Why did the Doctor think the Curator was a future regeneration if he knew he was on his last one?

DOCTOR: I could be a curator. I'd be great at curating. I'd be the Great Curator. I could retire and do that. I could retire and be the curator of this place.

CURATOR: You know, I really think you might.
(Yes, that is the current silver haired version of the fourth Doctor you just heard. There's Tom Baker, leaning on a walking stick.)

DOCTOR: I never forget a face.

CURATOR: I know you don't. And in years to come, you might find yourself revisiting a few. But just the old favourites, eh?

This bears little resemblance to regeneration as we know it. We've never known a Time Lord to regenerate to aged versions of previous incarnations, much less repeatedly.

Allowing that The Doctor believed, even tentatively, The Curator to be the genuine article, I can only speculate as to The Doctor's speculation on how he might become The Curator. Aside from giving Tom Baker a cameo, the point of the scene was to establish a future direction for The Doctor: finding Galifrey. One might speculate from the remaining dialog, that The Curator is The Doctor, after having found and saved Galifrey, and retiring.

How might The Time Lords thank The Doctor, at the end of his lives, for having achieved such a momentous outcome? The gift of being able to live out his retirement as his favorite versions of himself seems generous, within The Time Lords' power, and indicative of their perception of The Doctor as an irritant. "Gee, Doctor, it's really great that you won our war, saved our lives, and restored us from limbo, but it would be really great if you could just have a seat over there."

Bear in mind that The Doctor doesn't know much about Trenzalore yet: he doesn't know that his battles there will be connected to Galifrey, nor that they are going to happen soon. The Doctor might have rationalized that his death at Trenzalore happened after saving Galifrey and his time as The Curator.

Who is the longest surviving characters in Game of Thrones series?

If you mean longest living as in the one who has lived the longest physical years, the answer is probably Aemon.

If you mean who has survived the killing that have taken place throughout the books, then there would be several runner ups that would share first place as they have been alive since the first book.

Character age chart.

Another age chart.

Proves Aemon is older than a lot of characters. Proves he his 102.

From the wikia:

Around one hundred years old, Aemon is thought to be one of the oldest
living men in Westeros, though he has retained all of his wits and his
mind is still very sharp.

Aemon unless you count wights, or giants or even the cold walking people,is the oldest at 102 years of age.

Canon proof: That is the were the wikia say they got their information from.

lord of the rings - Did Tolkien create any characters based on people he knew?

Beren and Lúthien

Beren and Lúthien's story, from the Silmarillion, was based on Tolkien's wife Edith dancing for him in the woods near the military hospital where he was recovering after he was invalided out of WWI. She was Lúthien, he was Beren.

The Tale of Beren and Lúthien was regarded as the central part of his legendarium by Tolkien. The story and the characters reflect the love of Tolkien and his wife Edith. Particularly, the event when Edith danced for him in a glade with flowering hemlocks seems to have inspired his vision of the meeting of Beren and Lúthien. Also some sources indicate that Edith's family disapproved of Tolkien originally, due to his being a Catholic. On Tolkien's grave, J. R. R. Tolkien is referred to as Beren and Edith is referred to as Lúthien.
- Wikipedia

And:

Lúthien was largely inspired from Edith Bratt and Tolkien often referred to Edith as "my Lúthien." It is mentioned that around 1917, while Tolkien and Bratt went walking in the woods at Roos, Edith began to dance for him in a clearing among the flowering hemlock. This incident inspired the account of the meeting of Beren and Lúthien.
- Tolkien Gateway

And:

The Fall of Gondolin (and the birth of Eärendil) was written in hospital and on leave after surviving the Battle of the Somme in 1916. The kernel of the mythology, the matter of Lúthien Tinúviel and Beren, arose from a small woodland glade filled with 'hemlocks' (or other white umbellifers) near Roos on the Holderness peninsula – to which I occasionally went when free from regimental duties while in the Humber Garrison in 1918.
- The Letters of JRR Tolkien, Letter #165

And:

I have at last got busy about Mummy's grave. .... The inscription I should like is:
EDITH MARY TOLKIEN
1889-1971
Lúthien
: brief and jejune, except for Lúthien, which says for me more than a multitude of words: for she was (and knew she was) my Lúthien.

July 13. Say what you feel, without reservation, about this addition. I began this under the stress of great emotion & regret – and in any case I am afflicted from time to time (increasingly) with an overwhelming sense of bereavement. I need advice. Yet I hope none of my children will feel that the use of this name is a sentimental fancy. It is at any rate not comparable to the quoting of pet names in obituaries. I never called Edith Lúthien – but she was the source of the story that in time became the chief part of the Silmarillion. It was first conceived in a small woodland glade filled with hemlocks at Roos in Yorkshire (where I was for a brief time in command of an outpost of the Humber Garrison in 1917, and she was able to live with me for a while). In those days her hair was raven, her skin clear, her eyes brighter than you have seen them, and she could sing – and dance. But the story has gone crooked, & I am left, and I cannot plead before the inexorable Mandos...

For ever (especially when alone) we still met in the woodland glade, and went hand in hand many times to escape the shadow of imminent death before our last
parting.
- The Letters of JRR Tolkien, Letter #340, to his son shortly after his wife's death. Emphasis in the original.

Their shared headstone features the names Beren and Lúthien:

---

Samwise Gamgee

Samwise Gamgee was modeled on the batmen Tolkien knew in WWI.

My ‘Samwise’ is indeed (as you note) largely a reflexion of the English soldier ...the memory of the privates and my batmen that I knew in the 1914 War, and recognized as so far superior to myself.
― Unpublished letter from JRR Tolkien to H. Cotton Minchin

---

The Sandymans

For those who don't recall, the Sandymans, Ted and his father, were the millers of Hobbiton, who conspired with Sharkey. According to Tolkien Gateway:

It is possible J.R.R. Tolkien was inspired by the miller's son at Sarehole mill, Warwickshire, England.

Humphrey Carpenter wrote in his biography of Tolkien:

There were two millers [at Sarehole Mill, near Tolkien's childhood home], father and son. The old man had a black beard, but it was the son who frightened the boys with his white dusty clothes and sharp-eyed face. [Tolkien] named him 'the White Ogre'. When he yelled at them to clear off they would scamper away from the yard...
― J.R.R. Tolkien: A Biography, by Humphrey Carpenter, quoted on Tolkien Gateway

And Tolkien himself wrote:

I never liked the looks of the Young miller, but his father, the Old miller, had a black beard, and he was not named Sandyman.
― J.R.R. Tolkien, The Lord of the Rings, "Foreword to the Second Edition"

---

The Dead Marshes

Not a character, obviously, but worth mentioning - Tolkien fought in the disastrous Somme Campaign in WWI, and this nightmarish, shattered landscape of mud and corpses formed the basis of The Lord of the Rings' Dead Marshes.

Personally I do not think that either war (and of course not the atomic bomb) had any influence upon either the plot or the manner of its unfolding. Perhaps in landscape. The Dead Marshes and the approaches to the Morannon owe something to Northern France after the Battle of the Somme.
- The Letters of JRR Tolkien, Letter #226

star trek - Why did the guards at the prison camp on Carraya IV carry weapons?

This is explicitly covered in the original show script. The guards don't usually guard anything. They've obviously taken the weapons out of a locker somewhere for the purpose of guarding Worf.

Scene 4 : ANGLE - WORF

He is sitting alone on a BENCH to one side of the compound, surveying
it. He looks around at the activity in the compound -- a young man is
gardening; a group of young people run and play a game; three men play
a game with dice.

People go about their business, occasionally casting surreptitious
glances at the stranger in their midst. Every time Worf's eye meets
someone else's, they seem to turn away and return to what they were
doing.

This place is more a village than a prison -- flowers are planted near
the well tended barracks; the wall that once served to pen prisoners
is still there, but the gate is left open and people come and go at
will.

While there are several generations of Klingons in the camp, the only
Romulans are the middle-aged guards who have been at this post for the
last twenty years. Worf is the first person they've had to guard in a
long time and they have to remind themselves to keep an eye on him and
not be distracted by the goings on in the camp.

movie - Why did Saruman seem to believe that Sauron wouldn't return?

There's certainly an element of "Jackson, 'nuff said" in it - in the books the Wise (Eldar and Istari) had begun to suspect that the power in Dol Guldur was Sauron by TA2060 (approx. 900 years before the events of the Hobbit) and knew it for certain by TA2850 (approx. 100 years before the events of the Hobbit).

However, it is broadly accurate to Saruman's behaviour in the books, where it's documented that Saruman opposed any action against Dol Guldur. All of this is documented in the Lord of the Rings chapter the Council of Elrond:

Some, too, will remember also that Saruman dissuaded us from open deeds against him, and for long we watched him only.

