Line #56 Fridge/MiddleEarthShadowOfWar


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16	!!FridgeBrilliance
17	* Far more often than not, Warchiefs and Overlord don't level up naturally, while normal orc captains orcs do all the time. This is because the Warchiefs and Overlords tend to laze around and sit on their laurels until duty calls (like someone going after their bodyguard), while the orcs in the field are actively training, fighting, and more.
18	* Brûz remarks, "Bright Lord? Dark Lord? Same thing, really." Anyone familiar with Tolkien lore knows he's not joking. Throughout the history of Middle Earth, no matter how well-intentioned the wielder, a Ring of Power will corrupt them to the same end because they're connected to Sauron and his One Ring. Even if the New Ring could resist its power - and that's a mad-sized 'if' at best - Celebrimbor's corruption from wielding the One Ring in ages past means it cannot escape the same fate regardless. This analogy becomes true in a literal sense when Sauron and Celebrimbor literally become one at the end.
19	** It also explains his betrayal; unlike every other Uruk or Orc dominated, instead of saying he'll serve you or adopt a more subservient attitude around you, Brûz keeps his distinct personality likely because he resisted the branding. Like Ratbag he joined the Bright Lord for easier advancement in the orc hierarchy (Ratbag and some orcs dialogue implies Brûz isn't well liked, beyond grudging respect for his combat prowess), because to him both Lords are the same as far as he is concerned.
20	* Brûz has Iron Will, is never Branded, and is only playing along for most of the story. [[RewatchBonus Playing again]], sharp eyes will notice after Talion "branded" him, he has none of the traits of a branded orc: his eyes are normal and there's no hand print on his face. He never looks scared, instead looking pissed off (you can see him internally deciding whether to crush Talion into a fine paste or go along with him.) In addition, he's far smarter than the average Uruk or Olog; his Appendix entry noted that he was a cunning planner and CombatPragmatist. He probably recognized Talion as the Gravewalker and decided to see if he could make him an Overlord, which was his goal. Had Talion made Brûz Overlord, he'd have been satisfied (or defected to Sauron if he or the Nazgul came a-calling.) Why would he risk killing Talion, knowing he was unkillable? Remember his definition of being an optimist. It is also worth noting that he is level 19 in the first mission he appears. Because most players (without extreme grinding) will be lower than this, within the context of gameplay he would have been unbrandable anyway.
21	* Brûz wanted the fortress in Nurnen. Why? Because it was the most important fortress in Mordor, short of Barad-dur. Barad-dur is the administrative capital of Mordor, but Nurnen is where all the food is grown, raised and harvested and transported throughout Mordor. Bruz wanted to be the Overlord of Nurnen because that is the most coveted position in Mordor to have, being in charge of the food production. While Ratbag was tired of the gig, it makes sense why he didn't want Brûz to have the position instead, when you consider the food production. Brûz would have leveraged his position for something bigger. Goes to show also that he was an optimist in his own words.
22	* Shelob forms an [[EnemyMine uneasy alliance]] with the lead characters despite having kidnapped Celebrimbor at the start of the game and held him ransom for the Ring. Talion is more forthcoming to her, while Celebrimbor is the more hostile since he demands the return of his Ring from her and that she sees him just as bad as Sauron. This is because she saw a vision the moment Celebrimbor made a new Ring of Power that he would eventually overthrow Sauron and become a even worse tyrant than him as the Bright Lord. That is why she immediately captures him: to prevent that future from coming to pass.
23	* There's another reason Shelob tried to drive a wedge between the Bright Lord and his host: as a Man, Talion had the Gift of Man, enabling him to create his own fate. Celebrimbor's plan was always doomed to fail without Talion -- as shown when he abandoned Talion and allied with Eltariel, an elf, inevitably resulting in Sauron [[spoiler:resisting his attempt to Dominate him long enough to cut Eltariel's finger with the New Ring off and merge with Celebrimbor, resulting in them both becoming the Flaming Eye.]] In fact, ''Sauron himself'' realized this, as one of his dialogues during the final battle indicates.
