Episode 127: The Auteur's Respect
Added 2020-08-28 14:01:02 +0000 UTCDeathly Hallows chapter 15. On this powerful mega-episode, we immerse ourselves in an Audio Experience, watch the Snyder Cut trailer, check in on JK Rowling's favorite new Epic Win Gentleman twitter guys--and that's all before we get to the chapter! This week's camping adventure sees Ron going Boromir Mode, so naturally we talk about Lord of the Rings for a while as well as more Wizarding religion talk, the logistics of acquiring food in the British wilderness, and the nature of the immortal soul (again). Finally, we put our heads down and complete a homework assignment as intrepid redditor Jack Sloper!
Some notes: At 22:45 or so, we chat about JK's twitter business--if you'd rather not hear us discussing transphobic tweets, skip to 28 minutes. Likewise, if you're not particularly interested in hearing the specifics of this chapter's frankly unbelievable antisemitism, skip from 2:05:00 to 2:24:50
Comments
There's a version of this story that KEEPS the epic quest but ALSO keeps Hogwarts: it would require a slightly different end to #6, I think, to make it logical. So in that Dumbledore dies but not - not - at Hogwarts. He dies somewhere else, maybe at the cave itself. In any case book 7 starts with Harry on his way to Hogwarts but with a lot of whispered talk about how the war is going so badly and dangerously that they're going to shut down Hogwarts, plus plenty of Ministry guards wandering around the trains and the grounds. We get a few chapters of this, maybe the chapter with Harry saying goodbye to the Dursley's because it will be his last time being there, then during the big first night at Hogwarts the opneing night dinner is interrupted by a coup - through some big evil plan Voldemort's guys take out the Ministry guards, subdue the teachers who are not on his side, and in waltzes Voldemort himself to smirkingly sit at Dumbledore's spot...the head of Hogwarts. At wand point his army calms the students and he makes a first day of school speech but it's fascist and evil. In this he encourages the worst of the students and some under pressure and egged on begin to scream and mock muggle born students. Voldemort now has, essentially, both captives that keeps the wizarding world at bay ("I have your KIDS") plus child soldiers/Hitler Youth from the youngest. But in the chaos, Harry slips off into the castle Die Hard style...the rest of the book cuts between twisted versions of traditional Hogwarts scenes but Voldemort's version of (re)education, Harry and co. staying away from captivity, maybe even having to go to class under polyjuice potion, and them having to go to locations like the Ministry to get something. Big climax is Harry having united the centaurs, the spiders, and the mer-people in the lake, random adults like Arthur, and some international students who all help him storm Hogwarts.
DJ
2020-08-31 05:44:30 +0000 UTC
