After the great battle, Gimli and Legolas enters Minas Tirith and make some interesting observations about mankind. A servant of Prince Imrahil takes them to the houses of healing where they tell Pippin and Merry the dark tale of the Paths of the Dead. Meanwhile the Captains of the West hold a debate in the tents of Aragorn. For though one battle is won, Sauron is now massing armies so great that the defeat of Gondor seems inevitable.
What do you think about Gimli and Legolas musings about Men? What do you think of the speculation about Imrahils background? The tale of the Paths of the Dead and the battle of Pelargir is also something we’ll look at more closely. What happens to Legolas, and what do you think about his vision of Aragorn with the One Ring?
During the debate of the captains a bold plan to ride out and meet Saurons forces is agreed upon. What are the captains hoping to achieve with this? How well do they guess Saurons mind? What precautions do they make in case their plan fails?
Join us in #thehalloffire as we take a look at Return of the King book V, Chapter IX – The Last Debate.
Times: Saturday Chat: 5:30pm ET (17:30) [also 11:30pm (23:30) CET and 7:30am Sunday (07:30) AET]
Sunday Chat: 7:00 pm (19:00) CET [also 1:00pm (13:00) ET and 3:00am (03:00) Monday morning AET]
ET = Eastern Time, USA’s East Coast CET = Central European Time, Central Europe AET = Australian East Coast
Do you have a possible topic for Hall of Fire? Drop us a line at halloffire@theonering.net.
SARS Pic Caption Contest. OK, lots of fun ideas came in to caption this bizarre image. Thanks to everyone who wrote in! I promised to pick the ones that made me laugh out loud, or at least snicker, so here they are.
“There were others of the Istari who traveled into the far east of Middle Earth, and do not come into this tale. Until now” – SB “Masks prove ineffective in preventing the spread of Two Towers Three Quarter Angle Syndrome, a neurological disorder which was first observed to effect the cast of the movie and now seems to be spreading to moviegoers.” – Ruth
“Jeez, when they said Viggo Mortensen didn’t shower for months so he could get “into the role” of Aragorn, I didn’t know it would come to this…” Covert Rogue “Gosh, Aragorn NEED to take a bath.” – RennWench On similar lines, a few more: “Not even a mask could help poor Misako ignore that Rangery not-so-fresh feeling when Aragorn was near.” – Merrylyn “One does not simply walk into Beijing … The very air you breathe is deadly.” – Makilwen “They should have never used scratch-and-sniff for the Gollum scenes!” – Jeff Sontag “That Gollum…he even makes the movie poster smell!” – Rosa Burrows “Has Aragorn bathed yet???!!!” – Chantelle *Gasp* “Holy crap! Aragorn! For the love of Gondor, take a bath!!!” – Merrylyn “Those Nazgul really should do something about their Black Breath!” – Gwaihir’s Feather “TTT was the first movie to be shown in Smell-O-Vision. Unfortunately the Dead Marshes scene proved too much for this unfortunate movie-goer” – Kath
“I’ll be fine by December, and no, you can’t have my ticket!” – Carl “I told my boss I was sick today. Again.” – Peggy “Boromir’s paranoid replacement. Fear not going slowly, Only standing still.” Rosebud. [Actually I’m not sure if the last bit was meant for part of the caption, but it has a certain weird logic.] “I ask you, how are we supposed to identify and guard ourselves against the SARSuman threat if he isn’t even pictured in the public service posters?” – Anne “Dude! All I need now is some heavy eye-liner and I’ll be a servant of the Dark Lord!” – Kristina “Here we see the first costume concept for the Easterlings” – Brian “I don’t care if I work for ILM. I have to see Gollum again!” – Mechelle “Tell me honestly… do I look like one of those guys from Mordor? Yes, I know that the mask is the wrong color!” – Emily All these are from Robert: “A bad combination: a germ-fearing geek.” “THIS is representative of female fantasy lovers?” “Huh? Me looking for Jackie Chan flick. Who Frodo?”
