Brethil
Gondolin
Jan 23 2015, 1:40am
Views: 5801
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all three of the Elven characters are written as leaving a lot unsaid, not in a bad/ omission/ mistake way, but as part of their characterization. Legolas never tells Tauriel how he feels, Thranduil does not tell his son he loves him, etc.
So to me, Thranduil saying to Tauriel "because it was real" seemed enough. Without saying explicitly "I misjudged you, I am sorry" or anything of the sort, it seemed to me that was what it meant. Because it is a taking back of what he said to her during heir confrontation.
I thought all the Elves used this way of communicating. I think Legolas' "I cannot go back" is a rejection of Thranduil as he is at that moment, and as well as what has come before in their closed-off life: the 'with you' that I hear in my head at the end is left off; their relationship is cloaked in silence and denial of strong feeling because Thranduil has shut himself off since the tragic deaths of his father and (I presume) wife at the hands of darkness.
When Thranduil tells Legolas goodbye, I think he uses 'your mother' as a proxy name to cover what HE is feeling: and as it is true, its a conglomeration of parental love. Thranduil has taken the step to acknowledge it in himself, which is brave, but cannot say it just yet ... but under the emotional duress it comes out sort of sideways.
And the same for his words to Tauriel. All in all, the portrayal of an Elf whose tenderest emotions have made him terribly vulnerable, and he can feel them but isn't prepared to show his throat to world, so to speak. Thus he speaks in cipher.
(This post was edited by Brethil on Jan 23 2015, 1:42am)
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