[00:00:00] Well, let's jump into Lord of the Rings.
[00:00:03] On that note, you need an intro.
[00:00:06] Oh no, that's gonna be so weird. We're gonna have to have a new thing and what do we even say?
[00:00:11] Welcome to Lord of the Rings and the Second Time.
[00:00:15] No, you never read it.
[00:00:18] Viewers, I've read like half of the first book and then I lost interest.
[00:00:23] But you think I'm gonna be able to do this then?
[00:00:28] Don't say that.
[00:00:29] Very different time.
[00:00:31] I am that same level of reading at this age.
[00:00:39] Hello and welcome to the podcast. I'm Jon,
[00:00:41] Jen,
[00:00:41] Danny,
[00:00:42] and Lizzie.
[00:00:43] And this is The Fellowship of the First Time Readers.
[00:01:01] If you can, would you leave a review on this podcast wherever you listen to podcasts?
[00:01:05] They do help a ton. And if you want to follow us on YouTube, we have a channel where we live stream
[00:01:09] or discussions as well as publish some more nerdy content that I kind of think you'll like because
[00:01:13] you're already listening to this podcast. We do Lord of the Rings stuff, Star Wars first time
[00:01:16] watches. We do Harry Potter. We do all the first time reads and watches and all that good stuff.
[00:01:22] If you want to email us, it's firsttimereaders at gmail.com. And if you join our discord or
[00:01:27] subreddit, which is r slash firsttimereaders, you'll find all of our other social media
[00:01:32] and info you need to follow along on our journey. I am pretty excited to read through Lord of the
[00:01:36] Rings for the first time with three other people who have never read it before. And if you like Harry
[00:01:41] Potter too, be sure to check out Harry Potter and the first time readers where the three of us in
[00:01:44] two different seasons went through the entire series of Harry Potter. I'm a Harry Potter nerd,
[00:01:49] read it like tens of twenties of times, and it was Danny and Jen and Lizzie's first time.
[00:01:55] But thanks for listening. Be sure to leave a review or a comment or like depending on where
[00:01:59] you're listening and enjoy the first episode of the fellowship of the first time readers.
[00:02:08] It's got a ring to it. Okay. All we're doing tonight is we're going to just try to intro and
[00:02:14] talk about the things that we know about Lord of the Rings, which let's just jump right into.
[00:02:20] How much do you guys know about Lord of the Rings at all? Like I watched it once when in theaters,
[00:02:28] in theaters. Wait, you haven't seen Lord of the Rings since movie theaters. And then I played the
[00:02:33] video game. Good, good. Great. There's so many great Lord of the Rings video games. And then
[00:02:38] we were watching Fellowship of the Ring. And then we watched Fellowship of the Ring the first season.
[00:02:45] And she means the Rings of Power. Yep, that's it.
[00:02:50] I love this. So I know so much.
[00:02:54] We can talk about Rings of Power later as well, because that'd be kind of fun to go through. But
[00:03:00] so it's been a long time since you've seen them at all. You've never... Yeah, I probably rewatched
[00:03:05] parts of it, but I never rewatched them. Did you have to read it in high school for required reading
[00:03:09] at all? The Hobbit at least? Nope. Wow. Maybe The Hobbit, but I probably spark noted.
[00:03:15] It doesn't matter. It's too far away. I don't think so. Well, yeah, thanks.
[00:03:19] I mean, we're all like the same. I have a distinct memory because me and my family used to watch them
[00:03:31] on New Year's Eve. We used to go to the theaters and that was like our New Year's Eve tradition
[00:03:37] into the new year. And so I like distinct memories of my family all like with like leaning over me like
[00:03:44] Happy New Year. But I also have a distinct memory of Danny not spoiling something, being a very
[00:03:50] good like gatekeeper for it because you saw it. I think you saw the third one a little bit before
[00:03:57] me and we had a group dinner right before our New Year's Eve party. And I remember asking Danny,
[00:04:02] I was like, because I wanted to know everything. I'm like, tell me like what should I expect? And
[00:04:05] then I mean, I was partially like, tell me, I don't want to know. Tell me. Yeah. Yeah.
[00:04:09] But I remember you were like, oh, there's this one moment that happens in a cave and it was crazy.
[00:04:14] And I was like, I remember thinking about that the whole time. Finally, when they went in the cave,
[00:04:17] I was like, this is so crazy. That's great. I'm the kind of person, I think these are the
[00:04:22] three greatest movies ever made like in humanity, in like the world. I think these are the greatest
[00:04:29] movies ever made. And I don't know why it's taking me so long to like finally read the books.
[00:04:35] Because I kind of got into them when I was in high school, tried reading them a little bit
[00:04:38] because my dad was reading it. My brothers were reading it. And I was like, I want to give it a shot.
[00:04:42] I really liked The Hobbit. The Hobbit was one of those books that kind of like set me up with a
[00:04:46] love of reading. But The Lord of the Rings was a little bit much for me. And I kind of lost
[00:04:52] interest after a few chapters. So I'm kind of excited to get back into it and see if I'll like it more.
[00:05:00] I forgot. I tried to read it after I watched.
[00:05:03] Oh, really?
[00:05:04] The movies. Because I think we have copies of it.
[00:05:08] Oh, yeah.
[00:05:08] It was so boring.
[00:05:12] It was like you said, it was just like setting the scene and just like walking. I just like when
[00:05:17] you said that I had a moment where I remembered this so long ago.
[00:05:23] And they also came out usually around the end of the year, right?
[00:05:26] Yeah. Yep.
[00:05:27] Because it was my brother's birthday. We would go watch them to celebrate his birthday, which is why
[00:05:32] we went to theaters and we saw it anyway.
[00:05:36] I will say, and like you guys give your experience too, but I will say I've heard out of every single
[00:05:41] series, like people who love the books, love the books. You know, people are book nerds.
[00:05:46] I've heard because people love the movie so much and this is one of the best, people say like this is
[00:05:50] the best adaptation of any movie or any book ever. Like people love this adaptation. And I think it's
[00:05:56] sometimes it's hard to go back to the books if this is like the best adaptation ever made.
[00:06:01] And because the books aren't drastically different, but they cut the things out of the book that
[00:06:05] sometimes they needed to cut. Like people talk about this one character, Tom Bombadil and how
[00:06:09] they cut him. And like it was a necessary cut. Like he adds a lot of interest to the whole plot,
[00:06:15] but it's not like absolute necessity. So like when they cut him, it was fine.
[00:06:20] But I remember reading it in the beginning and the movies, the only real thing I remember about the
[00:06:25] books is in the beginning, in the actual movies of Lord of the Rings, the Fellowship of the Rings,
[00:06:31] or the Fellowship of the Ring, sorry. They don't spend a ton of time in Hobbiton. Like they're not
[00:06:37] in Hobbiton that long, but I remember in the books, they were there for like half the book. And I was
[00:06:43] like, when are they going to get out of this place? That is so funny. I want to know if that's like my
[00:06:48] memory just playing tricks on me or if that is actually how it is. Because I remember,
[00:06:52] I remember Frodo moving, like he's actually sold Bag End. That's really the only thing I remember
[00:06:57] about that. And yeah, I don't know. So we'll see if that's actually true or not. I've seen a lot
[00:07:04] online of like kind of like memes, like this is like how the movie portrayed it. But then this is
[00:07:10] like how the book portrayed and it's like two pages worth of stuff. And in my mind, I'm like, is that not
[00:07:15] just how books work? Like you need to set up the scene. I don't know. But I watched it like a year
[00:07:22] ago for the first time with my family because my siblings... Oh, that's kind of fresh. Yeah. My
[00:07:27] siblings are like the people that are like, this is the greatest movie of all time, whatever.
[00:07:31] So we watched it all together and then I was going to read the book. So I wanted to watch it
[00:07:37] before I read the book because I heard that the book is so hard to get through. So I was like,
[00:07:41] let me set myself up for success. And then a few months later, I watched them all in theaters and
[00:07:48] then I watched them again. So I've watched the trilogy three times in one year.
[00:07:51] Whoa!
[00:07:51] Whoa!
[00:07:52] And that's all I'm sad.
[00:07:54] That's impressive.
[00:07:55] But yeah.
[00:07:56] Was it all theatrical edition or extended edition?
[00:08:01] All extended.
[00:08:03] Whoa.
[00:08:03] Yeah.
[00:08:03] I've never watched extended.
[00:08:05] I think they're all extended.
[00:08:06] That'll be a first time watch for you. Nice. And your perspective...
[00:08:10] I haven't been able to watch them since I met him.
[00:08:13] You know the rules.
[00:08:14] Danny is such a good gatekeeper.
[00:08:16] I also am...
[00:08:17] I'm so annoying about that stuff because some movies, they're not TV movies.
[00:08:22] Yeah.