And also that he had argued to the Council that Sauron's Ring would never be found again (and therefore Sauron could never be a potent force for evil again):

"At the worst," said he, "our Enemy knows that we have it not and that it still is lost. But what was lost may yet be found, he thinks. Fear not! His hope will cheat him. Have I not earnestly studied this matter? Into Anduin the Great it fell; and long ago, while Sauron slept, it was rolled down the River to the Sea. There let it lie until the End."

Eventually Saruman yielded and agreed to an assault on Dol Guldur, but it was only after discovering that Sauron's servants were also searching the Gladden Fields for the Ring. This is told in the Tale of Years for the Third Age:

2939: Saruman discovers that Sauron's servants are searching the Anduin near Gladden Fields, and that Sauron therefore has learned of Isildur's end. He is alarmed, but says nothing to the Council.

The assualt on Dol Guldur, and other events of the Hobbit, then took place in TA2941, two years after that.

Footnote 55 (on the entry or TA2851) to the Tale of Years finally makes Saruman's motive explicit:

It afterwards became clear that Saruman had then begun to desire to possess the One Ring himself, and he hoped that it might reveal itself, seeking its master, if Sauron were let be for a time.

So it's therefore clear that Saruman wanted to leave Sauron alone so that the Ring might reveal itself, but it was only after the danger of Sauron finding it first became real that he finally consented.

star trek - Since Kirk found Khan much later in the series, how did he get revived early in the movie?

Admiral Marcus says that after the destruction of Vulcan they started exploring deeper into space and found the Botany Bay with the cryogenically frozen Augments. They revived Khan hoping to use his superior intellect to help them design weapons to protect against powerful enemies such as Nero, using his crew as leverage.

Had the timeline not been altered by Nero in the first movie, the Botany Bay would have remained undiscovered in deep space until the Enterprise found it later, as shown in the TOS episode "Space Seed."

harry potter - Why did the silver hand turn against Wormtail?

Obvious spoilers for Deathly Hallows..

Excerpt from Slytherincess' answer to Why was Wormtail made a servant ?

Voldemort enchanted the silver hand to kill Wormtail if Wormtail showed the weakness of mercy.

Is there any source for this ? At one point, Dumbledore tells Harry that a life debt between two wizards is something very powerful (at the end of PoA I think). I always assumed that Wormtail wanted to kill Harry but that some kind of old magic prevented him from doing it.

So... Did Voldemort really enchanted it ? If so, why didn't the hand just kill Harry when it had the occasion ?

ETA : I just found this quote by JKR :

When Dumbledore said to Harry "Voldemort won't want a close associate who is in your debt", I wasn't implying by that there was any kind of magical bond there.

I throw my theory away :p see the accepted answer for more details

Did River Song really marry the Doctor?

The ceremony itself may be of dubious legality or even historical accuracy as it can be observed to have never happened at all (as it took place in an aborted timeline), but the Doctor and River have both been shown to retain their memories of it, and they both consider it to be legitimately binding between themselves.

From "Asylum of the Daleks Prequel":

MESSENGER: There is a woman who wants to meet you.

DOCTOR: That's nice, but I'm married.

From "The Angels Take Manhattan":

GRAYLE: What does that mean?

RIVER: It means, Mister Grayle, just you wait till my husband gets home.

lord of the rings - Is Shelob a Maia?

It's not possible to be a Maia but not be one of the Ainur, as all of the Valar and Maiar were Ainur.

We're certain that Shelob is an offspring of Ungoliant, so the key question becomes: "what is Ungoliant?"

IMO there's too much of a tendency to declare that any unknown type of being must be a Maia. The Valar and Maiar were not the only spirits in Ea; there are at least two other examples from the Silmarillion, first of all those in the first conflict between Melkor and the Valar (from the Ainulindale):

But Manwë was the brother of Melkor in the mind of Ilúvatar, and he was the chief instrument of the second theme that Ilúvatar had raised up against the discord of Melkor; and he called unto himself many spirits both greater and less, and they came down into the fields of Arda and aided Manwë, lest Melkor should hinder the fulfilment of their labour for
ever, and Earth should wither ere it flowered.

And secondly those who became (among other things) the Ents (from Of Aule and Yavanna/Of the Ents and the Eagles):

When the Children awake, then the thought of Yavanna will awake also, and it will summon spirits from afar, and they will go among the kelvar and the olvar, and some will dwell therein, and be held in reverence, and their just anger shall be feared.

Here both Manwë and Yavanna are capable of summoning spirits, so why should Melkor (who was in the beginning at least as powerful as Manwë) not also be? Furthermore, if Melkor is capable of corrupting Sauron and the Balrogs into his service, why should he not be capable of corrupting other spirits?

The last writings on Ungoliant were from the "LQ2" revisions to Quenta Silmarillion, and first of all deal with her origin:

In Avathar, secret and unknown save to Melkor, dwelt Ungoliante, and she had taken spider's form, and was a weaver of dark webs. It is not known whence she came, though
among the Eldar it was said that in ages long before she had descended from the darkness that lies about Arda, when Melkor first looked down in envy upon the light in the kingdom of
Manwe. But she had disowned her Master, desiring to be mistress of her own lust, taking all things to herself to feed her emptiness.

This is mostly standard stuff, but new here is the "but she disowned her Master" statement. Who was that Master? Melkor, of course:

...such darkness as in her famine she could weave was no defence against the eyes of Melkor, Lord of Utumno and Angband.
'Come forth!' he said. 'Thrice fool: to leave me first, to dwell here languishing within reach of feasts untold, and now to shun me, Giver of Gifts, thy only hope! Come forth and see! I have brought thee an earnest of greater bounty to follow.'

So that much is clear: Ungoliant was some form of being who was originally corrupted by, and served, Melkor, but had struck out on her own at some time in the past.

Key to Ungoliant's origin is a very specific point in time, so I'll emphasise it here: "when Melkor first looked down in envy upon the light in the kingdom of Manwe". The important word here is light, and that allows us to pinpoint her to the time after the Lamps were raised (Of the Beginning of Days):

...far off in the darkness he was filled with hatred, being jealous of the work of his peers, whom he desired to make subject to himself. Therefore he gathered to himself spirits out of the halls of Eä that he had perverted to his service, and he deemed himself strong.
And seeing now his time he drew near again to Arda, and looked down upon it, and the beauty of the Earth in its Spring filled him the more with hate.

Lending further weight to the claim that this was the time, we see the words "jealous" and "looked down" here. So this was when Ungoliant entered the world.

Knowing from above that Melkor was Ungoliant's original Master, we therefore reasonably conclude that Ungoliant was one of those "spirits out of the halls of Eä that he had perverted to his service" (and Melkor therefore is capable of summoning and corrupting spirits), and that she's no more a Maia than the spirits Manwë or Yavanna summoned.

And therefore nor is Shelob.

story identification - Searching for a 80s/90s alien sci-fi (tv?) movie inspired by Lonnie Zamora incident

I am looking for a probably 80s or 90s sci-fi movie or TV series inspired by the Lonnie Zamora incident, also refers to Socorro ufo landing.

I watched part of the movie in the 90s as I was a child.

I remember a scene where a cop chases a suspect at night on a highway in the desert hills and then suddenly got blinded by white blueish lights. The police car was looking like a ford from 70s or 80s if I recall it right. Next the officer stopped and looks down a valley where a white spacecraft stands. He shouts with his megaphone/bullhorn at two white alien beings which right away get inside their craft and fly away.

The whole scenery was looking much newer than the original incident which supposedly did happen in 1964.

The next day the officer gets back to the landing site with other police men or the press to discover burning signs on the ground and the officer tells them he also saw a sign on the door of the craft.

If I remember it right further in the movie there is also a scene inside a prison, where a prisoner got some french fries an bun to eat from a men and inside the bun is a scorpion like creature or a bug and the prisoner evetually dies eating it.

Don't know what movie that could be.

Maybe you guys have an idea!

Thanks!

Why doesn't harry recognize the locket in Half Blood Prince

In the Order of the Phoenix, Harry and the others clean Sirius's house to make it more livable. During that they come across a heavy locket that no one could open. In the Half Blood Prince, Dumbledore shows Harry several memories in which they see the locket many times.

In the ending however when they come to know about the Horcruxes and that the locket might be one of them why doesn't Harry remember that locket?

He is shown to have a good memory throughout the books for e.g. in the potions class in the 6th book he remembers that Snape told them about the Bezoar from the 1st book.

If Harry had remembered about the locket being in Sirius's house, they wouldn't have gone on that pointless quest.

doctor who - Death in Christmas Special not a fixed point in time?

I think you misinterpreted the ending of the episode: she did save her husband, but she didn't change anything.

She had always saved her husband.

When her husband dies in the opening part of the show, we see him flying his plane back from a mission when he runs into a bright light and disappears. She gets a message from the RAF that her husband's plane went down and he has died, but they never found him. They didn't recover his body or his plane, he's merely missing and presumed dead.

