Friday Creature Feature - Heartless

 

@Somer Lynas

As valentines is approaching many single adults are depressed and wish to not have feelings of about being alone, so writing a post about the heartless from Kingdom Hearts (KH) seemed appropriate.

@Viv1hh

The heartless are physical manifestation of darkness that are created when a person’s heart is consumed by darkness. This often happens as a result of the individual succumbing to negative emotion such as fear, anger, or sadness. The heartless are described as being soulless creatures that lack any emotions or morality and are solely driven by their hunger for hearts. I believe they hunger for hearts because they are searching for their own heart. In KH I, Sora becomes a heartless and stays as one until he finds his heart which was in Kairi.

All of Xehanort forms

The heartless are controlled by the main antagonist of the series, Xehanort, who seeks to gather the hearts of all living beings in order to bring about a state of pure darkness. He believes once he is successful it will result in a state of balance between light and darkness, which he believes is the key to unlocking the secrets of the universe. Xehanort uses the heartless to achieve this goal, attacking and consuming the hearts of anyone they encounter.

The heartless pose a significant threat to the series. Similar to zombies, once the heartless consume another heart that person will become a heartless as well. They are immune to most forms of physical harm and can be defeated by individuals who posses the strength of heart and willpower necessary to fight against them. Sora, is one such character, and he sets out on countless amount of quests to defeat the heartless and prevent Xehanort from achieving his goals.

@thespookyredhead

The heartless have become a staple of Kingdom Hearts franchise and have been featured in nearly every entry in the series. The have become synonymous with the series’ unique blend of action, adventure, and heart, and have become one of the most recognizable and iconic elements of the KH universe.

What if Darth Maul was General Grievous?

 

Recently I read a screenrant post about how George Lucas considered a certain twist for the prequel series. He considered that General Grievous was Darth Maul behind the armor after he was cut in half by Obi-Wan. This made me think how would Stars Wars be different if Darth Maul was General Grievous. This post will go over hypothetical connections that can lead one to believe that Darth Maul is General Grievous and what changes would happen if they were the same.

In Star Wars episode I, The Phantom Menace,  we were first introduced to a lightsaber wielder using a double bladed lightsaber, Darth Maul. It was an epic fight between Qui-Gon Jinn and Obi-Wan Kenobi where Maul lost after being cut in half by Obi-Wan soon after Maul killed Qui-Gon. Let’s just assume that Palpatine went out to retrieve his apprentice like he did with Anakin in episode III, Revenge of the Sith, and found out that Maul was useless for loosing half of his body but reconstructs him for a war he is about to start (aka the clone wars). It takes time for Maul to become cyborg because no one has done it before. Darth Maul name is retracted because he is not powerful with the force to be considered a Sith and goes back to his original name, Grievous. While his construction was occurring Palpatine finds his new apprentice (because there is only two sith a master and his apprentice) Darth Tyranus, Count Dooku, and starts the Clone Wars.

Soon after the Clone Wars starts General Grievous enters and kills off jedi and collects lightsabers. Why does he collect them? Because he is not permitted to wield a sith lightsaber anymore and he knows that two lightsabers was not enough to kill Obi-Wan Kenobi, so four lightsabers should be sufficient to kill him.

If you watch the 2003 Star Wars: Clone Wars animated show we learn how terrifying Grievous was to the other jedi. He was able to take out groups of Jedi by himself. If that was Maul it makes sense because it takes multiple Jedi to take down a sith, even a former one. In the show we see that Grievous trains with Count Dooku and looses to him because he can’t use the force anymore which is a disadvantage even with four arms, yet he trains because he wants revenge on the person who took his took away his inheritance as a sith, but then everything changes when he faces against Mace Windu who crushed Grievous’ lungs causing him to have that iconic wheezing that he had in Revenge of the Sith and the other Star Wars Clone Wars and became the coward he is because he realizes that no matter how hard he tries he alone cannot defeat strong Jedi, like Kenobi.

