Session 5-15 & 5-16: Season Outline

I know I keep saying 'this season is very full.' Obviously, we can tell however many stories we want...but they will have to share screen time. If we try to tell more than 3 stories in one episode, then they will all get less than 15 minutes, or one of them will only get a single 4 minute scene, etc. Now, in some cases, one brief scene will tell all we need, and that's fine. Keep in mind that the frame gets 2-3 scenes per episode, as well.

An 'A' plot is the main plot line of the episode. The characters appear in all 4 acts of the episode, and the main conflict is resolved during the climax towards the end of the episode. The protagonist is a single character from the A-plot from whose point of view we see the story unfold.

The B-plot is the side story. It's also something the audience is following, but less time is devoted to this plot line and it may feel less 'crucial' to the story of the episode.

The C-plot does not appear throughout the episode. Perhaps there will be a single scene in the middle of the episode, or two scenes as a before/after to establish something. These vignettes must speak for themselves and cannot tell the story of a complex plot. They have to give the audience a glimpse of something. Ideal for villain plots if we don't want to reveal too much, or for 'teasing' an upcoming storyline, or for showing a 'day in the life' scene for some of our characters (Men settling into their new home after a migration, Aredhel's life in Nan Elmoth, a visit with Círdan, etc.)

So, given that, another approach to planning would be to see how much 'space' we have, and if we can fit all the events we plan for our season into the available episodes. It *can* be done, but it's a squeeze, and this is before fully integrating the villain plots we'll talk about next time.


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There's still space for some 'Thuringwethil the spy' action at the Pass of Aglon, and other minor stories. But there's not that much free space, and a lot of these events are rather time-constrained, so it's not easy to just shift them around. Naturally, that doesn't mean that *nothing* can move. I have the 'romance' portion of Aredhel and Eöl's relationship happening in Episodes 3-4. It's possible that Episode 3 could end with her accepting his proposal, and then episode 4 opens with a private wedding. Or something. So, which Episode contains the wedding is not hugely important. However...Episode 3 is (in this scheme) the 'wow, Bëor got old fast!' episode, so if we are emphasizing the 'hasty' nature of Aredhel's courtship, then we probably wouldn't want her decision regarding Eöl to still be in question at the end of the episode. We have to get that resolved. I did move up the Gondolin episode to Episode 10, and put Fingolfin's big push in Episode 11. I think that as long as we have a strong emphasis on the 'everything is still at peace' nature of things, it won't seem like a moot question as to whether or not they will go to war. So, that can work, and I think Maeglin will be old enough for his episodes. The dates assigned to episodes 2, 6, and 10 were fairly arbitrary; the other dates are much more deliberate.

Suggestions?
@MithLuin, on your chart, where should Annael's treachery fall?

Also, I guess Sauron's attempts to ramp tensions between the House of Hador and the Green Elves is off the table?
 
When it comes to the House of Hador and their tensions with the Green Elves, I don't think we need to portray it as fueled by the bad guys - Sauron will have his fake Amlach plan, and the tensions will be bad enough naturally. Evil will do a lot to seperate Elves and Men throughout the Ages, but there's plenty of hostility to go around without their help - and nowhere else will it escalate nearly as badly this season as with the Green Elves and the Hadorians, so they're a nice example for the potential problems that can arise when there's no effort made to get along.

I would also like to involve the Ents in a significant way, because they're awesome, and showing that will make their decline all the more tragic. Also, their hardcore environmentalist stance will come across as more unabandonable (since it's core to their being) and therefore more sympathetic than the Green Elven one and help to make sure the Green Elves don't just look like xenophobic bad guys in this scenario. They dislike the Hadorians for their actions, not based on prejudice. The Men, meanwhile, won't really understand the Green Elves at first - the Avari (and Nandor?) they met before weren't as hostile and determined to preserve a particular piece of land how they like it.

Another use for the Ents: To broaden the environmental conflict beyond just the already well-known and kind of cliche "They killed a tree! Omg!!!" dispute, we could have a scene about an Entwife's (Fimbrethil's? She could use an actual role in our story considering she's been cast and her development is important for Treebeard, a memorable character throughout the Ages) garden that is being trampled all over and unintentionally plundered by human gatherers, leaving it damaged - maybe even somewhat destroyed because some of the plants are harvested whole (like carrots). Angry Entwives ready to squash you would make gathering food a lot more difficult as well as motivate and inspire Men to move towards agriculture sufficiently far away from Ossiriand.

