The Last Stage [The Hobbit, Ch.19]

Discussion of The Hobbit, Chapter Nineteen

Join Maggie and Cam for the grand finale of The Hobbit. Bilbo finally chooses a future and resolves his longstanding Took / Baggins internal struggle. Gandalf shows his hand and clarifies the power and role of magic in this world. Multiple songs are sung, and a very unexpected character appears in the book's final illustration. This episode is an analysis of the final chapter and a retrospective on Tolkien's many hints and provocations thus far. Some of our theories are confirmed and others are tossed into the woodchipper. We also argue about the ring some more, and Cam finally gets to talk about Winnie the Pooh again.

During our Second Breakfast, we discuss happy endings, sad endings, and strange, precarious, "contented" endings like the one we find here. We also discuss the path forward into The Lord of the Rings and our increasingly complex relationship with Gandalf.

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