In the post credits scene for Avengers: Age of Ultron we see Thanos putting the Infinity Gauntlet on saying he will do things himself. [embedded content] In Avengers: Infinity War we find out that beforehand Thanos had taken over Nidavellir and forced the Dwarfs to forge the Infinity Gauntlet. Where was Thanos when he was putting on the Infinity Gauntlet in Avengers: Age of Ultron ?

I've heard the out-of-universe explanation is they simply didn't have the props and sets for shuttle scenes that early in the series. Indeed, we don't see any Federation shuttles until The Menagerie, and no shuttles launched from the Enterprise until The Galileo Seven, so I assume this is true. But is there a known in-universe explanation? I don't recall any characters saying the shuttles were inoperable at the time or the planet had some dangerous atmospheric qualities they needed to bypass via transporter or it would take so long for the shuttles to get down there it wouldn't save Sulu's landing party anyway. Answer There has never been an official in-universe reason given by anyone associated with that episode in particular or with Star Trek in general. It is, however, an issue that has been discussed for years and years by Star Trek fans. Here are two in-universe fan theories that have been tossed around for a few decades: You've already alluded to thi...

In X-Men: Days of Future Past , Trask is always trying to capture the mutants alive. It would seem that Azazel was also captured alive, to get his bone and tissue cells. But how was Azazel killed and captured? Can't he teleport out to anywhere at any time? Answer Azazel wasn’t captured, he was killed. There’s a newspaper article, The Bent Bullet Report , which was part of the promotional material for Days of Future Past . It’s an explanation of President Kennedy’s assassination, and the alleged role of mutants (namely Magneto) in his death. The full text includes a few mentions of Azazel. Indeed, two members of Lehnsherr’s own Brotherhood of Mutants, an organization the FBI classified as “a pro-mutant terrorist group,” were killed [in 1963]. The mutants code-named Azazel and Tempest were slain by Project: WideAwake operatives in July. There’s an explanation of Project: WideAwake elsewhere in the article: Project: WideAwake was a covert CIA task force President Kennedy created aft...

I know this wasn't addressed in the books (duh!), and figure it's unlikely that J. K. Rowling has actually spoken on it, but figure it's still possible that it's been discussed at some point. Also, since I don't tend to read fanfic, I don't know if there are any agreed upon "standards" in any fanfic worlds, so it might be addressed there, for all I know. (This is also the second question that grew out of a discussion in chat about Shmi Skywalker's sexual past.) Are there sexual aids that we know about in the magical world? Are there any that don't have muggle equivalents? And, along that line, since we've seen family size range from 1 child (like Draco Malfoy) to seven children (uh, you know who I'm talking about here -- the Weasleys), and since it's along the same line, are there magical forms of birth control? I'm asking mainly about canon, but if there is anything in fanfic that is standard, that would count as well. I don...

I bought this book in the 6th grade in 1972. The story is about a teen and his college brother who are orphans. It starts with them filming a tsunami, or other big wave, hitting the coast where they live. As they climb down the cliff face after the wave, the older one finds a statue of a bipedal alien figure embedded in the cliff face now exposed by the destruction of the wave. The statue appears to be made of a diamond like substance. Their exploring leads them to a chamber under the sea with a coffin like box similar to the statue's material containing a body like the statue. With the help of a professor the box is moved to the university and the body is accidentally revived. The being turns out to be from a civilization millions of years in the past. The story unfolds as they travel with the guy to his city, then on deep into the planet searching for the remnants of his people.

I know that I hate Wesley Crusher from Star Trek: The Next Generation . He is by far the most annoying character in my opinion. I've also heard from others that he wasn't very well liked. The Memory Alpha page on Wesley provides this quote: Wesley Crusher also has the distinction of being one of sci-fi's most hated characters. In a poll done by Maxim magazine only Star Wars' Jar Jar Binks topped Crusher's level of annoyance. Fans expressed annoyance that Wesley always seemed to be the one to save the Enterprise My question is, when TNG was airing , what was the general reaction to Wesley as a character? If it was a negative reaction, was this the reason for Wesley's departure at the beginning of season 4? Answer What did fans think of Wesley? I'm not sure about the overall fan reaction; I was too young for Star Trek during TNG's original run, and very little of that remains easily accessible on the Internet. Fortunately, Google has archived the ol...