What had actually happened is that the "widow", while piloting the tree-people's ship, had also pulled her husband into the future with her. The reason his plane "disappeared" was because he had time traveled forward (it's not really clear how far) and ended up at home on Christmas.

lord of the rings - What did Sauron mean when he "talked" to Pippin?

When Pippin... um... 'borrows' the Palantir taken from Orthanc, he hears (for lack of a better word) Sauron say the following in his head:

Tell Saruman that this dainty is not for him. I will send for it at once. Do you understand? Say just that!

And when Pippin is shaken out of the trance-like stupor caused by the Palantir, he says:

It is not for you, Saruman! I will send for it at once. Do you understand? Say just that!

This puzzled me a bit, but Gandalf's analysis cleared up a few issues. I understand now that Sauron thought Saruman had captured Pippin, and was forcing the hobbit to use the Palantir; and it was always pretty obvious that Sauron assumed Pippin had the Ring. It hadn't occurred to me that Sauron knew nothing of Saruman's twin defeats at Helm's Deep and Isengard, but Gandalf's exposition made that clear as well.

I think I have figured out some of the other parts of this passage that confused me at first. For instance, Sauron gave Pippin a message for Saruman, obviously, but for a moment I was perplexed by the message that Pippin actually delivered. Then I guessed that Pippin repeated more of Sauron's instructions than he was supposed to - correct me if I'm wrong, but Sauron didn't want Pippin to say the "Do you understand? Say just that!" part. Sauron wanted Pippin to say "It is not for you, Saruman! I will send for it at once." Then Sauron tried to make sure Pippin knew what he was supposed to say, so Sauron asked Pippin "Do you understand? Say just that!" Pippin is kind of dumb, so he parroted everything Sauron had told him (a bit like the oath-taking scene in Animal House, where the frat president says "Repeat after me: 'I - state your name'" and the pledges say "I - state your name").

And I always figured that Sauron assumed that the hobbit in the Palantir was the hobbit with the Ring, of course, but I am curious as to what Sauron was referring to when he said "This dainty". At first, I had a brain fart and thought the "dainty" was the Palantir, then I kicked myself for being stupid and thought more sensibly.

But I am still torn between two possibilities as to what the "dainty" is: It could be (and I tend to think it probably is) the Ring itself, which Sauron assumes is in Pippin's possession. However, the "dainty" could be Pippin himself. "Dainty", in modern parlance, means something like "petite/small/delicate thing", which aptly describes both the Ring and the hobbit.

Since Sauron thinks Pippin has the Ring, and he doesn't want Saruman to fiddle with it, and he wants both Pippin AND the Ring, it doesn't really matter which Sauron is referring to as "this dainty" - he's planning on taking both of them anyway. But I'm still curious - was the "dainty" Pippin, or was the "dainty" the Ring?

And again - correct me if I am wrong in assuming that Pippin repeated more of Sauron's statement than he was supposed to.

star trek - When to use a runabout or a shuttle in a mission?

Shuttlecraft are short range craft used on starships and space stations to ferry people from place to place where the transporter is either a poor or impossible choice. It also allows for personnel to move around without tasking an entire starship to accompany them, such as when crew members have a transfer or family emergency. They have limited warp and are mainly intended to stay close to their mothership. Think of them as the lighters that old style sailing vessels had. Good for short trips or just two for a long one. They are also barely armed, often with just a phaser array and no photon torpedoes.

Runabouts, on the other hand, are designed to be much more hardy. They can sustain Warp 5, pack a couple of phaser arrays and occasionally stock a couple of torpedoes. They are intended to operate on their own for extended missions and are employed mainly on spacestations. They can hold quite a number of people on short or extended trips. They are also larger in length than the shuttles.

We see shuttles mainly in the Next Gen, used for dignitary transport, crew swaps and a few detached missions.

The runabouts were used a lot during Deep Space Nine where they were used in Dominion space and quite frequently in combat.

lord of the rings - Did Frodo meet any of Valar or Maiar when he sailed to Valinor?

Yes, of course he could have.

However, there is no indication of whether or not he did or, if he did, who he would have met. Tolkien never wrote about the details of Frodo's (and Bilbo's) time in the Undying Lands, except to say that they eventually died there.

From his letters, Tolkien seemed to regard merely being in the Undying Lands as being a form of healing; from Letter 154, for example:

[I]n this story it is supposed that there may be certain rare exceptions or accommodations (legitimately supposed? there always seem to be exceptions); and so certain 'mortals', who have played some great part in Elvish affairs, may pass with the Elves to Elvenhome. Thus Frodo (by the express gift of Arwen) and Bilbo, and eventually Sam (as adumbrated by Frodo); and as a unique exception Gimli the Dwarf, as friend of Legolas and 'servant' of Galadriel.

I have said nothing about it in this book, but the mythical idea underlying is that for mortals, since their 'kind' cannot be changed for ever, this is strictly only a temporary reward: a healing and redress of suffering.

^{The Letters of J.R.R. Tolkien 154: To Naomi Mitchison. September 1954}

There may be some theology behind this that's beyond my knowledge, but there doesn't appear to be any specific expectation that Frodo would need "tending to."

lord of the rings - Why didn't Saruman take Narya from Gandalf?

Probably because Saruman considered Gandalf's Ring useless to him. Elrond says of the Three Rings generally,

[T]hey were not made as weapons of war or conquest: that is not their
power. Those who made them did not desire strength or domination ...
but understanding, making, and healing, to preserve all things
unstained.

from "The Council of Elrond" in "The Fellowship of the Ring"

At the time he gave it to him, Cirdan the Shipwright tells Gandalf about Narya specifically,

For this is the Ring of Fire, and with it you may rekindle hearts in a
world that grows chill.

from "The Tale of the Years", Appendix B to "The Return of the King"

Cirdan's words suggest that Narya's most important power (or at least its power that would be most important to Gandalf) is an ability to awaken hope and the will to survive in the hopeless. No doubt its power was at work when Gandalf and the knights of Dol Amroth rallied the spirits of despairing Gondorians during the siege of Minas Tirith.

Saruman, as Middle-Earth's second greatest authority on the Rings of Power, would have known all this; and known, too, that the Three Rings of the Elves "endure no evil", as Gandalf says to Frodo. Perhaps this last consideration carried weight with him. His words to Gandalf

We can bide our time, ... deploring maybe evils done by the way, but
approving the high and ultimate purpose: Knowledge, Rule, Order

from "The Council of Elrond"

show that he is aware that he is doing evil, whether or not he still deceives himself that good is his ultimate aim.

Treebeard characterizes Saruman thus:

He is plotting to become a Power. He has a mind of metal and wheels;
and he does not care for growing things, except as far as they serve
him for the moment.

from "Treebeard" in "The Two Towers"

Saruman's attempt to desolate The Shire seems to bear out Treebeard's description. Making, healing, and understanding are not high on his priority list.

In any case, at the time Saruman captured Gandalf he hoped for either of 2 outcomes: if Sauron triumphed, to use the power of his Voice to become the power behind Sauron's throne; or to use the One Ring to crush Sauron and become ruler of Middle Earth in his own right. Saruman knows that even with the Ring of Fire, Gandalf is no match for Sauron; he probably won't be either, so it can't help him defeat Sauron. Nor was it likely to help him manipulate Sauron; and in the event of Saruman becoming Sauron's servant, there would be a very real danger of Sauron discovering that his new adviser possessed one of the Three Rings -- with probable bad consequences for Saruman and his plans.

Title/author of a short story about time travel/teleportation, ethics, death, washed out bridge

Likely I read this story in OMNI Magazine or Isaac Asimov magazine in high school (1981-1985). I remember it involved people either travelling through time or teleporting but ethically they were not allowed to mess with people or affect them permanently (or change the future if it was time-travel related). The loophole was that if a person was going to die anyway, they could mess with them. so the characters found a person who was going to drive over a precipice due to a washed-out bridge and die anyway, so they were appearing in front the vehicle to freak the driver out, but then the vehicle plunged over the precipice and the person died so it didn't matter anyway. But... of course something goes wrong (I forget what). Tracked down a few others I remember such as Ray Bradbury's "A Sound of Thunder", which I read in the same era, so could have been in anthologies or reprints.

Any ideas?

a song of ice and fire - Who is the most legitimate heir of the Iron Throne?

It all depends on whose perspective you take; generally there are three ways to determine who is the legitimate heir in Westeros.

Or as G.R.R.M. puts it:

The short answer is that the laws of inheritance in the Seven Kingdoms are modelled on those in real medieval history... which is to say, they were vague, uncodified, subject to varying interpretations, and often contradictory.
_{-http://www.westeros.org/Citadel/SSM/Entry/1053}

We can break them down into the following categories though:

Right of Succession in Westeros is the normal way of determining succession.

