I have been trying to gather some details on the Origin of Sting, but it seems there is very little known. I gather that Sting was forged in Gondolin during the first age, however aside form that I cannot find any info. I find it slightly odd that, despite being such an iconic sword, there is little back story. Can anyone provide any details on Stings life in the first age? Who made it? who wielded it, who rescued it? etc. Answer There's a little bit of context available. With some guesswork, we can piece together a likely biography for Sting. We know that Sting was made by Gondolin Elves which makes it very likely to have been used in the defence of Gondolin: " being the work of Elvish smiths in the Elder Days these swords shone with a cold light, if any Orcs were near at hand" - FOTR We've not got an in-universe description of how it came to be in the possession of a group of trolls, but it was (probably) wielded as a secondary weapon by a soldier who died (or l...

The main character(s) are looking for telepathic geniuses to hire or to admit to some school or something. Everyone who respond to the advertisement enters the room one by one, picks up some paperwork etc., but sitting in the room next door is a real telepath and he transmits a message mentally: "if you hear this, go to room number..." So only the real telepaths can hear the message and that's how they identify them.

In The Force Awakens, she has a vision, and a voice says: These are your first steps Now a number of former Jedi have become 'luminous beings' (not this crude matter). I'm trying to work out which one it is. It seems to be one of Yoda, Obi-Wan, Qui-Gon or even Anakin. My question is: In Rey's vision, whose voice says "These are your first steps"? Answer From Entertainment Weekly interview with J.J. Abrams "Obi-Wan and Yoda are secretly in Star Wars: The Force Awakens – exclusive" : “You do hear a little bit of Yoda. You hear Luke yelling out, ‘Nooo!’ from that moment in Empire. And you hear Obi-Wan at the end say, ‘Rey … these are your first steps,’” Abrams says. “Here’s the cool part. We asked Ewan McGregor to come in and do the line . And he was awesome and we were very grateful. He was incredibly sweet and handsome, and all that stuff. Then he rode off on his motorcycle. Literally the coolest voice over actor ever.”

In A New Hope, the Rebels assault the Death Star with X-Wing fighters launched from a moon around the planet Yavin. However, the Death Star only sends out a few squadrons of of TIE Fighters to counter them. It did send out Darth Vader himself, along with a few elite pilots, but given that the Death Star is a massive space station, shouldn't it be able to send out TIE's by the hundreds (if not the thousands) and completely wipe out the opposition before any of them got a chance to line up a shot on that exhaust vent? Answer Having re-read the script , it seems that Tarkin and Vader didn't view the attack (by the fighters) as much more than an annoyance until it was far too late . Resistance (by the Rebels, who're about to get their base destroyed) was always to be expected but since the Death Star's armour was considered impregnable to fighters and since the Imperials were expecting their turbo-lasers to deal with whatever resistance they encountered, they didn...

To my recollection, all physical Patronus charms that we see in the Harry Potter story are in the form of an animal. However, to quote this answer the nature of a Patronus charm is that it represents that which is hidden, unknown but necessary within the personality , which depending on the traits revealed could be embodied in many different ways. For example, if a muggle-born wizard's Patronus were to portray strong leadership and perseverance could the physical manifestation appear as Optimus Prime? Answer Yes. In the Book of Spells (available as part of the supposedly canonical Wonderbook Book of Spells game), Miranda Goshawk states that... ... This ancient and mysterious charm conjures a magical guardian, a projection of all your most positive feelings. The Patronus Charm is difficult, and many witches and wizards are unable to produce a full, corporeal Patronus, a guardian which generally takes the shape of the animal with whom they share the deepest affinity. You may sus...

In a "flashback" that Louise has, we learn that Louise told Ian that she knows their daughter will die young. Why would she tell him that, given that she has already had this "flashback", so she should know that telling him this information will lead to his disillusionment and their divorce? Answer This quote from the novella the movie is based on ("Story of Your Life" by Ted Chiang) explains the nature of the heptapod's language and determinism: For the heptapods, all language was performative. Instead of using language to inform, they used language to actualize. Sure, heptapods already knew what would be said in any conversation; but in order for their knowledge to be true, the conversation would have to take place.