I am looking for a story about the future of mankind, in which most people have been enslaved in a virtual reality. It ends with the revelation that the people are just lying there imagining their lives with their heads in a trough of feed. It explains that chemists began to create compounds that could be released into the air to manipulate citizens - causing them to live, shop, think as desired by whoever was in charge. Eventually these tools got subtle enough that they could simulate reality using just these airborne compounds. This was clearly a prescient view of what later became computer-based virtual reality fiction. Answer Stanisław Lem's The Futurological Congress has chemically induced "realities" to cover up poverty/government failures (even if they turn out to be a dream-within-a-dream / hallucination-inside-a-hallucination thing). The (quite short) book is from 1971 (as am I, so I'm reluctant to say that it's "very old", but it still seems...

In the first book it mentions that Haymitch was the second-ever victor from District 12. Who was the first victor? What do we know about them?

It's been more than ten years, but I've been thinking about a book I read as a kid. I can't remember any part of the title or author's name. It begins with an old man who sits and ponders a stone in his hand constantly, which he's worn smooth. He takes on a boy or young man and teaches him the secret of magic by giving him progressively more physically difficult chores. The boy finally gets it when he's told to move an impossibly large boulder, but ends up yelling at it to move, which it does. I remember that there were others who were taught magic, and the stone turns out to be some sort of magic orb, maybe a fallen star. These magicians are able to change into animals. It was a longer book, at least 700 pages. Hope someone can help... Answer The series is the Belgariad (Well, technically that only refers to the first 5 published books, but...), but specifically you are talking about the book Belgarath the Sorcerer , which talks about Belgarion's ultimate...

I have only vague memories of this book: Aliens had pacified the Earth but there was a resistance. One of the main characters was a man who had learned to speak their language. The scene I recall was of him in a car trying to accomplish some task for the resistance: they came upon some humans guarding the facility, and he shouted " OBEY! " at them in the alien language and they hustled to follow orders. There was some business at the end of the book about Earth children being taken into alien homes for the purpose of learning the language, and our hero was pointing out that the aliens would have to actually talk to the kids: not just allow them to observe. Help? Probably 1970s ish? Or was it a short story perhaps in Galaxy ?

I am looking for resources on how lightsabers were made. Wookipedia has a brief description at http://starwars.wikia.com/wiki/Lightsaber . This article briefly addresses how they were made. Do we have any in-film or in-novelization details about lightsaber production, preferably in canon? EDIT: any details specific to lightsaber crystals also appreciated.

I have few questions here: Did Gandalf know the origin of Glamdring? If so, how did he know it? Is it explained in the books how Glamdring made its way to a troll's treasure hoard or who had it before Gandalf? Answer Gandalf and the Dwarves (and Bilbo) were told about the origins of Glamdring, Orcrist and Sting by Elrond in Rivendell: Elrond knew all about runes of every kind. That day he looked at the swords they had brought from the trolls' lair, and he said: "These are not troll-make. They are old swords, very old swords of the High Elves of the West, my kin. They were made in Gondolin for the Goblin-wars. They must have come from a dragon's hoard or goblin plunder, for dragons and goblins destroyed that city many ages ago. This, Thorin, the runes name Orcrist, the Goblin-cleaver in the ancient tongue of Gondolin; it was a famous blade. This, Gandalf, was Glamdring, Foe-hammer that the king of Gondolin once wore . Keep them well!" Glamdring was therefore orig...

This was a story I enjoyed as a kid and wanted to read again, but I can't remember what it is, and this is the only scene I really remember vividly. (I'm getting the little details wrong, of course; e.g I think the merman dies in the backstory, but the central idea is right) The heroes met a merman, who relates a story of how he had found a rare item at the same time as a dragon, so they decided to play earth/water/fire for it. The dragon lost, but wound up trying to take the item anyways, and wound up killing the merman over it. But what is earth/water/fire? It's explained just like rock/paper/scissors: water douses fire, fire scorches earth, earth restrains water. (or something like that) Later, the heroes meet the dragon, who relays a similar story, but that the merman tried to cheat and take the item anyway after the dragon won. After the heroes explain how the merman thinks he won, the dragon scoffs and explains the rules: fire vaporizes water, water erodes earth, eart...

