History Fridge / MiddleEarthShadowOfMordor

* ''The Bright Lord'' is noticeably more difficult than the main game, and while [[WatsonianVersusDoylist it can be justified as the developers wanting to offer a more difficult challenge]], it's also because rather than an undead human causing some trouble for a few of Sauron's lackeys, you're now playing an Elf lord who is an actual threat to Sauron and stole his ring, so of course the Dark Lord would stop playing around and go at it seriously.

* The revelation Queen Marwen is [[spoiler: possessed by Saruman]] should be a ShockingSwerve but has quite a bit of foreshadowing. She references one of [[spoiler: Saruman's]] lines from the ''Fellowship of the Ring'', practices magic, and is the first one to advocate for the use of Orc slave labor. [[spoiler: Tolkien scholars will also note the use of magic as only the Istari, elves, owners of a ring, and those of Numenorean descent can use sorcery. The people of Nurn possess none of this, making her spells very suspicious.]]

* Every time you unlock a new rune slot, along with changing what abilities are equipped, the rune glows [[spoiler: in a similar manner to the One Ring's writing. Especially considering that Celebrimbor was responsible for creating the heat-activated text in the first place.]]

* Quite a few were disgruntled that the FinalBoss is basically an anticlimax QuickTimeEvent, but really, that's basically the only way it could've gone. Because Celebrimbor was [[spoiler:ripped into The Black Hand/Sauron's body]], Talion was ''dying'' of the injuries that first killed him, and the only reason he could move at all was adrenaline... which wouldn't put off death forever, while his opponent was fresh and unhindered. And moreover, [[spoiler:The Black Hand/Sauron needed Celebrimbor to get a body again, so Talion re-taking the wraith in desperate assault would've destroyed said body almost immediately anyway, forcing his spirit to flee]]. Either way, a full-out fight was impossible under the circumstances, and would've likely been a HopelessBossFight even if it ''were'' possible.
* Some Tolkien scholars were annoyed by the game not fitting with [=LotR=]'s themes before it even came out. The game is a power fantasy, and ''Lord of the Rings'' is the ultimate "power corrupts" story. [[spoiler:But at the end, Talion is corrupted by the power and is well on his way to becoming a new Sauron... and even before that, Celebrimbor himself has tried to use the One Ring against Sauron, so who's to say how far along ''his'' corruption is?]]
* Among our three main weapons, the Wraith's Azkâr is the only one not significantly redesigned; just some runes and writing added. Why? Because it was made by [[spoiler:Narvi, the dwarf who created the Doors of Durin, and one of Celebrimbor's friends in life. Even if he might've preferred an elvish design, and even with his questionable turn in motives, Celebrimbor doesn't want to disrespect the work of a friend]].
* The reveal that [[spoiler:Shelob has a human form explains how she was able to arrange an alliance with Gollum]].

** The Black Hand embodies Sauron's will to power; he's the one most directly orchestrating Sauron's return. [[spoiler: Plus he's Sauron himself, so it'd be sort of hard for him to not embody his most noteworthy traits.]]

** A similar revelation/bit of foreshadowing occurs if this naming scheme is applied to The Black Hand (of Sauron). [[spoiler: The Black Hand of Sauron is Sauron himself, orchestrating his own return and exerting his influence over Mordor.]]

** Celebrimbor's motivations get explained if you translate all of his elvish writings. ''[[spoiler: I am The Bright Lord of Mordor. The silver hand that drives back the darkness, Reaching through the fog of night, To avenge those long betrayed. Arise from fields of death, And march forth from the shadow, Through the purifying flames of war, You who were once eldar shall be reforged. Beneath my hammer, The Bringer of Gifts, the Betrayer shall be un-made, I renounce the Blessed Realm. To redeem the Land of Shadow. And bind the walls of Arda, In place of the Dark Lord, You shall have light undiminished, All shall fear me and rejoice.]]'' Nothing ominous there AT ALL. Bonus points for that last line being a reference to [[spoiler: Galadriel's lines to Frodo ("In place of a Dark Lord, You will have a queen!" - "All shall love me and despair!") when she was demonstrating just why giving her the Ring would be a '''''very''' [[KnightTemplar bad idea]].'']]
** The quotes are especially horrifying when one remembers that [[spoiler: In Tolkien's other writings it is revealed that Uruks are elves twisted by dark magic. 'You who were once eldar' could refer to all of the Uruks, and reveals another reason for Celebrimbor's ability to control them]].
* Talion's first vision of [[spoiler: Celebrimbor]] in the prologue has the wraith appear in a flash of light; pretty standard stuff. But look closer, and it's shown that [[spoiler: the vision resembles the Eye of Sauron...with Celebrimbor at the center.]]