[00:08:23] But to some people, this is a TV movie, not to me.
[00:08:26] So I've been at friends' houses where they're going to go put this on.
[00:08:29] I'm like, nope, nope, we're not watching this or I'll just leave.
[00:08:32] Because I'm like, it's too important to watch in subpar environments.
[00:08:38] That's so funny.
[00:08:38] I only watch it on airplanes.
[00:08:40] It was my airplane movie.
[00:08:41] That's wild.
[00:08:41] And the earbuds have no sound quality.
[00:08:45] So it's just like orcs screaming.
[00:08:47] Yeah, yeah.
[00:08:47] And I had no concept of it before.
[00:08:50] But you know, an airplane can be okay because there are distractions,
[00:08:53] but at least it's like you can still lock in.
[00:08:56] Yeah.
[00:08:57] I felt like it was visually entertaining without having a lot of sound.
[00:09:01] Yep.
[00:09:01] I don't know.
[00:09:02] It's so funny that you mentioned it.
[00:09:04] That doesn't make any sense.
[00:09:04] Because I watched it with a group of people and I was, me and my brother, it's like one
[00:09:09] of our favorites.
[00:09:10] So we were watching with a group of people and I was hyping this movie up to like three
[00:09:14] really good friends that I had.
[00:09:16] And I was like, this is the greatest movie ever.
[00:09:18] And when they watch it, they were like, who cares?
[00:09:21] But I'm like, everyone was talking.
[00:09:23] They didn't, it wasn't a good environment.
[00:09:24] The TV was kind of far away.
[00:09:25] The sound wasn't that great.
[00:09:26] You couldn't really hear everything.
[00:09:28] And I was like, that's when I was convinced of what you said.
[00:09:30] You need to be in like the right environment.
[00:09:32] If you actually focus on the movie and are like in a good environment and you're watching
[00:09:35] it in like a, like a, you know, even like a theater going, because it's playing in theaters
[00:09:39] every once in a while.
[00:09:40] Go do that.
[00:09:42] And I think this movie will be the best movie you've ever seen.
[00:09:44] Because you need that like sense of doom that builds up.
[00:09:47] Yeah.
[00:09:47] You need like the respect for what's happening.
[00:09:49] It was also awesome just to like, you wait, we waited like a year for each of them to
[00:09:54] come out.
[00:09:55] So it's like, you didn't know what was going to happen next because I wasn't going to
[00:09:59] read it.
[00:10:00] So it would be like, you had to wait like the whole year to, to find out like what happens
[00:10:07] to the.
[00:10:07] Yeah.
[00:10:08] I was even wondering, was it more than a year?
[00:10:11] Well, maybe, but I thought it was a year.
[00:10:14] I don't remember all the specifics.
[00:10:15] Yeah.
[00:10:15] It could have been that quick, but that's actually so impressive.
[00:10:17] Three years in a row from my brother's birthday.
[00:10:22] And it was like my sister and I, and then all boys.
[00:10:25] And then my mom, probably too.
[00:10:29] Anyways, this was years ago.
[00:10:32] Yeah.
[00:10:32] I feel like when the first, this is 2003 was one of them, but I can't remember if that
[00:10:39] was the first or the last.
[00:10:40] I feel like that could have been.
[00:10:42] Oh my gosh.
[00:10:43] And one of his, the first movie, or maybe that was the last one.
[00:10:46] I forget.
[00:10:47] But when the first one came out, I wasn't allowed to see it in theaters.
[00:10:50] My parents wanted to, wanted to know if it was too violent, what was in it.
[00:10:54] They didn't know about it.
[00:10:54] I couldn't see the first one yet.
[00:10:55] Yeah.
[00:10:56] And then the second one, I think I could see in theaters.
[00:10:59] I think my dad was like, all right, we'll go watch it together with my uncle Paul.
[00:11:02] And I think we made a day of it.
[00:11:03] And then the third one was the one that we were like, opening night, we got to go.
[00:11:07] So.
[00:11:08] Same.
[00:11:08] Same.
[00:11:08] I remember first when I, when it first came out, I didn't know anything about it.
[00:11:11] And, uh, Parker, I can't, you know, our, one of our buddies, he saw it and we like, we
[00:11:18] had a birthday party or something like that.
[00:11:19] And we were all going together.
[00:11:20] I don't know if you were in that group or not.
[00:11:22] I think it was James, James W's birthday.
[00:11:26] And I remember going to see, I forgot what movie we saw.
[00:11:28] It was like some animated movie or something.
[00:11:30] And there was like a Lord of the Rings table there.
[00:11:32] Cause the movies had just come out.
[00:11:34] I remember Parker going up to the table, being super excited.
[00:11:36] Cause he's like, Oh, I'm so excited for this movie.
[00:11:38] It's going to be great.
[00:11:38] I love the books and every yada, yada, yada.
[00:11:40] And I didn't know anything about it.
[00:11:42] And then I remember going home and my parents and my, like all my family were going to see
[00:11:46] the movie.
[00:11:47] And it was like, I was the only one left out.
[00:11:51] They were like, Oh, we have to go check out.
[00:11:52] If it's like, you know, age appropriate.
[00:11:54] I think it was in middle school or elementary school.
[00:11:56] Yeah.
[00:11:56] Yeah.
[00:11:57] Really?
[00:11:57] I don't know exactly when 2001.
[00:11:59] I was like fifth grade for us.
[00:12:01] That sounds right.
[00:12:03] Because I think we were still in middle school and the third one came out.
[00:12:07] Yeah.
[00:12:09] But then the first time I actually saw the movie was, it wasn't on a dinky screen, but
[00:12:15] it was like a good environment.
[00:12:16] It was like, we were on vacation.
[00:12:18] We were in a little cabin and my parents were finally like, okay, we're going to watch the
[00:12:22] first movie.
[00:12:22] And it was a tiny little TV.
[00:12:24] One of those like huge ones, like those two.
[00:12:26] Yeah.
[00:12:27] And you can barely see anything, but my family was so into it that I sat there on the couch
[00:12:31] and was like in it.
[00:12:33] I was so in it.
[00:12:35] I was like, this is the greatest thing I've ever seen.
[00:12:37] And then I was just.
[00:12:38] It's so good in theaters.
[00:12:39] Yeah.
[00:12:39] Oh my gosh.
[00:12:40] Like, yeah.
[00:12:40] I've sobbed all three times that I've watched it.
[00:12:43] It's so.
[00:12:44] As you should.
[00:12:45] Yeah.
[00:12:45] It's definitely one of those two.
[00:12:47] So good.
[00:12:47] Like when I first saw the, especially the last scenes.
[00:12:51] Oh goodness.
[00:12:53] Yeah.
[00:12:53] I've never, I like was in high school.
[00:12:55] I was like a guy, you don't cry in movies, but there was a few that I teared up in and
[00:12:58] that was definitely one of those that I'd tear up.
[00:13:00] Now I'm like full on crying.
[00:13:02] Well, we watched it back to back for like when I watched with my family.
[00:13:07] So we were all just like sitting there for hours.
[00:13:10] Like literally back to back.
[00:13:11] Yeah.
[00:13:11] Oh, that's awesome.
[00:13:12] It was like, I think it was like Christmas Eve.
[00:13:14] So we stopped for a little bit and then we were like, let's just keep going.
[00:13:17] And then that was it.
[00:13:18] So then I was totally like into it and sobbing.
[00:13:21] My sister was like, why are you crying?
[00:13:23] I'm like, are you kidding me?
[00:13:24] Why are you not crying?
[00:13:25] Like the whole journey is complete.
[00:13:28] Yeah.
[00:13:28] Sometimes it's annoying when someone doesn't cry at those parts because you're like,
[00:13:31] this is the greatest movie I've ever made.
[00:13:34] I know.
[00:13:34] And you're just sitting there not crying.
[00:13:37] And then when I went to the theaters with my brother, we just sat in silence during the
[00:13:41] credits and we like looked over at each other.
[00:13:43] I mean, he was sobbing and I was like, okay, at least you're sobbing too.
[00:13:47] That was really funny.
[00:13:49] Oh yeah.
[00:13:49] Such good conclusions.
[00:13:50] It's like a sacred moment.
[00:13:52] Oof.
[00:13:56] You must have cried.
[00:13:57] I don't remember.
[00:13:58] No, I was in theaters.
[00:13:59] So I've probably held it in.
[00:14:01] Yeah.
[00:14:02] I don't cry in public.
[00:14:05] But then it would be on TV and my brother would want to watch it.
[00:14:08] I'm like, no, but it's so long.
[00:14:09] I have to watch it in its entirety.
[00:14:11] I don't want to watch like middle to the end or whatever it was.
[00:14:16] So you're there.
[00:14:18] We have something in common.
[00:14:19] Danny, I think you said this a while ago too.
