet.
Plus, with the help of a StarSight dual light solid-state LiDAR system, it maps out your home and keeps away from any items in its way as it cleans. If the Roborock Qrevo Slim robot vacuum and mop sounds like what you need, don't miss out on this deal at Amazon.
Want to learn more about getting the best out of your tech? Sign up for Mashable's Top Stories and Deals newsletters today.
Welcome to your guide to Pips, the latest game in the New York Times catalogue.
Released in August 2025, Pips puts a unique spin on dominoes, creating a fun single-player experience that could become your next daily gaming habit.
Currently, if you're stuck, the game only offers to reveal the entire puzzle, forcing you to move on to the next difficulty level and start over. However, we have you covered! Below are piecemeal answers that will serve as hints so that you can find your way through each difficulty level.
How to play PipsIf you've ever played dominoes, you'll have a passing familiarity with how Pips is played. As we've shared in our previous hints stories for Pips, the tiles, like dominoes, are placed vertically or horizontally and connect with each other. The main difference between a traditional game of dominoes and Pips is the color-coded conditions you have to address. The touching tiles don't necessarily have to match.
SEE ALSO: Wordle today: Answer, hints for June 29, 2026The conditions you have to meet are specific to the color-coded spaces. For example, if it provides a single number, every side of a tile in that space must add up to the number provided. It is possible — and common — for only half a tile to be within a color-coded space.
Here are common examples you'll run into across the difficulty levels:
Number: All the pips in this space must add up to the number.
Equal: Every domino half in this space must be the same number of pips.
Not Equal: Every domino half in this space must have a completely different number of pips.
Less than: Every domino half in this space must add up to less than the number.
Greater than: Every domino half in this space must add up to more than the number.
If an area does not have any color coding, it means there are no conditions on the portions of dominoes within those spaces.
SEE ALSO: NYT Strands hints, answers for June 29, 2026 Easy difficulty hints, answers for June 29 PipsEqual (0): Everything in this space must be equal to 0. The answer is 0-0, placed horizontally.
Number (2): Everything in this space must add up to 2. The answer is 3-2, placed vertically.
Greater Than (2): Everything in this space must be greater than 2. The answer is 1-1, placed vertically; 3-0, placed horizontally.
Number (15): Everything in this space must add up to 15. The answer is 6-5, placed vertically; 5-5, placed vertically.
Medium difficulty hints, answers for June 29 PipsGreater Than (0): Everything in this space must be greater than 0. The answer is 1-4, placed vertically.
Greater Than (2): Everything in this space must be greater than 2. The answer is 1-4, placed vertically.
Greater Than (3): Everything in this space must be greater than 3. The answer is 4-0, placed vertically.
Greater Than (4): Everything in this space must be greater than 4. The answer is 1-5, placed vertically.
Greater Than (0): Everything in this space must be greater than 0. The answer is 1-1, placed vertically.
Number (7): Everything in this space must add up to 7. The answer is 1-1, placed vertically; 6-0, placed vertically.
Greater Than (1): Everything in this space must be greater than 1. The answer is 3-0, placed vertically.
Number (2): Everything in this space must add up to 2. The answer is 3-0, placed vertically; 2-0, placed vertically.
Hard difficulty hints, answers for June 2 PipsNumber (4): Everything in this space must add up to 4. The answer is 3-4, placed horizontally.
Number (3): Everything in this space must add up to 3. The answer is 3-0, placed horizontally.
Number (1): Everything in this space must add up to 1. The answer is 3-0, placed horizontally; 1-4, placed vertically.
Number (16): Everything in this space must add up to 16. The answer is 5-5, placed vertically; 6-4, placed vertically.
Number (3): Everything in this space must add up to 3. The answer is 3-4, placed horizontally; 0-0, placed horizontally.
Number (6): Everything in this space must add up to 6. The answer is 6-1, placed horizontally.
Equal (4): Everything in this space must be equal to 4. The answer is 4-4, placed horizontally; 1-4, placed vertically; 6-4, placed vertically.
Number (3): Everything in this space must add up to 3. The answer is 6-1, placed horizontally; 2-5, placed horizontally.
Number (16): Everything in this space must add up to 16. The answer is 6-5, placed vertically; 2-5, placed horizontally.
Greater Than (9): Everything in this space must be greater than 9. The answer is 6-6, placed horizontally.
Equal (3): Everything in this space must be equal to 3. The answer is 3-3, placed horizontally.
Number (6): Everything in this space must add up to 6. The answer is 2-4, placed horizonatally.
If you're looking for more puzzles, Mashable's got games now! Check out our games hub for Mahjong, Sudoku, free crossword, and more.
Megan Thee Stallion made a special appearance in Love Island USA Season 8, Episode 23, serving up some "Hot Girl Bakery" for the Islanders after a chaotic recoupling.
SEE ALSO: 'Love Island USA' saw Trinity and Bryce get back together, and the internet couldn't be happierMegan hosted a series of fun cake-filled challenges for the Islanders, which was much needed after Aniya was left heartbroken from giving up a connection with Carl in favor of staying loyal to KC. The Islanders, boys and girls alike, were asked to sit on cake, throw some cake (both literally and figuratively), ice some cake, and eat some cake.
As one can expect, Megan kept it real, and called out some of The Boys (KC, Caleb, Zach, Corbin, Bryce, and Sincere) for putting some of The Girls (Aniya, Jen, Kayda, Kenzie, Melanie, and Trinity) down while they were at Casa Amor — and the internet was here for it.
This Tweet is currently unavailable. It might be loading or has been removed. This Tweet is currently unavailable. It might be loading or has been removed. This Tweet is currently unavailable. It might be loading or has been removed. This Tweet is currently unavailable. It might be loading or has been removed. This Tweet is currently unavailable. It might be loading or has been removed.There were four challenges: the first was musical chairs, the second was a cake-throwing (a change from the usual Love Island pie-throwing), the third involved icing The Boys in a cake using a giant piping bag, and the fourth was a cake-eating challenge. The rounds got increasingly heated, with the Islanders taking out some of their frustrations from the recoupling on each other.
KC and Corbin seemed to get the most cake and icing in the face from The Girls, and even a bit from the new Casa Amor addition, Parmida.
For the icing challenge, Megan saved the best bite for last, singing Aniya's praises before letting her go all in on KC. Specifically, Megan called Aniya "the thickest, the realest, the cutest, and the prettiest," before handing her the piping bag.
"I am choosing to cream this guy because I have never felt so disrespected, put to the side, not checked up on in my entire f***ing life, and I feel like he's going to see how that feels today," Aniya said before icing KC.
Social media users loved that Megan used her presence to uplift Aniya.
This Tweet is currently unavailable. It might be loading or has been removed. This Tweet is currently unavailable. It might be loading or has been removed. This Tweet is currently unavailable. It might be loading or has been removed. This Tweet is currently unavailable. It might be loading or has been removed.After announcing The Girls as the winners of "Hot Girl Bakery," Megan Thee Stallion revealed she had one more dessert on the menu for the Islanders: the results of the public vote that would determine which dumped Casa Amor bombshells would return to the island.
Since revenge is a dish best served cold, the newly returned bombshells made their entrances in giant cakes. These two bombshells were revealed to be Amora, who briefly explored a connection with Sincere at Casa Amor, and Carl, who had built a strong connection with Aniya in the villa.
Viewers were excited that Aniya might have a shot with Carl again.
