411 – Saruman Won’t Back Down

About this episode

The episode explores Saruman's challenges and Gollum's peculiarities in Moria while discussing themes from 'The Hunt for the Ring' in 'Unfinished Tales'.

Gollum was peculiarly fitted to survive in Moria, though at cost of great misery; Matt is also able to survive his time on the PPP with the same cost. Join The Man of the West and The Nerd of the Rings as we get a closer look at Saruman’s unenviable position in our third episode of four on The Hunt for the Ring from Unfinished Tales. Gollum doesn’t know how to open a door, Saruman discovers there ain’t no easy way out, and the Nazgûl make a new friend on the road north. We conclude that Númenor messed up Middle-earth timezones but agree they’re still smart enough not to bother with Daylight Saving Time, agree with Bret Devereaux’s conclusion that “Saruman is a dummy-wummy whose plans fail because they are bad”, and observe that we might be the only two people in the Venn diagram of sports fans and Tolkien fans. Also: Matt gets the munchies. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

People in this episode

Hosts: Matt, The Man of the West, The Nerd of the Rings

Topics covered

• Saruman
• Gollum
• Middle-earth
• Tolkien
• Nazgûl
• Unfinished Tales

Keywords

• Saruman
• Gollum
• Nazgûl
• Middle-earth
• Unfinished Tales
• Tolkien
• Moria
• Númenor

Mentioned in this episode

Books & works: The Hunt for the Ring, Unfinished Tales

Places: Moria, Númenor, Middle-earth, north

More episodes of The Prancing Pony Podcast

• 416 – The Sound of Silence · June 7, 2026 · 1h 41m
• 415 – Saruman’s OPSEC Problem: Unfinished Tales with Dr. Bret Devereaux · May 31, 2026 · 1h 51m
• 414 – With or Without You · May 24, 2026 · 2h 5m
• 413 – The Unforgettable Fire · May 17, 2026 · 1h 55m
• 412 – Far Fallen · May 10, 2026 · 1h 55m
• 410 – You Got Lucky, Gollum · April 26, 2026 · 1h 52m