Doors of Durin
Doors of Durin
[White Hat, Megan, and Cueball stand. Megan has her finger up.] Megan: I've got it! Megan: What's the elvish word for friend? Cueball: Mellon.
[The trio stand. A off-panel door opens.] RUMBLE
[White Hat has his palm out, while Cueball has his palm on his chin.] White Hat: So what's the elvish word for "frenemy"? Cueball: ...Mellogoth? SLAM!!

The comic is based on the Lord of the Rings , specifically a scene from The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring , where the eponymous fellowship is trapped outside the door to the Mines of Moria . There's a spoken password to open the doors, an Elvish inscription on them provides a clue: "Speak friend, and enter". The party leader ( Gandalf ) initially interprets this to mean that a friend could speak the password and enter. Only after many unsuccessful efforts does Gandalf realize it is actually a very simple riddle: The password is the Elvish word for "friend" ("mellon"), and the inscription should in fact be interpreted as "Speak [out loud the word] mellon [(the Elvish word for friend )], and [you will be able to] enter". See the Wikipedia article Use–mention distinction .
In this comic, Cueball, White Hat, and Megan reenact the scene, with Cueball taking the role of Gandalf. The doors apparently open off-panel when the password is spoken. White Hat then wonders aloud what the Elvish word for "frenemy" is, and Cueball postulates "mellogoth". This is a portmanteau of "mellon" and "goth", much like how "frenemy" is a portmanteau of "friend" and "enemy". The Elvish word-root goth is best known as part of the name of Morgoth (literally, "Black Enemy") of the Silmarillion . The doors apparently immediately slam shut the moment Cueball says mellogoth . It is unclear whether this is because the opposite of the password has been spoken, or because the doors take offense to the word/concept frenemy , of which xkcd has previously made fun in 919: Tween Bromance .
The title text ponders what would occur if the Sirannon, a stream running adjacent to the path leading to the doors, were to be completely blocked with the doors left open. The already partially blocked Sirannon had formed a pool before the doors; which contained some sort of monstrous horror from the depths of the Earth, referred to as the Watcher in the Water . Randall seems to think that the pond draining into the mines would connect the Watcher with another horror within: the Balrog (a high-level servant of Morgoth) living within the depths of the mines. Balrogs are primarily creatures of fire and shadow, so having a bunch of water dumped on it is unlikely to please it but may weaken it. He then goes on to wonder about the outcome of a battle between the two monsters.
[White Hat, Megan, and Cueball stand. Megan has her finger up.] Megan: I've got it! Megan: What's the elvish word for friend? Cueball: Mellon.
[The trio stand. A off-panel door opens.] RUMBLE
[White Hat has his palm out, while Cueball has his palm on his chin.] White Hat: So what's the elvish word for "frenemy"? Cueball: ...Mellogoth? SLAM!!
