In my question here, I asked if Patronuses were corporeal or not. The answer was that they are decidedly so, and can interact with the physical world. Now my question is if they are indeed corporeal and can be touched and moved, can they block the curse from Avada Kedavra? "You produced a fully fledged Patronus?" "Yes," said Harry, "because -" "A corporeal Patronus?" "A - what?" said Harry. "Your Patronus had a clearly defined form? I mean to say, it was more than just vapor or smoke?" (Order of the Phoenix) Answer It might be possible to block Avada Kedavra with a Patronus. Canon doesn't suggest this anywhere, but there are other situations in which Avada Kedavra has been blocked or diverted. For example: In Goblet of Fire , Voldemort's Avada Kedavra is blocked, or at least held at bay, by the Priori Incantatem spell, which can disallow wands with dual cores (cores from the same source, as Harry and Voldemort's...

In Terminator 2 , John Connor and the company attack the Cyberdyne Systems research department, and destroy all the things that could lead to creation of Skynet. After that we see T-1000 coming to the place and learning what they've done. Why does he keep pursuing John, if the system that sent him is destroyed? It's just not logical. The T-1000 has quite an advanced intelligence. Let's imagine that a killer got an order from a client to kill someone. But before the killer executed the order, he suddenly learnt that his client is dead, perhaps shot or the victim of a heart attack. What is the point of killing someone after that? Just keep the money you got and don't do anything — that seems pretty reasonable. Answer Simply put, Skynet wasn't destroyed it was only delayed (cue Rise of the Machines). Additionally, as Anthony Grist commented, you're probably attributing too much human thought to the T-1000. It was an advanced machine, but still only a machine. It ...

In the films, I only saw organic life forms become Jedi or Sith. Were there ever any droids who could use the force? Or is that impossible because of the M-word ? Answer In Zahn's Thrawn Trilogy, Jedi Master C'Boath explains to Luke Skywalker that droids are simply holes in the force - so, at least as far as c-canon goes, it looks like droids are not capable of tapping the force.

Brooklyn is Captain America's home, but times have changed since he was kid 8-9 decades ago. He can't afford a house there, now. This thing really troubled me when he said it in Avengers: Age of Ultron . I mean, I really became sympathetic, despite it being intended for fun. What's the salary Captain America collects from (fallen) S.H.I.E.L.D. and/or Tony's Avengers organization? Can't they gift him a house in Brooklyn? I mean, he is one of Earth's mightiest heroes who help saved the world lots of times. Answer As a Soldier missing in action, Captain America would be entitled to decades worth of backpay from the moment he was fished out of the ocean. He is easily a multi millionaire. http://www.daytradingbias.com/?p=135238

Is there an in-universe explanation for why the Borg always move like 1950s cheap-special-effects sci-fi tin can robots? With the advanced technology they have, you'd think they would have BETTER (faster, more graceful) movement than humans, with more advanced power sources, better motors (or augmented muscles), and better controlled software/hardware. Instead, they have these jerky, slow motion movements that make absolutely no sense whatsoever, except possibly that "the studio people wanted to make them look 'like robots'" (on top of all the visible Borg gear) and this was the only, not-too-brilliant, idea they came up with. Is there an explanation for this? (ideally, in-universe, or an "official" franchise out-of-universe one)? P.S. I'm interested in an existing explanation, NOT in someone's personal theory. Answer There is no in-universe "canon" reason why the Borg move the way they do: it's akin to asking why Vulcans have poi...

Just a warning, if you haven't read all of the Harry Potter series, this includes some spoilers. Instead of getting sloppy with large parts in spoiler notation, I'm just warning you here. If you don't want spoilers, stop reading here. This question about Harry losing the resurrection stone started me thinking about that particular point in the story and it raised a few questions: Did Harry intend to lose the stone for good - so nobody could find it, or did he just want to lose it for himself? Was the stone really lost to all? Was this actually a good way to lose the stone? Can any object in the magical world ever be completely lost or hidden? My answer to the first question is that Harry does seem to think ahead and think in terms of "fixing" things for everyone (Hermione points this out when she comments that he has a habit of rescuing people). I think he was trying to lose the stone forever, but the only thing I have to back it up is what I just wrote. Was just...