24	-->'''Sauron:''' You lost the Ranger. That was a mistake.
25	* It may seem weird that Isildur and Helm Hammerhand are Ringwraiths, seeing as how the Nine Rings of Men were forged long before their time. However, as shown by how Talion eventually degenerates into one using Isildur's ring, and how the former bearer was given a MercyKill, it's obvious that both of them aren't the ''original'' nine kings; the two previous bearers must have died and Helm and Isildur were next in line. And really, doesn't it sound exactly like [[EvilIsPetty Sauron]] to use the reason he lost the One Ring as a glorified seat-filler?
26	* In the end, Talion has a much better end than Celebrimbor. Yes, he is corrupted by a Ring of Power and eventually turns into a brainwashed slave of Sauron... with the brainwashing being, at most, a couple months before the story of the ''Lord of the Rings'' trilogy begins. Those events last about one year, by which point the One Ring is destroyed and Talion gets what he always wanted; to die in peace, knowing Sauron is gone, with the potential that a survivor (possibly Hirgon and the Outcasts who escaped in the first game) will recall the Gravewalker and what he did to delay Sauron. On the other hand, Celebrimbor is forcibly joined with Sauron and is, at most, remembered as one of the would-be tyrants that would have been worse than Sauron in some ways, especially if Eltariel survived and is understandably pissed about being forcibly conscripted for his personal ambitions. Now tell us, which of these people had a HeelRealization and came to understand they were just another Dark Lord in the making?
27	* The revelation that Helm Hammerhand has unwillingly become a Ring-wraith may come out of left-field, but in the Appendix's for ''Lord of the Rings'', there ''was'' an eerily-similar claim made at one point: an urban legend among the Dunlendings and Rohirrim, that after discovering the frozen, open-eyed corpse of the man, feared he was a wraith who wandered around Rohan even in death. In this AlternateTimeline, that's near-exactly what happened.
28	** Similarly, if Isildur had kept the One Ring and not died in canon, and the One Ring hadn't abandoned him, it's not inconceivable that he would've turned into a Wraith. Perhaps not one of the Nine Ring-wraiths, since they still existed, but certainly ''a'' wraith.
29	* Shelob's final cinematic encapsulates a great deal of Middle-Earth lore despite being jarring. Shelob in the game is broadly equivalent to a Maia-level Ungoliant, her mother. Ungoliant was a primeval force of darkness (very much not a mere "spider") from outside the main Tolkien pantheon and had an alliance with Melkor, who being a dark Vala and the reason Sauron the Dark Lord exists would be roughly the same difference in order to Sauron. Melkor eventually double-crosses Ungoliant and sics minions on her (Balrogs since that's the sort of tier overlord Melkor/Morgoth was). Shelob is also backstabbed by Sauron, who chooses playing games with the Rings of Power over Shelob's raw violence and sics human minions on her. Shelob's dark nature has an honesty to it that Sauron as a corrupted deceiver does not and she is 100% honest (if selective) throughout the game.
30	** Also while not in the books or movies, a more "evil force" Shelob having some sort of relationship with Sauron is not ''too'' strange in ''Silmarillion''-scale Arda where Sauron is a rampant shapeshifter spirit and there are love stories between an elf and an angel and a human and a elf/angel women, and another character goes after a mountain-range sized dragon in a flying ship. Creepy affection aside, Sauron also still views Shelob as more of a pet than an equal; in the books he considers the spider to be a "cat", occasionally amusing for orc punishment.
31	* In the first game, Celebrimdor helps acclimate Talion to the idea of HeelFaceBrainwashing as a solid tactic by assuring him that they are branding only orcs, the AlwaysChaoticEvil creations of Sauron and his predecessors. Talion still doesn't like it, but he's fine with using the wraith's powers on evil creatures, seeing it as [[PayEvilUntoEvil karmic in its own way]]. Celebrimbor further assures him of this after he sees Helm Hammerhand's fall, reminding him that they are enslaving monsters, not Free Peoples. Talion finally draws the line when Celebrimbor decides to brand Isildur, who WasOnceAMan, despite now being a Nazgul - the wraith lost Talion's trust when he crossed a line he'd previously said they never would.
