Episode #64: Ronald Weasley
From the beginning, Ron has played second fiddle to Harry Potter…or has he? Perhaps Ron’s perception that he was simply there as Harry’s backup was just that: perception. Ron was, in fact, more of an individual and a complement to Harry than just a sidekick. Finally, in Book 7, Ron comes to realize this. In this week’s episode, we look back at Ron’s past and his coming-of-age/growing up in Book 7 and the Epilogue.
In the News:
- USA Today names Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows the Book of the Year for 2007.
- Richard Griffiths and Julie Walters will receive distinguished awards.
- OoTP on long lists for the BAFTAS in six categories.
- Daniel Radcliffe has donated his glasses to a Holocaust exhibit.
You can listen to the episode with the player below, or download it directly as an mp3.
Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.
Tags: Books, Harry Potter, literature, Ron Weasley
January 6th, 2008 at 3:29 am
First to comment! I believe that this was a great episode. I’m still confused on why Ron wasn’t able to become a man until the 7th book, since he is a bit immature. But it was awesome, and I think you guys examined Ron’s character very well.
January 6th, 2008 at 5:56 am
Second to comment and second the motion. Job well done. Loved the Happy Days analogy.
(what happened to the link to the direct download?…)
January 6th, 2008 at 7:14 am
Ron Weasley has amazed me from book one. The time in the wizards chess match where he tells Haqrry it is him who must go on and fully intends to sacrifice himself. It was no accident he was a knight. His ability to face his fear (including spiders) Is unmatched by any character. His snogfest with Jenny Picalo and outlooks actually seemed more mature than Harry at most times who lived in blissful ignorance. This may have been due to Ron having older siblings he used as examples which Harry did not have. Rons defense of his sister while he was so ready to chase the girls reminds me of my own son. His jealousy seemed more intense to me in GOF than DH because it was antagonized by a horecrux as in GOF it was all him. Yet when Harry turns on everyone Ron is the first to defend him and stand by him while giving him space in OOTP. The brilliant moments in OOTP and DH just reenforce his role as a warrior and not a scholar. Harry never had a choice in the hero role yet Ron did and still chose that path. even after he realized the sacrifices it would cost him. I really feel that his momntary desertion was due to the horecrux taking advantage of the suffering the trio was enduring at that time. If Ron had any weakness it would be gluttony I fear. In short I saw no drastic change in Ron as written although the movie character shows more. Bad sinus infections going around. Be sure not to fly with that ear ache. Better to be digested by a sarlac. I am not sure what medication Greg was taking but I want some!
January 6th, 2008 at 11:40 am
I think you should do a podcast about the Harry Potter audio books. Me being unable to read the print books, and to lazy to read them in braille, I thought the audio books wher great. I would like to hear your thoughts on them and Jim Dales great voice!
January 6th, 2008 at 5:23 pm
Aaron, that is a good point. I always admired Ron as, not only a sidekick and a great friend, but independent as well as a fighter. I think this was all said in the actual podcast, but really, I’m just restating it. I think kids should more look to Ron as a role model than Harry, because, well…think about it. Ron is more of a person you’d want to be than Harry. You don’t want to be the hero all the time, and at the same time, you don’t want to be unimportant.
January 6th, 2008 at 6:26 pm
I really enjoyed this episode, and I think Ron was definitely worthy of an entire podcast. One point that I think is particularly special about Ron is the fact that he comes from such a loving and strong family. Ron’s family is the one thing that Harry does not have (which perhaps causes times of longing or jealousy in Harry). Of course, no family is perfect and Ron has his own issues, but I believe part of the reason he is such a good friend to Harry with such a good sense of humor is because of the foundation his family provides.
January 6th, 2008 at 6:27 pm
P.S. I’d love to hear an episode where you go through the theme(s) of each book. I believe you mentioned this idea in the past…
January 6th, 2008 at 8:55 pm
I like the idea that you guys did a podcast on Ron just by himself. One of my favorite things about Ron is that to me he is a real person like Neville. That is why as much as I like Harry, Dumbledore, and Snape, my favorites are Ron and Neville. They are real people that make heroes of themselves and enjoy it but then go back and be just normal. Neither Harry nor Dumbledore could do that and neither could Snape after he killed Dumbledore. Ron made himself a hero rather than being forced to be a hero like Harry.
As everyone can tell by reading DH, Ron’s turning point is when he leaves and comes back, but the moment I realized that Ron had grown up was when they are in the room of requirement and Ron says that they need to evacuate the house elves and Harry wants to get them fighting (which does happen in the end). That is the moment that I knew that Ron had grown up and obviously Hermione realized it too. “OI. There’s a war going on here.” Keep up the good cast.
Oh and I realized why in the films they added Nigel the unknown kid. It is as a comic relief. The way I figured that out is in OOTF movie when Harry guides Cho’s hand Nigel falls and does a “ I’m ok, I’m ok.” That just reminded me of Ron in the first movie, “Luck we didn’t panic.” Just my thought would love to hear yours.
January 6th, 2008 at 10:16 pm
Didn’t they add Nigel because the guy who played Colin Creevy grew like 5 feet or something? Anyway, great point, Pensieve Horcrux, I’m glad they got away from making Ron’s character comic relief all the time. In the books he’s really much more well rounded & to some extent more knowledgeable about the wizarding world.
January 7th, 2008 at 9:52 am
I was just wondering Greg and Penny as you are going to Portus 2008. Some listeners will not be able to make it (I will never be able to afford the flight over as I am in the UK) but I would still like to hear whats going on will you do a podcast like you did last year for Prophecy 2007, that would be great. Great show as always, keep them coming.
