Warning: Major spoilers for the Season 5 finale of Rick and Morty, "Rickmurai Jack," which aired on Sept. 5, follow.

After barreling through a season's worth of "classic" Rick and Morty adventures with some juicy plot revelations sprinkled throughout, it should have been obvious that this crop of episodes would end with a bang. "Rickmurai Jack,” Season 5's coup de grace, begins as a continuation of the previous episode, "Forgetting Sarick Mortshall," and jets straight into expository territory with reckless abandon.

But first, some context. The previous episode found Rick swapping two crows for Morty as his companions, the implication being that anyone or anything — chosen at random via Rick's handcrafted wheel — could replace his grandson. What begins as an obvious bit from Rick grew into an all-encompassing obsession with the ways of a crow-like alien race, its technology, and its enemies.

While Morty grapples with his own mistakes after spilling portal gun juice on his hand, forcing him to meet with ne-'er-do-well Nick, Rick is gallivanting off on adventures with his crows. This ultimately culminates in a heartfelt yet bizarrely hasty goodbye from Rick as he packs up his belongings from the garage and takes to the skies, telling Morty their relationship is abusive and, ultimately, untenable.

It's all done so swiftly, with such unfamiliar finality for the series, that it seems like just another ruse. Rick must be baiting Morty, he can't truly be leaving — but leave he does, and it all spills over into the finale. The crow subplot worryingly usurps the first few minutes of the episode, until a mishap with Morty and an aging serum find Rick literally torching his ties to the crow race and going on a quest to restore Morty's youth.

That takes us, perhaps unexpectedly, to the Citadel, where none other than Evil Morty is waiting. From the moment "our" Rick and Morty meet with the eerily somber and in control version of everyone's favorite grandson, the tone shifts from flippant and silly to a much more serious one. Big things are about to go down — like Evil Morty stealing the contents of Rick's brain to complete the construction of a device that will catapult him away from the abusive machinations Rick has set in motion: the Finite Curve Barrier.

Wait, what? Yes, this episode's major reveal is one that fans may have seen coming a long time ago, but one that the series didn't seem too keen on showcasing. Perhaps that’s why, when Morty is given the opportunity to look through Rick’s brain for a chance at some important answers, we’re given a peek at his “crybaby backstory” through a sequence of nearly still, silent shots instead of a segment that lets us focus on or process what’s going on. Rick’s revenge tour to kill the one version of himself who took his family, Diane and Beth, away from him, is unsuccessful, and as such he helps build the Citadel before settling down with an alternate Beth and her family.

And the Citadel, which seemed more like an innocent type of “housing” for the Ricks and Mortys of the world? A breeding ground for Mortys that have been engineered throughout space and time, to be perfect. Bred from various versions of Beth and Jerry over countless dimensions — disturbing implications, to say the least, about what Rick is capable of and what he’s willing to do to find some semblance of normalcy or happiness. It’s all incredibly bleak, and somewhat shocking, but incredibly good TV while it lasts.

But before there’s any time to let that, or its ramifications, sink in, Rick and Morty must figure out a way to escape the crumbling Citadel while Evil Morty’s plan is set in motion. Portals have been hacked to kill those that enter them. Ricks and Mortys are dying left and right — and at the end of it all, Evil Morty seemingly gets what he’s been searching for this entire time: a universe where Rick Sanchez isn’t the smartest man in the universe. But to what end? It will be quite some time before we see any answers to these questions, if we ever do.

It’s intriguing stuff through and through, as this episode was a veritable treasure trove of continuity blasts for those watching for more than just the irreverent humor. There's so much going on that it's difficult to believe all of these developments were somehow squeezed down into a half-hour episode — and one wonders why it wasn't instead expanded, sans crows, into an hour-long season ender. What's here is a chaotic, sometimes frustrating sprint through what feels like pages and pages of lore condensed into a couple lines of text.