32	* The Shadow Wars. The reason Act IV of the game's story can feel like a long slog is because it was meant to show how Talion eventually succumbed to Isildur's Ring. Talion spent '''''DECADES''''' (the time between the story of ''The Hobbit'' and ''Lord of the Rings'') invading and defending forts in Mordor. Not only that, but he spent those decades doing so ALONE. Before, he had Celebrimbor to talk to, he had non-uruk allies; but during the Shadow Wars, Talion was alone with only himself, a corrupting ring, and an army that might betray him for any reason at any moment, and we have no idea if Shelob stayed in contact with him. Furthermore, when Talion and Celebrimbor made the New Ring, it wasn't designed to corrupt people, but Isildur's Ring (one of the Nine Rings of Men) ''was''. It's almost touching in the Blade of Galadriel DLC, that Talion has Eltariel and her group of genuinely loyal followers to interact with, even if it's likely that his final fall as a Nazgul meant he had to enslave them back to Sauron's side.
33	* The fact that the Nazgul can be fought and defeated as a group with relative ease, but the individual Nazgul are major bosses is quite frustrating. This actually has an explanation. Tolkien stated at one point that the Nazgul sent after Frodo were not wearing their rings, which were kept safely in Bara-dur (recall how the Witch-King's ring was not retrieved after his death in Return of the King?). This explains the discrepancy. As a group, they are ringless. However, after their defeat, Sauron [[GodzillaThreshold grants them their rings back]] so that they can fight against Talion. After the disastrous incident with Isildur at the end of Act 2, and one of the Rings of Power almost being lost if not for Talion being forced to wear it, Sauron once again returns to the policy of keeping the Nazgul rings in his personal possession.
34	* Occasionally, enemy Orc captains will tell Talion that they know he has a spy hidden amongst them, and after they kill Talion they’ll find said spy and kill him. As every time an enemy Orc captain encounters Talion, the chances that Talion either kills or brands and conscripts said Orc captain immediately skyrockets. Having an occasional Orc captain somehow surviving his encounter with Talion completely unscathed (any other captain has a crippling/obvious injury to show for it) would immediately draw the suspicions of the more astute enemy Orc captains, ESPECIALLY when captains have been betraying their Warchiefs before.
35	* It may seem odd that ''now'' Orcs can shake off Talion's Domination of them, until one realizes that ''Shadow of Mordor'' was an extremely short time frame compared to ''Shadow of War'', and they basically didn't have a ''chance'' to break free. In addition, in the first game, Sauron wasn't involved in the action; in ''War'', he's now in direct control of Orc armies instead of relying on his Black Captains. He even showed that he can directly make Orcs ''immune'' to Domination -- which was demonstrated to dramatic effect in the Bright Lord DLC.
36	* The choice of Isildur instead of some random Human King makes sense from a narrative point of view. The developers needed a MoralEventHorizon for Talion that Celebrimbor would happily cross. Branding Isildur would be akin to branding someone like UsefulNotes/AbrahamLincoln or Myth/KingArthur, even if he WasOnceAMan.
37	* It makes a lot of sense that you see Celebrimbor rather than Eltariel at the helm in the Sauron confrontation scene, not just because of her smaller frame. It's pretty obvious that Eltariel is hesitant and joined Celebrimbor out of a sense of duty and desperation, rather than because she wanted to. They were nothing like equals... it is a commander and their pawn. Rather than the begrudging equality between Talion and the wraith, working together as one, this is Master and Servant. So rather than the two appearing as one, she is overshadowed by him while possessed. Whether a result of him being an Elf Lord inhabiting an Elf or because he's become more like Sauron, though, one can't be sure.
38	* During Isildur's flashback, Sauron assumes his Annatar form but appears translucid and the orcs had to bring the corpse to his fortress instead of him going by himself like the other Nazgûl. It's because while getting an AdaptationalBadass treatment (where he can make himself physically manifest for brief moments), he is still too weak to leave his fortress no matter the form he takes, unless like in the first game he uses a vessel.