This leads to Maul (General Grievous) true death at Utapau in Revenge of the Sith. Grievous is cornered and uses his army to attempt to kill Kenobi as he flees. He couldn’t escape and dies in an uncivilized manner, a blaster.

In my opinion it is a good thing that Darth Maul didn’t end up being General Grievous. Even though General Grievous came out of no where in the prequel movies, the depth they give him in the animated shows was good and the depth they gave Maul was great. Also, if they were the same, then Kenobi kill count would drop by one (spoilers).

Why You Should Be Excited For Ant-Man and the Wasp Quantumania

 

With Antman and the Wasp Quantumania coming out in February I would like to share with you what we, the fans of Marvel, should be excited about.

The Supporting Cast

When Antman came out in 2015 I was surprised on how funny it was. I knew Paul Rudd was funny and he did a great job, but the supporting cast were stood out more. I still think that Luis, played by Michael Peña, is one of the funniest supporting characters in marvel cinema. I hope to see him more in this movie.

Scott Lang as Antman

Like I just recently mentioned Paul Rudd is hilarious as Antman and I enjoy him playing as Scott Lang. Scott Lang was the first father superhero in the marvel cinematic universe. He accepts his role as Antman to provide and protect his daughter, Cassandra Lang. He puts his friends and family first which makes him a great role model. Also, he has some of the most quotable lines like “As far as I’m concerned, that’s America’s a**.”

Family Message

From watching the trailer, we see that Scott will be tempted by Kang to go back to the past to raise his daughter Cassandra. As a father I can see how tempting this would be for a loving father. I don't want my children to grow up.  However, I accept it and as they age I believe the most important thing I can do for them is be there for them now and not dwell in the past. I think that is what Scott will learn.

MCU Facility

Kang the conqueror

I haven’t read marvel comics, but I have seen Loki and I have played Lego Marvel Super Heroes 2, so I know a few things about Kang.

In Loki the main antagonist is Kang. When we meet him, he was protecting the universe from his incarnations and by the end of the series we see Loki kill that version of Kang which releases and infinite amount of devils. We know from Loki that Kang manipulates time so if Scott Lang defeats this Kang there are many more version of him. Just think about Endgame, the avengers had to defeated two version of Thanos. With Kang, they will have to face an endless amount of him.

In Lego Marvel Superheroes 2 the main antagonist was Kang who, like the cinematic universe, can manipulate time and brings together multiple universes into one location, Like Dr. Strange in the Multiverse of Madness. I would expect that this is where Kang Saga will lead to. A multiverse being brought together.

Conclusion

I hope that this movie will do well. I liked the first two movies of Antman, and I have been considering seeing this movie in theaters. The cast is great, it will have a message about family, and we will finally get to learn Kang motives.

Lord of the Rings Workout

We all know the best fantasy books and best movies is Lord of the Rings. We all know deep down inside that this is true. Recently, I have been seeing fans workout to reenact great moments from the movies (Link down below). In this post I will be going over workouts to best prepare you for helms deep waiting for Gandolf to arrive at the eleventh hour.

https://www.instagram.com/reel/Ck37Vq3sW3O/?igshid=Yzg5MTU1MDY%3D

Day 1:

Climbing mount doom: 1 mile Incline treadmill.

Frodo lifts: deadlifts 75% max/10, 80% max/8, and 85% max/6.

One does not simply Lunge into Mordor: 3x10 lunges each leg.

Day 2:

Gandolf ups: 3x6 pullups.

Legolas bow pulls: 3x10 seated cable rows.

Day 3:

Helm’s Deep squats: 70% max/12, 75 max/10, 80% max/8 squats.

Gimli jumps: 3x10 box jumps.

They are taking the hobbits to Isengard: 3x30 seconds sprints.

Day 4:

Orc Push: 75% max/12, 80% max/8-10, 85% max/4-6 bench press.

Fly you fools: 3x10 fly’s medium weight.

Day 5:

This is the farthest away from home I’ve ever been: Walk for an hour. Try to walk longer than you did the prior week.