January 7th, 2008 at 2:02 pm
Hi Guys, Happy New Year to All. Really enjoyed this weeks episode, Greg was really in fine form. I always saw Harry and Ron like Frodo and Samwise. Harry had this big task he had to complete and Ron like Samwise was the one to help him do it. He even had his big Smawise moment pulling Harry from the pond and destroying the Horrcux, this to me was Ron’s big “Man” moment.
It will be really interesting if the films can pull off the big change in Ron from Book 5 – 7, Rupert Grint always seems to be a bit Jim Carrey, always pulling faces to get effect. It will be nice to see him mature, I just hope they don’t make a mess of the Ron/Lavender/Hermione situation and make it all about comedy.
January 8th, 2008 at 1:28 pm
I had to add Happy Birthday to my dear Sev, (It is the 9th here in NZ).
I have been re reading all the books and found it very interesting that the person who taught Harry his signature Expelliarmus was the Potions Master himself.
January 9th, 2008 at 9:53 am
Here his a simple question for Potters number one fan. Who’s has the longest wand: Harry, Ron, Hermione, Voldemort or Dumbledore?
Have fun.
January 9th, 2008 at 12:55 pm
Pensieve,
what was the final answer to yuor last Q? did we get ‘em all?
January 9th, 2008 at 4:15 pm
I think you guys got all of them. The ones I knew about for sure were: HBP-Narsissa, HBP-Dumbledore, DH-Cherity(I think I may have spelled her name wrong). So yeah it was a good little question.
I just think that to have a question to reasearch will make us go back and look in the past books. And not just DH now that it is out. Thats why I am doing this. That and it is fun.
January 9th, 2008 at 5:22 pm
Fun indeed.
I agree that you have spotted some promising research directions
January 10th, 2008 at 5:02 pm
The longest wand in the series was Hagrids. However out of the people you said I think it is Voldemorts.
January 10th, 2008 at 5:07 pm
I have a question for you now: What was Voldemorts first and last Horcruxes?
January 10th, 2008 at 10:26 pm
You are right about Hagrid’s wand (16 inches). But of the list I gave, Ron has the longest wand. Even longer than Voldemort. Voldemort’s is 13 1/2 inch (Yew and Phoenix feather core) and Rons is 14 inches (Willow and unicorn tailhair core)[POA pg. 56 American Edition]. Because we never read how long Dumbldore’s wand(the Elder Wand), is I didn’t account for it. Of the ones that we know for sure, Ron’s is the biggest. Lucky for Hermione Ron has a big stick. Oh my bad, kids might be reading this. I’ll behave.
As for your question did you mean the first and last made or the first and last destroyed.
Made: The Diary first and Nagini last.
Destroyed: The Diary first and Nagini last.
Oh and I may be just slow figuring this out ,but the horcruxes were destroyed in the order they were made: diary, ring, locket, cup, diadem, Harry, Nagini.
Thats cool.
January 10th, 2008 at 11:24 pm
Ok who was the muggle priminister at the time of Dumbledore’s famous duel with Grindewald?
January 10th, 2008 at 11:44 pm
That answer is not in the books and as the books don’t follow real world events if I were to look up who was the prime minister at that time it wouldn’t matter b/c JKR would probibly change it to a charecter she needed rather then the real person.
Now’s my turn: Who(m) was/were the last persson(s) that Dumbldore confided 12 Gimald Place to? Lets see if you were paying attention.
Oh and anyone can answer thats the fun of it.
January 11th, 2008 at 2:24 am
I’m guessing Snape or Harry? Totally guessing though as I never really understood the whole secret keeper thing.
I have a question not really a quizzy one. I was just reading that Snape was a member of the OOTP in the first war. Was this after Lily died? If it was before she died would she have known that Snape was in the Order with them? Would she have seen that as enough to forgive him for his turning to the dark side so to say?
January 11th, 2008 at 9:22 am
Where were you reading that? What book? What chapter?
As for the question I asked I think that I will let it go a little longer. This is a good one, not meaning to toot my own horn or anything, but it is.
January 11th, 2008 at 2:37 pm
I think the last people were the Dursleys when he came to fetch Harry and told him what Sirius had left in his will. Although (without the book in front of me) he may have only said Grimald Place and not the address.
January 11th, 2008 at 3:08 pm
The last person was Harry I’m 99 percent sure that it was Harry. Here is another question, What was Percy’s joke before Fred got killed?
January 11th, 2008 at 6:17 pm
Dsiedell got the answer. It was the Dursleys. When Dumbledore told Harry about the will of Sirius Black, he said out loud 12 Grimald Place. If he hadn’t been the secret keeper he could have never said the name. Also when he died at the end of HBP, the Dursleys became secret keepers just like Harry.
As for Potters number one fan’s question, the answer is that Percy joke was that he was resigning from the ministry.
Ok now for my new one: How old were Lily and James when they died? Just a note to help, they died young.
January 11th, 2008 at 8:54 pm
21 years old. In book 1: whom did Scabbers bite
January 12th, 2008 at 11:27 pm
I;m trying to do this without looking in the book to see how well my memory is but I think it was Goyle. I’m pretty sure it was Crabbe or Goyle. It happened when Malfoy and the other two can in to the compartment that harry and Ron were in and started to take their food and it bite one of them. Now that I think about it, it was probably Malfoy. That’s it I’m changing it to Malfoy.
Good question b/c that part wasn’t in the movies and so only a true fan who has read the book will know it.
This is a simple question but it does require a bit of math: How old was Harry when he show Albus Severus on to the hogwart express for the first time?
January 17th, 2008 at 6:27 pm
Great podcast. Ron is definitely worthy of his own podcast episode. I love how each podcast you do opens my eyes to some new aspect that I never really gave much thought to before. Fantastic points and hilarious at the same time-what more could you ask for?
It was entertaining hearing Greg do the news, but maybe the Lovely Penny should stick to it. . .