39	* Normally, time slows down whenever Talion (via Celebrimbor) draws his bow, as he enters the Wraith Realm. The Nazgûl, however, move about normally, completely unaffected by it. After all, they are wraiths that, much like Talion and Celembrimbor, have a foot in both realms.
40	** This is doubled in the ''Blade of Eltarial'' DLC as, during the first battle against Dark Talion, if the Bow is used to attack him, he does not move at normal speed despite supposedly being a Ringwraith. He explicitly declares to Eltariel at the end of the fight that, though he wears Isildur's Ring, he is "not yet a Nazgûl".
41	* For the final boss battle with Sauron's Annatar form, he uses a sword, a weapon he's not known for using at any other time. This particular sword is special, though; it looks just like the Bright Lord's Sword. Or more likely, it ''is'' Celebrimbor's original sword, which Sauron kept for two and a half thousand years just so he could [[HoistByHisOwnPetard maim his nemesis with his own weapon.]] It also helps that a bladed weapon would be more useful than his warhammer for removing the New Ring from Celebrimbor's hand (he ends up using a dagger to do this, instead, but his sword would've been just as effective). And they say villains never learn!
42	* Celebrimbor is shown to be [[TheDreaded very afraid of Carnan]] despite the fact he has no fear of [[EvilOverlord Sauron]] and can always just [[ResurrectiveImmortality bring Talion back to life]] but we see from the trapped orcs that she can inflict a FateWorseThanDeath on her victims which would completely negate Celebrimbor's resurrective abilities. Carnan also may be a spirit immune to the Ring like Tom Bombadil; the only other creature Celebrimbor is afraid of is the Balrog.
43	* Why does Celebrimbor want the Light of Galadriel from Eltariel immediately upon discovering she possesses it? In ''Literature/TheSilmarillion'', it is stated that Celebrimbor is the son of Curufin, who in turn is the son of Feanor. Feanor, along with his seven sons, swore a not-particularly-good oath to seek out and acquire Feanor's holy jewels, the Silmarils, no matter who or what stood in the way. In one of her combat lines, Eltariel refers to The Light of Galadriel as "The Light of Earendil," a star formed by an Elvish mariner who possesses a Silmaril sailing across the night sky. Celebrimbor's lust for the Light could be an echo of the Oath of Feanor.
44	* Also applies to ''Shadow Of Mordor'', but unlike most games, there's actually an in-universe reason the main character never needs to do stuff people need to survive; He's undead, so he doesn't need to eat or drink, and this further means he produces no waste. Uruks don't have this freedom, and so they can occasionally be seen eating or emptying their bladder.
45	* Eltariel being able to harm the Witch-King (even [[HealingFactor if it's only temporary]]) is entirely in line with the "no living man may harm him" prophecy; she's neither male nor human. Ironically, the prophecy also excludes Talion because he's not a ''[[ExactWords living]]'' man anymore (especially not after obtaining Isildur's ring), which explains why Talion can fight the Witch-King at the end of the game.
46	* While the revelation that the Nazgul can be killed and replaced came as a surprise to many, it's actually pretty easily explained. On the movie universe on which the games seem to be based on, ''Literature/TheLordOfTheRings'' is written by Frodo after his adventure. He never learns that the Nazgúl can be replaced, and thus doesn't put it in the book. We are told that a Nazgul cannot be killed, but just because no-one has ever succeeded at it doesn't mean it's completely impossible, and while Talion and Celebrimbor were powerful enough to do so thanks to their own powers and the New ring, they were quickly forgotten after losing to Sauron. [[note]]And since only Celebrimbor and Sauron were involved in the creation of the original rings in this universe, no-one else possessed the knowledge to create a new ring, and thus couldn't become powerful enough to defeat one[[/note]]All we know about the Nazgul is based on the observations a few people made during a small timeframe. The nine kings we are shown on the prologue of the first film are probably just the original lineup whose identities Frodo learnt from someone, and the rest, such as Helm and Isildur, were "recruited" without anyone knowing. And as they are under his command, Sauron could probably just kill any Nazgul whenever he finds a better replacement or wants to punish someone. And as Eltariel's reaction shows, that Celebrimbor can dominate and destroy a Nazgul is a life changing discovery, as she drops her distrust about Celebrimbor's motives and join him because he pretty much did a miracle.