* During one of Tallion's post-respawn conversations with Celebrimbor, the latter describes the Black Captains as aspects of his power made into flesh, "his malice, his deception, and his will to power". He's nor just indulging in poetic language; he's enumerating them.

* One of the most uncomfortable aspects of Tolkien's works has always been that the Caucasian-looking descendants of Numenor are supposedly of superior stock to the other "lesser" races of humankind (such as the dark-skinned Harad) that lived outside of their island. This sounds an awful lot like racism...but the plight of Talion, Eryn and the rest of the Outcasts shows that the Numenorean-descended Gondorians were just as prejudiced against ''white'' people who didn't trace their ancestry to Numenor.

* ''The Bright Lord'' is noticeably more difficult than the main game, and while [[WatsonianVersusDoylist it can be justified as the developers wanting to offer a more difficult challenge]], it's also because rather than an undead human causing some trouble for a few of Sauron's lackeys, you're now playing an Elf lord who is an actual threat to Sauron, so of course the dark would stop playing around and go at it seriously.

%% This isn't Troper Tales or a forum. Refrain from first person entries, speculation, and "replying" to entries. RepairDontRespond is in effect here as much as any other page.

* One of the devs casually slipped that even orcs branded by Talion still own their slaves. This disturbing implication means that Talion and Celebrimbor are indifferent about the innocents' suffering if it helps serve their purpose.

* Quite a few were disgruntled that the FinalBoss is basically an anticlimax QuickTimeEvent, but really, that's basically the only way it could've gone. Because Celebrimbor was [[spoiler:ripped into The Black Hand/Sauron's body]], Talion was ''dying'' of the injuries that first killed him, and the only reason he could move at all was adrenaline... which wouldn't put off death forever, while his opponent was fresh and unhindered. And moreover, [[spoiler:The Black Hand/Sauron needed Celebrimbor to get a body again, so Talion re-taking the wraith in desperate assault would've destroyed said body almost immediately anyway, since his spirit would've had to flee]]. Either way, a full-out fight was impossible under the circumstances, and would've likely been a HopelessBossFight even if it were.

* Quite a few were disgruntled that the FinalBoss is basically an anticlimax QuickTimeEvent, but really, that's basically the only way it could've gone. Because Celebrimbor was [[spoiler:ripped into The Black Hand/Sauron's body]], Talion was ''dying'' of the injuries that first killed him, and the only reason he could move at all was adrenaline... which wouldn't put off death forever, while his opponent was fresh and unhindered. And moreover, [[spoiler:The Black Hand/Sauron needed Celebrimbor to get a body again, so Talion re-taking the wraith in desperate assault would've destroyed said body, leaving his spirit to flee]]. Either way, a full-out fight was impossible under the circumstances, and would've likely been a HopelessBossFight even if it were.
* Some Tolkien scholars were annoyed by the game fitting with [=LotR=]'s themes before it even came out. The game is a power fantasy, and ''Lord of the Rings'' is the ultimate "power corrupts" story. [[spoiler:But at the end, Talion is corrupted by the power and is well on his way to becoming a new Sauron]].