This Tweet is currently unavailable. It might be loading or has been removed. This Tweet is currently unavailable. It might be loading or has been removed. This Tweet is currently unavailable. It might be loading or has been removed.However, Amora's arrival might stir some trouble for Sincere and Melanie, who were already in a tense spot after having a fight earlier that day about Sincere’s behavior at Casa Amor. The cake might be gone this episode, but the post-cake regret is just getting started.
New episodes of Love Island USA premiere daily except Wednesdays at 9:00 p.m. ET / 6:00 p.m. PT on Peacock.
The "Casa Amor" portion of Love Island USA ended with a recoupling in Season 8, Episode 21, marking the ultimate test of faith for the Islanders when it comes to their partners. One couple in particular passed with flying colors, and social media users couldn't contain their excitement.
SEE ALSO: 'Love Island USA' Casa Amor served up bombshells, drama, and “French fries”Things weren't looking too hopeful for The Girls (Aniya, Jen, Kayda, Kenzie, Melanie, and Trinity) when Casa Amor first aired in Season 8, Episode 17, kicking off with a dramatic livestream of The Boys (KC, Caleb, Zach, Corbin, Sincere, and Bryce) receiving lap dances from the Casa Amor bombshells (Amora, Parmida, Jaiden, Tierra, Alannah, and Sydney). Things got even more confusing for The Girls when they were given the opportunity to explore connections with a boatload (pun intended) of 12 new bombshells at the villa.
Both sides were forced to rethink their existing partnerships, and were given the opportunity to either stay in their couples or choose one of the bombshells to partner up with in Episode 21. Trinity and Bryce were one of three couples who chose to stay loyal to each other, and people were moved by the duo's tear-filled reunion.
This Tweet is currently unavailable. It might be loading or has been removed. This Tweet is currently unavailable. It might be loading or has been removed. This Tweet is currently unavailable. It might be loading or has been removed. This Tweet is currently unavailable. It might be loading or has been removed.Some people are saying that the recoupling of Trinity and Bryce might give them a chance to be this season's winning couple.
This Tweet is currently unavailable. It might be loading or has been removed.Two other couples also had us biting our fingernails with uncertainty because both had explored other connections during Casa Amor: Kayda and Zach, and Melanie and Sincere. Kayda explored a connection with Chay while Zach briefly spoke to Alannah (who has since been removed from the rest of the season), and Melanie explored a connection with Corey while Sincere got to know Amora.
However, both duos ultimately decided to stay coupled within their existing connections. Melanie didn't let Sincere off the hook so easily for his behavior at Casa Amor though, and social media users had some conflicting thoughts about the situation.
This Tweet is currently unavailable. It might be loading or has been removed. This Tweet is currently unavailable. It might be loading or has been removed.While Kayda, Zach, Melanie, and Sincere reaffirmed their existing connections, Aniya did not have the same luck with KC. Aniya chose to stay local to KC, but KC walked in with Tierra — ending their connection and leaving Aniya single and vulnerable.
Aniya was devastated not only at KC's betrayal, but also because choosing KC meant that she had to give up a connection with Carl, the bombshell she had genuinely hit it off with during Casa Amor. Social media users were sympathetic to Aniya's heartbreak.
This Tweet is currently unavailable. It might be loading or has been removed. This Tweet is currently unavailable. It might be loading or has been removed.The Girls came to Aniya's defense, calling out KC for being dishonest with Aniya. Trinity and Tierra got into an argument, with Tierra calling Trinity a "little girl." Let’s just say there wasn't much amor in the casa that night.
This Tweet is currently unavailable. It might be loading or has been removed. This Tweet is currently unavailable. It might be loading or has been removed.The other Islanders chose to partner up with the new bombshells: Jen chose Gal, Caleb chose Jaiden, Kenzie chose Dylan, and Corbin chose Parmida (followed by a series of "boos" from The Girls).
The remaining bombshell men who did not get picked (Carl, Chay, Corey, and Ronnie) were asked to leave the villa. Bombshell women Amora and Sydney's exits were not shown on-screen.
Despite the episode ending on a heartbreaking note for Aniya, a call for a public vote on which dumped Islander (between Amora and Sydney for the bombshell women and Carl, Chay, Corey, and Ronnie for the bombshell men) should be allowed to return to the villa left viewers with some hope.
This Tweet is currently unavailable. It might be loading or has been removed. This Tweet is currently unavailable. It might be loading or has been removed. This Tweet is currently unavailable. It might be loading or has been removed.New episodes of Love Island USA premiere daily except Wednesdays at 9:00 p.m. ET / 6:00 p.m. PT on Peacock.
If you like playing daily word games like Wordle, then Hurdle is a great game to add to your routine.
There are five rounds to the game. The first round sees you trying to guess the word, with correct, misplaced, and incorrect letters shown in each guess. If you guess the correct answer, it'll take you to the next hurdle, providing the answer to the last hurdle as your first guess. This can give you several clues or none, depending on the words. For the final hurdle, every correct answer from previous hurdles is shown, with correct and misplaced letters clearly shown.
An important note is that the number of times a letter is highlighted from previous guesses does necessarily indicate the number of times that letter appears in the final hurdle.
Mashable 101 Fan Fave: Nominate your favorite creators today
If you find yourself stuck at any step of today's Hurdle, don't worry! We have you covered.
SEE ALSO: Hurdle: Everything you need to know to find the answers Hurdle Word 1 hintAdmission.
SEE ALSO: Apple’s new M3 MacBook Air is $300 off at Amazon. And yes, I’m tempted. Hurdle Word 1 answerENTRY
Hurdle Word 2 hintClear.
SEE ALSO: Wordle today: Answer, hints for June 29, 2026 Hurdle Word 2 AnswerCRISP
Mashable 101 Fan Fave: Nominate your favorite creators today
Hurdle Word 3 hintSmack.
SEE ALSO: NYT Connections Sports Edition today: Hints and answers for June 29 SEE ALSO: NYT Connections hints today: Clues, answers for June 29, 2026 Hurdle Word 3 answerSPLAT
Hurdle Word 4 hintDiscovered.
Hurdle Word 4 answerFOUND
Final Hurdle hintCrown.
SEE ALSO: Mahjong, Sudoku, free crossword, and more: Games available on Mashable Hurdle Word 5 answerTIARA
If you're looking for more puzzles, Mashable's got games now! Check out our games hub for Mahjong, Sudoku, free crossword, and more.
"It's our house, man."
Matt Smith declares the Targaryen energy of House of the Dragon Season 3, episode 2, as Mashable tasked the cast with unpacking the episode's biggest moments. And there are many of them.
As Team Black march back into the Red Keep, and Rhaenyra Targaryen (Emma D'Arcy) finally stares down the Iron Throne, episode 2 sees the major players of Westeros making monumental moves. In the video above, House of the Dragon stars D'Arcy, Smith, Olivia Cooke, Fabien Frankel, Steve Toussaint, Abubakar Salim, Ewan Mitchell, Gayle Rankin, Bethany Antonia, Phoebe Campbell, Clinton Liberty, Tom Bennett, and Kieran Bew give us an insight into the chaos.
"The episode was just amazing on the page, and very, very electric, and so I certainly wanted to meet the bar that was set by Sara [Hess], Ryan [Condal], and the team," D'Arcy told Mashable. "But I think my instinct was that this is where a political family, one's personal and political lives being so enmeshed, can be so fruitful, because some of the personal/professional boundaries that [Rhaenyra] has to cross in order to take her her place and to take her crown are important identity thresholds.
"I wanted it to feel like a moment of personal reckoning, and I wanted to trouble the journey to the throne so much that by the time she gets there, the anticipated triumph is robbed in that moment, and that actually there's something very sparse about it, especially under the gaze of Alicent, her former friend."
