Our 10 Favorite Speeches of the Century (So Far)
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Check out the Apple Card Daily Cash Calculator to see how much daily cash you can earn. Visit apple.co slash card calculator today. Subject to credit approval. Apple Card issued by Goldman Sachs Bank USA, Salt Lake City branch. Terms and more at applecard.com. Greetings and welcome to House of R, a Ringerverse podcast on the Ringer Podcast Network. I'm Mallory Rubin.

She's something of a speech maker herself. It's Joanna Robinson. Mallory, I'm having already such a good time with our summer slate. This has been such a joy, except this prompt, which we created for ourselves voluntarily. Thought it would be fun. Has nearly destroyed us, our souls, our hearts.

Certainly our minds. Our ability to communicate as partners in pods. It's an exciting, harrowing experience putting together this list today. Yeah, I second that. This is an exercise in absolute joy and celebratory reflection. And it was a torturous act that I think has taken years off my life. Can't wait to pod today. But Joanna. Yeah, Mallory. Before we get to our...

best slash favorite speeches of the century so far and explain how we're going to embark on today's exercise and also remind people that this is just the beginning of our best of the century so far series. And we will be checking in with prompts the rest of the year.

Let's do some other quick programming reminders because there's a lot going on. Over on the Ringerverse, the Midnight Boys. Pew pew! We'll be checking in on Ironheart next Wednesday, episodes one, two, and three for the three-part premiere. And then later next week, Friday, Button Mash will have a Death Stranding 2 reaction pod along with a check-in on the games of the year. So far. How about us here on the House of R? Here's what we've got coming.

You already know this, but just in case you don't, Hot Nolan Summer has begun. So there is a Batman Begins 20-year anniversary revisitation pod already waiting for you. Check it out. He's here. The Batman.

The first but not the last bit of voice work you're going to be doing today. And that's exciting. That's exciting for everyone. Next week, we will be checking in on 28 Years Later, the new 28 movie. And we will also be doing a little bit of a zombified, gamified something.

As part of that. Something, something zombies. Something, something zombie. A member of our team, we won't say which member of our team suggested the 28 hottest zombies. There are all sorts of ideas. And as David Jacoby likes to say, no bad ideas in a brainstorm. So it could be anything at this point. I can't wait to see that movie. I'm very excited to see that. And then later next week.

It's already time for us to begin our months-long Stranger Things rewatch. We're going to be checking in on a season, loosely a season per month as we march toward the final season later this year. So we will be checking in with season one. I've already started. End of next week. Revisiting season one of Stranger Things. What a joy. I've already started. My best friend somehow has never seen Stranger Things, so she's watching with me and she

She did this thing that we love to do, which is tell me everything you think you know about X property that you've never seen. She got vaguely there, but she was like, four boys, bikes, something, something. She's like, wait, one of the boys is a girl. I was like, sure. So anyway, we're having a great time. Did Eggo Waffles come up or is that a little bit of a deeper cut? No Waffles, no mention of Barb, but we will spend some time on that when we get there. We'll be mentioning Barb. Yeah.

I mean, it's such, season one is such a freaking banger. Like, it's so good. It's great. It's a joy. An absolute joy. And if anyone else is like, what else? Wow, Stranger Things. Didn't know, hadn't heard, maybe you haven't listened to the Summer Hype Meter. Guess what? We've got the Summer Slate waiting for you on the Ringerverse social handles. Go to the Ringerverse Instagram.

the ringer verse Twitter, go to our various social handles. It's there for you. You can check out many of the exciting things that we have coming the rest of June, July, August, including Buffy the vampire.

Rewatch for you, first watch for me. A lot of... We've been hearing from a lot of people in our lives about this. People are freaking out that you're going to be watching Buffy for the first time. Yeah, it's exciting. I'm freaking out personally. So, yeah. Exciting! Joanna, how can everybody follow along? Oh my God, I'm so glad you asked. First of all, why don't you follow the pod? Our pod, Bring Her First, all of that. What a great idea. On the podcatcher of your choice. But why not Spotify? Also, you can follow us on social. We're on Twitter. Twitter.

We're on Instagram. We're on TikTok. We're all around. So follow us there. You can see some Instagram reels of us talking about various things. You can check out, as Mallory mentioned, the Summer Slate is on the Ring of Earth Instagram feed and the Ring of Earth Twitter feed. And you can always email us, hobbitsanddragons at gmail.com. You guys send a lot of speech messages.

We're also getting some good nominations for other categories we might do for our best ofs for the rest of the year. They're pretty horny so far. So nothing wrong with that. But if you have any non-horny suggestions, Hobbs and Dragons is email. I was going to say keep the horny suggestions coming. I love it. Also that. But yeah, if you've got Stranger Things thoughts, if you've got a fuckable zombie you want to talk about. Yeah, let us know. Let us know. We found the...

the field pretty thin when it came to... The flesh sort of sloshes off. That's kind of one of the things about being a zombie. It's not that conducive to extracurricular activities. So it probably won't do a hot zombie, but we'll see. Coldest zombie? Who's to say? Oh, you're the best. All right. Spoiler warning for today. Got to be honest. It's

It's just kind of like everything. I will say there's one thing in particular where I plan to talk around some things. Yeah. But for the most part, we're picking like, because it's only 10. Yeah.

Don't remind me. Which was very hard. And it's 25 years of sci-fi fantasy properties. I would say most of our picks are things you've probably seen. You'd probably be familiar with them. Yeah. We're not going, there's not room to go super obscure on this. So, you know, we're not going to be spoiling anything you've never heard of or been meaning to get around to. But if we do...

We'll warn you a little bit. We'll tell you what the thing is from. And then if you want to skip ahead, you can skip ahead. Yeah. And if you haven't seen it, it might be so out of context that it won't matter for you. We'll see. There are going to be some of these where I try also to not go into like extreme plot detail, but just the candidly inherent nature of the speech in question is revealing on the spoiler front. But so it goes.

This episode is brought to you by Metro by T-Mobile. Have you heard? Metro lowered their prices and are giving you a five-year price guarantee on talk, text, and data. Oh, and you get a free 5G phone, all with no ID required and no activation fees.

Bring your number. Not available if currently at T-Mobile or with Metro in the past 180 days. Guarantee covers monthly price of on-network talk, text, and 5G data for customers activating on an eligible plan. Exclusions apply. Details at metrobytmobile.com. Okay, Joanna, before we get to our picks, should we get to the rules? Let's do it. How are we...

embarking upon this exercise, our 10 favorite speeches of the century so far. As you already noted, this was a challenge. We thought it would be fun and it was, but it was also horrible. It was horrible. As always. I feel like I should do a dramatic reading of some of the texts you sent me last night. Go for it. You're free to. Okay. Hold on one second. Please hold. Why did I suggest best of the century? I want to die. This is so hard. Kill me. Hold me.

Yeah. This is an act of joy and also genuine torment. Yep. I stand by the take. Genuine anguish, absolute anguish, can't decide, truly painful, cruel. And then I said, we could change it to 15. And you said, looks like our new Gmail address. We could change it to 15 at gmail.com. It's not. Anyway, if we stuck to five, we might've had strokes because originally it was supposed to be five. Can you imagine? No, honestly, that might've been easier.

Anyway, it just went on and on like that. It was all for hours. Hours and hours. I think I started those texts around 1 p.m. And I don't think they stopped until this morning. Yeah. In fact, they haven't stopped. This is torturous. I want to die. I can't wait to pod. Was at...

Seven o'clock last night. Anyway. Great stuff. Here we are. We made it through the long night of picking speeches. Okay, so here's how we're going to do it. As always, when we do a countdown of sorts, we're going to count down. We're going from 10 to 1. Our lists are surprises. I don't know what's on your list. You don't know what's on my list. We have some guesses about what might be on our respective lists, but we don't actually know for sure.

Guess who does know? Carlos, John, and Arjuna. They have our list, so they know. But we don't know. And that's the thing we both love, is knowing less than the other people who are on a Zoom with us at a given moment in time. It makes for good radio, man. I think it'll be great. The surprises, the shock, the awe. I think it'll be great. The disappointment, the bafflement. We'll share it all together. What's eligible today? Okay. Okay.

Best of the century so far means that if it has happened since January 1st, 2000, if that is when these words reached us, any day from that day until right now, the speech can be selected. On the property front, genre picks, meaning we have not been potting together since 2000. Feels like we have been. Oh. But we haven't been. But if we could have, in theory, podcasted about something together here on House of R,

On Ring of Hearts, it's eligible to die. Do you have anything that you feel like pushes that definition? No. I have one, but I can make a good case. There were so many things. I was worried about that at first, but there were so many things in the core story set that I was just like, well, I have some other things that I think we could quibble with of like, does this count as a speech, which we'll get to in a second. So, yeah. But...

I don't think the, is this a genre pick will really come up with mine, but if it comes up with yours, that's fine. Guess what? This is a nice transition into the what is a speech question, because let's just say, this isn't a draft. We're not competitors. We're not in competition with each other today. This is a shared celebration. And so I do not understand

I do not anticipate challenging any of your picks. I don't think you will challenge any of mine. And if any of the bad babies want to challenge ours, here's what we would suggest instead. Let us know what you would have nominated and we'll just make it a part of a shared fabric. How about that? You can also complain. It doesn't mean I'll read the email, but you can write it. That's fine. All right. Here's what we landed on for what is a speech. We're going.

Supreme Court pornography rules. You know it when you see it. You know it when you hear it. Is it possible that a given speech that we have selected today is more technically a monologue? Yeah, but you know what? For our purposes, that's allowed. I will say...

I did find that once I really opened it up to monologues, I lost the ability to narrow the consideration set at all. And so I actually went – I have some that I think are more monologue than speech, certainly. But I went heavier on true speech than I was initially anticipating because I didn't know how to make my picks otherwise. Sure. Audience size. We think speech. We think –

You're addressing a mass collective. You're on a balcony and there's masses. Maybe. No. But guess what? Maybe not. A speech can be to an audience of one. Maybe it's to an audience of no one but your fucking self. That's fine. Could be. Maybe the words...

were prepared in advance, scripted, and crafted with care. Maybe they're impromptu off the dome. It's about how it feels. It's about whether it rises to a certain level of spectacle and theatricality, right? You know, if it feels like it has that grandeur, maybe it's more speechifying than speech.

If, uh, if the, so these are film and television only is what we're drawing from. We're not doing any like books or comic books or anything like that. It's just that would not have been a possible exercise. What would we have done?

But something I, a threshold that I put for myself is I was like, would an actor submit this as an Emmy or Oscar reel? It's sort of like, you know, one of the things that I sort of set for myself in terms of that, like, theatricality. That this is my time to shine and show all of the actorly tricks that are in my bag. Do I have a couple where there's like,

a line from another person injected between a couple paragraphs, sure, like that happens. But it's not a back and forth. This is like one person taking the mic and really owning it. Right, exactly. It could be a monologue instead of a true, true, true speech, but it can't be just conversation. No. Yeah. And some of our picks, you might be like, I thought your favorite quote or your favorite moment or line from this property was this. Yeah, maybe it is. But maybe that means that's not eligible for today's exercise. Let's show down on what we mean by favorites.

The goal is not necessarily to make a comprehensive list of the definitively, unanimously agreed upon best BEST speeches of the century so far. These are the ones that grip us for some reason. And we will explain what those reasons are as we go. But to us, they are iconic. To us, they are memorable. To us, they are essential. To us, they are adored. And that is how we decided to make our list. Okay.

It's not like most inspirational or anything like that, though it could be inspiring. But that's not – it doesn't have to be inspiring. It doesn't have to be a hero. It doesn't have to be a villain. It doesn't have to be any of that sort of thing. It just has to be something that we love that represents –

the century so far. Exactly. Joanna, did you have any other personal rules that you set for yourself? The Emmy reel or Oscar reel is a great one. Did you have any other limits or guardrails that helped you define how you were going to set your list? I'll be open about this. You and I both discovered this. Most of the best speeches in film and television have been written for men. So this is something that we encountered. Yeah.

that like mostly men get to make these speeches. That's not something we decided. That's something Hollywood has decided. So that is true. So some variety there was something that I was after. And then also I,

The first thing I did as I was writing these down was put the year next to them so that I could try to get some kind of spread across the 25 years. How successful were you on that front? It's kind of concentrated. There's a concentration in the first five or 10 years and then a concentration in the last five or 10 years. You're like, that adds up to 25. There's a five-year gap in the middle that I think was between me being a...

You know, in college, in my early 20s, rabid consumer of media and me becoming a professional pop culture critic. There's like a few years of wilderness in the middle there that like maybe isn't as well represented, but... It sounds like you set your list the same way they cast Survivor season 50. Yes. Heavy early, heavy late. So you eat shit if you're in the middle. Eat shit middle. Absolutely. Yeah.

But also, I mean, we have these, you know, these concentrated sci-fi fantasy moments tend to come in waves as well. And so I think, you know, we definitely had a wave. In the year 2000 going forward, we had, you know, certain incredibly seismic waves.

sci-fi fantasy properties came about and inspired a lot of imitators, blah, blah, blah. And then we had a bit of a lull. And then there's the superhero movie boom and a bunch of other things that happened that provided us a lot of fodder. So yeah, it was interesting to look at. It really was. I was super worried about real recency bias. But it

an interesting thing about the passage of time, which has been coming up a lot here recently, is that you start to realize when you jot some things down that something that feels like it was yesterday was like six years ago. And that's actually a while ago. Not to spoil anything, but I think... Actually, this is my... I will say I was surprised by...

How few things I had from the last couple of years. I have a couple. I have a couple. I have a couple. The other personal rule that I said, and I believe you ended up doing the same, though again, I don't know your picks. One pick per property. Just too many worthy contenders to... There's a version of this list, frankly...

A great version of maybe this will be a pod we do at some point in the future where it's like just 10 Game of Thrones picks. Oh, yeah. We could have done that in our sleep. Easily. And I can make it. Maybe we should because it was really hard to kill me. But, you know, we want to be able to talk about many different stories and moments from various fictional universes that have left their mark this century. Okay.