(I also think Treebeard and Fimbrethil should have an Enting sometime to emphasize the significance of the seperation of the Entwives later, but that's another topic :D)
 
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When it comes to the House of Hador and their tensions with the Green Elves, I don't think we need to portray it as fueled by the bad guys - Sauron will have his fake Amlach plan, and the tensions will be bad enough naturally. Evil will do a lot to seperate Elves and Men throughout the Ages, but there's plenty of hostility to go around without their help - and nowhere else will it escalate nearly as badly this season as with the Green Elves and the Hadorians, so they're a nice example for the potential problems that can arise when there's no effort made to get along.

I would also like to involve the Ents in a significant way, because they're awesome, and showing that will make their decline all the more tragic. Also, their hardcore environmentalist stance will come across as more unabandonable (since it's core to their being) and therefore more sympathetic than the Green Elven one and help to make sure the Green Elves don't just look like xenophobic bad guys in this scenario. They dislike the Hadorians for their actions, not based on prejudice. The Men, meanwhile, won't really understand the Green Elves at first - the Avari (and Nandor?) they met before weren't as hostile and determined to preserve a particular piece of land how they like it.

Another use for the Ents: To broaden the environmental conflict beyond just the already well-known and kind of cliche "They killed a tree! Omg!!!" dispute, we could have a scene about an Entwife's (Fimbrethil's? She could use an actual role in our story considering she's been cast and her development is important for Treebeard, a memorable character throughout the Ages) garden that is being trampled all over and unintentionally plundered by human gatherers, leaving it damaged - maybe even somewhat destroyed because some of the plants are harvested whole (like carrots). Angry Entwives ready to squash you would make gathering food a lot more difficult as well as motivate and inspire Men to move towards agriculture sufficiently far away from Ossiriand.

(I also think Treebeard and Fimbrethil should have an Enting sometime to emphasize the significance of the seperation of the Entwives later, but that's another topic :D)
Well it isn’t started by Sauron, he just tries to take advantage of the situation so the Elves will be down a partner against Morgoth. He tried the same sort of thing last season with the Sindar and the Noldor and it worked... for awhile.
 
Well it isn’t started by Sauron, he just tries to take advantage of the situation so the Elves will be down a partner against Morgoth. He tried the same sort of thing last season with the Sindar and the Noldor and it worked... for awhile.

I mean, it's not completely weird or unfitting that Sauron would be involved ^^ But the Green Elves aren't the ones who need to be manipulated to not work with Men, and Men don't want to have anything to do with them either already. The big danger is a Noldorian-Hadorian alliance - which the fake Amlach plot tries to prevent.

@MithLuin, you have the best overview over what's planned for the next session - is there any topic I (or others) could help with that could use some more thought and fleshing out in case the hosts have questions? Is there something you feel like we need to work on in general? I don't think I have a good overview about everything we managed to work out over the last month or two anymore, but I'd like to help in more concrete ways, not just toss ideas around :D
 
I mean, it's not completely weird or unfitting that Sauron would be involved ^^ But the Green Elves aren't the ones who need to be manipulated to not work with Men, and Men don't want to have anything to do with them either already. The big danger is a Noldorian-Hadorian alliance - which the fake Amlach plot tries to prevent.
What would you have him do for the rest of the season then? The Fake Amlach plot is only a single episode.
 
@MithLuin, on your chart, where should Annael's treachery fall?

Also, I guess Sauron's attempts to ramp tensions between the House of Hador and the Green Elves is off the table?

I honestly don't know how many times I can say this and still fail to communicate, but I will attempt one more time.

We are going to talk about the Villains storylines next week. We will make decisions about how to handle the storylines of the villains in Session 5-14. Everything that has been suggested concerning the villains storylines is still on the table and can be brought up for discussion during that podcast. Once we *have* that discussion, then, yes, some things will be off the table. But for now, multiple suggestions are still in play, and will remain in play through next week. No amount of discussion here would 'remove' an idea from consideration, so I am not sure why this is being asked of me prior to the podcast where we discuss the Villains?

Please continue to discuss any suggestions or ideas for the Villains storylines on the 5-13 & 5-14 thread prior to next week's session.

