What is the riddle of steel?

Sanguine, my brother

Flesh, like steel, must be forged to be strong. Being shaped and battered is the way to true strength.

File: subotai.jpg (18KB, 151x186px) Image search: [Google]

18KB, 151x186px

>>84469992
Eyyyy
That's pretty good mang

Steel is only as strong as the hand which weilds it

>>84468810
You can not trust anyone, not man, woman, or beast. But this [sword made of Crom-damned STEEL], this you can trust.

The mind is stronger than both flesh and steel

>>84470907
Thulsa doom tries to prove this when he shows the dedication of his cultists, but he loses.

>>84470885
Conan's father dies, and later his sword breaks, proving that you can't actually trust it.

>>84470595
Close, but a couple of the characters appear to be physically stronger than Conan and he still triumphs.

>>84469992
This.

File: steel.png (185KB, 300x435px) Image search: [Google]

185KB, 300x435px

>>84468810
Blacks ruin everything.

>>84469992
>>84470997
So basically, the answer to the riddle is spelled out before the entirety of the movie, ie. the quote from Nietzsche: "That which does not kill us makes us stronger"?

>>84469992
Essentially this. Thulsa doom gave him a pretty big hint, and the entire scene leading up to their confrontation was another hint.

Conans father told him you can only trust your sword, thulsa doom told him what is a sword compared to the hand that wields it, after capturing him and saying who among you still fears.

The sword breaks in the end and thulsa doom gets his head lopped off. the riddle of steel is conviction. This is cemented when conan prays to crom but then also tells him to fuck off if he doesn't want to help.

A man must have conviction and must understand that he is the master of his own destiny. If he does not trust the sword he will fail, if he does not trust himself he will die. The sword represents the tools you have to achieve your goals, but they mean nothing unless you have conviction.

Will to power.

>>84471350
Will to power only goes so far
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yhy9--YRBD8

>>84468810
You need to strike a balance between being hard and unrelenting, and soft and pliable. Steel is valued over iron for its flexibility, and this flexibility only comes as a result of using fire and ice skillfully - two diametrically opposed forces that need to be used in tandem to successfully complete the forging process.

>>84474123
>and this flexibility only comes as a result of using fire and ice skillfully
>fire
>ice
Putting a hot piece of metal on "ice" would probably fracture it in a million pieces.

>>84474232
I know, but his father literally does it in the film while explaining shit to his son.

>>84469992
Nope! You fell for Thulsa Doom's tricks.

Conan's father said Steel was stronger than Flesh, and Thulsa said Flesh was stronger than Steel. But, as Conan discovers after destroying his father's sword and then killing Thulsa with it, he discovers the truth: It is the Will of the man that is strongest. Steel can be shattered, Flesh can be hewn through, but the Will is immaterial and can overcome both.

Contemplate this, anon, on the Tree of Woe.

>>84474654
And how do you forge your will? Through trials, suffering. That is true strength.

>>84474654
>It isn't until his father's sword is broken that Conan realizes the true answer to the riddle: all the power of both steel and flesh come from one's beliefs.

Good point but I wonder if the word belief doesn't work better.

>>84474654
This is probably my favorite post I've ever read on 4chan

File: TD.jpg (36KB, 579x800px) Image search: [Google]

36KB, 579x800px

King Osric, I'm Snake Cult.

>>84476855
You don't get to bring snakes.

You killed my people! You took my faddas suward! Arrrrgh!