Those are the rules. Now, again, as mentioned before we dive into our list, we are going to be doing the best of the century so far as a recurring series the rest of the year. We've got a couple topics that we're excited about. We will not be revealing them yet, but we also have some open slots and some things that are just kind of like in the we're mulling, we're noodling stage. So Joe noted that a lot of you have been sending your ideas. Keep them coming, please, because we are...

much viewing this as like a living document over the rest of the year. It's something where doing a couple of these episodes might inspire ideas for other episodes that we want to do in the future. And that's also something that happened while working on this list. I also need you guys to know that Mallory last night let me know that she like whispered personal promises to her favorite properties that weren't included in this list that they wouldn't be included in future lists. Yeah.

Like she was leaving some of her favorite children behind and told them they could come on the next trip. So, yeah. Yes, exactly. It was painful. So I feel like that was part of how I made peace with this exercise is knowing that we will have opportunities in the future to visit stories and spend time with characters or moments or scenes or whatever the case may be. Hot zombies. That didn't make the cut today. All right.

All of that preamble issued. We are ready to share our top tens. After we get through our top tens. Get through makes it sound like it's like a just... A flog, but it'll be a pleasure. After we...

have the absolute fortune to marinate the privilege of sharing our top 10s with each other. We will get to the honorable mentions. We might have a few extras that we want to toss out there, though I think that feels like Pandora's box. And once we start, it's like, maybe we just list 500 things. So I think what we really want to use that space for is hearing from

Carlos, John, and Arjuna about anything that they are like, how dare you guys do this pod and not talk about Thing X? And also to share some of the nominees from the bad babies that we got ahead of this episode. So that will be a fun way to make this even more of a shared experience. I already got a, not like a chiding, but a comment from John Richter where he was like, I was surprised to see some of mine were not on your list. And I was like, okay, we'll see. We'll see.

John Richter. I'm excited to hear what you guys came up with, and the bad babies really came through with a lot of great suggestions, too. All right. My heart's racing. My stomach's clenching. I'm consumed by guilt for the things we're not going to get to. I'm going to try really hard to spend time actually celebrating the things that I've picked and not just rationalizing why I didn't pick other things. That's my pledge from me to you. Will I honor it? We'll find out. We'll find out. Let's start.

With number 10, Joanna, take it away. Carlos, will you play my first clip, please? I believe that stories helped us to ennoble ourselves, to fix what was broken in us, and to help us become the people we dreamed of being.

That was Sir Anthony Hopkins in Westworld Season 2, the finale by Cameromind. And so, as a character, Ford, who is a character who...

I just wanted to celebrate a couple of things here at the bottom of the list. One is the absolute joy. I mean, this is hot Nolan summer, so let's give it up to Jonathan and Lisa Joy Nolan for their work on Westworld season one. Westworld season one, I maintain, is one of the most perfect seasons of television that's ever existed. We had the great fortune in the year 2016 –

of for 10 weeks on HBO, getting to watch one of our greatest actors of all time, Sir Anthony Hopkins, give so many speeches, so many monologues, expounding about the nature of humanity, science, art, all this sort of stuff. This speech...

which is about story, which is a bookend theme of my list here today, is his final speech at the end of season one. This is season one finale by Cameral Mind. And he is talking about, you know, since I was a child, I've always loved a good story. I believe that stories help to ennoble ourselves, to fix what was broken in us, and to help us become the people we dreamed of being lies that told a deeper truth. We...

regrettably often make fun of the line from the series finale of Game of Thrones what's more important than story this is the beautiful version of that sentiment as expressed by once again Sir Anthony freaking Hopkins what makes a great speech you asked it's a question we'll be asking ourselves for the next couple hours or so but um another thing to bear in mind is um

Part of it is like delivery. Part of it is the language. Part of it is the context, but part of it also in some cases here is score. And you hear underneath this range, Ramin Djawadi is incredible, uh, score work, which is a combination of the, the actual score of Westworld. But then a lot of times you would hear, um, covers of pop songs through the player piano that was, uh, that played throughout Westworld season one. Um, I,

love this speech. This is a true, true speech. There are many times when Anthony Hopkins is just sitting with another character, be it a very naked Evan Rachel Wood or a fully dressed person out somewhere and just sort of speechifying is what he would do. This is him with all of the board members at this big party at the end of Westworld season one. And he concludes this speech. He says, this time by choice, I'm sad to say this will be my final story.

This is so beautiful. An old friend once told me something that gave me great comfort, something he had read. He said that Mozart, Beethoven, and Chopin never died. They simply became music. So I hope you'll enjoy this last piece very much. Love. Absolute artistry. And this idea that we love talking about constantly about...

the immortality of story, the enduring quality of story. So story is like a mirror to hold up to ourselves. Story is something that can transform us and transport us. And story is something that will outlive us. And whatever happened to Westworld after season one is its own story. But that first season, which I had the pleasure of covering in podcast form and something looking back in the last 25 years of content,

I don't know if you feel this way, but I definitely have a different relationship with stories that I covered week in, week out on a granular level. And that's something that I did with Westworld. That was a real joy for me for a long time before Westworld kind of went off the rails. But when it was good, there were a few things better in terms of philosophy and contemplating the future of AI, which is something that is greatly on our minds right now and all this sort of stuff. So that is my number 10 from Westworld. Yeah.

I also loved the first season of Westworld. Can't comment on the end of the series, which I did not watch. Yeah, well, you know what? But I think that is a fantastic pick. Thank you so much. Fantastic pick. So when you say that theme of story is the bookend, but then appropriately dunked on the Tyrion finale moment, does that mean that's not the speech that you chose as your number one? Oh, who's to say? Stay tuned. Could be. Okay. Can't wait to find out. Could be. Could be.

Let the mystery prevail. All right. Molly Rubin, what do you got for your number 10? Guess what? I am also going with a Nolan thing. Just not the same Nolan. Maybe? Hot Nolan Summer. Could this be sparked by Hot Nolan Summer and Nolan being on my mind? It's entirely possible. You're going to laugh at me for this one. Carlos, can we hear my number 10? Oh, you think darkness is your ally?

You merely adopted the dark. I was born in it, molded by it. That is a great pick. Who is that? That is, of course, icon legend, elite villain Bane from The Dark Knight Rises. Why did I pick this? Where did he even begin? Part of it is continuing my tradition of celebrating Bane.

Giving Bane his flowers on ringer pods. Something I like to do. Not only, Joanna, am I picking a Bane speech from Dark Knight Rises. I am kind of smushing together two Bane speeches from two scenes that are close enough together that I think I could justify talking about them together. The clip we just heard is from, of course, the iconic fight between

Bane and a trapped and tricked Bruce. The tunnels under Wayne Tower. You can feel the tingle in your spine as I describe it. When Bane says, oh, you think darkness is your ally? You merely adopted the dark. I was born in it, molded by it. And by says, I mean garble mumbles through his... I was born in it.

One of the things that I love about this stretch so much and about Bane genuinely as a villain at the end of that trilogy is that like he is doing in his fashion, in his way.

What Bruce did in Batman Begins that we just talked about. He's trafficking in dread. He's finding strength in the elemental fears of others. The shadows betray you because they belong to me. Because they belong to me. The other thing about this moment that is just so...

fucking cool is that Bane is speechifying while fighting Batman while ensnaring him while breaking his back

over his knee like a rag doll. It's epic and it's terrifying and it's shocking and it's indelible. I was wondering what would break first, your spirit or your body? It's just incredible. And then we go to other characters and then we come back and we are with Bruce and Bane in the pit. Not...

Not HBO Max is the pit, which I have still not watched. But by the way, I saw that they've already begun season two, so I feel like I'm really on the clock. You've got to get going. We'll come back to that. This is a different pit. It's not just that Bruce is...

grievously wounded, that he's trapped, that he's been brought low, is that he has to sit there and listen as Bane mumble garbles on about how there can be no true despair without hope, waging war on Bruce's soul, on Bruce's psyche, and of course, droning on, very memorably, about his intention to destroy the thing that Bruce built his life for.

around protecting Gotham. You can watch me torture an entire city, and then when you have truly understood the depth of your failure, we will fulfill Ra's al Ghul's destiny. We will destroy Gotham. And then when it is done and Gotham is ashes, then you have my permission to die. I'm sorry, that's sick. That slaps. That's just awesome. I definitely wanted to get a couple villain scenes

I have a lot of like hero guy stuff on my list, which felt right too. But I wanted to lean in to the evil, to the dark a bit. And how better to do it than with my beloved Bane. Care to comment?

I love this pic. I mean, I enjoy Bane more than the average bear. My argument to you is more that Bane is not a widely popular character, not that I personally hate Bane. And this speech... It's great. This, I was molded by it. Molded by it. That's like one of the most quotable lines. Molded by it. The quarter century, of course. Delightful. Great pic. Love it. Thank you. You're welcome. I'm so glad that...

You feel you could still podcast with me after my selection. I don't hate Bane. I just don't think Bane is as popular as you think Bane is. But, you know, I support the Bane lovers out there. Thank you. Okay, next. Take control of your city. Did somebody say villain speech? Carlos, will you play my next clip, please? I'm a machine, and I could know much more. I could experience so much more, but I'm trapped in this absurd body. That...

is Dean Stockwell as John Cavill in your beloved Battlestar Galactica. This episode happened in 2009, no exit. And Battlestar Galactica, it's hard to describe the

What a moment this was for sci-fi when Battlestar Galactica emerged. This, you know, remake that nobody was sure they wanted starring, you know, Edward James Olmos. Like, you know, there was no one like hugely famous. It was on the sci-fi network, which was not a network that non-nerds watched. And this speech where he says, I'm is number one, the original Cylon model.

John Cavill. Spoiler. Having a... I'm kidding. That one is not. I'm kidding. I wouldn't list all the side lines, but that's one where I'm like, come on. Um...

is railing against the limitations, the human limitations, uh, that has been put upon him. And this is basically a moment inside of Battlestar Galactica. Uh, it's basically like the tears in the rain, um, you know, speech, uh, for Battlestar Galactica. This is something he says early in the speech. Uh,

He says, have you ever seen a star supernova? Well, I have. I saw a star explode and send out the building blocks of the universe, other stars, other planets, and eventually other life, a supernova, creation itself. I was there.

I wanted to see it and be part of the moment. And you know how I perceived one of the most glorious events in the universe with these ridiculous gelatinous orbs in my skull. So good. I love that. It's so good. Later, he talks about the prehensile pause and all that sort of stuff, like because he says, and why? Because my five creators thought that God wanted it that way. So this is a machine railing against the limitations of his human form. One of the, if you've never seen Battlestar Galactica, one of the

through lines of this story is, of course, this idea of religion and creation and, you know, faith and deities. And I love...

a rebellious creation. I love, you know, I love someone who rails against their creator. And this is what number one is doing here, literally to his creator's face. And I just think it's a wonderful sci-fi moment. These two, Westworld and Battlestar, I think are my most sort of

hard sci-fi heavy representations on this list. But to just return to Battlestar and what it meant, 2009 was really a year, or around this time, was really a time in my young adulthood when I was...

I was mainly spending time with these people that I had gone to high school with or graduated college with. We were all living in San Francisco. Most of them worked for tech companies. I was poor, as I've mentioned before, but they all made gobs of money working for Google and 23andMe and all this sort of stuff like that. And I just felt like I really loved them. They were all brilliant, but they weren't geeks. They were nerds, but not geeks. And then I met a group of geeks, and I found out that they...

would have these weekly dinners and watch Battlestar Galactica. And I was like, that's kind of

of who I want to be. I want to be part of that group. I really wanted to be part of all of those groups, but like I kind of started to be drawn towards this group of people, many of whom are still my closest friends who really celebrated this like true geekiness that there was nothing shameful in like having dinner every week and watching Battlestar Galactica or like walking around with various like flight patches on their clothing from Battlestar Galactica or whatever it was.

So I want to celebrate that show. I've got my Viper patch here somewhere. I know you love Battlestar. I have a pick. Of course. There's obviously some other great picks from Battlestar, but I love Dean Stockwell as someone who grew up with Quantum Leap, and I love his performance in this speech in particular. Fantastic pick. Yeah.

I'll save my thoughts because I have a Battlestar pick coming that I think actually pairs quite nicely with your pick. But I have it coming much higher on my list. So, voila. We'll return to BSG in...

I don't know how many minutes. Okay. We'll find out. I'm going to end here. I want to see gamma rays. I want to hear x-rays. I want to smell dark matter. Bars. Bars. It's like so evocative and gorgeous. Yeah. Incredible show. The best. My number nine is from a show that you introduced me to quite recently. Actually, that's not true. I had watched a season of it, as you know, and as we talked about at length, but you really brought fully into my life. Carlos, can we hear my ninth pick?

This place is my own bespoke torture chamber. Intended for me only. But all those skulls in the water, how could there be other prisoners? That is, of course, the Twelfth Doctor.

Peter Capaldi from Doctor Who, season nine, episode 11, Heaven Sent from 2015. Yeah. It came into my life much more recently when Joe and I did our Doctor Who rewatch for Joe. First watch for me a couple years ago now. No, don't say that. While that time flies. Mere months ago, I think. A minute. Mere moments ago. And this is, you know, as we discussed when we were covering each series and each Doctor, this episode is...

Just blew me away and floored me. And in addition to this being one of the most memorable Who episodes for me, in part because the concept was just so mesmerizing and the emotionality driving the sci-fi time travel process,

mechanic of it was just so like intellectually stimulating um the entire i think you could make a case that basically the entire episode is a speech oh because it's just it's it's 12 right yeah and that aspect of like how a doctor functions in isolation you know without a companion where the company is himself or a problem was just so riveting to watch like there's a puzzle

There's a quest for both a destination and understanding alike. But those words that we just heard from the doctor, this place is my own bespoke torture chamber intended for me only and all those skulls in the water. How could there be other prisoners in my hell?

It's more than just a gasp-inducing revelation when you start to understand what is happening in this space, in Heaven Sent. It's an admission. It's a lament. It's a devastating declaration that carries what feels like the toll of this near-eternal loneliness in just those lines. But then they give way to this rallying cry. And...