Once we have that conversation, I will then update a season outline to reflect decisions made in that podcast. I cannot do that until we have the podcast, so I have been focusing my efforts on the storylines of the Men and Elves, which have already been discussed in some detail over the previous 13 sessions. It doesn't really matter where I put Annael's escape and treachery on the chart right now, because that could very easily change next week. But, in the interest of making sure we had room for them somewhere, I put Rhogrin and Annael's story as the primary storyline of Episode 6 for now (as a placeholder). That means that the escape, reveal of the treachery, and the voluntary exile would all occur in that episode, since that would be the main focus. Obviously, we don't have to do it that way. Clearly, we could have the escape in one episode, and the treachery in another. This would make these storylines more minor (B-plot) stories, allowing something else to move into the front-and-center position for Episode 6. We could decide to tie Annael's treachery to a different event - right now, I put it proximate in time to young Hador winning renown, as I knew some people had wanted to connect those stories. But it would be just as easy to instead decide that Annael's treachery is the event that sparks Fingolfin to try to muster the Noldor for his Big Push, having it revealed much later in the season. I am not committed to any particular timeline here until we talk about it on the podcast.

I hope that clears up the situation.
 
@MithLuin, you have the best overview over what's planned for the next session - is there any topic I (or others) could help with that could use some more thought and fleshing out in case the hosts have questions? Is there something you feel like we need to work on in general? I don't think I have a good overview about everything we managed to work out over the last month or two anymore, but I'd like to help in more concrete ways, not just toss ideas around :D

Aside from the Villains plot, which is still up in the air, I do feel like more work is needed in fleshing out the subplots for the elves we've discussed over the last two sessions: Galadriel, Thingol, Círdan, and Gil-galad. Now, much of what was said about Gil-galad was 'save his story for Season 6', so there's not much to do there, other than to make sure he gets born. But the other three are going to need specific scenes to bring out some of what the hosts requested we do with their stories, and that's going to be very challenging with them being such minor characters this season. Figuring out what episodes they would fit into and how their story would advance alongside the main story of the episode would be something important to establish. A lot of what I have in 'Episode 5' of my chart should connect to Thingol and Galadriel this season. If someone wants to figure out what that might look like and put something together beyond 'Galadriel and Thingol appear in this episode' that could certainly be helpful.

Círdan should probably appear approximately twice this season, interacting with different characters each time. Who? When? Why? I certainly don't have any clear idea of that, and would welcome suggestions on how to integrate him into the Season 5 storylines. Is he going to have the opportunity to meet Men? If so, who? Do Finrod and Bëor visit him by the Sea early in the season? Does he visit Nargothrond or sail up to Hithlum and interact with the Noldor or House of Hador there? Will we have Fingolfin visit him while trying to recruit aid for his Big Push? Etc. Does he go to Doriath and interact with Beleg or Thingol? If someone could figure out when and where we can show Círdan this season, that would be helpful.



What I have worked out are (mostly) the constraints of timing. If anyone has any questions or comments about those constraints, I can try to establish what I have based it on, so that we can figure out if we are all on the same page there. I am trying to think of the best way of showing the critical path through the season, with the understanding that the Men have the most constraints. (Though Maeglin also needs to grow into a young man, so Aredhel's story has some time constraints as well.) I do expect the hosts to want to shift events around to different episodes, and that will result in some interesting consequences as the timeline then gets...wonky. So, we shall see!
 
Also, more work could be done tying the various storylines together. So, figuring out connections between the elves, dwarves, men, and villains throughout the season will be helpful.

Another area that can use development would be finding ways of highlighting the season's theme of the changefulness of Middle-earth.
 
As for details that are still kind of open, I'd like Adanel to not go on the journey to Dorthonion and instead give up her life willingly in Nargothrond after the decision to move has been made - giving up your life willingly at the right moment instead of dragging it out despite difficulties is what good and wise Edain do throughout the Ages, and it'd be nice to set that up before the Numenorean story. Also, Andreth is supposed to be the focus of the story and Adanel's presence would kind of of loom over Andreth, during the meeting with Haleth and the settling into Dorthonion, as a past authority figure unless she suddenly becomes totally inactive and Andreth doesn't talk to her anymore, which would be weird.

As for Andreth's end, maybe she could wander back to Nargothrond after the refugees are in place? I feel like it'd be poetic for her to see Finrod one last time, and they could talk about the House of Beor (to conclude its story) and Barahir (as a setup for the beginning of the next season).