 

If you are looking for a workout while watching the movie, I found this on Pinterest that I found amusing.

 

Uploaded by Norah

 

Emerald in the Cosmere

Illustration by Howard Lyon

On a rating of 10 stars being  "I must own" to 1 star being "boring and a waster of time", I give 8 stars to Tress of the Emerald Sea. It was beautiful book, and I very much enjoyed every moment of the book, and I am glad I purchased it before reading it.

The following are the categories on how I ended up giving this novel 8-stars:

Emotional Impact – How the book made me feel while I was reading it.

Characters – How did the protagonist and supporting characters develop on their journey

Plot – How did I enjoy the plot, was it unique?

Dialogue/Prose – How did I enjoy the writing

Worldbuilding/Magic System – how unique is the world from standard fantasy worlds.

Emotional Impact: 8 stars
Tress is searching for her loved one and its emotional the journey she goes through to find him. One of my favorite parts is when she rescues Charlie and realizes that she has changed so much during the journey that she is not the same person she was while living on the rock.

To me this has great emotional impact, but since it mimics a fairy tale, I didn't feel emotional attached as I have with other books.

Characters: 10 stars
The characters are the best part of the story. I love that they have desires, and they have trails, but they are not traumatized like most characters the Sanderson writes.

I would say most characters are 2 or 3 dimensional characters. The cast has their own motives. The 1-dimensional characters were Dougs who was comedically made to be 1 dimensional. The other would-be harlie's father, but he has only two scenes.

Plot: 6 stars
I enjoyed the plot I admire how Brandon Sanderson takes well known plots like a traditional fairy tale story with a talking side kick and changing it to be unique. I like how Tress progresses in the story and how her passions change while rescuing Charlie.

Dialogue/Prose: 5 stars
The Dialogue for me was average for Brandon Sanderson. The Narrator of the book is Hoid and even though I enjoy him as a character I found his interjections in the story to be distracting at times. At other times I found it humorous.

Most memorable line: "He was six and a half feet tall and had a jaw so straight it made other men question if they were."

Worldbuilding/Magic System: 10 stars
This is one of the best worlds in the Cosmere in my opinion. It might be because of the artwork by Howard Lyon, but I thought it was unique magic system that fits well for pirates. There are twelve moons and the sea (spores) come from the moons. Each spore has a different color which causes the environment to change. Also, Different spores have different effects when given water.

 

**Spoilers**

 

 

Images by Isaac Stewart

Kingdom Hearts 358/2 Days: Summary

I decided to “play” Kingdom Hearts 358/2 before playing Kingdom Hearts II because chronologically KH 358/2 happens prior. I have bought "Kingdom Hearts HD 1.5+2.5 ReMIX" from Epic Games Store and I knew while purchasing it that KH 358/2 comes as an HD Cinematics of the game. Meaning instead of spending hours playing the game I spent about two hours watching cutscenes and occasional summaries of what the main character Roxas has been doing. The only problem I had about it is there are characters that are introduced, but are not developed. For example, Demyx is a character that carries around a guitar and apparently loves it. I wonder if we get to know him better if we were able to play the game. Looking at the games reviews it seems like most people enjoyed playing the game so I feel liked I missed out, but I am glad that I can at least understand the story.

Before going into the story, I just wanted to remind you what “the Organization” is. They are a group of thirteen nobodies, those that remain after loosing the hearts to Darkness. Each member of the organization has an “x” in the name. They dress in a black hooded coat. There will be a post in the future about the members in the Organization describing what I know up to KH II. They are the antagonists for the series. There goal is to collect hearts to construct Kingdom Hearts so they can obtain hearts again. At least that is what the leader says.

The one thing I liked about this game is I felt attached to the three main characters, Roxas, Xion, and Axel. They are all best friends with each other even though they don’t have hearts. Most of the movie takes place on top of a clock tower in Twilight Town enjoying sea-salt ice cream, which sounds really nice having something sweet and salty. At first, I thought the clock tower was lazy animation, but the climax and final battle happens there and its emotional because it’s a battle between friends that ate ice cream together at this tower. I will explain more in the summary. I would have liked to travel to other worlds because that is a staple of the franchise, but since this is a movie, we were kept to three locations.