Basically it's about a boy who accidentally goes to a different universe and he must find words to a spell to kill the dictator guy. He travels with a girl also from Earth who is home-schooled. More detail if necessary: It's about a boy who is led to a different universe by the sound of music that comes from a band floating down a river. They are protesting something and will fall down a waterfall. The boy saves one of them and makes everyone mad, so he runs away and finds an obscure library. He spends time at the library with an old man and the man's servant. He learns about the world and what he must do to return to Earth. They go multiple places to find parts of the sentences such as on a island in the middle of a weird lake, a tattoo on some guy's arm, on a wall in gold, and lot of places. Answer I found it. The series is Beyonders by Brandon Mull. Per wikipedia : "Jason leads a relatively normal life until one day at the zoo, when he notices strange music c...

This is a sci-fi short story which ends with the protagonist growing roots on his feet and sinking them into soil, finding peace. Thought it was Bradbury/Martian Chronicles, but seems not. Pretty sure it was 70s or 80s, and in an anthology. I would have bet money it was Bradbury but I can't find it in his bibliography. The character gradually slows down and I think stops eating, coming to a point where he finally stops and puts his bare feet on the soil and then roots go down into the soil and he feels peace, turned to the sun.

In Philosopher's Stone , Hagrid tells Harry how he was hired by Dumbledore. "I was at Hogwarts meself but I — er — got expelled, ter tell yeh the truth. In me third year. They snapped me wand in half an’ everything. But Dumbledore let me stay on as gamekeeper. Great man, Dumbledore.” But in the next book, we learn through Riddle's diary that Dumbledore wasn't the headmaster when Hagrid was expelled, Armando Dippet was. Every indication throughout the books is that headmasters make the hiring decisions, and as Dumbledore states in Order of the Phoenix , only the headmaster can allow people to continue living in Hogwarts: "As High Inquisitor you have every right to dismiss my teachers. You do not, however, have the authority to send them away from the castle. I am afraid,' he went on, with a courteous little bow, 'that the power to do that still resides with the Headmaster, and it is my wish that Professor Trelawney continue to live at Hogwarts." Confus...

I read a book a few years back that I’m hoping someone can identify for me. These are the tidbits I remember: Smallish community setting, near-future Microphone surveillance in every room Kids tossing a ball, one of them noticed the ball was "somehow different" (could identify the color red for the first time) Kids being appointed jobs when they came of age except protagonist Protagonist was skipped in job appointment ceremony, but was given special one-of-a-kind-job. Someone apologies to community and everyone responds "Apology accepted", which is sort of a cultural custom. The elder who’s job the protagonist was replacing had great respect in the community and the inconceivable power to disable the microphone in his home Any one know what book this is? I read it probably twelve years ago. Answer This sounds a lot like The Giver by Lois Lowry From "The Giver", Wikipedia : Jonas, who is 12, is apprehensive about the upcoming Ceremony of Twelve, where he...

In " Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows ", from Snape's memory that Harry views, we learn that Dumbledore had misgivings about Quirrell, when he said to Snape: Keep an eye on Quirrell, won't you? If he knew something was off, why not remove him from a very sensitive position of teaching DADA to kids? Answer He is unlikely to have thought, at that point, that Quirrell was posing a direct danger to the students. I expect he would have removed him immediately if he had. Therefore Dumbledore was giving Quirrell enough rope to hang himself with. He wanted Quirrell to proceed with what he was doing in an attempt to gather intelligence in case there was a bigger force at work behind it. Dumbledore had full confidence in his abilities and probably thought he would be able to stop Quirrell at any point if he truly needed to.