Yes, definitely, we will want a final conversation between Andreth and Finrod at the very end of the season, and having her return to Nargothrond to live out her final years might be interesting. But perhaps better for her to 'visit', but ultimately die living among Men in Brethil?

That is an interesting thought about Adanel! I agree that no matter how this goes, she can't live much past the journey to Dorthonion - it's important that Andreth be too isolated to discuss her relationship with Aegnor with anyone else, and if Adanel were around, she would be an obvious confidante. So, yes, we do likely need Adanel to die. I think perhaps she could be already getting up there in years (maybe 70s), but not be so ancient that everyone would immediately think 'uh, how is she going to make this journey???' So when she passes the mantle to Andreth and names her the new leader, both Andreth and the audience are surprised, but expect Adanel to stick around and help Andreth out. And perhaps she does aid in the preparations, etc. But then, when it's time to go, she reveals to Andreth that while she believes very much that leaving is the right thing for their people, she is not going to leave, but will remain in Nargothrond, the only home she has ever known. I am a little nervous about showing her willingly dying at that point, as it could certainly look really creepy and cultlike (rather than peaceful and natural) for her to die before everyone leaves...but there can definitely be a final farewell between Adanel and Andreth when Andreth leaves Nargothrond.

Here is the family tree of the House of Bëor as I currently imagine it:

1600479937725.png

In this, Adanel is 74 when the group decides to migrate (she would be 29 years old at the death of Bëor). So, she would have been like a grandmother to Andreth. Bëor's grandson Boron embodies the 'Nargothrond generation' - he is born the year they arrive in Nargothrond, and dies the year before they leave. His son Boromir is either in utero or a baby at Bëor's funeral. His entire life is lived in Nargothrond. Those older than him lived apart from the elves before moving to Nargothrond, and those younger than him will be born in Nargothrond, but move to Dorthonion. The 'Dorthonion generation' will be those born in Dorthonion, and will include Beren, Baragund, and Belegund - they are 3 generations younger than the Nargothrond generation. I think this will enable us to tell the story we want to tell with the House of Bëor. There are no doubt other configurations that would be possible, so we don't have to go with this exact family tree, but I think that these are the relationships we want to include.
 
If Andreth goes back to Nargothrond, would we want her still alive when Beren comes to Nargothrond to ask for Finrod's help?
 
If Andreth goes back to Nargothrond, would we want her still alive when Beren comes to Nargothrond to ask for Finrod's help?

I think that'll depend on how little the hosts want to show mercy to Andreth :p

Beren mentioning how the most amazing elf ever wants to marry him would be so cruel...
 
As an experiment, I tried to construct a 'maximally compressed timeline'. This means that events are listed in the most compact chronological order possible, while still maintaining the correct order of story elements and appropriate generational gaps where needed. I am not suggesting that we use this timeline, but constructed it mostly to test the limits. So, can we tell our entire story in 115 years? Yes, if we had to! Aredhel's dates are mostly arbitrary, but included to show that her story can be fit in here, too. (Dates in bold are fixed from the published Silmarillion timeline, so later seasons will not be impacted.)

Year​
Event
455
Dagor Bragollach (Beren 23, Barahir 45, Galdor 43, Gundor 41, Andreth 63)
453​
Death of Hador (66)
444
Birth of Huor (Galdor 29, Hareth 25)
441
Birth of Húrin (Galdor 26, Hareth 23)
440​
Aredhel returns to Gondolin
439​
Double Wedding (Haldir 27, Gloredhel 26, Galdor 24, Hareth 21, Haleth 74, Hador 52)
432
Birth of Beren (Barahir 22)
415​
Birth of Galdor (Hador 28)
415​
Romance of Aegnor and Andreth (23)
413​
House of Bëor moves to Dorthonion (Andreth 21, Barahir 3, Haleth 48)
411​
Hador (24) marries Gildis
410​
Birth of Barahir
408​
Council of Estolad. House of Hador moves to Dor-lómin
405​
House of Haleth settles in Brethil
395​
Stockade Battle (Haleth 30)
392​
Birth of Andreth
387​
Birth of Hador
385​
Birth of Maeglin
380​
Death of Bëor (93)
375​
Aredhel departs Gondolin
365​
Birth of Haleth
340​
Finrod meets Bëor (53)

