If you haven't watched The Lord of the Rings trilogy yet, please let us know how life is treating you circa 2001-2003. We gather it was a markedly more innocent time than our current state of affairs.

If you have watched the trilogy, however, then you've been privy to many elements and permutations of the LOTR fandom. Fan fiction and memorabilia are everywhere. Fan theories are wild and get wilder. And if you've paid attention at all, then it shouldn't surprise you to learn that LOTR bears similarities to a Dungeons & Dragons campaign.

Wait, what?

Yes, you read that correctly.

For those of you who don't know, Dungeons & Dragons (or D&D) is a fantasy tabletop role-playing game. It's one of the most influential war games devised for the medium, producing more than $1 billion in equipment and book sales. The game marked a departure from traditional war games, allowing players to choose their own characters rather than play as a military formation.

According to College Humor cast member Brennan Lee Mulligan, LOTR is, in fact, a D&D campaign.

Hear him out:























Whoa. Go on...























Holy crap. Keep going...



















WHOA.



It all makes sense now.













Thanks, Brennan. We're now incapable of watching the trilogy without these tweets in mind.