In this discussion from our Gandalf and the rings episode, we talk about Sauron in the game Shadow of Mordor. Dan describes some of the interesting cutscenes with Celebrimbor and Sauron. Sauron is acting as Annatar, the Lord of Gifts and is Celebrimbor’s ring coach. In one scene, Celebrimbor uses the ring against Sauron and in another, he inscribes the fire letters on the One Ring. If that had happened, the elves would have known what Sauron was up to right away.

Then, we talk about how Sauron lost his form in the fall of Númenor. The Valar are not fans of Team Melkor and they can get really whiny about it. Is Sauron just a suit of armor after the fall of Númenor like Al from Fullmetal Alchemist?

Correction: Sauron was not a captive at the time of the fall of Númenor. He started out that way but ended up a trusted advisor and he was Team Melkor’s team captain, he was caught in the destruction.

 

References:

All music is courtesy of Doctor Turtle.

Quote from the Silmarillion, 2nd paperback ed. 2001 p. 280-281

Disclaimer: The Shadow of Mordor is a video game rated “M” for mature. The videos we refer to may be inappropriate for children.

Here's a link to the Shadow of Mordor video It gets pretty violent.

In this discussion from our Gandalf and the rings episode, we talk about how resilient hobbits can be. Erica fangirls about Sam some more. Dan discusses the military experience of leaving home and returning to find home and yourself changed.

As always, our music is supplied by Doctor Turtle.

In this episode, we talk about what Gandalf and his knowledge of the One Ring. Why doesn’t Gandalf know right away that Bilbo has Sauron’s ring? How did he figure it out? How did the ring get to a place where Gollum could find it? We talk about the dwarven rings, the One Ring’s effects on mortals, the Council of Elrond, the public library system of Gondor, and what would happen if Gandalf put on the One Ring while wearing the elvish ring that he already has. Short answer: it would be bad. In other news, Dan makes fun of Peter Jackson.

1:05 - Bilbo finding the ring - Riddle party!

3:35 - How does Gandalf not know it’s the One?

4:48 - Dwarf boats are barrels

5:12 - Back to Gandalf not knowing if it’s the One ring or not...

5:30 - Rings granting invisibility

5:43 - Greater/lesser rings

6:00 - I said Eregon. I meant Eregion. Those are different things. I blame the rye. -Erica

6:35 - How did the ring get here?

7:09 - Isildur’s bane

7:54 - Hobbit susceptibility to rings

8:07 - Dwarf rings

8:20 - I said that Sauron didn’t know about the 3 elven rings. He actually knows about all of them, but he doesn’t know where they are. The people that have the elf rings can use them, but the more dramatic the use, the more noticeable they make themselves. When the fellowship is crossing Caradhras, Gandalf uses the power of his ring to start a fire. He mentions that everyone knows exactly where he is when he does it. - Erica

8:40 - Back to the Dwarves - Gold! Madness!

9:00 - Dan is making fun of Peter Jackson.

10:00 - Thorin’s family, gold sickness, and the dwarf rings

10:53 - Why does Sauron want the dwarf rings?

11:15 - Dain putting the Mouth of Sauron on hold / Council of Elrond

12:15 - The fireplace at Bag End

12:30 - Effects of rings on mortals

12:51 - One ring is for enslaving others - Bilbo wants to live in peace and plant potatoes and dream #Moomin

13:10 - #notallhobbits

13:42 - Erica fangirls over Sam very briefly

14:20 - Sauron and Gollum

15:50 - Aragorn found Gollum in the Dead Marshes and was working with Gandalf

16:00 - Gollum did some bad stuff in Mirkwood, ended up prison breaking out of Thranduil's dungeon. Bilbo was able to escape from Thranduil with a baker’s dozen of dwarves in barrels and Gollum was able to get away because they let him out to climb trees. I don’t think he’s really that keen on keeping people prisoner…

17:00 - Gollum is why Legolas is at the Council of Elrond

17:20 - The gap between the party and Frodo leaving for Rivendell is 17 years

17:58 - Gandalf at Bilbo’s party - Great rings extending life (one book into three movies)

19:45 - Gandalf’s research in Minas Tirith - Erica looks at the actual book to confirm. - Isildur and the fire letters. #research #soproud

21:15 - Keep it secret, keep it safe, y’all!

21:44 - Gandalf and the big bucket of NOPE!

22:44 - Why did Gandalf know to go to minas tirith? - Minas Tirith is smart and funds their public library system to maintain the Isildur Archives #primarysources

23:25 - Frodo leaving the Shire (If Gandalf isn’t back by this time = September) - Nazgûl word problems - Saruman doesn’t ca...