[00:14:22] I don't know if it was on Harry Potter and the first time readers or just like in a normal
[00:14:25] conversation that the extended ones shouldn't be your first time watching the movies.
[00:14:32] Yeah.
[00:14:32] And like they should come after, which I totally agree with now.
[00:14:35] I think that's like the best way to do it.
[00:14:37] I feel like just like you said about they had to make a lot of choices about what to
[00:14:41] cut from the book story to make it into a movie.
[00:14:45] They made great choices.
[00:14:47] Peter Jackson and his partner.
[00:14:49] They were they cut the things that needed to be cut to keep the story that perfect theatrical
[00:14:57] arc.
[00:14:58] And three hours is such a long movie already.
[00:15:01] But in my opinion, it still flies by.
[00:15:04] But then once you love the story, you can deal with the four hours.
[00:15:07] Yeah.
[00:15:07] But when we would do the all night marathons, the DVDs like it doesn't fit on one disc.
[00:15:13] Yeah.
[00:15:13] So you have to change the disc mid movie.
[00:15:16] So you're like you're planning your bathroom and eating breaks for the disc swaps.
[00:15:20] Yeah.
[00:15:20] So you're like, we got six discs and 12 hours to go.
[00:15:24] Here's when we're going to do breakfast.
[00:15:25] Here's.
[00:15:26] Did you actually you did full day marathons?
[00:15:28] Usually we would actually go all night.
[00:15:31] So we would start around dinner time.
[00:15:33] Who's we though?
[00:15:34] Yeah, me and my brother Luke.
[00:15:36] And sometimes Alex and Timmy would come over.
[00:15:39] My dad would do it for like one movie and then he'd go to bed.
[00:15:42] And then we would just stay up and watch them all.
[00:15:46] I sent you the meme like of men with their pizza box lined up.
[00:15:53] Oh, I've seen that.
[00:15:54] Pizza box on them and Lord of the Rings playing.
[00:15:57] The best sleepover for men.
[00:16:00] Like a sleepover party.
[00:16:02] It had some better line, but do you remember?
[00:16:06] The one I'm thinking of was making a comment about like these were the best days or this
[00:16:10] was the best when you were 10.
[00:16:11] And then people are like, no, this is the best right now.
[00:16:14] I still want to do that.
[00:16:16] So, yeah.
[00:16:17] There's so many good memes out there.
[00:16:19] Lord of the Rings stuff.
[00:16:20] It's my favorite.
[00:16:24] I think or my family, we always did it at the beginning, but we always actually broke
[00:16:31] up the discs for each night.
[00:16:34] So like we split up six different nights that we would watch it.
[00:16:36] That's a good way to do it.
[00:16:37] So because we wanted to like not like drag it on, but like it was like our dinner thing.
[00:16:41] Like every Saturday, we'd like all get it together and like watch one sixth of the movies
[00:16:47] or like full movies.
[00:16:49] And then the next one, sometimes we actually didn't stop it.
[00:16:52] Like sometimes if we were watching the first one, we'd be like, all right, it's like too
[00:16:57] good.
[00:16:58] That's just like, no one is, no one's doing anything.
[00:17:00] Let's just watch the rest of it.
[00:17:01] And then we would, you know, keep on like that.
[00:17:03] But we did it every single year.
[00:17:04] We always did it in January.
[00:17:05] My mom still does it with my dad.
[00:17:08] But all of it, like every single new year, they will be, my mom will text all of us and
[00:17:12] be like, oh, starting our annual Lord of the Rings watching.
[00:17:15] And they do that.
[00:17:16] They do the Hobbit movies.
[00:17:18] I think they're doing Rings of Power now.
[00:17:20] My mom loves Rings of Power.
[00:17:21] So it's really cute.
[00:17:23] I guess that's weird because I also read The Hobbit in school and I did not read a lot
[00:17:30] of the books that we were supposed to read.
[00:17:31] I would say some of them I did, but The Hobbit I read and then reread it because I liked
[00:17:37] it so much.
[00:17:37] And I forget if it was the school library or the town.
[00:17:40] They had like a copy that was really large with big pictures, at least one a chapter.
[00:17:46] And they were like epic pictures that really captured a lot.
[00:17:49] So whenever that was available at the library, I would get it.
[00:17:52] I think I read it like three or four times, which is unheard of for me to this day.
[00:17:58] So I feel like that.
[00:18:00] But then the movies, I've only seen The Hobbit movies once, I think, each.
[00:18:06] Maybe the first one I've seen again, but in theaters.
[00:18:08] So I'm curious to watch those again.
[00:18:10] And then Rings of Power.
[00:18:12] Oh, yeah.
[00:18:12] We watched season one.
[00:18:13] And then we got two episodes into season two.
[00:18:17] Three.
[00:18:17] We'll see.
[00:18:18] Yeah.
[00:18:18] I just watched the first episode of Rings of Power and that was it.
[00:18:22] And you're not for like any reason.
[00:18:23] I just stopped.
[00:18:24] I'm just feeling well, you know.
[00:18:25] It felt like a lot was like you had to pay attention to that.
[00:18:29] Yeah.
[00:18:29] I thought it was going to be like way more.
[00:18:31] Also, like you have to like keep track of everyone because I'm constantly asking you,
[00:18:38] wait, who is that again?
[00:18:39] Like they make like a niche reference and you're like, what?
[00:18:43] But then it's important.
[00:18:45] So it's like taking notes.
[00:18:47] That's not my biggest plan of the series.
[00:18:49] If you're an uber nerd, I feel like I can keep track of the characters to some extent.
[00:18:55] But my problem is like the acting and the sets look fake.
[00:18:58] There's a lot of other problems.
[00:18:59] I think the storyline, I don't really care that much about some of the storylines of it.
[00:19:03] I just don't think they're doing a good job with a bunch of different things.
[00:19:06] But that's Rings of Power.
[00:19:07] We'll talk about that.
[00:19:08] Maybe we'll do a whole, it'll be like a whole sub chapter of this podcast.
[00:19:11] We'll watch Rings of Power.
[00:19:12] Yeah, nice.
[00:19:13] Dissect each episode.
[00:19:18] But as far as the movies and the books are concerned, do you, do you guys know any differences
[00:19:25] between the books and the movies?
[00:19:28] Like in your hearings or anything?
[00:19:31] Tom Bombadil is the only character I know of.
[00:19:34] And did I make this up or dream it up?
[00:19:36] Or is he in The Hobbit?
[00:19:39] Mm-hmm.
[00:19:40] I think he's in The Hobbit.
[00:19:41] Yeah, he is in The Hobbit.
[00:19:43] Okay.
[00:19:43] They go to his house.
[00:19:44] They go to his house in The Hobbit.
[00:19:45] He's all around.
[00:19:46] Yeah, okay, nice.
[00:19:47] Because I just couldn't remember, like, is that in the movies?
[00:19:50] So he's not in the movie at all.
[00:19:52] Tom, I don't think.
[00:19:54] Who's the first guy?
[00:19:55] He's not in the movie at all.
[00:19:56] Who's the Hobbit that's the first guy that brings the kids?
[00:19:59] Well, you're going to learn all about him when you start reading.
[00:20:01] Can you just tell me his name?
[00:20:02] Set the scene more.
[00:20:03] Explain it.
[00:20:04] I think it's Gandalf.
[00:20:05] The wizard.
[00:20:06] The Hobbit?
[00:20:06] No, it's a Hobbit that's bringing them.
[00:20:08] Is he turning 111-D?
[00:20:11] It's Bildum.
[00:20:13] Is that Bilbo?
[00:20:15] Yeah.
[00:20:16] Explain what he does.
[00:20:17] He's, like, the older one that, like, originally, like, knew about the ring and, like, is bringing
[00:20:22] Frodo to, like, Gandalf or something like that.
[00:20:26] Yeah.
[00:20:27] It's going to, like, his house.
[00:20:28] That's Bilbo.
[00:20:29] Oh, so I thought it was, like, Tom.
[00:20:31] No.
[00:20:31] That character.
[00:20:32] Okay.
[00:20:32] Tom Bilbo.
[00:20:33] Bilbo-dil.
[00:20:34] Yeah.
[00:20:35] We'll call him Tom.
[00:20:36] That'll be the first name for him.
[00:20:37] Tom Bilbo.
[00:20:38] Bilbo-dil.
[00:20:40] But, yeah, that's the only thing I think I know that's different.
[00:20:46] My brother did just read the books and he was talking about things, but I purposefully
[00:20:52] said, I don't want any spoilers, but I was asking him about, like, slow parts.
[00:20:56] How's Jen going to do?
[00:20:58] Well, you did.
[00:21:00] But he was, like, he didn't want to spoil anything either because he's, like, weird about
[00:21:03] that like me.