• In general, Westeros follows the "Primogeniture" rights
  
  • Males have precedence over females₁
  
  
  • Age is more than just a number (eldest is preferred)
  
  


• In Dorne (and perhaps the Iron Islands)
  
  • It is the eldest child, then grandchild and so on
  
  
  • Females are given the same preference as males, so eldest daughter will come before the next male₂
  
  


• The Targaryen Inheritance way is also slightly different in that
  
  • ALL males are given precedence, not just the immediate males (sons etc.)₃
  
  
  • Females only come into the equation if there are no males left in the entire line
  
  
  • In other words, if there is any male - up or down the line - his claim will come before Dany's, regardless of age or how far the line you had to search
  
  
  • See the Dance of the Dragons civil war for more info.
  
  
  • This seems to follow the Male-preference cognatic primogeniture
  
  


• Extra reading on Rights of Succession in Westeros: http://scifi.stackexchange.com/a/37871/21267

Right of Conquest is the right to rule based on conquering and usurping the current dynasty. This is the Baratheon way₄.

At this point, the successorship of the Iron Throne is so highly disputed that in my opinion, this is the one we need to look out for. The person with the biggest dragons army will win.

The Great Council is a council formed when the succession is unclear₅. They determine who should sit the Throne and their decision is binding. This is how "Egg" came to be king.

---

What does this mean for the claimants?
1. This puts Sansa in line to inherit Winterfell - ahead of any Karstarks or distant male relatives of the Starks. This is what Littlefinger is banking on for Sansa.
2. This puts Myrcella ahead of Tommen. This was the cause of the whole botched plan to crown Myrcella as queen.
3. This places Aegon VI Targaryen (Rhaegar's son) ahead of Daenerys.

Jon Snow and Bloodraven (had they not taken the vows of the Night's Watch) even come before her!

4. This puts Tommen as the rightful heir as he is the eldest surviving son of Robert Baratheon. It also puts Stannis Baratheon as the rightful heir since it is his claim that Joffrey, Myrcella and Tommen are not actually Robert's true-born children.
5. Assuming this could be formed to figure out who is the rightful heir given the following possibilities:

• Jon Snow as the next surviving son of Rhaegar

• Daenerys as Aerys' eldest surviving child*

*If Jon Snow and Aegon are proven to be false

Example Family - Starks
Ok, this is a bit muddy, let's take the Starks as an example and let's assume Bran, Arya, Sansa and Rickon are presumed alive:

• Normal Westerosi (Primogeniture rules)
  
  • Bran is Lord of Winterfell
  
  
  • Followed by Rickon, then Sansa, then Arya...
  
  


• Dornish Rules
  
  • Sansa is Lady of Winterfell
  
  
  • Followed by Arya, then Bran, then Rickon...
  
  


• Targaryen rules (if the Stark kids were Targs)
  
  • Bran is Lord of Winterfell
  
  
  • Followed by Rickon, then Harrion Karstark, then all of Harrion's male descendants, then Sansa, and finally Arya...
  
  

harry potter - Can Occlumency be used upon Dementors?

Occlumency is generally intended to guard against Legilimency--the penetration of the mind by an outside source. The dementors are not performing Legilimency as such. They are not reading anyone's mind, trying to identify their emotions, or attempting to force a particular thought on them. Yes, they force people to relive their negative emotions, but this is a side effect of their overall desire to feed on positive emotion. The dementors want food, not a way inside someone else's mind, which is the goal of a Legilimens. A Patronus Charm succeeds by providing the dementors with something else to feed on.

If they dementors do not recognize human emotion in something, they know that it cannot offer them a food source, and so they will generally leave it alone. Sirius took advantage of this tendency by using his Animagus form in Azkaban. The only way Occlumency might succeed in warding off a dementor is if an Occlumens manages to block all his human emotions to the point that the dementor cannot sense any of them. But I am inclined to think that such a total block would be difficult, if not impossible. Patronus Charms are complicated enough, considering that Hogwarts does not teach them until students are at the N.E.W.T. level. And few students bother to become Anamagi, as the national register reflects: only the most advanced Hogwarts pupils seem to be offered this opportunity to learn how (i.e., Professor McGonagall). Occlumency is not taught at Hogwarts at all. For most wizards, Patronus Charms are the only familiar option.

So I would answer this question with a very qualified yes. If a given Occlumens can block his or her emotions to the point that his or her emotions are not recognizable as human, then Occlumency could work against dementors. Whether anyone, even Snape, is skilled enough to manage this feat is another matter. And again, Occlumency was invented as a counter to Legilimency, not as a protection against dementors. Bellatrix Lestrange was skilled enough at Occlumency to instruct Draco, but the books imply that she was affected by the Dementors in Azkaban, just like all the other prisoners. Although Occlumency might be able to ward off dementors in theory, as a practical matter, using it in this non-traditional way would require an impossibly high level of skill.

harry potter - How many Hogwarts students changed House from book to film?

No at least not that I have found so far.

After comparing the Lexicon and the Character listings from each film they do not seem to have had any other house changes. They did however omit a lot of characters from being in the films whilst at the same time included a lot of characters who were never mentioned in the books. As well as have a lot of uncredited (insert house name here) students floating around I would presume as filler content.

Disclaimer: I think to fully compare the two one would have to study the films for any discrepancies with the clothing throughout for the students.

In Star Wars: The Clone Wars are clones allowed to be in romantic relationships?

In the show, there is no evidence of clones having a romantic relationship besides Cut Lawquane, but he did desert, so that negates him as an example. While there are no instances where a clone is reprimanded for having one, that does not mean that clones don't have romantic relationships.

But, due to the lack of examples or reference at all in the show, we can only assume that clones would not be allowed to have romantic relationships. This could be because of the same reasons that soldiers in our world cannot: they could be persuaded to give out information to a spy on accident or it would distract the soldiers from their duty.

lord of the rings - Did Tolkien ever discuss his views of heroism?

Tolkien spoke about the role of the ur-hero in his works. Rather unsurprisingly, he defined true heroism as being based on fortitude, nobility, strength and mercy, qualities that he felt that Frodo was somewhat lacking, at least in some areas:

But, for one thing, it became at last quite clear that Frodo after all
that had happened would be incapable of voluntarily destroying the
Ring. Reflecting on the solution after it was arrived at (as a mere
event) I feel that it is central to the whole ‘theory’ of true
nobility and heroism that is presented.

Frodo indeed ‘failed’ as a hero, as conceived by simple minds: he did
not endure to the end; he gave in, ratted. I do not say ‘simple minds’
with contempt: they often see with clarity the simple truth and the
absolute ideal to which effort must be directed, even if it is
unattainable. Their weakness, however, is twofold. They do not
perceive the complexity of any given situation in Time, in which an
absolute ideal is enmeshed. They tend to forget that strange element
in the World that we call Pity or Mercy, which is also an absolute
requirement in moral judgement (since it is present in the Divine
nature). In its highest exercise it belongs to God. - _{^{Letter #246}}

This was also heavily tied into his views about morality in general, that without normalcy, acts of heroism look far less impressive:

Similarly, good actions by those on the wrong side will not justify
their cause. There may be deeds on the wrong side of heroic courage,
or some of a higher moral level: deeds of mercy and forbearance. A
judge may accord them honour and rejoice to see how some men can rise
above the hate and anger of a conflict; even as he may deplore the
evil deeds on the right side and be grieved to see how hatred once
provoked can drag them down. But this will not alter his judgement as
to which side was in the right, nor his assignment of the primary
blame for all the evil that followed to the other side. _{^{Letter #183}}

He took some time to defend Frodo against the charge of having been a scoundrel because he ultimately proved not to be as heroic as some of his critics would have liked;

Frodo deserved all honour because he spent every drop of his power of
will and body, and that was just sufficient to bring him to the
destined point, and no further. Few others, possibly no others of his
time, would have got so far. The Other Power then took over: the
Writer of the Story (by which I do not mean myself), ‘that one
ever-present Person who is never absent and never named’ (as one
critic has said). See Vol. I p. 65.2 A third (the only other)
commentator on the point some months ago reviled Frodo as a scoundrel
(who should have been hung and not honoured), and me too. It seems sad
and strange that, in this evil time when daily people of good will are
tortured, ‘brainwashed’, and broken, anyone could be so fiercely
simpleminded and self righteous. _{^{Letter #192}}

There are some brief mentions of humility in Tolkien's letters, especially in relation to Frodo's "failure" as a heroic figure

Frodo had done what he could and spent himself completely (as an
instrument of Providence) and had produced a situation in which the
object of his quest could be achieved. His humility (with which he
began) and his sufferings were justly rewarded by the highest honour;
and his exercise of patience and mercy towards Gollum gained him
Mercy: his failure was redressed.

and

Frodo undertook his quest out of love – to save the world he knew from
disaster at his own expense, if he could; and also in complete
humility, acknowledging that he was wholly inadequate to the task. His
real contract was only to do what he could, to try to find a way, and
to go as far on the road as his strength of mind and body allowed. He
did that. I do not myself see that the breaking of his mind and will
under demonic pressure after torment was any more a moral failure than
the breaking of his body would have been – say, by being strangled by
Gollum, or crushed by a falling rock. - _{^{Letter #246}}

---

He also touches on the subject of humbleness:

The Quest was bound to fail as a piece of world-plan, and also was
bound to end in disaster as the story of humble Frodo’s development
to the ‘noble’, his sanctification. Fail it would and did as far as
Frodo considered alone was concerned. He ‘apostatized’ – and I have
had one savage letter, crying out that he shd. have been executed as a
traitor, not honoured. Believe me, it was not until I read this that I
had myself any idea how ‘topical’ such a situation might appear. It
arose naturally from my ‘plot’ conceived in main outline in 1936.I did
not foresee that before the tale was published we should enter a dark
age in which the technique of torture and disruption of personality
would rival that of Mordor and the Ring and present us with the
practical problem of honest men of good will broken down into
apostates and traitors.