Rainbow Six Siege: Year Six, Season Three – Crystal Guard – has arrived and brings with it a new operator Osa, the new transparent and bulletproof Talon-8 Shield, various map reworks and operator balancing, elite customization, and much more. In addition to explaining everything new in Crystal Guard, we invited Rainbow Six Siege expert Coconut Brah to come by and share some of his best tips and tricks for Osa and everything else new in this season.

Launching on 00/00/0000, Crystal Guard will introduce the world to the previously mentioned Anja “Osa” Jankovic, an engineering prodigy from Croatia who “brings expertise to Nighthaven with her quick wits and unapologetic enthusiasm for ‘60s sci-fi movies.” Osa is great for creating defensive positions, as her Talon-8 Shield will protect her and her teammates from fire.

The shield can be carried by Osa or deployed on floors or window frames, which gives her a protective line of sight as its bulletproof glass is see through. While the shield will cause trouble for many, operators like Smoke, Tachanka, Clash or any other with impact grenades or a Nitro cell in their kit will be able to destroy it with ease.

Osa’s arrival and these new changes can be a lot to learn and, as previously mentioned, Coconut Brah joined us to share some of his best tips and tricks to master these new additions in no time.

Osa’s Talon-8 Shield is arguably the biggest shake-up in Crystal Guard, but it has so many more uses than simply protecting Osa and her friends. The first trick from Coconut Brah that illustrates its many uses involves placing the shield on windows to bait a run-out player.

If Osa or another teammate are hiding behind the shield placed on a window on the outside of a building, this could be an opportunity for another Defender to run to the player’s flank and get a free kill. However, if you are working with another Attacker who is waiting for this run-out, you can turn the tables and stop the attack in its tracks.

Speaking of baiting, there is a trick called Claymore Baiting that will surely be a headache for the Defenders. Osa has the ability to crouch and put her shield on the ground to protect herself in a location or to even to protect the defuser. While she will be protected, a quick melee or C4 from a Defender can remove that protection and open her up for a lethal attack.

Luckily, you can use this to your advantage with Claymores. All you have to do is plant a Claymore next to you and place the shield down to try to hide it from your opponent. When they come in for the kill or try to get you away from the defuser, you can step back and the Claymore’s explosion will kill them while you are protected from the blast with your shield. Even if they get a melee attack on you and you are killed by the Claymore’s blast, that’s still one less Defender.

The last trick from Coconut Brah has to do with vaulting over the shield. While you can’t stand on the Talon-8 Shield as it will break, you can vault over it and shoot while you are in the air. You can use this to shoot through windows or access points you wouldn’t have been able to reach otherwise.

Alongside Osa, three of Rainbow Six Siege’s maps – Bank, Coastline, and Clubhouse – will be getting rebuilt from the ground up to “enhance balancing, environmental destruction, sound propagation, and lighting.” Bank, in particular, has remained mostly untouched over the years and will now feature a full art rework.

Coconut Brah had a couple tips for these new maps as well, including for those that start from the Jewellery Front spawn point on Bank. Instead of taking the new walkway to the Alley spawn, players can go to the right and repel up the tall building in front of them. They can then jump down to the wall connecting the building and the smaller building that is partially covering the walkway to reach that farther rooftop to take a safe spot that gives you a great view of many windows and the Lobby. It’s a safe space that’s father back but not outside the spawn or out of bounds.

Those checking out the updated Coastline Map and find themselves in VIP will see a new shelf that has a vase on it. If you reinforce the wall to the left of that shelf and place your head between the shelf edge and the vase, you will have great line-of-sight that is not only protected, but includes a door that players in DJ Booth will most likely need to go through if you did reinforce that wall.

Armor has also been replaced with Health (HP), which means 3-Armor Operators will now have 125 HP, 2-Armor Operators will have 110 HP, and 1-Armor Operators will have 100 HP.

Some player comfort improvements have also been added, and one of these changes will be the opponent Rim Light, which will highlight enemies to prevent unfair camouflage. This will be turned on by default, but it can always be turned off in the Options menu.

