A Knife In The Dark | Lord of the Rings Analysis (Ep.2) | State of the Arc Podcast

The Lord of the Rings, The Fellowship of the Ring concludes in such a beautiful way. Sam and Frodo, Merry and Pippin, Aragorn, Legolas and Gimli, and then of course, the tragedies of Boromir and Gandalf. The 7 who remain of the fellowship must go their separate ways. And while the movie tells us time and time again that Frodo must do this alone, Sam comes with him. J.R.R. Tolkien chose to hinge his works on certain beautiful truths that seem evident in the world around him, and explained the sadness and sorrow, and the goodness and beauty, in ways that no fictional writers have been able to do since. What an absolute beast. It can't be overstated how much good he has done for the world. Peter Jackson tries and largely succeeds in living up to Tolkien's high, high standards in this film. Time Codes: 1. Intro (0:00) 2. The Ring Goes South (2:07) 3. Caradhras (9:18) 4. The Mines of Moria (17:50) 5. The Balrog (26:30) 6. Pity for Gollum (44:33) 7. The Secret Fire (55:51) 8. Lothlorien (1:02:28) 9. The Lady Galadriel (1:20:35) 10. The Mirror of Galadriel (1:39:57) 11. The Great River (1:56:56) 12. The Departure of Boromir (2:05:30) 13. "I'm Coming With You!" (2:08:05) 14. Tolkien's Themes (2:10:40) 15. Linguistic Notes (2:29:22) **We’re Now On Spotify**: https://open.spotify.com/show/4gIzzvT3AfRHjGlfF8kFW3 **Listen On Soundcloud**: https://soundcloud.com/resonantarc **Listen On iTunes**: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/state-of-the-arc-podcast/id1121795837 **Listen On Pocket Cast**: http://pca.st/NJsJ Patreon Page: https://www.patreon.com/resonantarc Subscribe Star: https://www.subscribestar.com/resonant-arc Twitter: https://twitter.com/resonantarc Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/resonantarc Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/resonantarc TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@resonantarc

There's been a lot of buzz about the slump the gaming industry is in for years now. Studio closures, big game failures, and an overall homogenizing of the AAA scene point to a possible collapse of the industry. Today, we discuss why this is happening and what--if anything--we can do about it. Patreon Page: https://www.patreon.com/resonantarc Subscribe Star: https://www.subscribestar.com/resonant-arc Twitter: https://twitter.com/resonantarc Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/resonantarc Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/resonantarc TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@resonantarc

We need a Xeno detox! So, while we begin preparing for our next big game, we would like to make some exciting announcements about the future of this YouTube channel! Learn more about how we'll be approaching the show moving forward and how we'll go about doing TWO episodes a week moving forward! For anyone who tries to sign up for our new Patreon tier, I still haven't received a message from Patreon support to resolve the problem I'm having linking the Discord perks. Please reach out to me in a private message (on Patreon or on Discord), and I will add you manually so you can enjoy the perks! Patreon Page: https://www.patreon.com/resonantarc Subscribe Star: https://www.subscribestar.com/resonant-arc Twitter: https://twitter.com/resonantarc Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/resonantarc Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/resonantarc TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@resonantarc

The Fellowship of the Ring is a masterclass in how to creatively adapt a book while technically also skipping, say, 4 entire chapters without missing a beat. I am more amazed at what Peter Jackson, Fran Walsh, Philippa Boyens and the whole team pulled off. It rejuvenated J.R.R. Tolkien's work in a way that kept many of his important themes in it. We continue to analyze what made these movies so special and compare them to the books where we can. Time Codes: 1. Intro (0:00) 2. Peter Jackson Directing Action (0:51) 3. A Shortcut to Mushrooms (8:32) 4. Ring Wraiths (17:11) 5. Bree (28:09) 6. Strider (49:14) 7. Weathertop (1:05:59) 8. Isengard (1:24:18) 9. Flight to the Ford (1:31:20) 10. Rivendell (1:57:28) 11. The Council of Elrond (2:27:35) 12. No Oath nor Bond is Laid (2:48:15) **We’re Now On Spotify**: https://open.spotify.com/show/4gIzzvT3AfRHjGlfF8kFW3 **Listen On Soundcloud**: https://soundcloud.com/resonantarc **Listen On iTunes**: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/state-of-the-arc-podcast/id1121795837 **Listen On Pocket Cast**: http://pca.st/NJsJ Patreon Page: https://www.patreon.com/resonantarc Subscribe Star: https://www.subscribestar.com/resonant-arc Twitter: https://twitter.com/resonantarc Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/resonantarc Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/resonantarc TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@resonantarc

To skip the Childhood's End spoilers, move forward in the timeline from 1:54:32 to 1:57:00 Thanks to all the guests who joined us on this panel! TJTheEmperor: @TJTheEmperor Keith Comito: https://www.lifespan.io/ David Aidan In this final episode, we break down the plot and themes for the entire Xenosaga series now that we have finished everything. It is packed full of really interesting insights from an incredible panel. We hope you appreciate it!

