Hello and welcome to the NotACast, the one true chapter-by-chapter podcast going through A Song of Ice and Fire one chapter a week!

Jeff is off for a couple months, so Emmett is resuming his Lord of the Rings episodes. Special guest Benjamin Nielsen joins us for Book 4, Chapter 9 & 10, "Shelob's Lair" and "The Choices of Master Samwise," in which everyone's favorite giant spider stings Frodo, leaving Sam to take up the gauntlet of the quest, whether he likes it or not. (Spoiler: he doesn't.)