Team Black supporters, rejoice! Queen Rhaenyra Targaryen (Emma D'Arcy) has the Iron Throne, and King's Landing with it.
SEE ALSO: 'House of the Dragon' Season 3: How does Rhaenyra's conquest of King's Landing compare to the book?The momentous victory comes at the end of House of the Dragon Season 3, episode 2, when Rhaenyra, Daemon (Matt Smith), and the rest of Team Black's dragonriders descend upon King's Landing. Thanks to her many dragons and Alicent Hightower's (Olivia Cooke) help from the inside, it's not long before Rhaenyra wins the world's bloodiest game of musical chairs and sits atop the Iron Throne.
The entire Fall of King's Landing sequence plays out similarly to how it does in George R.R. Martin's Fire and Blood, with a few exceptions, of course. Among the biggest is Rhaenyra's first interaction with the Iron Throne during her coronation.
In the book, the Iron Throne slices and dices Rhaenyra when she sits on it for the first time. According to an eyewitness account from Septon Eustace, she leaves the throne room with blood running down her legs and palm. That can only mean one thing: The Iron Throne has rejected her, and her rule won't last long.
In House of the Dragon, though, Rhaenyra leaves the Iron Throne cut-free. (She is, however, traumatized by having to behead Otto Hightower (Rhys Ifans), so it's not a pleasant seating experience either way.) The omission of the cuts could come down to the show's source material. Fire and Blood is written as a historical account, so everything we're reading is filtered through biased, perhaps even unreliable sources. Septon Eustace is one such source. He supports Aegon II (Tom Glynn-Carney) over Rhaenyra, and if anyone were going to embellish Rhaenyra's coronation in a way that delegitimizes her rule, it would be someone like him.
By ignoring Eustace's account, House of the Dragon firmly legitimizes Rhaenyra's rule instead, a choice that tracks with the its very sympathetic portrayal of her. (House of the Dragon has previously brought up the idea of the Iron Throne rejecting rulers in the past, though, as the throne did cut Viserys (Paddy Considine) during his reign.)
However, the series also alludes to book Rhaenyra's experience with the Iron Throne in a clever way. Her first moments on the Iron Throne are reflected in the pool of blood left over from Otto's execution, hinting at the bloodshed that led her to this moment, as well as all the bloodshed to come. After all, we're only on episode 2 of Season 3. There are so many more episodes left for things to go wrong; we don't need a cut from the Iron Throne to let us know things are only going to go south from here.
No matter where you stand in the Game of Thrones versus House of the Dragon debate, there's one area where the prequel series trounces the original, and that's its treatment of sexual violence.
SEE ALSO: 'House of the Dragon' review: Season 3 atones for the sins of Season 2Onscreen sexual violence was a constant from Game of Thrones' very first episode, in which Khal Drogo (Jason Momoa) raped Daenerys Targaryen (Emilia Clarke) on their wedding night. From there on out, scenes of sexual assault became a disquieting norm. Several consensual encounters in George R.R. Martin's A Song of Ice and Fire novels were turned into non-consensual ones in the show, including Jaime Lannister's (Nikolaj Coster-Waldau) rape of his twin sister, Cersei Lannister (Lena Headey), in Season 4. At times, Game of Thrones even used a woman's assault as a vehicle for a male character's development. The show's depiction of Sansa Stark's (Sophie Turner) rape at the hands of Ramsay Bolton (Iwan Rheon) became less about her traumatic experience than about Theon Greyjoy's (Alfie Allen) reaction to it. (Sansa does not even cross paths with Ramsay in the novels.)
In showing these scenes of sexual violence in graphic detail, Game of Thrones hoped to hammer home the brutality of Westeros. But House of the Dragon proved that you don't need explicit scenes of assault to emphasize the harsh realities women face in the series (and by extension, the medieval period on which it was based). Aside from one upsetting but brief scene of marital rape between Viserys Targaryen (Paddy Considine) and young Alicent Hightower (Emily Carey), House of the Dragon has shown far more restraint than its predecessor when it comes to portraying sexual violence. Instead, it focuses on the patriarchal systems that cast doubt and inferiority on women like Rhaenyra (Emma D'Arcy) and Alicent (Olivia Cooke), which in turn foster violence.
SEE ALSO: 'House of the Dragon' Season 3: How does Rhaenyra's conquest of King's Landing compare to the book?However, a scene in House of the Dragon Season 3, episode 2 threatens to derail that restraint and launch the series down a slippery slope towards Game of Thrones' worst tendencies.
In the scene, Master of Laws Jasper Wylde (Paul Kennedy) accosts Alicent, believing her to be a traitor to the Iron Throne. He then attempts to rape her, falsely assuming she would be willing due to her prior sexual relationship with Ser Criston Cole (Fabien Frankel). Thankfully, Maester Orwyle (Kurt Egyiawan) intervenes not too long into the attack, and the scene is nowhere near as graphic as anything we've seen in Game of Thrones. Still, Alicent's extended struggle set off alarm bells that any Game of Thrones viewer is all too familiar with. For a moment, it looked like we were about to watch yet another unnecessary Westeros-set rape.
"Unnecessary" is truly the best way to describe the scene. Alicent's assault is not in House of the Dragon's source material, Martin's Fire and Blood. Nor does it wind up having any further bearing on the episode, besides terrifying Alicent as she tries to ensure Rhaenyra's safe passage to the Red Keep. You know what else could have established that fear? The simple fact that Jasper already suspects her plans! There was absolutely no need to escalate to threats of sexual violence. Possibly losing her head as a traitor to the crown should be frightening enough, yet House of the Dragon seems to believe that the only way it can truly raise the stakes for Alicent is by putting rape on the table. (The show has already put her through enough sexually, between her marital rape, Larys Strong (Matthew Needham) fetishizing her feet, and her own son, Aemond (Ewan Mitchell), giving her a non-consensual kiss.)
Alicent's assault isn't the only troubling moment of sexual violence to appear in House of the Dragon Season 3. In episode 1, Ser Gwayne Hightower (Freddie Fox) witnesses a frightened, half-dressed woman leaving a soldier's tent. He informs Criston that their troops are hurting women and should be punished for their crimes, to which Criston responds that they'll all be reduced to their base animal instincts soon enough thanks to the war. The scene is meant to establish their opposing outlooks: Gwayne hopes to hold fast to order and any last modicum of knightly honor, while Criston embraces apathy. Yet the show fails to consider the victim who sparked this conversation. She's a nameless entity whose trauma exists solely to fuel Gwayne and Criston's differences. Her rape is as good as window dressing for House of the Dragon's purposes, and that is a severe step back for a show that has previously not relied on sexual violence as a crutch for shock value.
Rape should not be a world-building tool. It took five seasons and a loud uproar over Sansa's assault for Game of Thrones to truly understand that. While the series scaled back its portrayals of sexual violence in Season 6 and beyond, that unfortunate legacy still lingers over the franchise, including in Game of Thrones spin-off A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms. In the show's first few scenes, Ser Duncan the Tall (Peter Claffey) rehearses being a knight by telling an imaginary assailant to "stop raping." In a vacuum, it's a funny moment, but it also feels like an acknowledgement of Game of Thrones' over-reliance on rape as a plot device. If only House of the Dragon would listen.
If you have experienced sexual abuse, call the free, confidential National Sexual Assault hotline at 1-800-656-HOPE (4673), or access the 24-7 help online by visiting online.rainn.org.
You can see why people talk about Harrenhal being cursed.
