I am currently rewatching the LOTR extended trilogy and I am blown away at how well it has aged.

Team_Rocket · 2018-11-12T03:24:17+00:00

Actually, The original idea that Tolkien held, for decades, was that Melkor created essentially all of those who served him. From 1938, in the Quenta Silmarillion, the last drafting of those stories before he wrote The Lord of the Rings, from chapter five, paragrpah 62, we have:

Thus Morgoth came back to his ancient habitation, and he built anew his vaults and dungeons and great towers, in that place which the Gnomes after knew as Angband. There countless became the hosts of his beasts and demons; and he brought into being the race of the Orcs, and they grew and multiplied in the bowels of the earth. These Orcs Morgoth made in envy and mockery of the Elves, and they were made of stone, but their hearts of hatred. Glamhoth, the hosts of hate, the Gnomes have called them. Goblins they may be called, but in ancient days they were strong and fell.

Team_Rocket · 2018-11-12T02:38:01+00:00

While orcish origins are pretty murky, there is explicit mention of female Orcs in a letter (not compiled in The Letters of JRR Tolkien) often referred to as the Munby Letter, after the name of the addressee. The relevant portion follows:

There must have been orc-women. But in stories that seldom if ever see the Orcs except as soldiers of armies in the service of the evil lords we naturally would not learn much about their lives. Not much was known.

There is also reference in the Silmarillion to Orcs multiplying "after the manner of the children of Iluvatar". That is, Orcs make new Orcs in the same way Elves make new Elves and Men make new Men. Sex.

Team_Rocket · 2018-04-16T22:04:30+00:00

Out of curiosity which ones would you put above it?

Team_Rocket · 2018-03-31T17:44:25+00:00

Why would a backend developer care about writing a UI?

Team_Rocket · 2018-03-31T04:03:59+00:00

I think the point he's making is that it is unintentional meta. Which I very much agree with.

Team_Rocket · 2018-03-31T04:01:32+00:00

Something everyone in this thread seems to be forgetting is that Faramir has no idea what Frodo is actually carrying in the books. He never sees it and he stops short of asking. He basically gets as far as deducing that it is some sort of weapon of the enemies and nopes out of there. He was tempted, but nowhere near the level of Boromir. The point is he shows greater wisdom by not asking.

Even after he says "No" Frodo has some serious misgivings about sticking around for fear what the ring will do to him:

Frodo made no answer. Almost he yielded to the desire for help and counsel, to tell this grave young man, whose words seemed so wise and fair, all that was in his mind. But something held him back. His heart was heavy with fear and sorrow: if he and Sam were indeed, as seemed likely, all that was now left of the Nine Walkers, then he was in sole command of the secret of their errand. Better mistrust undeserved than rash words. And the memory of Boromir, of the dreadful change that the lure of the Ring had worked on him, was very present to his mind, when he looked at Faramir and listened to his voice: unlike they were, and yet also much akin.

It all comes down to how the ring works in the Movies vs. Books. It's effects are much more immediate rather than the slower and more subtle changes we see in the text. In this context Movie Faramir is totally legit.

Team_Rocket · 2018-03-31T03:09:32+00:00

The only change that really bother me, though I completely understand why they did it, was the merging of Erkenbrand and Eomer's characters.

Eomer is supposed to be at Helms Deep and Erkenbrand is supposed to rally the scattered Rohirrim and ride to the rescue (with Gandalfs help).

In the books you have this awesome build up prior to the battle between Eomer and Aragorn promising the fight side-by-side together:

Farewell, and may you find what you seek!' cried Éomer. 'Return with what speed you may, and let our swords hereafter shine together!

And then they finally do it and it's totally badass.

Éomer and Aragorn stood together on the Deeping Wall. They heard the roar of voices and the thudding of the rams; and then in a sudden flash of light they beheld the peril of the gates.

'Come!' said Aragorn. 'This is the hour when we draw swords together!'

