Didn’t you discuss mining ore before? Ok what if the orcs are establishing tunnels and perhaps mines in the Gorgoroth range? Beren follows Gorgol there, kills him, but has to flee, but gets lost and ends up in Nan Dungortheb (which he of course tries to get out of) through a tunnel.
Could work as is told that he was the only one of the good guys to ever cross it and that he never ever told anyone anything about it. But the ore idea has been dismissed?
Was it dismissed? By the execs? Sorry I’m not up to speed….
I don't think the topic of ore was ever discussed. They were more focused on the "tub of evil".
During the discussions here,
@MithLuin explained that the interest in Dorthonion is strategical and not in its resources, so that extracting both ore or wood would done only on the side and more as a means to destroy or corrupt the land than anything else. And you cannot corrupt Ered Gorgoroth more than it already is?
It was [discussed]. As I have brought it up here in this thread. ;-) I have even linked a paper showing that there is ore in the Altai, which is our location for Dorthonion. But the idea has not been met with much enthusiasm.
Okay, this is an example of what I mean by creating confusion by conflating discussions we have here with discussions on the podcast. Now, granted, I am likely contributing to the confusion since I sometimes appear in both discussions. I know it's not always clear when I am speaking simply for myself, giving an opinion on a topic under discussion, and when I am speaking authoritatively in a 'this is what was decided in Silm Film' reminder kind of way. So, I do apologize for that.
But just to make sure we're all on the same page now....
Our topic of discussion for this thread involves the question of Dorthonion - what is going on there in Season 6? We have a pretty good idea of what Barahir's band is up to, but what are the villains up to? To figure that out, we need to toss suggestions into the ring. Then, I will collate those suggestions and present them to the podcast, so that those ideas will be 'on the table' when Corey Olsen starts talking about the Dorthonion question. Naturally, he may have his own idea in mind, unrelated to anything discussed here...but multiple suggestions will give him something to work with, and generally speaking makes our storytelling more robust. And, as a rule, I present all suggestions that are still compatible with the project, not only the suggestions I personally like.
So far, Corey Olsen has expressed interest in having Thuringwethil involved in the Gorlim storyline, as well as interest in having Boldog survive whatever happens here, whether or not there is an attack on Doriath.
So, so far, some ideas that have been discussed are: Dorthonion is a southern foothold for Angband, and thus occupying it has strategic value. Dorthonion serves as a gateway to Beleriand, or will, once the Orcs build a road through the Pass of Anach, which they are working on. Dorthonion is a source of raw materials/supplies that Morgoth is interested in exploiting for his own use, or preventing the Elves from accessing. All of those ideas are still on the table, at least until the next podcast. There's no need for only one of these to be the case, and if we decide to make use of one or more, great.
It is true that I said the strategic value of the location was more important than any potential resources that might be found there. Morgoth didn't send a dragon to Dorthonion to steal its resources; he did it to break the Siege, and to make it more difficult for the Noldor in East and West Beleriand to coordinate with one another. That does not mean that the suggestion of orc quarries/mines is dismissed. The person with authority to select or reject ideas on this project is Corey Olsen. So, until he weighs in, the idea is still on the table. And, if we can come up with a story reason as to why the mines in question would be relevant, then that is all the better.
While we have done a fairly good job of discussing what Angband is up to in Dorthonion early in Season 6, we probably could spend more time discussing the roles of the different players. There are quite a few potential named villains who can be active in this area at this time, and not all of them would be coordinating or working together or having the same goals in mind. Potential players: Morgoth, Sauron, Gothmog, Thuringwethil, Boldog, Gorgol the Butcher, and Draugluin. Naturally, not all of those characters will be present (Morgoth and Gothmog remain in Angband), but they still can have something to do with the story playing out, potentially.
If Sauron sends Thuringwethil to deal with the Outlaws, and she enacts the 'ensnare Gorlim' trap, that is all fine and good. But since when does Thuringwethil command a company of orcs? Or share her gathered intelligence with Boldog? So, the step between "Thuringwethil discovers the location of Barahir's hidden camp from Gorlim" and "Gorgol the Butcher leads a company of orcs to attack the hidden camp of outlaws" needs some explanation. If Thuringwethil had worked with orcs before, we wouldn't need to show or tell anything here, but this is not currently a case of one leading to the other, so...we need a connection. Also, who is in charge of the 'build an orc road in the Pass of Anach' plan? Why are they doing that right now - is there already a plan to attack Doriath, or is it just a case of thinking they'll need a road eventually if they are ever going to move out of Dorthonion? Also, if Thuringwethil was willing to use her spywork to get rid of Barahir's band, is there a reason she doesn't follow up with tracking down lone Beren? Or does she attempt to find him and fail? Or is her discovery of him what leads to him fleeing South? Are these orcs in Dorthonion reporting to Boldog (and thus Gothmog), or are they now falling under Sauron's chain of command, via the werewolf/warg rider initiative? Or...are there orcs of mixed allegiances in Dorthonion at odds with one another? If that is the case, how would we convey that tension?
