Amph One Thread To Rule Them All: The Rings of Power, The Hobbit, Lord of the Rings & Middle-earth films

One of the core texts in the Galadriel and Celeborn section of Unfinished Tales indicated that Galadriel and Celeborn were, effectively, the rulers of Eregion originally. They refused to treat with "Annatar", so he went to Celebrimbor, the head of the great elven-smiths, and convinced him to pull a bloodless coup. Galadriel then went to Lorien. Celeborn, hilariously, apparently stayed put because he hated dwarves so much he refused to pass through Moria, the quickest and easiest path to Lorien.
After Celebrimbor realized he had been deceived, he then went to Galadriel and secretly gave her one of the three Elven Rings, recognizing her as being one of the most worthy to wear one.

 

And when you realize they started filming in October 1999.

Ah the good old days...brick cell phones...e-greeting cards were the trendy thing...reality TV was that MTV stuff and some game show called "Survivor"...that won't last...

 

Ah, the good old days. I 'membah all the discussions; whether Elves should have pointy ears, whether Balrogs should have wings, and whether Elrond should be played by David Bowie.

 

I remember the 'good old days' when live-action LOTR wasn't even a consideration.

 

Maybe in the back of his head. Its clear though Ar-Pharazon built up the greatest host ever assembled(second only probably to Earendil's host during the War of Wrath) in the belief that the day would be won through strength of arms. When he lands on Aman's shore, he issues a challenge, claiming the land if none would challenge him for it(i.e. meet him in battle). He doesn't invoke Morgoth in any sort of martial context, or prey for his aid though sacrifices are performed for him before the fleet sets sail.

Did he think he'd somehow be able to fight Manwe in single combat and win? Maaybe? Its not clear exactly if Ar-Pharazon understood exactly what the Valar could do(beyond what he had seen). Elves could be slain, and had been. So maybe the Lords of the West could die too? He was driven by two things; pride and desperation. He wanted to continue living, and was too proud to submit to the decrees of the Valar.

Beyond that, I don't think "hey how exactly am I going to wage war with gods walking on the earth?" really entered into his thinking, at least consciously-which is why he built a gigantic war host. He hoped and believed somehow that would be enough.

Which still is insanely brave, recklessly so, and evilly so. But its still brave.

 

I suppose he could've just been a munchkin D&D player, loudly challenging Thor to single combat on his home plane. Or not.

But I have to wonder what Sauron possibly thought was going to happen. The Valar would've smacked down the Numenoreans and then he'd rule Middle Earth unopposed? I mean, I guess he was just prone to bad decisions as well, I suppose.

 

One possible consideration is "sources of power".

Trees, Rings, Fortresses, Sanctuary lands...the material is full of sources of strength, refuge, and restoration.

So perhaps the thought was...even with Godlike creatures...their power must come from somewhere.

Ar-Pharazon may have truly believed he could land an army, and through attrition, fight his way to whatever he believed gave the Valar their power and destroy it, or take it for himself.

Truly...he may have believed just be setting foot on the shores of the Valar, he had stolen their advantage, or at least neutralized a good part of it.

And this could all have been prophesied or whispered into eager ears by Sauron.

 

The Nature of Middle-Earth explicitly confirms that the Great Eagles in LOTR and The Hobbit were, in fact, Maiar as well, sent by Manwe himself - and that after the Fall of Sauron, 'they are not heard of again'.
Also, the Noldor Exiles weren't allowed back in Valinor to live, only to visit - they were confined to Tol Eressea, the Lonely Isle.

Even more interesting, Mim - the Petty Dwarf who is central to the tale of The Children of Hurin - receives even more importance in another passage. He was chief of the remaining Petty Dwarves, and helped Finrod create Nargothrond, for which he was rewarded... until he tried to murder Finrod in his sleep.
That he is found by Hurin in Nargothrond after Glaurung is dead, and then killed there, has a much deeper meaning as a result of that tidbit.

 

That's pretty much exactly what he thought. He didn't believe Ar-Pharazon would win, he didn't go with the expedition after all. He thought they'd be slaughtered by the Valar but he would be left alone to rule Numenor and ME unimpeded.

 

That's pretty much what Sauron had hoped for - the Númenoreans were the largest obstacle to his finally asserting control over Middle-Earth, and the notion of having the Valar destroy the descendants of the Edain by their own hand brought Sauron no small amount of gleeful anticipation. Besides, it would have been no easy feat - either there was going to be bloody war in Aman on a scale that far surpassed the Kinslaying, or the Ainu were going to unleash their forces and wreak havoc comparable to the kind that destroyed Beleriand on their own continent, leaving it forever marred. Either way, the Valar were going to be forced to sacrifice much of their own realm, and would be reminded that a latter challenge to Sauron's dominion over Middle-Earth, while guaranteed to succeed, would also come with immense devastation, which would reinforce the Valar's hesitance to act. From Sauron's perspective, it was a complete masterstroke.

Except something happened then that never happened during all the wars between the Valar and Melkor/Morgoth: Manwë called upon Eru for direct intervention, and Eru answered. It was the only time in the entire history of Arda that Eru raised his hand directly against his creations - and against one of the Ainu, as Eru took from Sauron his ability to assume a fair form ever again. And why should Sauron have presumed that Eru would raise his hand to thwart him, when he never did raise his hand against Melkor's corruption and destruction?

If anything, Sauron's plan worked too well.

 

Does it explain why they just couldn't fly the hobbits to the volcano?

 

I wonder if the Amazon show could expand on the blue wizards

 

Well, the Blue Wizards are only mentioned in passing in the Lord of the Rings and a little more in its Appendices, but if you read Unfinished Tales, you do get to learn another few tidbits about them.

Also, the Bolgers (and therefore Fredegar) are named at Bilbo's party in the FotR movie, and the extended RotK movie has Saruman refer to the Five Wizards, which includes the Blue Wizards, so technically, those don't get completely unmentioned in the movies

/nerd

 

Yeah in middle of second age i believe.

 

Usually, the five Istari are mentioned as having arrived together, but HoME:XII does include a writing in which the Blue Wizards arrived in the Second Age. Which honestly feels a bit weird considering they wouldn't have accomplished much against Sauron.

 

Maybe they tried but Sauron tricked them and they went away.

 

I distinctly remember a news report (either 1999 or 2000) saying Ghân-Buri-Ghân had been cast. I just googled and found the actor was called Wi Kuki Kaa; the character was written out of the script, and Kaa was only used for a card trading game.

 

One of the more fascinating texts in The History of Middle-Earth mentions that the Valar sent six Maiar to meet with the elves after they awoke - and they were the same membershipas the Five Wizards, plus Melian, the wife of King Thingol of Doriath ( and Aragorn's successor).
The Blue Wizards are suspected of being the source of 'magic traditions' of later years.
And don't forget, Radagast apparently stuck around Middle-Earth as well.

 

Simply put, as Maia without a wizard’s mandate, they were forces of nature and could not interfere with Middle Earth’s affairs on that level.

 

In another draft, Tolkien wrote that Celebrimbor has unrequited love for Galadriel, I believe also from the Unfinished Tales, as cited here:
http://tolkiengateway.net/wiki/Celebrimbor