#this and also the fact that legolas made the boat at the end of lotr

[celebregol]

since i learned that silvans are actually descended from the teleri and not fully part of the avari, i can’t really stop thinking about legolas’s fate.

so i’m fairly certain that the teleri learned the art of sailing and making their swan ships before they set sail, which means that the nandor, who the silvans are descended from, would also have those skills. legolas, as a result, would also be able to make ships and sail them, though probably on a smaller scale as his encounters are with lakes and rivers, not the ocean.

before, i had thought it was really strange for legolas to be so affected by the sea-longing when he was a woodelf. even if he is part sindar, it wouldn’t mean he would automatically be called across the sea. i didn’t see a reason for it.

but the teleri are the “sea-elves”. and the nandor are those sea-elves who turned from the journey to valinor and went back.

and there’s just something both ironic and slightly tragic about a descendant of the nandor being pulled, once again, to valinor.

#lotr #legolas #silvan elves #silvan #teleri #nandor #elves #this and also the fact that legolas made the boat at the end of lotr #like i've seen a few posts about it in a sort of joking way #and there was one talking about how legolas just built a boat for the first time iirc #but that wouldn't be the case #it wouldn't be an exact replica of the teleri's craft #because silvans are the descendents of one group of the teleri #but i'm fairly certain legolas knows how to make a boat #and also just. just the idea i suppose #i don't know much about the divisions of elves and what happened to them #but something about the idea of any swanships that are remotely teleri coming back to valinor #and the remaining teleri on the isle seeing variations of their own kind of ship #esp after they were destroyed #it just kinda gets me #each ship is kind of a fu to feanor and this ship is ESPECIALLY that because it holds gimli #aka the person who galadriel gave three of her golden hairs too #&posting #ybst.posts

[spectraling]

That Witch King slaying duo and their lack of resolution

Ok, I’m going to preface this with the fact that I am very biased because it’s relating to two of my favorite characters in the entire LOTR trilogy (and also my favorite moment in cinema history), but it bothers me every time I see it so here:

In the LOTR movies, Merry and Éowyn receive the unique opportunity of being able to develop a kickass dynamic because they are both stuck in the same boat, namely wanting to go to war to defend what they love from the clutches of evil, but being considered too insignificant/weak to do so. Having Merry know who Éowyn is is a change from the books, and is by far the best change the movies ever made to the source material (you could’ve had your twist moment Tolkien, just...give us this). This way their arcs collide in a really satisfying way, but since it was now there, and they clearly are concerned about and care for each other, the only thing that was missing was really any sort of...resolution? End? To that arc? Dynamic? After they are separated on the fields of Pelennor they never have an interaction again, even in passing.

I mean, they slay the Witch King together, don’t get me wrong, but the way the movie frames it makes it so weird to just..not have their arc end here? Since Merry never goes to the houses of healing in the movies, and he never receives the horn of Rohan from Éowyn, they just kind of never speak again even though they just went through all of that horrible stuff together (and are basically forever scarred by stabbing the Witch King but nobody wants to talk about that angst) and it was set up as them only having each other during that time.

In the moments after the Witch King is slain they are literally a couple of meters away from each other??

Merry ultimately passes out here to be found by Pippin later on, and Éowyn goes on to find Théoden, but in this moment they are both there and they are looking in the direction of each other and there’s nothing obscuring them and they just did this incredible feat and..

..and the next shot we see Éowyn is somewhere else looking for Merry? He was...right there? In front of her?? This is just straight up a continuity error.

Wouldn’t it have been neat if they had acknowledged each other? Éowyn crawling up to Merry instead and see that he’s alive and she found him (there’s even additional previous shots of her calling out to him, she’s clearly very concerned about finding him)? Not even an exchange of words as much as a look that says “Oh my god you’re alive I’m so relieved what just happened did we just kill that thing?”

We don’t even need her crawling up to him if we want to keep that special for her moment with Théoden in just a second, but like? If you’re going to spend those seconds having Éowyn look for Merry, why not just having her see him, call out to him, him possibly calling back or seeing her, and then the orc captain guy that starts chasing her comes in to interrupt this moment. Éowyn looks for a sword to defend Merry despite her terrible condition, but is saved by the passing Aragorn. Of course I would love if Éowyn successfully somehow gutted this guy and defends Merry, but maybe that is too much wishful thinking. Then again Legolas single-handedly takes down an Oliphaunt only seconds later and surfs off of its trunk like it’s nothing so what is realism really.

This would also serve to acknowledge Merry’s involvement and bravery in slaying the Witch King, doing so out of desperation to defend Éowyn in the books (and simultaneously getting revenge for him stabbing Frodo back at Weathertop where Merry could not defend him). It’s so briefly shown that he’s there at all in the movie that if you blink you’ll miss it completely and then Merry is not seen again until Pippin finds him quite a bit later on. I’m also all for giving Merry a brief moment of seeing Éowyn right before the Witch King starts fighting with her so we know he’s there and his intentions are not so sudden, but that’s outside the scope of this post I guess.

All in all I just wanted to rant about this moment that with such a tiny change could’ve given these characters some sort of acknowledgement of each other’s feats, wrapped up their story at least somewhat and it would’ve made my heart so full.

#lord of the rings #lotr #lord of the rings meta #eowyn #merry brandybuck #aragorn #meriadoc brandybuck #eowyn of rohan #witch king of angmar #return of the king #I am living for my monster slaying duo #why couldn't we have this peej? WHY #I feel like I need to do a redraw of how this scene plays out #just to give myself some relief #I don't have the actors and I don't have the budget #but I do have a pencil