This is not a novel, but "longish" short fiction, novelette or novella. I read it around 1984, in an already used book containing half a dozen or so stories, in a cheap hotel in the US. There were several such books on a shelf, there. I also read another, very similar one, that contained "Nightwings" by Robert Silverberg. After checking all collections containing the latter published before 1985 (thanks, Jenayah !!!), I got to the conclusion those were two different books. It is not a bad story, but it did pale compared to "Nightwings" ! A man, on our Earth, is contacted by a bizarre agency who offers him to get his mind transferred to a body in an alternate Earth, in order to save, either some polity from an external enemy, or the queen of some polity threatened by an "internal" cabal, I forgot. Why he accepts is not clear, since when will he be able to use the money he is offered? No return seems promised. He gets there, and meets several speci...

I can only assume that it's executive meddling, but has there ever been a reason stated for the re-titling of the first harry potter book for US Markets? Answer Q: What kind of manuscript changes had to be made to make the U.S. version more understandable to American readers? Specific things, like the title change of the first Harry Potter book? (The original British title is Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone.) A: Very few changes have been made in the manuscript. Arthur Levine, my American editor, and I decided that words should be altered only where we felt they would be incomprehensible, even in context, to an American reader . I have had some criticism from other British writers about allowing any changes at all, but I feel the natural extension of that argument is to go and tell French and Danish children that we will not be translating Harry Potter, so they'd better go and learn English. The title change was Arthur's idea initially, because he felt that...

In Star Trek: Voyager, there is a big deal made about them warping far beyond contact with any Federation bases, beause they're all the way out in "the Delta Quadrant". To me, this indicates that there is a finite area of space that has been explored in the Star Trek universe up to this point. So, including for the sake of this question the Delta Quadrant that they were lost in, and all of explored Space up to that point in the series, how much of Space is included in the Federation-explored region of the Star Trek Universe? Actual units of measurement would be ideal, but are not required if a general idea would better describe the size of the known universe. Answer Star Trek takes place in our galaxy, in the late 24th century. (with the most-distant movie set in 2379 .) The Milky Way Galaxy is absurdly big -- some 120,000 light-years in diameter, with a center some 27,000 light years away from Earth. The nearest galaxy is the Small Magellanic Cloud , some 200,000 ligh...

We learn in Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith that Qui-Gon Jinn has become a Force ghost: Yoda: An old friend has learned the path to immortality. Obi-Wan: Who? Yoda: One who has returned from the netherworld of the Force to train me…your old Master, Qui-Gon Jinn. Has Qui-Gon, in any media (including Legends), ever visibly appeared as a Force ghost in the same way that Obi-Wan, Yoda, and Anakin Skywalker have? Answer Yes, in The Clone Wars In " Voices " Qui-Gonn's spirit guided Yoda to the Force Priestesses who taught him the secret of immortality. In this case he manifested as a swarm of glowing lights: He also manifested visibly in the episode " Overlords ." His greater power to do so here may well have been related to the strength of the Force on Mortis, the location in which he manifested. He did this in order to warn Obi-Wan of the danger Anakin was in from the Force-wielders of Mortis: QUI-GON: If he is the chosen one, he will discover it here....

I remember from somewhere, that Superman's cousin acquired powers faster than Superman himself. Would that mean that Superman is just as strong as any other Krytonian if they were still around in the same environment? Is Superman really super compared to other Kryptonians? Answer Yes, Superman was really super even compared to other Kryptonians. (Or at least he was until the DCnU New 52 changed the DC Universe, yet again.) Under the original premise, as the Last Son of Krypton, Kal-El/Superman gained his powers due to the slow and long-term exposure of his body to the radiation of our yellow sun. This made him a force to be reckoned with in comparison to other Kryptonians because of his much greater strength, durability, experience and control in the use of his many powers. Superman and the rays of the Sun Yes, according to writers who wanted to boost Superman's powers in the early 1950's he gained extraordinary abilities after his exposure to the Earth's yellow sun...

In the Disney Cannon was Maul a Sith? Looking at some of the discussion around this question. there seems to be some confusion as to the status of Maul's Sithhood in his later years. Wookieepedia lists him as 'Sith (formerly)' but the reference seems to be The Phantom Menace which would not deal with his fall from the Sith. The rule of two , seems very flexible and easily broken. Apprentices look to replace their masters. Masters seem to be willing to trade up when needed. So while Sidious does not consider Maul a Sith, it does not mean that he is correct. Maul looked to take on his own apprentices and overtake Sidious. He was still a dark side user, he still used Sith technology. So he was acting in a Sith-like like way. Is it that there is a difference between a Sith, and a Sith lord ? He dropped the title ' Darth ' which we associate with Sith Lords. Was Maul still a sith in any way in the later years of his life?

