Lost In These Memories

Master, my beloved

Barn scene breakdown-1

Second part coming in a couple of hours as I have to rewrite it due to network collapse *sigh*

Now that it was announced that Joseph left… Guess all I have left are these precious little bits of his acting mastery. Get ready, this scene is an emotional train wreck

Let’s do this.

First shot, camera heavily tilted to the left.

Before Charlotte Brändström said this angle was to show how Adar tips Galadriel off balance, me and my partner had a discussion on whether it is to show that they’re both Distorted (yes, with Melkor’s darkness) or it is a victory OR even sin scales leaning towards Galadriel.

Galadriel’s standing dagger in hand, full body towards Adar, in an undeniable position of power, although she’s keeping her distance to be able see Adar clearly.

Adar is stripped of the gauntlet and whatever piece of rusted shit tip of sauron’s spear lol he’s carrying for a knife, he’s sitting in a very insecure pose, back to the wall, legs drawn to chest, his pierced hand hugging his mangled one.

Also, take notice how the light falls through the openings, just slightly casting Galadriel in itself and never touching Adar. They’re both quite deep in the dark, aren’t they? :)

Adar’s listening but looking past Galadriel, somewhere down and to the left of her (from Adar’s POV).

What might seem as a wandering gaze is actually a gaze fixed on her dagger. He doesn’t seem to fear her at all but it quite seems he’s waiting whether the torture is going to arrive or not. He’ll be looking at the dagger more or less until Galadriel threatens to torture the orcs.

Ah, there we go. Let me close-up.

The moment Galadriel says “the Sons of the Dark“ Adar’s lips’s corners twist down in a bitter smirk. (A vid might show it better)

And yes, “the Sons of the Dark“ does sound like it’s some title, something these elves chose to be, a name that they might carry with pride as the servants of Melkor. Adar is both bitter and angry at the assumption.

Adar glances at Galadriel for the first time.

The self-naming thing is the only thing he will put up a fight for. He doesn’t even begin to argue with the twisted, the ruined, the slaves, the scourge, as he knows his fight won’t matter to his captor, that all his statements will be disregarded.

The self-naming doesn’t interest Galadriel either (understandable, the Orcs are her enemy, she doesn’t want them to be humanized), as she cuts in

(Adar’s back looking at the dagger)

Adar bursts out laughing. At least what he substitutes for a burst of laughter.

He could’ve told her, he really could, all the stuff that passed unnoticed in the forest before her very eyes. But would she ever believe him, the enemy, that her friend is the true Enemy?

It is Adar’s continuous stare at the dagger that seems to make Galadriel realize she’s holding onto it.

I’m not guessing whether she has tortured Orcs before, but she’s really not into torturing in cold blood someone who resembles her kin so uncomfortably. She glances at the dagger in doubt, then finds another way.

We know this threat’s enough to make Adar start talking.

But it’s also the only thing that actually makes him look away from the potential source of his own torture (the dagger) for the first time and look at the potential source of torture for his Uruks (the sun). He blinks as the threat settles in.

It’s also the first time you can see his eyes glisten with unshed tears.

He starts talking while looking at the Uruks.

(Interesting word choice, though, he calls Melkor Morgoth, “The Black Foe of the World”, a title Feanor gave him and Elves used as an insult. But it is probably because tRoP doesn’t have the rights for “Melkor”)

He will never even once glance at Galadriel during his speech.

(Interesting word choice-2, though, as it shows us Adar called Sauron something else. Tar-Mairon probably, the guy loved that name)

He now stares into nothingness and his lips tremble when he talks about a power over flesh. The tears in his eyes can be fully seen now.

Mawle is playing it full PTSD-flashback mode, tbh. The sheer amount of shit Adar’s seen is reflected in his tired and strained expression.

Also let me point out this is the first time he’s ever talking about his feat of taking down the greatest Maia to walk Middle-Earth. Not a good time, not the best person to spill out to.

“He bid as many as he could follow him far North. But tried, as he might, something was missing. A shadow of dark knowledge that kept itself hidden. Even from him.“

And oh, Galadriel believes him really well.

She has been there, she has been to the stronghold where Sauron died, she has even felt the coldest chamber where the Uruk torture and, presumably, the murder occured. She blinks as shifts gaze as she realizes Adar’s telling the truth.

