Episodes
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Valleys of Numenor June 2024-History of Middle Earth recap
John looks at books and sees a lot of Tolkien, including almost all of the History of Middle Earth series.
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Valleys of Numenor LOTR Update May 2024 Rings of Power Season 2
A look at the new trailer, the Tom Bombadil announcement and why this wasn't the best way to handle all this.
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Valleys of Numenor LOTR May 2024 Update-The Hunt For Gollum
Going over what Peter, Fran, Phillipa and Andy could do for the recently announced film, what the story could be and which actors could be involved.
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Valleys of Numenor Rings of Power Season 2 Video Update
Going over the rumors for what may appear in Season 2 and where the heck is it, anyway?
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Epsiode 47-Conan of the Comics Part 2, the Barbarian in the 21st century
We go over Conan's time at Dark Horse Comics and the second run at Marvel and see why they both ended on a bad note.
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Episode 46-Conan of the Comics Part 1
We look at Conan the Barbarian's history in the comics in the second half of the 20th century, both at Marvel and a very surprising first outlet.
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Episode 45-Conan the Titan (Comics Version)
We go over the first arc of the new Conan comic series and how it follows in the footsteps of the better runs the barbarian has had in the medium.
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Valleys of Numenor 2024 preview
A look ahead at what we'll be covering in the new year
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Episode 44-The Other Worlds of Edgar Rice Burroughs
We discussed the other series from the pen of Tarzan's creator, as well as the films from these books that reached the big screen.
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Valleys of Numenor 2023 Halloween Special Video Companion
Video component to this year's special showing off the DVDs (and Blu ray set) used for the reviews
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The Valleys of Numenor 2023 Halloween Special: Godzilla-The Showa Era 1954-1975
A look at the first series of Toho films festuring the giant radioactive breathing monster as well as a number of related films including Rodan, Mothra and King Kong Escapes.
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Episode 43-Tarzan of the Movies and TV 1981 thru today
We go over Tarzan's portrayals on the big and small screen over the past 40 years, the crazy love life of John Derek and Phill Collins' Oscar revenge.
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Episode 42 Foundation 0210 Creation Myths
With the destruction of Terminius, is there still a Foundation left to do the show about? And will Demerzel's programming save the Cleonic dynasty, or destroy it once and for all?
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Episode 41 Foundation 0209 Long Ago, Not So Far Away
Day goes to Terminus to confront Hari Seldon's ghost (hologram?) while Gaal and Salvor try to escape from Ignis.
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Episode 40 Foundation 0208 The Last Empress
Poly & Constant face execution, Gaal and Salvor are captives of the mentalics and Dusk & Rue being to discover Demerzel's hidden secrets.
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Episode 39 Foundation 0207 A Necessary Death
Hober Mallow meets Bel Riose, the clarics meet the emperors, Sareth meets the gynecologist and Salvor meets her doom...maybe
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Episode 38 Foundation 0206 Why the Gods Made Wine
Hari discovers the mentalics may not be as much of an ally as they hoped, while Poly & Constant and Hober Mallow reach their destinations to begin their missions.
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Episode 37 Foundation 0205 The Sighted and the Seen
Gaal, Hari and Salvor arrive on Ignis and discover they have been expected and Sareth tries to get to the bottom of the assassination attempt and finds an eons old secret.
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Episode 36 Foundation 0204 Where the Stars Are Scattered Thinly
Hober Mallow goes tothe Vault and finds out what his part will be in Hari Seldon's plan, while Bel Riose goes to Siwenna to discover what he can about the rumored organization.
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Episode 35 Foundation 0203 King and Commoner
We meet Bel Riose and Hober Mallow, two individuals closely tied to the fate of the Foundation as Gaal and Salvor deal with the disembodied Hari...but not for long...
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Episode 34 Foundation 0202 A Glimpse of Darkness
Gaal Dornick and Salvor Hardin tryi to get off of their former home planet. The Cleons are about to go back to expand the dynasty the old fashioned way and the Vault is opening on Terminus, meaning we’re coming up on the Second Crisis.
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Episode 33 Foundation 0201 In Seldon's Shadow
Hari is trapped in a Matrix of his own design, the Cleons plan expanding their empire the old fashioned way, an arranged marriage and Gaal and Salvor get to know each other as mother and daughter while the Second Crisis begins to emerge.
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Episode 32 Tarzan of the Movies...and TV 1943-1976 or so
Johnny Weissmuller continues playing Tarzan thru the 40s, then a continuing series of actors picked up the mantle on film and on TV until the 70s when things took a break for nearly a decade.
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Episode 31 Foundation Episode 10 The Leap
Hari Seldon's plan is working perfectly...except for the fact one of the main people leading it is nowhere to be found. The emperors also find out they're not so perfect after all.
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Episode 30-Foundation Episode 9 The First Crisis
The Anacreons and Thespins gather on Terminus to settle things once and for all and Brother Dawn tries to make a great escape but can't run from himself...literally!
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Episode 29 Foundation Episode 8 The Missing Piece...of what?
