The Istari – Part 3

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Fifth Age Podcast: Tolkien Stories

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In this, final installment of our discussion on the istari, we get to Gandalf and Saruman. We discuss Saruman’s jealousy of Gandalf, what REALLY happened with Gandalf and the balrog, and the lost istari… Tim and Dirk.   1:24 Istari were brought in to work against Sauron 1:35 Dan didn’t know they were immortal 2:20 In D&D, a wizard isn’t an immortal being, it’s just a person that knows spells 3:15 Gandalf in the shire 3:40 Gandalf using a D&D spell of charm/domination against Bilbo 4:30 Gandalf doing things a normal person shouldn’t be able to. 5:12 Gandalf fighting the balrog, he disappears and reappears and then he doesn’t want to talk about it #wizardstuff 5:30 Gandalf’s description of balrog fight 6:20 Gandalf’s disappearance not understood as a death. Get back in there! You’re the only one paying attention! 7:20 Gandalf’s obviously a wizard because he’s fighting other wizards like Sauron and Saruman. 8:00 Can he fight the balrog because of the ring? He’s pretty powerful, he could take him! 8:21 What even is a staff? ¯_(ツ)_/¯ 8:30 Sauron is a wizard? Bring a wizard to fight him. Can’t sneak up on the eye. 9:00 If you come at a wizard directly, you get a fireball to the face! Or a Nazgûl to the face. Summon: Nazgûl, spiders, orcs, troll 9:33 Dominate: others spell is extremely powerful 9:47 Did Saruman think he could win a battle of will against Sauron? 10:04 How did the people of middle earth see the wizards? Guys that know stuff. 10:30 Círdan knew who they were when they arrived. Quoth Círdan... “Ohai Guys!” 11:00 Some people know, mostly… nope 11:40 Gandalf listening to the wind 12:10 Caradhras = least bad path 12:20 Is Wormtongue an apprentice? Nah. Dan made that up. 13:00 Advisor to Théoden because people trust Saruman. He planted Wormtongue, but Wormtongue doesn’t have powers. 14:10 Saruman and Wormtongue in the shire/edoras 15:20 Guys with magic? Nope! Other thing! 15:58 Dan knew Gandalf was a Maia but didn’t apply it contextually 16:15 When he figured it all out, it explained to him that Gandalf died when he fought the balrog. 16:34 Otherwise, thought he was just makin’ stuff up! Gandalf beat the mini boss, leveled up, got new gear, and now he can fight Saruman. 17:30 Gandalf is the jerk that sends the party away and claims all the loot and experience points. Frank the balrog! 18:00 What’s the story Frank? 18:13 Hot dogs for balrogs 18:28 We don’t want to know what balrogs want. 18:45 Sauron is not an Istari?!?! Aren’t they just maia sent by a vala? Nope! 19:10 Istari means a thing 19:19 Bringer of hot dogs to balrogs? 19:33 It means wizard. 20:04 Istari is an order of Maia. There are some that didn’t leave valinor. 20:33 It’s not just these 5. Erica starts humming for no reason while Dan loses his mind for a while. 20:49 Number unknown but 5 chiefs came to the northeast of middle earth. UT p 389 there may be more. 21:26 Saruman is the chief of the order according to Gandalf. The order=all Istari! 21:40 When Gandalf breaks the staff, Saruman mentions the staffs of the 5 wizards. Do only 5 have staffs? 22:07 What do staffs do?!?! Breaking them? Collecting them? *if you know anything about this let us know so Erica can research it! 22:24 Norse mythology. Erica will read it someday… 22:34 Gandalf has a different reputation everywhere he goes. 23:26 In the shire he’s a benign troublemaker 23:48 Guess what? Erica loves Sam. 24:00 Gandalf thought of differently in different places, like Rivendell 24:21 Elrond’s attitude toward Gandalf 24:38 Elrond seems unhappy to see him. Is that Elrond or just Hugo Weaving’s acting? 25:03 Gandalf’s activities mean change. Sauron falling, the destruction of the ring may cause the other rings to lose power. The elves power diminishing. 26:58 Maybe Gandalf is more powerful than Saruman.