Trying to find a book where humans were genetically altered to live in water after a crash landing on a planet. Generations later, they have forgotten they are human. I think the main character is named Levon and he keep swimming to the surface and dreaming of going to the stars.

Most of the glory goes to Gryffindor's sword when it comes to the founders' artefacts. I don't think I've read any detailed account of what powers the Slytherin locket, the Hufflepuff cup, and the Ravenclaw diadem have respectively, although canon indicates at least one of them was rumored to be very magically powerful. According to Hepzibah Smith, one-time owner of the Hufflepuff cup, the cup was rumoured to have tremendous powers: [Hepzibah Smith] opened the lid. Harry edged forwards a little to get a better view and saw what looked like a small golden cup with two finely wrought handles. ‘I wonder whether you know what it is, Tom? Pick it up, have a good look!’ whispered Hepzibah, and Voldemort stretched out a long-fingered hand and lifted the cup by one handle out of its snug silken wrappings. [SNIP] ‘A badger,’ murmured Voldemort, examining the engraving upon the cup. ‘Then this was ...?’ ‘Helga Hufflepuff’s, as you very well know, you clever boy!’ said Hepzibah, l...

Kylo Ren clearly has an obsession with emulating Darth Vader. He also wants to "finish what [Darth Vader] started". Darth Vader was a sith, so then wouldn't Kylo Ren wish to become one? To complete Vader's mission, wouldn't Kylo Ren have to adopt Vader's fundamental sith principles? With the sith being defeated, Kylo Ren doesn't really have the resources for an authentic sith training. Has he settled with being a dark side user lead by Snoke, or does he want to become a sith, as was Vader? Answer We don't know, as of the current canon. The only meaningful evidence comes from his enemies, in that, really, whatever-Ren-is, and the Sith, are pretty much the same thing in different brush strokes: MAZ The only fight: against the dark side. Through the ages, I've seen evil take many forms. The Sith. The Empire. Today, it is the First Order. Their shadow is spreading across the galaxy. We must face them. Fight them. All of us. ( WGA script ) Neither J....

At the beginning of the trailer for Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them , someone (who I think is Newt Scamander) says the spell " Lumos Maxima ". The problem is that Lumos Maxima is not a canon spell. The spell that everyone uses in the books is Lumos . (Rowling has said "That's showbiz!" when asked about the movies versions of the spells.) A fact that further complicated matters is that JKR said on Twitter that she "wrote the entire script". So why does Fantastic Beasts have Lumos Maxima ? (An out of universe answer is fine, I'm more of trying to figure out where this movie stands canonwise than trying to mesh two incompatible things.) Answer As per OP's request I turned my comments into an answer, despite them being somwhat speculative. The film series is of course an entirely seperate continuity from that of the books, and JKR was always okay with it being this way ( films over there, books over here ), her "That's showbiz!...

In the X-Men: First Class movie, Charles and Erik team up to stop Sebastian Shaw aboard his submarine. Once exposed, Charles uses his powers to freeze Shaw. Erik uses his own powers to force the coin through Shaw's head, killing him. But earlier in the movie, we saw demonstrations of Shaw's powers. He survived grenade blasts, gunshots, RPG's and intended to detonate himself with the power of a nuclear blast - all by absorbing the energy and redirecting it as he saw fit. How could a simple coin kill him?

Wikipedia claims that Jean-Luc Picard was named after the Piccard twins: Star Trek creator Gene Roddenberry named Picard for one or both of the twin brothers Auguste Piccard and Jean Felix Piccard, 20th-century Swiss scientists. However, neither of the two references given in the Wikipedia entry for this "fact" are authoritative. (They are informal claims made by individuals with no obvious connection to Star Trek.) The same references are repeated in the entry on Auguste Piccard . Was Captain Picard really named after one or both of the Piccard twins?