Superman has been exploited by Poison Ivy in Hush , and he's definitely mad in Injustice . What about Batman? Has Batman ever had to be brought to justice/stopped/killed by his fellow superheroes? (That one time when Superman dreams of Batman snapping Joker's neck doesn't count) Edit : The Dark Knight Returns doesn't count: Batman wasn't really mad, and he wasn't wrong either. Answer There's a possible example of this in Batman comics from the late 1980's, beginning in the much-publicized A Death in the Family story line, and coming to a head in the A Lonely Place of Dying story line. (December 1988–January 1989) For those who aren't familiar, this arc is focused on Jason Todd (the second Robin) searching for his birth mother, finding her in the employ of a certain clown prince of crime, and being captured by the Joker, who beats Robin to a pulp with a crowbar, then blows the Boy Wonder (and his mother) to smithereens. Although the fans despise...

I am unfamiliar with the (multiple) Stargate shows and films, other than the movie which I saw a while ago. I want to try watching the series to see if it is something that I like. What are the non-subjective facts about the series (without spoilers) that I should be aware of when figuring out which series to start with, for example the original airing order of the series, chronological order of the series, frequency of references to a series other than the one that I'm watching, etc. Answer We recently finished watching each TV series and movies of Stargate. We used Hixie's Stargate Canonical Viewing Order list in order to keep references consistent. We feel it worked incredibly well. The raw episode + movie order provided is as follows: Stargate movie Stargate SG-1, episodes 1.1 to 8.2 Stargate Atlantis, episodes 1.1 to 1.15 Stargate SG-1, episodes 8.3 to 8.20 Stargate Atlantis, episodes 1.16 to 2.1 Stargate SG-1, episodes 9.1 to 10.2 Stargate Atlantis, episodes 2.2 to 3....

Paul threatens Shaddam IV and the Spacing Guild that he'll destroy the spice unless the Guild moves the armada of his enemies away from Dune and Shaddam abdicates the throne. Somehow they decide he can really do it. How was he going to do this? Answer By killing the sandworms that make the spice; he did this by placing the Water of Life above a pre-spice mass . Specifically, from Book III (just after Chani wakes Paul from his water-of-life-induced coma): Paul took a deep breath, said: “Mother, you must change a quantity of the Water for us. We need the catalyst. Chani, have a scout force sent out … to find a pre-spice mass. If we plant a quantity of the Water of Life above a pre-spice mass, do you know what will happen?” Jessica weighed his words, suddenly saw through to his meaning. “Paul!” she gasped. “The Water of Death,” he said. “It’d be a chain reaction.” He pointed to the floor. “Spreading death among the little makers [immature/larval sandworms], killing a vector of the ...

Can Harry Potter ruin the Regeneration potion (the one of Flesh-Blood-Bone from Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire ) by simply willing to share the blood? B-blood of the enemy... forcibly taken... you will... resurrect your foe. So, if Harry just went "I'm willing to share the drop of blood", would this ruin the potion? Answer There's no direct canon support, but the circumstantial evidence says "yes". Much of this kind of old and powerful magic seems to be strongly affected by intentions. The most clear cut example of course being Lily's protection magic that was triggered by her choosing to die to protect Harry and Voldemort giving her a choice . Another example is Harry willingly letting Voldemort to kill him : “But I should have died - I didn’t defend myself! I meant to let him kill me !” “And that,” said Dumbledore, “will, I think, have made all the difference .” (src: Deathly Hallows, Chapter 35: "King's Cross")

In 1988 I read a short story about a man who was on his way to work. He meets a friend at the bus stop and they engage in small talk, then get on the bus and go to work. They come home and go to sleep. The next morning, the guy goes out to the bus stop and meets his friend, and is surprised to hear his friend saying the exact same things he said the day before. All day at work things happen exactly as they did the day before. The next morning is a repeat of the same, and he begins trying to get his friend to see that they are living in some kind of time loop, but his friend doesn't know what he's talking about. The guy ends up staying home the next day, hiding in his house. Finally someone comes to his door and tells him he has been part of an experiment. Every night when they go to sleep their minds are erased. Scientists are observing behavior to see if in a given scenario there is any deviation in word or action if a person is subjected to the same stimuli repeatedly, if the...