** Celebrimbor's motivations get explained if you translate all of his elvish writings. ''[[spoiler: I am The Bright Lord of Mordor. The silver hand that drives back the darkness, Reaching through the fog of night, To avenge those long betrayed. Arise from fields of death, And march forth from the shadow, Through the purifying flames of war, You who were once eldar shall be reforged. Beneath my hammer, The Bringer of Gifts, the Betrayer shall be un-made, I renounce the Blessed Realm. To redeem the Land of Shadow. And bind the walls of Arda, In place of the Dark Lord, You shall have light undiminished, All shall fear me and rejoice.]]'' Nothing ominous there AT ALL. Bonus points for that last line being a reference to [[spoiler: Galadriel's lines to Frodo ("In place of a Dark Lord, You will have a queen!" - "All shall love me and despair!") when she was demonstrated why giving her the Ring would be a '''''very''' [[KnightTemplar bad idea]].'']]
** The quotes are especially horrifying when one remembers that [[spoiler: In Tolkien's other writings it is revealed that Uruks are elves twisted by dark magic. 'You who were once eldar' could refer to all of the Uruks, and reveals another reason for Celebrimbor's ability to control them]]
* Talion's first vision of [[spoiler: Celebrimbor]] in the prologue has the wraith appear in a flash of light. Pretty standard stuff. But look closer, and it's shown that [[spoiler: the vision resembles the Eye of Sauron...with Celebrimbor at the center.]]

* The backstory of Talion and Ioreth, with him saving her from being assaulted by a Minas Tirith nobleman, sounds a lot like a PG description of either AttemptedRape or an IfICantHaveYou situation. It gets worse when you consider that, under the laws of Gondor, attacking him in her defense still earned him a death sentence since he was still an outcast attacking someone of pure-blooded Numenorean descent. He would have died if not for another nobleman's (her father Hallas') intervention.

** Celebrimbor's motivations get explained if you translate all of his elvish writings. ''[[spoiler: I am The Bright Lord of Mordor. The silver hand that drives back the darkness, Reaching through the fog of night, To avenge those long betrayed. Arise from fields of death, And march forth from the shadow, Through the purifying flames of war, You who were once eldar shall be reforged. Beneath my hammer, The Bringer of Gifts, the Betrayer shall be un-made, I renounce the Blessed Realm. To redeem the Land of Shadow. And bind the walls of Arda, In place of the Dark Lord, You shall have light undiminished, All shall fear me and rejoice.]]'' Nothing ominous there AT ALL. Bonus points for that last line being a reference to [[spoiler: Galadriel's line to Frodo ("All shall love me and despair!") when she was demonstrating why giving her the Ring would be a '''''very''' [[KnightTemplar bad idea]].'']]

* Celebrimbor possessing Talion makes a great deal of sense other than just as a target of opportunity. As an ancient elf, he holds the people of Gondor with nothing but disdain because they're descendants of Numenor. Talion, by contrast, is a Northman who had nothing to do with their war on the West. Likewise, they've both lost their families to Sauron. The fact Talion has no prior experience with magic also makes him someone more easily to manipulate (if one wishes to have a less charitable handling of Celebrimbor's motivations).

** Celebrimbor's motivations get explained if you translate all of his elvish writings. ''[[spoiler: I am The Bright Lord of Mordor. The silver hand that drives back the darkness, Reaching through the fog of night, To avenge those long betrayed. Arise from fields of death, And march forth from the shadow, Through the purifying flames of war, You who were once eldar shall be reforged. Beneath my hammer, The Bringer of Gifts, the Betrayer shall be un-made, I renounce the Blessed Realm. To redeem the Land of Shadow. And bind the walls of Arda, In place of the Dark Lord, You shall have light undiminished, All shall fear me and rejoice.]]'' Nothing ominous there AT ALL. Bonus points for that last line being a reference to [[spoiler: Galadriel's line to Frodo ("All shall love me and despair!") when she was demonstrating why giving her the Ring would be a '''''very''' bad idea.'']]

* Every time you unlock a new rune slot, along with changing what abilities are equipped, the rune glows [[spoiler: in a similar manner to the One Ring's writing. Especially considering that Celebrimbor was responsible for creating the heat-activated text in the first place.]]Ttimes do that instead of hasing you. Why so ? Because you can brand them and he doesn't want that.