In the begining of " Birthright. Part I " episode (Star Trek Next Generation 6x16) an Yridian tells Worf, that he has a certain information, that Worf's father is still alive (apparently not killed in Khitomer Massacre ) and is held in a prison camp on Carraya IV. Yridian is an information broker and agrees to reveal details (i.e. location) only for a price. Worf agrees. How or with what Worf would pay for this? There is no economic factor inside the Federation (no money is being used) and I don't recall anything, Worf would have on board Enterprise, that would have enough value for an information this kind. Answer Federation officers do seem to have credit accounts on DS9. Presumably they get a stipend from the UFP's own accounts to help them buy trinkets from the locals when visiting. BASHIR: That better not be from a replicator, Quark. QUARK: Chateau Cleon, twenty three oh three. I already put it on your account. DS9 : The Adversary and WORF: Our wedding p...

I am looking for a children's novel published anytime from late 1950's through early 1980's. The story is about some British(?) schoolchildren (assuming ages 9 through 13 here) that find a strange animal and believe it is an alien. The animal is small and round and fuzzy; about the size and shape of a bright yellow furry grapefruit. (Kind of reminds me of tribbles from Star Trek.) It has no apparent limbs, orifices, or sensory organs. The children are unsure what it is at first, but decide it must be an alien. When a local scientist/professor slices into it as an experiment, the animal grows to the size of a beach ball. The local scientist/professor gets it from the children and tries to bring it to a university for further study. That's about half way through the plot. I don't know how it ends, and don't have further knowledge of it. Answer I think that you are thinking of The Moonball , by Ursula Moray Williams. I remember the scene where the Moonball is cut...

I read the paperback version but don't recall the name, only that the cover was primarily white. It's been at least 8 years since I read it, but the book may be a little older than that, 1995-2007?. It takes place in about the same time frame, as the setting, technology and procedures seem modern, not overtly futuristic nor noticeably in the past. The protagonist is a woman, middle age or slightly younger, who is an astronaut and biologist. The story starts on Earth describing the asteroid, how it was recovered from deep in the ocean, and the unknown black gelatinous masses contained within. It goes a little into studies performed, i.e., injected in frogs and mice - which the former comes back as a major plot point towards the end, as the aliens have a vulnerability to 'pregnancy hormones' from the frog DNA they integrated. Skipping the bulk of fluff to the memorable bits, she and her crew are sent to space with this payload of unknown gunk in vials and told to run test...

I have heard the phrase hollow world several times, but seeing the question " Does the Song of Ice and Fire take place in a hollow world? ," inspired me to finally Google the topic . This led to a TV Trope page about hollow worlds explaining: When science started to switch over to the modern view of Earth's composition the idea of the hollow earth became a Discredited Trope, but later generations of Speculative Fiction writers took up the concept and revitalized it. Adding various world types: ring worlds, dyson spheres, artificially constructed worlds, etc. Which confused the matter further. Unfortunately, I guess I don't truly understand the concept of a hollow world. Is it as simple as the world is hollow? Or is there something more conceptual at play? Answer Yes, the fundamental quality of a hollow world is that it is a large, hollow, more-or-less spherical object, and creatures live on the inside surface of it. What's on the outside of the object (or even ...

If Mad-eye Moody's only purpose was to get Harry to Lord Voldemort then why did he have to wait until the very end of the Tri-wizard tournament? Being a teacher he had Harry at his mercy anytime so should he take the pain of getting Harry into the tournament, risk helping him with the tasks, and so on? He could have easily done it any time during the entire year with any other object as the port key. Why was the Triwizard cup chosen? Is there anything that I'm missing? Answer Barty Crouch Jr said it himself, in that he couldn't do ANYTHING to risk Dumbledore suspecting him. Let's face it, you have to be pretty damn conniving to get something past Dumbledore. Anyway, it's just a story. If he did it your way, the book would be about 100 pages long. It's all about the journey :)

What is the first appearance of a Lich in fantasy literature? I will accepts answers pointing to myths ans sagas and such as well. Edit: For clarity, I'm asking about Liches as defined by Wikipedia: Often such a creature is the result of a transformation, as a powerful magician or king striving for eternal life uses spells or rituals to bind his intellect to his animated corpse and thereby achieve a form of immortality. Liches are depicted as being clearly cadaverous, their bodies desiccated or even completely skeletal. Liches are often depicted as holding power over hordes of lesser undead creatures, using them as soldiers and servants.

