# ­xkcd thread **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** comic-strips\ **Created:** [May 28, 2020, 12:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-thread/854574 "2020-05-28T00:57:03Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 68
**Author:** ![Askance](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/askance/32/8281_2.png) [@Askance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Askance)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2022, 12:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-thread/854574/1342 "2022-04-21T00:54:32Z")
Aragorn, surely? ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2022, 1:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-thread/854574/1343 "2022-04-21T01:01:52Z")
I’m under the impression Aragorn is taller than most humans, let alone hobbits. ---
**Author:** ![Folly](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/folly/32/3219_2.png) [@Folly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Folly)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2022, 1:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-thread/854574/1344 "2022-04-21T01:38:06Z")
Isn’t it just Merry and Pippin there anyway when Treebeard is talking about entwives? ---
**Author:** ![TroutMan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/troutman/32/6721_2.png) [@TroutMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TroutMan)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2022, 1:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-thread/854574/1345 "2022-04-21T01:52:10Z")
It’s clearly at Isengard after Gandalf and Pippin have ridden off to Minas Tirith. It’s not discussed much, but Frodo and Sam took a brief detour to Isengard between seeing Faramir and Shelob. Gollum stayed back. ---
**Author:** ![Jas09](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/d07c76/32.png) [@Jas09](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jas09)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2022, 2:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-thread/854574/1346 "2022-04-21T02:57:02Z")
I assume the joke/comment here is how LOTR is almost completely focused on the male characters? Or am I missing some deeper (or perhaps less deep…) joke here. ---
**Author:** ![TroutMan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/troutman/32/6721_2.png) [@TroutMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TroutMan)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2022, 3:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-thread/854574/1347 "2022-04-21T03:02:03Z")
Right, that’s the joke. We’re nitpicking that there were only two hobbits (Merry and Pippin) who ever talked to Treebeard. ---
**Author:** ![abcdefghij](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/43a26b/32.png) [@abcdefghij](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/abcdefghij)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2022, 3:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-thread/854574/1348 "2022-04-21T03:10:12Z")
“…this is my brother Pippin and my other brother Pippin” ---
**Author:** ![Pleonast](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pleonast/32/1183_2.png) [@Pleonast](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pleonast)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2022, 4:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-thread/854574/1349 "2022-04-21T04:28:41Z")
> [@BigT](#): > > I’m under the impression Aragorn is taller than most humans, let alone hobbits. It’s a trick of perspective and the angle the drawing is made at. ---
**Author:** ![Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/qadgop_the_mercotan/32/83_2.png) [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qadgop_the_Mercotan)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2022, 1:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-thread/854574/1350 "2022-04-21T13:08:40Z")
But Strider was not originally that tall, in early drafts he was known as Trotter the hobbit. ---
**Author:** ![Gyrate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gyrate/32/3588_2.png) [@Gyrate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gyrate)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2022, 1:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-thread/854574/1351 "2022-04-21T13:33:43Z")
TMBG had explored the same concept as the “Family Reunion” comic years ago: [![](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/cQ_WeLi09p0/hqdefault.jpg "My Brother the Ape - They Might Be Giants") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cQ_WeLi09p0) ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2022, 9:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-thread/854574/1352 "2022-04-21T21:51:09Z")
I assume that Aragorn is the tall one with the manly stubble, Gimli is the short one with the dwarfly beard, and Legolas is the tall-ish one with the elfly long hair. Which leaves three more short, clean-shaven ones. ---
**Author:** ![Civil\_Guy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/d78d45/32.png) [@Civil\_Guy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Civil_Guy)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2022, 11:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-thread/854574/1353 "2022-04-21T23:31:23Z")
One of which wasn’t there, according to reports. I can’t believe Randall messed up the story like that, but I can’t figure what head game he’s playing. Called Fishing for Geeks, maybe. ---
**Author:** ![Askance](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/askance/32/8281_2.png) [@Askance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Askance)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2022, 12:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-thread/854574/1354 "2022-04-22T00:11:45Z")
> [@Askance](#): > > Aragorn, surely? _ **smack** _ I meant Legolas, of course! ---
**Author:** ![Folly](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/folly/32/3219_2.png) [@Folly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Folly)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2022, 2:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-thread/854574/1355 "2022-04-22T02:07:39Z")
But neither were legolas, gimli, or aragorn, so why are we focusing on frodo? ---
**Author:** ![Civil\_Guy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/d78d45/32.png) [@Civil\_Guy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Civil_Guy)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2022, 2:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-thread/854574/1356 "2022-04-22T02:45:24Z")
Well, yeah, good question. The only thing to say is that at least Gimli, Legolas and Aragorn had some chance to meet Treebeard at Isengard – they were in tow with Gandalf at the time, I think. The others never had that chance. And hey, the comic panel cuts off, so we can’t say who all was there when Treebeard might have asked, um, just where are _your_ women since we’re asking personal questions. But, um, it’s a comic, and it’s a joke. So it’s best not to get too worked up about it, I think. ---
**Author:** ![Dr.Strangelove](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dr.strangelove/32/6613_2.png) [@Dr.Strangelove](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Strangelove)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2022, 3:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-thread/854574/1357 "2022-04-22T03:00:53Z")
It’s a female Hobbit. That’s why the reduced Fellowship is so confused. Treebeard’s eyesight isn’t so great. She only shows up in the ultra-wide-screen edition of the movies, so most people don’t know about her. Wait, wait–no, it’s actually Gandalf the White as a child. Most people don’t know this, but when Maiar are reincarnated, they are literally reborn. They grow at an accelerated rate, and he is shown here at the age equivalent of about 8 human years. His beard won’t start growing for a few hours. The movie cut this part for budgetary reasons. ---
**Author:** ![dtilque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d6d6ee/32.png) [@dtilque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dtilque)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2022, 4:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-thread/854574/1358 "2022-04-23T04:03:31Z")
> **[Assigning Numbers](https://xkcd.com/2610/)** > > Gödel should do an article on which branches of math have the lowest average theorem number. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2022, 12:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-thread/854574/1359 "2022-04-23T12:54:59Z")
Since this one is pretty obscure: Gödel’s key realization was that he could encode various mathematical symbols as numbers, and therefore encode complicated mathematics as simple arithmetic, and thus do math about math. This, in turn, enabled him to rigorously construct statements analogous to the Cretinous “This statement is a lie”, in a strict mathematical way, and to thus prove some very deep and interesting things about the boundaries of math itself. Specifically, he rigorously proved that in any “interesting” system of mathematics (i.e., any system capable of encompassing basic arithmetic on integers), there exist some statements that can neither be proven nor disproven. You can extend your mathematical structure to deal with those statements, but then, your new, extended mathematics will have some other statements that it can’t deal with. ---
**Author:** ![dtilque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d6d6ee/32.png) [@dtilque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dtilque)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2022, 8:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-thread/854574/1360 "2022-04-24T20:10:15Z")
Re: the non-Tom Swifties: I was skeptical about traffic circles, but then I came around. ETA: maybe we should call them But-thens, since they all seem to have that as a conjunction. ---
**Author:** ![dtilque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d6d6ee/32.png) [@dtilque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dtilque)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2022, 4:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-thread/854574/1361 "2022-04-26T04:56:23Z")
> **[Cutest-Sounding Scientific Effects](https://xkcd.com/2611/)** > > The Stroop-YORP number of a scientific paper is how many of the 16 finalist names (sans 'effect') it manages to casually sneak into the text. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-thread/854574.md?page=67) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-thread/854574.md?page=69)