No matter how compressed I make this, Hador will not be fighting age at the Dagor Bragollach - he'd be 68 if we left him alive. Certainly young enough to be hale and healthy...but not fighting fit for the battle. Despite the compression, the House of Bëor resides in Nargothrond for a full 73 years in this version of the timeline, while Barahir grows up in Dorthonion, as desired. The most interesting effect of doing this was the impact on the House of Haleth. Haleth is now available to appear in another episode - the double wedding in which her house unites with the House of Hador! This also eliminates an extraneous generation between Haleth and Hareth (Hareth becomes the daughter of Haleth's nephew/niece). So, even if the rest of this is discarded, I would consider moving the Stockade Battle forward from 375 closer to 390, so that an older Haleth can be glimpsed for the last time presiding over her people as a proud matriarch at the Double Wedding.

If we do this, the family tree for the House of Haleth will look like this:

1600834574242.png
With this family tree, Haleth will manage to appear in five (5) episodes, which is quite impressive, even if she will merely be a cameo in the latter two. I would picture her as the protagonist of the episode with the Stockade Battle, the B-plot of two more episodes to tell of the crossing of Nan Dungortheb and settling in Brethil (after killing Tevildo), and then as a supporting character in the episodes where Andreth moves her people to Ladros and where here great-niece and great-nephew get married to Hador's kids.

How does that sound?
 
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Aside from the Villains plot, which is still up in the air, I do feel like more work is needed in fleshing out the subplots for the elves we've discussed over the last two sessions: Galadriel, Thingol, Círdan, and Gil-galad. Now, much of what was said about Gil-galad was 'save his story for Season 6', so there's not much to do there, other than to make sure he gets born. But the other three are going to need specific scenes to bring out some of what the hosts requested we do with their stories, and that's going to be very challenging with them being such minor characters this season. Figuring out what episodes they would fit into and how their story would advance alongside the main story of the episode would be something important to establish. A lot of what I have in 'Episode 5' of my chart should connect to Thingol and Galadriel this season. If someone wants to figure out what that might look like and put something together beyond 'Galadriel and Thingol appear in this episode' that could certainly be helpful.

Círdan should probably appear approximately twice this season, interacting with different characters each time. Who? When? Why? I certainly don't have any clear idea of that, and would welcome suggestions on how to integrate him into the Season 5 storylines. Is he going to have the opportunity to meet Men? If so, who? Do Finrod and Bëor visit him by the Sea early in the season? Does he visit Nargothrond or sail up to Hithlum and interact with the Noldor or House of Hador there? Will we have Fingolfin visit him while trying to recruit aid for his Big Push? Etc. Does he go to Doriath and interact with Beleg or Thingol? If someone could figure out when and where we can show Círdan this season, that would be helpful.



What I have worked out are (mostly) the constraints of timing. If anyone has any questions or comments about those constraints, I can try to establish what I have based it on, so that we can figure out if we are all on the same page there. I am trying to think of the best way of showing the critical path through the season, with the understanding that the Men have the most constraints. (Though Maeglin also needs to grow into a young man, so Aredhel's story has some time constraints as well.) I do expect the hosts to want to shift events around to different episodes, and that will result in some interesting consequences as the timeline then gets...wonky. So, we shall see!

I don't have strong ideas on or feel experienced enough in structuring seasons to say something like "Plot X belongs in Y episode because Z fits best in A while B can go..." ^^ But I'll try to think about the characters you listed. For the villains I'm mostly interested in the Thuringwethil story, so until that is discussed I can only say that regardless on their opinion of our suggestions, it would be good if the hosts talked about where the orcs attacking Haleth's people come from. The published Silmarillion says the orcs can just go over the Ered Lindon in the north and cross west again further south which is good enough for me (after all, it's not that central...in more ways than one :D) but there's potential in having the villains actually work for their success instead of casually admitting that really, the leaguer can be bypassed in the east at any time. The Ered Engrin always felt a bit convenient to me - Angband supposedly can't be assailed, surrounded or even watched from the north/northwest/northeast, but orcs can go east (like in this story) and west (apparently throug the "white north" to where Fingolfin's host arrived from the Helcaraxe and then south) to raid Beleriand unhindered and undetected. Seems like noone else even tried going there.