I couldn't really pick a clip from that part because it just doesn't really lend itself to being clipped based on the nature of that sequence, but I will talk about it now. This lesson that is basically on some level, like the most reductive level, the one that everybody can find some way to relate to, is like this, just never give up, right? Keep working, keep going, keep chipping away, keep working toward the thing that you know you can find on the other side. But it is wrapped in such a specific...

Doctor Who cloak of perspective and scope and invention. And the way that this sequence builds toward this just astonishing climax is so...

It's mesmerizing to me still. You know how I felt about it when I saw it for the first time. I just have thought about it a lot since. As the shepherd's boy says, there's this mountain of pure diamond. It takes an hour to climb it and an hour to go around it. 52 million years. Every hundred years, a little bird comes and sharpens its beak on the diamond mountain. Nearly a billion years. And when the entire mountain is chiseled away, the first second of eternity will have passed. Well over a billion years. You must think.

That's a hell of a long time. Two billion years. Personally, I think that's a hell of a... Personally, I think that's a hell of a bird. And it's just like so iconic. And it's such a sad episode defined by isolation and yearning and reflecting on mistakes and loss. But it is like so surging at the end there. And I won't get into the particulars of what led to that or where...

12 goes next. We can leave that for people to discover. But I think that the emotional truth of it and what it tells us about how to think about putting one foot in front of the other and like trying to find your way through that diamond is one of the most memorable speeches slash entire episodes because the episode is an ongoing speech of the century so far. And that's my Doctor Who pick.

Do you know what's really great pick? Wonderful pick. Iconic pick. Do you know what is tremendously wild? Tell me. I don't have a doctor who pick. I was wondering if this might happen actually. Here's, there's a couple of reasons why one is I was so overwhelmed by choice that I really could not pick something. And then also, uh, the bad babies came through with a lot of options too. So I was just sort of like, I know doctor who will be represented. Um, uh,

It was really hard for me not to pick one of Matt Smith's speeches, one of David Tennant's speeches. There were so many. It was really hard. I wrote down... The way I started my list was just with properties. There were a couple where I knew exactly what the speech was going to be, but I was just sort of like, what are the properties I want to have represented? And Doctor Who was on my immediate short list, and then it just didn't make it into the final. And that is...

I'm so glad you picked this. This is a great, great choice. And something that I love about Doctor Who, you know, this is a really inventive episode. And something that is true of Doctor Who and a show like Star Trek and something like Black Mirror is that these are all shows that are constructed to give opportunities for writers to write little stories.

genre short stories. Like, you know, what's the short story that you have in mind to explore? You know, what's your, do your Ray Bradbury best in an hour of television? Because there is like a serialized nature to, you know, some of these episodes, but in many cases in Doctor Who, it's the one where this thing happens. And this is just a perfect example of just like an incredible concept, well executed. And Peter Capaldi

Was not the most popular doctor, but the man could give a speech. The speechiest of them all. So good. I love him in this episode in general. So, yeah, great pick. Thank you. What's next? Thanks for representing the doctor. Okay. This pick. Well, Carlos, just play this clip, please. Thank you. I lay down with the devil and he has roots in me.

all his spindly roots in me and i can't think nothing anymore i knew you'd have something from this did somebody say emmy real

Jacob Anderson as Louis de Pont-de-Lac from the first episode, the pilot of Interview with a Vampire 2022, In Throes of Increasing Wonder is the name of the episode. And this is a confessional. This is Louis before he is turned into a vampire. Spoilers for Interview with a Vampire. Louis.

Louis de Pont-de-Lac is one of the most famous vampires in all of fiction. Before he's turned into a vampire. And he's in the confessional just coming to terms with who he is, all of the sins of his life. And, you know, talking about how he has cloaked his many sort of sinful, craven...

actions in the cloak of righteousness. But really coming to terms with who he is and the fear that he has that he has met Lestat de Leoncourt and is just irresistibly drawn to him. I mean, who among us? And this adaptation of Anne Rice's Interview with the Vampire, as you and I have discussed in one of our best episodes ever where I watched Landman and you watched Interview with the Vampire,

Um...

has decided to make the clear queer subtext of the books the actual text of the show. And so this is a, you know, a man in the early 20th century coming to terms with his queerness inside of a confessional, inside of a church where his sexual identity and his racial identity are all part of his otherness. And the way he says that,

I lay down with the devil and he has his roots in me, all his spindly roots in me. And I can't think nothing anymore. Like all his spindly roots in me is just like an example of there are many times in which the show just draws directly from Anne Rice's incredible writing. Um, and then there are times when the show invents its own language to match her writing. And there is, uh,

a poetry and a rhythm, you know, when we're talking about like, how do we know a speech when we hear it? How is this a speech and not a monologue? It is a monologue, but it's a speech at the same time because there is this like, you know, as Daniel Hart's score just swells and swells and swells, there is a rhythm to the way that Jacob Anderson is saying this poem

this language that makes it not conversational, but oration, dramatic oration. And it's florid and it's passionate and it's over the top. But that is what vampire stories often are. And that is what Anne Rice certainly is. And I think some of the ways in which

the language can be so flowery and so specific and so lyrical, uh, is a huge part of what makes this, uh, I would say my favorite currently now that Andor is off the air, my favorite currently airing TV show. Yeah. Um, and I just think Jacob Anderson, who I liked as gray worm, like fine, but I did not know he could do this. Um,

And what he is given to work with and what he does with what he is given to work with in Interview with Vampire is revelatory. It is so hard in an adaptation of any of the Anne Rice Vampire Chronicles to match the

Because Lestat just like devours the oxygen in any room or church that he happens to be in. And certainly I could have picked a million things that Sam Reed does as Lestat in Interview with the Vampire. He's just like fantastic. But I just think that like what Jacob did with this role to make Louis as compelling to me as Lestat is, you know, astounding work. And the pilot of this, and I've said this a million times and I'll say it a million times again, is

The pilot of this show is one of the most incredible hours of television I've ever seen. It's so impressive. And this is the climax. So, you know, this is the climax of the whole thing. And it is just...

Top tier television for me. Top tier speechifying. All his spindly roots in me is something that just like comes into my head all the time. I just think it's incredible writing, incredibly delivered. I had to have vampires on here, of course. Naturally. Naturally. I knew you would have great pick. I knew you would have an interview with a vampire pick. I just wasn't sure. Yeah.

Which character, which season, if it would be something I knew from season one or something that still awaits my discovery in the future. Sensational pick. Thanks. Thanks so much. Great stuff. Is that your only pick involving a vampire of any sort? No. No, I didn't think so. I was going to say, when you said I had to have a vampire, I'm like, at least one. Come on.

Carlos, can we hear my eighth clip? Make mistakes, learn from them. And when life hurts you, because it will, remember the hurt. The hurt is good. It means you're out of that cave. That is, of course, one of the loves of my life. Hopper. Yeah. From Stranger Things. That is from the season three finale, season three, episode eight, The Battle of Starcourt, which aired in 2019. Really?

Good Lord. Here's a question you might be asking. Is a letter a speech? Because that is, of course, from a letter. But I think it is, and I would say certainly it functions as a speech in how it is deployed, right?

I had questions about like voiceover as speech. This was a question I had, but I'm not contesting it. Yeah. This was, this is the one where that I think is like the, of all the ones on my list, this is the biggest cheat in terms of like what counts as a speech. But I think that the, again, the way it is shared with us and the way that it is, that Elle consumes it in the season three finale is first of all,

incredibly long. Like it takes place over many, many, many, many minutes. And it is the like climax, the emotional climax of that season and a certain stretch of the story. It is also, I will say in terms of the way it is rendered and what the reading of the letter pairs with visually. Still for me and I think many other Stranger Things fans, the source of

much series-long time travel speculation about what might still await us in the future of the tale because we are moving in and out of time in a fascinating fashion and the visual stretch of that here. So this is just like a long, I think, really beautiful and moving sequence. And

My favorite part of the letter is that part we just heard. Make mistakes, learn from them, and when life hurts you because it will, remember the hurt. The hurt is good. It means you're out of that cave. And it hurts for us when we hear this because we are thinking of Elle and Hopper and their bond and the loss that they have each suffered. But it also just speaks to something, and this is, I think, what Stranger Things can do when it's at its best.

It is specific to what those characters have just gone through, but it is so universal in terms of what it feels like to grow up. What it feels like maybe if you're a parent to watch your child grow up. What it feels like when you are a young person. Stranger Things is a great coming-of-age story, and this is one of the moments of the show where I think you feel the heartbeat of that just so keenly.

I know you're getting older, growing, changing. And I guess if I'm being really honest, that's what scares me. I don't want things to change. So I think that's maybe why I came in here, to stop that change, to turn back the clock, to make things go back to how they were. But I know that's naive. It's just not how life works. You like my raised eyebrow? No, no, no. It's just like, do you think this is what the producers say when they see how tall the children are?

Oh, they're also old and tall. Also old and tall. That's just not how life works. It's moving, always moving, whether you like it or not. And yeah, sometimes that's painful. Sometimes it's sad. And sometimes it's surprising.

happy. So you know what? Keep on growing up, kid. Don't let me stop you. So Hopper, who is one of the beating hearts of the show, but often quite emotionally repressed, finding a way to express what he's been carrying, to open his heart and to reveal how afraid he is of losing this person that he loves most,

again, very like Joel Ellie coded for me now, revisiting this after our time with Last of Us, but also like to work his way toward recognizing that you can't stop the people who are in your life from changing. Like you can't keep them embedded in Amber in a way that suits you. Part of loving somebody and part of being there for them is supporting how they're evolving and changing and growing and what they need from you in those moments. And then like on the L side of it,

receiving the gift of those words while she's in this state of active mourning. And it's such a larger stretch of change for the kids, you know, who's moving across the country, who's saying goodbye, who has died, who is grieving. So that just core idea that we heard was,

David Harbour beautifully recite, remember the hurt, the hurt is good. I've like often thought, I remember covering season three with Chris and just being so walloped by this moment. And like, I think about this moment a lot. And like, I really love thinking, cause like we're adults watching Stranger Things, but there are a lot of young people who watch Stranger Things. And like,

There are probably a lot of people who heard that and are like, wow. Yeah. You know? Like, it would feel impossible for Elle or somebody who is, like, actively hurting in that moment to believe that. But then when you, like, kind of...

find a way to step back for a second and look at your life and look at the relationships that define your life and embrace that idea. Like, remember the hurt, the hurt is good. Then that can be your superpower. Like that can be how you understand what it means to be alive. And so I just like love that.

And I think it's like a really beautiful part of the story overall and like a really beautiful part of a relationship at the heart of the story that I love. And yeah, it's a letter, but I'm counting it as a speech. And here it is.

Great pick. I will say, so when Hopper shows up in the beginning of season one, we'll talk about this, but I turned to Diana and I was like, get ready. Because that's her physical type. I was like, get ready. She's like, this guy? I was like, yeah. Because you meet him and he's smoking and pill-popping and drinking and whatever. She's like, this guy? Yeah. On his pants, shirt, smoking, drinking, popping pills on the Portrait of a Starler. Oh, I remember. And then later...

When he's like, the woman he's sleeping with, Sandra. And I was like, Sandra, you got to get out of there. Diana turns to me, she's like, no, we can fix him. Like, that's where... Diana. We're fixing it. I was like, got it. Okay. I'm expecting to hear from her when she gets to season three. Yeah, yeah. I was like, okay, we'll wait until the Hawaiian shirts get here. Okay. So I'm glad that your last pick was a little bit of a cheat because here's my little bit of a cheat at number seven. Carlos, will you play that clip? The price you pay...

For bringing up either my Chinese or American heritage as a negative is, I collect your fucking head. That is Lucy Liu as Oren Ishii from Kill Bill Volume 1, 2003. Kill Bill, I will say, maybe not the most obvious house of our choice, but I would say given our coverage of like John Wick, given that the Midnight Boys did Shogun and stuff like that, like I feel like Kill Bill is genre-y enough.

Absolutely. In its, you know, stylized action and, you know, samurai adjacent-ness that it can belong here. And I'm really happy to have a Tarantino representation on this list because Tarantino is one of, like, my favorite wordsmiths. He deals quite beautifully in what someone...

Once at an author event, I went to someone in the audience once when talking to the author about their use of curse words, called it the F patois, the F patois curse.

Is, like, so beautifully deployed by Quentin Tarantino. So, I collect your fucking head, just like this fucker here, because she has just taken off someone's head. She's holding it, in fact. Now, if any of you sons of bitches got anything else to say, now's the fucking time. I didn't think so. Here's what's so great about this speech, among many other things, is she starts in, like, she's cut off a, she's shuffled demurely down the table. Yeah.

Cut off a dude's head. Yeah. And then she says demurely and genially, as your leader, I encourage you from time to time and always in a respectful manner to question my logic. Right? So she like gives this whole speech. Great scene. And then she just like builds and then she just explodes with her aggression. Yeah.

And meanwhile, you know, a woman is translating for her underneath as she's talking, even though she... And she's saying it in English, even though she speaks fluent Japanese elsewhere in the scene. So all of that is quite purposeful and intentional. The use of the eff patois, the use of the comedic juxtaposition of the violence and the tone and her sweetness that curdles into this...

Maniacal aggression. I do regret that this pic of mine is in close proximity to something that made you so emotional because I don't think there's anything profound about this scene for me.

for me. I will get to some profound speeches later. But this is just like so enjoyable. This is just like one of the greatest moments in my film experience. 2003, what a year for Kill Bill Volume 1 leading into Volume 2. Again, we didn't know how lucky we were to have movies like this in the theater that everyone was going to see. And I just love it. So that's my number seven.

Fantastic pick. Thank you. I love that Tarantino's here. Congrats to you for getting a woman on your list. Thanks, not the last one. That brings me to the only female character on my list. I am mortified and ashamed to say, and yet here we are. Carlos, can we please hear my pick for number seven? Still, you refuse the call. But House Mormont remembers.

The North remembers. We know no king, but the king in the North whose name is Stark. It just filled me with so much joy and nostalgia. Same, honestly. Oh my God. Iconic. Yeah, it really is. I had such a hard time deciding on my Thrones pick, but then I was like, this one rules. Let's fucking do it. That is, of course, Lyanna Mormont.

portrayed incredibly by Bella Ramsey. This is from a little television program that you might have heard of called Game of Thrones. Oh. Are you familiar? I've heard of it. Okay. This is from...