In the Star Wars universe, could a Jedi Mind Trick be performed over the telephone? For instance, could Yoda have called up the Imperial embassy on Dagobah and mind tricked whoever answered into getting him in touch with Palpatine? (I know there's no embassy or telephones on Dagobah, but serious question nonetheless.) To clarify, are long distance mind tricks not only possible but would being in communication with another person, through telecommunication, allow a force user to better perform the action?

In the Deep Space Nine episode Homefront , Worf says: Our gods are dead. Ancient Klingon warriors slew them a millennia ago. They were more trouble than they were worth. So were they sent to Stovokor? If not, do we ever find out what happened to the Klingon gods when they were killed? Answer Stovokor , the Klingon afterlife, is often referred to in DS9 and Voyager as: a place for "the honoured dead" a destination for "true warriors" who, after crossing the River of Blood, pass through the Gates of Stovokor (guarded by Kahless the Unforgettable himself) upon which they are awarded with an "eternal battle against great enemies" It seems from these descriptors that it is a place designed purely for warriors, to continue their battles indefinitely. In particular, if they "were more trouble than they were worth" as Worf recalled, then it seems unlikely that Kahless would allow them to pass through.

In Prisoner of Azkaban , when Harry, Hermione, and Ron get on the Hogwarts Express, the only nearly empty compartment they can find is the one in which Remus Lupin is sleeping. They do not recognise him: “Who d’you reckon he is?” Ron hissed, as they sat down and slid the door shut, taking the seats furthest away from the window. “Professor R.J. Lupin,” whispered Hermione at once. “How d’you know that?” “It’s on his case,” replied Hermione, pointing at the luggage rack over the man’s head, where there was a small, battered case held together with a large quantity of neatly knotted string. The name ‘Professor R.J. Lupin’ was stamped across one corner in peeling letters. At the time this happens, the school year has not started yet, and Lupin is technically not yet their teacher (although he has of course already accepted the position at the school). Nonetheless, the name stamp on his bag includes the title ‘professor’ , and is obviously not a new addition, either: it is old enough that t...

In Prisoner of Azkaban we learn that Sirius Black escapes from Azkaban. At some point we learn that Scabbers is actually Peter Pettigrew (Wormtail). "Scabbers" fakes his own death and escapes from Ron. He did this because he realized that Sirius Black was coming after him. He was one of the Marauders so he knew of the secret passages out of Hogwarts so probably could have left without needing to go past a Dementor. There was quite a bit of time between him faking his own death and the moment he does leave Hogwarts after escaping from Sirius. During that time he knew Sirius was nearby and yet stayed at Hogwarts. With that said why did Scabbers stay within Hogwarts' grounds instead of leaving to find a new home elsewhere?

I'm not certain that is the title but the plot was about a guy who had been modified with machinery equipment to live on Mars. He was a reluctant 'experiment' at first but once he arrived he was "operational" and became perfectly suited to function and turned his back on his creators.

During the Justice League movie (2017) the antagonist, Steppenwolf says something about his axe that implies that it has some special power. Also, when he loses this item, he seems to be suddenly a lot weaker and is shocked when it is broken. What is the item made from and why is it special? Does it have powers that increase his strength or abilities? There didn't seem to be any explanation for this in the movie, so I am happy to have comic or other canon material related answers. After a little investigation I discovered a page on the DCEU wiki for the character , which includes the following under his powers and abilities: Electro axe (Formerly): Steppenwolf's primary offensive weapon, which the New God uses to blast and obliterate much of the area surrounding him at a given time. The ax's red-hued energy is also capable of infecting humans, turning their skin a pale grey, while lengthening and sharpening their teeth, seemingly transforming them into the zombified Parade...

I was recently reading some Lord of the Rings/Stargate SG-1 crossover fanfiction. It is a guilty pleasure, I admit :) In this story, it was suggested by Col. O'Neill to destroy the Ring using a nuclear device. Truth be told I stopped reading at this point, as it was getting to be a little much even for me. Obviously, this is not canonical in either universe, but it made me wonder: When Elrond said that "only in the fires of Mt. Doom may it be unmade," was he speaking literally ? Or was this merely the only known active volcano in Middle Earth? In other words, was whatever magic that protected the One Ring from damage location-based or did it just make it very resistant to destructive force, and Mt. Doom just happened to be hot enough to do this? I know there is (understandably) little information about such technicalities of how magic works in Middle Earth, but I'll accept any reasonable conjecture/consensus as an answer.

