Bad Guys Story Arc for Season Two

Not specificly about the last episode, but something to keep in mind. Regarding Saurons arc and his dominion I recently came across an old post by Michael Martinez. He has some good points about what age Sauron was most powerful:
Personally at the end of the 2nd age, militarily at the end of the 3rd age.
 
On the topic of creation and crafting. Mairon is the craftsman, Melkor is the user. Melkor might have had the initial germ of an idea for the SSNOP, but he'd be lost implementing it from scratch - Mairon is his guy for that. And Mairon might not have the power to finish it off - it never comes to final fruition until Morgoth is back. So it's a team effort, driven and finished off by Melkor/Morgoth, but the bulk of the gruntwork done by Mairon the craftsman.
 
But I think its a good idea to keep Mairon in the audience's minds, even though at this point, he's still peripheral to what's going on in Valinor.
Agreed, if we have a scene with Melkor sitting in Angband towards the end of the last episode, Mairon should be present as well.
 
Last edited:
Current use of Bad Guys story arc in the Script Outlines:

Episode 1: The Awakening of the Elves
(1) The episode opens with Elwë and Celeborn fleeing from the Dark Rider, who is revealed to have been taking elves.
(2) Optional: Mysterious cloaked stranger watching the meeting discussing the Dark Rider? Melkor or Sauron?

Episode 2: The Ambassadors
(1) In Valmar, they meet Nienna, who asks Ingwë about his loss. He explains how his wife was taken by the Hunter, and Nienna grieves with him.
(2) To answer their questions about the War, Aulë takes the Ambassadors to the Courtyard of the Halls of Mandos. Aulë explains to them about the war and Melkor, and that Melkor is chained inside.
(3) In Cuiviénen, Morwë is telling stories to some Quendi children as Míriel watches. He tells them about Oromë's arrival, hinting that he was the Dark Hunter and how he took away Ingwë, Finwë and Elwë, "...and they were never seen again." Míriel angrily shouts at him to not tell that story and that "They're coming back!"

Episode 3: The Great Debate
(1) The Dark Rider returns to Angband. Mairon (now Sauron) and Gothmog argue about their different plans for the captive elves: Gothmog wants to kill all the elves, he is dismissive of whatever Sauron's plan is (he never gets to articulate it) as unnecessary and over complicated. Sauron is snarky and sulky in response - he is outgunned in Angband by Gothmog and his balrogs.
(2) Eöl notices a large bat as he storms away from the Debate.
(3) Spy!Thurengwethil returns to Angband, and we check in with Sauron and Gothmog. Sauron reveals to her his motivation for working with the elves - why destroy what you can cultivate?

Episode 4: The Great Journey
(1) Mairon visits the dungeons, and chastises Tevildo for his harsh methods. "They're no good to me dead" type of complaints, and that Tevildo is pushing them too hard. Sauron shows him how it is done, and brings an elf in for a 'good cop' interrogation. He wipes away the blood, tells him it doesn't have to be this way, and starts preaching the cult of Melkor. The elf is obviously terrified of Tevildo (who is prowling in the corner), but responds hesitantly to Sauron's overture.

Episode 5: A Touch of Destiny
(1) Balrogs have gone elf-hunting, and are picking off some of the Teleri who fled from the storm into the woods in the opening scene. Some run away across a river, and the balrogs move to pursue. Uinen rises up out of the river, and we get to see what a wet balrog looks like. Balrogs make a strategic retreat and return to Angband. We see Thuringwethil watching.
(2) Sauron in his mad-scientist workshop, tinkering on proto-werewolves. Thuringwethil comes in to check on him. He asks her what the balrogs are up to, and if they know about his project yet. She confirms that they're still in the dark.

Episode 6: Elvenhome
(1) Confrontation in Nan Elmoth. Wolves show up and attack search party, disperse when Melian and Elwë emerge, Melian helps one of the injured. Thingol and Melian become king and queen of the Sindar.
(2) Final Angband scene (Draugluin walks in to report, Sauron in the middle of creating an orc, etc)


As you can see, we start with the Dark Hunter fear and the disappearing elves for the first 2 episodes, and then introduce the Angband characters in Episode 3, showing the power dynamic and how Sauron is bottom rung and frustrated. We then gradually get through some elf-torture and werewolf-development, showing that Sauron wants to build his own army, separate from Gothmog. Thuringwethil is a spy who wants to know all the secrets...she realizes that Sauron has ideas and is curious about them. We then leave them all to their own devices for awhile, so orc creation will remain (mostly) super secret, but all of the ingredients are in place for Melkor's return, Gothmog's right-hand-man spot, and the final touches on the orc project being delivered by Morgoth, who will unleash these creatures on Middle Earth.