I think having Galadriel's and Thingol's story in one episode around where you have it (Episode 5) is fine - Galadriel and Celeborn hear the Green Elves' complaints together with Thingol, who concludes that he doesn't want people with, apparently by design, little connection and respect for forests entering Doriath and bans them. I don't think it's a big deal politically or controversial at his court at that point - Beleg will only meet Haleth later (in this episode). Melian knows one Man will come despite the Girdle, but that doesn't mean she's not on board - it means that the ban isn't really harmful for big-picture future of Beleriand, and having Men running around Doriath doesn't sound like a great idea in the first place, to be honest. We ourselves are showing that Men and Elves living together doesn't work this season. If anything, Thingol's dick move this season is not offering Brethil to the Haladin sooner.

Later in that episode, Galadriel and Celeborn want to help fix the issues in Ossiriand, as (by now) experts in inter-cultural communication they mediate in the conflict between Green Elves/Ents and the Men. Galadriel has no realm to take the Men to like her brother did, but the two manage to have a clear boundary established that makes sure nobody crosses into the other's territory anymore. I don't know how much agriculture the Men will already know, Galadriel might be able to share some of her Valinorian experience with agriculture and baking. If there is enough emotional motivation (like families of Men struggling to feed their kids) she might be able to convince the Entwives and Green Elves to hand over some fruits and seeds that the Men can eat and use to grow fruitful gardens with (I'm not sure if they would tolerate stuff like grain that gets harvested/"killed" every year).

Cirdan's appearances...the hosts have wanted them to contrast with the sense of purpose/estel of another character (likely Fingolfin), so Cirdan's story and timing in the season should probably be made to fit that as well as possible when we know how the main stories play out. Better than making two storylines that we later have to tie together somehow; that's not necessary if one storyline is primarly there for the purpose of the other, much larger one. Beyond that, I think @Haakon should have a say when we get to the details, he's put a lot more thought into Cirdan than anyone else and seems very invested in him...he deserves it =)

Gil-Galad...let's say he hangs out at Minas Tirith, meets young Barahir on the Beorian journey to Dorthonion (while Gil-Galad still looks "older"); they have a brief play-fight (with wooden weapons or something similar). Later, he is getting ready to defend Minas Tirith with his close family, but (with or without having sucess begging for permission from his parents) goes with Finrod's army that heads north to help defend Dorthonion. They get cut off and surrounded in the Fen of Serech, but Barahir (now clearly "older"-looking than Gil-Galad) rescues them. It's a short arc that fits with the Change and Elf vs Men themes of the season and establishes that Gil-Galad is brash and reckless. That characterization sets up Orodreth sending Gil-Galad away from Nargothrond later on, before the new de facto rulers Celegorm and Curufin get rid of this (politically and physically) aggressive young upstart.
 
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Based on last night's discussion, the idea of Thuringwethil spying at the Pass of Aglon did not turn out to be something essential for us to include. I would not say that the idea was entirely panned/vetoed, but one of the places it would have mattered would have been in the attack on the Stockade. Since that attack is 1) planned by Gothmog and Boldog, not Sauron, and 2) not reliant on getting past the Fëanorean siege, Thuringwethil's role as a spy finding the weak point in their blockade is now not relevant to that story.

So, if we do keep the Pass of Aglon element of the story, Thuringwethil's role would be:
  • to interact with Aredhel prior to Aredhel's visit to Nan Elmoth where she meets Eöl (this idea has been discussed on the boards, but not on the podcast)
  • to find out Huan's fate, and report that to Sauron and Draugluin, with the news (ultimately) reaching Morgoth (this discussion has been tabled for a future podcast, but we do intend to come back to it)
  • to set things in motion for an attack, which will be thwarted by the 'premature' Dagor Bragollach (something that would only come up in Sauron's debriefing of Gothmog in Episode 13, most likely)
I am currently going to label the Pass of Aglon piece of Thuringwethil's story as 'optional', with the caveat that Huan's story could change that. I am fine with including it in the outline for now, as there is no reason she can't travel between East and West Beleriand. Just with question marks, as none of it was decided on.


So, what is essential for us to include for the Villains this season?

