{"id":819,"date":"2012-02-06T06:00:47","date_gmt":"2012-02-06T14:00:47","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/markreads.net\/reviews\/?p=819"},"modified":"2012-01-30T12:20:33","modified_gmt":"2012-01-30T20:20:33","slug":"mark-reads-the-two-towers-chapter-11","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/markreads.net\/reviews\/2012\/02\/mark-reads-the-two-towers-chapter-11\/","title":{"rendered":"Mark Reads ‘The Two Towers’: Chapter 11"},"content":{"rendered":"

In the eleventh chapter of The Two Towers<\/em>, Pippin’s curiosity over the crystal sphere that Saruman threw at Gandalf at the Orthanc gets the best of him, and he makes a critical mistake. Intrigued? Then it’s time for Mark to read The Lord of the Rings<\/em>.<\/p>\n

CHAPTER ELEVEN: THE PALANT\u00c3\u008dR<\/strong><\/p>\n

This book is seriously<\/em> getting progressively more fucked up. I swear.<\/p>\n

There’s a sizable bit of info-dumping in the chapter, but it’s made so much more interesting because it comes from the questioning of Gandalf by both Merry and Pippin, who take turns being incessantly inquisitive with the wizard. It’s a dynamic we haven’t seen much because these two hobbits really haven’t spent that much time with him, and we see how much they mutually respect one another. Plus, I forgot that Merry and Pippin have both been a tad out of the loop when it comes to information, especially since they’ve spent so much time with Treebeard. They don’t even know what Helm’s Deep is! OH GOD, THAT’S KIND OF GOOD. Ugh, that chapter nearly destroyed me<\/em>.<\/p>\n

The final chapter of the first book of The Two Towers<\/em> isn’t very long, but it’s packed with two huge<\/em> events that set the tone for whatever is going to happen in the next book. Most of this concerns Pippin, who is still restless even after the group stops to rest near the Dol Baran. Despite being rather exhausted by the journey they’ve been on with little to no sleep, Pippin is still bothered by something. That “something” is revealed to be the glass ball that Saruman cast out of the tower of Orthanc. It’s important to note that Merry points out that amidst all this, Gandalf does<\/em> seem to have changed a bit, and I initially thought this was why Pippin brought up the glass ball. I started to guess that it had some sort of power that affected Gandalf, but then I quickly realized this didn’t make much sense. Gandalf was now the<\/em> White wizard, taking Saruman’s place, and that sort of power could certainly change a man.<\/p>\n

But the glass ball haunts Pippin in a way that was so confusing to me at first. I understood the sensation of being curious, but why was he so desperate to find out what it was? However, as soon as he got up and then started creeping on Gandalf, all I could think was YOU ARE MAKING A HUGE MISTAKE. Multiple objects in the Middle-earth world have a power to attract attention or interest, and I knew that’s what was at work here. But why? Why was Pippin drawn to this glass sphere, and what power did it hold? Also, never has a character more needed a Sassy Gay Friend, but unfortunately, Pippin was stealing from the<\/em> sassiest member of their group. WHAT ARE YOU DOING WITH YOUR LIFE?<\/p>\n

Ruining it. That’s what he was doing. Albeit temporarily, of course, but HOLY SHIT. WHAT THE FUCK IS GOING ON? Suddenly, Pippin is basically paralyzed by whatever power lives in that glass ball, and Gandalf is pissed off<\/em>. This is the angriest I have ever seen Gandalf, and I don’t like it. It scares me. Plus, Gandalf clearly knows what this thing is, so it’s not like he’s confused<\/em> about what Pippin’s done.<\/p>\n