I realize there is some concern that completely dropping these characters in Episode 6 and not picking them up again until Episode 13 might be problematic, but keep in mind that we're dropping Thingol and Melian and all of the Sindar until next season.


We do have the opportunity to glimpse Middle Earth through the palantíri if we need to use that as an excuse to go back in the second half of the season. But those episodes work fine without being interrupted by this.
 
Last edited:
Eöl has a brief role in the Debate at Cuiviénen, which is what that scene relates to.

Thuringwethil, who has been watching the Debate as a spy-bat, then returns to Angband.
 
Hi gang, been a while. I don't feel like moistened hell this afternoon, so I think I can spare a few words.

We should maybe consider closing out Episode 6 specifically with the "Middle Earth crew" in a way that suggests "get ready for the Feanor and Friends Show". I don't necessarily think we ought to have a banner made, but purposefully bringing those arcs to some sort of resolution for the remainder of the season is probably a good idea.
 
Agreed - Final Scene in Angband should be a clear wrap (at least temporarily).

(I edited the list above to make the scene breaks more clear - where there are multiple bad-guy scenes, they are scattered through the episode, not back-to-back, with the exception of the Eöl to Thuringwethil transition.)
 
Last edited:
I haven't seen Rogue One yet, so I don't know what the Darth Vader scene in that is, but we do have more scenes in Angband in the 2nd half of episode 13, with the balrogs turning on Sauron just before Melkor's return.


Episode 13, Part 2:
(1) Meanwhile, in Angband...Sauron is keeping secrets from the balrogs, and they are not happy about this. They turn to Thuringwethil.

(2) The balrogs confront Thuringwethil, who quickly spills what she knows. Since this includes Melkor's earlier actions in Valinor (when he was being obedient to the Valar), the balrogs are enraged and tear into her for the suggestion that he would abase himself that way. They turn on Mairon when he tells Thuringwethil, 'that's what you get for telling them'...but at that moment they hear a loud cry of pain...and Sauron says 'our Master is calling.' The balrogs leave.
 
Last edited:
It's basically Vader slaughtering Rebels.

I picture two variants here:

1) Elves flee in terror - Morgoth's forces are upon them. They run into a dark cave to hide. It's completely dark. Suddenly they hear some odd noises. They look forward and can feel something big and dark move towards them. Suddenly the Balrog (Gothmog?) reveals itself, turning ablaze. And behold! his whip glowed red. Having no escape, the elves do not know what to do (they might be armed). Some try to attack the Balrog, but they immediately get slain. Some try to throw their weapons/rocks at it, but nothing seems to bite. They get killed one after one until the last ones gets sent to Mandos after desperately trying to claw their way through rock.

2) It's night. A group of elves are travelling/fleeing through a dark, thick forest. Suddenly they hear a loud noise. They turn to the back and the elf there is missing. They start to shout his/her name, but a shadowy figure leaps across the group and snatches another one. The elves panic and start to run. After a little running, they stop, not sure what to do, but hoping that the danger might be over. It's very dark, but some moonlight is coming through some places. Then they see him. They see the eyes first. The brown-red eyes shine as moonlight hits them. A little more light comes through and they can make out the shape - a huge black cat (panther-like) is lying on a big rock just there in front of them. Now his silver-black fur is completely engulfed in moonlight. Tevildo leaps forward with tremendous speed and strength, hitting a couple of elves with his big claws out. He completely destroys the elves until there only a few left. He begins encircling them before finishing what he started.

If it could be woven into the narrative in a way, there could of course be survivors.
 
Last edited:
AH, okay, yes, I see.

We currently have several scenes similar to that.

The opening of episode one is Celeborn and Elwë fleeing from the Dark Hunter - all of the other elves in the group are snatched, but not much is seen.
In episode 3, we finally see the Dark Hunter retuning to Angband with captives. We don't see them being snatched, though, so not what you had in mind.
In episode 5, we have balrogs out elf-hunting, slaughtering the elves they find. A small group escapes across a river and is saved by Uinen.
In episode 6, we have werewolves attack a group of elves near Nan Elmoth. Elwë and Melian save them from the werewolves; at least Beleg and Mablung survive.

We did not give Tevildo a scene 'in the wild,' so we might have to opportunity to add that in.

No moonlight yet, though; only perpetual starlight in Middle Earth in Season 2.
 
Back
Top