Catch-and-Release Program
  • Sauron, in Angband, puts a spell on sleeping elf prisoners, ensnaring their minds/wills
  • Rhogrin escapes the prison of Angband, taking Annael and other prisoners with him. Díriel remains behind, bound by an oath to Morgoth. Hador helps them once they make it out of Angband.
  • Thuringwethil visits a sleeping Annael and steals his memories. Strong vampire vibes, but minus the erotic undertones. Annael should be part of some conversations related to Fingolfin's plan to attack, so that the audience is concerned by the stakes here.
  • For Season 6, Annael's 'mole' status is discovered by the other elves when Minas Tirith falls to Sauron
Rift between Men and Elves
  • Sauron sets out to drive Elves and Men apart, hoping to create enemies on a different front for the Noldor to face
  • Sauron impersonates Amlach at the Council, hoping to start a war
  • Sauron discusses his plans for Men with his lieutenants; doubts cast on the effectiveness of Morgoth's strategy
Tevildo
  • Tevildo's giant cats harass Aredhel and her companions, driving them apart so that they become separated
  • Tevildo, operating out of the Forest of Brethil, is slain by Haleth
Stockade Battle
  • Boldog crosses the Mountains, coming upon the stockade from the dwarf road (on Gothmog's orders)
  • Boldog is driven back before the arrival of Caranthir, cementing Haleth's hatred of Angband
  • Sauron frustrated by the negative impact this has on his still-in-motion plans to pit Men against Elves
Dagor Bragollach
  • Gothmog and Glaurung are the leaders.
  • Who kills whom has not been discussed.
Duel
  • Morgoth barely appears all season, so when Fingolfin rides up to Angband's gate and demands that he come out, the audience is anticipating seeing him. If he is markedly worse off than the last time we saw him, so much the better.
  • Morgoth slays Fingolfin, but Fingolfin definitely tarnished Morgoth's reputation.
  • Thorondor appears to get a final shot in and remove Fingolfin's body.
Rivalry
  • After the Dagor Bragollach, Gothmog boasts of his success. Sauron chews him out for this 'premature' venture that could have been so much greater if they had waited until Sauron's objectives were in place
  • Sauron's departure from Angband at the end of the Season has a bit of a permanent feel to it. He is breaking more cleanly with Morgoth. Glaurung, meanwhile, has been elevated to the status of captain.

Villains discover Huan's fate ???
  • Draugluin should be part of this story, but beyond that, we have not yet discussed what the story will be on the podcast.

Is there anything that should be on this list that I forgot to include?
 
Well, I wasn't sure, from last night's session, what Sauron is trying to do circa Dagor Bragollach. Was he trying to put things in place to strike at Minas Tirith as well?
 
My understanding was that his own plans would be to take control of key locations (Minas Tirith, Pass of Aglon) prior to a full-scale attack, so that Beleriand would be wide open to punch into on both the eastern and western fronts.
 
I attempted to add the Villains plotlines to the GANTT chart. Some of these placements are tentative. Presumably, we could show Sauron placing the spell on prisoners any time before Rhogrin's escape. Likewise, we can show Thuringwethil visiting Annael at any time after his return to Hithlum, but should probably show that happening not too long after the escape to raise the audience's concern over what the consequences might be. I placed it rather late in the season because 1) the Villains aren't on screen much in the second half of the season, but this is something that can be on screen, and 2) Fingolfin making plans to attack is when we would be most nervous about a spy in Fingolfin's camp, not to mention 3) the payoff won't come until early in season 6, so a late reveal in this season isn't a bad thing. But it could certainly be earlier!


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For the most part, the Villains will not be the primary story of an episode. They will be heavily involved in several primary plotlines - Rhogrin's escape from Angband, the attack on the Stockade, the Council, and Fingolfin's duel with Morgoth. And of course the Dagor Bragollach. I don't think we will want to have any villain protagonists, though. Are there any stories that we would want to tell from Sauron or Thuringwethil's point of view?
 
I currently have Aredhel appearing in Episodes 1-4, and then in Episode 8 and Episode 10. I'm not sure that's the best approach to telling her story, but I am also not sure how we want to handle the 'she's stuck in Nan Elmoth' story beyond a single scene showing her there with a young Maeglin. And if anyone is worried by the lack of Villains in the latter part of the season (before we get to Episode 12 and the Dagor Bragollach), never fear, we can have Eöl as the villain of Episode 10!