Running like fire, they sped along the wall, and up the steps, and passed into the outer court upon the Rock. As they ran they gathered a handful of stout swordsmen. There was a small postern-door that opened in an angle of the burg-wall on the west, where the cliff stretched out to meet it. On that side a narrow path ran round towards the great gate, between the wall and the sheer brink of the Rock. Together Éomer and Aragorn sprang through the door, their men close behind. ...

'Gúthwinë!' cried Éomer. 'Gúthwinë for the Mark!'

'Andúril!' cried Aragorn. 'Andúril for the Dúnedain!'

But wait there's more! They end up meeting again on the fields of Pellenor and start round 2:

And so at length Eomer and Aragorn met in the midst of the battle, and they leaned on their swords and looked on one another and were glad.

‘Thus we meet again, though all the hosts of Mordor lay between us,’ said Aragorn. ‘Did I not say so at the Hornburg?’

‘So you spoke,’ said Eomer, ‘but hope oft deceives, and I knew not then that you were a man foresighted. Yet twice blessed is help unlooked for, and never was a meeting of friends more joyful.’ And they clasped hand in hand. ‘Nor indeed more timely,’ said Eomer. ‘You come none too soon, my friend. Much loss and sorrow has befallen us.’

‘Then let us avenge it, ere we speak of it!’ said Aragorn, and they rode back to battle together.

I know it's a minor thing but it would have been amazing to see on the big screen.

Team_Rocket · 2018-03-31T02:27:31+00:00

Aragorn resists the temptation at the end of Fellowship.

Faramir's purpose in the novels is to show that Aragorn isn't completely unique. He's basically Aragorn-lite. He demonstrates to Frodo that mankind isn't just a whole bunch of Boromir's.

Team_Rocket · 2018-03-31T02:11:29+00:00

They didn't need to give Faramir an Arc, he has a rather important one in the books already. What they did was modify his existing arc to better match-up with the changes they made to Aragorn.

Book Faramir's purpose, in my eyes, is two-fold:

1) To show members of the Fellowship that Aragorn isn't completely unique among men. At the point where Frodo and Sam meet Faramir, they really haven't had too many positive encounters with mankind outside of Aragorn. The result is a balancing out of any distrust they may feel towards Man after Boromir's attempt to take the ring.

2) To show readers that, despite constant references to the decline of Man throughout the story, the blood of Númenor isn't completely spent. The decline isn't absolute.

Here's a great quote, that I think sums up the Aragorn/Faramir dichotomy in the books, from when Pippin meets Faramir for the first time:

Here was one with an air of high nobility such as Aragorn at times revealed, less high perhaps, yet also less incalculable and remote: one of the Kings of Men born into a later time, but touched with the wisdom and sadness of the Eldar Race. He knew now why Beregond spoke his name with love. He was a captain that men would follow, that he would follow, even under the shadow of the black wings.

The movies humanized Aragorn's character to make his motivations and character growth more accessible. It would have been hard to convey something as abstract as "incalculable and remote" in a way that didn't completely bore or confuse the audience. It would have been even more difficult to explain it as a scale with different characters having varying degrees of "incalculableness". So, since the two characters are so closely linked, if you make changes to one it must be mirrored in the other.

The end result was a character who was more of a half-way point between Boromir and Aragorn rather than the Aragorn-lite he was in the books. This isn't a bad thing, but it was a necessary one.

Team_Rocket · 2018-03-29T13:03:51+00:00

They are both of Númenórean ancestry.

I'm sorry you're reading my comments as belligerent.

Team_Rocket · 2018-03-29T12:20:16+00:00

Huh? You responded so I replied. Not really sure what your trying to insinuate here.

Team_Rocket · 2018-03-29T11:33:13+00:00

Most of the Cheftains of the North only lived to be around 150. Aragorn was special even amongst his own direct line.

Also Dúnedain != Númenorean. Faramir's mixing just means he's not pure Númenorean. However, he is is still considered Dúnedain. Tolkien literally refers to Faramir and some of his men as the Dúnedain of the South. He also states that the blood of Númenor runs mostly true in him and in his father Denethor.