Season six, episode 10, The Winds of Winter, which just happens to be my favorite episode of television ever, which is also part of why this ended up being the pick. This is from the year 2016, which I was not quite prepared to confront that this is nearly a decade ago. That's something I'll be thinking about and reflecting on as I crawl into a ball and cry later.

Why did I pick this? Okay. As sort of teased earlier... So you're saying next year we're going to do a 10-year anniversary pod of this episode of television? I would love that. Yeah. I would absolutely love that. I know. That would be wonderful. Carve out, like, 20 hours for me. Picking... My Thrones pick was the hardest one for me by far. I...

I honestly didn't know what to do. I'm not going to mention any of my other contenders here because I want to wait to see what you have, and then maybe we'll talk about some of the... Yeah. Quickly, briefly talk about some of the other ones that we both considered picking. But for now, I'll just say the list was really long, and it was incredibly hard. But look, I couldn't pass up the opportunity to get a female character on the list. Here's the thing. Leanna Mormont would really resent that being the reason. But...

Bear Island is here. I'm sort of kidding. We as honorary members of House Mormont are happy to have our relative here on the list. That's exactly right. Look, this scene directly follows my favorite moment of the series. Right. The smash cut from the Tower of Joy reveal to Adult John. I just care so deeply about everything that happens in that stretch. And this builds toward...

Spoiler, spoiler, spoilers. Of course, everybody who's listening to this is probably like, you can talk about a Game of Thrones episode from nine years ago. It's fine. The crowning of the white wolf, naming of the white wolf as king in the north. The men of the north are assembled and they're in the hall and they're bickering and they're debating whether to face the army of the dead and arguing and squabbling amongst themselves. And then little lady, Lyanna Mormont of Bear fucking Island, a child, right?

The child in this room of seasoned vets stands and utterly unflinchingly tears them all to shreds.

Your son was butchered at the Red Wedding, Lord Manderly, but you refused the call. You swore allegiance to House Stark, Lord Glover, but in their hour of greatest need, you refused the call. And you, Lord Kerwin, your father was skinned alive by Lord Bolton. Still, you refused the call. But House Mormont remembers!

remembers. The North remembers. We know no king but the king in the North whose name is Stark. I don't care if he's a bastard. Ned Stark's blood runs in his veins. He's my king from this day until his last day. So, I mean, this is just like...

It's honestly like an elite performance. And in real time, everyone was like, whoa. It's such a cool and rewarding for Thrones fans call back to many, many prior moments and events. Rob's naming as king in the north. The north's

these words that became sacred in the North after Rob was betrayed, the words that House Mormont said in response on a little piece of parchment, a little scroll in response to Stannis' outreach. Bear Island knows no king but the king in the North whose name is Stark. And you just remember, like, Jon's little smile of appreciation seeing that and Stannis, like, what the fuck is happening here? And then to, like, feel it pay off in full here. And I love the way in this scene that Lyanna's words... I mean, they have an effect on everyone, but they...

They shock John into stillness and into silence, right? He doesn't want it, Joe. I'm not sure if you know. I don't want it. They just completely, this speech, the way that it withers and shames the assembled lords. And then, of course, the way that this moment sets John on this path that...

They don't know it at the time, but is his birthright, though? You know, this is Game of Thrones. It's as one of our finest poets would say, you know, if you think it has a happy ending, you haven't been paying attention. Complex tale from there forward. Not my single favorite Game of Thrones scene. Not my single favorite Game of Thrones moment. Not my single Game of Thrones moment.

line, but for the purposes of today's exercise, it felt like a really worthy inclusion and like the kind of rallying cry that I wanted to have on my list. So there it is. House warm on words, right? Here we stand. Like, and just her as this like little she bear standing up for, for what is right in the face of all these fucking men around her. And,

Having another Liana stand up when Liana Stark is so clearly in our minds. Yeah, this is a tremendous, this is an elite pick. Honestly, what you told me last night. It's like, this was so hard. We were trying to figure out, we did not want to have too much overlap. So without revealing our picks, we were kind of like trying to feel out like what does the other person have on some of these like properties we knew were going to be here. Yeah.

And you were like, I'm thinking of doing a woman from Game of Thrones. And I was like, is that an Arya speech? I'm forgetting. I was like, what is it? And then I was like, don't think too much about it because you want to be surprised by it anyway. So I put it out of my mind. It's Alessandra. What is she doing? Lyanna. Fucking Mormont. Great pick. I thought you might think after I said I think I'm going with a woman for Game of Thrones that I was doing Dany addressing the Unsullied.

But no. No. Leanna Mormont. It's probably not a Daenerys speech, but it could be. I feel like I know what your Thrones pick is, but I'm so excited to see if I'm right or wrong. There are so many fucking contenders. I just could. Paralyzed. Paralyzing. My next clip is the one I...

we had the same one for, but Carlos told us before we started, we did not. So this is your Marvel pick? This is my Marvel pick. Okay, I'm excited. So Carlos, will you play this clip? The price of freedom is high. It always has been. And it's a price I'm willing to pay. And if I'm the only one, then so be it. But I'm willing to bet I'm not. That is... Our picks are a pair. That makes me emotional. That is Christopher Evans as Steve Rogers.

Captain America, the Winter Soldier from 2014, the Price of Freedom speech. We talked about this a lot when we did our Winter Soldier episode. Yes. This speech. This is a speech that Cap gives towards the end of the film over the PA system and back against the wall. Very few people on his side trying to rally against

that has been heavily infiltrated by Hydra to stand up and fight with him. And when he, you know, when he ends the speech, Sam does say, did you write that down first or was it off the top of your head? Really good. Is this a speech? Yes, this is obviously a speech. But the price of freedom is high. It always has been. It's a price I'm willing to pay. And if I'm the only one, then so be it. But I'm willing to bet I'm not. Okay, so...

When we track the arc of Steve Rogers' Captain America from First Avenger through to Endgame,

We have this, you know, I can do it all day. If it just has to be me, it's me sort of moment. Like skinny Steve in the back of an alley standing up for what he thinks is right by himself. Trash can lid. Steve Rogers staring down Thanos' army before the portals open and doing it by himself if he has to in Endgame. Yeah.

And this here in Winter Soldier, our shared favorite Marvel movie. I love having Steve Rogers on this list because though I have some other, you know, I've got a, what? I've done a couple like villain speeches, a man desperate and breaking down in a confessional, you know, I've got, I've got like a couple heroic speech, but I,

But mostly we like complicated, not super heroic, straightforward characters. We love a character on an arc. We love an antihero. We love all this sort of stuff. That's not Steve Rogers. And I've said this before and I'll say it again. I don't know why Steve Rogers...

is my most cherished Marvel character. I don't know why Steve Rogers is so emotionally important to me. He is just like a good man trying to fight, and that is usually not that interesting, compelling, complicated a story to me. Steve just really gets to the heart of me and the heart of a lot of people. And I think...

This moment where we're watching inside of this very film, we watch Steve Rogers, a man out of time, confronting the fact that the black and white morality of the World War II era that he fought in, where he was like, Nazis bad, we are good. Or, you know, Red Skull, Hydra bad, we are good. Like, was so clear cut. And what could be easier? And then he is awoken into this morally gray world

are the good guys surveilling the bad guys? Are the good guys like preemptively using violence against the would be bad guys? Are the good, have the good guys been the bad guys all along finding moral clarity there anyway, and sending out this rallying cry as he's off to try to save his best friend from, uh, you know, and the world at the same time. Can he do both?

And what follows this is, regrettably for her, the best Sharon Carter moment that happens in her entire existence inside of TMZU, which is Catton's Orders, right? Like, this is what we see him inspire here and what we see him...

I don't want to get too, like, I don't love getting too modern-day political on this podcast. People might roll their eyes because they think I do, but I really try to hold myself back. But I will say that Barack Obama just gave, he was in conversation with someone, and he was talking about how for a long time,

people who were progressives or liberals in this country were able to do so from a place of comfort and didn't have to put anything on the line in order to pursue their ideals. And he was like, that is not necessarily the case right now. If you're a university and you believe in a certain thing and the president might pull your funding or this, you know, it might impact your bottom line. It might impact your comfort. What are you willing to risk in order for what you believe in? Like,

in, like whatever it is that you are, who are listening to this podcast, believe in, what are you willing to put on the line for that? Are you willing to put your body out in the street to protest something? Are you willing to risk, you know, the tax incentives that you might get for something or this or that or the other thing? And so Steve Rogers, who has always been the, I will put my skinny Steve body on the line for what I believe in. I will put whatever I can out there and that is the price of freedom and it is high and

but it is worth paying for and worth fighting for. It's a huge moment. We love Steve Rogers. We love Captain America. We love the speech. So that is why he's here. Not the last time we'll be hearing from Steve Rogers today. Steve Arena? He'll be back? He'll be back.

I thought we might have the same pick, but there was a part of me that knew that this was probably of the two contenders, the one that you might go with. I almost went with what I'm guessing is yours. I think they pair very nicely together. And I think it's fitting that they're both here. Great, great pick. Beautiful. Beautifully said. Great pick. We're on my number six from a little television program called Lost. Carlos, can we hear it? I did not ask for the life that I was given, but it was given.

Nonetheless, and with it, I did my best. Okay, that is Mr. Echo in the 2006 episode, The Cost of Living, season three, episode five. I think this is one on my list where it's possible someone might say, is that a speech? Or is it a little more monologue? But...

I'm arguing that this is a speech because of, like, the heft behind it. And also, it is delivered to a figure. Echo's arms are wide and his knees are bent. And it is...

A declaration. Yes, I am ready, Yemi. I ask for no forgiveness, father, for I have not sinned. I have only done what I needed to do to survive. A small boy once asked me if I was a bad man. If I could answer him now, I would tell him that when I was a young boy, I killed a man to save my brother's life. I am not sorry for this. I am proud of this. I did not ask for the life that I was given.

So that last part, I did not ask for the life that I was given, but it was given nonetheless and with it, I did my best, is one of my favorite quotes from Lost or any show ever. To paraphrase Timothee Chalamet's Bob Dylan, he said,

Complete unknown. It just struck me down to the ground when I heard it for the first time. It is just a gorgeous piece of writing and I think a really incredible idea. And I think especially in a show like Lost, but also, you know, this is what the stories that we love the most do, right? Like in a show like Lost for a character like Mr. Echo, but for all of us.

all of us, for anyone who's watching and can find their version of truth inside of that idea. Like here we are, right? We're here and we make our way through our lives or we try to, and then we find ourselves in places that maybe we never expected to be with people we never expected to meet. And then we face the consequence of our choices and we're confronted with the inexplicable sometimes. And we are moved by the connections that we make and they shape and inform how we think about our past and what we want from our future. And it can all feel

too big sometimes. It's like, what do you do? How do you navigate that? You do your best. You try to do your best. And I have just always loved, loved, loved that delivery, the language, the writing, and the idea behind it. And when I was thinking about my Lost pick, do you have something coming from Lost? I do. Okay. So I won't- Run down the candidates. I won't run through the candidates. I'll wait and we can talk about some more of them there. But

When I was thinking about my last pick, I had, you know, a number of tenders. Like, this was another one that was just super, super, super hard. And I think there are, like, many worthy and wonderful inclusions. But there's just, like, there's just something about that moment with Echo and what he says there that has really, like, rooted its way into my heart. And I think about it a lot. So I wanted it to be here. And here it is. Carlos, will you play my number five clip? Okay.

But if we can't live together, we're gonna die alone.

That is Matthew Fox. I almost picked that. Yeah, that is Matthew Fox's Jack Shepard from a TV show you might have heard of called Lost from 2004. This is from the episode White Rabbit. This is one where I was just like, these are my two choices and I'm like really banking on Joe having live together, die alone. I love it. So live together, die alone. If we can't live together, we're going to die alone. Live together, die alone becomes this sort of like idea from Lost. Yes.

And one of those ideas that was, like, so big, sort of like we talked about in terms of Nolan's Batman, like, some men just want to see the world burn. Like, you might have heard Live Together, Die Alone and not ever seen Lost or ever talked about Lost. It's the name of the second season finale, Live Together, Die Alone. This comes in the fifth episode of season one. Basically, it's the two-part pilot.

Then you've got Tabula Rasa. Then you've got Walkabout, which is just this incredible John Locke episode. And then you've got White Rabbit, which is the first solo Jack Shepard flashback episode. Jack Shepard, it's played by Matthew Fox, is our... You can debate who is the leader on this island, but Jack is certainly one of the candidates, right? And...

And that's the question. This speech is so important, but it is only so important in the framework of a scene that came before it in the side of this episode, which is one of my favorite scenes in all of Lost, which is between Jack and Locke, John Locke, inside of the jungle. So Jack Shepard, who was a doctor back home, John Locke, spoilers for Lost,

was a man confined to a wheelchair back home. And when they get to the island, John can walk for reasons he and nobody else understands. That's what happens in Walkabout. That's what we learn as audiences in Walkabout. So that's the episode before this. So we know that John Locke is a person who has received this miraculous transformation because of the island. And...