Regularly in JLU , Wonder Woman appears to lose her temper and comes very close to killing someoine in anger. AFAIK she never follows through in the show. But anywhere in canon, does she ever kill a mortal? She decapitates Medusa in a baseball court, but she's not really a mortal anymore: The fight takes place in a baseball court and is by Ares transmitted to the world. The fight is brutal, as Diana fights blind, first by a piece of cloth, then by snake venom she pours into her own eyes. But Diana is victorious in the end as once again, Medusa is decapitated . Some examples of WW almost killing mortals: Once when she believes Superman has been killed: [embedded content] And once when some bank robbers interrupt her day off: [embedded content] Answer During Sacrifice (part of Infinite Crisis ) in Wonder Woman #219 , she snaps the neck of Maxwell Lord : To be fair to her, he was mind controlling Superman at the time, but she did kill him. I'm not sure how "angry" ...

JK Rowling revealed 1 on twitter that Newt Scamander got expelled from Hogwarts. J.K. Rowling @JK_Rowling Dumbledore was a young teacher at the time Newt was expelled . He wasn't able to revoke expulsions. ( Source ) Yet we know from Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them 2 that Newt had graduated Hogwarts: Upon graduation from Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, Mr. Scamander joined the Ministry of Magic in the Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures. ( Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them - About the Author ) There really should be no way to miss that fact considering how J.K. Rowling's lawyer has said (under oath) that this is a small book. For example, the evidence will show that there are 274 entries in the Lexicon pulled from Ms. Rowling's 64-page Quidditch Through The Ages book. I'm holding it up, your Honor. It is not a very big book and they have 274 entries about it alone. Similarly, in her 63-page book, Fantastic Beasts an...

The CIS droids in the Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace come off as cold, emotionless and what we typically think as "robots" but in Star Wars: Episode III - Revenge of the Sith it seems they have progressed in terms of becoming more "human" in a sense (screaming as being sliced by a light saber or screaming as being blown out into space). Is there any in-universe reason for this or is it simply for the audience? Answer The models shown in TPM were OOM-series which are described as being smarter than the initial batch of B1's. The B1's were mass produced to eventually replace the OOM-series for the Clone Wars. As to why the B1's behaved the way they did, this if from their article on Wookieepedia: Although the earlier generations were entirely dependent on Central Control Computers, post-Naboo models were retrofitted with cognitive models that allowed independent thought, and featured a greater degree of independence and personality. Howeve...

I'm looking for a short story whose title I can't remember. In it a wealthy man practices cloning and consciousness transfer to achieve immortality, often parading older bodies around his estate naked (not a nice guy). The story follows a final transplant, which doesn't go as expected. The man is left trapped with his memories and no ability to speak, while the clone walks off behaving exactly as he would. Answer This is "The Extra" by Greg Egan. Daniel Gray didn't merely arrange for his Extras to live in a building within the grounds of his main residence - although that in itself would have been shocking enough. At the height of his midsummer garden party, he had their trainer march them along a winding path which took them within metres of virtually every one of his wealthy and powerful guests. .... Of course, naked, the Extras looked exactly like naked humans, but in Gray's cultural milieu, stark naked humans en masse were not a common sight, and so...

I can not remember much but I have had this film in my head for years I searched everything I can remember on every website I can think of. I don't remember the exact story but I'll list everything about it can Apocalyptic future possibly Two main characters: a boy and a girl riding ostrich-like creatures through a valley An old blind lady that senses things Crashed spaceship looking like a submarine Giant creatures looks like yaks with blue eyes, whose eyes turn red when something is about to happen The old lady says "Some say they went to the stars" while looking at the spaceship The two main characters do something and their eyes turn blue in the distance and the village cheers This film is at least ten years old and I would appreciate it so much if you knew anything about it, or could help me find the title.