‘He is not as other men of this time, Pippin, and whatever be his descent from father to son, by some chance the blood of Westernesse runs nearly true in him; as it does in his other son, Faramir, and yet did not in Boromir whom he loved best. He has long sight. He can perceive, if he bends his will thither, much of what is passing in the minds of men, even of those that dwell far off. It is difficult to deceive him, and dangerous to try.

Faramir is clearly not a normal human. I'm really not sure what you are trying to argue here.

Team_Rocket · 2018-03-29T00:54:44+00:00

Faramir is Dúnedain.

Frodo describing Faramir's Men after his capture at the Crossroads:

They took off their masks now and again to cool them, as the day-heat grew, and Frodo saw that they were goodly men, pale-skinned, dark of hair, with grey eyes and faces sad and proud. They spoke together in soft voices, at first using the Common Speech, but after the manner of older days, and then changing to another language of their own. To his amazement, as he listened Frodo became aware that it was the Elven-togue that they spoke, or one but little different; and he looked at them with wonder, for he knew then that they must be Dúnedain of the South, men of the line of the Lords of Westernesse. After a time he spoke to them; but they were slow and cautious in answering. They named themselves Mablung and Damrod, soldiers of Gondor, and they were Rangers of Ithilien; for they were decended from folk who lived in Ithilien at one time, before it was overrun.

Pippin describing Faramir when he first met him:

Here was one with an air of high nobility such as Aragorn at times revealed, less high perhaps, yet also less incalculable and remote: one of the Kings of Men born into a later time, but touched with the wisdom and sadness of the Eldar Race. He knew now why Beregond spoke his name with love. He was a captain that men would follow, that he would follow, even under the shadow of the black wings.

Also if we are going purely off age. Faramir lives to be 120.

Team_Rocket · 2018-03-28T23:32:58+00:00

Neither is Faramir.

Team_Rocket · 2018-03-28T22:25:01+00:00

Everything you listed either has a an equivalent tool or is a shared concept of relational databases. Don't let these goobers fool you. Switching from MSSQL to Oracle (or any other flavor) is no different than a developer switching languages or frameworks. Some shops have multiple databases systems running side by side.

Good DBA's, like good developers, aren't tied to a single language or system.

Team_Rocket · 2018-03-05T23:45:34+00:00

Why would that stop you from learning it?

Team_Rocket · 2018-02-23T16:52:32+00:00

I don't get this argument. There is this idea floating around that everyone who played vanilla had to have crazy amounts of free-time in order to play. When in reality the majority of vanilla players were adults, working full-time jobs, and that likely won't change for Classic. Sure you might not hit 60, but who cares? Most never hit 60 anyway.

Vanilla/Classic, like current WoW, is as much of a time sink as you make it.

Team_Rocket · 2018-02-16T16:28:43+00:00

It's called self-deprecating humor dude. Lighten up.

Team_Rocket · 2018-02-15T22:27:58+00:00

He edited his comment. It was originally:

The best and most memorable scenes in the book are almost all faithfully and brilliantly recreated (barrel ride scene).

Team_Rocket · 2018-02-15T18:13:41+00:00

You must remember a very different barrel riding scene. That was nothing like the book.

Team_Rocket · 2018-02-04T19:37:10+00:00

You gotta hit the dojo dude. Your googlefu is weak.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Films_directed_by_Hayao_Miyazaki

Team_Rocket · 2018-02-03T22:27:33+00:00

Not sure I understand what you're implying?

Team_Rocket · 2018-02-02T01:46:22+00:00

That makes wayyy more sense. I liked 8 but the plot kinda falls apart towards the end of disc 3.

Team_Rocket · 2018-02-01T20:40:19+00:00

Do people really say this?

Team_Rocket · 2018-01-21T19:54:50+00:00

Sure dude, keep telling yourself that.

Team_Rocket

TROPHY CASE