He, you might've heard this concept of like man of science, man of faith. When we talk about that, we're talking about the physician, Jack Shepard, man of science, and the man who has been given the ability to walk again, man of faith, John Locke. So they meet in the jungle and,

And Jack is like, how are the others? And Locke says, thirsty, hungry, waiting to be rescued, and they need someone to tell them what to do. Jack goes, me? I can't. And Locke says, why can't you? And Jack says, because I'm not a leader. And Locke says, and yet they all treat you like one. And Jack says, I don't know how to help them. I'll fail. I don't have what it takes. And in classic Lost, you know,

we find out that this is something that Jack's father, you don't have what it takes, told him when he was a kid. He's literally chasing the ghost of his father. One of my favorite details of this episode is like you hear the ghost of Christian Shepard and the sound effect is ice rattling in his scotch glass. That's what he hears. He's chasing the ghost of his father around this island. As he and Locke have this conversation, it ends with

You need to finish what you started. And Jack says, why? And Locke says, because a leader can't lead until he knows where he's going. So Jack has this encounter in the jungle and then he comes back to the beach and he gives a speech. And Jack, who has been told by his father, you don't have what it takes. And Jack, who himself mere minutes ago inside of this episode says, I'll fail. I can't lead them. I don't want it. Right. Yeah.

comes back and gives this speech. Like, to your point about what loss is about, you know, it's been six days and we're all still waiting, waiting for someone to come. But what if they don't? We have to stop waiting. We need to start figuring things out. We can't do this. Every man for himself is not going to work. It's time to start organizing. We need to figure out how we're going to survive here. He says he found water, blah, blah, blah. But basically,

You know, there are factions inside of factions inside of this team, and there always will be inside of the course of the show. Yep. But Jack's point is that, like, whatever you think, whatever if you're a freaking racist, which does exist inside of this crew, if you think you should be the leader, which certainly exists for a lot of different characters, if you have suspicion of that person, if you want to pillory that person, we could go that way, but then we'll all die.

Uh, and together we might have a chance of surviving whatever it is, uh, that we're doing here. Um, and live together, die alone is the encapsulation of that. And Mr. Jack Shepherd, I mean, we can talk about some other candidates from Lost, uh, but I feel like I, this is the most obvious one, but I just felt like I had to, I had to do it. It's one of those where it's like, for a reason, you know? Yeah. Sometimes the, uh, the iconic ones are iconic for a reason. I love to just like, I mean, um,

Every now and then there's like a line in Lost that is so clear and captures something so simple and apparent, but then the way that it opens your mind to like perspective, just like last week, most of us were strangers. Like, yeah. They have to like remember that and think about what that means, but then think about how that can't be the current state. And then, you know, building toward, I mean, we both, not everybody agrees and that's okay, but we both really ride for the Lost finale. And like, you know, when you build toward that,

The most important part of your life was the time that you spent with these people on that island. That's why you're all here. Nobody does it alone. Jackie needed all of them and they needed you like bookends. Christian shepherd matters a lot to me. And like, you know, the core of the core of lost, um,

Per like Damon Lindelof's own like therapizing himself through this great genre television show, this daddy issues idea writ large is like man v. God, but also just like on the basic level of, you know, John Locke is in that wheelchair because of his dad. You know, like how did your dad mess you up? And what opportunity do you have to reinvent yourself on the island? Okay, you were told your whole life by your dad you didn't know what it takes. Yes.

Well, you're on an island now where nobody knows you. We were all strangers last week. Nobody knows you. If you were a drug addict, maybe you're not a drug addict anymore, except, oops, there's heroin on this island. You know, if you were... Tough beat. If you were a criminal and a convict, maybe you're a great tracker now. You know what I mean? Like, can you escape your past? How can you reinvent yourself? Who can you be? Who...

what was your potential outside of what people told you you couldn't don't tell me what I can't do like told you you couldn't do so you know I fucking love Locke great pick great show now I want to rewatch it here's the thing that this prepping for this pod did it just made me I was like well time to do a lost rewatch which I mentioned to you recently but it was really cemented by this and I mean another one that I've many times recently been like I'm really overdue to rewatch thing X but then when I actually picked my Battlestar speech I was just like

It's been too long. It's been too long and I need it and I miss it and I want it. Great pick, Jo. Thanks. Lost, what a show.

Some Ben Linus options, some John Locke options. Yeah. It was hard to not pick something from John. Sawyer talking about meeting Christian Shepard in the bar. You know. This was one where I was like, our friends from Lost will be back on other lists across this series and made my piece that way. This was like...

thrones and lost a bit and others as well. But that was, I was just like, well, we'll, we'll be back for sure. We will be back to the Island. I have no doubt. Um, this episode is brought to you by Metro by T-Mobile. Tired of the price of everything going up these days, groceries, rent, you name it. It's all going up, but not at Metro. They've got your back. Metro lowered their prices and are giving you a five-year price guarantee on talk, text and data.

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Epic, a Minecraft movie on Macs. Anything you can imagine is possible. The Disney Plus Hulu Max Bundle. Plans starting at $16.99 a month. All these and more streaming soon. Terms apply. Visit DisneyPlusHuluMaxBundle.com for details. My number five. I think you know that this is on my list. I thought it might be on your list, but I guess it's not. So, Carlos, can we hear this?

I am Paul Muad'Dib Atreides, Duke of Arrakis!

I knew you'd have it. I was like, Mal will take Paul for me. Dune did not make my list, but only because I was 1 million percent certain I would have it. I honestly can't believe it's at 5. I just thought this would be higher. Speaks to the quality of my 1 through 4, I think. This is, of course, from Dune Part 2. So this is a very recent pick. This was 2024. You are hearing Paul Mouadib, the tradies. Lisa Nagayib, the Mahdi himself.

quite memorably in that clip. Why did I pick it? Okay. This is certainly undeniably one of the most memorable just stretches of story and speeches of the last year, but I think also of the century so far. It is such a, we have talked a lot about it in our various Dune conversations. And yes, bad babies, we know you're wondering when will we be doing Hall of Fame? Great question. Yeah.

Not one we're prepared to answer, but don't worry. We haven't forgotten that it is a question. So we have talked a lot about Paul before, and we certainly will talk about Paul more in the future. This is just one of those utterly spine-tingling moments where you... It is cemented in full what kind of story Dune actually is. And Paul, we watched. Obviously, we've read, but this is a...

Film and TV selections pod today. We watch Paul resist, try to resist, knowing he needs to resist going south, fearing the visions, fearing his messianic status and where that might lead, fearing how

This handling and this plotting and this controlling through prophecy and through the idea of the chosen one has warped the idea, just the notion of hope and the shape hope takes for people. And then to watch, knowing that, knowing that Paul understands all that.

The events that lead Paul south anyway, that lead Paul to the water of life, that lead Paul to Kwisatz Haderach's site, through making his way through the throngs of the assembled Fremen in the south is remarkable.

chilling story made all the more haunting by Paul's words and just the rousing nature of this rendition. When Paul says, this is my father's ducal signet. I am Paul Muad'Dib Atreides, Duke of Arrakis. And the true translation of what we just heard is Duke of Arrakis. The translation of what we just heard is the hand of God be my witness. I,

I am the voice from the outer world. I will lead you to paradise. And then the chorus, the answering chorus of Lisan al-Gaib, he is announcing that he is the thing that they want him to be and the thing that he feared and the thing that will bring about the holy war of vision, of prophecy. The room erupts and Gurney is proud and Stilgar, like the other believers, is just transported away.

And then we see Johnny. Horrified. Her protests have fallen short and she is appalled. And we know and understand why. And it is just like a kind of awe-inspiring viewing experience.

Before that cresting stretch of the speech and the climax, I really love the way this speech mounts and builds as Paul arrives, the way that he challenges the norms and the conventions. You think I'm stupid enough to deprive myself of the best of us? Do you smash a knife before battle? And then the way that he moves into the chosen one space before we get into chosen ones, are we sure they're good? I'm pointing the way. And then I love the sequence where he...

and converts any remaining skeptics with knowledge that he should not have, right? That he should not possess. In your nightmares, you give water to the dead and it brings joy to your heart moment or...

Even more memorably, the you're praying now to your grandmother. She died nine moons ago. She lost an eye. A rock smashed her face as she was crossing the belt. She was 12 when it happened. And everyone's like, and then it kind of quiets. And Paul says, at that time, this world had a Fremen name.

Dune. It's like chills. So fucking good. It's just so good. You understand Frank Herbert's intention and vision and the kind of like core vision

thesis that he was interested in interrogating and subverting and exploring in his world and his story. And this scene is like, there are many crucial moments for that in the story, but this scene really brings that to the fore. And it's just performed wonderfully by Timmy. And, you know, we've talked many times, but Denis Villeneuve is just one of like the best doing it, the best filmmakers. And this is just mesmerizing. We're so lucky to have Dune and Dune Part 2.

And one day, Dune Messiah. Dune Messiah. They just released some casting information about Dune Messiah. Weirder than people are ready for, as you've said, Jo. Did you see the casting news? Yeah. What does that fact that the casting news is surfacing make you think about timing? What did that do for you in terms of like, okay, might we see this actually sooner than we think?

Oh, yeah, yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Because I've just been like, these dates are real. Yeah. I got really excited. Yeah, yeah. Okay. Okay. What's next? My number four. Yeah. It's from the year 2001. It's my oldest clip. Here we go. Carlos, will you play this, please?

I don't understand how this all happens, how we go through this. I mean, I knew her and then she's, there's just a body. And I don't understand why she just can't get back in it and not be dead anymore. This is from a TV show called Buffy the Vampire Slayer.

One day I'll know what it means. This is the one where I'm going to be quite vague in what I'm talking about. Oh, I like that that's to protect me. Apologies to Carlos who just started his watch and had to clip this. So...

I felt really bad about it. This was my number, easiest number one thing I wrote down. It's not my number one, it's my number four, but this is just like, I'm doing Anya's speech from the body from Buffy Vampire Slayer. The body is, when you see the top episodes of Buffy Vampire Slayer, the body is usually number one for most people, certainly in everyone's top five. Um,

And, um, that is because in a show that deals with supernatural horrors and stuff like this, um,

These are characters experiencing just a normal death. What happens in a world of supernatural mayhem and violence and all that sort of stuff like that when someone just dies? And for this character, Anya, who is a late series sort of ad, she's a former demon now sort of like trapped in a human body. And so she fulfills...

this I don't understand your human ways sort of function later in the season, which is often played for comedy. And then here it is played for pathos where like she's, she, she's dating one of the core cast members. She becomes a core cast member. She's dating the core cast members. She's basically your friend's most annoying girlfriend that they ever had. And you're just sort of like, Oh, why are you here? Why are you always here asking stupid questions? You're so annoying. You're so rude. You're so abrupt. You're all these sort of things. And,

And then she's doing it on a day when all of our characters are going through something and they turn and are like, shut the fuck up with your stupid questions. And then she has this like breakdown where she's just like, I don't get it. Yeah.

how all this happens, how we go through this. I knew her and then there's just a body and I don't understand why she can't get back in it and not be dead anymore. It's stupid. It's mortal and stupid. And this character is crying and not talking. And I was having fruit punch and I thought, well, Blank will never have any more fruit punch ever. She'll never have eggs or yawn or brush her hair, not ever. And no one will explain to me why.

And it is just one of the most stunning, like, you know, again, this is a character who is

roundly played for laughs. Yeah. Um, one of the most stunning, like sort of emotional turns, obviously we know Buffy vampire slayer means a lot to me. Um, and you know, we will, when we get to our Buffy real watch in August, we can talk all about, uh, as little as much as we want about Joss Whedon, but like Tarantino, uh, Whedon's writing is like so foundationally, foundationally important to me. Um,

That it had to be in here. And this is just such a perfect encapsulation of something that he is really good at doing, which is making you laugh one second and then making you weep from shock of the cruelty of what this story is able, the twist and turn of this story is able to take. So I don't want to get into any more specifics about this, but...

I just, I think about this speech a lot. This performance on McCaffield is really, really good in this scene. And yeah, the body, Anya, Buffy Vampire Slayer. That's amazing. Yeah. I can't wait. My first and easiest pick for this list. So I have to wait a while to get to that. I think it's season five. Yeah.

So forget everything. What do they say on adults when one of them says something that they immediately answer? Mind wipe? Yeah. Mind wipe. Okay. Well, that was exciting. I'm intrigued. I'm enticed. I'm moved without even knowing anything about the characters, which speaks to the power of that idea. Beautiful. There you go. Beautiful. My number four is my Battlestar Galactica pick. Carlos, can we hear it?

You cannot play God, then wash your hands of the things that you've created. Sooner or later, the day comes when you can't hide from the things that you've done anymore. Here is my favorite character, Adama. Daddy Adama. That is, of course, at the time of that quote, Commander Adama.

We've not yet reached admiral status. Edward James Olmos. One of my favorite characters, one of my favorite performances just ever, full stop, period. The best elite, like, can't be touched. That, on the one hand, I'm not surprised by the speech that I've picked, and I will explain why momentarily. I am a little bit surprised by where in the series I picked something from. This is actually from the very beginning. This is from the miniseries. This is from part one slash night one. Yeah.

It's the impetus for all that follows. And I just have so many favorite moments from across the series that this was another one where I was like, I don't know how I'm supposed to do this. And then whispered sweet nothings to all of the other Battlestar things that will appear in the future. I feel like we don't know all of our topics yet, but my early prediction is that Battlestar might be the most frequently represented property on my best of the century list. Yeah.

If the topics that we choose support its inclusion, I feel like it will always be there for me because I just love it so much and I need to rewatch it. No shortage of just on the Adama front, rousing either challenges to the assembled or a rallying cry for the assembled, whatever the mood of the moment kind of demands. This scene is not my favorite Battlestar scene ever.

But it is mesmerizing. It's a mesmerizing speech. It is a just really note and pitch perfect way to thematically begin the series and to establish Adama's role as this leader, this leader of the efforts to save and preserve humanity, but also question it and assess it. And

In 2025, it's just even more ominous and harrowing to confront what he is talking about here than it was at the time. This is at the decommissioning ceremony for the Galactica. Spoiler, the Galactica will have a role to play in the future of the show after this ceremony. Adama goes to the podium and he says, The Cylon War is long over, yet we must not forget the reason why so many sacrificed so much in the cause of freedom.

The cost of wearing the uniform can be high, but sometimes it's too high. You know, when we fought the Cylons, we did it to save ourselves from extinction, but we never answered the question,

Why? Why are we as a people worth saving? We still commit murder because of greed, spite, jealousy, and we still visit all of our sins upon our children. We refuse to accept responsibility for anything that we've done, like we did with the Cylons. We decided to play God, create life. When that life turned against us, we comforted ourselves in the knowledge that it really wasn't our fault, not really.

You cannot play God and then wash your hands of the things that you've created. Sooner or later, the day comes when you can't hide from the things that you've done anymore. Incredible. Very powerful, very poignant, very intense to think about right now. Again, it's like the impetus for the series is

And it echoes across the series. It's all this idea. These concepts are always on our mind as we watch everything that unfolds from there, everything that follows. I think it pairs very nicely with the speech that you picked for that reason. And they're sort of like, you know, two sides of the same coin here. Yeah.