[00:21:04] And so he was just, like, there are slow moments, but it's worth it.
[00:21:09] Or it's, like, it's well done or something.
[00:21:12] And I was, like, all right, nice.
[00:21:15] I don't know.
[00:21:16] It's going to be good.
[00:21:16] That's all I know about the books is that it's slow and it's hard to get through and
[00:21:20] that you should just watch the movies.
[00:21:21] That's what people tell me.
[00:21:22] But I think there's, like, more in the books.
[00:21:25] I don't know, like, any specific things, but I just know that it's, like, a fuller story.
[00:21:31] Yeah, absolutely.
[00:21:32] Yeah.
[00:21:32] Which is sometimes what you want.
[00:21:33] So, like, if you, I mean, that's what a lot of people do with Harry Potter.
[00:21:36] They end up loving the movies so much that they're, like, I want more of this world.
[00:21:40] And they get into the books and it's, like, an added thing.
[00:21:42] Which is why I think I'm going to really get into this because it's, like, I want some added
[00:21:47] lore for Lord of the Rings.
[00:21:48] I don't know a ton.
[00:21:49] I know, like, basic things for Lord of the Rings.
[00:21:51] Like, I watch them all the time.
[00:21:53] I've probably seen them, like, 20 to 30 times each.
[00:21:55] Oh, my gosh.
[00:21:56] And I love them.
[00:21:58] And I'm, like, I want to know more about, like, the nerddom of it.
[00:22:02] I want to know, like, about the first age or the second age or, oh, excuse me.
[00:22:07] Gosh.
[00:22:08] I want to know what that even means.
[00:22:09] Yeah.
[00:22:10] Sounds so intriguing.
[00:22:11] Yeah, yeah.
[00:22:12] You know what else is interesting?
[00:22:13] The movies, they do a great job at hinting at things.
[00:22:17] And I can't tell if it's with a lot of purpose.
[00:22:20] But I feel like some of the things, even things like, the first that comes to mind would be horses.
[00:22:28] In the movies, they talk about the horses with specific names.
[00:22:33] Yeah.
[00:22:33] And it just, it gives the impression that the horses are a bigger deal in the books.
[00:22:39] And we're going to learn more about them.
[00:22:40] Yeah.
[00:22:41] So then I'm like, all right.
[00:22:42] Shadow facts.
[00:22:43] Let's get some background here.
[00:22:45] Yeah.
[00:22:46] That is the coolest freaking horse in all of them.
[00:22:52] So epic.
[00:22:53] I vaguely remember it.
[00:22:55] She, like, whispers to it, right?
[00:22:57] He whistles to it.
[00:22:58] I used to do that whistle with Wes in the woods.
[00:23:00] If I really needed him to come, I would go.
[00:23:03] Well, that was good.
[00:23:05] Nice.
[00:23:07] So I'm excited to get deeper dive on some of that lore.
[00:23:10] Even the stuff that's already been hinted at.
[00:23:12] I think Lord of the Rings is such a good, the movies do such a good job of putting things
[00:23:17] in there that are, like, deep for true nerd fans.
[00:23:20] But, like, keeping it still surface level.
[00:23:22] Like, some of the examples are Gandalf has 20 different names depending on where he is
[00:23:28] and, like, who is calling him something.
[00:23:29] Like, people call him a Thrandir.
[00:23:31] That's one of the names that I always hear in the movies.
[00:23:33] And you randomly hear in the movies and you're like, what did they just say?
[00:23:36] But you can just pass it over and it's like, it doesn't matter that much.
[00:23:39] Yep.
[00:23:39] But I'm so curious about all these other, like, Denethor is such an interesting character.
[00:23:43] And the series.
[00:23:44] Yeah, exactly.
[00:23:45] He has all these different names.
[00:23:46] Yeah.
[00:23:46] Yeah.
[00:23:46] All these characters have, like, randomly different names.
[00:23:49] So I'm curious why that is.
[00:23:50] I'm curious about some of the deeper backstories of the characters.
[00:23:54] Like, people say Denethor and Boromir are really interesting in the books.
[00:23:58] I don't even know who that is.
[00:23:59] And they talk about some subtle, like, I've heard some subtle differences from book to movie
[00:24:03] characters.
[00:24:03] But most people say it's pretty, it's pretty good, the changes they made in the movies.
[00:24:09] But I'm just kind of excited to get into, like, the nerd lore of everything.
[00:24:13] Like, every time I watch, like, Stephen Colbert, I'm, like, impressed at his Lord of the Rings
[00:24:18] knowledge.
[00:24:18] Yes.
[00:24:18] Like, he's such a nerd.
[00:24:19] And I'm like, I don't want to ever be that because he's, like, he's, like, I feel like
[00:24:23] the world's leading most expert on Lord of the Rings.
[00:24:26] So true.
[00:24:26] And wait, what was he?
[00:24:28] He was in The Hobbit.
[00:24:29] Yeah, he was in The Hobbit because he loved it so much.
[00:24:31] Oh, yeah.
[00:24:31] So they gave him a role.
[00:24:32] That's so great.
[00:24:32] I think Stephen, I think the.
[00:24:36] Stephen Colbert?
[00:24:36] Yeah.
[00:24:37] Is he a comedian or something?
[00:24:38] Yeah, but he does Late Night.
[00:24:40] Yeah, he does Late Night now.
[00:24:41] So he's the.
[00:24:41] You'd recognize him.
[00:24:42] Yeah.
[00:24:42] Like, glasses.
[00:24:43] Yeah, and, like, the name sounds so familiar.
[00:24:44] He's got dark hair.
[00:24:45] Yeah, and he lives, like, not that far away and does that, the movie Montclair film festival
[00:24:53] and stuff.
[00:24:53] Oh, okay.
[00:24:55] Yeah.
[00:24:56] Cool.
[00:24:57] I forget you know so much about this stuff.
[00:25:00] But I think Peter Jackson, when he was in a conversation with Stephen Colbert and he was like, he was joking around.
[00:25:07] He's like, was I the best actor that you've ever worked with?
[00:25:09] And Peter Jackson goes, no.
[00:25:12] No.
[00:25:13] But I have never seen someone take a 10-second role more seriously than you.
[00:25:19] Oh.
[00:25:19] He's like, in all of my acting.
[00:25:21] You had this tiny little role.
[00:25:23] And he was like, he took it.
[00:25:25] I'm like, I love that.
[00:25:26] Just a nerd who's so happy to be in a movie.
[00:25:28] Like, I, so this was like another, a whole other side quest.
[00:25:32] You guys all know that I love the show Bluey.
[00:25:34] But there was, there's a super popular podcast about Bluey.
[00:25:38] And it's like these two moms dissecting Bluey.
[00:25:40] And in the third season, they made it into the season.
[00:25:44] They, like, put them as back characters.
[00:25:46] I'm like, that is the coolest thing.
[00:25:48] It's like my life's aim.
[00:25:50] Like.
[00:25:51] That's what you're trying to do for Harry Potter in 2026.
[00:25:54] I want a writer from Harry Potter to be like, oh, I listened to this podcast.
[00:25:57] It was really fun.
[00:25:58] Like, first time read experience.
[00:25:59] And these people are nerds.
[00:26:00] Let's throw them in like an extra scene.
[00:26:02] Like, please.
[00:26:03] You just be in the background.
[00:26:04] Please.
[00:26:05] Just brief back to Harry Potter.
[00:26:08] Triwizard Tournament.
[00:26:09] Perfect time for that.
[00:26:10] Oh my gosh.
[00:26:10] Can you imagine if HBO is like, look, here's where we're filming.
[00:26:13] Yeah.
[00:26:14] We want certain people.
[00:26:16] You have to come on your own dime.
[00:26:17] I would be there.
[00:26:18] But you can be.
[00:26:19] So fast.
[00:26:20] Oh my goodness.
[00:26:22] That'd be awesome.
[00:26:22] So fast.
[00:26:24] Oh, that'd be the greatest.
[00:26:29] All right.
[00:26:29] Let's go over a few more basic things.
[00:26:33] Nemo, who is going to be our pretty much our Lord of the Rings MC.
[00:26:38] He's going to like guide us through.
[00:26:39] He's going to bring some questions and stuff like that.
[00:26:41] I mean, I'm opening up up to everyone.
[00:26:43] He is like the Lord of the Rings expert in our whole in our whole discord.
[00:26:48] He's part of the fellowship.
[00:26:49] Yeah.
[00:26:49] He's definitely part of the fellowship.
[00:26:51] Nice.
[00:26:51] Nice.
[00:26:51] So he's going to be the honorary member of the fellowship.
[00:26:54] But he has a few questions that I want to go through that are pretty good questions.
[00:26:58] He says, apart from Harry Potter, what other fantasy series have you read or watched?
[00:27:03] And have you done any like high fantasy?