I see plenty of (sometimes good natured, sometimes snide) comments that any content that used to be EU (C-canon) is not longer "canon" at all . Now, personally, to me this treatment seems incorrect, in that Disney seems to treat the former-EU C canon (aka Legends) the same way Lucas Empire always treated it, which is by declaring it as a lesser level of canon as opposed to not canon at all (see details below) . As such, I think the only way this disagreement can be conclusively resolved is by explicit statement of Disney stating that Legends material is "not canon at all, as opposed to different, lower level of canon the way C - or even S - canon always was". So, my question is: Have Disney ever made a statement calling Legends "not canon" as opposed to "old canon" or "lower level of canon" or simply "Legends/EU"? As to why I think they treat Legends basically as a C+S canon (and thus why calling it "not canon" requ...

Snape is a powerful wizard, who is capable of casting spells non-verbally. And, we know that even complex spells like Avada Kedavra can be cast non-verbally. Using non-verbal magic should have been second nature to Snape. However, when Snape cast Avada Kedavra on Dumbledore, he did speak the name of the spell. Is there any reason why chose to cast a verbal spell here, when we would normally expect him not to? Shouldn't the act of casting verbally have alerted the Death Eaters that something was up, possibly to his wish not to kill Dumbledore? Answer Generally speaking, when casting a difficult spell, verbal casting is to be preferred unless there is a specific reason to avoid it. Non-verbal casting increases the risk of the spell failing. The only reason Snape might have wanted to use non-verbal casting when killing Dumbledore is if the Death Eaters might criticize or be suspicious of him for failing to do so. But Voldemort cast Avada Kedavra verbally when attacking Harry in Ord...

I am trying to find the source of this quote which I remember reading somewhere, but am running into a brick wall. (Note that the phrasing might not be exact, any quote with the general gist of the phrase would be a valid answer). Google searches for the phrase, with multiple variants (formed, destroyed, disassembled etc) did not find a source from which this phrase could reasonably come from. The main problem came from Google attempting to return hits on the card game Magic: The Gathering , which prevented the intended hit from being found. Answer He ticked the situation off on his fingers. "Archie, you've been kicked in the teeth by at least three of the four different types of elementals — earth, fire, and water. Maybe there was a sylph of the air in on it, too, but I can't prove it. First the gnomes came and cleaned out everything you had that came out of the ground, except cold iron. A salamander followed them and set fire to the place, burning everything that was b...

In Star Wars: A New Hope , Leia pays Han Solo his reward for rescuing her from the Death Star. We see him hauling his treasure in the rebel base in metal green boxes: However, the Death Star destroyed Alderaan, Leia's home planet. With her home planet, and presumably her assets, destroyed, where did Leia so readily get the money to pay Han Solo his reward? Answer Leia was a leader in the Rebel Alliance. She had other resources and contacts than her home planet. She did have to wait until they reached a Rebel base before she could pay him.

I'm having a hard time finding the name of a science fiction saga (I think the work spanned several books) that I read about a year ago on Wikipedia. Despite furious googling I have not been able to hit the correct story. I remember some plot points from a synopsis, and they are listed below. The following may contain spoilers. There are several intelligent civilizations, one of them human. There are at least two civilizations scoring really high on the Kardashev scale. Both of these species inhabit stars and are at war because one species needs red dwarfs and the other black holes or something similar. One of these mega-species is also at war with the humans, and their battles and tactics include time travel. The economy of the human civilization relies largely on the war effort, and at some point the ending of the war bankrupts Earth. EDIT: Additional fact came to mind: One of the mega-species might have evolved only moments after the big bang, making it ancient. Do any of these...

Like the title says, I only remember the end of this. I think it was a film, but may have been an episode of something like The Outer Limits. I saw it on TV around 1999 (ish), and I think it was quite new then. I've looked through all the episodes of the Outer Limits and haven't been able to find it, but maybe I missed it. I remember that there was a spaceship with a number of crew aboard, and I think a robot. One of the crew was a drug addict. Something went wrong and the ship was going to explode, but there was only room for 2 (one woman, one man went) in the single escape pod. The other 2 (also one woman, one man) people on board (there may have been more earlier in the program) decided to overdose on the addict's drugs rather than just be blown up. You see the escape pod reaching some distance and see the main ship explode. Then suddenly they 'wake up' in a room. The two people who overdosed are dead in that room, as are other people that had been on the ship wh...

