Board Thread:General Mod Discussion/@comment-26088681-20171011203808/@comment-26149161-20171012173651

RevaulRen wrote:

Baranor, the black guy, is Haradrim. Sent as part of a peace offering from one of the Haradrim factions. He lost contact with his fellow countrymen and thereafter built a life of his own in Minas Ithil.

Tar-Goroth, the Balrog, is NOT in Sauron's army. He is a Maiar awakened when Celebrimbor and Talion forge their new Ring of Power and doesn't do much to affect the game. Nothing like attacking Minas Ithil.

Shelob is NOT a human. She is a child of Ungoliant, who, as the lore says, was a Maiar who chose to take the form of a spider. Shadow of War essentially suggests that Ungoliant, and thereby Shelob, could shapeshift, choosing which form they could appear in.

Of dragons in Sauron's army. They're called drakes. Shadow of War's idea here is that these drakes were the fell beasts of lore. I know they look nothing like them, but that's the idea.

Of the three unique Ringwraiths. Here, Shadow of War took very creative liberties in interpreting the lore. Things like Isildir's body never being found, or Helm Hammerhand's spirit said to be roaming the Dike and killing men with fear. Suliman is pretty okay, and the other two aren't at loggerheads with the lore, but yes, this was not really well done in my opinion. They could have done the last Gondorian king the one who disappeared when he answered the Witch King's call to single combat in Minas Morgul.

When it comes to Shadow of War/Mordor, don't play/not play it just because you think it's compatible/not compatible with the lore. Play it for what it is--a game. In my opinion, the creators did a great job with the animations, graphics and nemesis system. Just remember that it's not lore-friendly, but have a blast playing it all the same.

Just my thoughts. 1. Thing is, Gondor would probably not trust him, definitely not enough to give him a position of command. It's doubtful that any Haradrim would even send such a messenger of peace at this point in time.

2. Yeah, it's good that he has a small role, but his existence still doesn't make much sense.

3. We don't actually know Ungoliant's origin, or even that she chose to take the form of a spider. What we are told is that she is an evil spirit in spider-form.

4. I mean, don't they breathe fire in-game? Are you sure they're meant to be the Fell Beasts?

5. Even if the bodies of Isildur and Helm were found (And they were--Saruman probably burned Isildur's, and Helm was buried at Edoras), they still couldn't be turned into Nazgul. Rings don't bring them back to life like that. Really, they couldn't have used either or Earnur, the King who vanished, because we're told the Nine appeared in the mid Second Age--before Isildur, Helm, and Earnur were born.

Not to mention their crazed assumption that being a master horseman means you're a god of nature with control of all animals.

6. The gameplay may be good, and people can and should play it for that, so long as they know the lore is not real. But the major issues are A. Monolith claiming that it's totally friendly to the lore, and B. the way it will change the impressions of newcomers to the lore.

Ithilion, Discussions Moderator (Auta i lómë)