Hello, and welcome to the NataCast, podcast, the podcast that usually goes through a Song of Ice and Fire

one chapter a week, but not here. I'm one of your hosts Emmett, better known as Poor Quentin. My co-host

Jeff, better known as Brendan Beefish, is taking a couple months off the podcast for work. Soon as he's

back, which is going to be in the next week or two, we're going to be resuming the weekly Song of Ice and Fire podcast with a Storm of Swords. In the meantime, I've been doing

episodes with a rotating series of guest hosts on a variety of topics, as well as text and

audio posts of my own, like this one. Every week, while Jeff is away, I've been going back

through J.R.R. Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings. This week I'm going to be covering

the final two chapters in Book 3 of the Lord of the Rings. Those chapters are The Voice of

Saramon and the Palantir. We have reached the climax of book three. The showdown with Saramon,

the villain behind all the books injustices, from the destruction of Fangorn to the corruption of Theodon, the death of Boromir at Amonhen to the death of Hama at Helms Deep.

We've been waiting to see him directly on the page since Gandalf revealed his betrayal at Rivendale, and Tolkien delivers beyond our expectations.

It's a perfectly paced and dramatically potent dialogue scene,

digging deep into not only Saraman's character,

but other characters in terms of how they react to him.

Right from the start of the chapter,

the dark rock of Orthank is looming over us with its many windows.

We can't see Saraman yet, but he's watching us, draining away the

feeling of camaraderie from the previous chapter. The cleansing waters unleashed by the ants have drained

away too, leaving a layer of slime over the ruins Saraman made of Eisengard. Even the ruins are dangerous,

Mary says. If they're not careful, a loose slab will send them tumbling down into a

pit. This represents how Sauramon remains a threat, even in defeat, as Gandalf tells everyone.

He's going to confront Sarmon. Anyone who comes with him should beware. Pippin wonders why. Will

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