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'Game of Thrones' Facebook filter crowns you the Night King

Ice, ice, baby: Joining the undead army sounds cool, but getting this smartphone effect to work can be as difficult as getting Cersei to join the PTA.

Gael Cooper
CNET editor Gael Fashingbauer Cooper, a journalist and pop-culture junkie, is co-author of "Whatever Happened to Pudding Pops? The Lost Toys, Tastes and Trends of the '70s and '80s," as well as "The Totally Sweet '90s." She's been a journalist since 1989, working at Mpls.St.Paul Magazine, Twin Cities Sidewalk, the Minneapolis Star Tribune, and NBC News Digital. She's Gen X in birthdate, word and deed. If Marathon candy bars ever come back, she'll be first in line.
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Gael Cooper
2 min read

With the "Game of Thrones" season 7 finale just days away, a new Facebook photo filter released Friday lets you turn yourself into the terrifying ice-eyed Night King.

"Thrones" star Kristofer Hivju (who plays Tormund Giantsbane), demonstrates the new effect on the show's official Facebook page. 

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

The Night King is the leader of the undead White Walkers in the HBO show (in the "Song of Ice and Fire" books, George R.R. Martin prefers to call him the Night's King, and only mentions him briefly).

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To get the effect, you're supposed to simply open Facebook on your smartphone and tap the camera icon on the top left, then swipe right to get ice-blue eyes and the weirdly corrugated skin of the show's Night King.

Warning: Getting this effect to work was about as easy as explaining where the White Walkers came up with those giant chains last week just when they needed them. (Um, spoiler?) 

If it's not working for you, try making sure your Facebook app is updated. (Mine wasn't.) Then log in and out and keep trying -- you may need to restart your phone. Many fans complained on the "Thrones" Facebook page that they weren't seeing the filter, but others found it -- and showed off their results. I'm still trying. Come on, HBO and Facebook, I want to believe! (Wait, wrong show.)

The filter is reminiscent of the White Walker Snapchat filter released earlier this summer.

That creepy music that comes along with the effect is "The Army of the Dead," a new song from the show's Emmy-nominated composer Ramin Djawadi. The full song will first be heard in Sunday's season finale and is also featured on the season 7 soundtrack, available Friday at digital retailers.

HBO is promising a "fiery" new "Game of Thrones" camera effect coming after the finale. Sounds like a dragon? Anyway, HBO, please make this one easier to use.

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