Some themes that were played during the movie is even though they have no hearts they still have attachments. They might not understand what it means to have a heart and feel, but they are attached to what they like, like Demyx is attached to his guitar, Roxas, Xion, and Axel are attached to their friendship, and other members are attached to their objectives. After watching the movie, I believe (and could be wrong) that nobodies have a heart its just clouded by Darkness or something. They have to much emotion to not have a heart. Also, Sacrifice is another theme of the story, especially with Axel and Xion. Axel must choose which one of his best friends he wants to save; Roxas or Xion. While Xion must choose whether she wants to be her own person or sacrifice her life for her friends.

Summary:

Roxas after being born as a nobody is discovered by Xemnas, the head of Organization XIII, and recruits Roxas to be the thirteenth member. Most Nobodies retain there past memories, but Roxas lacks memories of his original self and develops his own personality as time passes (He acted like a zombie the first week; being mindless). Roxas is sent out on missions to fight against Heartless using a keyblade like Sora’s and releasing the hearts the Heartless stole which helps the Organization goal of creating Kingdom Hearts to gain hearts. The Organization must make Kingdom Hearts to gain the hearts that they have lost. Axel has been a mentor to Roxas and teaches him what friendship is and after each mission they eat sea-salt ice cream becoming closer friends. Eventually Axel and a few other members of the organization are assigned to Castle Oblivion, where KH Chain of Memories takes place. During Axel Absence Roxas becomes friends with Xion, the fourteenth member of Organization XIII. Like Roxas, Xion can wield the keyblade and doesn’t remember her past. They form a friendship with each other, and Roxas hopes that Axel will be good friends with her too. While Axel is gone Roxas falls into coma because of Naminé alternations on Sora’s memories. Teaching use that Sora and Roxas a related. After his coma and Axel returns from the castle oblivion (he being the only survivor); Roxas, Xion, and Axel develop friendship enjoying sea-salt ice cream on top of the clock tower in Twilight Town.

Time passes and during one of Xion’s missions she fights against Riku, loses, and goes into coma. While in coma she has visions of Sora feeling that she is attached to him some way. After she wakes, she questions her own existences and distances herself from her friends. Eventually she learns that she is a replica of Roxas/Sora made by Vexen (who made Riku’s replica) to increases efficiency and to be a fail-safe is Roxas fails. She learns that while Sora has been loosing his memories from Naminé she has been absorbing them, specifically the memories of Kairi (that is why she looks like Kairi). With these memories in Xion, Sora is unable to be restored completely keeping him in his coma state in the pod that he put himself in in KH Chain of Memories. After learning from Riku that she must sacrifice herself so Sora can gain his memories and wake up; Xion becomes torn between being her own individual being with her own friends or merge with Sora. When Xion notices that she has been siphoning Roxas’ strength she decides to merge with Sora. For Sora to awaken Xion and Roxas must merge with Sora because they both have his forgotten memories. Axel is commanded by the organization to stop her, and he has a chose whether to let her go save Sora and save Roxas from being completely siphoned or capture her and have Roxas die. He lets Xion go with Riku and loses trust with Roxas (who doesn’t understand how he and Xion are connected and that she is killing him). After She leaves Roxas learns the truth about Xion’s identity and begins to question his own.

Even though Axel set her free the organization eventually captures Xion and alters her memories to attack Roxas to finish absorbing him so she can become the perfect copy of Sora. Upon being defeated by Roxas, her heart becomes released and merges with Sora causing all memories of her to be vanished gradually, meaning no one would remember her. Before he loses his memory of Xion he goes after Xemnas to stop his plan of creating Kingdom Hearts. While in the “World That Never Was” he is confronted by Riku who wants to capture him so Diz can resume restoring Sora’s memories. Roxas overpowers Riku and Riku released the darkness in him, making him look like Ansem, and subdues Roxas. Diz puts Roxas into a simulated Twilight Town removing Roxas memories of the organization so that Roxas may merge with Sora.

