The Silmarillion Survivor

[the phantom]

The second task: DIPLOMACY. Prevent any slaying of Elf by Elf.

That is quite a challenge. Now, I imagine everyone will be wanting to vote for the obvious Feanor in this situation, but remember what The Saucepan Man said about the last task-

My preminary reaction to the "problem" which Ang has set us today is that the obvious solution may not necessarily be the best one.

I believe that is true with this task also.

Feanor should not be the one to go.

First, we know that the kinslaying was between the Noldor and Teleri. The Noldor are always, for some reason, blamed for the entire incident, but are they really deserving of all that blame?

From The Silmarillion-

...he (Feanor) went to the Haven of the Swans and began to man the ships that were anchored there and to take them away by force. But the Teleri withstood him, and cast many of the Noldor into the sea. Then swords were drawn...

There! Swords were not drawn until the Teleri had thrown some of the Noldor into the sea!

And, as we all know, the Teleri were water-friendly elves, and the Noldor were not. Obviously, the Noldor could not swim, and surely the Teleri knew this!

The Teleri were the first to kill!

Yes, yes, I know that their boats were being taken, but are timbers worth killing for?

No!

But, why were the Noldor forced to take the boats in the first place? The Teleri were supposed to be their friends. The Noldor actually built the Teleri's city for them! Why weren't the Teleri willing to let their friends use their boats?

From the Silmarillion-

...no ship would they lend, nor help in the building, against the will of the Valar.

The Valar!

The Teleri wouldn't help their friends because they didn't want to displease the Valar! What kind of garbage is that?

The Noldor had their King slain and their treasure stolen, and what do the Valar do about it? They try to keep the Noldor from leaving Valinor- to keep them from fighting against the evil that had wronged them!

Once again, the Valar prove their complete incompetence!

When a unit consistently performs poorly, doesn't it seem logical to try new leadership?

Of course it does.

Manwe has messed up quite enough. He needs to go.

But if people for some reason want to keep him around, the next choice should be Olwe, for blindly obeying the whims of a grossly inept Manwe, and for not helping his friends in their need, and for the fact that it was his people, the Teleri, who started the slaying.