47	** In addition, no Nazgul is actually killed in the game. The only one "killed" is Isildur, and he wasn't killed -- he was Branded then released from slavery.
48	** Frodo is also the in universe author of the vast majority of the Lord of the Rings in the novel. So it's possible this explanation could also apply to the novel though Tolkien probably would've jossed it.
49	* In hindsight, Shelob only says "Death came: death to Sauron. Death to his dominion... and death to Talion" in the full ending. She never mentions Celebrimbor, who, as we now know, seems to have managed to claim VictoryByEndurance over Sauron.
50	* Eltariel defied Galadriel after seeing Talion's story and stayed in Mordor because they'd become FireForgedFriends. Remember how she said stalemate was victory? She only went to Mordor out of a sense of duty -- she stayed because now she had a personal reason to stay -- avenging Talion.
51	* Eltariel seems uncorrupted by the New Ring -- because she refuses to Brand anyone. As mentioned earlier, it isn't the fact that the One Ring is corrupt because of the Dark Lord; using ''any'' ring of power to dominate others is what corrupts the wielder. Also explains why Talion still has a working conscience at the end; it's Celebrimbor who dominates and yells orders at orcs, not him.
52	* Eltariel's Orcs are far more loyal than Talion/Celebrimbor's Dominated Orcs and never betray her. Why? They're with her of their ''own free will''. A hidden {{Aesop}}, indeed.
53	* While Eltariel is unable to brand orcs, she can tame wild beasts just fine. That is because she isn't using Celebrimbor's ring, but the [[LightIsGood light of Galadriel]] to soothe them and do as she wants rather than take control of their minds like what Celebrimbor does. In addition, she's probably not overriding Carnán's will because she probably approves of Eltariel's method of taming beasts.
54	* It makes sense that Branded orcs have IcyBlueEyes instead of GlowingEyesOfDoom from the first game since they were branded using Celebrimbor's ring, which leaves a different effect. Also from a gameplay perspective, this was done by devs in order to distinguish them from Undead orcs, who now sport glowing eyes in their stead.
55	* While the {{Doylist}} explanation of Forthog's IcyBlueEyes is that he's an InkSuitActor for Michael Forgey, it's representative that Forthog is Talion's ally, even though he's not Branded.
56	* Despite taking place on the distant past, the locations in Shadows of the Past missions look exactly like they do in the present. While this is obviously to save disc space by reusing locations, it can be explained by them being memories. Celebrimbor can remember how he completed each feat, but might not remember every detail of the locations he performed them in, and thus substitutes them with locations that remind him of them. Alternatively, as Celebrimbor is telling the story, Talion might think of a nearby area since he obviously can't know what each battlefield looked hundreds of years ago.
57	* Shelob uses Talion to trick fate as being human blessed with the Gift of Men, he is not bound by Middle-Earth's fate and cycles.
58	* A bit of Fridge Awesomeness: Talion has used the powers of ''three'' different rings; The One Ring by proxy through Celebrimbor's wraith powers, The New Ring, and finally Isildur's ring. And he still managed to resist the last one for ''decades''.
59	* Celebrimbor's powers -turning his opposition to his army- is quite fitting considering that orcs are speculated to be corrupted elves. Talion's ability to raise the dead via necromancy is also very fitting, considering that he himself is a dead man kept alive by magic.
60	* Even if the lore isn't the same, Helm's boss fights taking place in Seregost make sense, since in the original text he froze to death.
61	* On the [=PS4=] version, the controller light turns purple by default, what colours do you mix to create purple? red and blue foreshadowing Celebrimbor and Sauron's FusionDance.