Year of Sanderson: What Should You Read?

2023 is going to be known as the year of Sanderson. For those that are fans of Brandon Sanderson already know why, but for those who haven’t heard during Covid Brandon Sanderson stressed wrote 5 new full-length novels, 4 of them will be released in 2023, while the 5^th one will become a graphic novel that will be released in the future. The following link is the original video of him talking about this.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6a-k6eaT-jQ&t=3s

Brandon Sanderson setup a Kickstarter for anyone that wanted to purchase these “Secret Projects” in 2023. By the end of the Kickstarter with over 185,000 backers, he raised over 41 million dollar it became the most successful Kickstarter to date (the second highest was pebble technology which had over 78,000 backers raised over 20 million dollars). These four novels would be spaced evenly throughout the year giving us the time to digest them. For how much he is releasing next year 2023 will be known as the year of Sanderson. Do not worry though if you think 4 books isn’t enough to proclaim 2023 being the year of Sanderson, he will be publishing the last book in his YA Skyward series, Defiant as well.

Since 2023 will be the year of Sanderson I believe we should read more than five books. I think we should read as much as we can of Sanderson's work. In this post I will go over what books I think we should read in 2023. The most priority will be mentioned first and will descend in order on what should be read.

Artist: Michael Whelan

The Cosmere (On going):

This is the most popular well-known series Brandon Sanderson has written. The Cosmere is a fantasy series that takes place in one universe with multiple series/standalones taking place in it, each story takes place in a world in this universe (Cosmere). Even though the main story in each book, so far, does not affect another world it does not mean that it will stay that way. There are characters that show up from different stories (Different planets). The most popular world hopper is Hoid. He can be seen in every series, sometimes having a different name. Out of all the secret project books 3 of them will take place in the Cosmere and two of them are a stories told by Hoid, while the last has Hoid play an important role in it. 

Artist:  queenofeagles

These books are all the books in the Cosmere of how I believe the series should be read. You can read them in any order you want to, this is my suggestion.

Artist: meoni_ka

1. Elantris
2. Mistborn Era 1 Trilogy:
1. The Final Empire
2. The Well of Ascension
3. The Hero of Ages
3. Whitesand (Graphic Novel):
1. Volume 1
2. Volume 2
3. Volume 3
4. Warbreaker
5. Stormlight Archives Series:
1. The Way of Kings
2. Words of Radiance
1. Edgedancer (Stormlight Novella)
3. Oathbringer
1. Dawnshard (Stormlight Novella)
4. Rhythm of War
6. Arcanum Unbound
7. Mistborn Era 2:
1. The Alloy of Law
2. Shadows of Self
3. The Bands of Mourning
4. The Lost Metal

Artist: Katie Payne

(Best Character)

Skyward Series (On going):

Artist: Sam Green

With the last book of this Spensa’s story is being released in 2023, it is appropriate to read Brandon Sanderson YA Sci-Fi series. I don’t want to spoil this series, but it’s a space battle series that focuses on a young girl named Spensa who discovers she is special compared to most people who fight with her for survival.

1. Skyward
2. Starsight
1. Sunreach (Novella)
2. ReDawn (Novella)
3. Evershore (Novella)
3. Cytonic
4. Defiant

Alcatraz vs. the Evil Librarians (Finished Work):

 Artist: Marina Vidal

This series is a fun series about how Librarians brain wash the true nature of the world and Alcatraz and the citizens from free kingdoms fight against the librarians and everything the librarians believe in, like order. It’s a fun series that are great for young readers.

1. Alcatraz vs. the Evil Librarians
2. Alcatraz vs. the Scrivener’s Bones
3. Alcatraz vs. the Knights of Crystallia
4. Alcatraz vs. the Shattered Lens
5. The Dark Talent
6. Bastille vs. the Evil Librarians

The rest of these books I have not read yet, but I am planning on reading them next year.