One of the things that I love about it is it is also like, so it is a very big idea, but it is also very deeply personal. Everything that unfolds between Rosalind and Adama, just my absolute favorite, is yet to come. But going back to it now and just seeing Rosalind like watching, like thinking about who this person is who is saying these things and why he has chosen this moment to say these things, incredible. Yeah.

In particular, like the cuts to Lee, Adama, and to Starbuck, to Kara. The way that this scene, before we really know who these characters are and understand in this version, this retelling of the story and expansion of the story, what exactly their dynamics will be.

To pair the micro and the macro, to understand that what Adama is saying is clearly informed by his own experience, the way that he believes and sees and senses how he has failed in his life, how the decisions that he has made have these ripple effects and ramifications on circumstances, on people. But then, of course, just the thing that he is saying in a big way about

creating artificial life and about playing God and about the hubris of man to build a thing and then wonder how it destroyed you feels like very keen right now. So this was a... Let's all do a Battlestar rewatch. Why not? Yeah, I mean, I'm all for it, man, any time. So yeah, this was like on the one hand, Battlestar was, it was so hard for me to select my pick. But on the other hand, I was like, this feels like, this one feels right to me. That's a really good pick.

Great show. I was very certain that you would have... Dama. My guy. Daddy Adama on your list. Of course. How could I not? Are we at our top three? Top three. I know what your final three properties are. Yeah. You probably know what mine are. And that's because... So, like, if you're listening to this, you're like, Joanne, I thought you said Buffy was your most important blah, blah, blah. Why is it number four? This is because...

Three massive things that have sort of occupied a lot of time in my heart and my head over this 25 years have yet to come. You and I were certain that we would have picks from all three of my remaining properties, and you just haven't done one of the biggies that I already did. And you already did one of the biggies that I haven't done. So that's where we are. Yeah.

And these three were all my number one picks, and I was afraid you would have all of them. And this is why we did a little sussing to figure out that we actually had different picks for all these properties. So I was unsure about two. I felt sure we would have a different one for one of them. Yeah, my number one. Okay, so I felt sure I knew what your pick there was.

uh carlos will you enough uh carlos we play my never like your way freedom is a pure idea it occurs spontaneously and without instruction random acts of insurrection are occurring constantly throughout the galaxy there are whole armies battalions that have no idea that they've already enlisted in the cause

Hell yeah. Nemec's Manifesto, the great Alex Lothar as Nemec from Rick's Road and or season one, 2022, or later, part of Gaz's office if you prefer. Yeah. Nemec's Manifesto. Yeah.

This was what I really wanted to pick. There are so many good options from Andor, obviously. I was so sure you would pick an Andor clip, and you did. And you picked the other one that had to be here. And so I got to pick the one that I wanted to pick, which was Nevek's Manifesto. And this was actually the really hardest one for me to clip because it's bars all the way down. Yeah.

But freedom is a pure idea. It occurs spontaneously and without instruction. Random acts of instructions are occurring constantly throughout the galaxy. There are whole armies, battalions that have no idea they've already enlisted in the cause. This is just something I've been thinking about a lot right now. There was a massive, at least by people's reckoning, 5 million Americans were protesting this last weekend.

The majority of this signage that was sent to me personally was Andor. Andor was all over the signage at these protests. I'm sure, you know, obviously self-selected for me, but like a lot of people were texting me photos of Andor signage. I have friends everywhere was the number one one I saw, but I saw a lot of Nemec's manifestos sort of clipped and put on a poster board by people. Authority is brittle.

Oppression is the mask of fear. Remember that. One single thing will break the siege. Remember this. Try. I get emotional every time I hear this Nemex Manifesto as it occurs inside of this episode. Yeah.

uh, just in isolation. Um, what the writers of Andor have managed to create with their many iconic speeches is just something that sort of similar to live together, die alone, like just stands outside of the scope of the story itself to crystallize as you, as you were pointing out, um,

These ideas, give just beautiful rhetoric to ideas that have maybe been rattling around your brain in less articulate ways, my brain in less articulate ways, or just something that helps you process what's going on. I don't think there's anything wrong with...

the fictional stories that we care about to help you process the moment you live in. That is one of the main functions of story. Yeah, absolutely. And that is something that Andor has done for me personally and...

Nummies Manifesto, the power of this word to spread through the galaxy and the way it winds up inside of Partigas's office in season two of Andor is just, you know, and when we talk about sparks, you know, that light into infernos and all these things that happen inside of a rebellion, the power of words, the power of language, and the power of just like, you know,

We talked about this when we talked about the season two line of rebellions are built on hope and this idea of like how words can grow and move and change and push things forward. And for this to... For his manifesto to land in Cassian Andor's hands and for Cassian Andor to use it as something to motivate and bolster him, but then something that he felt like he needed to share throughout the galaxy is just...

stunning work. And it needed to be the language needed to be worthy of that. And so what the writers of Andor have always delivered is this rhetoric that is just inspirational, indelible, all these other things, distinctly Andorian. So yeah, that's where we are. The rebellion's not here anymore. It's flown away, right? And that's part of why. Like, it's just, yeah, it's incredible that I had...

I have an Andor pick coming. I'm not surprised that we both went Andor for our stars pick. I thought you might go Last Jedi. I almost went Last Jedi. That was the other like real contender, hard to not do. But yeah, it was, it actually felt to me impossible to do the list without having Andor on it. And that, I'll get to my people could probably figure out what it is, but that was the first one I wrote down and the one I was like, just no matter what it has to be here. And yeah,

So your pick, Nemex Manifesto, was like the 1B to my 1A. I was just like, I really hope these are both. Same with yours. Yours was the 1B to my 1A, and I was just like. Yeah. They do feel essential. Honestly, if you hadn't picked what you picked, I would have felt like I had to pick it. Do you know what I mean? Because I felt like it had to be here. But because you picked what you picked, thank you so much, I got to pick my heart's number one pick, which is Nemex Manifesto. I love it. Teamwork. Mm-hmm.

Beautiful. I will be getting to my Andor pick shortly, but not quite yet. My number three. Let's bring Cap back in. Carlos? Steve? Be careful. Look out for each other. This is the fight of our lives, and we're going to win, whatever it takes. I feel that a theme is developing across our list, which feels great, you know? And that's part of this, too, and part of what was interesting, I think, about doing this is like...

The things we picked today are a reflection of our experience with these stories over 25 years, but also of where we are today and what's on our minds today. And the list we would have made a few years ago might have been different. The list we make in a few years might be different. And that's really cool, actually. Like, I love that. I love the way that we talk about this a lot. Like, you know, you feel like you can, part of the joy of revisiting stories that you love is like you think about things. Either they port you to where you were then or you view them in a new way. Yeah, because of your experiences over time. I love that.

Uh, we just, of course heard from captain America, Steve Rogers yet again. Uh, he's on the list twice today. Great stuff for cap. That's amazing. Um,

That is from Avengers Endgame, a little movie that you might have heard of. 2019. That's the one that I was alluding to earlier. I'm like, boy, Endgame felt like such a recent pick, but that's six years ago. What the fuck? Why did I pick it? Okay, I have talked about this moment and this speech so much over the years, I will try to quickly sum it up. Where do we find our characters at that moment in time? It's years. Years since...

The snap. The blip. We are on the precipice of the time heist. The world and our heroes have been shattered. Shattered by what has happened, by who they've lost, and for our heroes, by what they feel they have failed to prevent.

peanut butter sandwich conversation, right? But they decided to keep trying, Joanna. They decided to keep trying. Try. Even Tony, my beloved Tony, who said, can't risk what I've gained. Like, want to bring back what we lost, but can't risk what I've gained. He's there. And I love that you picked the cat moment that you did because...

I think every part of the Steve Rogers story for him as an individual character and then the Avengers story overall feels present in this moment in Endgame. And it's impossible to feel like you can be where you are and appreciate what is happening without having an appreciation for all those moments before. Cap, obviously, no stranger to battle, no stranger to a speech, as you noted, and gives his fellow Avengers...

superheroes the pep talk like the thing that they need to hear yeah it's complete with a reminder of the reason why they're doing it a reminder of the stakes a reminder for them and for us as the audience alike of all that we have collectively been through and built toward with endgame like the fight of our lives it's such a it's an intense moment but it also even though like the the uh

The time ice is about to begin. They haven't won yet. The battle of earth is still a full act away. This is like such a brilliant bit of movie making because it is, it is thrusting us into something, but also like celebrating our shared experience that brought us to that point. And I love that as like a note of memory and recognition, but,

Five years ago, we lost all of us. We lost friends. We lost family. We lost a part of ourselves. Today, we have a chance to take it all back. You know your teams. You know your missions. Get the stones. Get them back. One round trip each. No mistakes. No do-overs. Most of us are going somewhere we know. That doesn't mean we should know what to expect. Be careful. Look out for each other. This is the fight of our lives, and we're going to win whatever it takes. Good luck. And then Rocket says he's pretty good at that. Scott goes, right? But

But as I've said many times before, and you know this, like, my single favorite thing about this speech is the look that Tony and Cap share. When Steve says, and we're going to win, the way that Tony looks at him, eyebrows raised, smirk. And it's like the source of...

tension between them, like the thing where their sensibility, even though they were teammates, even though they were Avengers, even though they were like co-leaders of this thing, their sensibilities were so often really oppositional and at odds with each other. You know, I said we'd lose and you said we'd do that together too. And guess what, Cap? We lost and you weren't there, right?

right? And that's like, you know, earlier in the film, then we begin toward, I don't believe we would. I gotta say, I sometimes miss that optimism. It's like, this is so core to their journey, going all the way back to like, you know, big man in suit of armor. Just great. And I love how this captures the totality of that shared experience between them as a duo with, for us and with them as, as viewers, as people who are a part of this journey with them. And I,

The little nod of appreciation that Steve gives Tony, that Tony has opted in, that Tony has believed him, that Tony will trust in him. And that look from Tony, like, this thing I used to mock you for is maybe going to save us now? It's perfect. I don't know. I think we both have this experience and a lot of people do. Every time I go back to Endgame, I'm just more...

That it worked. By what they pulled off. Yeah. And I think this moment, like, it just, it has to be, it has to rise to the magnitude of the moment and the stretch of the story. And it does. Cap delivered. I love it. Were there any other Marvel speeches that you considered? No, No You Move was on my list. Yeah. As another Cap speech. That's great. You know, I was thinking, I think I knew I wanted to do

a Captain America or Tony Stark movie moment probably but I did um I did consider something from Loki just because like I feel like there were so many moments in Loki that like really blew us away and left an impression but this was one of this was one of the first ones I jotted down on my list I kind of knew I was gonna pick this one so okay so that leaves for me my Andor

which is coming. We both have something from a certain property that we have not gotten to yet. Everyone knows what it is. And then you have a Thrones pick. Yep. Okay. Hit us. Carlos, will you play that clip? He judged me. But she's the moment he set eyes on me. But right, he judged the lion. That is... I knew you would pick this. I hoped. Nikolai Kostowoldo as Jaime Lannister in season three, episode five, Kiss by Fire, Game of Thrones 2013.

Kiss by Fire, which I go back and forth with this, but I often cite as my favorite episode of Game of Thrones. Top five, unquestionably. This is Jamie Lannister in the bath with Brienne of Tarth. Is this a speech or a monologue? It's a... You know what? Who cares?

This is where, this was so hard to pick what to clip from this. Yeah. But it was easy. This was like without question. And there's like endless Tyrion speeches we can talk about. Littlefinger speeches. It was hard to keep Tyrion off the list. Various speeches. Like there's so many, but like I couldn't not do our guy, Jaime Lannister, here right at the tippy top of my list. You know, second to the top of my list. Yeah.

We've talked about villain speeches. We've talked about hero speeches. Here we've got our favorite, which is a character on an ark. And this is Jaime Lannister, who we have seen do horrible things. He put a knife through Jory's eyes.

You know, like there's a lot of stuff that Jamie did. We pushed Bran out a window, you might recall. Yeah, but these are things that they fill up, you know? So, you know, this is a villain. And then we get this moment where he recontextualizes what happened with the Mad King. Yeah.

You all despise me, Kingslayer, Oathbreaker, a man without honor. Like, you know, these are the things that he's been called. And then he tells the story of what happened with the Mad King. Burn them, burn them all, burn them in their homes, burn them in their bed, all of that sort of stuff. Would you have kept your oath then? First I killed the Pyromancer, and then when the king turned to flee, I drove my sword into his back. Burn them all, he kept saying, burn them all.

And then he says, that's where Ned Stark found me. And then, yes, there's a little, Bran does inject a line here where she's like, this is true, why didn't you tell anyone? Why didn't you tell Lord Stark? Stark, you think the honorable Ned Stark wanted to hear my side? He judged me guilty the moment he set eyes on me. By what right does the wolf judge the lion? By what right? You know, and then there's the whole, like, Jamie, call me Jamie, pass out, incredible stuff. This is, I,

I think one of the best things that's ever happened on television. No question. Yeah. And I think that snarl at the end, the clip that I included, which is just outside the speech because it comes just after someone else's line, but I'm allowing it. That's Tywin, right? Coming through Jamie here. By what right does the wolf judge the lion? That's his dad, you know? And I love that because...

Jamie, for all of his arcing towards good that he does, will forever backslide into his Lannister-ness. And that is just his fate. That will be, spoilers for Game of Thrones, his fate at the end of the day. And...

I care so deeply about characters who try. Yeah. And maybe most deeply of all about characters who try and fail. Yeah. And, you know, for some people...

Virtue isn't hard for your Steve Rogerses or, you know, for your, for give or take a wildling or two for Jon Snow. Like, you know, there are characters for whom the right thing to do is apparent to them. And though it might counteract some of the things that they might want in their heart of hearts, they're like, I'm going to do the right thing.

That's not Jamie's track. That's not most of our path through this world. And so...