When Superman uses his heat vision, can he measure exactly where he wants to hit someone? And how far can he expand his heat vision? Is his heat vision invisible to the human eye? I know we see it in the films for the audience to know that it is his heat vision is coming out.

While arguing with a friend about 28 Days Later and how those aren't actually zombies, my friend stated that all zombie media have to follow Romero Rules of zombies or else they aren't actually zombie movies/books/whathaveyou. While reading Our Zombies are Different , it shows that Romero himself never actually used the word 'zombie' and he called his creatures 'ghouls'. But the article actually classifies the different type of zombies and how they act. Why is there a general consensus in literature and film that dictates what 'real' zombies are? Why aren't 28 Days/Weeks Later monsters considered zombies? Are the creatures in the new versions of Romero's movies considered zombies since they can run and seem to have some problem solving skills? When did this trope become so concrete? Answer It's up to the viewer, in the end, but I have always considered the 28 Days Later monsters to be zombies. In short, if it craves human flesh, reproduces...

This is one I read at least 30 years ago.It was a UK paperback. A similar premise to John Birminghams Axis of Time series... What I remember is a USA navy ship somehow ended up back in Roman times amongst Arabian ships - they get involved with a floating brothel in a weatherbeaten hulk. The brothel is staffed and ran by women who used to be Roman slaves but escaped To get protection from Arab gangsters the women form an alliance with the USA sailors One point I remember is the USA captain demonstrated a pistol to the Arab warchiefs to scare them away. When they first board his vessel he warns all his men to keep their hands out their pockets. He says "these guys have never seen a pocket so don't give away we have concealed places in our clothes" I also want to say the floating brothel madam was also from modern days and she'd fell through the wormhole or whatever years earlier. Then she used her business savvy to end up as the boss, however I'm not too sure about ...

She's clearly the smartest person in her year, and the defining trait of Ravenclaw is intelligence. Why would she be in Gryffindor rather than Ravenclaw? Answer The Sorting Hat actually spent a long time deliberating over Hermione. She mentions it when somebody asks her about a particularly complicated piece of magic in Order of the Phoenix : “How come you’re not in Ravenclaw?” he [Terry Boot] demanded, staring at Hermione with something close to wonder. “With brains like yours?” “Well, the Sorting Hat did seriously consider putting me in Ravenclaw during my Sorting,” said Hermione brightly, “but it decided on Gryffindor in the end.” This is a rare event, but not unheard of. Pottermore has some more information on other borderline candidates: Hatstall. An archaic Hogwarts term for any new student whose Sorting takes longer than five minutes. This is an exceptionally long time for the Sorting Hat to deliberate, and occurs rarely, perhaps once every fifty years. Of Harry Potter’s ...

The clone troopers that formed the basis of the Republic's new army were paid for by a combination of Count Dooku's wealth — which was apparently staggering — and other funds . What was the price per clone? Specifically, I would like to have an average price based on the total order , with the type of currency indicated. Also, feel free to exclude the fee paid to Jango Fett for allowing his genetic profile to be used by the Kaminoans. (If you are factoring it in, please indicate this.) Canon information is preferred but, in the absence of this, non-canon sources and reasonable speculation are welcome. Answer The short story " Republic Commando: Odds " sets a lower bound for us. Lama Su contacts Palpatine and insists that if he wants any more clones, he'll need to drop an initial payment of a billion credits. By definitions then, the GAR (including ships, training and materiel) must have cost at least 2 billion, but presumably much much more. But they watched, ...

In episode Q2 of Voyager, Q tells his son : Q : If the Continnum's told you once, they've told you a thousand times. DON'T PROVOKE THE BORG!! If Q are omnipotent / immortal / all powerful, why would Q tell his son not to provoke the Borg? Q himself provokes humans (Janeway & Picard) quite regularly. Do the Q fear the Borg? Or could it perhaps be that the Q just don't want to annoy the Borg, since the Borg are possibly the most powerful guys in the galaxy (outside fluidic space) and the Q don't want to be responsible for anything the Borg do out of anger? Since the Borg could probably wipe out a good chunk of the galaxy if they felt like it. Thanks to IQAndreas for finding a clip of the scene in question: [embedded content] UPDATE The question : What would be the effect of a Borg assimilating a Q? definitely explores similar territory to this question, but no answers really address that part of the question. There are a few opinions as to why Q wouldn't ...