So, in Episode 1, we would show Aredhel in Gondolin, show her disquiet over how Turgon has turned so strongly inward and is focused entirely on the past (memories of Tirion) and their isolated city (no thoughts for Beleriand). Whatever objections she raises will pay off in the finale, when Thorondor brings Turgon his father's body after the battle he ignored/did not take part in. These scenes would be used to show everything we need to know about life in Gondolin at this time. (B plot)​
Then, in Episode 2, she decides to leave Gondolin. She gets permission from Turgon, and some companions. There is clearly a great deal of tension there - Turgon does not want her to leave, and worries about what her plans are once she does so. But she has no intention of leaving Beleriand to its own devices, so off she goes! She and her companions are set upon by Tevildo, scattering the group. Unable to find them again, she sets off alone through Nan Dungortheb. They look for her, but when they cannot find her, return to Gondolin. She emerges from Nan Dungortheb into East Beleriand, and sets off to find her friends Curufin and Celegorm (A plot)​
Now in Episode 3, she is waiting at the Pass of Aglon for her friends to return, but they are not there. She speaks with other Elves, trying to find out what has transpired in Beleriand in the time she has been in Gondolin. She learns of the trade with the dwarves, and the current state of the Siege. For some reason, she ventures further afield until she comes upon Nan Elmoth. Entering there, she is quickly lost, but Eöl finds her and leads her to his home in the midst of the forest. He tells her who he is, and she gets the idea that he has great potential - he's king of the Avari, and an ally to the Dwarves who has worked closely with them! He is very courteous towards her, and she is smitten with him. Engagement? (B plot)​
In Episode 4, Aredhel and Eöl are now married (in a private ceremony), and the two of them go travelling together. This experience is...less than Aredhel might have hoped for. They meet some dwarves, but Eöl will only translate partially for her, so she is left an outsider in the conversations. They meet some Fëanoreans (who?) who would try to get her alone to ask her what she is doing with this elf??? She explains that they are married, and gets quite defensive of him - but you don't understand, he's a leader of the Avari, from Cuivienen, just as Finwë was! He's the lost 4th elf lord, and he knows dwarves, and he could change everything in Beleriand! Eöl is incensed over how rude the Fëanoreans were to him, and vows never to visit them again. He and Aredhel return to Nan Elmoth. Maeglin is born. (B plot)​
And there we leave Aredhel for several episodes. In Episode 7, we may show a brief domestic scene of Eöl calling Maeglin 'my son' and explaining that Aredhel is going to stay home while he gets ready to leave on another journey. (C plot?)​
In Episode 8, we would return to the family of Eöl, Aredhel, and Maeglin (who is roughly 29 years old, maybe the equivalent of a 12 year old). Aredhel is telling Maeglin tales of Gondolin, but is quiet about the topic when his father is around (knowing he doesn't like it). Eöl returns (he was in Nan Elmoth, just out and about), and we see that his interactions with Aredhel are much colder and more controlling than last we saw of him. Aredhel is clearly unhappy around him. Maeglin seems caught between them through this. Then, Eöl announces that he's off to see the dwarves, and he and Maeglin go, leaving Aredhel behind to regret what might have been. Eöl takes Maeglin to Nogrod(?), where they take part in whatever dwarf plot is going to happen this season. Eöl's instructions to Maeglin along the way are a bit disturbing. We see that Eöl will clearly not be brokering the elf-dwarf alliance that Aredhel hoped for. (B plot)​
In Episode 10, Maeglin (now more like 42, the equivalent of a 16 year old) convinces Aredhel to take him back to Gondolin, their 'true' home. They leave while Eöl is away, and he follows them. They are welcomed back to court, though Turgon is surprised to see that Aredhel has returned with a son. Then Eöl arrives, and he is furious and possessive, trying to kill Maeglin rather than give him up. Aredhel gets between them, saving Maeglin, but losing her own life. Eöl is sentenced to death for killing Aredhel, and they throw him off the wall of the city. Maeglin...is welcomed as the king's nephew. (A plot)​
In Episode 13, we briefly return to Gondolin. We may see Maeglin settled into his new home. We will definitely see Turgon receiving the body of Fingolfin from Thorondor and making a cairn (C plot)​


How does that sound? What is missing from this story? How else should we tell it? With the understanding that things can be shifted around and different story elements included, but we don't have unlimited screentime for Aredhel.
 
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Sounds great, @MithLuin - you’ve covered all the stuff that I can think of at least. I’m thinking the Fëanorean that meets her and Eöl has to be Amras. She wouldn’t be that interested in trying to talk to him in private. And he won’t go out of his way to make it happen if it doesn’t happen by chance, he is nihilistic enough to not care about what she’s up to that much.
 
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