In Star Trek: First Contact , the Phoenix reaches a speed of about 47,000,000 mph. When the ship is seen from the Enterprise, we see no deflector array. In fact, shields are never even mentioned at any time in the movie. Eventually, the Phoenix does go to warp, however we don't see the front of the ship. But titanium is not going to help you if you hit a piece of dust at 47,000,000 mph. How are the shields on the Phoenix generated?

The broom kid in Canto Bight has not grown any older, yet the story of Luke's bravery is already being passed along to become a legend (thus, within the span of a few months?). How is that possible? And BTW, why would the galaxy believe a couple dozen "rebels" that such a stand took place? I know, I know... they need to believe. But there could be thousands of competing stories vying for people's attention. Why is the true story more successful? Answer Canonical sources for time around The Last Jedi and after it are sparse so far, so I don't think we can provide definitive answer yet. Maybe upcoming novelization will change that. However, junior novel The Legends of Luke Skywalker does provide some insight into minds of galaxy youth and status of Luke Skywalker at around this time. Here is what we know: Luke spent years after Battle of Endor travelling galaxy far and wide. He met a lot of people and a lot of people witnessed first-hand some of extraordinary t...

In the Narnia series, the character of Aslan bears many similarities to Jesus Christ: worshipped as a god but only the son of a much greater god (the Emperor-over-the-Sea) sacrificed for the sake of his people but then resurrected very powerful but sometimes taking the form of a lamb Out of universe, parts of the series were clearly intended as Christian allegory (and there are quotes by Lewis to confirm this). But my question is about in-universe . Some say that Aslan is actually the same person as Jesus, taking the form of a lion when in the world of Narnia. The most relevant quote I've found is the following: "Dearest," said Aslan very gently, "you and your brother will never come back to Narnia." "Oh, Aslan!!" said Edmund and Lucy both together in despairing voices. "You are too old, children," said Aslan, "and you must begin to come close to your own world now." "It isn't Narnia, you know," sobbed Lucy. "I...

I always thought that Galactic Empire was dissolved after death of Emperor Palpatine, but this has surprised me: The New Republic (5 ABY - 25 ABY) Having defeated the Empire at the Battle of Endor, the Rebel Alliance must now transform itself from a militant resistance force into a functioning galactic government. As Imperial territory is reclaimed , the New Republic suffers growing pains, having to fend off insurrections, Imperial loyalists, and wayward warlords. Also, Luke Skywalker, the last of the Jedi, begins training apprentices, rebuilding the Jedi order. The New Jedi Order (25 ABY - 36 ABY) The Jedi Knights are now a hundred strong. The New Republic has signed a peace treaty with what little remains of the Empire . The galaxy is finally enjoying a peaceful respite from decades of war. If Empire remain in existence after death of Palpatine, who became emperor (or, in-charge of remains of Galactic Empire)? Answer This depends... The answer could be "Sate Pestage", ...

Rather prominently, Pike's first officer called herself "Number One" when asked in an official capacity. While she gets way more screen time in ST:Discovery , we never see her named. It's now apparently a gimmick of the series. Was she ever given a name anywhere? Answer Here is what Memory Alpha has to say about her name. The upshot is there has never been a definitive canonical name assigned to her character, but she has been given a long string of possible names in various apocryphal works. In the Marvel Star Trek: Early Voyages comic book series, this character was named Lieutenant Commander Robbins. Her first name was interrupted by other dialogue, but starts with "Eure—." The novel Vulcan's Glory , by Star Trek: The Original Series writer D.C. Fontana, suggested this character's moniker was not simply a nickname or title — she was an Illyrian who was called "Number One," as the best intellect among her generation. The novels The C...

Following on from " Why didn't Sauron find Bilbo when he put on the ring like Frodo? " and it's (possible) dublicate " Why was Bilbo not discovered by Sauron during his extended stay with the Wood Elves? ", there is a possible plot inconsistency uncovered. In Gandalf's note to Frodo (delivered by Butterbur at the Prancing Pony) we read a warning to not wear the Ring: PS. Do NOT use It again, not far any reason whatever! However, later on in Lorien (after the Galadriel-freak-out scene) we see Frodo saying: I am permitted to wear the One Ring. What happened between the two events to change this?