I know he wears a hat on the cover of every book in the series. But, does it ever actually mention him wearing a hat in the books? Answer The publisher is responsible for the hat . The logic was evidently 'Wizard + P.I. = Duster, Staff, Fedora.' The fact that this contradicts the book is a non-issue for them - cover art is more a marketing item than anything else and the author has little to no say in it. Jim has mentioned this in Q&A Sessions: I INTRODUCED THE NOVELS TO MY FIANCEE WHO IMMEDIATELY CONSUMED ALL OF THEM [IN THE SPACE OF A WEEK?] AND AT THE END OF IT SHE LOOKED AT ME AND SHE SAID "I REALLY LOVE THESE NOVELS BUT - WHY IN THE COVER ART DOES HE WEAR A HAT? What's with Dresden's hat in the cover art is the question - the answer to that is the art department thought it was a good idea. They thought it was the perfect visual shorthand for wizard detective - he's got a wizard staff and he's got a detective fedora - wizard/detective right there....

The story starts with a tribesman going on a exploratory voyage around the land, meeting other progressively more and more distant tribes, learning about the world. Gradually he or she discovers that the "world" is actually a giant spaceship flying through space. The story climaxes by the hero ascending to the commanding deck and learning who actually pilots the ship and to what purpose. Answer You could try to go through some Generation Ship stories list and try to see for yourself if any match your memories. This list on Goodreads could be a good start. The first book on that list, Non-Stop (1958) by Brian W. Aldiss fits your description quite well. There is a tribe, two members of which go on an exploratory journey, and discover the world is a starship... just as you said. Curiosity was discouraged in the Greene tribe. Its members lived out their lives in cramped Quarters, hacking away at the encroaching ponics. As to where they were - that was forgotten. Roy Complain ...

In Order of the Phoenix , Snape eggs on Sirius at Grimmauld Place: ‘Tell me, how is Lucius Malfoy these days? I expect he’s delighted his lapdog’s working at Hogwarts, isn’t he?’ [Sirius] ‘Speaking of dogs,’ said Snape softly, ‘did you know that Lucius Malfoy recognised you last time you risked a little jaunt outside? Clever idea, Black, getting yourself seen on a safe station platform ... gave you a cast-iron excuse not to leave your hidey-hole in future, didn’t it?’ Order of the Phoenix - Chapter twenty-four, Occlumency - Page 460 - Bloomsbury How did Lucius Malfoy know that Sirius was a dog Animagus? How did he know it was Sirius in the train station? Some facts to consider: According to the Harry Potter Lexicon 's timeline, the characters who are considered to be of the Marauders era (born 1959) were only five years younger than Lucius Malfoy (born 1954), so Sirius and Snape, and the other Marauders-era students, and Lucius Malfoy, would have been at Hogwarts together for two...

I would like to know the title and author of a short story I read a long time ago. It's about 3 men in space. They were sent to different planets to catch other organisms on different planets. Presumably to bring back to Earth and put in zoos. The ship they are on breaks down. They notice that the animals on the planet, instead of running away, curiously walk up to them. The animals are too friendly and easy to capture. They cannot fix the spaceship and after a few days, one of the men attempts suicide by slitting his wrists. His attempt fails. They look outside on the planet and they find their homes that they had on earth. The men realize that they were captured by aliens and that they were meant to live on this "alien zoo." Answer I would like to know the title and author of a short story I read a long time ago. "Collecting Team" aka "Catch 'em All Alive!" by Robert Silverberg , first published in Super-Science Fiction , December 1956 ; the r...

Does it contain the whole universe (whether obeying physics laws as we know it or not)? Or, is it just limited to solar system & fake EM radiations coming from outside? I was just wondering how machines would manage to process detailed simulations of infinite astronomical bodies (which looks impossible due to limited knowledge of universe, too).. and, what would happen if Neo started to explore the universe with warp speed. I have seen all three movies and Animatrix, but without any luck around this question. So, I am looking for answers from novels, comics etc.