[00:27:06] Which is like, we've talked about that.
[00:27:08] Harry Potter is like low fantasy.
[00:27:10] It's like more accessible.
[00:27:11] This is like where someone like he creates a language.
[00:27:16] He creates like religions.
[00:27:18] He creates races.
[00:27:19] Like Dune?
[00:27:20] Yeah, like Dune.
[00:27:21] It's this whole, it's a more completed universe than like a Harry Potter is.
[00:27:26] Harry Potter is like a fun, but it's so easily accessible.
[00:27:29] This one is like, you kind of have to take like a big step to get to some of it.
[00:27:33] I don't think Lord of the Rings is, like I think it is definitely high fantasy, but I think
[00:27:36] it's not, I think it's more accessible than other forms of high fantasy.
[00:27:41] I've never read any fantasy.
[00:27:44] Really?
[00:27:44] Harry Potter or Narnia.
[00:27:46] I read Narnia.
[00:27:47] I don't watch Narnia, but that's it.
[00:27:49] We'll do the Chronicles of the First Time Readers eventually.
[00:27:52] Harry Potter and Narnia.
[00:27:53] That's it.
[00:27:54] Well, we could do the Lion, the Witch, and the First Time Readers.
[00:27:57] I like that one a little more than the Chronicles of the First Time Readers.
[00:28:00] Yeah, that's good.
[00:28:02] I watched Dune.
[00:28:03] I watched Star Wars.
[00:28:05] We used to watch Star Wars every Christmas.
[00:28:08] So I was familiar with the 80s ones.
[00:28:14] And I think that's it.
[00:28:16] I'm also asking Nemo right now to define high fantasy or if I did a good job of defining it.
[00:28:21] Oh, nice.
[00:28:21] Oh, yeah.
[00:28:21] Like drawing a line between.
[00:28:23] Yeah, yeah.
[00:28:23] I don't think I've done any high fantasy.
[00:28:26] But we watched Dune together.
[00:28:28] Well, yeah.
[00:28:28] I did watch Dune.
[00:28:30] But he asked read or watch.
[00:28:32] Oh, okay.
[00:28:32] That's the question.
[00:28:33] Yeah, yeah, yeah.
[00:28:33] Oh, you know what?
[00:28:34] I think we've probably watched a lot more high fantasy than we realized.
[00:28:37] But I feel like movies sometimes dumb down the high fantasy.
[00:28:40] True, true.
[00:28:41] Like Dune is one of those where I don't think they dumb it down that much.
[00:28:44] But people who watch the books or watch the books, read the books, say it's so much more involved in the books.
[00:28:49] I bet.
[00:28:51] I did Game of Thrones.
[00:28:53] I forgot about that.
[00:28:56] And that was maybe that counts as high fantasy.
[00:29:01] I don't really know, but it was deep, complex, religions, worlds, languages.
[00:29:11] And I think George R.R. Martin at least developed one language.
[00:29:16] So if that's a distinction, maybe that would count.
[00:29:23] Someone said, I believe Pineapple Express is the definition of high fantasy.
[00:29:26] High fantasy.
[00:29:27] Perfect.
[00:29:28] I'm trying to formulate the right joke for that.
[00:29:33] I haven't gotten into it that much.
[00:29:34] I've always liked the fantasy genre a little bit, but I was never really a big reader in high school when I was kind of into the fantasy genre.
[00:29:43] So I dabbled in a few things and I tried to dabble in other things when I was a little older.
[00:29:50] But I got into more like, I got into like, you know, the serious book phase where I only read like, you know, the popular books coming out or like award winners or like Pulitzer Prize winners or stuff like that.
[00:30:01] And some of those books were a little boring.
[00:30:02] So I was like, some of these are good, but they're a little much.
[00:30:05] I need like something a bit more relaxing.
[00:30:07] And I started doing a bunch of other stuff and reading like a lot of nonfiction and like memoirs.
[00:30:14] And that was really enjoyable.
[00:30:15] And then I haven't really dove, dived into too much high fantasy.
[00:30:21] I tried Brandon Sanderson.
[00:30:23] Couldn't get into it that much.
[00:30:24] But people say sometimes it takes a little bit of time.
[00:30:28] My brother was the same, but he loves Brandon Sanderson now.
[00:30:30] He thinks he's really great.
[00:30:32] This is an author or a book series.
[00:30:34] Yeah, he's probably like the most.
[00:30:36] Storm something series.
[00:30:38] Stormlight series.
[00:30:39] Stormlight.
[00:30:40] And people say like The Way of the Kings.
[00:30:43] The Way of the Kings on Goodreads I think is the highest rated book.
[00:30:46] I think as far as like volume of people who ranked it of all time.
[00:30:52] I think it's like people.
[00:30:54] Wait, is that from that series?
[00:30:55] Yeah.
[00:30:56] Yeah, yeah.
[00:30:57] It's like the final book in that series, Way of Kings.
[00:30:59] Or maybe The Way of Kings is the series.
[00:31:01] I don't know.
[00:31:03] But people love that.
[00:31:04] But I haven't gotten into that.
[00:31:05] My brother has.
[00:31:08] But yeah, I haven't gotten into too much high fantasy about much of this.
[00:31:12] I think Lord of the Rings might be like a foray into some of that.
[00:31:15] It's definitely a little bit more out there and like tougher to access.
[00:31:20] All the languages.
[00:31:21] Like you have to learn Elvish and the language of Mordor and all this other stuff.
[00:31:25] It's like a little bit intense.
[00:31:26] We have to learn a language?
[00:31:28] That's what this podcast is about, guys.
[00:31:31] We're going to come in speaking Elvish.
[00:31:32] We're going to download it on Duolingo.
[00:31:34] Yeah, yeah.
[00:31:34] Halfway through we are going to switch languages and we're going to only do this podcast in
[00:31:37] Elvish.
[00:31:38] So you guys, if you want to be part of this podcast, you have to learn Elvish.
[00:31:41] Oh my goodness.
[00:31:41] Shoot.
[00:31:41] I actually want to do that now.
[00:31:43] Yeah, right?
[00:31:43] I'm not going to go all the way, but I'm downloading that on Duolingo.
[00:31:45] They probably have something on Duolingo.
[00:31:47] No, no, they do.
[00:31:48] I'm not making that up.
[00:31:49] On Elvish Duolingo?
[00:31:50] Yeah, they do.
[00:31:51] And they have a couple of languages.
[00:31:53] They have, I think it's called Valerian from Game of Thrones.
[00:31:57] Then they've got Star Trek.
[00:32:00] What's the?
[00:32:02] Vulcan.
[00:32:02] Vulcan maybe?
[00:32:03] Yeah.
[00:32:04] And then they've got at least one other fantasy language.
[00:32:06] I forget which one.
[00:32:07] That's wild.
[00:32:08] That's pretty cool.
[00:32:09] Hmm.
[00:32:10] So cool.
[00:32:13] There's so many different cool languages.
[00:32:15] I remember there's, yeah, we'll talk about, I have so much to talk about.
[00:32:20] Wait, Lizzie, what did you say you did as far as fantasy?
[00:32:23] Narnia.
[00:32:24] Narnia.
[00:32:25] Nice.
[00:32:25] Yeah, yeah, yeah.
[00:32:26] That was it.
[00:32:27] Read and watched.
[00:32:28] You read and watched.
[00:32:29] Okay, I've never read.
[00:32:30] And Harry Potter.
[00:32:31] Of course.
[00:32:32] Of course.
[00:32:33] The OGs.
[00:32:34] We're the OG Harry Potter fans.
[00:32:35] No, I wasn't, but thanks.
[00:32:38] I still think Tolkien didn't like Narnia because I thought, I think he said it was like not,
[00:32:44] it was not high fantasy at all.
[00:32:46] Like it didn't follow any of the rules of high fantasy.
[00:32:49] So, because Lewis was like throwing in everything from every like world that he wanted to.
[00:32:53] He was just writing a good story.
[00:32:55] I didn't really like the books.
[00:32:56] Or the allegory.
[00:32:56] I liked the movies for Narnia.
[00:32:58] Really?
[00:32:59] Yeah.
[00:32:59] I think the books are like so overrated.
[00:33:02] Really?
[00:33:02] Yeah.
[00:33:03] I'm excited to get into those then.
[00:33:05] We're going to force you to read them.
[00:33:07] Those are tiny though.
[00:33:09] Those you can read like one in one go.
[00:33:11] We can do a podcast per book about those ones because they're so, they're accessible.
[00:33:16] What are your expectations for going into this story?
[00:33:21] Do you think that, and like be honest, do you think you're going to be super bored by it?
[00:33:25] Yeah, that's what I'm afraid of.
[00:33:28] I know Danny's going to love it, be obsessed.