Basically, as the title asks. Dragons are often referred to as reptilian in various stories, but I don't think I remember Tolkien ever specifying this about Smaug. I looked a bit, and couldn't find any info, other than this spiny southern African lizard named after Tolkien's Smaug. Anyway - any authoritative word/hint on Smaug's class? Answer Although Tolkien never makes any outright claims to Smaug being reptilian he does make a few statements about Smaug being a Lizard or lizard-like “Oh yes, very much so. Except no, Fafnir was a human or humanoid being who took this form, whereas Smaug is just pure intelligent lizard.” The History of the Hobbit - Endnotes, Note 10 Tolkien clearly thought of Smaug as some form of lizard, less like Fafnir, who was humanoid but took the shape of a dragon, but more like a real dragon, similar to a dinosaur (but not a dinosaur). Tolkien mentions of the relation between snakes and lizards and his dragons, although again makes the clear...

My fiance says she read a fantasy book in seventh grade, but can't remember the author or much of the story line. She says the book cover was of a tree trunk in slight shadow and also a boy with skin like tree bark. She was in seventh grade in 1999, so I know the book is older than that. The book might also be more on the dark side of fantasy.

I've already searched Wikipedia's list of time travel stories in hopes of finding it, but no such luck. This is the basic plot of the story: In the future, criminals are sent back to the Renaissance as this is considered a humane form of punishment. One man is wrongfully accused by one of his rivals/enemies and punished in this fashion. He resolves to take revenge on his opponent and writes a letter addressed to him. He passes the letter on to his descendants, along with information proving his innocence and the other man's guilt. In this letter he tells his opponent that he will be convicted and sent back in time just as the protagonist was, and that he will be waiting for him. He also tells him that he is certain his plan will work, because the man arrived just a few hours after the protagonist did, and that he killed him. I remember this being a part of a collection of short stories. It's probably fairly old. Unfortunately, I don't remember much else about it.

Does anybody know which is the earliest SF story about the civil uses of nuclear power (possibly, power generation)? The best I can find is a 1940 short story by Robert A. Heinlein, “Blowups Happen” ( Astounding Science Fiction , September 1940), modified and updated for a 1946 anthology, and later restored (“I now see, as a result of the enormous increase in the art in 33 years, more errors in the ’46 version than I spotted in the ’40 version when I checked it in ’46”). Now it appears in the collection Expanded Universe . Answer Wikipedia's article on the Atomic Age contains a timeline of popular culture references to nuclear power. The earliest item on the timeline is: 1913 — C.W. Leadbeater published Man: How, Whence, and Whither? . This book describes the future society of the world in the 28th century (which, as a clairvoyant, Leadbeater claimed to have gotten information about from consulting the akashic records) as being powered by what he called atomic energy. Now, I kno...

I just started re-watching the Harry Potter series, and I had a curious thought. We know that Harry was born to two parents who were capable of magic, and is able to to do magic. We know that Hermione was born to two Muggle parents, and can also do magic. Is there anybody born to two magical parents, who is unable to do magic themselves? Answer There have been at least two Squibs born to two magical parents. (I’m basing this answer on the comments on @JasonBaker’s answer.) Angus Buchanan. Information on Pottermore about Scottish rugby reveals the existence of a Squib in the pure-blood Buchanan family: By the mid-nineteenth century the Buchanan family comprised an overworked mother, a fierce father and eleven children. The household was loud and chaotic, but even so, it is surprising that neither of the Buchanan parents realised that their third son, Angus, was a Squib – a wizard-born child with no magical powers. It had always been the proud boast of Mr Buchanan senior that such an...

It says in The Fellowship of the Ring that Sauron learned that the One Ring was still in existence, partially from Gollum. Gandalf says, during his explanation to Frodo, He believed that the One had perished; that the Elves had destroyed it...  1 .  However, how could he have thought this if he was reincarnated? I thought that after Isildur defeated Sauron he was reduced "back into shadow" and that the only reason he was able to reappear was because the Ring still existed. So wouldn't Sauron have known the Ring was still around, because otherwise he couldn't have came back? ――― 1 Fellowship of the Ring , Book I Chapter 2: "The Shadow of the Past", two pages after Gandalf throws the ring into the fire.