But at this point the ‘salvation’ of the world and Frodo’s own
‘salvation’ is achieved by his previous pity and forgiveness of
injury. At any point any prudent person would have told Frodo that
Gollum would certainly betray him, and could rob him in the end. To
‘pity’ him, to forbear to kill him, was a piece of folly, or a
mystical belief in the ultimate value-in-itself of pity and generosity
even if disastrous in the world of time. He did rob him and injure
him in the end – but by a ‘grace’, that last betrayal was at a precise
juncture when the final evil deed was the most beneficial thing any
one cd. have done for Frodo! _{^{Letter #181}}

star trek - Carol Marcus learning about David after The Search for Spock

In The Search for Spock, Kirk's son David Marcus gives his life on the Planet Genesis, after Captain Kruge orders his men to execute one of the three prisoners (David, Saavik, and Spock).

Is there any information, perhaps in the Extended Universe, as to how and when Carol Marcus learns of the circumstances of David's death?

Presumably, she would have been told initially by Starfleet that David likely perished aboard the USS Grissom, the science vessel that he and Saavik had transferred to, which was destroyed in orbit of Genesis by Kruge.

Kirk may have been unable to contact Carol directly during his three-month exile on Vulcan, and so perhaps Sarek or Saavik contacted her in the first instance regarding the truth. But this is just speculation on my part.

Any information would be appreciated.

Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince: Why was Tonks on the 7th floor corridor in Hogwarts?

Tonks is probably agonizing over her relationship with Lupin likely looking for any news on Lupin and his dangerous mission (that Dumbledore assigned to Lupin).

Half-Blood Prince chapter A Very Frosty Christmas

“Tonks’s Patronus has changed its form,” he told him. “Snape
said so anyway. I didn’t know that could happen. Why would your
Patronus change?”

Lupin took his time chewing his turkey and swallowing before
saying slowly, “Sometimes . . . a great shock . . . an emotional upheaval . . .”

“It looked big, and it had four legs,” said Harry, struck by a sud-
den thought and lowering his voice. “Hey . . . it couldn’t be — ?”

Half-Blood Prince chapter A Very Frosty Christmas

“I’ve been living among my fellows, my equals,” said Lupin.
“Werewolves,” he added, at Harry’s look of incomprehension.
“Nearly all of them are on Voldemort’s side. Dumbledore wanted a
spy and here I was . . . ready-made.”

Half-Blood Prince chapter A sluggish Memory

“Not great,” said Harry, and he told her all about Lupin’s mission
among the werewolves and the difficulties he was facing. “Have you
heard of this Fenrir Greyback?”

Half-blood Prince ch. The Unknowable room

“The Prophet’s often behind the times,” said Tonks, who didn’t
seem to be listening to him. “You haven’t had any letters from anyone
in the Order recently?”

“No one from the Order writes to me anymore,” said Harry,
“not since Sirius —”

He saw that her eyes had filled with tears.

Half-Blood Prince chapter The Phoenix Lament

And the meaning of Tonks’s Patronus and her mouse-colored
hair, and the reason she had come running to find Dumbledore
when she had heard a rumor someone had been attacked by Greyback,
all suddenly became clear to Harry; it had not been Sirius
that Tonks had fallen in love with after all.

Looking at the map of the 7th Floor there are plenty of corridors. If she came from Dumbledore's office and heading in the direction of Gryffindor then she would be heading down the corridor to the Gryffyndors.

http://thehogwartians.tumblr.com/HogwartsMap

She might be going to the Gryffindor common room in the hopes of looking for anyone of the Weasley's with letters from the Order and hopefully a bit of additional news about Lupin.

history of - What is the first reference in Sci-Fi to a touch-screen computer interface?

Well I had a nice write up about The Guide in Hitchikers Guide to the galaxy (due to the amount of blogs and articles which mentioned it) which predated TNG but I happened to find this link from another scifi question: Fictional origins of touch and gesture technology

So I investigated about the "opton" (mentioned by DVK) from Return from the Stars(1961), by Stanislaw Lemand it turns out it is uses a touch interface. Here is a quote from the book since that answer didn't mention it:

Chapeter 3:

The bookstore
resembled, instead, an electronic laboratory. The books were crystals with recorded contents.
They could be read with the aid of an opton, which was similar to a book but had only one page
between the covers. At a touch, successive pages of the text appeared on it. But optons were little
used, the sales-robot told me

And I found an even earlier example in Issac Asimov's Foundation(1951) with the "calculator pad"

Chapter 4:

"Before you are done with me, young man, you will learn to apply psychohistory to all problems
as a matter of course. –Observe." Seldon removed his calculator pad from the pouch at his
belt. Men said he kept one beneath his pillow for use in moments of wakefulness. Its gray,
glossy finish was slightly worn by use. Seldon's nimble fingers, spotted now with age, played
along the files and rows of buttons that filled its surface. Red symbols glowed out from the
upper tier.

Also mentioned in one of the answers (by DJClayworth) is a non-fiction example, the "memex", described in As We May Think by Vannevar Bush in 1945
http://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/1945/07/as-we-may-think/303881/?single_page=true

And his trails do not fade. Several years later, his talk with a friend turns to the queer ways in which a people resist innovations, even of vital interest. He has an example, in the fact that the outraged Europeans still failed to adopt the Turkish bow. In fact he has a trail on it. A touch brings up the code book. Tapping a few keys projects the head of the trail. A lever runs through it at will, stopping at interesting items, going off on side excursions. It is an interesting trail, pertinent to the discussion. So he sets a reproducer in action, photographs the whole trail out, and passes it to his friend for insertion in his own memex, there to be linked into the more general trail.

How Many Quasi-Gods Show up In Star Trek?

It seems to be a recurring theme in all versions of Star Trek, but mostly in the shows that were done while Gene Roddenberry was alive: A quasi-god shows up, seeming to be all powerful and undefeatable, and the crew of the Enterprise has to somehow triumph over this character.

Some examples are Gary Mitchell and Nomad from Star Trek (and Gary Mitchell is on the short list of possible antagonists for the next movie), Q from Star Trek: The Next Generation, and the Prophets from Star Trek: Deep Space Nine.

Just how many beings are there out there with almost god-like powers in the Trek universe who seem to like to play with other intelligent life forms like humans?

story identification - What book had a prison planet with people able to communicate with living rock?

A friend of mine as a child lent me a sci-fi book that I enjoyed at the time but lost track of. I've tried searching for it over the years, but having only a few scant details of the story (and no title/author), I haven't had much luck.

The story takes place on a planet that is a sister planet or moon of the main colonized planet in the system. It is/was used as a prison planet and is completely colonized by exiled families from the main planet. The main character in the novel is on some kind of path of discovery, trying to find out the origins of the planet that have been lost in antiquity, if I remember correctly.

I remember that he travels to different portions of the planet, meeting with various inhabitants and picking up pieces of their culture, tech and/or powers. One such culture teaches him to communicate with the living planet, allowing him to bend the 'earth' itself to his will. He learns this skill by jumping off of a cliff and allowing the ground to 'swallow' him, cushioning his fall. In one scene he is taken prisoner and is unable to escape, even though the cell is made of stone, because the shaped stone is no longer 'alive' in a way that he can communicate with it. At another point he uses this power to sink an entire island or continent, killing everyone on it, (to what end I don't recall) and the sounds of their dying haunts his head afterwards.

Unfortunately, these specific pieces are about all I can remember other than some vague impressions. Hopefully they're recognizable to someone!

tolkien - How long did it take Fëanor and his sons to sail from Valinor to Beleriand?

Some sweet maps

I'll try to explain this with maps. Yes, maps. I've found them. Thanks Google.

This is the map of Tolkien's creation made by Karen Wynn Fonstadt:

In the far left, you can see Valinor. If you want to go Beleriand by sea, you have to cross Belegaer and reach Bay of Balar (most optimistic approach).

