Session 7-01: A Look Ahead

I've only read the first page of posts, being very much behind. But in case it's still useful: how about leaving the Hill of Slain for a cold open on Season 8? That will be a real sudden scene-setter for how Beleriand is going... [EDIT: I have now seen the post that points out the focus of this thread. But take the above as a suggestion to end Season 7 with the capture of Húrin, and leave the reveal of the Hill of Slain as part of the "childhood of Tuor" story to be picked up in Season 8]

On the "servants of Celegorm" who left Elured and Elurin to die, I think it not unreasonable to postulate that among the followers of the sons of Fëanor there might be fanatics dedicated to the cause. The brothers themselves can get pretty fired up, but there are surely people that follow them that were wholly convinced by Fëanor and might feel the tension that we do: why on earth don't Maedhros and company just up and do something about the Silmarils in all this time?

And I make to pretenses about wanting the Concerning the Hoard version of the way Húrin gets to Menegroth and the reason for the collapse of the Girdle of Melian. If SilmFilm is going to pull in the Wanderings of Húrin, then it would make sense to get the Nargothrond step of the journey in and then deliver the treasure to Thingol. It gives a better Dwarf story, in any case, in my opinion.
 
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Thinking about character decisions this season, what reason could we give for Húrin and Huor bringing their entire able-bodied fighting force to the Nirnaeth, leaving all civilians easy pickings when the Easterlings invaded? It's only because of Morwen's striking eyes that she and Túrin were unbothered by the Easterlings and a decision that's never sat well with me on a personal level.
 
The failure of the Union of Maedhros has consequences, naturally. Dor-lómin is all in, and so when they fail, they are left undefended. But taking that risk to go all in means they were betting everything so as to have the best chance of winning. That is the story we will have to tell in Season 7, setting up consequences for later seasons.
 
We could have some dissension (Huor?) as to the wisdom of going ‘all-in’ - but in the end Hurin’s authority wins out. Morgoth can play on the guilt Hurin will be feeling at not listening to others who wanted to leave a defending force at home. But the reality is that once the battle is lost, Dor-Lomjn was never going to be safe. Hurin wasn’t wrong to give their best chance to win the day by committing all able folk to the battle.
 
One thing we are going to have to decide is whether to depict the 'Wanderings of Hurin' where he has a posse with him or whether we depict him alone when he goes to Nargothrond. While this is not a S7 problem, if we are going to depict a group of surviving members of his people, we might want to introduce some of those characters in S7.
 
Ilana Mushin said:
One thing we are going to have to decide is whether to depict the 'Wanderings of Hurin' where he has a posse with him or whether we depict him alone when he goes to Nargothrond. While this is not a S7 problem, if we are going to depict a group of surviving members of his people, we might want to introduce some of those characters in S7.
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You'd be hard-pressed to find them; in the published Silmarillion the surviving Hadorians hate his guts when he shows up again and anyone else who would have spoken favorably of him is gone.
 
Ange1e4e5 said:
You'd be hard-pressed to find them; in the published Silmarillion the surviving Hadorians hate his guts when he shows up again and anyone else who would have spoken favorably of him is gone.
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It's going to depend on whether we tell the Wanderings of Hurin version (as published) in 'War of the Jewels) vs published Silm. It is hard to reconcile the two stories (which is why Christopher made the choices he did in the published version). It's more a S9 problem than a S7 problem, but we might want to think a bit about it now as it might impact the dynamics in Dor-Lomin leading up to the Nirnaeth.
 
There’s certainly a few good ways to tell the stories in which all of this material resides, whether contemporaneously chronological or in separate stories focused on individual kingdoms with touch points as needed. While we’re thinking about this overall structure and what goes where, @MithLuin is right to point out the importance of sketching at least roughly the arcs of individual, long-lived characters and fitting them in.

I’d suggest that the inflection points in those most important characters might suggest good places to break the seasons, especially if we go with the more chronological approach. Along those same lines we might also give thought to the longest surviving artifacts to ensure we have a good general path to get them to where they need to be when ending the War of Wrath.