At the start of Star Trek: Into Darkness , Spock is almost killed detonating a "cold fusion" device to stop a volcano blowing up a primitive tribe. However, for a civilisation that possesses such advanced technology it seems a bit odd that Spock had to go down there and do it manually. Why couldn't they just set a timer on the device and lower it into the volcano? Answer Spoilers The scene establishes several parameters: Which prevent the placement of the "cold fusion" device. including (1) The planet's magnetic field was considered to be powerful enough to block an indirect lock-on and transport so the Enterprise would be required to be visible to the natives in order to make a clear drop. If they were visible to the natives this would have violated the Prime Directive . and (2) The smoky volcano prevented a clear line of sight and enough thermal updrafts to prevent using a line to drop the device. The device needed to be on an interior surface and not dr...

Many Force users channel their powers (pull, push, lightning) through their hands. But in the case of Darth Vader, this does not seem to make sense. Because there is nothing there . His limbs are prosthetic and contains no midichlorians. Could there be a reason other than writer oversight? Triggered by: Why does Darth Vader need to use a targeting grid? Answer I know of no canon answer, but I would guess that it has more to do with mental focus; for example, when force choking someone, he's basically using Telekinesis crush the target's throat. For the purposes of focusing it, it's probably easiest to visualize a hand doing the task. Then, as it crushes, it's not simply compressing, but rather simulating the action of fingers bending inward; using his own hand, both being controlled (albeit by servo-moters) and visible in front of him helps him properly visualize what he's doing. The same idea applies to shoving motions when doing a Force Push, and grasping motio...

During the time that Voldemort's name was under Taboo spell, Harry Potter mistakenly used his name. This led Fenrir and the other Snatchers to find them. Why didn't Harry, Ron, and Hermione disapparate when they appeared? Obviously they wouldn't have had time to pack up the tent, but if it was between life or death, then why wouldn't they just choose to live and leave everything behind? ‘Harry –’ ‘Come on, Hermione, why are you so determined not to admit it? Vol—’ ‘HARRY, NO!’ ‘—demort’s after the Elder Wand!’ ‘The name’s Taboo!’ Ron bellowed, leaping to his feet as a loud crack sounded outside the tent. ‘I told you, Harry, I told you, we can’t say it any more – we’ve got to put the protection back around us – quickly – it’s how they find –’ But Ron stopped talking, and Harry knew why. The Sneakoscope on the table had lit up and begun to spin; they could hear voices coming nearer and nearer: rough, excited voices. Ron pulled the Deluminator out of his pocket and click...

In the Lord of the Rings trilogy, I always regarded the title of the third book, The Return of the King , as referring to the return of Aragorn to reclaim his kingdom. However, after reading this answer I've begun questioning myself. The full title of the Red Book of Westmarch is: THE DOWNFALL OF THE LORD OF THE RINGS AND THE RETURN OF THE KING Here, it's unclear if lord and king refer to the same subject (Sauron), or whether lord refers to Sauron while king refers to Aragorn. So in the title The Return of the King , which king is being referred to? Sauron, or Aragorn? Edit : the reason it wasn't clear to me is because grammatically, it's a little weird to have two different, unidentified antecedents for the two unnamed nouns. Normally, when people use two similar nouns ( lord and king are pretty interchangeable) they refer to the same subject, not different ones. Hence the confusion. (and I wasn't the only one confused ) Edit 2 : if you're d...

I have been trying to find the title of this kid's movie involving these 2 scenes and the best description from what I can remember. Each of the scenes are connected by the use of the watch but in two different time periods in 1980s/1990s and then in the past. First it’s about two best friends (I think both are male) who both set their wrist watches at a certain time to remember to watch a TV show (I think wrestling?) each week and after confirming the exact times on their wrist watches they say yeah air alright and possibly high five. The show somehow had to do with time travel to the past. Only one of the friends goes back but I'm not sure how. While being stuck in the past and trying to solve a problem to help the people in the past, his alarm for the TV show goes off and he remembers the title of the TV show by hearing the alarm uses the battery to solve the problem. The watch didn’t cause the time traveling only that the battery of the watch was used in the past after trav...

What is this short story? Plot summary: It begins with a young lady looking weak and shy, embarking on a spaceship to follow her husband sent on a mission (written in the social context of the 50's, i reckon). After ship propulsion breaks down and it becomes clear that there will be no vital supply for every passenger, she gradually becomes more and more assertive, toughly negotiates with the captain. She argues that being pregnant entitles her to double rations. When rescue eventually reaches the ship, without any hope of finding survivors, they find human bones floating all around the ship. The punchline is thrilling: they find the lady singing a lullaby to her child, and considering them with demented eyes before pronouncing the last word : "food!". Answer This is John Wyndham's " Survival ", first published in 1952 in Thrilling Wonder Stories, February 1952 . Description from this site : And of course, after the relatively encouraging portrayals of wom...