Jaime revealing this thing that he did that forever branded him oathbreaker, kingslayer, man without honor, but was in fact the most honorable thing that he could think of to do in that moment for the greater good, but is not how history will remember him until Brienne gets to write a page for him, you know, is just...

What Thrones does best, which is give us incredibly morally gray, often broken. We were watching an extremely grimy Jaime with his little stump just above the water. His sword hand lost to him. He lost that hand. It's just incredibly potent. Written by...

Brian Cogman. Legend. The legend. Yeah. Great pick. I, yeah, I had, I, I just felt there were two things of all of the anguish, like how can I leave this Thrones thing off my list? The two that I made peace with were the two I thought you might pick.

That was one of them. Yeah. And then Oberyn's I Will Be Your Champion. I was like, Joe will have one of those two, I think. That's not the monster. That's a baby. And what about what I want? I mean, iconic. Just incredible. Very painful to leave these off. But yeah, Kiss by Fire is one of my five favorite Thrones episodes, and that's one of my five favorite Thrones scenes and moments. It's...

It's the best. Fantastic pick. I'm thrilled it's here. Should we save some other Thrones runners-up for honorable mentions, or do you want to rapid-fire mention a couple others that you need along here? No, why don't you hit me with what you had in mind? I mean, I will say, like, Thrones was also, I thought, the property where it was a little bit, like, hard to say, okay, is this just, like, a conversation? Could I make that, like, you know, wear it, like, armor-wise.

In a way, that chunk functions as a speech, but that's a conversation. I felt like I couldn't really make the case that that was a speech. Maybe it'll make another list we do at some point. Obviously, everybody knows how we feel about that. On the Tyrion front, I thought, I mean, he has a number of contenders. I think his, they say I'm half a man. Blackwater's speech is iconic, obviously. Blackwater, his trial. The trial speech was one I had a really hard time leaving off the list. I think that that's just...

obviously building, not for the first time, to I demand a trial by combat, chilling, but just like,

the evisceration of the people of King's Landing and Westeros in that moment and of his father and of his family and of the idea of right and wrong and power and who is worthy. Just incredible. Obviously, Littlefinger's Chaos is a louder speech. Top tier. I already mentioned Dany addressing the Unsullied and Astapor. Yeah.

You know, on the Tywin front, I think there are a number of contenders that also, though, feel like more conversations truly, like— Tywin's introductory scene when he's butchering— Yeah, the skinning of the elk. Yeah, butchering the elk, yeah. Like, that's—that was one where I was like, I'd like to pick that, but he and Jamie are just talking. But he's speechifying inside of the conversation in a way that I think you could justify it, certainly. You know, I need you to become the man you're always meant to be, and it's not next year, not tomorrow, now! Yeah.

definitely a conversation, but speeches inside of the conversation. I think that the Tywin, Arya, Stretch, and Harrenhal, specifically, you know what legacy means. It's what you pass down to your children and your children's children. It's what remains of you when you're gone is iconic. You know, like, this is the thing about Thrones is like, even when characters are getting embarrassed and dunked on, like, the speech is good. Like, Theon at Winterfell right before his own men are like...

to capture and betray him and turn him over I'm still like that's a pretty good speech it is you know you hear that that's the maiden call of the Northmen that's great so I mean the list is like bottomless endless yeah like we could do a Thrones speeches monologues episode alone and it could be a hundred deep and it wouldn't even be hard to get that far it would be so easy yeah maybe one

Sounds like a great idea. Oh, boy. Okay. Great pick. Kiss by Firewater, an episode. Sensational stuff. It's time for my number two, which is from Lord of the Rings. Carlos, let's hear it. A day may come when the courage of men fails, when we forsake our friends and break all bonds of fellowship. But it is not this day.

That is, of course, Aragorn in The Lord of the Rings, The Return of the King, 2003. What? Oh, we are old. Just going to guess that your rings pick is from 2002. We'll find out. Could be. We'll find out. Could be. Um...

So we had the pleasure back in the day of doing, before Rings of Power started, with the aforementioned Brian Cogman, our three favorite, most essential Lord of the Rings moments heading into Rings of Power, like the things that were top of mind for us. And I didn't include that Aragorn speech in that pod as one of my three picks, which I think is like...

Kind of emblematic of how fluid all of this is, right? It's like, that is undeniably one of my favorite moments from Lord of the Rings. I think that scene is incredible. It gives me chills every time I see it. It is a favorite moment overall. I think it is a gold star, like Hall of Fame, Pantheon speech in the history of movies. But depending on exactly what the prompt is...

like rings is such a rich text that my pick might vary based on exactly the focus of the exercise in the moment um also this was one where i was just like i have a i have a number of choices but i have a couple things i really want to pick and i am just banking on joe having the other one which i think you do but we'll find out um we we just heard aragorn our beloved strider uh

addressing the legions at the gates of Mordor as Frodo and Sam inch their way toward the fires of Mount Doom. And Aragorn is doing here what Elrond implored him to do. He is becoming what he was born to be.

sons of Gondor, of Rohan, my brothers. I see in your eyes the same fear that would take the heart of me. A day may come when the courage of men fails, when we forsake our friends and break all bonds of fellowship. But it is not this day, an hour of wolves and shattered shields, when the age of men comes crashing down. But it is not this day.

This day we fight. By all that you hold dear on this good earth, I bid you stand, men of the West. Again, I will observe that I think a theme has emerged on our list. Stand, fight, try. Yeah, try. Unite in fellowship. Keep going.

This is just an incredible movie moment. It is not just the urgency of what is happening here, though it is urgent. It is not just the leadership and heroism that Aragorn displays here, though he is displaying both. It is, for me, always that he is stoking...

And seeking to tend and nurture in others the faith that he has so often lacked. And that is incredible to watch. Like that is where we feel the power of the journey. And he is embracing the realms of men that he so often doubted and avoided and evaded and felt that he needed to stay or remain apart from. He is touting, of course, the power of fellowship. And he is doing it.

Most meaningfully of all for us as readers or viewers for and because of the fellowship. Like you can't have a moment like this without the final words that pass between Boromir and Aragorn. Like you can't. And you can't have a moment like this without knowing that

Just moments later in the film when they charge forward into Mordor, the last thing that Aragorn will say when he turns is, For Frodo. For Frodo. It's the best. So this was another one where I'm like, I keep saying this list was so hard and it was, but this was another one where I was like, this is a no-brainer for me. There's another thing that I felt really sad not to pick from the Lord of the Rings films, but this is an all-timer for me. I just love it.

Also, as we talk about sort of like musicality or syntax, the way that Vigo delivers like, but it is not this day, but it is not this day. You know what I mean? Like this has just like sort of like building cadence to it. Incredibly good. Time for my number one. Carlos, will you play that clip, please? In the end, it's only a passing thing. The shadow of it.

Even darkness must pass. A new day will come. And when the sun shines, it'll shine out the clearer. Thank God. Thank God on you.

so relieved right now. The only reason I was so worried you had this and I really, really wanted to pick it and not that we couldn't both have it, but I was just sort of like, it would be such a shame to not talk about multiple things from Lord of the Rings. So this was like the main one where we were kind of trying to suss out. And last night you were like, I have, mine is Aragorn. I was like, great, done. Let's not talk about it any further. Don't worry about what mine is, even though you know what it is. Uh,

That is Sean Astin, Samwise Gamgee, in The Two Towers from 2002, as Mallory stated. So I have like a 2001, 2002, 2003, like, you know, like the first couple of years. Anyway, but in the end, it's only past thinking this shadow, even darkness must pass. A new day will come. And when the sun shines, it will shine out the clearer light.

Those were the stories that stayed with you that meant something, even if you were too small to understand. But I think, Mr. Frodo, I do understand. I know now folk in those stories had lots of chances of turning back, only they didn't because they were holding on to something. What are we holding on to, Sam? That there's something good in this world, Mr. Frodo, and it's worth fighting for. So this is...

Okay, you and I rewatch Lord of the Rings every year. It's a thing that we do. And there are moments, you know, when we do our sort of like Lord of the Rings day in our house, like we have people over, there's like food, I'm like getting up and going around and doing things. And then there are like moments where like I have to be there and moments where I'm like dialed in and I will cry and all sorts of stuff like that. And Sam's speech at the end of Two Towers.

Samwise Gamney is my favorite character in Lord of the Rings and perhaps, perhaps all of fiction. And his speech here, when again, you know, Frodo's just like, how do we keep going? Right? They're all alone. It's just these two small people.

left of the fellowship to Towers, we're at the sort of like, everything is bad. Yes, very grim. You know, two-thirds of the way through our story here. And this idea of,

it's only a passing thing. This shadow is something I think about in my personal life all the time when something is like horrible and feels overwhelming to me in a broader sort of geopolitical space when things feel overwhelming and dark and insurmountable, that these things are cyclical, that for Samwise Gamgee inside of, you know, the world that Tolkien created, he,

In the depths of the gloom of Mordor, there is a star that he can see. There is light always in the darkness for Sam. And Sam is the light in the darkness for Frodo. And it's wrapped up inside of this idea of story, which again is the bookend of my list here. The importance of story and the importance of thinking about what would the heroes in the stories that, you know...

That we heard that Gandalf used to tell us, you know, when we were kids, that Bilbo used to tell us when we were kids, that my old gaffer used to tell us when we were kids. Like, what are the lessons there and how can we apply it to these extraordinary circumstances that we find ourselves? What is the power of story? And this idea of, we talk about this a lot, we talked about this a lot, a lot, when we first time, I think, that we really addressed this issue.

together is this idea of choice versus free will and this idea of like, you know, there's destiny, there's fate, there's all these sort of things that hang over these genre stories that we love, but then there's also this idea of choice. And Sam says, right, like these stories had lots of chances of turning back, only they didn't, right? Like because they were holding on to something. So like, what is the thing that keeps us moving forward? What are the choices we make in extraordinary moments of choice?

and fear and challenge and overwhelm. And what can we learn from Samwise Gamgee and Frodo and all the rest, you know, to help us in our own lives? This matters a lot to me. And I feel so lucky that we, I was just thinking about this when I was putting this list together. I mean, this is such an easy pick for me, but like when I was putting this list together, I was like, when I was ordering my top four or five, I was like, it's going to be Buffy, Star Wars, and,

and Lord of the Rings. And I was like, and it's going to be Lord of the Rings number one for me. Like, it just is because this is the story. Thrones is the story that probably you and I have spent collectively the most hours of our lives thinking about. Yeah. But like,

Lord of the Rings is a story that I marinate in every year. And it is almost like a sacred text to me. Yeah, absolutely. And I feel so lucky, similar to what we were just saying about Denis Villeneuve and Dune. I feel so lucky that Peter Jackson and his entire team did such an incredible job with these movies. That these movies just get to be something that we can revisit and share with other generations because...

You know, by and large, the VFX hold up and like all these other things and it doesn't feel hokey and dated. It just feels eternal. Oh, yeah. And important. And as do the books. But, you know, we're here to talk about film and television. So...

I will watch these every year until I die. Yeah. Thrilled you have this here. Knew you would. Hoped you would. I went back to my Google Doc for that top three moments pod, and this was my number one for that. So I was kind of like, I should probably mix it up. Also, I really hope it's here, and it is. So that's beautiful. It's just the best. It's just the best. The great stories, the ones that really mattered. This is absolutely incredible.

Didn't want to know the end because how could the end be happy? How could the world go back to the way it was when so much bad had happened? Oh my God, Sam. Incredible pick. I guess we have to stop potting professionally because we just need to go watch stuff. Just sit on our couches and go. It's time to go rewatch Lord of the Rings. It's time to go rewatch Battlestar. Lots of rewatch. Oh man. Great pick.

I'm excited. But I'm the last one. Your number one, which I know exactly what it is, is a very worthy number one. I'm really glad it's here. Feels right for this moment in our podcasting time together as well for this to be at the top here. Carlos, can we hear my number one? I burned my life to make a sunrise that I know I'll never see. The ego that started this fight will never have a mirror or an audience or the light of gratitude. What do I sacrifice?

Everything. That is, of course, Luthan in Andor Season 1, Episode 10, One Way Out from 2022. This is just one of the best scenes in television history, kind of period. You know, this is proof that a great speech can be delivered off the cuff. These were not prepared remarks, and yet he nailed it. Just one other person, Lonnie.

You don't think he had his flashcards on the elevator ride? All off the dome for our guy, Luthan, though. I think he's thought about, reflected on these concepts quite a bit, clearly. The way that this...

astonished and awed us in a way that it was so recognizable from the first moment we watched this scene and heard these words that this would be lasting, that this would be a part of our experience as Andor fans, Star Wars fans, fans of genre stories, people who are alive in the world, like period. I will read it all. Yeah.

Calm, kindness, kinship, love. I've given up all chance at inner peace. I've made my mind a sunless space. I share my dreams with ghosts. I wake up every day to an equation I wrote 15 years ago from which there's only one conclusion.

I'm damned for what I do. My anger, my ego, my unwillingness to yield, my eagerness to fight, they've set me on a path from which there is no escape. I yearn to be a savior against injustice without contemplating the cost. And by the time I look down, there was no longer any ground beneath my feet.

What is my sacrifice? I'm condemned to use the tools of my enemy to defeat them. I burn my decency for someone else's future. I burn my life to make a sunrise that I know I'll never see. And the ego that started this fight will never have a mirror or an audience or the light of gratitude. So what do I sacrifice?

everything. You'll stay with me, Lonnie. I need all the heroes I can get. I think this is just one of the finest pieces of writing that we have received, just period. It is also, I think, one of the finest pieces of acting of the century so far. It spoke so clearly, definitively, confidently to Andor's intent, to what the story was seeking to do, was interested in doing. And

examining what is required to fight, what is required to win, what that really looks like and feels like and what it might do to you and why it's worth it anyway. And it was like instantly bowled us over, instantly iconic. We were talking about it as a historic thing the moment that we saw it. But it is made, I think, undeniably all the more indelible by what we watched after, by where we watched Luthen and his rebels go. And

And Lonnie and his legacy. And Lonnie and his bench, which you can miss it. Joanna's happy to tell you how. You know, I was thinking in revisiting this, obviously we talked about this speech in this moment just constantly while covering not only the end of season one, but all of season two of Andor. And I was really thinking about that moment where Cassian says to Clea, nothing's ending because, like, that is the power of a moment like this when you get it in a story that you love. We're not going to stop.