The Reckoners (On going):

Artist: u/mangodragonarts

When people obtain superpowers, they are first thought to be heroes but turn out to be more villainous. It requires ordinary humans to assassinate them. This is a YA version of The Boys.

1. Steelheart
1. Mitosis
2. Firefight
3. Calamity
4. Lux

Legion(On going):

Artist: Jon Foster

Stephen Leeds (Legion) has unique mental abilities that generates multitude personae. Who investigates mysteries. Fun fact Brandon Sanderson wrote the first story on the flight home from France in 2011.

1. Legion
2. Legion: Skin Deep
3. Legion: Lies of the Beholder
4. Death and Faxes

Infinity Blade:

artist: breath-art

I believe this is finished work, but these two books are based on the bestselling video game Infinity Blade. This story follows Siris who fights against Titans to face the evil God King in a one-on-one combat. If you are fans of the game then I would expect you to enjoy these two books.

1. Awakening
2. Redemption

Standalones so far:

1. Dark one: is a graphic novel that I read that explores when a person gains power will he/she use it to be a savior or a destroyer. There should be more coming in the series in the future, sometime.
2. The Apocalypse Guard: Like the reckoners, where people obtain superpowers, but it does not take place in the same world.
3. The Rithmatist: A book that I believe will take a long time before he continues it. Brandon Sanderson wrote this book and forgot that he teased a second book. A rithmatist have power to infuse life into two-dimensional figures known as chalkings. Rithmatists are the only ones that can fight against wild Chalkings.

The Wheel of Time (Finished Work):

 Artist: Darrell K. Sweet

There is an honorable mention I should mention here. Brandon Sanderson finished the last 3 books for Robert Jordan epic series The Wheel of Time. I have read this 15-book series and Brandon Sanderson is the 2^nd best person to finish this series, the 1^st being Robert Jordan. The series focuses on a group of farmers who obtain unique abilities to fight against the Dark One. One of the boys is the Dragon reborn, a man that can wield the one power destine to break the world to defeat the dark one. However, men that use the one power are tainted and become insane. Therefore, men that can channel the one power are killed. How could this farmer fight against the Dark One and survive against women channelers trying to kill him? Read and find out. 

1. New Spring (prequel book)
2. The Eye of the World
3. The Great Hunt
4. The Dragon Reborn
5. The Shadow Rising
6. The Fires of Heaven
7. Lord of Chaos
8. A Crown of Swords
9. The Path of Daggers
10. Winter’s Heart
11. Crossroads of Twilight
12. Knife of Dreams
13. The Gathering Storm (Written by Brandon Sanderson)
14. Towers of Midnight (Written by Brandon Sanderson)
15. A Memory of Light (Written by Brandon Sanderson 

All of Brandon Sanderson work can be found here:

https://collectingsanderson.com/

Five Takeaways from Reading the Harry Potter Books for the First Time

 

I have recently finished reading the Harry Potter series for the first time in my life. Many attempts have been made to read this series. My first attempt was when I was young, and my sister read it to me and after every chapter she would quiz me on what she read. After numerous failed quizzes she gave up on me. Now she is a junior high school teacher; her poor students! May they have more mercy than I ever had!

Anyway, after copious numbers of fans encouraged me to read the series, I recently accepted their challenge and read it. I enjoyed the series for the most part. The last book was the weakest in my opinion. But after reading the books, here are 5 takeaways that I noticed while reading the series for the first time.

Fair warning, I watched all the movies before reading the books, but it has been a long time since I have seen them. The books are better than the movies so if you liked the movies and have not read the book, read them! Also, spoilers. . .

Voldemort Could Have Won if he Trusted His Followers

In the first book Voldemort is using Quirrell to host his spirit as he attempts to get the sorcerer’s stone. Instead of doing it all on his own if he confided in Snape that he is with Quirrell, then Snape would have been bound to prevent Quirrell from getting the stone increasing Voldemort chances on getting it and becoming resurrected, even though Snape was a double agent.