I read a sci fi short story sometime between 1974-1980 but it may have been written long before that. I believe it was in a paper back anthology of sci fi stories, but I'm not certain. I think the protagonist is facing the final climactic conflict when we meet him. Most of the story is memories and flashbacks. The first flashback is to his childhood. He and his younger brother are sled riding. His brother crashes, ruptures his spleen and dies. He feels responsible and is wracked with guilt. Much later, as an adult, he is exploring a long-deserted alien base on the moon. There are unfamiliar artifacts on the base, including a time-travel device/vehicle, and a tool with an anti-matter tip. It carves neat holes and eliminates matter simply by moving it through matter. He accidentally drops the tool, which plummets unimpeded to the center of the moon. He realizes that over time, it will consume and destroy the moon, which will be catastrophic for Earth. He uses the time-travel device t...

If Mance Rayder had to attack Castle Black to use the tunnel to get through the Wall and get out of the north, how did Stannis get his army across the Wall into the north without anyone knowing? If there was another way over the Wall wouldn't the wildings go that way too?

What is the first science fiction story that took place outside our own Galaxy? I know that Doc Smith wrote about it in 1934 in Skylark of Valeron, but what about before that? It was not before late 1924 and early 1925 that Hubble published his work which showed the world that our universe was more than just the Milky Way, and so it's not likely that any stories about other galaxies could have been written before that, simply because nobody knew they existed. Answer Intergalactic space opera seems to have been invented by Edmond Hamilton in his famous Interstellar Patrol series. In "The Star-Stealers" ( Weird Tales , February 1929 , available at the Internet Archive ) the Patrol fights off extragalactic invaders; however, I believe the action takes place on the fringes of our Milky Way galaxy. Instead I nominate "Outside the Universe" , which was first published as a serial in the July , August , September , and October, 1929 issues of Weird Tales , also a...

Pursuant to THIS QUESTION (Could the Dementors' Kiss Destroy a Living Horcrux?), I have a follow-up question. Based on what we know about the Demetors' Kiss, the soul, and Horcruxes from canon , what effect would the Dementors’ Kiss have upon Voldemort prior to all his Horcruxes being destroyed? If Voldemort had received the Dementors’ Kiss and had his soul sucked out, would his Horcruxes keep his mind intact? Or would he be turned into a shell of a person, like anyone else who received the Kiss, existing forever in a vegetative state, kept physically alive by his Horcruxes? Would natural death ever occur? Answer I'm going to make 2 assumptions here, which AFAIK are NOT either supported nor refuted in the canon. Dementor would be willing and able to suck out 1/7th of a soul (likely true but no canon info). Not supported/refuted anywhere in canon but makes sense, a soul is food for them so 1/7 of a portion is still worth going for. AND that the 1/7th of a soul would NOT...

Most fighter squadrons belonging to the Rebel Alliance and the Resistance seem to have colour-based names: red, blue, green, gold, etc. Rogue Squadron stands out as different. Is there any information about where the name comes from and if it has any special meaning? Legends material is acceptable. I gather Rogue Squadron turned up quite a bit in various EU works. Other clarifications: I am aware of the basic meanings of the word rogue. If it turns out non-colour-based squadron names are actually pretty common, I'm still interested in more background about the Rogue Squadron name specifically, if any exists. Answer Appropriately enough, an answer to this has now been provided in the movie Rogue One. Rogue One (released Dec 2016) spoilers follow. They are MAJOR spoilers. I'm not kidding. The callsign "Rogue One" is improvised on the spot by Imperial defector Bodhi Rook as he makes an unauthorised departure from the Rebel base in a (previously stolen) Imperial Shuttle...

The books give an impression that Xenophilius Lovegood is a weirdo with crazy beliefs and ideas (he has an ornamental horn in his house he absolutely believes belongs to a Crumple-Horned Snorkack, which in reality turned out to be an Erumpent horn(or may be he was referring to an erumpent but just with a different name? )) but he believed in the Deathly Hallows and they turned out to be real. Did any other creatures (including plants, fruits, vegetables, bacteria, fungi, virus or any other magical and non magical things that can be considered "living") that Xenophilius or Luna believe to exist, actually exist in Harry Potter? For example: Moon Frogs Blibbering Humdingers Crumple-Horned Snorkacks Heliopaths Umgubular Slashkilters Nargles Aquavirius Maggots Wrackspurts Gulping Plimpies Dabberblimps Answer I've done a thorough trawl through the books, including Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them , in search of all the plants and animals which Lovegood believes in. I...