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75
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5 answers

What was the "Watcher in the water"?

In the Fellowship of the Ring, our heroes encounter a creature called "The Watcher in the water" which was guarding the Doors of Durin, the ancient and abandoned entrance to the Mines of Moria. What was it? It isn't revealed in the trilogy. Is it…
Major Stackings
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75
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7 answers

Why is The Wall so tall in Game of Thrones?

I'm reading A Song of Ice and Fire, and I'd love to know why The Wall is so damned tall. It's not like the White Walkers are giants, after all. (Although I've read further now, and there is talk of giants, but they're no taller than 14 feet.) Is…
Django Reinhardt
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Did the trio (and others) go back to finish at Hogwarts?

Harry, Ron and Hermione skip school in the final book to hunt down the Horcruxes. And 1999 is the year Hermione supposedly graduates from Hogwarts, but the article has no citation and doesn't mention Ron or Harry returning. Do they or anyone else…
AncientSwordRage
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75
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1 answer

Book in which the "mountain" in the distance was a hole in the flat world

Science fiction novel or short story. Characters were lost or crashed or something on a new-to-them world and were making for a mountain they could see in the distance. But when they reached the mountain, it turned out to be a hole blasted by an…
Sprout
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75
votes
6 answers

Is anyone else not buying the Buggers' story?

I never really bought the Buggers' story that they didn't realize humans were thinking creatures. The quote the queen uses is something like "We never thought intelligence could arise in a species which cannot dream one another's dreams" or the…
akaioi
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75
votes
9 answers

Why did Peter Parker work as a poor photographer given that he was a top science student who could earn much more in Silicon Valley?

In the Sam Raimi movie series, Peter Parker was a loser, at least in the financial sense, as a photographer who even needed some financial help from his aunt after graduation. He should be financially supporting his aged aunt and not the other way…
user486818
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75
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8 answers

Was the rescue in Episode 6 "Beyond the Wall" achieved in a plausible time?

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…
Drag0nKn1ght
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75
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5 answers

Who created the first Transformer?

Son: Dad, where do Transformers come from? Me: The planet of Cybertron. Son: Who made the Transformers? Me: Transformers make each other. Remember how Wheeljack and Ratchet made the Dinobots? Son: But who made the first Transformer? Me:…
Nathan Farrington
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75
votes
2 answers

Were McCoy's medical instruments Swedish salt shakers?

A rumour I had heard a long time ago was that Dr. McCoy's small medical devices in The Original Series were actually Swedish salt shakers. Are there any statements corroborating this?
Praxis
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6 answers

Why didn't Gandalf and Elrond equip the Fellowship (especially hobbits) better?

Frodo had Sting. Which he only did because Bilbo gave it to him. And which was desperately needed to defeat Shelob when Sam was fighting her, so he needed to take the sword where Frodo dropped it. It was given to Frodo by Bilbo. Nobody gave Sam any…
DVK-on-Ahch-To
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75
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3 answers

Why was the "...philosophers stone" retitled to "... the sorcerer's stone" for the US Market?

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?
Sidney
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75
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10 answers

What was Starbuck’s role?

I’m confused about Starbuck’s role towards the end of the Battlestar Galactica remake. She disappeared into a wormhole and returned, having found “earth”. Later, she finds her own body on “earth”, suggesting she "died" then came back, only to…
Slick23
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74
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9 answers

Why was a hobbit "the most unlikely creature imaginable" to pick up "The One Ring"?

(The One Ring) abandoned Gollum. But then something happened that the Ring did not intend. It was picked up by the most unlikely creature imaginable. A hobbit, Bilbo Baggins, of the Shire. Gandalf described Smeagol's people as very…
Major Stackings
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74
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6 answers

Would Gollum qualify, as a Ringbearer, to go to the Undying Lands?

If Gollum had not died in Mount Doom, would he have been allowed to join the elves, Bilbo, and Frodo in the Undying Lands? He was, after all, by far the longest-lasting bearer of the One Ring (not counting Sauron himself before it was taken from…
Janus Bahs Jacquet
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74
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7 answers

Why didn't Molly Weasley remember the platform number?

In the first Harry Potter book, Molly is seen asking her children "what platform number is it again?" Heart hammering, Harry pushed his trolley after them. They stopped and so did he, just near enough to hear what they were saying. 'Now, what's…
Scimonster
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