Adar plants some alfirin seeds and says a prayer before battle.
Quenya: `Vinya coivië... na vírië...`
English: "New awakening... To life..."
1. `My children, we have endured much...`
Adar's plans laid bare:
S1.E4— `That [the Southlanders] may live if [they] forsake all claim to these lands and swear fealty to him.`
S1.E5— `And soon [the sun] will be gone. And with it, the part of me that knew its warmth as well.`
2. `From Ered Mithrin to the Ephel Arnen`
Durnost = Location of Sauron's Last Stronghold in the Forodwaith that Galadriel & her company discover Sauron's mark (S1.E1)
Ered Mithrin = GREY MOUNTAINS
Ephel Arnen = South of Ithilien across the Anduin (South Gondor)
3. 'NAMPAT' means "death" in Black Speech
4. The watchtower at Ostirith and the bridge with a nearby lake.
The lake and watchtower are not part of the official geography or maps made by Tolkien. Their location is south of the vale.
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Map of the Southlands
- Ephel Dúath is the Eastern Mt range
- Yellow crosses mark future sites of future structures
- The Vale becomes the Valley of the Wraiths after the Ringwraiths capture Minas Ithil (renamed Minas Morgul)
Berek (primitive Elvish, "sudden") and Isildur (Quenya, "Moon" + "servant")
Galadriel can see the rising sun and landfall. This is a flatearth so there is no geometrical horizon.
"Aragorn smiled. ‘Keen are the eyes of the Elves,’ he said." (The Riders of Rohan, #LOTR)
2. `Humility has saved entire kingdoms the proud have all but led to ruin.`
Is this foreshadowing the fate of Númenor? The proud in Númenor will play a role in her Downfall, but the humility of her survivors will allow them to resettle in the kingdoms of Arnor and Gondor.
A view from the Sundering Sea— the dawning Sun over the lands of Middle-earth...
3. `It is strange.`
Elendil speaks to how he looks `east to see the Sun rise over the sea` and `west to see it set over the land`.
Now as he sails towards Middle-earth... he sees the dawning Sun over the lands of Middle-earth— hence it feels like night.
4. `She drowned.`
Elendil's grief— This arc creates conflict in Elendil's heart over the injustice of death upon Men.
In the Tolkien Legendarium, the death of Men (a "gift") is a total death, i.e., a death of the body and the soul. There is no reunion in an afterlife.
KEEP
1. `It is beyond our skill to destroy.`
The key cannot be destroyed. Theo watches as Arondir finds it a hiding place.
2. `You remember what you used to say?`
"In the end, this shadow is but a small and passing thing. There is light and high beauty forever beyond its reach. Find the light... And the shadow will not find you."
#LOTR— Sam sees a star above the Ephel Dúath in Mordor
3. `New life, in defiance of death?`
Tolkien wrote of alfirin... "those imagined flowers are lit by a light that would not be seen ever in a growing plant and cannot be recaptured by paint." (Letter 312)
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Let. 312— "Alfirin ('immortal') would be an immortelle, but not dry and papery...a beautiful bell-like flower...soft and gentle"
Immortelle are medicinal.
'Dry & papery' suggests alfirin had long-lived petals— a flower that "defies" death is one to plant before battle!
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Yavanna (wife of Aulë) is `the Valar [who] watches over growing things.`
Promises made under a tree... "And thus it was that Arwen first beheld [Aragorn] again after their long parting; and as he came walking towards her under the trees...her choice was made." (#LOTR)
4. The Númenorean cavalry enter the Southlands through the Vale (later named the Morgul Vale) in the Ephel Dúath ("Mountains of Shadow"). The Ephel Dúath is the eastern mountain range that borders the Southlands.
The Morgulduin river can be seen in the background (0:30).
5. Theo betrays Arondir and turns over the broken hilt to Adar to save his mother's life. Adar has a task for Waldreg.
Arriving south from the vale, the Númenorean cavalry charge Tirharad.
6. REAL STUNTWORK
[These are sooo technical that I don't know what names they have in the stuntwork biz.]
‘Ride on! Ride on!’ cried Glorfindel, and then loud and clear he called to the horse in the elf-tongue: noro lim, noro lim, Asfaloth! At once the white horse sprang away and sped like the wind along the last lap of the Road.
'Morion' comes from the phrase "enga morion" (Quen. "dark one"); found in Fíriel's Song (The Lost Road, HoME).
Morion = "dark one" in reference to Morgoth
dor = "land" in Sindarin; but can also be adjective in Quenya: Nandor, Eldameldor
2. `Where is Sauron?"
Tolkien wrote how Sauron sought the "healing of desolate lands" in the SA. (Letter 131)
However, this seemingly "good" act was actually a veiled attack on the Valar. Sauron tried to coax the Elves into creating Valinor ("paradise") on Middle-earth.