[00:33:30] And then I'm going to be like, I can't do this.
[00:33:33] Don't make me go to another podcast, please.
[00:33:36] But actually, it's probably better that your expectations are of boredom because then you
[00:33:42] could be pleasantly surprised.
[00:33:44] Yeah, exactly.
[00:33:44] You have low expectations to start.
[00:33:46] I love that.
[00:33:46] Well, I'm getting really into audiobooks now.
[00:33:49] So the fact that he, whoever this guy is, I can't remember anyone's names.
[00:33:55] Yeah.
[00:33:56] Yeah.
[00:33:56] I'm interested to be intrigued and lured in by his reading.
[00:34:03] That's the tough thing.
[00:34:05] Because like you, when I do an audiobook sometimes, I'm so ready for an audiobook.
[00:34:10] And then if it's a dud reader, I'm like, come on.
[00:34:13] Yeah.
[00:34:13] Which is what our experience is with the goldfinch.
[00:34:16] Because we're reading the goldfinch.
[00:34:17] I stopped.
[00:34:18] I told you.
[00:34:18] The audio reader is dreadful.
[00:34:20] So bad.
[00:34:21] It's so bad.
[00:34:22] Yeah.
[00:34:23] Can't stand it.
[00:34:25] Maybe if I had the book and I was reading along with them, whatever.
[00:34:30] Yeah.
[00:34:31] True.
[00:34:32] Are you guys all audiobooking it?
[00:34:34] I'm going to do a mixture, I think.
[00:34:36] Well, maybe it depends on our pace.
[00:34:38] I like reading better than audiobook most of the time.
[00:34:42] But sometimes it's a necessity.
[00:34:44] Like, because at work, an hour and a half a day, I can probably do an audiobook when I'm
[00:34:48] doing like the boring, mindless stuff.
[00:34:51] So if I was behind, I would do the audiobook.
[00:34:54] But I like controlling the pace of each sentence as I read myself and take furious notes in the
[00:35:00] margins.
[00:35:01] Yeah.
[00:35:03] Do you have margins?
[00:35:05] Well, that's what I get for the whole book in one.
[00:35:06] But don't you also have them broken up too?
[00:35:10] No, actually I don't.
[00:35:11] I got this for Christmas last year because I wanted to read it and did not have it.
[00:35:17] So yeah.
[00:35:20] Didn't know that.
[00:35:21] For our little trip.
[00:35:24] There's another series, I guess, that looks like Lord of the Rings.
[00:35:27] Oh yeah, that's Game of Thrones because Caitlin was getting rid of the series and I was like,
[00:35:31] actually, I might read that again at some point whenever the sixth book comes out in
[00:35:34] a decade.
[00:35:34] Whenever we do a song of the first time readers.
[00:35:39] Whenever those books come out, they have to come out.
[00:35:41] They have to come out before we actually do a podcast because I don't want to start it
[00:35:44] and then him not to do them or die.
[00:35:46] God forbid.
[00:35:50] But some other podcast details too, just so everyone knows, is we have four other people
[00:35:56] in waiting that are kind of going to read the series with us.
[00:35:59] Two other people have already read it and they're like nerds about this and they like it, but
[00:36:05] they're going to reread it with us.
[00:36:06] And then we have two other friends.
[00:36:08] Probably everyone probably has seen them.
[00:36:09] And if you've watched some of the videos, Mel and Kaylee, who are also reading with us.
[00:36:14] And if any of us drops, they're probably going to be in at some of the podcasts.
[00:36:20] It's going to be Mark, Liz, Kaylee and Mel.
[00:36:22] They're probably be at some of these, but they have like an open invite to come.
[00:36:25] But if any of us drops out because we're super bored by it, they're ready to fill in.
[00:36:30] So like there is this, this is going to be a weird podcast because it's going to be like
[00:36:35] we read it.
[00:36:36] If we get bored, there's not going to be like an impetus to finish it.
[00:36:39] If you get bored, you don't have to finish it.
[00:36:40] And someone else can just sub in and like jump in for you.
[00:36:43] No problem.
[00:36:44] So like there's a lot less pressure on this podcast that you have to finish it because
[00:36:48] we want like, you know, we want these books to be enjoyable.
[00:36:50] If they're not enjoyable to you and you want to read something else, you should by all
[00:36:55] means read it.
[00:36:55] And I think it's going to be fun too.
[00:36:57] I think we were talking about this, Danny, like tracking where people lost interest.
[00:37:01] Yeah.
[00:37:01] Like if someone lost interest at a certain point, we can just do an even whole distinct podcast
[00:37:05] with that person.
[00:37:06] What made you lie to me?
[00:37:08] Why they lost interest at that point.
[00:37:11] So, um, so yeah, I think it's gonna be fun.
[00:37:14] And then when we do it too, like I'm going to, I'm going to listen to it.
[00:37:18] Um, and I'll probably listen to do some live reads on the discord, but I'll, I'm like
[00:37:22] one of those people who I like having the book open with me, like with
[00:37:25] if I listen to this.
[00:37:26] So I'll definitely have it with me taking notes and pausing all the time and like talking
[00:37:29] about certain things.
[00:37:30] So you guys can join me if you want.
[00:37:32] I'll probably, I'll like schedule some of those times on discord.
[00:37:35] If you guys want to, uh, hang out with me while I listen to it.
[00:37:38] Um, you'll listen to obviously, and then we'll take notes and talk about it.
[00:37:43] And I'm kind of excited to jump into it.
[00:37:47] I like the movies.
[00:37:49] Yeah.
[00:37:50] I was reading the back and I was like, Ooh, it does sound intriguing.
[00:37:55] I, yeah, yeah.
[00:37:55] I'm not going to say anything.
[00:37:56] Cause I think, I think you might like it.
[00:37:58] I think it's gonna be great.
[00:38:00] Um, and we'll start planning our New Zealand trip.
[00:38:03] So my sister-in-law keeps telling me, she's like, you have to go.
[00:38:07] So it's great.
[00:38:08] Oh yeah.
[00:38:09] Um, let's go through a few quick, like rapid fire in the movies without any spoilers.
[00:38:16] Who is your favorite character?
[00:38:20] So it's so long.
[00:38:21] One favorite.
[00:38:22] You have to just pick one.
[00:38:25] What's his name?
[00:38:29] The ultimate man.
[00:38:30] Yeah.
[00:38:31] He was my favorite.
[00:38:31] I always picked him to play.
[00:38:33] Aragorn.
[00:38:34] The video game.
[00:38:35] Sorry.
[00:38:35] I just was trying to do it secretively while you were thinking.
[00:38:41] I didn't know there was a video game.
[00:38:43] There's so many good ones.
[00:38:45] Yeah.
[00:38:45] Honestly, I forget how many I played, but the one that I'm thinking of is the same one Jen
[00:38:51] played because I went looking for it and none of the new systems have it.
[00:38:55] So I'm like, wow, I actually have to go play the GameCube again.
[00:38:59] It was a lot of fun, but I'm like, how has nobody else purchased the rights to this?
[00:39:03] I'm sure Steam has it or something like that.
[00:39:05] It must be.
[00:39:05] You should look it up on that and then you can live stream both of you guys.
[00:39:08] That would be so funny.
[00:39:09] That'd be so fun.
[00:39:10] I feel like my favorite character was probably Legolas.
[00:39:14] Certainly at the original time, there was like an obsession and that tracks because in
[00:39:19] all video games, I love archery.
[00:39:21] Something about it.
[00:39:22] I'm always going to choose the archery character, whether it's Castle Crashers or Lord of the
[00:39:26] Rings or Skyrim.
[00:39:29] I'm always an archer.
[00:39:30] But maybe that all started with Legolas.
[00:39:32] I don't know.
[00:39:33] But in hindsight, I'm not as big a fan of Legolas.
[00:39:37] Legolas.
[00:39:38] So that wasn't even my instinct when you asked the question because we never saw a lot of
[00:39:43] depth to his character.
[00:39:44] Yeah.
[00:39:45] And one of my favorite little memes that's come up is where it shows every scene that
[00:39:50] Legolas talks to Frodo.
[00:39:51] And it's one word in the whole movie series.
[00:39:55] People in chat are talking about this and there's a theory out there.
[00:39:59] That's one of my favorite theories that Frodo doesn't even know Legolas' name.
[00:40:03] Yeah.
[00:40:04] Yeah.
[00:40:04] Because there's a scene in the end of the movies when every character comes in and Frodo
[00:40:10] goes, Sam, Gandalf, Merry Pippin.
[00:40:15] And he's like so excited.
[00:40:16] He uses all of them by name.
[00:40:17] He goes, Aragorn, Gimli.
[00:40:20] And the only person he doesn't say his name is Legolas.
[00:40:23] They never talk or interact in the movie.
[00:40:25] That's so wild.