Talking about this or thinking about it or considering the ideas behind these words and reflecting on the import of them. And like the impact of this speech is as lasting, bigger in some ways than, like you said, when you were talking about Nemec, it's that they're twins in this way than the story that contains them. And that...

That speaks to the power of what genre storytelling can do and what it can unlock for the people who consume it. And that is just like a gift. So I kind of like still can't believe that Andor's real. And, you know, it could have been we picked Luthan and Nemec. It could have been Marva's funeral address. It could have been Mon Mothma's address to the Senate. But we don't care for women. We don't have women here on the list. We don't like women.

No, it just, I don't know. Like, again, I think some of this is doing this in 2025 and some of this is just like, what has worked its way like into my psyche and into my soul in a way that I just know will be a part of my life as a Star Wars fan forever. And that's what Luthen's speech to Lani and Nemec's manifesto are, I think undeniably. Yeah.

I was watching the Tony Awards the other weekend, and...

There was the 10th anniversary performance from the cast of Hamilton, Hamilton, a musical that I know every word of. And there's this line from George Washington where he says, legacy, what is legacy? It's planting seeds in a garden you'll never get to see. And I was like, oh, Luthen's here. I was like, Luthen's here inside of my experience of Hamilton right now. I'm always thinking about Luthen, but what I, but I was thinking about the contrast between that line and

And what makes Luthan's speech so powerful is like,

That line, planting seeds in a garden you'll never see, is like so pastoral and gentle and calm. And Luthan's like, I'm damned. Sunless space, dreams with ghosts. You know what I mean? Like I burn my decency. Cloak billowing in the shadows. You know? That's it. Yeah. I burn my life for a sunrise that I know I'll never see. So sunrise I know I'll never see in a sunless space, making my mind a sunless space. Like those two parts specifically. Yeah.

Just are always on my mind. I remember when I watched this episode for the first time and I got to that part and I was like breathless. Yeah. And I was just like stunned. And then I just stopped the episode and rewatched that part like four or five times. Yeah.

I was like, how is this real? How, you know, I, the only other time I've ever like done that where I've been like literally breathless by television was Fleabag season two. Oh my God. Where I could like feel myself getting closer and closer to the screen as I was watching. And I was like, we, what? We're allowed to watch this? Yeah. Very, very, very powerful television viewing experience. That's how I felt about, about this, Stellan's performance, you know, the writing, um,

and the imagery, you know, to your point, the, the cloak billowing is just very important. I'm glad it's here. I'm glad it's really good. It's great. It's really worthy. Number one. I think our number ones are fantastic. Good, good list. And guess what? They basically span the quarter century, 2002 to 2005. Yeah. Look at that. Or 2022 actually, but you know, still.

I love it. We did it. We didn't think we could. As recently as last night, we did not think we could, but we did it. Yeah. Before we wrap, let's spend just a few minutes on some honorable mentions. Our wonderful team members here, I think, have some nominations that they would like to throw out. Guys, what can you not believe was not on our list? What would absolutely have to be on your list?

I want to start with John, who has like a formal list that he put in our doc that I haven't clicked on for fear of spoilers. Yeah, I didn't want to know. Yeah. Sure. Yeah, I had like a top 15 and then I was like, oh, they, Mel and Joe picked some of the ones that I had. My list actually started with like,

Maybe around 60. Relatable content. Give us some of your top ones. Okay. I'll quickly go through my top 10. And some of them might not be

fit in the rules, but let's see. The first one is kind of part of a dialogue, but there's a good speech in there. It's whenever Yosef Tarasov goes to Vigo Tarasov in the first John Wick, and Vigo has to explain to his son what he just awakened. And I think that that is my pick here, because for even a short beat, we...

with the villains and are almost kind of rooting for them just based on the fear that Viggo is communicating to his son. So that is definitely a pick. Good one. Great one. I had a John Wick one as an honorable mention. I think the, but now, yeah, I'm thinking I'm back is a great speech. Oh, yeah.

All right. Hit us with your other top contenders. My next one is Tyrion's Confession from Game of Thrones. It's just the best vent ever written. And I think probably will go down as the greatest moment in Peter Dinklage's career.

In my opinion. We'll see. We'll see what he has left. The next one I have is actually from season five of The Expanse. Great. Where the terrorist network, the Free Navy, has launched a massive assault on Earth and Mars. And whenever the leader gives this speech and reveals himself, the most devastating part of it isn't really his performance or the speech. It's the reaction of everybody who's watching his speech, including the

all of his followers that have been trampled for so many years by the people from Earth and Mars for so long. And they finally have someone who's speaking for them. And they look so hopeful, even though this person is taking all of their hopes and dreams and just perverting them for his own personal gain and glory. The next one, it's kind of Oscar clippy, but and it's strange because it's two people.

Kind of different characters, but they're the same character. I think it was actually the Oscar clip from Everything Everywhere All at Once with Waymond talking about how the way he fights against adversity in the world is just to be kind, loving, and understanding. And every time I watch it, like I watched it yesterday at work whenever I was prepping and I had to go into another room because everything...

Every single time he gives this monologue, it hits me like a missile. Oh, John. Another one that does the same thing is actually from the 2013 film Gravity. Oh! Where Sandra Bullock's character, Ryan, has kind of given up all hope and then she's visited by the ghost of George Clooney's Kowalski. And I love this speech because he...

points out how despair can mount and mount and mount. And then whenever it keeps mounting, you keep getting hit by so many things. The temptation to give into the darkness, to surrender to it and succumb becomes so easy. But then...

the alternative of just powering through going on, he delivers in such a practical way that I've, it's kind of become like a mantra of my life where like, if I am facing so many dark adverse, adverse things, um, I was just like, okay, well, what about tomorrow? What about the next day? Well, like I have to keep going. So I just, I look at it in a very practical way. Um, and I have this movie to thank for that. Yeah.

Next one I have is from The Dark Knight, which I think is probably the best speech from a villain. It's a very short moment, but it's whenever the Joker is in police custody and he's telling the detective about why he uses a knife and how in that brief moment he reveals while he's using a knife that the true nature of his friends that he's killed and...

The part where he says, I know your friends better than you ever did. Would you like to know which one of them were cowards? And he delivers this with so much glee and joy. Not only because I think he revels in seeing people's pain, but he knows that his tact of manipulation is working. Yeah, it's perfect. Just a few more. The next one is from The Last of Us. It's...

Frank's last request for his last day, which is a speech because he says, I'm not going to give one of the everyday was a wonderful gift from God speeches. But yeah, it's just another one. It's just, it's devastating. My final three are very close to be tied. The third one, my number three is from Dune. Again, just like another one that's coming up,

They're basically just word for word from the text. I don't have any tattoos, but I feel like if I did, this would be on there. "I must not fear. Fear is a mind killer." That whole speech. It's, I think, the best moment of not only the first movie, but maybe even the whole series so far. It's just, it blows my mind. It's the greatest motivational speech ever written.

Number two, I go back and forth with this in number one. It's from the Battle of the Five Armies. And even though it's kind of... Yeah. Okay. It's kind of word for word, almost from Tolkien. But like, I was even... Whenever I was discussing this pod with my wife last night, I was telling her these speeches and I got choked up just reading this to her. It's the farewell of Thorin to Bilbo, his dying last words. Because...

It kind of encapsulates like a plea for what I think all of us want the world to be, which is, I mean, just to get to the last line, if more people valued home above gold, this world would be a merrier place. And I think that is just a kind of like just a single line to live by and to yearn for. Yeah.

And the last one I have isn't, I wouldn't say like the greatest speech ever written, but it is my favorite cinematic moment of all time.

And so I have to give it to Theoden's speech to the Rohirrim as he's about to charge into the fields of Polinor. Death! Great one. Great one. That was almost my pick. That was very, very close to my pick. Great list. Wonderful list, John. Dynamite. John, thank you for sharing that with us. That was wonderful. Carlos, do you have anything you want to add?

Yeah, I don't have a full list, so I can't live up to John there. But I did want to just highlight a few things. First of all, it's not... It's definitely more of a cheat. It's definitely more dialogue-y. But, like, when Rocket, the raccoon, is talking to...

in the first guardians movie when they're like arguing and rockets like drunk and he's talking about how i didn't i didn't uh ask to get made you guys and he's like goes on this huge rant about how they're always insulting him and it's not his fault he didn't ask it to get made and to me that sets up the entire third movie which i love and uh it's great it's just incredible um

The other one that is definitely the most speechy of the three that I brought is from Avatar The Last Airbender, and I actually have it. I'm going to play it. Hell yeah. Begging you, Prince Zuko, it's time for you to look inward and begin asking yourself the big questions. Who are you, and what do you want? It's, yeah, Iroh, obviously, just...

It's one of the major turning points for Zuko. Obviously, it doesn't necessarily hold, but really, there's many moments, Iroh moments that you could... Totally. It's like, yeah, Iroh is the best character in that entire show. Correct. And him kind of just begging, absolutely begging Zuko to please, like, turn around. You don't need to do this. It's just so good. And the last one is definitely... I mean, it's just a cheat because it's definitely not...

uh genre epic but i i have to shout it out because it's my uh favorite movie of all time and it's from sing street oh um i'm gonna play it too just because i love it you followed the path that i cut for us untouched you just moved in my jet stream

And people laugh at me, Connor, the stoner, and they praise you, which is fine. But once I was a fucking jet engine. So yeah, is my favorite movie of all time. I love it. And that that scene is just so important to me just because I, I'm an older brother, I have three younger siblings, and it's

That scene is just kind of about him finally just talk, because he's not even the main character of the movie. He's talking to the main character of the movie, and he's talking about how, like, you think your life is so complicated and so hard, and it is, but you don't understand what...

before you. It's just, I don't know. I love that speech so much and it's a really important scene and a really important movie to me. I thought Jack Rayner was going to be the biggest star in the world coming off of Sing Street and I'm still waiting for that to happen for him. He deserves it. These are great picks, Carlos. Thank you. Guys, you crushed it. Yeah. Who wants to share Arjunas? First one's from Dark Knight, Joker to Batman. His Ahead of the Curve speech.

The next one is from the Avengers. Nick Fury's There Was an Idea speech. Very good. Iconic. The next is from WandaVision. Vision to Wanda. What is grief if not love persevering speech? And the last one is from Doctor Who. The 11th Doctor Regeneration. The Doctor Was Me speech.

Excellent choices. Very on-brand, Virgina. I love that. Oh, yeah. Incredibly. I'm going to rapid-fire the bad babies who came through with a lot of great suggestions. And again, I blame myself for not being specific that we were doing sci-fi fantasy because we got a lot of recommendations for, like, Sorkin things and other things, but we are only doing genre stuff, so next time, sci-fi fantasy nominations only. Dani wanted to shout out Idris Elba as Stacker Pentecost in Pacific Rim, who says, of course, today we are canceling the apocalypse.

Ethan wanted to shout out Russell Crowe as Maximus Decimus Meridius. I'll have my vengeance in this life or the next from Gladiator. Garrett shouted out another Adama speech from Battlestar Galactica. Penelope suggested Chris Eccleston as the ninth doctor. We're falling through space. You and me cling into the skin of this tiny world. And if we let go, that's who I am. Doctor who?

Eric, I almost picked this one. Eric, Nathan Villian is Captain Malcolm Mal Reynolds. I aim to misbehave speech from Firefly. Henrik sent through a couple Doctor Who suggestions. Sarah suggested chaos is a ladder. Francesca suggested Hugo Weaving as V from V for Vendetta. But if you see what I see, if you feel as I feel, and if you would seek as I seek, then I ask you to stand beside me one year from tonight outside the gates of Parliament. Together we shall give them a 5th of November that shall never ever be forgot.

Paris suggested Theoden's Rite of the Rohirrim speech. Chloe suggested Danielle Deadweiler's Miranda from Station Eleven. This sort of breakdown that she had, such a good one, this breakdown that she has about like

The man I loved died last night and I went to work instead and here I am with you and you don't matter at all. Your company's falling to sea. So I have to ask, why wasn't I at that play? Why wasn't I with my love when he died? Really, really good speech. Sean suggested Stephanie's shoes sucked into a bagel. Everything bagel speech from Everything Everywhere All at Once. Yep. And last but not least,

Dr. Jeffrey Watermule, PhD, Department of Theoretical and Applied Linguistics, sent us a very long email, which I will not read all of, but I will say really quickly that

He wrote, appropriate given the hot Nolan summer is the victory speech from Oppenheimer. Again, this is not necessarily genre. He says, prima facie, this film does not seem genre a la House of R, but I would beg to differ. Nolan has explained how the film is a consilience of genres from heist to courtroom and drama. And that speech scene is pure horror. Definitely ain't House of R fair. I cannot find the complete scene, blah, blah. It's brilliant for a myriad of reasons, but its primary brilliance is bivalent, substantive and formal. With respect to the form of this speech is remarkable.

that everything Oppenheimer is saying outwardly is exactly the opposite of what he is thinking inwardly, seldom as irony, pathos, and the horror of their fusion been so finely rendered in art.

Thank you. I just wanted to get really excited that a linguistics professor sent us an email. It is quite long and very technical, and I really loved it. So thank you so much. Thank you to the Bad Babies. You guys really, really came through on this. You're wonderful. Thanks to the Bad Babies. Thanks to the house of our team. Everybody came through today. Oh, yeah. Carlos Chiriboga, John Richter for producing this episode and for making wonderful nominations. Arjuna Ramgopal for his production supervision and his nominations. Jomia Deneron for his work on the social media.

Joanna, thank you to you. This was a thrill. This was so fun. And the hardest thing we've ever had to do. I can't wait to do more of these. It was so wonderful. I wonder if it'll get easier. I think maybe the next few will feel easier. And then when we realize we're down to our last couple, we're going to just be panicking. Great. Panicking. Send us your nominations for what other Best of the Century so far topics you want us to hit. We cannot wait to do more of these. And we will see you next week for 28 Years Later and Stranger Things Season 1 Revisited. Bye. Bye.