Jared, Oriana and Ned talk about Oriana’s choice of topic: Éowyn. As likely the most prominent character in The Lord of the Rings who’s a woman—and certainly the most prominent human woman, hands down—Éowyn and her journey in the story always has a central position in any discussion of the book, someone who grapples with any number of personal disasters and wider societal expectations to end up playing a key role in the book’s epic arc. At the same time, her final choices after that shattering confrontation with the Lord of the Nazgûl have led to questioning about whether she should be seen as a feminist icon, something that Tolkien’s own personal views on women further indelibly complicate. Were Tolkien’s own stated views on what he thought about women and society conditional, potentially subject to change possibly even depending on his perception of his audience? Is Éowyn a total outlier in her society and world or is what she does something potentially more broadly understood and accepted? Are the choices she makes towards the end of the book a return to an expected role for her in a patriarchal world, or are they reflective of her gaining a deeper understanding of herself and what her own desires and needs are no matter what others might think? And what do we all think about that moment when her hair and Faramir’s flow together in the wind as they stand on Minas Tirith’s walls awaiting the moment of doom? (We love it, of course.)