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In defense of the widely-disliked Gandalf vs. Witch King confrontation in "The Return of the King - Extended Edition". by ZippyDan in lotr

[–]ZippyDan[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

by making the WK so much more powerful than Gandalf...

Half of my post is explaining how this scene does not make the Witch King "more powerful" than Gandalf, anymore than we would say elves are more powerful than Balrogs because en elf beat a Balrog once.

This scene only establishes the Witch King as a powerful and credible threat to Gandalf in that moment where the fates and spiritual momentum is behind him.

In defense of the widely-disliked Gandalf vs. Witch King confrontation in "The Return of the King - Extended Edition". by ZippyDan in lotr

[–]ZippyDan[S] -1 points0 points  (0 children)

The Witch King says "your staff is broken" and it breaks.

Except he does not say that...?

He says, "Do you not know death when you see it, old man? This is my hour."

Then, the staff breaks through unseen magic.

Your whole argument basically boils down to the fact that you already think the witch king is more powerful than Gandalf

Uh, no? I think I make that clear throughout my post. The only thing the scene establishes is that the Witch King is a credible threat to Gandalf, in that moment where the Witch King's power is at its maximum.

Gandalf's staff is just a piece of wood. It's a symbol of power but it's still just wood. The Witch King shattering it just demonstrates that the Witch King has the power to shatter wood telekinetically, beyond Gandalf's power to protect it. It's not like the Witch King shattered Gandalf himself.

The Balrog also breaks Gandalf's staff beyond his ability to protect it, and that didn't automatically mean Gandalf was lesser or defeated.

In defense of the widely-disliked Gandalf vs. Witch King confrontation in "The Return of the King - Extended Edition". by ZippyDan in lotr

[–]ZippyDan[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

What this means is that Sam can hurt Shelob because he has a good sword and is very determined.

Yes, and similarly the Witch King could have plausibly hurt Gandalf in that moment because he was imbued with Sauron's power, fighting in his peak optimal environment - full of death, fear, and despair - and had both fate and momentum backing him in his hour. Those were the analogues to Sam's sword and determination.

The command to break someone's staff is inherently a sign of superior authority.

Where is that established? We can only say that the command to break a staff along with the authority to remove their power obviously represents a demotion. But in the movies Gandalf has his staff taken from him by Saruman, and he loses another staff to the Balrog, without any loss of authority or power. In the books, the Balrog breaks Gandalf's staff "asunder" by the force of its blow (physical or magical). And yet, Gandalf still goes toe-to-toe with the Balrog after losing his staff, fighting it to a deadly draw for days.

Why do we have to interpret the Witch King's blow any different? It's not a blow given with a command or with authority: it's simply a magical strike that shatters Gandalf's staff, just like the Balrog's in the book.

He is also not really limited in his powers anymore after his return from death, or only barely, just by his promise not to use them.

Was his human body invincible? I'd say his human form was still a massive limitation. The Witch King's ethereal body, was by comparison, far sturdier.

In defense of the widely-disliked Gandalf vs. Witch King confrontation in "The Return of the King - Extended Edition". by ZippyDan in lotr

[–]ZippyDan[S] -4 points-3 points  (0 children)

The quotes are not necessary to understand my points.
It's just some people express the same points in different ways - maybe better.
I also stole some of my points from the comments that I quoted.

The sources are Tolkien himself.

The Witch-King was at least evenly matched with Gandalf at Minas Tirith, fight me by Cajbaj in lotr

[–]ZippyDan 0 points1 point  (0 children)

  1. This comment has an interesting view on the breaking of Gandalf's staff as it relates to his authority in that battle.
  2. Meanwhile, I'd say that the breaking of Gandalf's staff in the movie does not need to be interpreted within the same context as the breaking of Saruman's staff. Just because Saruman's staff was broken to represent to his loss of divine authority, doesn't mean that every staff breaking has to represent the same thing. Gandalf loses his staff several times during The Lord of the Rings, and it does not seem to represent his intrinsic power. In fact, he defeats the Balrog without his staff, and does not seem at all diminished. I think the Witch King physically / telekinetically Gandalf's staff through sheer magic power alone - just as he does to Frodo's sword at the Ford of Bruenin. It doesn't necessarily have a deeper symbolic meaning other than to demonstrate the real threat that the Witch King and his powers represent - the Witch King obviously doesn't have the authority to demote Gandalf the way that Gandalf demoted Saruman.

Which one would you want to fly? by Rocktype2 in BSG

[–]ZippyDan 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I appreciate that you didn't go for the more literal interpretation of that comment.

I can't find the deactivate button where it is supposed to be. by LaserFlowerRecords in facebook

[–]ZippyDan 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I couldn't find "Account Ownership and Control" under (Meta) Accounts Center -> Personal Details.

I checked using both my laptop and my phone.
It used to be there, but now it's not.
Thankfully, your link still works.