I've not seen the movie, but I really enjoyed the books as a child and I am getting a literature unit ready for my daughter using the books. I wondered how faithful the movie is to the books in considering whether to plan on watching it after we are done reading or not. I would like an answer with a little detail. I'm quite certain it won't follow the stories exactly, but what is changed? Missing characters? Huge chunks of plot or just small tweaks? Does it correspond to Over Sea Under Stone or do its creators try to fold all five movies into one? I really don't want, "Great movie, but nothing like the book." Or "Movie sucked, don't watch it." Please include the WHY. Thanks. Answer It hurt to watch this movie! It is based on the book " The Dark Is Rising ", but was badly altered, it seems, in the name of making it more commercial. I have tried to wipe it from my mind, but quite a few things stayed with me: The wonderful, caring, lovin...

I read a story once about a man who escapes from his pursuers by doing an uncontrolled jump into hyperspace. If I'm not mixing my stories up he was blind but could see through the eyes of other sighted people/animals nearby. He was able to see through his pet but it dies and he thinks he's finished - he's blind and lost in hyperspace but there's a rat on board which he eventually catches by turning off gravity and then he can see through the rat's eyes. He works out how hyperspace operates and can hop back to where he came from. Can anyone remember the name of the story and the author? I enjoyed it when I was a kid and would like to read it again. Answer After some significant Google Fu-lery. I've located your novel. Night Walk But I know, that doesn't sound like it at all. So here is something from elsewhere : Bob Shaw's novel Night Walk imagines a system whereby the wormholes' topology is so complex that Earth has been reduced to sending out mill...

In Episode 6 of Season 7 of Game of Thrones ("Beyond the Wall") Jon and the group that went beyond the Wall to bring back a wight to King's Landing find themselves surrounded by the Army of the Dead. Just before this happens, Jon asks Gendry to travel to the Eastwatch-by-the-Sea and send ravens to Dany in Dragonstone to help them out beyond the Wall. Even if the TV show is running the time a bit faster episode-wise it would still take a bit of time for: Gendry to travel back to the Wall. A raven to get from the Wall to Dragonstone. Dany riding off to beyond the Wall to help Jon and company. Given there's a lot of geographical distance at play here, how much time passed between Gendry splitting from the group and Dany getting to them? Answer A user on reddit did some calculations claiming it was accurate. The user estimated it to be around 5 days based on growth rate of ice, the air speed of an unladen swallow raven, and approximation for distances and dragon spee...

It feels like Daenerys can easily fly her dragons (or train riders) north of the wall on a reconnaissance mission (or to spy on rival armies). Consider a trip from (for example) Dragonstone to the Wall. By all estimates, this would be less than 2000 miles , and the dragons have already proved that they can make very long flights . How long would such a trip really take (as the dragon flies)? Has there been any explanation as to why the dragons are not used in this way? Answer NOTE: This is a books answer as there is no indication in the show regarding the question. GRRM's Position First of all, it is by design that GRRM remains ambiguous about distances, time and speed. He just doesn't want people to go around with a stopwatch and a measuring tape and find errors in his story. When a fan asked how big is Westeros, his answer was : I have deliberately tried to be vague about such things, so I don't have obsessive fans with rulers measuring distances on the map and tellin...

Droids develop personality with their experience memory . Purging the memory should clear the personality, too. Unfortunately, this didn't work on C-3PO. It looks like this personality is hardwired to him. In the prequel trilogy, he was fussy and worry-prone. In the original trilogy, he was again fussy and worry-prone despite having memory wipe. If you look at the first version of C-3PO, you'll find that he had the same personality even that time. This brings the question: From where did kid Anakin get this fussy and worry-prone personality data to burn it as fail-safe default of C-3PO? Answer To the best of my knowledge, nothing in canon or Legends tells us exactly where a droid's personality comes from. Therefore I will provide an educated guess. We see in Episode II that C-3PO's head was placed on a battle droid's body and a battle droid's head placed on C-3PO's head. There is clearly a personality conflict between C-3PO and the battle droid: the one wi...

