The Council of Elrond [Fellowship of the Ring, Ch.14]

Discussion of Fellowship of the Ring, Book Two, Chapter Two Join Maggie and Cam as they dive headfirst into Tolkien’s longest chapter ever! We meet some new core characters, hear a LOT of information and backstory – and are heartily disappointed that this chapter’s thrilling action is all secondhand. Cam expresses his frustration at the repeated lack of communication between Middle-earth’s factions, and Maggie doesn’t understand how such a good story can be packaged in such a dull way. We continue to question who is really In Charge of the happenings in Middle-earth, and are surprised that the excessive exposition in this chapter still doesn’t give us specifics about who the Dark Lord really is. The worst offense of them all, however, is the number of times Gollum is BTK’d. At one point, Cam refers to him as the "hot potato of advanced interrogation".  During our Second Breakfast, Cam contextualizes our continuing discussion of the One Ring with some notes from Christopher Tolkien’s The Return of the Shadow. Was Frodo always going to be an orphan? What powers did Professor Tolkien give to the Ring in his early drafts? Which sections of The Lord of the Rings gave him the most trouble? At the end, we remain hopeful that this turning point in our story is a sign of more exciting chapters to come. Have an observation, comment or theory on this episode? Email us at [email protected] Follow us on Instagram @secondbreakfastpod