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Felagund
Nargothrond
Sep 22 2024, 10:28am
Post #1 of 4
(2409 views)
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The interesting discussion that Noria kicked off with their post on Eärien got me to thinking, speculatively, a bit more about Isildur - who is absent, at least physically, from E6, after E5 pushed things forward a bit with his arc.
Specifically, when will Isildur's return to Númenor be engineered? The last time he was on his island homeland, Tar-Palantir was still on the throne (technically), Míriel was Queen-Regent, Pharazôn was a notionally loyal member of the royal court (and part time protector of of Númenórean jobs against imaginary threats), Elendil was on the up as an increasingly high profile captain, and Eärien was arguably a vanilla character sketch. As and when Isildur returns, pretty much everything will have changed, from his point of view. How will Isildur be written as reacting to this? Is it a given that he'll slot into the Faithful faction seamlessly and immediately? Certainly, this was not the case in Tolkien's earliest writing on the character that would become partially recycled as Isildur - Herendil son of Elendil, a major character in The Lost Road, Tolkien's (inevitably) incomplete 'last days of Númenor' story, chapters of which were submitted to Allen & Unwin in the late 1930s, nearly two decades before LotR was published. There are shades of Herendil in Eärien's relationship with Elendil, I reckon - eg. the fraught taking of different sides with regard to the future of Númenor, the pleading of Elendil's case after his arrest - these things are features of that incomplete story. Not that I'm suggesting Amazon have secured access to The Lost Road!
Anyway, I got distracted! Obviously Isildur does end up on Team Faithful - even if the show plays with the timing and it'll be interesting to see how the drowning of his mother and the thus far mystery around Anárion plays into that. Skimming LotR for references, I can't see that Isildur's daring theft of a fruit from Nimloth in the court of Armenelos is in there - and therefore available to Amazon without them securing additional access to The Silmarillion. That Isildur brings this fruit to Middle-earth after the Akallabêth is certainly in LotR but nothing that I could find about the 'how'. Given how dramatic this event is, I'm hoping that Amazon will pay up the necessary readies for access - easy for me to say, given it's not my money though!
As to how Isildur gets back to Númenor... Perhaps he doesn't until Ar-Pharazôn turns up in Umbar to contest the mastery of Middle-earth with Sauron, King of Men/Lord of the World etc? As well as taking Sauron back to Númenor in 'captivity', we have Isildur hitching a ride too? Arguably, there's no need for the showrunners to have Isildur back in Númenor any earlier. Elendil and Míriel's story arcs are good enough to cover off what the Faithful are doing, without throwing Isildur into the mix just yet. The mission to secure a fruit from Nimloth, if Amazon goes for that, needn't happen for a while yet - even with all the time compression going on.
Welcome to the Mordorfone network, where we put the 'hai' back into Uruk
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No One in Particular
Menegroth
Sep 23 2024, 1:16am
Post #2 of 4
(2324 views)
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I wonder what her reaction will be. Ostensibly her entire motivation to support Pharazon over of Queen Whatshername is driven by the "death" of Isuldur. Suddenly he's back from the dead. Will she suddenly come to her senses? Or will pride prevent her from stepping back fromthe edge?
While you live, shine
Have no grief at all
Life exists only for a short while
And time demands an end.
Seikilos Epitaph
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TFP
Menegroth
Sep 23 2024, 2:25pm
Post #3 of 4
(2267 views)
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We've seen so little of him that I don't really feel able to say all that much.
I suspect that the departure of the Bronwyn actress has reduced the amount of screentime given to the whole was-Southlands storyline.
I suppose I probably like the way he's been left out on his own, which feels a lot more realistic than the alternative they seem to have been using a fair bit this season, namely teleporting to Numenor.
(This post was edited by TFP on Sep 23 2024, 2:25pm)
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Felagund
Nargothrond
Sep 23 2024, 6:36pm
Post #4 of 4
(2247 views)
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I reckon Eärien will be too far down the road of pride. Not least because that Temple of Melkor won't build itself and so far we only have one character with the correct qualiifications!
I agree, It'll be interesting to see how the showrunners and writers play the reunion with Isildur though. I also suspect that one of the story-telling reasons to have Isildur stranded in Middle-earth for a series (or longer) is so that Eärien has a grievance that sort of makes sense, in-world.
Welcome to the Mordorfone network, where we put the 'hai' back into Uruk
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