Not only is the place a spooky, ruined husk of a castle, but it's now been invaded by both Team Black and Team Green since the Dance of the Dragons began.
Daemon (Matt Smith) conquered it back in House of the Dragon Season 2, and now Aemond (Ewan Mitchell) has done the same thing. But what do their very comparable, but also very different, conquests of the castle reveal about them? Actually, quite a lot.
SEE ALSO: 'House of the Dragon' Season 3 family tree: How the Targaryens, Velaryons, and Hightowers connect What happens in Harrenhal in Season 3, episode 2?Fresh from kissing his own mother (heave), Aemond flies in to Harrenhal on the back of Vhagar and immediately starts burning soldiers. He dismounts, kills a few more people, then bursts in on poor old Ser Simon Strong (Simon Russell Beale) and his children eating supper.
"Draw your sword," hisses Aemond.
"Your grace, I have no sword," responds sweet Ser Simon.
"Then get one!" says Aemond.
Ser Simon, now in peak charm offensive mode, gets up from the table and slowly walks towards Aemond, telling him he does not wish to oppose him. But the minute he's face-to-face with Team Green's drama king, he gets a dagger in the belly.
Aemond then kills both of Ser Simon's sons, but not before he gets a knife in the back himself.
Featured Video For You 'House of the Dragon': Everything you need to know in 2 minutes What does this second Harrenhal invasion tell us about Aemond?The scene in episode 2 has multiple similarities to Daemon's invasion of Harrenhal back in Season 2, episode 3. Like Aemond, Daemon also flies in on his dragon and faces minimal opposition (even less, in fact — there's just one guard who he quickly knocks out cold before reaching the dining hall).
The difference? When Ser Simon Strong immediately surrenders, Daemon doesn't needlessly slaughter him. He accepts his offer and stays in the castle.
Credit: Ollie Upton / HBOAemond and Daemon are both undoubtedly fierce warriors. But their parallel Harrenhal sieges show a key weakness in Aemond's character: Either because of a deep mistrust of people, a ruthlessness, or some combination of the two, Aemond makes a mistake in killing Ser Simon. In return for his restraint, Daemon gets supper, while Aemond's aggression only gets him gravely injured.
For all things House of the Dragon, Mashable has you covered.
After 20 episodes, several bloody battles, and the death of two sons, Rhaenyra Targaryen (Emma D'Arcy) has finally done it. She's taken the Iron Throne of Westeros.
SEE ALSO: 'House of the Dragon' Season 3 family tree: How the Targaryens, Velaryons, and Hightowers connectThe victory comes at the end of House of the Dragon Season 3, episode 2, which sees Rhaenyra and Daemon (Matt Smith) crash King's Landing on dragonback and take the Red Keep by storm. It's a massive development in both the show and its source material, George R.R. Martin's Targaryen history Fire and Blood. However, just like with episode 1's gargantuan Battle of the Gullet, House of the Dragon makes several changes when translating Rhaenyra's triumph to the screen.
From Alicent Hightower's (Olivia Cooke) new involvement to her father Otto's (Rhys Ifans) demise, here are all the biggest differences between House of the Dragon and Fire and Blood's takes on the Fall of King's Landing.
Alicent is behind the Fall of King's Landing in House of the Dragon. Olivia Cooke and Phia Saban in "House of the Dragon." Credit: Ollie Upton / HBOHouse of the Dragon's biggest change to the Fall of King's Landing has been in the works since the Season 2 finale, when Alicent came to Dragonstone to strike a deal with Rhaenyra. She told Rhaenyra that once Aemond (Ewan Mitchell) flew to Harrenhal, she would be free to take King's Landing, along with Aegon II's (Tom Glynn-Carney) head. Alicent would even tell the soldiers to stand down, and in return Rhaenyra would let her, Helaena (Phia Saban), and Jaehaera go free. This deal is all completely new to the show, and the same goes for the deal's execution in Season 3, episode 2, as Alicent keeps her word.
In the book, the end result is the same: Alicent surrenders the city. However, she does so under duress. Rhaenyra offers her the choice between giving up her life and giving up King's Landing, and obviously, Alicent chooses to stay alive.
Gwayne straight up dies in Fire and Blood. Freddie Fox in "House of the Dragon." Credit: Theo Whiteman / HBOGwayne Hightower (Freddie Fox) might not like slumming it in the Riverlands with Criston Cole (Fabien Frankel), but he should be thankful he's not around for the Fall of King's Landing. If he were, he'd likely meet his Fire and Blood fate: death at the hands of City Watch commander Luthor Largent (Tom Cullen).
SEE ALSO: 'House of the Dragon' Season 3, episode 1: Criston Cole and Gwayne Hightower are worlds apartIn the book, Gwayne is second in command of the gold cloaks, and he wants to sound the alarm on Rhaenyra's arrival. Luthor, still loyal to Daemon for creating the City Watch, puts an end to it by stabbing him. However, show Gwayne gets to live another day.
Otto Hightower's execution looks different in House of the Dragon. Rhys Ifans in "House of the Dragon." Credit: Ollie Upton / HBOWhile Gwayne escapes his Fire and Blood death, his father Otto is not so lucky. Like in Fire and Blood, he is the first person to be beheaded during Rhaenyra's reign.
House of the Dragon does alter some elements of Otto Hightower's execution, though. For starters, it comes right after his release from the prison cells below King's Landing, which is where Larys Strong (Matthew Needham) has apparently been keeping him since halfway through Season 2. Otto avoids any prison time in Fire and Blood.
SEE ALSO: I saw 'House of the Dragon's Jace Velaryon DJ his own funeralHouse of the Dragon also fleshes out Otto's death by having Daemon encourage Rhaenyra to take his head herself. (The book does not describe his execution in any detail.) It's a brutal moment that sees a still-grieving Rhaenyra continue the cycle of violence that has plagued Westeros since the start of the Dance of the Dragons. It also bodes very ill for her relationship with Alicent, who's escorted back to the Red Keep just in time to see her former friend standing over her dead father's body. Not quite how you imagined the day would end, right, Alicent?
Aegon II flees during Rhaenyra's invasion in Fire and Blood. Matthew Needham and Tom Glynn-Carney in "House of the Dragon." Credit: Theo Whiteman / HBOPart of Alicent and Rhaenyra's deal was that Rhaenyra would get to take Aegon's life. In the show, he's already far from King's Landing, but in Fire and Blood, he makes his escape during the Fall of King's Landing itself. He doesn't go alone: He takes his children Jaehaera and Maelor (who does not exist in the show), along with Kingsguard members Willis Fell and Rickard Thorne.
Rhaenyra doesn't get sliced by the Iron Throne in House of the Dragon. Emma D'Arcy in "House of the Dragon." Credit: Ollie Upton / HBOWhile Rhaenyra winds up on the Iron Throne in both House of the Dragon and Fire and Blood, the show leaves out a pretty major detail about her first time on Westeros' most famous chair. In Fire and Blood, the Iron Throne cuts her legs and palm, suggesting that it has "spurned" her and that she won't sit atop it for long. House of the Dragon leaves this out entirely, perhaps choosing not to play into the legend of the Iron Throne rejecting unworthy rulers. (Or choosing to emphasize that Rhaenyra is truly worthy.) However, the show has set a precedent for the Iron Throne cutting people in the past, with Viserys' (Paddy Considine) many festering wounds throughout Season 1.
But just because House of the Dragon's Iron Throne didn't cut Rhaenyra doesn't mean she's in for a smooth reign. Based on the trailer for the rest of Season 3, she's going to face the challenge of winning the realm back to her side, as well as contend with the forces of Ormund Hightower (James Norton). She may officially be Queen of the Seven Kingdoms, but there's still plenty of Season 3 left for things to go wrong.