[00:40:26] There's a fan theory that Frodo does not know Legolas' name, which is so funny.
[00:40:33] Oh my God.
[00:40:34] I love that.
[00:40:35] I also like Liv Tyler's character.
[00:40:38] Oh, nice.
[00:40:39] Great.
[00:40:39] What's her name?
[00:40:40] She's very Arwen.
[00:40:41] Torn.
[00:40:42] What?
[00:40:43] Arwen.
[00:40:43] Arwen.
[00:40:44] Not to be confused with Aowyn.
[00:40:46] I was going to say Aowyn is my favorite.
[00:40:48] Or Theoden.
[00:40:49] Whoa.
[00:40:50] That's a good one.
[00:40:51] I don't remember these people.
[00:40:56] For no reason.
[00:40:57] Like Sauron, Sauron.
[00:41:00] Yeah.
[00:41:00] Yeah.
[00:41:00] There could have been more distinction there.
[00:41:02] Is that the one like in the beginning?
[00:41:04] Wait, who?
[00:41:05] No, no.
[00:41:06] Don't try and remember.
[00:41:06] We're going to read all about it.
[00:41:08] Everyone knows and I'm in the dark.
[00:41:09] You're the first time reader.
[00:41:10] Yeah, exactly.
[00:41:12] Shut up.
[00:41:13] Sorry.
[00:41:13] I know.
[00:41:14] We all are.
[00:41:16] It actually is nice to know how to pronounce the names though.
[00:41:19] The movies have probably helped us in that.
[00:41:20] Yeah.
[00:41:21] And also knowing what to picture because I think Weta Workshop did such a good job with
[00:41:26] armor and places and sets and props.
[00:41:30] That will make reading easier in some ways, even though a purist might say it takes that
[00:41:36] away from us.
[00:41:36] But I think that'll be cool.
[00:41:38] Yeah.
[00:41:39] That's probably hard to keep track with the audio book though.
[00:41:43] Yeah, probably will be a little bit.
[00:41:44] Yeah.
[00:41:45] Wait, John, who's your favorite character?
[00:41:47] I think when I initially watched the movies, Gimli was probably mine.
[00:41:51] Nice.
[00:41:51] I think he was like the comedic relief of the whole movie too.
[00:41:54] Yeah.
[00:41:54] So true.
[00:41:55] These people are.
[00:41:57] Yeah.
[00:41:57] Oh, the axe guy.
[00:41:58] Yeah.
[00:41:59] The axe guy.
[00:41:59] I love the axe too.
[00:42:01] Oh yeah, he's good.
[00:42:03] I liked him.
[00:42:03] Anytime we were in the video game, I always picked Gimli as my character because I don't
[00:42:08] know.
[00:42:08] I just loved him.
[00:42:08] He was like, I like a big axe, like a big battle axe.
[00:42:11] I thought it was so cool.
[00:42:13] But I mean, I have like all sorts of side characters that I love.
[00:42:15] Love Boromir.
[00:42:18] Thayden is a great one too.
[00:42:19] I love Thayden.
[00:42:20] Yeah.
[00:42:21] Wow.
[00:42:21] I never would have thought of him, but that's a great answer.
[00:42:23] I need to look them up.
[00:42:25] No.
[00:42:25] Yes.
[00:42:26] No.
[00:42:28] Rest in peace.
[00:42:28] I wanted to see what they look like.
[00:42:30] Elrond.
[00:42:31] Okay.
[00:42:31] Elfdad.
[00:42:32] Elfdad.
[00:42:33] Elfdad.
[00:42:34] Elfdaddy.
[00:42:49] Elfdaddy.
[00:42:49] Maybe let's do favorite.
[00:42:50] Is that going to be spoilery?
[00:42:51] This sucks.
[00:42:52] I don't remember anything.
[00:42:55] That's true.
[00:42:56] I mean, it's not necessarily spoilers.
[00:42:58] I feel like if maybe I'll just mark it.
[00:43:01] If you don't know anything about Lord of the Rings, skip the next, you know, two minutes
[00:43:07] or something like that.
[00:43:08] You can jump in.
[00:43:08] We've already kind of given some spoilers off.
[00:43:11] But do you guys have a favorite part in the movies?
[00:43:18] Potatoes.
[00:43:19] Oh, that's a great one.
[00:43:20] I'm sticking them in the skin.
[00:43:22] It's like one of the most quotable lines ever.
[00:43:27] The I am no man.
[00:43:29] That's like.
[00:43:30] Wow.
[00:43:30] That's probably the greatest.
[00:43:32] So great.
[00:43:32] So good.
[00:43:33] Yeah.
[00:43:34] So good.
[00:43:34] You know, it bothered me in the video game when they changed that line during the cut
[00:43:38] scene.
[00:43:38] No.
[00:43:38] You look upon the face of a woman.
[00:43:41] What?
[00:43:41] Ew, this is terrible.
[00:43:43] What?
[00:43:43] It totally changed the vibe.
[00:43:45] That's crazy.
[00:43:45] And I was.
[00:43:45] I'm sure that was probably in the book though.
[00:43:47] That's like what I'm curious to see.
[00:43:48] Oh.
[00:43:48] It might have been a book line that the video game was like, we want to do
[00:43:50] want to get better.
[00:43:51] The video games are purists.
[00:43:52] I respect it.
[00:43:53] I'm sure they did something like that.
[00:43:57] It's so hard to choose favorite scenes because I think I like different things for different
[00:44:01] reasons.
[00:44:02] Yeah.
[00:44:02] And historically, all the battles.
[00:44:06] Yeah.
[00:44:07] Helm's Deep.
[00:44:08] Oh, yeah.
[00:44:09] It was just so great.
[00:44:11] I still don't think movie history has come up with a better battle scene than that.
[00:44:15] Yeah.
[00:44:15] Yeah.
[00:44:15] I think Helm's Deep is the greatest battle I've ever seen.
[00:44:18] Yep.
[00:44:18] The, uh, the weight of it all, you know?
[00:44:21] Yeah.
[00:44:21] And then in Minas Tirith, I thought the same exact thing where I feel like when I was watching
[00:44:25] the movies, I was looking forward to those scenes.
[00:44:28] Um, and then I was not looking forward to most things with Sam and Frodo.
[00:44:36] I was just like, here we go.
[00:44:38] We're freaking fat.
[00:44:39] Yeah.
[00:44:40] Um, I did feel like that felt like the filler.
[00:44:43] Oh.
[00:44:44] And it's funny that that was the side story to me.
[00:44:48] And Gandalf comes down the hill.
[00:44:50] Oh.
[00:44:50] All the people.
[00:44:52] Ooh.
[00:44:52] There are so many triumphant good moments in these movies.
[00:44:55] Oh my gosh.
[00:44:57] And you couldn't even, yeah.
[00:44:59] Well, I can't remember much.
[00:45:01] I'm learning as you guys discuss this.
[00:45:05] Because I saw the OGs and that was a, in theater.
[00:45:09] It's a good way to do it.
[00:45:10] It is a great way.
[00:45:12] Um, one of mine, which is like a weirdly unexpected one, but my family always skipped this scene.
[00:45:19] It was the, it was the, it's the weirdest thing, but they always skip the scene.
[00:45:22] Cause they, I don't know if I have to like ask my mom why we skipped the scene.
[00:45:26] And it was weird because when I was watching it, I was in school and I was watching with
[00:45:30] a few friends and one of my friends who was like in Harry Potter or Lord of the Rings
[00:45:34] nerd.
[00:45:34] I gotta.
[00:45:35] Yeah.
[00:45:35] We're going to do that.
[00:45:37] He, uh, he skipped that scene too.
[00:45:39] And I was like, oh yeah, my family does this all the time.
[00:45:41] And I didn't think twice about it.
[00:45:42] I was like, oh yeah, it's just a natural scene.
[00:45:44] But it's the scene when, um, Théoden's son dies and they're about to bury him and they're
[00:45:55] marching him out of, uh, the city.
[00:45:57] Um, and, uh, Arwen or Eowyn sings the song and it's an extended cut to like when she sings.
[00:46:07] Um, but for some weird reason I rewatched that scene and I think it's one of the most emotional
[00:46:14] moments in the whole series.
[00:46:17] Cause what Théoden says after that too, I think it's so good.
[00:46:21] Oh my gosh.
[00:46:22] So every time I watch the movies now, I get so emotional at that scene.
[00:46:26] I think it's so good.
[00:46:27] The music is perfect.
[00:46:28] Wow.
[00:46:28] You have such a funny perspective on it.
[00:46:30] I love that because I can't remember that scene.
[00:46:33] Really?
[00:46:33] So now you're drawing my attention to like, uh, like, wait, I remember her standing there
[00:46:39] in a big helicopter shot and the wind in her hair.
[00:46:42] She's that before.