And this is the map of Beleriand:

It must have been around 19 years (solar years). Too long? Must explain.

Explanation

In The Silmarillion, there is almost no hint of a passage of time
between the departure of the Noldor from Tirion, and their arrival
in Middle-earth. The only point where the length of the journey is
mentioned is in ch. 9, Of the Flight of the Noldor, where we're told that
they had 'marched for a great while in the unmeasured night' (this
was after the Darkening of Valinor, so 'night' here just means that
they were marching in darkness).

The Noldor set out from the central regions of the World, and a very large number of them had to travel thousands of miles into the far
north. It's reasonable to assume that this journey must have taken
at least several years.

In fact, we have the Annals of Aman to give us some insight into
this matter (in Morgoth's Ring, volume 10 of The History of
Middle-earth). There, the departure of the Noldor is dated 1495,
and their arrival in Middle-earth is dated 1497. These dates are
given in Years of the Trees from their first planting, with each
Year of the Trees being equivalent to about 9½ solar years. The Flight ofthe Noldor from Aman into Middle-earth, then, took
very roughly nineteen years to complete.

Whether the journey of the Noldor was a 'flight' or a 'return' is
a matter of perspective. To the Valar, and the Elves they left
behind in Aman, the Noldor were fleeing into the dark east of the
World. To the Sindar and other Elves who had remained in the
Hither Lands, it was the return of long-sundered kin out of the
unknown west.

Also take a look at Shadowy Seas.

Also related: Nienna.

Bonus Information >> The only hint is in Quenta Silmarillion ch. 9, Of the Flight of the Noldor, where she 'cast back her grey hood'. Given that Gandalf was her student, this might (though somewhat doubtfully) have some relevance to his title, the Grey.

a song of ice and fire - Which book and chapter match with episode 8 season 3 from Game of Thrones TV Series?

I would offer to say that you not jump ahead. Sure the major events are more or less the same in the book and the series, but they are not identical. Also, the books are far more nuanced and character rich than the TV series is. If you do jump ahead you'll find yourself more confused than relieved. Just off the top of my head you'll start wondering who the heck Asha is, or Jeyne Westerling, or Strong Belwas ... etc. You'll find yourself slogging through a several dozen new characters (or characterizations) just to get by. It's doable with a bit of Googling, but I really do advise you to read the books from the beginning. You'll get a much better understanding of the history of Westeros that led to the current crisis, and a deeper outlook into the motivations of the characters.

Edited to add, there are several extremely interesting and cool scenes that had to be cut out of the TV series due to budget or time constraints. The famous Tower of Joy comes to mind. If you skip the books you miss out on some very important events that get mentioned later on.

story identification - What movie features an abandoned spaceship with English and alien writing on it?

I am looking for a movie I saw the beginning of when I was a kid. I remember astronauts boarding what seemed to be an abandoned spaceship (I think it had the NASA sign on it) but when they board the ship they find both English and some kind of alien writing in the ship. I think they show a shot of a trashcan with the word 'trash' and then the alien word for it...

That is all I remember, it seemed a very cool beginning, anybody have any idea?

story identification - A builder of metal birds who lived in a tower; post-apocalyptic world with people scavenging for old technology

"Fear the geteit chemosit"

This is from M. John Harrison's The Pastel City (1971), part of the Virconium series. The Wikipedia article summarizes the plot nicely:

The Pastel City concerns the defence of the eponymous city against northern "barbarians" by a melancholy swordsman and poet, 'sometime soldier and sophisticate' Lord tegeus-Cromis. tegeus-Cromis is the hero of the Methven but believes he has finished soldiering forever - until the mercenary Birkin Griff brings dire news of the war between the two queens and the hazard facing the Pastel City. They must travel to the Great Brown Waste to find Tomb the Dwarf, and join forces to fight for Queen Jane and Viriconium - for Canna Moidart and the Wolves of the North have awoken the geteit chemosit, alien automata from an ancient science, which will destroy everything in their path.

The message delivered to tegeus-Cromis by the bird:

"Tegeus-Cromis of Viriconium should go at once to the tower of Cellur which he will find on the Girvan Bay in the South, a little east of Lendelfoot. Further, he is advised to let nothing hinder that journey,
however pressing it may seem: for things hang in a fine balance, and
more is at stake than the fate of a minor empire. This comes from
Cellur of Girvan."

star trek ds9 - At what point was Betazed re-taken in the DS9 Dominion war?

In the episode just before the series finale (DS9 : Dogs of War) Sisko, Martok, Admiral Ross and Velal mention that the Dominion forces have completely withdrawn into Cardassian space.

INT. WARDROOM : Where Sisko is meeting with MARTOK (wearing his
chancellor's cloak), Ross and the Romulan Commander last seen in "When
it Rains" -- who we'll call VELAL. They're all looking over a wall
MAP.

ROSS : -- according to our intelligence reports, the Dominion has
completely withdrawn from Klingon, Federation and Romulan space. They
seem to be forming a new defense perimeter within Cardassian
territory.

You can see some in-universe tactical reasons for this, but most likely it was also a way for the writers to tie up loose ends like liberating Betazed.

story identification - Need Help Identifying SF Book About Magic

I am trying to find a book I read many, many years ago.

The book starts with a princess, from a world with magic, coming through a rift into our world, without magic. She discovers, however, that one person in our world can "channel" magic to her, so that she can use magic in our world.

In the scene where this is discovered, the princess is attacked in the mundane-protagonists' house by assassins who also came through the rift. The mundane protagonist accidentally channels magic to the princess, resulting in an explosion that blows a hole in the floor.

That's all I remember... if you can help, I'd be very appreciative!

Edit: The mundane protagonist doesn't really know what she is doing, and has no fine control over the magic. I believe she started out, in the mundane world, performing general charms and cantrips and mystical-type stuff that doesn't actually work. (Similar to palmistry, etc.) However, the princess can sense that the mundane protagonist's spells actually DO have power. The mundane protagonist, however, has no idea what she is doing and no control - she cannot cast spells, and can't really "feel" any magic.

The princess's world is filled with magic that can be sensed all around, and used for spells. However, on Earth, no magic is available in the air and the princess cannot cast spells.

After discovering that the mundane protagonist has access to magic, even though she can't use it for anything, the princess asks her to "share" the magic, or feed it to her, so that the princess can use that magic to cast a spell. They try this, and the mundane protagonist pushes so much power to the princess that it supercharges the small spell that the princess cast, and blows a hole in the floor of the mundane protagonist's house.

Later in the book, the assassins arrive to try and kill the princess. The mundane protagonist and the princess are attacked in the front yard of the mundane protagonist's house. In desperation, they try the same channeling, and the princess is able to use the magic channeled by the mundane protagonist to defeat the assassins. Similar to the first try, this channeling results in a large explosion/damage to the front yard.

I hope that helps. Those scenes are really all I remember.

star wars - Why has Jango Fett been cloned?

The Mandalorian Jango Fett was cloned because his genetic material was able to be manipulated by the Kaminoans to create an utterly loyal, fearless, and aggressive soldier. They did not want force-sensitive soldiers because it would take even longer to train them and they might be less tractable. Force sensitives would need to be strong-willed, the last thing you want in your slavishly obedient army.

He was chosen specifically because he was Mandalorian and would be bringing both this genes and his warrior culture ethos to the clones during their training. In addition, with time constraints, it is far easier to work with a genome you are familiar with and modifying it for desirable traits.

Before the gestation process began, the Kaminoans tampered with Fett's DNA to ensure that the clones were primarily dominated by behavioral genes that emphasized certain qualities such as loyalty, aggression, independence and discipline in order to guarantee that the army would be more docile and less independent than their template. Kal Skirata, a former Mandalorian warrior who had been brought to Kamino to assist in the training of a special unit, concurred with the Kaminoans' rationale behind "modified" troopers; an "unaltered" Jango Fett was not the ideal infantry soldier. - Republic Commando, Triple Zero

• It is far easier to do significant manipulations on a single genome than to work with thousands of genomes for selective engineering of a better soldier.




• Even if the engineers thought they could create something significantly better, it would take both time and significant research to accomplish with no guarantees of quality, ability to control, tendency toward cooperation or other unexpected side effects from merging such varied genetic characteristics.




• The genetic potential for a superior soldier was clearly within Jango Fett and with the alterations which included a slavish devotion to the Sith, enabling the execution of Order 66, were included in their genetic make-up. I believe this is the real reason they choose to use the Mandalorian DNA.




• As soldiers, the Clone Army (at least as depicted in the televised Clone Wars series) seemed quite effective, especially when augmented with Republic Weaponry, tactics and the superior leadership of their Jedi leader/handlers. The reduction in their capability as soldiers lacking in intuition, versatility and somewhat in reduced intellectual capacity is offset (somewhat) by their ability to coordinate and understand each other's thinking.




• And while there is some risk at using a single genome as a template, at no point in the Clone Wars do we see any technology which attacks at a cellular or genetic level making such worries apparently less of an issue.