This poor creature is taken aboard the spaceship and the humans do not know that it is intelligent. The alien can repeat what it hears, e,g, "pass the sugar". It is able to escape at night and it communicates messages to its fellow aliens. It directs that they turn up the heat of the atmosphere (somehow they can do this) so as to force the humans to leave. The alien protagonist states that it will die w/ the humans or leave with them. Answer "Good-Bye, Ilha!" , a short story by Laurence Manning , also the answer to the question Short story told from vegetarian alien's POV observing astronaut behavior, including laughter and an unaccepted answer to the question Letter from Ilya . This poor creature is taken aboard the spaceship and the humans do not know that it is intelligent. The story is told by the alien. He imitates his captors' sounds: "LOOKOOSERE WEL-IL-BEDAM," I managed. Then I grew so dizzy I fell once again and wooshed all over the shel...

Despite the perception that Obi-Wan was Luke's mentor who taught him in the ways of the Force, it seems like they only had a minute of actual Jedi training. This was on the Millennium Falcon as it made its way from Tatooine to the Death Star. Han, near the start of the scene, brags about just escaping the Imperial ships above Tatooine, with the jump to light speed: Han: Well, you can forget your troubles with those Imperial slugs. I told you I'd outrun 'em. Luke gets to try out his lightsaber with the training droid, including with his blast shield down. They have a short conversation about the nature of the Force, and Han gets to express his skepticism. Meanwhile Chewie, R2-D2 and C-3P0 play their holographic board game. At the end of the same scene : Han: Looks like we're coming up on Alderaan. Does it really take just a few moments to get from Tatooine to the Death Star (where Alderaan would have been)? Are they really moving "merely" at light speed or wh...

Read this in early 1980s - man meets up with a beautiful girl with equally beautiful friends. They are space tourists who visit disasters across galaxies and who are in town (San Francisco?) to await the catastrophe which is about to occur.

There are a few sort of groups of power origins in comics: Genetic from birth (e.g. mutants, aliens), granted/endowed by external means (e.g. Spider-Man, Fantastic Four), or learned/reliant on external means (e.g. Iron Man). In many cases of powers being granted by external means, the specific circumstances often play a major role in the new power set and abilities. Spider-Man is bitten by a radioactive spider. Sandman comes into contact with irradiated sand. Mutants seem to be entirely different. Their powers are based on the X gene, and typically manifest at puberty or in times of great stress. We know that at least some related mutants end up with similar or related powersets (e.g. Cyclops and Havok, or Magneto and Polaris), so biology and genetics must play at least somewhat into a mutants powers. What determines a mutant's abilities (why did Wolverine get claws and healing, but Kitty Pryde got phasing), and when is this determination made (at birth? at time of emergence?) A...

In the Pottermore article on Platform 9 and 3/4 it's mentioned that other fractional platmorms exist (7 1/2 for instance). Is it ever stated elsewhere, where these platforms lead? Perhaps you could get a connection from you hometown to platform by accessing one of these platforms? Answer Dumbledore smiled at him. ‘We are in King’s Cross, you say? I think that if you decided not to go back, you would be able to ... let’s say ... board a train.’ ‘And where would it take me?’ ‘On,’ said Dumbledore simply. Deathly Hallows - page 578 - UK - chapter 35, King's Cross Perhaps the ¼ and ½ platforms simply lead On . . . wherever and whatever On may be! Barring Word of God, I think this is the closest canon reference we're going to get to the other trains. Yes, I realize Dumbledore is speaking metaphorically. And yes, I realize the trains are not specifically described in canon. On is just an idea. :) ETA: This kept niggling at me, so I signed into Pottermore and checked the ...

I am trying to find a short story from a science fiction collection that I think I read around 1981 from my school library. I think it was called "Night of the Millennium" and it was about a couple of boys who, during the celebration of the millennium end up in some adventure involving someone with "an illegal laser pistol" and at the end it turns out his gym teacher is a member of some secret space program and the main character has been recruited to join this program. Does this sound at all familiar? Thanks so much in advance - this is killing me! Answer " Night of the Millennium " by Edward D. Hoch ? As the world prepares to celebrate the onset of the 2000s, a young man faces decisions about his career choice. As he tries to decide between becoming a laser surgeon like his father or a high-paying, high-profile job in communication engineering. The man who is trying to recruit him gets caught up in a plot to cause a revolt at the millennium celebration...