In this discussion from our Gandalf and Rings episode, we discuss how different people are impacted through the ring’s powers of domination. Dan discusses Gollum’s role in Shadow of Mordor where his character is extended into a new story.

Our music is supplied by Doctor Turtle. Thanks, man!

In this discussion from our Gandalf and Bilbo's Ring episode(due to be published the week of July 23rd), we talk about the other rings, specifically the Dwarven rings of power. Was it a ring that made Thorin so unstable? Was it the dragon gold? Was he just really stressed out? What’s your theory?

Our music is by Doctor Turtle. Thanks, man!

In this discussion from our Great Eagles episode, we talk about the fact that wizards are immortal. It really isn’t clear in the Lord of the Rings, but a wizard isn’t just a guy that decided to class wizard on his character sheet. Gandalf seems like a guy that learned all the fire spells in the spell book. Sauron, who is called The Necromancer in The Hobbit, must have learned all the spells in the death spell book, right? Making rings, classing wizard vs. fire barbarian, and a brief discussion of the Powers of Arda (Valar and Maiar) are in this mini-episode. Please make and send us a character sheet for a balrog if you have some spare time. Not from MERP, though. Erica has all the books for that and there are balrog stat sheets in it. Get creative!

References

A note on canon from the Encyclopedia of Arda(It's at the bottom of the linked page):

http://www.glyphweb.com/arda/books.html

Here’s that Valar/Maiar chart we mentioned!

Our music is supplied by Doctor Turtle. Thanks, man!

In this discussion from our Great Eagles episode, we talk about Elrond and Arwen. Erica is wrong right out of the gate. It’s not Elrond’s kids that can choose immortality, it’s the descendants of Eȁrendil. Elrond chose immortality and his brother Elros chose to be mortal and became the first king of Nȗmenor. Dan gets a touch mansplainy. Also, Elrond isn't such a great dad.

Our music is supplied by Doctor Turtle. Thanks, man!

The Great Eagles

a lighthearted discussion about why the eagles didn’t help destroy the ring

Welcome to the first episode of The Fifth Age Podcast: Tolkien Stories!

In this episode, we talk about the great eagles. We address the idea that the eagles could help destroy the ring, like they do in the How It Should Have Ended video. Why do they help all these times throughout history, but fail to help their buddy Gandalf with his jewelry problem?

We discuss the Council of Elrond several times. Dan has trouble letting go of the fact that the great eagles can talk. Erica makes vague allusions to the Silmarillion and Unfinished Tales stories where the eagles get their talons all up in people’s business. Why can’t Legolas just surf an eagle into Mordor while Frodo sinks the ring into Mount Doom? We give a shoutout to Marc Singer’s abs in Beastmaster. In the end we decide that the destruction of the ring is a special forces mission not an airdrop, and most importantly that the Eagles don't actually do things for people, they come in after it's already done.

 

Episode Timeline:

00:52 The eagles and Elrond are neighbors.

01:03 Why are the eagles in the Misty Mountains?

02:15 Just big talkin’ eagles - some sources say they are spirits or maia, but it’s pretty vague.

02:45 Vala and Maia

03:06 Giant talking eagles

04:12 They are pretty Deus Ex Machina when they show up, aren’t they?

05:47 Correction: The Misty Mountains are not “pretty far west” for the eagles. We meant east because Beleriand reasons.

05:50 Ages - there are 3 ages of Middle-Earth

The first age ended with the fall of Morgoth.

The second age ended with the defeat of Sauron in the last alliance.

The third age ended with the destruction of the ring and Sauron’s fall.

06:25 Link to How It Should Have Ended video: https://youtu.be/1yqVD0swvWU

08:13 How do eagles get involved with Saruman, Radagast, and Gandalf?

11:09 Council of Elrond

14:27 Eagles versus nasssty orcses

15:04 How were eagles involved in The Hobbit?

16:15 Gandalf and his eagle buddies!

19:25 C’mon Gandalf, you know it’s a bad idea to fly into Mordor

Do you know why?

19:40 IT’S OBVIOUS! (this is where we finally answer the question)

21:00 Legolas!?

22:17 The black breath

23:07 Couldn’t have they distracted Sauron?

23:57 That neat little moth!

26:33 What else did the eagles do? Beren and Luthien and Maedhros (or as we like to call him, Elfy McElfypants)

29:02 You stand out to Sauron when you come zooming in at big flamin’ eye level!

31:00 Frodo and Sam are a special forces unit.

33:25 A few more things the eagles did

34:24 Beastmaster: https://m.imdb.com/title/tt0083630/?ref=m_nv_sr_

35:00 Erica is so done with Dan not being able to accept eagles talking.

35:24 Send us memes about the great eagles.

36:14 Divine intervention