In many fantasy stories, there are creatures called Dire Wolves. What's a Dire Wolf, how is it different from existing wolves? Answer Wikipedia says they're not fictional, although some stories may give them supernatural properties. They're an extinct species that existed from the Early Pleistocene to Late Pleistocene stages (roughly between 1.8 million – 10,000 years ago) in North and South America. Dire Wolves were one of many Pleistocene Megafauna , which are basically large animals that existed at that time, which included sabre-toothed cats, mammoths, giant lemurs, and giant sloths. Dire Wolves are larger than gray wolves (the largest existing type of wolf), averaging 5 ft in length and 240 lbs, although they tended to have shorter legs proportionally than gray wolves.

At the end of the seventh book, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows , Harry uses the Elder Wand to repair his own broken wand. ‘I know it’s powerful,’ said Harry wearily. ‘But I was happier with mine. So ...’ [...] He laid the broken wand upon the Headmaster’s desk, touched it with the very tip of the Elder Wand and said, ‘ Reparo .’ As his wand resealed, red sparks flew out of its end. Harry knew that he had succeeded. He picked up the holly and Phoenix wand, and felt a sudden warmth in his fingers, as though wand and hand were rejoicing at their reunion. In the movie, Hermione presumably disposed of Harry's wand after revealing that his wand was broken, after Harry said It's done. At the end of Deathly Hallows Part 2 , Harry simply destroys the Elder Wand, with no mention made of his old one. Was there any explanation for the change in the ending (of Harry's wand)? Answer According to Harry Potter: From Page to Screen -- A Complete Film Making Journal by Bob McCabe (...

In TOS: Space Seed, Khan manages to force open a door that's been "locked from the outside" with only his bare hands. Although he is "five times" stronger than a regular human, the door doesn't seem to put up much of a fight, so it got me wondering: What if any locking mechanism do the doors have on the Enterprise? Even a simple deadbolt would've made a loud noise when Khan broke it, and we've seen forcefields used in the brig, but it seems like this door was simply "turned off". I'll take answers for any Enterprise, not just the TOS one, since it's entirely possible I'm overthinking this and they simply hadn't fleshed out the universe to the level of door locking mechanisms at the time this episode aired. But I would assume at least one of the Technical Manuals has something to say about doors. Answer I would surmise that there are no "locks" whatsoever, but only states in which the hydraulics are meant to open...

In the book The Two Towers , Gandalf is puzzled as to how Saruman had been communicating with Sauron. Grima Wormtongue, rather conveniently, then throws Saruman's Palantir out the window of Orthanc, attempting to hit either Gandalf, Saruman, or both. Pippin picks it up, and Gandalf quickly snatches it from him and wraps it in a cloth. Clearly, he knows it is dangerous, but we later discover that he doesn't realize what it is. Hours later, Pippin steals the Palantir and inadvertently uses it. Only then does Gandalf realize what it is. This would be understandable if Gandalf didn't know that Palantiri existed, or that there had once been a Palantir in Orthanc, or that the others had been lost long ago, but he reveals that he does indeed know all these things. His failure to immediately identify the Palantir is all the more confusing considering the fact that, as the group rode away from Orthanc, they heard Saruman shriek in horror, and Gandalf instantly knew that Saruman had ...

In Watchmen , did Rorschach's ever changing mask react to his emotions, or did it morph on its own? Answer No, it did not react to his emotional state. While the technology might have existed, and Ozymandias might have been able to make it, Rorschach's mask was actually part of an accident from his career working with a dressmaker. From the Watchman Wiki : Rorschach's mask (which he refers to as his "face") consisted of a specialized fabric, one that was actually two layers of fabric with viscous black and white fluids trapped between them. The fluids remained in constant motion, being affected by heat and pressure, however the black and white colors never combined to form gray. The patterns formed by the fluids also maintained a constant symmetrical pattern down the midline of whatever shape the fabric had been formed into. Kovacs first discovered the fabric when he worked for a dressmaker. The fabric was originally made into a woman's dress and the marketi...