Another reason biogenic weapons were not used is even as the Republic is working with the Jedi, the Sith knew eventually the Clone Troopers would be working for them. They would not allow such technology to be used, if it could be helped. Facilities which could create such things were likely to be the first places destroyed or blockaded.

At a logistical level, there is the added benefit of having only one specification for all equipment, all tools, all armors and weapons. Facilities producing these materials could create millions of units, quickly and relatively cheaply in comparison to an army with differing anatomical needs.

time travel - Why couldn't Clara see future incarnations past the "11th" doctor?

From episode 239 "The Name of the Doctor"

Inside The Doctor's grave, we are shown a beam of light which is said to be "the scar tissue" of his journey through time. The Doctor describes the light as both his past and his future.

"My own personal time tunnel. All the days, even the ones that I, uh,
even the ones that I haven't lived yet." - The Doctor

But after Clara travels down the time tunnel, and sees the forgotten incarnation, she says:

"But I never saw that one. I saw all of you. Eleven faces, all of them
you! You're the eleventh Doctor!"

Why was she unable to see the Peter Capaldi doctor or any other Doctor that followed?

The best answer I was able to come up with, is that when you enter the light you have to start at the beginning of The Doctor's life, and re-appear linearly through his time line. This would explain why the Gallifreyan version of Clara knew his name and what he was doing, but also why the versions of Clara who met the Matt Smith Doctor didn't know who he was. She was slowly forgetting with each new copy.

Another possible theory is that she didn't need to look any further than the point she was at when she jumped into the light. She may have been able to save The Doctor by defeating the Great Intelligence at an earlier time and re-writing events in such a way that there would be no need for her to travel into his future.

Does anyone have any other theories or evidence as to why this is?
I was also concerned about the interior of the dead TARDIS being the same as the current interior, but I suppose that may be a question for another thread. Yes, I'm aware of budgets and not being able to predict what will happen later in the series, but I'd hate to see this as a plot hole later down the line. Convince me that it's not!

star wars - What's the name of the galaxy far, far away?

Canon: No. This has never been addressed.

Legends: Only Star Wars: The Essential Atlas has any mention of the name of the galaxy, and even then only notes that the Nagai refer to the galaxy by the name Skyriver.

In addition to the lack of name, there is also no indication in any level of canon to just how far away Skyriver might be.

tolkien - Why didn't Sauron get personally, bodily involved in the events of Lord of the Rings?

He did not need to and he preferred not to fight for himself.

Denethor, who had a good understanding of the Dark Lord, since he engaged in communication and personal mental combat with him for some time, pointed out the following when Pippin feared that Sauron was come himself to Gondor:

‘Nay, not yet, Master Peregrin! He will not come save only to triumph over me when all is won. He uses others as his weapons. So do all great lords, if they are wise, Master Halfling. Or why should I sit here in my tower and think, and watch, and wait, spending even my sons? For I can still wield a brand.’

This is reflected throughout the history of Middle Earth. Going backward, in the War of the Last Alliance, Sauron only came out after the Alliance had defeated his armies in the Battle of Dagorlad and laid siege to Barad-Dur itself, a siege that lasted for seven years. In other words, he had no choice but to fight, on the very slopes of Orodruin:

‘I was the herald of Gil-galad and marched with his host. I was at the Battle of Dagorlad before the Black Gate of Mordor, where we had the mastery: for the Spear of Gil-galad and the Sword of Elendil, Aiglos and Narsil, none could withstand. I beheld the last combat on the slopes of Orodruin, where Gil-galad died, and Elendil fell, and Narsil broke beneath him; but Sauron himself was overthrown, and Isildur cut the Ring from his hand with the hilt-shard of his father's sword, and took it for his own.’

(Council of Elrond)

He did not fight with the Numenoreans, when he directed them to conquer Valinor:

For Sauron himself was filled with great fear at the wrath of the Valar, and the doom that Eru laid upon sea and land. It was greater far than aught he had looked for, hoping only for the death of the Númenóreans and the defeat of their proud king. And Sauron, sitting in his black seat in the midst of the Temple, had laughed when he heard the trumpets of Ar-Pharazôn sounding for battle; and again he had laughed when he heard the thunder of the storm; and a third time, even as he laughed at his own thought, thinking what he would do now in the world, being rid of the Edain for ever, he was taken in the midst of his mirth, and his seat and his temple fell into the abyss.

(Akallabeth)

He refused to fight the Numenoreans before that:

And Sauron came. Even from his mighty tower of Barad-dûr he came, and made no offer of battle. For he perceived that the power and majesty of the Kings of the Sea surpassed all rumour of them, so that he could not trust even the greatest of his servants to withstand them; and he saw not his time yet to work his will with the Dúnedain.

Although he did submit to being their prisoner, so he could corrupt them in person, with the One Ring. Going back to the First Age, Sauron's name is notably absent from all the major battles, despite being the lieutenant of Morgoth; the one time we know he engaged in personal combat, he was defeated by a girl and her dog.

Why did he have this preference, aside from it being the smart thing to do? We can reasonably speculate it was for similar reasons as Morgoth: by becoming truly incarnate in the world, he did introduce the possibility of him experiencing pain and physical death, even if it was unlikely. And death (not merely separation from the Ring) did diminish Sauron:

It was thus that Sauron appeared in this shape. It is mythologically supposed that when this shape was ‘real’, that is a physical actuality in the physical world and not a vision transferred from mind to mind, it took some time to build up. It was then destructible like other physical organisms. But that of course did not destroy the spirit, nor dismiss it from the world to which it was bound until the end. After the battle with Gilgalad and Elendil, Sauron took a long while to re-build, longer than he had done after the Downfall of Númenor (I suppose because each building-up used up some of the inherent energy of the spirit, which might be called the ‘will’ or the effective link between the indestructible mind and being and the realization of its imagination). The impossibility of re-building after the destruction of the Ring, is sufficiently clear ‘mythologically’ in the present book.

(Letters)

Dispersing his power and will throughout the world (Morgoth and Sauron both did this, though Morgoth on a much grander scale and incarnating himself into a physical form made Morgoth know fear.

That was the last time in those wars that he passed the doors of his stronghold, and it is said that he took not the challenge willingly; for though his might was greatest of all things in this world, alone of the Valar he knew fear.

(Quenta Silmarillion)

Just like Sauron, Morgoth could never be truly "killed"; his spirit is still out there and he will re-incarnate himself someday. But nevertheless, becoming incarnate makes you fear death. So to some extent, Sauron probably had become a coward, as well.

But more than that, Sauron did not need to intercede himself at any time during the War of the Ring. As we saw, he would fight if he absolutely had to. But he didn't. Sauron's victory in the War of the Ring was essentially inevitable: all he had to fear as that someone else would claim and use the Ring (he did not consider that the might destroy it.)

Consider what Denethor saw in the Palantir:

But against the Power that now arises there is no victory. To this City only the first finger of its hand has yet been stretched. All the East is moving.

(The Pyre of Denethor)

You might argue that Denethor was crazy at the time. Well, no; Gandalf agreed:

‘My lords,’ said Gandalf, ‘listen to the words of the Steward of Gondor before he died: You may triumph on the fields of the Pelennor for a day, but against the Power that has now arisen there is no victory. I do not bid you despair, as he did, but to ponder the truth in these words.

‘The Stones of Seeing do not lie, and not even the Lord of Barad-dûr can make them do so. He can, maybe, by his will choose what things shall be seen by weaker minds, or cause them to mistake the meaning of what they see. Nonetheless it cannot be doubted that when Denethor saw great forces arrayed against him in Mordor, and more still being gathered, he saw that which truly is.

‘Hardly has our strength sufficed to beat off the first great assault. The next will be greater. This war then is without final hope, as Denethor perceived. Victory cannot be achieved by arms, whether you sit here to endure siege after siege, or march out to be overwhelmed beyond the River. You have only a choice of evils; and prudence would counsel you to strengthen such strong places as you have, and there await the onset; for so shall the time before your end be made a little longer.’

(The Last Debate)

Consider that in the first assault, described as only a finger of the Dark Lord's might, Sauron very nearly overthrew the entire west of Middle-Earth. Gondor was burning and only barely saved; in Mirkwood there is "long battle" and "great ruin of fire; "grievous harm" is done to Lthe borders of Lorien, where the text does say Sauron himself would have had to come because of Galadriel's power; King Brand and King Dain were killed, and Erebor was besieged. It really didn't matter to Sauron if Saruman betrayed him, or if he lost a few battles here and there. He could afford to be patient. Indeed, all might have been lost in the first assault: the whole point of Aragorn challenging Sauron in the Palantir was to trick him into striking early, before he was ready. And they still nearly lost.

So then we have another part of your question:

And if he had personally, physically confronted Frodo (I know, he had no idea where Frodo was, but bear with me - this is a hypothetical scenario), it is hard to imagine Frodo coming out of the encounter in one piece, let alone in possession of the Ring.