If you can hear the sound of screeching angst on the wind, that's no rogue dragon. That's me, after watching House of the Dragon's latest episode.
Season 3, episode 2 of the HBO series features the loss of one of my favourite characters in Westeros, at the hands of one of the most diabolical. We're used to character deaths by now — this is the Game of Thrones universe — but this death in particular need not have happened. Nay, should not.
I'm talking about Aemond Targaryen's (Ewan Mitchell) cold-blooded slaying of Ser Simon Strong (Simon Russell Beale). And yes, Mashable asked Mitchell about it.
SEE ALSO: 'House of the Dragon' Season 3: Sharako Lohar one-liners, ranked What happens to Ser Simon Strong in House of the Dragon? Vale, Ser Simon Strong (Simon Russell Beale). Credit: Ollie Upton / HBOThe most patient man in the Seven Kingdoms and a stealth MVP of House of the Dragon Season 2, Ser Simon has been putting up with Targaryen bravado for an age. As Daemon Targaryen (Matt Smith) stomped through seized halls and tripped balls nightly last season, the Castellan of Harrenhal remained a paragon of diplomacy — even making sure Queen Rhaenyra (Emma D'Arcy) wasn't usurped by her own uncle-husband.
Strong pledged fealty to Rhaenyra in Season 2, so he's technically a direct enemy of Aemond's, who's next in line for his brother Aegon II's (Tom Glynn-Carney) throne. However, when Aemond strides into Harrenhal, with his dragon Vhagar happily barbecuing up the small number of soldiers stationed in the crumbling castle, Ser Simon is yet again hospitable to a gate-crashing Targaryen.
Called to duel for the castle by the prince regent, Ser Simon simply hands the keys over instead of taking up arms. "I do not wish to oppose you; I have not wielded a blade these many years," he says. Strong makes the unwise decision to try and reason with Aemond, even putting a hand on his shoulder to seal the peace deal. It doesn't work. Aemond murders the unarmed Ser Simon and his sons (but not before one of them gets a cheeky stab in).
"I'm innocent, man. He came to me!" - Ewan MitchellReader, I flipped the proverbial table. Not this delightful Harrenhal Santa, this provider of post-battle wine, this constant source of acquiescence to punk princes. Aemond's no stranger to eliminating those in his way — whether he intends to or not — but murdering my gracious Westeros grandfather at his own table is too far. Worse than pashing your own mother.
"I'm innocent, man," Mitchell told Mashable. "He came to me!"
Asked why Aemond demands Ser Simon pick up his sword, Mitchell said Aemond's aim is clear.
"It's just to give him a fair fight, or just be like, look, go out on your sword, as opposed to, you know..." he said. "Because I think Aemond goes into that room with the intention he's going to wipe out everyone in it, and he does until [Alys] shows up."
Featured Video For You 'House of the Dragon' cast on Season 3's colossal Battle of the Gullet Who's even left in House Strong?Aemond's Strongicide means big trouble for the Strong family's legacy. This noble Riverlands family's days are numbered. Ser Simon and his sons are now slain. Harwin Strong (Ryan Corr) and his father, Lord Lyonel Strong (Gavin Spokes), died in a fire. Harwin's bastard sons with Rhaenyra are both dead, so all we have left is... the diabolical master of whisperers, Larys Strong (Matthew Needham), who commissioned the fire that killed his father and brother. He's currently on the World's Worst Road Trip with Aegon II, in enemy territory where everyone seems to want their heads.
Now, my question for the room. Will Alys Rivers (Gayle Rankin), who showed up after the slaughter of the Strongs, help this murdering brigand, Aemond? Should she? I, for one, might leave him on the floor for a bit.
House of the Dragon can't get enough of a good prophecy.
We've already had a number of these courtesy of Helaena (Phia Saban), but there's one big central prophecy that things keep coming back to. We're talking, of course, about the Song of Ice and Fire dream that Aegon the Conqueror himself had, and which Viserys (Paddy Considine) told young Rhaenyra (Milly Alcock) about back in the show's very first episode.
We're now a few seasons on from that moment, but the prophecy continues to hang over our central characters like a shadow. So, how did it rear its head in episode 3, and what does it mean? Let's recap.
SEE ALSO: 'House of the Dragon' Season 3 family tree: How the Targaryens, Velaryons, and Hightowers connect How does the prophecy feature in Season 3, episode 2?The prophecy is mentioned by Daemon (Matt Smith) when he returns to Dragonstone and finds adult Rhaenyra (Emma D'Arcy) bedbound with grief over the death of her son, Jace (Harry Collett).
"I saw it, Rhaenyra. At Harrenhal," he says. "The darkness in the North. The Song of Ice and Fire. I saw a girl with silver hair in a desert far away, and there were dragons at her breast."
He's talking specifically about the visions he had during his time at Harrenhal in Season 2, during which he saw images from the prophecy, along with glimpses of his own role in the story.
For a moment, Rhaenyra remains unmoved. But then Daemon says something that clearly gets through to her.
"But if it is real, what my brother told you... if it were true... what, then, would you do?"
Featured Video For You 'House of the Dragon' cast on Season 3's colossal Battle of the Gullet What prophecy is Daemon talking about?Hang on a minute. What did Daemon's brother Viserys tell Rhaenyra again, exactly?
Here's a reminder of his speech, word for word, from episode 1:
"Just as Daenys foresaw the end of Valyria, Aegon foresaw the end of the world of men. 'Tis to begin with a terrible winter, gusting out of the distant North. Aegon saw absolute darkness riding on those wings, and whatever dwells within will destroy the world of the living. When this great winter comes, Rhaenyra, all of Westeros must stand against it. And if the world of men is to survive, a Targaryen must be seated on the Iron Throne. A king or queen, strong enough to unite the realm against the cold and the dark. Aegon called his dream the Song of Ice and Fire. This secret has been passed from king to heir since Aegon's time. Now you must promise to carry it and protect it. Promise me, dear Rhaenyra. Promise me."
Looking back on that, it's not hard to see why Daemon's mention of the prophecy — and the fact he's seen it himself in a vision — is enough to persuade Rhaenyra to push on to King's Landing. Back in Season 2, she tells Jace about the prophecy in a way that suggests she has come to believe it. And given that she also believes her father wanted her to be his heir, it follows that she needs to return to King's Landing to carry out Viserys' wishes.
The NYT Connections puzzle today is not too difficult if you're a nature lover.
Connections is the one of the most popular New York Times word games that's captured the public's attention. The game is all about finding the "common threads between words." And just like Wordle, Connections resets after midnight and each new set of words gets trickier and trickier—so we've served up some hints and tips to get you over the hurdle.
If you just want to be told today's puzzle, you can jump to the end of this article for today's Connections solution. But if you'd rather solve it yourself, keep reading for some clues, tips, and strategies to assist you.
SEE ALSO: Mahjong, Sudoku, free crossword, and more: Play games on Mashable What is Connections?The NYT's latest daily word game has become a social media hit. The Times credits associate puzzle editor Wyna Liu with helping to create the new word game and bringing it to the publications' Games section. Connections can be played on both web browsers and mobile devices and require players to group four words that share something in common.
This Tweet is currently unavailable. It might be loading or has been removed.Each puzzle features 16 words and each grouping of words is split into four categories. These sets could comprise of anything from book titles, software, country names, etc. Even though multiple words will seem like they fit together, there's only one correct answer.