Adar’s not forgiving Sauron for what he did. He’s looking even lower than before, completely at the floor, even shaking his head a little bit.

He calls the Uruk “children”, he also expresses his discontent with what Sauron did.

And that’s what (quite literally) pulls Galadriel out of trance.

She has been unconsciously leaning towards Adar as he was telling the story but now that the spell is broken, she pulls back and keeps distance.

This is the first time he says these words out loud, “I killed Sauron”. It seems it’s hard for him to believe himself as at first he states it differently, “I split him open”, and only then makes himself acknowledge and say “I killed Sauron“.

It’s a confession Adar makes more to himself then to Galadriel.

Of course she doesn’t. She unifies everything that is connected to Melkor and can’t take in that someone on THAT side might actually not be on Melkor’s or Sauron’s side.

Now it’s Adar who’s not impressed at all. The camera does a job of breaking the viewers neck to see it, and I have a feeling it was to further deepen the misunderstanding between Galadriel and Adar. Galadriel just can’t see him right.

He tilts his head and looks back up at Galadriel for the first time since his story. Lets out an amused exhale (can’t show that on a gif!)

Adar seems to know the drill. I guess it’s not his first time talking to the Elves as an Uruk. So the Elven concept of “Orcs are indescibably inferior to us“ is very well-known to him.

By now he’s just saying it for her, mocking her, showing her he knows what she’s about to say.

But Adar is wrong, it wasn’t the Uruks in whole Galadriel was thinking of.

Oh that contempt in her eyes as she’s looking him up and down. She doesn’t see him as a threat, she doesn’t see him as a leader, she doesn’t see him as anything at all.

And then we get aboard the actual emotional train wreck that is this scene because Galadriel’s view of the world finally snaps Adar (and it’s not the personal insult that gets him but her view of the Uruks)

Galadriel’s isn’t taking that. For her, Orcs are definitely not a race of their own. They’re mindless beasts unleashed by Morgoth/Sauron.

Galadriel gets Adar even more, notice how his lips tremble and how his eyebrows and lower eyelids move before he says “a heart“. That’s what it looks like to argue and not believe you’ll ever be heard.

He isn’t heard. For Galadriel, Orcs are connected to Melkor, therefore they’re evil and that’s all there is to it.

And so Adar appeals to the only being they both have little knowledge about, trying to get to her through religion, if nothing else works.

They interrupt each other during this argument, the dialogue speeding up, showing each one passionately standing their own ground, ready to defend their own view of the world.

Galadriel isn’t ready to comprehend that Orcs may not want to serve Melkor/Sauron and may have wishes of their own. Something as simple as a home or just a life. Adar’s simply tired and miserable from hitting against the wall even as he tries again and again. There are tears in his eyes as he says the “just as worthy of a breath of life“ line. Firstly I thought it was just light reflection but no, the tears are perfectly seen when he blinks (after the word “life”). This freaking moment breaks my heart every time I see it

Galadriel’s world collides against that. She hasn’t the slightest idea what to do with his words at first as they don’t match anything she thinks or believes in. She just stands there as her brain is trying to cope.

Adar saves her the need to immediately answer.

He’s looking at the floor, at the tunnel dig from Orodruin.

Galadriel’s brain copes. And it does so the easiest way, repelling everything she has just heard, so her world may stay the same as before.

Galadriel is rejecting everything Adar has said, repeating out loud what she has always thought about the Orcs.

undead girl in the undead woooorld

life in grave is a raaaaave

BBEG of our current campaign - lich Tar-Baphon, my GM's @drartslog description

yassification was successful!

Auzmezar, Archdruid of the Stone Library Circle, created by Paizo and explored in Pathfinder "Wrath of the Righteous" campaign by @drartslog

Auzmezar was the Archdruid of the Green Library Forest when the boundaries between the planes erupted in 4606 AR and the demonic invasion came to Sarkoris.

Auzmezar and his druids defended their centuries-old forest, where the druidic faith first came to life, for 44 years until the demonic generals called in Shaorhaz, a demon of tremendous power and a devoted follower of Cyth-V'Sug, the demon-lord of parasites, fungus and pollution.

Shaorgaz came down upon the Green Library with steel and fire, leading thousands of flame demons, and set the ancient woods ablaze.