The emperor takes a religious journey, Hardin tries to save Trantor from attack and Gaal wants out of the whole thing after finding out there will be a Second Foundation.
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Episode 28 Foundation Episode 7 Mysteries and Matryrs and Men, da da da...
The Anacreons hijack a ship and pan to attack Trantor, while Brothers Day & Dawn face new challenges of their own to be...individuals?
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Episode 27-Foundation Episode 6 Death and the Maiden
Brother Day learns about religion and the Foundation fights back against the Anacreons.
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Episode 26-Tarzan of the Movies (and Radio and TV and the comics) 1918-1942
Tarzan hits the mass media during the silent film era, as well as the comic strips and radio. When the films began to talk, Tarzan spoke less than he did in the silent era.
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Episode 21-Foundation Episode 1 The Emperor's Peace
Isaac Asimov's Foundation has finally made it to the screen. Does this adaptation do the story justice? We'll go over the premiere episode and see how they start off.
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Episode 25-Upon Further Review...Awakening
Gaal Dornick awakens after 35 years and the Anacreons play their hand.
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Episode 24-Foundation Episode 4 Barbarians at the Gate...literally!
The Anacreons threaten the Foundation at Terminus while the Emperor's clones all deal with different issues.
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Episode 23-Foundation Episode 3 The Mathematician's Ghost
So what's that Vault thing already there on Terminus when no one was supposed to be there?
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Episode 22-Foundation Episode 2 Preparing To Live
Hari Seldon's team prepares the Foundation while the Emperors launch an attack that will help further their downfall.
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Episode 20-Tarzan of the Books
We'll take a look at the original novels by Edgar Rice Burroughs plus a few extras along the way, some of them quite interesting.
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Episode 19-The World of Robert E. Howard
The connections between the characters created by Robert E. Howard run far and wide. Hear which ones are closely tied in and which ones aren't as tied in as you'd think
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The Story of Conan-Annotations
Where did a lot of the other ideas in the last few episodes come from if they weren't by Robert E. Howard. I go through the scripts and fill you in. Plus another Rings of Power update, this time some names join the cast.
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Episode 18-The Nemedian Chronicles on Conan of Cimmeria Part 7: Conan the Conqueror
Conan battles a resurrected wizard and hunts for a lost jewel to save his kingdom and sets out to travel across the western sea.
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Episode 17-The Nemedian Chronicles on Conan of Cimmeria Part 6: Conan the King
Conan goes from adventurer to mercenary general to king of Aquilonia, only to be threatened by man and wizard alike.
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Lord of the Rings update 2023
Warner Brothers (or Warner Discovery) has made a deal to make more Lord of the Rings related films. We'll go over what they might do, what they should do and what they shouldn't.
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Episode 16-The Nemedian Chronicles on Conan of Cimmeria Part 5, Conan the Warrior
In the second part of the Saga of Black and Red, the Cimmerian leaves the sea to become a scout for Aquilonia, which brings him into conflict with his ancient enemies the Picts. His battles with them end up leading him back to the sea and eventually into partnership with a famed female adventurer.
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Episode 15-The Nemedian Chronicles on Conan of Cimmeria Part 4, Conan the Adventurer
Conan goes from a tribal leader in the east to the monarch of a southern kingdom to a return to the western seas and the life of a buccaneer
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Episode 14-The Nemedian Chronicles on Conan of Cimmeria Part 3, Conan the Wanderer
Conan goes from the captain of the guard to a desert chief, discovers a lost city and leads a band of outlaws against Turan
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Episode 13-The Nemedian Chronicles on Conan of Cimmeria, Part 2-Conan the Mercenary
Conan returns to the Hyborian world as a soldier of fortune, selling his sword to the highest bidder. He becomes a general and a pirate, as well as meets the woman whose spirit will remain with him the rest of his life.
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Episode 12-The Nemedian Chronicles on Conan of Cimmera, Part 1-Conan the Thief
We tell the tsle of Conan as it appears in the Nemedian Chronicles as well as other legends attributed to the barbarian. Part 1 deals with his birth, his early travels in the north and his time as a young thief in Zamora
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Valleys of Numenor Year End Update
Some quick bits of news regarding Rings of Power Season 2
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Episode 11-Robert E. Howard's Conan the Barbarian Construction of a Chronology Part 2-Fragments, Synopses and Drafts, Oh My!
We work out the Conan chronology by piecing it together in the order Howard wrote the stories and other material to see how things match up against the previous timeline and what needs to change and why.
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Episode 10-Conan the Barbarian Construction of a Chronology Part 1
In this episode we put together a chronology of the Conan stories based on their appearance in Weird Tales magazine in the 30s and see how it matches up with the Miller/Clark one that became the standard.
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Episode 9A-John Looks At Books: Fall of Numenor
A discussion of the early work of Tolkien, how the Book of Lost Tales may have been a fantasy classic while Silmarillion needed 40 years before it got published, and a look at the new Fall of Numenor collection.
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Episode 9-Tolkien Goes To Market
The marketing for the Rings of Power was wide ranging but did it get to the right audience and did it tell them what the show was really about?