If a player gets all four words in a set correct, those words are removed from the board. Guess wrong and it counts as a mistake—players get up to four mistakes until the game ends.
This Tweet is currently unavailable. It might be loading or has been removed.Players can also rearrange and shuffle the board to make spotting connections easier. Additionally, each group is color-coded with yellow being the easiest, followed by green, blue, and purple. Like Wordle, you can share the results with your friends on social media.
SEE ALSO: NYT Pips hints, answers for June 29, 2026 Here's a hint for today's Connections categoriesWant a hint about the categories without being told the categories? Then give these a try:
Yellow: Misbehave
Green: Scarf down
Blue: Boom boom
Purple: Natural elements
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Here are today's Connections categoriesNeed a little extra help? Today's connections fall into the following categories:
Yellow: Old timey troublemakers
Green: Consume with gusto
Blue: Parts of a speaker
Purple: Ending in parts of a tree
Looking for Wordle today? Here's the answer to today's Wordle.
Ready for the answers? This is your last chance to turn back and solve today's puzzle before we reveal the solutions.
Drumroll, please!
The solution to today's Connections #1114 is...
What is the answer to Connections todayOld timey troublemakers: MISCREANT, ROGUE, RUFFIAN, SCOUNDREL
Consume with gusto: CRUSH, GUZZLE, INHALE, SNARF
Parts of a speaker: CABINET, CONE, MAGNET, WOOFER
Ending in parts of a tree: EMBARK, GROOT, NUDIBRANCH, STRUNK
Don't feel down if you didn't manage to guess it this time. There will be new Connections for you to stretch your brain with tomorrow, and we'll be back again to guide you with more helpful hints.
SEE ALSO: NYT Connections Sports Edition today: Hints and answers for June 29, 2026Are you also playing NYT Strands? Get all the Strands hints you need for today's puzzle.
If you're looking for more puzzles, Mashable's got games now! Check out our games hub for Mahjong, Sudoku, free crossword, and more.
Not the day you're after? Here's the solution to yesterday's Connections.
Today's NYT Strands hints are easy if you're a musician.
Strands, the New York Times' elevated word-search game, requires the player to perform a twist on the classic word search. Words can be made from linked letters — up, down, left, right, or diagonal, but words can also change direction, resulting in quirky shapes and patterns. Every single letter in the grid will be part of an answer. There's always a theme linking every solution, along with the "spangram," a special, word or phrase that sums up that day's theme, and spans the entire grid horizontally or vertically.
SEE ALSO: Mahjong, Sudoku, free crossword, and more: Play games on MashableBy providing an opaque hint and not providing the word list, Strands creates a brain-teasing game that takes a little longer to play than its other games, like Wordle and Connections.
If you're feeling stuck or just don't have 10 or more minutes to figure out today's puzzle, we've got all the NYT Strands hints for today's puzzle you need to progress at your preferred pace.
SEE ALSO: Wordle today: Answer, hints for June 29, 2026 NYT Strands hint for today’s theme: The mark of a good composerThe words are related to music.
Today’s NYT Strands theme plainly explainedThese words describe musical terms.
NYT Strands spangram hint: Is it vertical or horizontal?Today's NYT Strands spangram is horizontal.
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NYT Strands spangram answer todayToday's spangram is Musical Staff.
NYT Strands word list for June 29Bracket
Accidental
Measure
Musical Staff
Rest
Clef
Note
Looking for other daily online games? Mashable's Games page has more hints, and if you're looking for more puzzles, Mashable's got games now!
Check out our games hub for Mahjong, Sudoku, free crossword, and more.
Not the day you're after? Here's the solution to yesterday's Strands.
Today's Wordle answer should be easy to solve if you're all natural.
If you just want to be told today's word, you can jump to the bottom of this article for today's Wordle solution revealed. But if you'd rather solve it yourself, keep reading for some clues, tips, and strategies to assist you.
SEE ALSO: Mahjong, Sudoku, free crossword, and more: Play games on Mashable SEE ALSO: NYT Connections hints today: Clues, answers for June 29, 2026 Where did Wordle come from?Originally created by engineer Josh Wardle as a gift for his partner, Wordle rapidly spread to become an international phenomenon, with thousands of people around the globe playing every day. Alternate Wordle versions created by fans also sprang up, including battle royale Squabble, music identification game Heardle, and variations like Dordle and Quordle that make you guess multiple words at once.
Wordle eventually became so popular that it was purchased by the New York Times, and TikTok creators even livestream themselves playing.
What's the best Wordle starting word?The best Wordle starting word is the one that speaks to you. But if you prefer to be strategic in your approach, we have a few ideas to help you pick a word that might help you find the solution faster. One tip is to select a word that includes at least two different vowels, plus some common consonants like S, T, R, or N.
What happened to the Wordle archive?The entire archive of past Wordle puzzles was originally available for anyone to enjoy whenever they felt like it, but it was later taken down, with the website's creator stating it was done at the request of the New York Times. However, the New York Times then rolled out its own Wordle Archive, available only to NYT Games subscribers.
Is Wordle getting harder?It might feel like Wordle is getting harder, but it actually isn't any more difficult than when it first began. You can turn on Wordle's Hard Mode if you're after more of a challenge, though.
SEE ALSO: NYT Pips hints, answers for June 29, 2026 Here's a subtle hint for today's Wordle answer:Raw.
Does today's Wordle answer have a double letter?There are no recurring letters.
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Today's Wordle is a 5-letter word that starts with...Today's Wordle starts with the letter C.
SEE ALSO: Wordle-obsessed? These are the best word games to play IRL. The Wordle answer today is...Get your last guesses in now, because it's your final chance to solve today's Wordle before we reveal the solution.
Drumroll please!
The solution to today's Wordle is...
CRUDE
Don't feel down if you didn't manage to guess it this time. There will be a new Wordle for you to stretch your brain with tomorrow, and we'll be back again to guide you with more helpful hints. Are you also playing NYT Strands? See hints and answers for today's Strands.
Reporting by Chance Townsend, Caitlin Welsh, Sam Haysom, Amanda Yeo, Shannon Connellan, Cecily Mauran, Mike Pearl, and Adam Rosenberg contributed to this article.
If you're looking for more puzzles, Mashable's got games now! Check out our games hub for Mahjong, Sudoku, free crossword, and more.
Not the day you're after? Here's the solution to yesterday's Wordle.
Warning: Contains spoilers for House of the Dragon Season 3, episode 2.
It's always nice to see a familiar face in House of the Dragon, even if said face is rolling across the floor of the Great Hall minutes after reappearing on our screens.
We're talking, of course, about Otto Hightower (Rhys Ifans), the former Hand of the King who's had quite the spectacular fall from grace since Season 1.
But what exactly happened to him, and where has he been all this time? It's been a while since we last saw him, so let's recap.
SEE ALSO: 'House of the Dragon' Season 3 family tree: How the Targaryens, Velaryons, and Hightowers connect What happens with Otto Hightower in Season 3, episode 2?After Rhaenyra (Emma D'Arcy) and Daemon (Matt Smith) stroll into King's Landing to seize control, the latter pays a visit to the dungeons.
"If you would, my prince," says a man holding a torch. "A gift for you, if you ever returned, from Lord Larys Strong."
Daemon follows him deep into the bowls of the Red Keep, then reappears in the Great Hall with a familiar face: Otto Hightower, looking very much the worse for wear.
Otto is brought to kneel before Rhaenyra, and Daemon advises her to behead him in the place of on-the-run Aegon (Tom Glynn-Carney).
"If your father could see what it's come to," mutters Otto. "He would never have imagined it."