Also, if Voldemort kept his promise not to harm Lily Potter, then he would have a devoted Snape following him. With Lily surviving, the prophecy would have been voided. Without killing Lily, Harry wouldn’t have been marked therefore he would not have an equal.

"The one with the power to vanquish the Dark Lord approaches... born to those who have thrice defied him, born as the seventh month dies... and the Dark Lord will mark him as his equal, but he will have power the Dark Lord knows not... and either must die at the hand of the other, for neither can live while the other survives... the one with the power to vanquish the Dark Lord will be born as the seventh month dies..."

Neville Longbottom is a Leader

In the movies I remember Neville being a burden with low affinity for magic, but he stood up for his friends. He will do what he must to protect them. In the books he starts off the same way, but in the seventh book he becomes a leader.

When Harry, Ron, and Hermine need to find a horcrux in Hogwarts they meet up with Neville who sneaks them into the school. We find out that Neville has been taking a stand against the Death Eaters and is the leader of Dumbledore's Army. Because of this, he gets tortured with the crucio curse (the same curse that was used against his parents), blackmailed (they attempt to kill his grandma), and, finally, they try to kill him. That year he became a leader for the school. When he spoke no one talked, they listened. Unlike Voldemort’s followers Neville’s followers trusted him because he loved them. No wonder he could have been the other chosen one. He has something Voldemort didn't. . .

The Comedy is Priceless

From the movies I knew that Fred and George were the comedic relief, but in the books, they are way more fun. Not only were they the comedic relief they were friends with Harry Potter and they were the trouble makers for the school. What James Potter, Sirius Black, Remus Lupin, and Petter Pettigrew did at school was nothing compared to the twins did. 

Peeves was a character in the books that was never in the movies. He was a ghost that caused trouble for the faculty and students, but no one could do anything about him. He didn’t listen to anyone except Fred and George. In book 5, Order of the Phoenix, Fred and George are leaving school with a bang and gave Peeves an instruction and he listened.

"'Give her hell from us, Peeves.'

And Peeves, whom Harry had never seen take an order from a student before, swept his belled hat from his head and sprang to a salute as Fred and George wheeled about to tumultuous applause from the students below and sped out of the open front doors into the glorious sunset."

Loosing a Wand in a Duel

In the last book, Deathly Hallows, the idea of wand ownership was introduced. If you lost in a duel than the winner of that wand would have been able to use the loser’s wand better than the loser. This is how Harry wins against Voldemort in the end. The Elder Wand was rightfully Harry’s and, therefore, Voldemort spell backfired when using Harry’s wand against him.

This should have been introduced earlier in the series. If it did, I believe it would have been a great tie-in to how the ending of the last book. The rules are confusing and I think readers would be able to understand it better if we had more time to learn about it.

Also does this mean when they practiced dueling in the second book, Chamber of Secrets, the winner of each duel would have a new wand, potentially a collection of new wands?

Dumbledore Died by Greed

We all know that Dumbledore is the mentor in the series and like every mentor he dies to help the chosen one. In the books we learn that Dumbledore's downfall is because of his greed for immortality. When Dumbledore gets Marvolo’s Ring with the resurrection stone in it, he puts on the ring because of his desire to resurrect his family and therefore became cursed which led to his death. Dumbledore has always been interested in immortality: we've known this since book one, since he helped create the Sorcerer’s Stone.

I think it was clever of how we learned of Dumbledore’s imperfections and desires for immortality which led him to his death and how that tied in with what we already know about him.

In conclusion, I see why people love this series. The series follow similar fantasy tropes, but also expands on them. The book is serious and also humorous. Instead of having a protagonist that everyone can relate to we have a teenager. Instead of Gandalf we have Dumbledore. The chosen one could have been anyone that Voldemort chooses. All in all I had a fun time reading this serious. If you have not read it you should!