I've recently gotten into The Flash (TV-Show) and so I've been reading about his powers. What I don't understand is why his typical rogues pose a threat - it seems like there should be very little limit to his powers. He can go back in time , so if he loses a battle or the bad guys do something, he can go back and preempt it. In the new 52, he can all but predict the immediate future , so he can see bad things that are going to happen and stop them. He can phase matter through matter , or let matter pass through him. This means he is all but immune to weapons fire. I haven't read enough of the old comics so I don't the know challenges he's had. For a guy who can't be attacked, can time-travel and can race around the globe several times in a minute, I can't imagine there is much that could pose a threat. Answer I covered part of this in my answer regarding "How does the Flash perceive time?" In the treatment I discuss that the nature of the ...

Once a Slitheen looked into the heart of TARDIS, she became an egg (I am unable to find the episode name). But, when Rose looked into the heart of TARDIS, she possessed the entire Time Vortex and literally became a god (2005 season 1 finale). What's the catch? Why is the rule different? Why didn't Rose turn into a baby girl? Answer In "Boom Town", the episode where the Slitheen (Margaret) turned into an egg, it wasn't because becoming younger was a generic result of looking into the heart of the TARDIS, but rather because the TARDIS is telepathic, and it seems to have read her secret desire to start her life again with a clean slate. Consider the following bits of dialogue from the transcript of "Boom Town" here : MARGARET: I promise you I've changed since we last met, Doctor. There was this girl, just today. A young thing, something of a danger. She was getting too close. I felt the blood lust rising, just as the family taught me, I was going to ...

I know very little about Star Wars, but I'm curious how powerful the Force truly is. Answer Yes. There is at least one example of a Force-user prolonging their life by thousands of years using the Force. It is also theorised, by Winter and Luke Skywalker, that Jedi would be capable of using the Force to slow the ageing process in Dark Force Rising . Palpatine, Yoda, and C'Baoth were the object of their discussion; C'Baoth was well over 100 years old by that point, despite being human (as it turned out, the C'Baoth in question was a clone, so the discussion was moot). There are also other beings who achieved extremely long life-spans through the use of the Force, though this may have been a natural part of their existence, rather than through any Force-related assistance. There were multiple attempts, mostly by Dark-Siders, to achieve immortality through the Force.

When I was a young teen, I really got into reading the few Star Wars novels that existed at that time. After I exhausted the then current run of books (there were only about 5 or 6 of them), I decided to read the novelizations of the original trilogy. I no longer own those novels so I can't look up the reference, but I recall that during the beginning of A New Hope, when Luke and Obi-Wan rode into Mos Eisley on Luke's land speeder, Lucas mentioned something of there being a "dog barking". This always struck me as odd because this was a reference to an animal from Earth in a universe where clearly most creatures were completely unique. After noticing the reference to a dog I then noticed on my next viewing of ESB that there was a snake on Dagobah. This has made me curious for years. What other Earth-based creatures have made their way into the "official" Star Wars universe and where do they appear? Answer There are ducks on Naboo in the movies. Also, in th...

When I last read Harry Potter, I remember all of the teaching staff being professors. Nothing in What are the requirements to teach at Hogwarts? implies there's any need to be qualified as a professor to join. Also (at least in the UK), "Professor" is a title granted by peers. So, are all the teachers at Hogwarts professors, and if so...why? Answer Are all the teachers at Hogwarts professors? Based on all the information available in the seven primary books, the answer seems to be that yes, all teachers at Hogwarts are professors. Except in instances where teachers refer to each other by their first names, every teacher at Hogwarts is referred to as "Professor" by both students and their fellow teachers . In Half-Blood Prince, Dumbledore corrects Harry when he refers to Severus as "Snape", saying that it's "Professor Snape". Why? To complete the circular logic: because they teach at Hogwarts. That seems to be the only requirement for b...

From Star Wars Episode V: Empire Strikes Back , during lightsaber duel between Luke and Vader: Vader: Impressive... most impressive. Obi-Wan has taught you well. You have controlled your fear... now release your anger. Only your hatred can destroy me. Although Vader had seen Luke with Obi-Wan earlier, he was clearly wrong to assume Obi-Wan trained Luke (not counting Luke's first lightsaber toying abroad Millennium Falcon which shouldn't be enough to get extol from Vader). Did he ever learn that it was actually Yoda who trained Luke? Answer Main (Disney) Canon In the films , he didn't find out. His brief conversation with Luke on the surface of Endor, then in the presence of the Emperor didn't reveal any more information about his training. Vader then died shortly afterwards. Legends Canon In the film's official novelisation there was an additional scene that seems to have come from an earlier draft script, but got removed from the final shooting script The Empero...