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`Not of the flesh...over flesh.`
'Sauron the Sorcerer' (S1.E1) toyed with things of the Unseen World that led to further corruption— "a lust for domination." (L 131)
Enhancement of one's natural power, despite good intention, leads to the path of corruption & domination.
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The place where Sauron bid his followers to `follow him far north`.
S1.E1— The place where Sauron gathered the Orcs. The same place Galadriel's company mutinied against her.
Far north of the Forodwaith— Dûrnost ("hellish-city"); a place invented for the ROP story.
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`Dark knowledge...kept hidden from him`
Sauron seeks the dark powers of the 'Necromancer' where he seeks to render "invisible the material body, and make things of the [Unseen] world visible." (L 131)
We see Sauron wholly master this power in #TheHobbit.
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Sauron's arc is a representation of a "wholly evil will" & not an absolute evil. (L 131)
Stages of Sauron follows— 1. Desire to bring order per his own wisdom 2. Being an angelic spirit he was also proud & lusted for domination 3. Ultimate desire was to become a god-king
3. `I killed Sauron`
But Galadriel does not believe him. Does Adar simply believe he was able to 'split [Sauron] open'? How could an Uruk do that which an entire army of Elves could not?
4. "The best Uruk is a dead Uruk"
Galadriel regards the Uruk as a scourge.
Orcs were made by corrupting & enslaving Elves. Morgoth 'breed the race of Orcs in envy and mockery of Elves'. The Orcs multiplied; they became the bitterest foes of Elves. #Silmarillion
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`We are creations of the One...Master of the Secret Fire, the same as you.`
The Elvish origins of the Uruk means the Uruk were made of the same soul (fëa) and body (hröa) as Elves. Eru (the One) made the Eruhin (Children) souls from the Secret Fire; it is a part of them.
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Elvish origins of Uruk also means that their immortality & death is the same as Elves. Death involves separation of soul from the body.
Unlike Men, the souls of the Elves/Uruk/Dwarves are fated to be eternally bound to Arda, i.e., the soul does not perish.
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After death, where do these souls (houseless fëar) go? They go to the "Halls of Waiting" where they are cared for by Mandos.
#TheHobbit— 'Farewell, good thief,' [Thorin] said. 'I go now to the halls of waiting to sit beside my fathers, until the world is renewed.'
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The problem of the Uruk— To let live or to let die?
Orcs leave devastating harm & destruction in their wake— Galadriel is just to want their deaths. Perhaps it is better for Eru to decide the fate of Uruk, just like Elves.
Alive; there is no redemptive path for an Uruk.
5. `It would seem I'm not the only Elf alive who has been transformed by darkness.`
To Adar's point, Galadriel's hate has indeed changed her. Perhaps Gil-galad was right and wise to send her away after all.
1/7. All living things in Arda are classified as either being of the Incarnates ("spirits put into flesh") or not.
Nature of ME— Incarnates include the likes of Eruhíni, Ents, Eagles, etc. Their bodies have 'souls' as Eru has endowed. Plants & most animals are not Incarnates.
2/7. The Great Tree of Lindon isn't an Incarnate.
The Life of the Tree (being w/o a soul) is not equal to the Life of the Eldar (beings w/ souls).
Yet Elves value life in all. Violence upon trees involves the death & ending of its own physical life— it grieves Elves. (NOME)
Augustinian indeed. In the sense that a character's choice (by their own free will) determines whether they are good or evil. 1/5
@chaneilduine@Bliss_Hughes 2/5 Take Morgoth as an example. Of his own will, he chose to stand against & apart from Eru. This stemmed from his inability to accept that his sub-creation cannot be distinct from Eru himself, bc ultimately all things come from Eru. Thus, his actions begot destruction.
@chaneilduine@Bliss_Hughes 3/5 Morgoth's greatest crime was attempting to bend the wills of Eru's children thru corrupting Elves to create Orcs. Interfering with another being's free will is the greatest no-no because the ability to choose determines whether you are good or evil.
1. Four LED lighting tubes were strapped to a horse running at Galadriel. Flames were added in post-VFX.
Flames on structures, floating cinders, and swirling ash were also added in post. Wet paper was used for ash on set. twitter.com/i/web/status/1…
2. Galadriel finds an unscathed Theo. Isildur and Míriel rescue Valandil.
Míriel is hurt by flaming embers while rescuing survivors. Isildur sacrifices himself to save his Queen before the structure collapses on him. twitter.com/i/web/status/1…
Nori first taught the Stranger to speak using sign language (E2).
Weeks later he speaks in the same dialect as Nori. Not surprising as he patterns his speech after her. He's also learning new words & with that a sense of right vs wrong as Nori sees it.
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Nori's explanation of perils and death pushes the Stranger to consider that he has the capacity to cause death (`fireflies` in S1.E2).
He recognizes that death (or destruction) is not a desirable outcome.