nxdefiant

joined 1 year ago
[โ€“] [email protected] 3 points 5 months ago

๐Ÿซณ๐Ÿƒโ€โžก๏ธ

[โ€“] [email protected] 8 points 5 months ago

Exactly, yes! They were self-limited, and the valar trusted them to be so, which is why Saruman turning evil caught Gandalf super off guard!

[โ€“] [email protected] 14 points 5 months ago* (last edited 5 months ago) (3 children)

LotR magic is interesting. Sauron bred all kinds of monsters essentially "hacking the system" to produce something in a world where no one but Illuvatar can create life, and Melkor got around the whole life/sentience thing by convincing lesser spirits to inhabit this creations. Balrogs, werewolves, etc.

Other creations Melkor imbued with his own vast power, essentially spreading his "divine fire" out amongst his thralls, and thereby diminishing himself. Sauron eventually does the same, in creating the One Ring.

So, when Gandalf became Gandalf, his power to affect things was explicitly limited. , The basic difference between The Istari and Sauron: they did not seek to usurp their position in 'the song of Illuvatar'. In fact the five Istari (Gandalf, Saruman, Radagast and the other unnamed two) were maiar spirits that had until that point stayed out of Arda (Earth) and all its shenanigans on purpose!

So, the staff served as a badge of office mostly. And thought it never stated, it's kind of implied that some of their power is imbued within it. This is why Gandalf looks totally different when he comes back as the White, he took Saruman's job as the head of the order, and had some more of his power unlocked as a result. The main strength of the Istari was their wisdom, knowing how the world worked and to a point, how "the song" was supposed to go. They were trusted to do the job (of taking down Saruman) because they wouldn't use their knowledge and power to 'hack the system'.

IMHO, Gandalf needed his staff not as a conduit of power here, but as an emblem of his station: He had to show Grima that his boss had just been fired.

[โ€“] [email protected] 44 points 6 months ago (1 children)

It houses the flame of Anor! Thirty rounds of it!

[โ€“] [email protected] 10 points 6 months ago (1 children)

We're supposed to be discouraging the armadillo eating.

[โ€“] [email protected] 4 points 6 months ago

I'd preorder it, no regrets.

[โ€“] [email protected] 7 points 6 months ago (1 children)

the wet dream is a transport crashing and a bunch of mk19's falling out the back, skidding across the highway rubbing their serial numbers off, then bouncing up to land gently in the back of your pickup truck, followed by a half dozen or so crates of mk19 snacks.

[โ€“] [email protected] 5 points 6 months ago

Insurance, apparently. The parents are also suing each cop individually, and the school district.

[โ€“] [email protected] 4 points 6 months ago (2 children)

About 120K per kid in damages.

[โ€“] [email protected] 20 points 6 months ago (3 children)

Make it like the p90 with a top mounted magazine, and then you can have ~8-10 grenades on a 12" barrel.

[โ€“] [email protected] 2 points 6 months ago

Yeah, never said it was, just that if you really want to emulate that style you mostly can.

[โ€“] [email protected] 3 points 6 months ago

you have made my day, thank you

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