I always wondered which are the two towers that are referred to in The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers . My memory is a bit hazy right now but there are at least 5 Towers that are mentioned in the book they are: Cirith Ungol Orthanc (Saruman's capital) Minas Tirith (Gondor's capital) Minas Morgul Barad-Dur (Sauron's capital) My guess is the Towers mentioned are 1 & 2 which were once part of Gondor but now Minas Morgul is part of Mordor. Is there any actual reference in the book citing the name of the towers? Answer Tolkien Gateway says: Tolkien came up with the title under deadline pressure and later expressed dissatisfaction with it. In letters and one sketch he considered several possible sets of towers, including Minas Tirith and the Barad-dûr, and even the possibility of leaving the matter ambiguous. However, he eventually settled on Orthanc and Minas Morgul and wrote a note to this effect which appears at the end of most editions of The Fellowship of the Ring ...

I need help identifying this anime where the lead character is a white haired guy and he's got crystal balls attached into his left arm which enables him to summon monsters. I remember one of his monsters is a green humanoid ladylike monster. One of his friends is a girl with the crystal balls on her chest and her monster is a humanoid lady + jellyfish or something. I think it was aired around early 2010's... I'm not sure. Answer Kiba , which aired in 2006-2007? From MyAnimeList : In a dystopian future, two friends dream of freedom... and gain more than they bargain for! Hothead Zed is on the run from the authorities, while his brainy pal Noah struggles with his own battered body. Both find a magical world that seems to offer escape and power undreamed of. Join Zed and his powerful, rebellious spirit Amir Gaul on their search for the ultimate power. It's a force that can save the world—or destroy life as we know it. This is the world of KIBA! Where you must harness th...

Coming from this question: Are Tolkien's orcs immortal? But then if Orcs are not immortal, does that mean that they are not the result of breeding corrupted elves? Or does becoming corrupted rob you of your immortality? I really do not think that Melkor has the ability to remove immortality. So would that imply that Orcs are not just a subspecies of Elf? Half elves are apparently allowed to give up their immortality, full blooded ones are stuck with it. Not that the converse makes any sense. There is no ways millions of Orcs reincarnate into the Undying Lands. Answer There is no clear answer, because the origins of Orcs are murky. Assuming, that, corresponding with the published explanation of the origin of Orcs, they came from Elves, I propose two possibilities: They may have in origin been Elves, but Morgoth quickly interbred them with Men when they awoke and began worshipping him. All the immortal Orcs were killed in the wars of the First Age and only Orcs mixed with Men sur...

I read it in Spanish, at least 10 years ago in the school library. I remember it was set in some medieval age with barbarians. The "persons" in his mind could argue with each other and with the "host" boy / man, about his decisions and life, and sometimes one could go up and control him and then he had some kind of power. I barely remember also the end of the book, so spoiler alert now: All of these "personalities" were a mirror image of his pals from his childhood village, that were massacred in front of him. At the end, he was separated from them because of some kind of cure. Answer I'm going to suggest The Outcast , book one of the Tribe of One series set in the TSR Dark Sun universe. Hawke's ``Tribe of One'' trilogy opens with the youth and early adventures of Sorak, who is part elf and part halfling; he possesses psionic (mind-reading) talent as well multiple personalities, the latter the result of early childhood trauma. Found ab...

I'm trying to track down a book I read at some point in the late '90s (or possibly the early 2000's). It's a near-future novel, but there's only two things I remember from it. 1) Global society and the Internet (it might have been BBS/email-style rather than web-style) had reached the point where most people had their filters set up so that they only saw things which supported the viewpoints they already held. The (A?) main character had deliberately configured her filter to occasionally present her with something new or conflicting, just so she didn't get locked into one viewpoint. 2) Due to sea-level rise, there was a floating nation in the Indian Ocean. I forget if it was literally made of rafts/scraps tied together, or (more likely) a collection of separate boats that stayed together. I also forget if it was formally a country or not, but it had a large population and was a significant factor in world politics. Does this ring a bell for anyone? Answer I th...

We know that Thanos' plan was to instantly destroy half of all life in the universe His plan doesn't appear to apply to lower or non sentient life forms if it did half the trees in the final Wakanda scene would have disintegrated too Does his plan apply to all beings more powerful than himself?