Additionally, do we plan on taking a break, perhaps a larger one, before we begin the Second Age? There are some very big adaptation questions to address there since the available material is so different to that of the Elder Days. We have good annals to work from but we might wish to radically compress the timeline or skip to key moments during the Dark Years to focus on.

It seems likely we will have to invent many more characters than we have ever had to do before to fill out the cast. Also the existence of a still unfolding video adaptation of a significant Second Age story might be relevant. We might need more than a two-month recess to plan this major pivot.
 
Yes, Rings of Power will likely be finished by the time we get to the Second Age!

I do enjoy taking breaks from time to time. There is always the risk that the project will lose momentum and interest during breaks, though.
 
Ilana Mushin said:
One thing we are going to have to decide is whether to depict the 'Wanderings of Hurin' where he has a posse with him or whether we depict him alone when he goes to Nargothrond. While this is not a S7 problem, if we are going to depict a group of surviving members of his people, we might want to introduce some of those characters in S7.
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Also, the House of Bëor has a history of women leaders (in our telling especially), so one solution to the idea that they are sending 'everyone' to the battle is to have someone (such as Morwen) respond with 'not everyone' - the implication being that the women will do what needs to be done if the worst comes to pass. That can set up the storyarcs of Morwen, Rían, and Aerin, as they each interpret that in their own ways.
 
MithLuin said:
Also, the House of Bëor has a history of women leaders (in our telling especially), so one solution to the idea that they are sending 'everyone' to the battle is to have someone (such as Morwen) respond with 'not everyone' - the implication being that the women will do what needs to be done if the worst comes to pass. That can set up the storyarcs of Morwen, Rían, and Aerin, as they each interpret that in their own ways.
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I thought Aerin was a kinswoman of Húrin, not Morwen. Though this could change how she reacts.
 
My suggestion is that the presence of women from the House of Bëor in Dor-lómin will influence the conversations and decisions, including among the House of Hador. It can be Emeldir who first speaks up, but it is Morwen, Rían, and Aerin who will survive the men who die in battle (though not for long in Rían's case!)
 
MithLuin said:
My suggestion is that the presence of women from the House of Bëor in Dor-lómin will influence the conversations and decisions, including among the House of Hador. It can be Emeldir who first speaks up, but it is Morwen, Rían, and Aerin who will survive the men who die in battle (though not for long in Rían's case!)
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And I presume not for long in Emeldir's case; I reckon she's killed/driven out to starve.
 
Isn't it about time we started figuring out the Elfstone? The first (if we go with the two Elfstone version) was made in Gondolin, and Gondolin's only got 3, maybe 4 seasons left before their Fall. Soo we should at least see it made this season, if nothing else. Could possibly happen during Hurin and Huor's stay in Gondolin.

I did a forum search and the only time I saw it mentioned in relation to SilmFilm was in season 4.
 
Octoburn said:
Isn't it about time we started figuring out the Elfstone?
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Yes, the Elessar! I prefer the two-jewel version myself but the single-stone version might be simpler to execute. It’s a matter of preference, do we want the story of that gem to be more convoluted and historical or more epic in tone? If it’s to be made in Gondolin, could it be a wedding present for Idril, perhaps commissioned by a far-sighted Turgon?
 
There appears to be some conflicting text as to who made it; there's one version where it's made by Enerdhil and another where it's Celebrimbor.
 
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Ange1e4e5 said:
There appears to be some conflicting text as to who made it; there's one version where it's made by Enerdhil and another where it's Celebrimbor.
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And there's a version where it is...both. Enerdhil made the original that eventually went West with Earendil, while Celebrimbor made a second for Galadriel.

While I like the idea that the one Galadriel has and is passed to Aragorn, I dislike the idea that the one passed to Aragorn is lesser-than. So I really don't know which version I prefer, and I also know it probably matters little which version I like, because it's something the EPs will decide.
 
Octoburn said:
I also know it probably matters little which version I like, because it's something the EPs will decide.
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I think the question will be which version serves our story better, both what we are trying to emphasize in that particular season’s theme and the resounding note of the series as a whole: loss and echoes of former glory or the epic satisfaction of restoration of the greatness of old. Either could work well depending on what kind of story we’re trying to tell.
 
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