In The Day of the Doctor , it's explained that the Doctor doesn't remember having interacted with himself, and if he interacts with a future version of himself, the younger version forgets. But in Time Crash , 10th solves the problem of the TARDISes occupying the same space because he remembers himself doing it from when he was 5th. If this is true, 5th wouldn't have wondered whether or not he was going to regenerate when he did. Does the TARDIS occupying the same space with itself re-instate those memories? Or is it just possible that I'm asking a ridiculous question that will never have an answer because Doctor Who. :D

Out of all the ancient blades made by Elvish weapon-smiths in Gondolin, why was Sting given a distinctive and unique glow whenever an Orc was close by? Secondly, why would they put it on such a relatively small weapon, as opposed to Orcrist or Glamdring? Answer Orcrist and Glamdring were supposed to. "being the work of Elvish smiths in the Elder Days these swords shone with a cold light, if any Orcs were near at hand," In the Fellowship of the Ring (the novel), Glamdring glowed with a " pale-light ". From The Hobbit (the novel): They buried Thorin deep beneath the Mountain... Upon his tomb the Elvenking then laid Orcrist, the elvish sword that had been taken from Thorin in captivity. It is said in songs that it gleamed ever in the dark if foes approached, and the fortress of the dwarves could not be taken by surprise. Peter Jackson, in the Fellowship of the Rings (EE) commentary, upon being asked why Glamdring didn't glow in the Mines of Moria, responded with...

Paul Atreides was the Kwisatz Haderach the Bene Gesserit planed on creating, but he appeared a generation early and they were unable to control him. Even if the Kwisatz Haderach had been born a generation later, then he still would have had abilities that would rival or surpass the greatest of the Bene Gesserit, essentially making him the most powerful person in the galaxy. How did the Bene Gesserit expect to control someone this powerful? Or had they given any thought to that part of the problem? Answer The Bene Gesserit are accomplished and masterful manipulators. They also have generations of experience in developing training programs that specialize in instilling discipline and loyalty. Jessica's "betrayal" by disobeying her orders and having a male child instead of a female are intended to indicate both her strength of personality, and the power of her love for Leto Atreides, and is an exceptional, rare instance of disobedience. However, for the Kwisatz Haderach, d...

In the Lord of the Rings when the Lord of the Nazgûl is killed, there seems to be some confusion as to exactly who is responsible? Is the reason down to the sword of the Barrow Downs that Merry stabs him with, or does this simply make the Nazgûl vulnerable to normal weapons? The book seems to indicate that it is a combination of the sword strikes from Éowyn and Merry and that both were necessary for his demise (that is just my interpretation of how things are written). The prophecy that he cannot be killed by the hand of mortal man is not much help in explaining this since neither Éowyn nor Merry is a man! Answer There's no doubt that Eowyn's was the killing blow. There is however some debate about the exact role played by Merry - and, in particular, Merry's sword. Here's the key passage: So passed the sword of the Barrow-downs, work of Westernesse. But glad would he have been to know its fate who wrought it slowly long ago in the North-kingdom when the Dûnedain were...

It's well know that Orcs, Golbins, Uruk-hai and most of Sauron's forces don't tolerate light, especially sunlight very well, and certain types of trolls turn to stone when sunlight falls upon them. One of the best know characteristics of the Uruk-hai are their ability to better withstand sunlight than Orcs or Goblins. What exactly happens to Orcs when exposed to sunlight? Do they start to burn like vampires? Do they just lose their strength? Can they not see? Do they just not like it? Answer This article has a nice analysis of the Orcs aversion to sunlight. The sunlight seemed to have more of a psychological effect on the orcs, much like the gloom of Mordor depressed the morale of all men who entered there. Many times throughout the Silmarillion Orcs fight in the sunlight, fueled on by either hate of their enemies or fear of their dark masters. So in a sense they hate the light, and would rather not be in it, but when forced to, they can travel and fight normally. The mai...