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How did Darth Vader know the rebel base was on Hoth?
In The Empire Strikes Back, Darth Vader looks at a picture of a shield generator on an ice planet and declares that's the rebel base. How could he know merely by looking at the picture from the probe? In the movie, an imperial officer says the…
RichS
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If Galadriel had claimed the One Ring, would Sauron have become her servant, or would have Galadriel become his servant?
This question was inspired by the Andres F answer to another question. In his answer he stated
"we are told that if she ever took the One Ring, she would become way
more powerful than Sauron ever was."
So, it makes me wonder: If Galadriel had…
Major Stackings
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What happened to Winston Smith at the end of George Orwell’s “1984?”
If you haven’t read George Orwell's 1984 this question contains potential spoilers regarding the ending of the book so you might want to stop reading now.
At one point, Winston is told that the Party doesn’t “just” execute people; they break them…
Tango
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Why does Arthur Dent need to bring a towel with him in the film version of "Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy"?
Ford Prefect instructs Arthur Dent to bring a towel with him before they leave Earth. Why?
Major Stackings
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How did Hagrid and Dumbledore know the Potters had been killed?
In Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone it says:
"No problems, were there?" [Dumbledore asked]
"No, sir - house was almost destroyed, but I got him out all right before the Muggles started swarmin' around. He fell asleep as we was flyin' over…
Slytherincess
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Toilets in the Star Wars galaxy
For many years now, I've been curious about what bathrooms - and especially toilets - look like in the Galaxy Far, Far Away1. I'm quite sure we never see one in the original trilogy, even in settings in which we can reasonably expect to find them -…
Wad Cheber
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Why didn't Gandalf know what the Palantir was?
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…
Wad Cheber
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Is Tony Stark an atheist?
I've seen an image multiple times on the Internet lately claiming that Captain America met two gods and still is a Christian (no doubt about this) while Tony Stark met two gods and is still an atheist.
I'm assuming the image talks about Marvel…
Trajan
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Why do the Agents bother trying to get the Zion mainframe codes?
In the first film, Agent Smith spends a lot of time torturing Morpheus because he knew the code for Zion's mainframe. My question is, why did they even need that code? I mean, surely they would already know where Zion is. The previous One did…
Dan
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Why do consoles explode in "Star Trek"?
In Star Trek (an indeed many/most other sci-fi shows), a reoccurring theme is the exploding console, usually ones placed behind consoles where squishy human-folk sit.
Source: Memory Alpha
Such explosions often result in casualties, or at the very…
Chad Levy
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How well does Shadow of Mordor fit into Middle-earth canon?
The 2014 video game Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor takes place between the events of The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings. In it, an undead Gondorian Ranger named Talion is bound to Celebrimbor's wraith by the will of the Black Hand of Sauron.
What…
PartyKingThrandeezy
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Are there any bad elves in the Lord of the Rings universe?
Is there ever acknowledgement of a bad elf, or even an elf doing a very bad thing (because he is bad)? I've heard that bad elves are orcs and good orcs are elves, or something like that.
Similar to this: Were there ever any "good" Orcs?
LCIII
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Why did Voldemort need to drink Unicorn blood?
"[...] it is a monstrous thing, to slay a unicorn. Only one who has nothing to lose, and everything to gain, would commit such a crime. The blood of a unicorn will keep you alive, even if you are an inch from death, but at a terrible price. You…
user931
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Why didn't Hermione use the Time-Turner to sleep more?
Hermione has the Time-Turner in Prisoner of Azkaban and uses it all year to take extra classes. Many times in the book she's exhausted and barely managing all of her studies.
What I never understood is why she didn't simply use the Time-Turner to…
Ben
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Is Quidditch an inherently flawed sport?
I realise it's self evidently impossible since real people don't have flying broomsticks, but even allowing for its fantastic nature, am I not right in thinking that it's also self evidently unworkable as a sport?
Why? Because catching the snitch is…
Bob Tway
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