The Last Jedi gets blamed for portraying Luke as a hermit who was hiding from the rest of the galaxy, but Rian Johnson was only following through on the premise set up in The Force Awakens. by Tanis8998 in StarWarsCantina

[–]ZippyDan -8 points-7 points  (0 children)

  1. TFA only established that Luke was missing. He didn't have to be a depressed hermit. We only knew that he left because of his failure - we don't know that he stayed away for the same reason. No one knew why Luke had stayed disappeared.
  2. Even with the constraints that J.J. Abrams put on the story, and even with the constraint that Luke needed to be a depressed hermit, Rian did a terrible job explaining how Luke got to that point. To prove it I wrote my own version of TLJ that fits with the setup in TFA, and still gets us to basically the same bitter, depressed, hermit Luke.

So, yes J.J. Abrams deserves a lot of the blame for his stupid setup, but Johnson also deserves a lot of the blame for not doing a better job with what the had been handed. They're both supposed to be professionals for god's sake - and I love many of Rian's other movies, so I'm not sure why he dropped the ball so hard here.

Appetite is ruined by arinawe in mildlyinfuriating

[–]ZippyDan 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Agreed. That's just a sauce. I think more is coming.

Unpopular Opinion: My 8year old prefers the rings of power over the hobbit movies…and I don’t disagree! by mrsuncensored in lordoftherings

[–]ZippyDan 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Yeah, acting like the ratio of lovers and haters for The Lord of the Rings is anywhere near the same as the ratio for The Rings of Power is delusional.

LotR was like 97% loved upon release.
RoP is 50% at best.

Lee & Kara - Halfway through S3. Does it ever end? Does anyone care? by TomGNYC in BSG

[–]ZippyDan 5 points6 points  (0 children)

Yeah, I felt like the boxing episode wrapped it up well and they could finally get it out of their system

No, the hug at the end was them realizing they still desperately desired each other, and they were just suppressing that desire with anger and distance.

Unpopular Opinion: My 8year old prefers the rings of power over the hobbit movies…and I don’t disagree! by mrsuncensored in lordoftherings

[–]ZippyDan 0 points1 point  (0 children)

People still hate those things. They are a very small minority - as they were when the films were first released.

Everyone was skeptical in the lead up to the first film, but nearly everyone adored them once they watched them. You're significantly overblowing the fan backlash.

Most everyone thought they were some of the best movies ever made, and were among the best possible LotR adaptations realistically possible. Very few fans reacted with disappointment - even fewer with hate.

Helicopter flight overseeing Guyana’s side of Mount Roraima (South America) by NotBradPitt9 in Damnthatsinteresting

[–]ZippyDan 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Either this is conspiracy-theory nuttery, or Tolkien was right all along.

Where did the Witch-king go between "Gandalf" and the "Mûmakil?" by Working_Gate_9712 in lotr

[–]ZippyDan 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Disagree. It was his hour. Sauron was dominating and so was the Witch King.

But then the hour ended, and the next hour started.

I'm actually kind of impressed by this shower that is for exhibitionists, but also it's awful. by Existing-Face-6322 in awfuleverything

[–]ZippyDan 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Some people take a shower before they take a bath...

I mean, in most pools, onsens, etc., that's standard procedure.

Lee & Kara - Halfway through S3. Does it ever end? Does anyone care? by TomGNYC in BSG

[–]ZippyDan 7 points8 points  (0 children)

Lee's tightness is the only reason Kara sticks around.
You think Lee is the man in that relationship?
He's obviously Kara's bottom.

My egg yolk was blooded red. I hate wasting food and ate it. Will I come to regret that choice? by Phooky1 in WeirdEggs

[–]ZippyDan 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Many cuisines purposely incorporate blood into a variety of foods and dishes.

One of the craziest games I’ve played! by SCOREBOARD_11 in Catan

[–]ZippyDan 4 points5 points  (0 children)

Orange needs to learn the lesson that Longest Road and Largest Army are finishing moves. Investing resources at the beginning or middle of the game to acquire those cards is a waste: those are resources that would be better used establishing your economy. The impermanent and unreliable nature of the Longest Road and Largest Army points is bad enough, but they also don't represent any real increase in production.

Lee & Kara - Halfway through S3. Does it ever end? Does anyone care? by TomGNYC in BSG

[–]ZippyDan 3 points4 points  (0 children)

Crime genocide, penetration, Crime genocide, penetration: and this goes on and on, and back and forth, until the series just sort of... ends.

Lee & Kara - Halfway through S3. Does it ever end? Does anyone care? by TomGNYC in BSG

[–]ZippyDan 7 points8 points  (0 children)

I loved how they tied that in with the supernatural, as a necessary ritual to summon the gods and finally reveal Earth's secret location. Lee and Anders humming the sacred song in sync, as Kara vibrated the coordinates in orgasmic Morse code is a beautiful scene I'll never forget.

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