Avoiding incest like Targaryens and more... I wonder if there are any illegitimate sons or daughters of a Lady. Suppose, for example that when Eddard Stark returned from war, he found Lady Catlyn with a child of herself with another man, instead of the opposite (he came from war with Jon Snow). Has that happened at least once? Answer Joffrey, Tommen, and Myrcella would fit your question (before edits): Cersei the queen is their mother, but their biological father is Jaime Lannister and not the king. And as TLP points out in comments, accusing the wife of cheating on her husband shames her lord husband and is a vary dangerous thing. While the husband cheating on the wife is seen as normal/acceptable in this male-driven society. Upon further inspection, currently there doesn't appear to be any named bastard offspring via a Lady (non-incest.) ( here's a nice list of the known bastards ). As MikeEdenfield states in a comment, Victarion Greyjoy's wife was impregnated by Euron...

In an interview on the Prisoner of Azkaban DVD Rowling mentioned that the director Alfonso Cuarón had unwittingly foreshadowed developments in then unreleased HP books (and of course would not elaborate at the time). To what was she referring? Answer Apparently, J.K.Rowling never told the answer. Still, I recommend this detailed analysis written by one of the fans. It highlights a number of key scenes: Snape protects Harry from werewolf (a clue that Snape must protect Harry at whatever cost); Lupin tells more about Lily; someone mentions falling from the Astronomy tower; obvious Ron/Hermione clues. For more detailed explanations, see the link above. Additionally, I found another plausible answer in this thread : Draco is a bit less "tough" in the movie than in the book. He cries a little after Hermione hits him, which might foreshadow the crying-in-the-bathroom scenes later on.

It's clear why Snape picked on Harry (because of James); or on Hermione (Harry's friend; and ALSO a Gryffindor, AND a muggleborn, with audacity to know the subject and annoyance of showing it off when he wanted Gryffindors AND muggleborns to look stupid and incompetent). But why would he pick on Neville so hard? Neville wasn't Harry's friend, he wasn't a typical Snape-rubbing-raw Gryffindor, and for sure Snape wouldn't have hated him for his parents having been Aurors. Being bad at Potions doesn't seem to be it either - otherwise he'd pick on Crabbe and Goyle more than on other Slytherins (though less than on any Gryffindors). Answer It seems that it was because Snape resented Neville for not being the "Boy-Who-Lived". Snaped loved Lily, and Lily ended up dying because Voldemort chose Harry and ... marked him as his equal ... [with the influence of Snape himself]. So Snape seems to have been resentful of Neville (and probably himself) for ...

Plot Summary/Details As best I can remember, the setting for this one was contemporary Earth, or a human off-world colony with contemporary technology. Whatever the exact location, there are creatures of shadow that present a threat to the world. I can't remember if they are undead creatures, or alien beings, or if their true nature is unknown. I also can't remember exactly what harm they can do to people. What I do remember for certain is that the protagonist is of a particular occupation/class that fights these shadows to protect the rest of society. The method by which the protagonist and his fellows battle the shadows is something of a psychic duel. The protagonist enters a house, and reaches out mentally against the shadow. The two entities become locked in a mental struggle, with the task of the protagonist to be able to out-darkness the creature of darkness. Something like that. If successful, the shadow is dispelled, and the weary shadow fighter emerges victorious. The ...

In all continuities, the Autobots and Decepticons were originally one race which split into two factions. In some, this was largely a civilian vs military split; others were a bit more ambiguous. In many of the continuities, the Decepticons are capable of natural flight while in robot mode (or possibly more correctly levitation). By-and-large, Autobots do not share this ability. They either require jetpacks, or can only fly while in their Alt-Modes (as planes, rockets, spaceships, etc). Since Autobots/Decepticons were originally one mixed group, it seems as though they should largely have the same feature sets and abilities. Flight/levitation would be useful to civilian Transformers, just as they would be useful to military ones. We know that some Transformers have changed factions, including from Decepticon to Autobot, so the technology isn't exactly kept completely secret or hidden. If we accept that Transformers can be manually upgraded , it seems as though upgrading to provide ...