Realizing they are about to lose the war and facing either the need to flee or the need to watch their home fall into ruin, Auzmezar and his fellow druids made their final stand. In a ritual so horrid it cannot be found in tomes of ancient knowledge, the druids sacrificed themselves and released a blast of necrotic energy that tore most of Shaorhaz's forces to pieces and forever turned the forest into stone. Next night the druids rose as undead siabraes — powerful creatures that carry stag horns as a constant reminder of their heresy against the natural circle of life and death.

Auzmezar and his siabraes continue to stalk the forest that now bears the name of the Stone Library — stuck between life and death, lacking all emotion, their memories slowly fading away. But still as vigil and ready to fight demons back as they once were in life.

P.S. Auzmezar's appearance was based on Joseph Mawle playing Benjen Stark as we thought he'd be great in such a role :)

We are creation of the One, Master of the Secret Fire, the same as you. Just as worthy of a breath of life and just as worthy of a home.

I finally found the perfect gif. This is literally what happened

Hi! I saw your art of Tar-Baphon (what? He's cute? Haha what a charming twist) and Arazni and damn I'm curious what's going on in your campaign. Can you please tell me about it?

ура, можно писать на русском кхм

Привет) На арте вместе с Аразни не Тар-Бафон, а Сокорро, который тоже был успешно яссифицирован нашим дорогим ГМом на радость всем участвующим. Тар-Бафон вот тут: https://www.tumblr.com/papugaka/767047553458044928/bbeg-of-our-current-campaign-lich-tar-baphon-my?source=share

На арте момент из нашего кампейна: РС на данный момент находятся на крепостной стене Ардиса, который осаждает армия ТБ и Сокорро. ТБ, правда, не особо участвовал, он пришел посмотреть, как выеб... сработает Сокорро. К несчастью для гордости Сокорро, в Ардисе на тот момент была и андеднутая Аразни, которой было _очень_ надо чтобы ТБ рванул осколок так же, как он взорвал Дозор и остальные города. Она вызвала его на бой и в ходе месива продырявила Сокорро со спины и вообще сделала все, чтобы ТБ выбесить. Но тогда не вышло)

Я видел у вас на странице, что вы тоже ГМ, но я не очень знаю, где проходит граница между переработками нашего ГМа и канонным приключением, поэтому если что-то странно звучит, готов пояснить)

In case anybody needs it, the singular form of “Moriondor” would seem to be “Moriondo”

Like

Valar / Vala

Maiar / Maia

Eldar / Elda

aldar / alda (tree), etc.

So, Moriondo (I won’t be diving into explanation, I’m not at all a Quenya knower, I’ll drown there myself :D)

Ah, if anyone is interested, if we take the headcanon of Adar awakening at Cuivienen, he is around 5 900 years old, of which ~288 he was free & happy, and here’s the count

Years of the Trees

lasted 1 500 Valian years OR 14 373 solar years. 14 373/1500; 1 Valian year is ≈ 9,6 solar years (a little less)

Year 1050 Elves awaken at Cuivienen.

30 Valian years of peace (288 solar years) for the Elves.

Year 1080 first Orcs successfully created.

420 Valian years or 4 032 solar years in captivity until the beginning of the First Age.

First Age

lasted 590 solar years (no Valian years anymore)

Second Age, according to the show

is set ~ 1000 years after War of Wrath

288 + 4 032 + 590 + 1000 = 5 910 years old (a little less, as I rounded off the Valian/solar ratio)

Honestly, I haven't seen such a terrible story as Adar's in a long time. Not in the sense that it is poorly written, but in the sense that his storyline and his entire life are absolutely hopeless. His life was spent in suffering alongside Morgoth and Sauron; he witnessed how they killed and tormented his children, he was tortured too. For a brief moment, they freed themselves from Sauron's power, and Adar did everything to ensure that Uruks did not fall under his control again. He was ready to turn them against him, to feel their distance and their waning love for him, he was prepared for them to kill him, just so they wouldn’t become slaves again.

He dies right after realizing that the ring could heal him, after a new path opened up for him in alliance with Galadriel. Sauron looks at him and Adar understands that Sauron has won, and that everything that came before was in vain.

This is an absolute, total nightmare and shattering of all hopes.