[Legate of Amon Lanc]

Originally Posted by Oddwen

The music in the jail when Halbrand was talking about his past sounded vaguely like the strings of Rohan from Lotr - maybe a red herring? I don't think he's Sauron, I'm reluctant to connect him with Eorl, I really like the theory that he's the King of the Dead, but he's a strong contender for a Ringwraith if not.

Yeah, the Ringwraith also ride horses. There are more and more reasons piling up at the moment that make me think he may be the future King of the Dead, especially given that now the Númenoreans seem to be going into Middle-Earth after all. He could promise to come along and then chicken out. He seems to be good at chickening out. Therefore that makes him a strong contender for the King of the Dead, who was the ultimate chicken of them all, and it cost him a few millennia in the Paris catacombs.*

*I had always found PJ's extended scene with quadrillions of rolling skulls completely unrealistic until I visited the Paris catacombs a few years back. I owe him an apology. It was realistic. I'm completely serious here. If you had an earthquake in Paris, the same very scene would happen.

Originally Posted by Oddwen

I have no idea which thread to put this in but Legate I think the reverse Morgul blade should be called the Lugrom blade. For very obvious reasons.

I can get behind that.

Originally Posted by Formendacil

The long-lost king bit may be the biggest clue re: Wraith, now that I think of it. The idea that the Nazgûl were "kings" of Men became wobbly as soon as Tolkien said some of them were Númenóreans--it seems pretty apparent that none of the actual Tar- or Ar- kings were wraiths (since they all have documented death-dates), so calling them "kings" has to be taken broadly. Still, I think it would make sense to have at least one actual king in the mix, and the geopolity we're being given for Middle-earth this season doesn't have many candidates.

I had personally always assumed, and also hoped that this show will, of all things, show us a random assortment of, say, at least four out of nine random "king of proto-Dale, king of Al-Harrad, king of the Independent Former Colony of Umbar and the Great Chieftain of Khand" or somesuch, and I sorta assumed that either Theo or Harbrand or both are some of them. If that is not gonna happen at all, THAT I would consider potential wasted. Nazgul don't just spring out of the earth, contrary to popular opinion.

Originally Posted by Pitchwife

I had a nasty thought on the loo this morning. When the Orcs take Arondir to see 'Adar' instead of just killing him, what are they up to? At this point I'm assuming that Adar will turn out to be our first glimpse of Sauron (although I don't want him to turn up yet, but it would make no sense to name a whole episode after this character if he isn't someone really really important).

Now I remember reading somewhere (although I can't quite pinpoint the source) that it was Sauron who supervised Morgoth's original Orc breeding project. If he was responsible for bringing them into existene it makes a twisted kind of sense for them to call him Father (though not in Sindarin). So what could Adar want with this strong, rebellious elf?

He's to be made into an Orc.

That was what I expected already at the end of episode 2 the moment he was captured. Especially the Orcs going "oh you showed some fierce behaviour there, we like it". Sadly, with his escape now, it does not seem on the table anymore.

I have one more massive, brutal, turning-everything-on-its-head-prediction, but that is going to require a separate post.