I read a book 12 years ago. I believe it had Ever on its name. It was about these high schoolers that went to sleep and woke up in a world of magic or medieval. I do know that when they went to sleep that would travel back and forth. I know it's not much but if you can help thank you. Answer Possibly the Everworld series by K. A. Applegate. It's YA and it's about teenagers and it's fantasy and it has Ever in the title, which meets most of the admittedly limited criteria! David's life was pretty normal. School. Friends. Girlfriend. Actually, Senna was probably the oddest aspect of his life. She was beautiful. Smart. But there was something very different about her. Something strange. And on the day it began, everything happened so quickly. One moment, Senna was with him. The next, she was swallowed up by the earth, her screams echoing from far, far away. David couldn't just let her go. Neither could the others. His friends and hers. So, they followed. And foun...

The stargate point of origin symbol has been asked about several times . While some of the questions may seem to overlap, each one points to a different issue with the point of origin symbol. This one item seems to have been the source of several technical flaws in the Stargate series. While previous questions asked about it being coordinates or what Earth's point of origin was, what the symbol actually does when used in dialing, and about the meaning of the symbol itself, this is about something different. Each stargate in the Milky Way galaxy has a different point of origin symbol. (See the first link above to see a number of them.) What is the purpose of having a different symbol for the stargate on every different planet when the gates can easily be relocated and will work just as well, even when they're moved to another planet or even taken out of the galaxy (as they were for the McKay/Carter bridge)? Answer I believe this was touched on in one of the comments on the ...

We have a small amount of back story of the Giant Spiders, who were descendants of Umaiar (Fallen Maiar), but not for the want of looking I can't find anything relating to the origin of Dragons. We know that Ancalagon was a servant of Morgoth and the dragon race were inherently evil (for the most part). Are they twisted from another race? Or did Eru breathe life into these creatures and their nature is just generally filled with greed, pain and suffering? Answer Like many other things in the Legendarium, there's no concrete, canon answer for this. Tolkien didn't specify it in the published books, and his notes tend to contradict themselves as his conception changed over the years. The entry on the origins of dragons in the Lord of the Rings Wiki does a rather thorough job of bringing the various theories, their strengths and weaknesses: Dragons are beasts that were physically enhanced by Melkor, perhaps corrupted giant Eagles. This can explain how he "made" the...

When Ender is observing Rabbit Army's instantaneous emergence from their gate during Dragon Army's their first battle, he thinks to himself that this was learned from when Bonzo Madrid had done this to Ender. In the distance, in the dim light, he could see the enemy door, their lighted flash suits already pouring out. Ender knew a moment's pleasure. Everyone had learned the wrong lesson from Bonzo's misuse of Ender Wiggin . They all dumped through the door immediately, so that there was no chance to do anything other than name the formation they would use. But it was really Rose da Nose who had made Ender emerge as soon as the gate opened. "Shivering? Trembling? Don't wet your pants, little Launchy." Rose hooked a finger over the butt of Ender's gun and pulled him to the forcefield that hid the battleroom from view. "We'll see how well you do now, Ender. As soon as that door opens, you jump through, go straight ahead toward the enemy's do...

In the book The Two Towers Treebeard tells Merry and Pippin the sad story of the Entwives, who were lost (literally lost - they didn't die); he says the Ents believe that they "may meet [the Entwives] again in a time to come" and find a new home together where they can all live in peace. However, he also says: "But it is foreboded that that will only be when we both have lost all that we now have" This loss will take the form of Sauron "withering" the woods of the Ents, just as Sauron once destroyed the gardens of the Entwives. Then Treebeard sings an Elvish song about the Ents and Entwives, which ends with the lines Together we [Ents and Entwives] will take the road that leads into the West, And far away will find a land where both our hearts may rest. Granted, fading into the West and traveling to a far away land there is a constant theme among the Elves, and this is an Elvish song, not an Entish one, but Treebeard says the Ents love it as well, whi...