Down But Not Out (DBNO) Scoring has also been adjusted, and players will now get a kill score when they down or completely eliminate an opponent. An assist score will be earned when they eliminate an opponent who is already downed by a teammate. Furthermore, the DBNO scoring event has been removed to prevent players from gaining unfair intel when an opponent is downed that isn’t in their line of sight.

Twitch, IQ, Mute, and Fuze will all be getting adjustments this season, and a new flash detection system will be in place for Ying’s Candela, Blitz’s G52-Tactical Shield, and the Stun Grenade will now take the environment and angle of the explosion into account in addition to the players’ distance and orientation.

Five Operators will also see their price lowered during Crystal Guard, with Maverick and Clash going down to 10,000 Renown or 240 R6 Credits, Amaru and Goyo going to 15,000 Renown or 360 R6 Credits, and Zero going to 20,000 Renown or 480 R6 Credits.

In the customization department, this season “features an explosion of colors in a kaleidoscopic pattern” in the Holographic Bundle, which is the newest weapon skin that has been released at the start of Year Six, Season Three and will be available throughout the season. Other big changes include the ability to equip any headgear with an Elite Uniform as long as they are both owned and belong to the same Operator.

Rainbow Six Siege’s Crystal Guard season is out now on all platforms, and those who don’t want to wait to try out Osa and her Talon-8 Shield can purchase the latest Premium Battle Pass to add her to their roster immediately. Additionally, those who wish to give Rainbow Six Siege a try will be able to do so free-of-charge from September 9-12. This is the same time period that the base game will be 85% off, meaning new players can purchase Rainbow Six Siege for $5 USD.

Apple has announced the "California Streaming" event, which will be broadcast on September 14, 2021, at 10 am PT/1 pm ET.

While Apple has not said what will be shown off at the event, there's a high probability that this event will unveil the iPhone 13 series. Leaks and analysts suggest the upcoming iPhone 13 series will start at $699 with four models available.

Rumored features for the iPhone 13 include a bigger battery, a camera bump, a smaller notch, and a thicker design compared to the iPhone 12 series. The iPhone 13 series is also expected to come preinstalled with iOS 15, Apple's next major iPhone update, which introduces a slew of new features, such as a SharePlay feature in Facetime, allowing you to listen or watch content with others. Rumors also suggest that this year's iPhone lineup will also include a 120Hz refresh display but only on the iPhone 13 Pro models.

Along with the new iPhones, it's possible Apple may unveil a model refresh for its MacBook lineup. Last year, Apple released the first MacBook Air and Pro laptops powered by its own M1 chip. Other products Apple is reportedly working on include an AR/VR hybrid device, which may require an iPhone or another product made by the tech giant to function fully.

Taylor is the Associate Tech Editor at IGN. You can follow her on Twitter @TayNixster.

Our first look at The Matrix Resurrections is coming in a trailer this Thursday, September 9 – and the movie has brought back the classic WhatIsTheMatrix.com website to offer teaser videos featuring first movie footage.

The first trailer will be dropped at 6am Pacific / 9am Eastern / 2pm UK / 11pm AEST, and you can expect it to feature some or all of what we heard coming out from CinemaCon last month. The title and contents of a first trailer were revealed at the event, and seemed to show a futuristic world in which Neo's past is being suppressed by daily intake of blue pills, a possible appearance from a young Morpheus, and the series' requisite martial arts action.

The choice is yours. Trailer Thursday at 6AM PT. Visit https://t.co/yX5qbqqNYC #TheMatrixMovie pic.twitter.com/Pme1Sn6lB2

— The Matrix Resurrections (@TheMatrixMovie) September 7, 2021

The unexpected return of WhatIsTheMatrix.com is offering generated teaser videos to those that visit, including the first footage of the film, narration from the stars, and a choice between red and blue pills. Heading to the website and picking a pill will generate one of what Warner Bros. says are 180,000 possible teaser videos for the movie, every one of which will include film footage and narration.

For those that don't remember, WhatIsTheMatrix.com was the website that launched with the original Matrix movie and included multiple hidden pages accessed by codes, as well as games and comics based on the film. It was an early experiment into viral web marketing for a film – the new take on the old site launches into a very different internet landscape.