‘It is not for you, Saruman!’ he cried in a shrill and toneless voice, shrinking away from Gandalf. ‘I will send for it at once. Do you understand? Say just that!’<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
PIPPIN WHAT THE FUCK HAVE YOU DONE?<\/p>\n
‘I saw a dark sky, and tall battlements,’ he said. ‘And tiny stars. It seemed very far away and long ago, yet hard and clear. Then the stars went in and out \u00e2\u20ac\u201c they were cut off by things with wings. Very big, I think, really; but in the glass they looked like bats wheeling round the tower. I thought there were nine of them.’<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
Oh, just great. GREAT. WHAT IS HAPPENING? Was that a vision or an actual glimpse of the Dark Tower? I mean, clearly it’s a reference to the nine Riders, but they’re in BAT FORM NOW? OH MY GOD WHAT THE HELL???<\/em> It’s so terrifying because then we learn that Sauron SPOKE THROUGH PIPPIN. That was him saying, “It is not for you, Saruman!” Well, at least telling Pippin to say that, that is.<\/p>\n
Thankfully, while Gandalf knows that this is a serious development, he doesn’t seem too<\/em> bothered by this development. It certainly spoils the fact that the hobbits are not in the possession of the Orcs anymore, that perhaps Saruman has failed in some regard, and it’s not much longer that Sauron will be mistaken about his knowledge of Gandalf and the hobbits. Still, Gandalf knows that this object \u00e2\u20ac\u201c called a palant\u00c3\u00adr<\/em> \u00e2\u20ac\u201c cannot be around Pippin anymore. Like the Ring, it has a sort of pull on whomever touches it, and now Pippin will be more attracted than ever to it.<\/p>\n
Also, LOL at the idea that Aragorn is pissed<\/em> that Gandalf even barely insinuated that he might want to be wary when holding it. ARAGORN YOU ARE SO FULL OF PRIDE AND I LOVE IT.<\/p>\n
Before Gandalf gets to reveal too much about what the palant\u00c3\u00adr<\/em> is and does, though, the group witnesses a Nazg\u00c3\u00bbl passing overhead and, in a haste, Gandalf grabs Pippin, throws him on the back of Shadowfax and the two just leave. JUST LIKE THAT. Separated from the group after being reunited for less than a day. WHAT THE FUCK!?!?!? Tolkien, why? WHY MUST YOU DO THIS TO THESE BEAUTIFUL CHARACTERS? You just<\/em> brought them together! AHHHHH WHYYYY<\/p>\n
Yet I can’t lie to y’all: the scene of Pippin and Gandalf riding upon Shadowfax, quietly discussing what’s happened and what lies ahead is genuinely one of the best-written parts of this whole book. Gandalf is both reserved and energetic at the same time, eager to reach their next destination, but a bit reluctant to share everything with Pippin. Thankfully, the Orthanc-stone is back with Aragorn, so at least no one has to worry about Pippin acquiring it again. I think that’s why Gandalf decides to tell Pippin exactly what that thing is. I was totally surprised that the palant\u00c3\u00adri<\/em> had nothing to do with the Dark Lord, that they were innocent tools used to communicate. It’s actually yet another fascinating detail of Middle-earth that helps build up the history of this world in a new way. It’s especially cool because we only know where two of the stones are; the other seven are still missing. OR ARE THEY?<\/p>\n
There’s an interesting bit where Gandalf muses about him possibly using the stone against the Dark Lord, and it’s here that he sort of scorns Pippin for stealing it from him, even for an instance. Yet as harsh as he is with Pippin, he knows that the experience was the lesson in and of itself. Pippin touched the Orthanc-stone when it was thrown, and it would have drawn him to itself regardless.<\/p>\n
Admittedly, this is now a complicated and delicate situation. The plot is so much more detailed than it ever was before. I was shocked when Gandalf revealed that they were heading straight for Minas Tirith. That meant that there were, once again, three plotlines in the story. Where were Merry, Gimli, Legolas, and Aragorn headed to? What the fuck<\/em> have Sam and Frodo been up to? Will the journey to Minas Tirith be sidetracked at any point? Will Sauron figure out what’s going on, or has Gandalf delayed this by giving the Orthanc-stone to Aragorn? I just have so many questions and I don’t want to wait for any of the answers. WHY AM I READING THIS BOOK LIKE THIS? I regret everything.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
In the eleventh chapter of The Two Towers, Pippin’s curiosity over the crystal sphere that Saruman threw at Gandalf at the Orthanc gets the best of him, and he makes a critical mistake. Intrigued? Then it’s time for Mark to … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[136,146],"tags":[156,142,118,23,138,148,145],"class_list":["post-819","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-the-lord-of-the-rings","category-the-two-towers","tag-aragorn","tag-gandalf","tag-jrr-tolkien","tag-mark-reads","tag-mark-reads-the-lord-of-the-rings","tag-merry-brandybuck","tag-pippin"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/markreads.net\/reviews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/819","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/markreads.net\/reviews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/markreads.net\/reviews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/markreads.net\/reviews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/markreads.net\/reviews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=819"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/markreads.net\/reviews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/819\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/markreads.net\/reviews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=819"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/markreads.net\/reviews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=819"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/markreads.net\/reviews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=819"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}