Wow, what a great game! We'll have one more episode after this one so please comment with what you want us to talk about next time that we may have missed this time. **We’re Now On Spotify**: https://open.spotify.com/show/4gIzzvT3AfRHjGlfF8kFW3 **Listen On Soundcloud**: https://soundcloud.com/resonantarc **Listen On iTunes**: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/state-of-the-arc-podcast/id1121795837 **Listen On Pocket Cast**: http://pca.st/NJsJ

On this episode we are going over Chapter 7! It's a blast. Join us! **We’re Now On Spotify**: https://open.spotify.com/show/4gIzzvT3AfRHjGlfF8kFW3 **Listen On Soundcloud**: https://soundcloud.com/resonantarc **Listen On iTunes**: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/state-of-the-arc-podcast/id1121795837 **Listen On Pocket Cast**: http://pca.st/NJsJ

Casen is out of town today, so I'm going back to touch on a few points we didn't have time to talk about last week. Thank you all for watching and contributing to this ongoing discussion!

After finding herself transported to Miltia 15 years in the past, Shion finds the rest of the group and investigates the area to find out what happened. Along their way, they come across Virgil engaged in combat with U-TIC realians. Seeing that he is badly injured, they decide to help him despite knowing he is the Blue Testament. They soon find an old church where they meet Febronia with a young Shion and Kevin. Febronia offers to be an organ donor to save Virgil’s life, and an emergency operation is conducted to rescue him. After the operation proves to be a success, Virgil, who has a deep prejudice towards Realians, gets to know Febronia and begins to reevaluate his views. Meanwhile, the group reconvenes with the crew of the Elsa to discuss their current predicament. The professor reveals that unless they can find a sufficient power source, it will be impossible to return to their own time. Allen also reveals to Shion that KOS-MOS’s black box has been damaged beyond repair, and without the help of Kevin, her original creator, she will never reawaken. Shion, despite warnings from Allen and the others about meddling with the past, decides to go into the city and discovers key truths about Joachim Mizrahi and the Zohar project that led to the disaster on Miltia. Most importantly, she learns that her father, Margulis, and Mizrahi were attempting to control the Zohar through experiments performed on both her mother and herself. She also learns that Kevin was a key member of Mizrahi’s team and finds baseline designs and code for KOS-MOS that allow the Elsa’s crew to repair her. As Allen and the professor work on reviving her, the ship is attacked by Voyager, who is beaten back by a redesigned KOS-MOS. With KOS-MOS repaired, the group then focusses on finding a sufficient power source to return to their own time and settle on conducting an operation to steal the vessels of Anima stored in the U-TIC secret base of Labyrinthos. While conducting the mission, Shion learns that U-TIC, under Kevin’s supervision, had developed the combat Realians that slaughtered all the people of the city and killed her mother during the Miltian Conflict. As the group attempts to escape with the vessels of Anima, Shion realizes that her mother is being transferred to the treatment facility where she will eventually be killed and decides to go after her rather than escape. Though the group wants to help her, they are overwhelmed by U-TIC forces and have no choice but to retreat. Shion is then confronted by the Red Testament, who reveals his true identity as Kevin Winecott. Shocked by this revelation, Shion freezes up and is captured by U-TIC.

Well, well, well... you don't a much stronger start to a game than that! Xenosaga III REALLY impressed me in its opening act. This is by far the most polished product of this trilogy, and we're excited to share our incites with you on all the great symbolism and strong setups here. Following her resignation from Vector, Shion teams up with Scientia to investigate the company’s secrets while Allen takes her place looking after KOS-MOS. Meanwhile, Canaan, Jr., Jin, chaos, MOMO, and Ziggy investigate a landmass floating through space that originated from Lost Jerusalem. Margulis attacks them in response, and the landmass is swallowed up in an inverted pocket of hyperspace, which the Elsa also falls into. Meanwhile, Shion visits Allen and sees a demonstration of two new weapons for fighting the Gnosis—T-elos, a battle robot meant to replace KOS-MOS, and Omega, a mech created from the remains of the Proto Omega and piloted by Abel. After the test, T-elos' creator, Roth Mantel, informs Allen that KOS-MOS will be scrapped in favor of T-elos. Because KOS-MOS's weaponry is the only way to break into the hyperspace pocket and save the Elsa, Shion leads the group into the facility and rescues KOS-MOS, guided at one point by Abel. Nephilim visits Shion frequently during this time, and Shion begins to experience a series of blackouts where U-DO contacts her. These events are observed by Wilhelm, who is working with the Testaments to find Abel his Ark. Entering the hyperspace pocket, the group finds the Elsa and investigates the area, encountering both Albedo and Virgil and learning that the Vessels of Anima powering their E.S. mechs are critical to the Testaments' plans. They are then confronted by Mantel—who reveals himself as the Red Testament—and T-elos. T-elos nearly kills KOS-MOS, but Shion's pendant activates and seemingly transports the group to the planet Miltia fifteen years in the past.