A little bit delayed – okay, muchly delayed! – here is the Tolkien Society’s report of the action at the 2003 Tolkien Weekend at Sarehole Mill on May 17 and 18 …
2003’s Tolkien Weekend at Sarehole Mill was the wettest yet, but that didn’t deter anyone! The Tolkien Weekend is an event put together by a partnership of the Tolkien Society, Birmingham City Council, the Moseley Bog Conservation Group, The River Cole & Chinn Brook Conservation Group and The Wildlife Trust for Birmingham and the Black Country. The idea being to show people the hidden treasures in the landscape around them which had such an inspirational effect on J.R.R. Tolkien. Last year saw 5,000 people attend in glorious weather, this year despite heavy rains it seemed that just as many people turned up.
The event was opened by Simon Tolkien who had been introduced by Councillor Ian Ward (representing Birmingham City Council). Simon spoke for about 15 minutes on his grandfather’s life prior to Sarehole and the lasting effect it was to have on him. Official Opening done Simon and family were very pleased to be at the event and toured the various stalls and tents, chatting with people and signing copies of his new book (a legal thriller which is quite a page turner), and staying for several hours despite the rain.
Yes, as mentioned, it rained a lot, especially on Sunday. Previous Tolkien Weekends have bathed in glorious sunshine, not this year. Mind you while last year visitors and their children had boggled at the sight of a couple of hobbits with hairy feet, this year they marvelled at their hardihood, although by Sunday they were waterlogged and took to boots, as hobbits did in marshy conditions. On Saturday members of the Tolkien Society provided a Sam, Rosie, Merry & Pippin, Sam having come all the way from Germany while various members of the council staff joined the Shire Productions team as Nazgul or Orcs. On Sunday but there a replacement Sam turned up in the form of a teenage fan(girl) who was Sam complete with curly wig, rucksack and pan; just not as portly as Sean Astin’s portrayal!
Apart from the working Mill with its displays from the Tolkien Society and Hall Green Library there were three marquees of stalls selling locally made honey, books, organic crops and fine handicrafts. Plus information stalls from the various conservation groups including the Perrot’s Folly Group. The folly and nearby waterworks towers are Birmingham’s originals for “The Two Towers”, and there were trips on a historic bus from the Mill to Perrot’s Folly at regular intervals. Games Workshop were running display games for kids and parents (and unlike the books the orcs won on a few occasions).
Another ‘two towers’ were provided by the Wythall Radio Club, these ‘ham’ radio operators were transmitting with the callsign GB2ME (for Middle-earth), but last year’s feat of reaching mid-Russia couldn’t be bettered due to the atmospheric conditions. Birmingham’s own Vikings re-enactors demonstrated the fine art of swinging a dane-axe, or lopping off an axeman’s arm; showing how dark age weapons were really used. They also displayed the artistic side of the Norsemen showing how to make beautifully decorated leather pouches and scabbards. Arts & crafts were also on show under the oak trees by the River Cole, where woodcarvers and turners demonstrated how to turn fallen boughs into works of art rather than firewood.
In the poetry pavilion stories of Gawain and Beowulf were performed in bardic style (but without the mead!) and the crowds were treated to some of Tolkien’s songs from “The Road Goes Ever On”. Julie Boden, Birmingham’s poet laureate read a virulai about Tolkien which had been commissioned by the Hall Green Residents Association, and many of the poets present were reading from Tolkien’s own works or on related themes.
Static displays aside there were: tours of Tolkien’s childhood haunts; storywalks with scenes from Lord of the Rings or The Hobbit within Moseley Bog itself performed by Shire Productions; nature and archaeological walks around the Bog area and up the Cole valley. It may have rained hard and often over the weekend but the crowds still came to enjoy themselves, learn something new and watch the mill at work, I daresay that the miller was happy to see the millpool being topped up all day as it would mean he could run the mill for longer; part of the reason the mill closed was its water supply problems.
The Science Museum in London today announced its next blockbuster exhibition – The Lord of the Rings Motion Picture Trilogy – The Exhibition.
The family exhibition, which will open before the eagerly awaited final instalment of the film trilogy this Autumn, will allow visitors to explore for themselves the fantastic world created for the Lord of the Rings films.
Props, costumes and artefacts from the films – including samples of the models, armoury, animatronics and miniatures – will feature alongside interactive computer and mechanical demonstrations of the cutting-edge technology used to bring the story to life.
The exhibition, which will run from 16 September 2003 to 11 January 2004, is expected to be a huge success.
Tickets for The Lord of the Rings Motion Picture Trilogy – The Exhibition will go on sale later in the summer.
The exhibition is developed and presented by the Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa in partnership with New Line Cinema.