The Matrix Resurrections is due to be released on December 22, and sees stars Keanu Reeves and Carrie-Anne Moss return as Neo and Trinity respectively, although Laurence Fishburne won't be joining them as Morpheus. The film includes returning franchise cast members Jada Pinkett-Smith, Daniel Bernhardt, and Lambert Wilson, while newcomers include Neil Patrick-Harris, Christina Ricci, Yahya Abdul-Mateen II, Jessica Henwick, Priyanka Chopra, and Jonathan Groff.

While Lana Wachowski returns to direct, original trilogy co-director Lilly Wachowski has explained that she felt the idea of going back to the franchise was "emotionally unfulfilling."

Joe Skrebels is IGN's Executive Editor of News. Follow him on Twitter. Have a tip for us? Want to discuss a possible story? Please send an email to [email protected].

This year's main Dungeons & Dragons adventure path, The Wild Beyond the Witchlight, is (according to its designers) a wicked and whimsical adventure through the fantastical plane known as the Feywild. It seems fitting, then, that the adventure would open with a carnival, which – depending on how you feel about clowns and fried dough – is about as whimsical an event as we can conjure in the mortal plane.

What's a faire without carnival games, though? Witchlight introduces a series of midway activities that Dungeon Masters can present to their players before their adventure begins in earnest. "The carnival games help familiarize new players with the rules of D&D and how dice rolls can affect outcomes," said Chris Perkins, D&D's Game Design Architect, in a recent interview with IGN. "The games also spur fun roleplaying opportunities, allowing players to settle into their new roles before having to face the adventure’s more serious challenges."

Players who choose to play can win prizes such as Witchlight wine, a stuffed pixie plush or a wizard hand puppet, a replica unicorn horn filled with candy, and even a packet of pixie dust that temporarily grants them the ability to fly. We recently got a look at the rules for two of these carnival games, which are classic fair(e) fare, along with some additional info from Perkins about how the players actions can affect the carnival at large.

"The actions and antics of the characters can affect the overall mood of the carnival," he says, "which the DM tracks with the help of the Mood Tracker on the Witchlight Carnival poster map. As the carnival’s mood improves, the characters have an easier time of getting what they need. If the mood sours too much, the staff becomes a little harder to deal with, and the characters will miss out on the chance to be crowned as the evening’s Witchlight Monarch."

Almiraj Ring Toss is a magical take on the grandfather of all carnival games. Instead of having to get rings around stationary posts, the players' target is now this statue of what might be D&D's cutest beast, the Almiraj, as it teleports around a table. It's one of six carnival games that are included in the adventure, each one aimed at challenging a specific character ability. Ring Toss is geared towards Dexterity, while others are focused on things like Strength, Intelligence, etc. Perkins assures us they're not designed to be particularly dangerous to players (at least not as-written), saying that the Pie-Eating Contest – which I assume requires a series of Constitution saves – deals "Custard Damage".

While real-life carnivals may feature pig races (if you're lucky), the Witchlight offers a slimier alternative – Giant Snails. They appear to be a new monster stat block included with the adventure and are described as "unusually fast." Unlike pig races, however, the Witchlight's snail races aren't simply a specatator sport – players can opt to spend ride tickets (because even in a whimsical fantasy realm all carnival rides still need tickets) to become snail jockeys.

Of course, parties aren't limited to just the games and challenges included in the book. "We tried to keep most of the carnival games simple so that DMs could emulate them and create their own," Perkins says. "Most of the games can be resolved with a single die roll."

The Wild Beyond the Witchlight will be available starting on September 21, 2021. The standard version can be purchased in-store or at online retailers like Amazon, or you can order the limited edition alternate cover from your friendly neighborhood game store! For more on this year's D&D releases, check out the new sourcebook adapting another MTG setting, or the new bestiary deep-dive Fizban's Treasury of Dragons.

JR is a Senior Producer at IGN who is desperately looking forward to getting back to in-person D&D. In the meantime, he'll have to settle for playing online and talking about it on Twitter.