In fact, Tolkien says that Sauron would have had to physically confront Frodo if he had not destroyed the Ring - but Frodo would have probably understood he could not stop Sauron from taking the Ring from him and would have cast himself into the fire.

When Sauron was aware of the seizure of the Ring his one hope was in its power: that the claimant would be unable to relinquish it until Sauron had time to deal with him. Frodo too would then probably, if not attacked, have had to take the same way: cast himself with the Ring into the abyss.

(Letters)

Tolkien then goes on to suggest what might have happened if the Ringwraiths could have confronted Frodo: they would have pretended to obey him, lured him out of Orodruin, and then waited for Sauron:

In any case a confrontation of Frodo and Sauron would soon have taken place, if the Ring was intact. Its result was inevitable. Frodo would have been utterly overthrown: crushed to dust, or preserved in torment as a gibbering slave.

(Letters)

So Sauron would have confronted Frodo personally. Recall that he did also apparently torture Gollum personally.

star trek - How was Seven of Nine the seventh of nine people to be assimilated?

Borg drone designations in the form n of m were established in the Next Generation episode Season 5 Episode 23 "I Borg".

In that episode, the crew found a crashed Borg scout ship. On board of that ship were 5 borg drones of which only one was alive. The surviving drone identified itself as "three of five". The crew inferred that it meant that the drone was the 3rd member of a group of five drones.

Later Star Trek works kept using this naming system for Borg drones. "Seven of Nine" means that she was the 7th member of a group of nine drones.

An alternative explanation could be that the second number is the number of the unit the drone belongs to (7th drone of the 9th group of drones), but there is no canon example of a Borg drone where the first number is larger than the 2nd, so there is no reason to believe that the hypothesis from "I Borg" was incorrect.

There are, however, three examples of Borg which are not named with the n of m naming system:

• "Locutus of Borg", the name assigned to Captain Picard after being assimilated


• The "Borg Queen" (although she might not technically count as a drone)


• "One", the 29th century technology Borg drone from the Voyager episode Season 5 Episode 2 "Drone" (But this designation was given to it by itself after inspiration from Neelix, not by the Borg collective to which it never had any contact)

So there is precedent for the Borg collective giving special names to drones which have a very unique purpose.

Why was "The Lord of the Rings" named as such?

The full title, given in the last chapter, is:

THE DOWNFALL OF THE LORD OF THE RINGS AND THE RETURN OF THE KING

(as seen by the Little People; being the memoirs of Bilbo and Frodo of the Shire, supplemented by the accounts of their friends and the learning of the Wise.)

Together with extracts from Books of Lore translated by Bilbo in Rivendell.

There's nothing really strange about it; snarkily, one might say that it's as if The mysterious case of Ellen Ripley was actually called Alien, or as if Sarah Connor and what she got up to next was actually called Terminator; in other words, it is actually quite common, and should not be seen as surprising, for a work to be named after the antagonist.

lord of the rings - Does Aragorn wear pants?

TL;DR: There is good reason to believe that he wore pants, and no reason to believe that he didn't.

I searched all three books for relevant terms (e.g., pants, breeches, chaps, hose, leg, legging, knee, hip, waist, boot, sock, stocking, trousers, belt, pocket, pouch, leather, wool, linen, cloth, clout, etc), and picked out the ones that refer to Aragorn.

---

Fellowship of the Ring:

Suddenly Frodo noticed that a strange-looking weather- beaten man, sitting in the shadows near the wall, was also listening intently to the hobbit-talk. He had a tall tankard in front of him, and was smoking a long-stemmed pipe curiously carved. His legs were stretched out before him, showing high boots of supple leather that fitted him well, but had seen much wear and were now caked with mud. A travel-stained cloak of heavy dark-green cloth was drawn close about him, and in spite of the heat of the room he wore a hood that overshadowed his face; but the gleam of his eyes could be seen as he watched the hobbits.

High boots on a man generally accompany pants

---

The ground now became damp, and in places boggy and here and there they came upon pools, and wide stretches of reeds and rushes filled with the warbling of little hidden birds. They had to pick their way carefully to keep both dry-footed and on their proper course. At first they made fair progress, but as they went on, their passage became slower and more dangerous. The marshes were bewildering and treacherous, and there was no permanent trail even for Rangers to find through their shifting quagmires. The flies began to torment them, and the air was full of clouds of tiny midges that crept up their sleeves and breeches and into their hair.

Presumably, Aragorn's breeches are included

---

He [Aragorn] sat down on the ground, and taking the dagger-hilt laid it on his knees, and he sang over it a slow song in a strange tongue. Then setting it aside, he turned to Frodo and in a soft tone spoke words the others could not catch. From the pouch at his belt he drew out the long leaves of a plant.

Usually, belts accompany pants

---

Aragorn had Anduril, but no other weapon, and he went forth clad only in rusty green and brown, as a Ranger in the wilderness.

He has only one weapon - a broken and mostly useless sword - so the belt is probably for holding his pants up

---

With that he sprang forth nimbly, and then Frodo noticed as if for the first time, though he had long known it, that the Elf had no boots, but wore only light shoes, as he always did, and his feet made little imprint in the snow.

Frodo finds Legolas' meager footwear remarkable - wouldn't he comment on Aragorn not wearing pants?

---

They were so deep in the doings of the Four Farthings that they did not notice the arrival of a man clad in dark green cloth. For many minutes he stood looking down at them with a smile.

His pants are presumably dark green

---

Elrond was there, and several others were seated in silence about him. Frodo saw Glorfindel and Glóin; and in a corner alone Strider was sitting, clad in his old travel-worn clothes again.

Pants are an important part of "clothes"

---

The first part of their journey was hard and dreary, and Frodo remembered little of it, save the wind. For many sunless days an icy blast came from the Mountains in the east, and no garment seemed able to keep out its searching fingers. Though the Company was well clad, they seldom felt warm, either moving or at rest.

Well clad people usually have pants on.

---

---

The Two Towers:

Slowly Aragorn unbuckled his belt and himself set his sword upright against the wall. ‘Here I set it,’ he said; ‘but I command you not to touch it, nor to permit any other to lay hand on it. In this Elvish sheath dwells the Blade that was Broken and has been made again. Telchar first wrought it in the deeps of time. Death shall come to any man that draws Elendil’s sword save Elendil’s heir.’

Again, a belt is usually paired with pants, but now the sword is fixed, so it is probably just a sword belt

---

‘Here are some treasures that you let fall,’ said Aragorn. ‘You will be glad to have them back.’ He loosened his belt from under his cloak, and took from it the two sheathed knives.

This sounds like a separate, pants-holding-up belt

---

‘Now let us take our ease here for a little!’ said Aragorn. ‘We will sit on the edge of ruin and talk, as Gandalf says, while he is busy elsewhere. I feel a weariness such as I have seldom felt before.’ He wrapped his grey cloak about him, hiding his mail-shirt, and stretched out his long legs. Then he lay back and sent from his lips a thin stream of smoke.

Mail shirt sans pants would be uncomfortable

---

For many hours they rode on through the meads and river- lands. Often the grass was so high that it reached above the knees of the riders, and their steeds seemed to be swimming in a grey-green sea.

His knees would be cut to ribbons without pants here

Is the Voyager episode "Threshold" considered canon?

Threshold has never been formally removed from the Star Trek canon, although it seems quite likely that those involved in the production (behind the camera) would prefer if it simply went away;

As mentioned in @hynosifl's answer, the quote from "Day of Honor" that people often point at (e.g. to suggest that the episode has been retconned out of existence) actually refers to a different technology;

PARIS: I've never navigated a transwarp conduit. Any problems
I should be aware of?

That said, even the writers accept that there were many technical failings with the episode, especially in regard to how Transwarp works in the episode and the "de-evolution" of Janeway and Paris.

TNG's Producer Brannon Braga describes it thusly;

"It's a terrible episode. People are very unforgiving about that
episode. I've written well over a hundred episodes of Star Trek, yet
it seems to be the only episode anyone brings up, you know? 'Brannon
Braga, who wrote 'Threshold'!' Out of a hundred and some episodes,
you're gonna have some stinkers! Unfortunately, that was a royal,
steaming stinker."

and TNG's 'Senior Technical Consultant' Rick Sternbach basically tried to handwave the whole episode away;

""I think what may have happened with the silly Warp 10 episode
was that there was a coupling of the energy from the shuttle to all of
the energy and matter of the universe (which might be possible if
we're looking at a finite system), and the shuttle was able to access
any point anywhere by some amazing tunnelling phenomenon which shrank
the normal 3D distances to points, much like all the universe being
squished into a pinpoint at the big bang because it was all energy
with no need for elbow room. Whew."

Note that that neither of them explicitly state that it was a dream/not a real episode/non-canon.