The Science Museum is currently London Tourist Board Visitor Attraction of the Year. www.sciencemuseum.org.uk
Ringer Spy Imrahil’s Babe emailed us with a report of some footage for The Return of the King she saw in New York City! Apparently New Line showed something that sounds like a trailer at a licensing show there. The report contains some minor spoilers!
The New Line Cinema booth at the Licensing show in NYC was showing some footage from the Return of the King! The room was very loud so I couldn’t hear exactly what they were saying, but it opened with the New Line logo and then Eowyn, standing still and looking brave. Galadriel was doing a voiceover but I couldn’t hear what she was saying due to room ambiance. Then it cut to shots of the main players, including one of Faramir standing in front of a statue of a man on a horse — probably Osgilliath but maybe Minas Tirith. Then a long tracking shot over a plain towards a hill — Mindolluin?? — then a tremendous shot of Gandalf with Pippin on Shadowfax galloping through the trees.
Other scenes: LOTS of ground combat from the Pelennor Fields, probably, very up close shots. Also fireballs landing among men. Eomer in a different helmet than we have seen him before giving a war cry; Gondor soldiers soing into battle; Frodo and Sam looking apprehensive; Gandalf looking down from the battlements of Minas Tirith at something he doesn’t like the looks of…that’s all I can remember! Oh yeah a few shots of Aragorn looking brave and Legolas drawing his bow that I think we’ve seen before. Also Gandalf wading into battle with drawn sword — very exciting!
All in all the screen lighting was far from ideal, so the footage looked a bit washed out. However, a crowd would gather everytime they showed it. I watched it three times myself.
If anyone else was there who might have a better idea as to what was said in the footage for instance: we’d love to hear!
In Peter Jackson’s film epic The Two Towers, the towering Ents unleash a fury of stones upon Saruman’s tower of Orthanc, and with the latest release to the Lord of the Rings Trading Card Game you can too! Early on in Decipher’s preview of the new set, we were shown Ent Horde, which at first glimpse is a very worrying card. FIFTEEN TWILIGHT!?! Yessir, but our Ent Horde is Twilight -2 for each Ent and Unbound Hobbit you can spot in your fellowship, so a key tactic to this is use Pippin: Hastiest of All with Merry: Impatient Hobbit, as by including these 2 Unbound Hobbits in your starting fellowship, you can launch Quickbeam: Breglad for only 2 Twilight! That’s a very powerful Starting Fellowship! An Ent with Strength 8 and Vitality 3, your ringbearer, and both Merry and Pippin allow you to play out your Strength 10 Ent Horde at -2 for each Ent and Unbound Hobbit, thus -6 already, down to a cost of 9.
I’ve heard arguments in various playing circles that Quickbeam: Breglad will replace the ever present Aragorn card in the starting fellowships of decks across the board. There are a few ideas behind this, first cards like The Last Alliance of Elves and Men and The Saga of Elendil make Aragorn a reputable tank, but with so many cards chastizing players for laying down support conditions, I feel that Quickbeam: Breglad’s ability to benefit an overall Ent strategy makes him of more use than the one man wonder Aragorn, as once hes dead, so is your chance of victory. Also, both Quickbeam: Breglad and Ent Horde are not bound by the Unhasty keyword, so they can participate in Skirmishes no matter the location, unlike the Two Towers Ent representative: Treebeard: Earthborn.
Another great new card in Ents of Fangorn is Skinbark: Fladrif. This card puts an emphasis on the Ents’ ability to turn the tide of battle for their Hobbit companions, If an unbound Hobbit is about to take a wound, exert Skinbark to prevent that wound. So as long as you pump your Hobbits up enough to keep from being overwhelmed, this tactic allows them to slip in and out of danger just as they do during the film. Last but not least is Ent Moot, a condition that adds 2 to the strength of an Ent, and only requires you to exert an ubound Hobbit to play.
Overall the Ents present in Decipher’s The Ents of Fangorn expansion truly live up to the strength and grace that we would expect after watching their destruction of Isengard on the silver screen. Ents of Fangorn will hit stores on July 2nd with the release of 2 starter decks, first featuring a Faramir theme, and the second based around The Witch King: Deathless Lord. Don’t forget to check out our Lord of the Rings Trading Card Game Mini-site here at Gaming Havens, and as always don’t hesitate to send in your comments and deck ideas to Havens@TheOneRing.net!