Otto's final words, before Rhaenyra starts hacking away at his neck? "I did my best..."
Featured Video For You 'House of the Dragon': Everything you need to remember about Season 2 in 60 seconds When did we last see Otto Hightower?It's been a while, but we did briefly see Otto in the Season 2 finale. Back then, he was already in his jail cell, although at the time we didn't know where he was being held or why.
Prior to last season's finale, we last saw a very different Otto all the way back in Season 2, episode 2. After being fired as Hand by Aegon, Otto told his daughter Alicent (Olivia Cooke) that he planned to leave King's Landing to return to Oldtown. Alicent advised him to go to Highgarden instead so he could stop the Tyrells from "wavering" in their support for Team Green, but it looks like he was waylaid before he could get very far at all.
And finally, now, we know what happened to him: He was captured at the request of Larys Strong (Matthew Needham), who clearly planned to use him in order to buy favor with Team Black, should they ever reclaim power. Sneaky.
Australia's teen social media ban has been in effect since December, and the government's verdict on how it's going is pretty clear: not well enough.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese announced this week that Australia will double the maximum penalty for violating its social media minimum age law, raising the fine ceiling from $AUD49.5 million ($US33 million) to $AUD99 million ($US68.2 million). The government is also moving to expand the eSafety Commissioner's powers to compel platforms to hand over evidence of what they're actually doing to keep under-16s off their services.
SEE ALSO: The next social media ban? Austria looks to block kids under 14 from social mediaThe news comes roughly six months after Australia's Online Safety Amendment Act took effect, banning platforms including Instagram, TikTok, Snapchat, Facebook, X, and YouTube from allowing users under 16 to hold accounts, as Mashable previously reported. More than five million accounts have been removed, deactivated, or restricted since Dec. 10 — but according to Albanese, that's not good enough.
"It is clear that social media platforms are adopting tricks straight out of the big tech playbook and doing the bare minimum to get by," said Minister for Communications Anika Wells in the government's statement.
The eSafety Commissioner is currently investigating potential non-compliance across five platforms: Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, TikTok, and YouTube.
The new legislation would also extend the Commissioner's reach to third parties like age-verification and app-store providers — closing a loophole that let platforms point fingers elsewhere when their enforcement fell short.
Earlier this year, we reported on the disturbing trend of AI chatbots actually helping individuals plan out violent attacks, and Florida prosecutors have already investigated ChatGPT for its purported role in a deadly shooting, but there's another, even more famous incident that might have been planned out with the help of AI: the Pacific Palisades fire of 2025.
SEE ALSO: ChatGPT’s AI market share slips to a historic new lowAccording to California prosecutors, suspected arsonist Jonathan Rinderknecht "used ChatGPT like a diary," not only building up a fascination with fire but generating images of cities burning, reports the BBC. In one prompt pulled from Rinderknecht's ChatGPT history, he asked the AI whether he could be held responsible for a fire caused by his fallen cigarette, according to ABC News.
Rinderknecht was arrested in October of 2025 and charged with one count of destruction of property and one count of arson, with prosecutors seeking up to 45 years of prison time for his alleged role in sparking the fire that destroyed over 6,000 buildings and claimed 12 lives.
"The evidence is strong that Jonathan Rinderknecht is responsible for igniting the fire on January 1, 2025, which eventually became the Palisades fire," alleged US attorney Bill Essayli on an X social post.
But when the trial of the United States v. Jonathan Rinderknecht concluded last Thursday, jurors were not persuaded. After two days of deliberation, the jurors informed the judge that they were unable to reach a decision, and a mistrial was declared. "There’s just not enough proof," one juror told a CNN reporter. "A lot of holes."
The drama is far from over, however. The judge has already scheduled a retrial for October of this year, with Rinderknecht to remain in custody until then.
Disclosure: Ziff Davis, Mashable’s parent company, in April 2025 filed a lawsuit against OpenAI, alleging it infringed Ziff Davis copyrights in training and operating its AI systems.
Jessica McCabe started posting on YouTube because she knew she couldn't lose it.
McCabe lost notebooks and phones and was even capable of losing "her own head," according to her mother. So whenever she wanted to revisit helpful articles, research, or her own notes on strategies for living with her ADHD, McCabe didn't have an organizational system that made it easier for her to find (or actually remember) the information. Then, she realized one already existed.
"Anytime I wanted to show people this one really funny video on YouTube, I could find it. So I was like, YouTube. I won't lose YouTube," she told Mashable.
Thus, How to ADHD was born. Now, about 10 years later, the mental health creator has 1.94 million subscribers on YouTube, 100,000 followers on TikTok, a book she wrote called How to ADHD, and a second book in progress. The day before we spoke at VidCon, she gave two presentations at the World Confederation of Cognitive Behavioral Therapists Congress alongside experts, including doctors and research fellows, in the fields of psychology and psychiatry.
SEE ALSO: Audity credits her success to her muse and keeping things funSo yes, McCabe is a mental health creator, but she's also a verifiable force in the global mental health community. Mashable sat down with her to learn how her channel transitioned from a place to catalog her findings for herself to a full-fledged business, how she stays organized as a neurodivergent creator and mother, how she can care for yourself while connecting with her audience, and her hopes for the online mental health content creation space.
Tell us about the research process that goes into your videos, both when you first started and how it has evolved over time.The research process has definitely evolved. It started out as me Googling things, like, "I have ADD. What does that mean?" And I was like, oh, a lot of articles say it's not called ADD anymore. It's apparently all ADHD now. And oh, it doesn't just impact focus. It impacts executive function, too. I didn't know that. Over time, as I was posting this information on the channel, people in the comments would be like, "Do you know about Google Scholar? Do you know about PubMed?" Or eventually it was, "Hey, I'm an ADHD researcher. Would you like help? I see you're trying to disseminate good scientific information about ADHD."
So I started working with researchers. And even then, it took a little bit. The first researcher that I worked with was very pedantic and wanted to use very technical language. And I was like, I'm trying to disseminate to a lay public. I need to simplify a bit. I need to do that without losing important nuance, but I do need to be able to restate it in words that anybody can understand.
The current researcher I work with is Dr. Patrick LaCount. He's now our chief science officer, and he reviews everything on our channel. So if you see that we have the little badge on our channel that says, "We're on the Health Shelf", it means it's a channel from a trusted provider. That's because Dr. Patrick LaCount reviews everything that I put out before I put it out.
That's not a given on every mental health channel. It's amazing that you guys have that.It's really important to me to ensure the information we're putting out is accurate. Especially the fast pace that you have to go to as a content creator, where you're posting every week or maybe sometimes more often than that. It's really easy for things to slip through the cracks. So it's really important to me to have that review process of, is this accurate? Because if it's not accurate, then what am I doing?
Before you had researchers working with you, how did you handle that while maintaining a consistent posting schedule?I did have a consistent posting schedule, and I am a recovering perfectionist, but I gave my perfectionism a different target. I was like, "OK, you can get as perfectionistic about this as you want. You can read as many articles to make sure that everybody's agreeing with you and that you're getting the right information as you want, as long as you can get that video out on Tuesday. And that was non-negotiable for me. For a while, I was able to do that, but then, as the amount of information I was trying to include grew, the scripts and videos got longer, and it became harder and harder to hit that mark.
So we're still trying to figure it out. What that means for me now is that I'm not researching a brand-new topic every week like I did in the beginning. I've played around with different ways of doing it. One was like, "For this month, I'm learning about this topic, and all the content will be about it." Now it's a lot of, "Oh, I already know this stuff. I've already researched this stuff. I can make another video about the same topic." But at first, I was killing myself because it was a new topic every single week, and I had to research from scratch.
