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Dr. Jayce, Steve, and Ben talk about some of their favorite speeches from sci-fi and fantasy.
With a special guest performance from Shazbot!
Did we miss your favorite? Probably . . . so please, go ahead and let us know! You can contact us here!
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Good episode! I can’t really add much. I like Gandalf’s speech at the end, when they are setting out for the west. I think it’s beautiful. There’s so much being said.
You need to do a show on sci-fi fantasy rivalries. One of my favorite exchanges is between Optimus and Megatron in the Transformers movie from 86. The music and animation made for a long anticipated scene. Not really a speech, but the I still find it to be rather epic.
Nice choices, guys. Lord of the Rings, particularly the book, has my favorite speeches hands down.
More recently I’ve really enjoyed the Doctor’s “don’t mess with me” speeches from the new Doctor Who. Probably my favorite example is when the Doctor is standing between the Pandorica and, well, everybody:
Hello, Stonehenge! Who takes the Pandorica, takes the universe! But bad news, everyone, ’cause guess who! Ha! Listen, you lot! You’re all whizzing about; it’s really very distracting. Could you all just stay still a minute, because I! Am! Talking!
Now, the question of the hour is, “Who’s got the Pandorica?” Answer: I do. Next question: Who’s coming to take it from me? Come on! Look at me! No plan, no back-up, no weapons worth a damn! Oh, and something else, I don’t have anything to lose! So, if you’re sitting up there in your silly, little spaceship with all your silly, little guns, and you’ve got any plans on taking the Pandorica tonight, just remember who’s standing in your way! Remember every black day I ever stopped you, and then, and then, do the smart thing: Let somebody else try first.
I considered a couple different speeches from the Doctor, but my list was just too big.
And though not a quote this is my favorite fantasy narration ever. It just said so much and is so applicable to life. It still makes me tear up when I read through. Not due to the fantasy nature, but that it was taken from life and likely much illuminated from experiences in and around war. The imagery of tears being the wine of blessedness says so much. Just everything in that paragraph is just gold. We have fulfillment (Sam’s), resolution, sorrow and joy. Just excellent.
“And all the host laughed and wept, and in the midst of their merriment and tears the clear voice of a minstrel rose like silver and gold, and all men were hushed. And he sang to them, now in the Elven-tongue, now in the speech of the West, until their hearts, wounded with sweet words, overflowed, and their joy was like swords, and they passed in thought out to regions where pain and delight flow together and tears are the very wine of blessedness.”
I have to say that this list could go on for days – but I thought of two that could be really great. One from a book (though apparently it’ll be on TV eventually) and the other from one of the quintessential sci-fi shows.
The first is said by the character Sam Black Crow from the book American Gods. Now this book is not remotely an accurate depiction of God – but the speech that she gives towards the end of the book to the main character about how she believes in the ludicrous story of norse gods plotting schemes against new gods of commercialism and media is a bit of monologue I have spent ages pondering. It has everything to do with the nature of belief – and it says a lot about a person’s journey of faith (whether towards or away from) God as part of it says “I believe in a personal god who cares about me and worries and oversees everything I do. I believe in an impersonal god who set the universe in motion and went off to hang with her girlfriends and doesn’t even know that I’m alive. I believe in an empty and godless universe of causal chaos, background noise, and sheer blind luck.” And that is only part of that speech. It’s also part of why that book has held a place in my top 3 favorite works of fiction since the day I finished reading it.
For the TV show I couldn’t help but suggest the Pandorica speech from Doctor Who. You know the one – the “Hellooooooooo Stonehenge” one. Heck, there’s even a Doctor Who podcast out there that calls itself Hello Stonehenge because of it. The Doctor has the ships of dozens, if not hundreds, of angry alien races staring down the barrels of their blasters at him, and he calls them to task by simply saying a variation on “I’m the Doctor. You know why you all fear me. Who’s first to try and come after me?” And after he gives that speech – they all run away, understanding that there is no way they can beat him.
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