[00:46:43] Yeah.
[00:46:43] She's singing a different language.
[00:46:44] She's singing a high Rohirric, I think.
[00:46:47] Okay.
[00:46:47] Um, or ancient Rohirric.
[00:46:49] I think it's ancient Rohirric and it's like not what they speak currently in Rohan, but
[00:46:53] it's like a, a lullaby, like a love, not like a love song, like a burial song.
[00:46:58] Yep.
[00:46:59] And it's like a weird scene, but I love it so much.
[00:47:04] And, uh, I love it too.
[00:47:06] Cause Bernard, uh, Bernard King, I think his name is, um, just passed away and he's
[00:47:10] just, he was so, such a good Théoden.
[00:47:12] So good.
[00:47:13] Uh, Bernard Hill.
[00:47:15] Bernard Hill might be, yeah.
[00:47:16] Bernard Hill.
[00:47:17] Yeah.
[00:47:17] One of those Bernard Hill or Bernard King.
[00:47:19] I think for, I think Hill.
[00:47:20] So December, 2001, then December, 2002, and then December, 2003.
[00:47:27] So they were released every year.
[00:47:30] And that is the last time I watched it.
[00:47:33] That's crazy.
[00:47:35] This is going to be so great.
[00:47:36] No, I don't know.
[00:47:37] It's 20 plus years since you've watched it.
[00:47:38] That's incredible.
[00:47:39] And maybe all these deep dives as we go.
[00:47:42] Cause now I'm curious about all the things.
[00:47:44] I've seen scenes, but.
[00:47:46] Wait, what do you mean?
[00:47:47] Like I've seen scenes on TV after I saw them in theaters.
[00:47:51] But you haven't watched it fully since then.
[00:47:52] No, because it was so much time.
[00:47:54] Well, I think that's cool because then you, you have naturally filtered out the things
[00:47:58] that are less memorable and you're going to remember the most exciting things.
[00:48:03] Oh yeah.
[00:48:04] That's the only one I could think of.
[00:48:06] The one Gandalf comes to the rescue.
[00:48:06] That's a pretty good one to remember.
[00:48:08] I'm curious too.
[00:48:09] We should, we'll talk about this after too, but should we read up to disc one of the
[00:48:14] first movie?
[00:48:15] Whoa.
[00:48:15] Like, cause we could break up the movies.
[00:48:16] I don't know.
[00:48:17] I, I, should we break up the movies or should we finish all of book one and then watch all
[00:48:20] of the full movie?
[00:48:22] Or should we do half of, or should we do the first book up until disc one?
[00:48:28] You know, I'm thinking we do the whole thing for one, one reason would be, I heard that
[00:48:37] in the second movie or the second book, I should say, the story is different.
[00:48:44] I think Luke was saying something about rather than jumping back and forth between characters,
[00:48:49] it's a long time with one character and then a long time with another character or something
[00:48:56] like that.
[00:48:56] So the, it's not the same order as in the movies.
[00:49:01] So it might not break up as easily anyway.
[00:49:05] It might be better movie flow if we do the whole thing.
[00:49:09] Yeah.
[00:49:09] I'm kind of with you.
[00:49:10] We'll probably, probably stick to that.
[00:49:13] Wait, who is the reader of the series too?
[00:49:16] I'm sorry.
[00:49:16] The guy who plays Gollum, Andy Serkis.
[00:49:18] Yeah.
[00:49:19] Oh, Gollum reads it?
[00:49:21] Yeah.
[00:49:21] Gollum reads it in Gollum voice the whole time.
[00:49:23] Because they have, because they have both.
[00:49:24] And he never spoke again.
[00:49:27] Okay, I just want to make sure I get the right one.
[00:49:30] Because they have both.
[00:49:32] People, some people say the old reader is like a better reader than Andy Serkis.
[00:49:37] Some people have a problem with Andy Serkis because they say he makes every line a little
[00:49:40] too dramatic and like weighty.
[00:49:41] Like when lines shouldn't be that dramatic and weighty.
[00:49:43] So a lot of people say that the old reader does better with the songs and better with
[00:49:48] like the fun elements of the story.
[00:49:52] Andy Serkis, a lot of people love Andy Serkis because it's a bit more dramatic and it's probably
[00:49:55] easier to follow.
[00:49:56] I probably like that better.
[00:49:57] Yeah, I think Andy Serkis is my guy right now.
[00:50:00] I'm excited for that one.
[00:50:02] Yeah.
[00:50:05] That's all I got.
[00:50:06] Anything else that you guys had?
[00:50:11] I can't believe how much I forgot.
[00:50:14] It was almost 20 years ago.
[00:50:17] I know, but it's still like I like remember like the major scenes and I remember as a whole
[00:50:22] and then re-watching the Rings of Power.
[00:50:28] Nailed it.
[00:50:28] It brings back like the memories of Serkis.
[00:50:32] Well, that's going to be fun too.
[00:50:33] Like when we go through this, you're going to learn about like, you know, a character who
[00:50:39] his ancestry is from Numenor and you're going to be like, oh, that's in Rings of Power.
[00:50:42] So I feel like some of the synapses are going to be firing.
[00:50:44] And that's what he keeps saying.
[00:50:45] Oh, yeah, this is I'm like, how the heck do you know all this stuff?
[00:50:48] That's how I felt for all of Harry Potter.
[00:50:51] What?
[00:50:52] You'll make it through.
[00:50:53] Like I didn't know anything.
[00:50:54] Like I should know.
[00:50:55] I didn't know anything for Harry Potter either.
[00:50:58] But I had read it, so I felt like I should have known.
[00:51:00] You felt like you should.
[00:51:01] Well, I feel like that's what Kristen said too.
[00:51:03] She's like, well, I don't remember.
[00:51:04] Because we just, we dissected it so much.
[00:51:07] Yeah.
[00:51:07] And I guess maybe we don't know our pacing yet for the story, but the more you dissect
[00:51:12] it, the more you pick up on.
[00:51:14] Yeah.
[00:51:14] If you read quick, you could probably just get the general idea, the story arc, call it
[00:51:18] a day.
[00:51:19] What kind of pace are we going to do?
[00:51:21] Yeah.
[00:51:21] But right now I have time.
[00:51:23] So like, let's take advantage of, actually no, audiobook I drive and go to work and I listen
[00:51:29] to it too.
[00:51:30] Okay.
[00:51:31] Okay.
[00:51:31] We'll, we'll work it.
[00:51:32] We'll work all that out.
[00:51:34] We'll arc it out.
[00:51:35] We'll arc it out.
[00:51:36] Yeah.
[00:51:36] Work it out.
[00:51:37] Work it out and arc it out.
[00:51:38] Work.
[00:51:39] Work.
[00:51:40] Work it out.
[00:51:41] Yeah.
[00:51:42] Already got the puns.
[00:51:43] Great words.
[00:51:43] Love it.
[00:51:44] I love it out.
[00:51:44] That's what I'm good for.
[00:51:45] Let's work it out.
[00:51:46] That's the only thing I can contribute.
[00:51:49] Well, on that note, thanks for joining us on our journey of the fellowship of the first
[00:51:54] time readers.
[00:51:55] That's so good.
[00:51:56] Yeah.
[00:51:56] I love how you slow it down so you don't mess it up.
[00:51:59] I know.
[00:51:59] I have to consciously think of it now.
[00:52:01] Not Harry Potter and the first time readers.
[00:52:03] This is the fellowship of the first time readers.
[00:52:16] I'm excited.
[00:52:17] You're becoming a reader.
[00:52:18] I know.
[00:52:18] You are a reader now.
[00:52:19] You really are.
[00:52:20] I'm becoming.
[00:52:21] You are.
[00:52:21] Yeah.
[00:52:22] I can't believe it.
[00:52:22] You are.
[00:52:23] You're cruising.
[00:52:23] Seriously.
[00:52:24] You already finished the one, the other.
[00:52:26] I don't know.
[00:52:27] You're actually doing it.
[00:52:29] I'm almost done with this.
[00:52:36] I love that you're getting it done.
[00:52:38] I love it.
[00:52:38] That's so cool.
[00:52:39] Have you read her other series?
[00:52:41] Mm-mm.
[00:52:42] And a good audiobook reader just changed everything.
[00:52:44] Yeah.
[00:52:45] That's true.
[00:52:46] It's like just a good story.
[00:52:47] But now I'm realizing I like these older books and I don't think I can do because they're
[00:52:51] like generic readers.
[00:52:54] Oh, yeah, yeah.
[00:52:55] Like anything that's older.
[00:52:57] I know.
[00:52:57] Seriously.
[00:52:57] And it's an audiobook.
[00:52:58] It's going to be hard for me to do.
[00:52:59] I know.
[00:53:00] It's brutal.
[00:53:01] To do.