That's intense.I don't recommend it, but I did learn a lot. And now I have a book as a result.
So tell me a little bit more about the workflow you developed and how it came about.So the workflow evolved quite a bit, too. When I first started, I was planning to do it by trial and error, like, OK, I struggle with organization or cleaning my house, so I'm going to try this strategy for a week. I'm going to film it and then edit it. Then I quickly realized that's not actually doable in a week. You can't figure out the strategy once a week, try it for a week, then edit it.
SEE ALSO: How this Harvard-trained psychiatrist used Twitch and YouTube to bring mental health education to the massesInstead, what I did was, OK, let me learn about this thing. I had a format that I used every single time: introduce the problem, explain the problem, introduce the solution, and explain the solution. I just did it on a blue wall and added graphics afterward. That worked really well. What didn't work well was me trying to do it off the cuff because I learned really quickly I'm very hard to edit. I've gotten better. Hopefully, this is not terrible.
So, quickly, my process went from "let me try and speak off the cuff about what I've learned" to "that's not going to work, that's going to be impossible to edit" to "what if I outline?" But then I would look at the outline, and my mind would go blank because there would be all this pressure to like say whatever it was that I meant when I had that bullet point written down. So then I was like, I need to script. I just need to script.
The problem is that as an actor, I didn't do very well, partly because I had such a hard time memorizing lines. So very early in the process, I had a giant whiteboard, and I printed out every single word in giant, like 36-point font, and I just taped it to this whiteboard. I used what was my strength, which was I got really good at cold reading, but really bad at memorizing lines. Anytime I went into an audition as an actor, I was like, "Let me cold-read." So I'd glance down, glance up, and say the line, glance down, glance up, and say the line. So some of it was happy accidents. Like our punch-in, punch-out style was to cover the fact that I had to look down between the lines.
For the part of your workflow that involves other people, at what point did you decide you needed to build out your team, and how did you approach that process?That evolved over many, many years. At first, it was my boyfriend at the time, like, "Hey, you're an editor. Can you throw a couple of graphics on this?" Once I edited it, I was like, here you go, make it pretty, and he would take like a few hours to punch it up.
Over time, it became clear that what I was doing was really meaningful to people and could turn into something, right? More than just a personal project. So he did more and more until I was like, OK, I've got to pay this guy. I actually ended up hiring him full-time before I was full-time.
I was still waiting tables, but I was like, I need an editor. I will work for free 24/7. He will not, understandably. Eventually, I was able to go full-time as well. Then, when that marriage fell apart, I had to hire a team. There were a couple of people that I actually met at VidCon who were like, "Oh yeah, we can do some editing for you, and we can do some animations."
Digital organization was such a big struggle for me as someone with ADHD that I ended up hiring somebody literally to organize my shit. Our community manager had been volunteering on our Discord for a long time, and finally, after a couple of years, I was like, "We should hire you, though." Basically, my whole strategy was that whenever I wanted to hire a new person, I brought one on. Now I have a pretty robust team.
What's having a team like? Because content creation and running a team are very different skill sets.It is a very different skill set. Also, moving from "I'm going to have people I know help me with this thing" to "oh, I am hiring for a position, and I need to vet that person" was interesting.
An ADHD creator friend of mine, Dani Donovan, recommended a recruiter that she had worked with because she was also in the same boat of hiring friends. So for the first time, we used a recruiter who found us our current producer, and I was like, this person is amazing.
If I could go back in time, I'd work with a recruiter. It's really important as a creator to work with people. I made the mistake early on of prioritizing the hard skills. How good are you at animating? How good are you at editing? How good are you at these skills? And I didn't prioritize the soft skills — how are you collaborating with the rest of the team? Are you an easy person to work with? Can you take feedback? Now I really prioritize soft skills.
I would love to talk about your relationship with your audience. I imagine it has grown, but I feel like, especially being a mental health creator, there's an extra weight to that, and people come a lot with their personal experiences. So how do you navigate that?It's tough because I started out as a peer in my community. I was somebody who was learning about my ADHD for the first time; they were learning about theirs. We kind of came up together, and that was a really cool experience.
It also meant that if someone was struggling, it was almost like I was struggling too. We were in the same boat. And my boat was starting to float, and I didn't want to let their's to sink. I wanted to respond to every comment. I wanted to help everybody. As the channel grew, I couldn't anymore. I would get to the point where I would be overwhelmed with taking on a lot of people's pain and needs. I would need to step away for a little bit, but then I would come back, and there would be so many messages.
Facebook was really the first place where this was overwhelming for me, all of the direct messages that you would get. One day, I went to respond to a message, and by the time I got through like five messages, that person had already responded, so I was in a conversation with them. And I went — it's not just that I'm procrastinating or avoiding or like not doing the right thing by not responding. I can no longer respond to people.
So that's when I had to evolve it to let me read the comments and hear what people are saying. Then I need to make content that speaks to that struggle, content that will be for more than just that one person. That was a tough evolution for me in moving away from that one-to-one relationship.
I imagine there could have been some guilt there. Like, you're letting a version of a relationship go.It was painful moving into this parasocial space where I don't know everybody in my community anymore. We don't have regular conversations, but I still very much care and want to be there for people. I just can't in the same way. So one of the things we're doing now that I'm really excited about is that I'm going to start coaching people one-on-one.
I can get the one-on-one I really value, but then we put that content online so other people can benefit, too.
Since becoming a mom, do you feel that the way you approach the content itself, or the way you approach the work of creating the content, has changed?It has changed. The first change is obviously having to take a break. As a content creator, you're producing content week after week after week, maybe day after day after day. But maternity leave is a thing that is apparently important! So I had to figure out how to keep putting out content while I'm away and set my team up for success to do that.
Even then, it was really rough that first year to create content, because it felt like my brain had been hijacked by this new passion, this new child. My brain had literally been rewired. It also coincided with finishing my book and putting that out into the world. I finished my project of learning everything I could about my ADHD brain, putting it somewhere I could find it again, and making it available to other people, and I was embarking on a new one: motherhood.
And suddenly, my entire hyperfocus was on being a mom, and I did not have a channel for it. I don't want a channel about being a mom. So most of what I was learning no longer made sense to share with my community. That was a big, big shift for me because I had to figure out how to keep making content for this community when that's not where my head is at. So we changed up how we were doing content. I was no longer just a talking head on a blue wall. We also hired the wonderful new producer I was telling you about, and he's local, so we were able to start filming skits in my house and doing wild projects like having Cas from Clutterbug come down and help me reorganize my entire house. We were able to do different kinds of content.
But it was very much an exploration of what kinds of content my brain can focus on. What kind of content do I want to make?
What are your hopes for the mental health content creation space going forward? And as a second part, who are the creators in that space now that you think more people should be watching?Therapy in a Nutshell is great. Dr. Tracey Marks is great. Also, Daniel from The Aspie World. He's great for anybody who's dealing with autism. A lot of people who watch my channel are like, can you do this, but for autism? And I'm like, I don't have autism. But my friend does!
There are a lot of great mental health creators. But what I'm hoping for in this space is that we get more people with lived experience connecting with people who have research-backed, evidence-based information, and then we disseminate that. There are many academic researchers speaking to it, and many speaking from personal experience. But I would love to see more people doing what I'm doing, which is speaking about their personal experience as a vehicle to share evidence-based information, so it's not just, "This one thing worked for me." It's, "This is what works for a lot of people, and it worked for me. Maybe it would work for you, too."
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