62	* It must be noticed that after Talion is betrayed by Celebrimbor and speaks to Shelob, she is not in her raven-haired, pale-skinned form, but the brown-haired, human-toned skin form. She is embracing her human self, not her ungoliant, shadow-weaving form. Even more telling, she's holding Talion in a PietaPlagiarism.
63	* Why did Celebrimbor fail to dominate Sauron? The One Ring still exists, and most of Sauron's soul is in that Ring. Just when it seems like Sauron is dominated, the One Ring flames in Sauron's eyes, allowing him to retain his will. It's also the source of the Iron Will trait.
64	* ''Shadow Of War'''s Blood Brother system is meant to show the one redeeming trait - brotherhood - of the orcs; no matter how thoroughly they hate everything and everyone, they will ''never'' willingly betray their sworn blood brother; even if Talion successfully orders fratricide with the power of the New Ring, the sheer horror of what they've done will cause them to snap out of their brainwashing and seek revenge, ''every time'' without fail across thousands of orcs. Celebrimbor's betrayal of Talion crosses a MoralEventHorizon that convinces half their army in Mordor to side with the 'weak' Necromancer Talion over a madman who will backstab their own blood brother.
65	* No wonder Gollum is so afraid of the Winged Wraith in the books -- he ''knew him personally''!
66	* Celebrimbor constantly states he is the "Bright Lord" to Sauron's "Dark Lord" it seems that the corrupting influence of the rings has that effect on elves, as Galadriel said herself when offered the One Ring "Not Dark, but beautiful and terrible as the dawn".
67	* It may have seemed like a bit of a wasted opportunity for Talion to have become a generic looking Nazgul rather than getting a unique appearance like Helm, Isildur or the Witch-King but that's kind of the exact thing that Sauron or the other Nazgul would want. Talion spent decades fighting against them thanks to his HeroicWillpower enabling him to remember who he was and who he should be fighting. The last thing his foes would want is for him to be uniquely defined like the named Nazgul, as it would likely give him a way to remake his own identity. Best way to keep him under control was to make him another of the FacelessGoons.
68	* All of the slaves seen in this game are orcs, while the slaves from the previous game were all shown to be human. Given that the previous game has the humans living in Mordor (the outcasts and the tribes of Nurn) eventually fleeing the lands in order to survive, the forces of Sauron wouldn't have any way of replenishing their human slaves and what slaves they still had wouldn't have lasted very long thanks to their cruel treatment at the hands of their masters. They would have had no choice but to replace their slaves with weaker orcs.
69	* Why is Talion unable to cross rivers in the game? Even seemingly shallow ones? Because ''wraiths fear water.''
70	* Shelob can take the shape of a beautiful human woman...with oddly pale skin, an unsettling way of moving, and eyes that don't exactly reflect light normally. (''Unless'' it's the light from the New Ring.) But all of these were normal in the flashback, before Annatar betrayed her and she decided to give up on the whole "human" thing for a while.
71
72	!!FridgeHorror
73	* More and more of Talion's moves involve the wraith. Is Talion learning to use his abilities to their best effectiveness, or is there a more sinister explanation - because of the new Ring of Power, or is the wraith starting to take control of him? After all, Talion seems to be in control only when moving, sneaking and fighting, everything else is done by the Wraith. In case of the last one, does Celebrimbor consider Talion an ally or is he just another branded victim? Since Talion's motive of avenging his family and joining them in death has slowly turned to Celebrimbor vs Sauron part 2, it is certainly possible that brainwashing is involved and/or the wraith is just using him as a vessel to exact revenge on Sauron. One RousingSpeech has Celebrimbor ''completely'' taking over Talion's body.
74	** Worse, many of Talion's {{Rousing Speech}}es are word for word some of the things Celebrimbor pronounced in the Bright Lord DLC.
75	* One of the devs let it slip that the orcs branded by Talion still own their slaves. This holds some disturbing implications about Talion and Celebrimbor growing increasingly indifferent about the plight of innocents if it helps serve their purpose, to the point they will look the other way when their servants practice slavery. This also means that while the orcs you control can become friendly over time, they don't necessarily become better people under Talion.
76	** It seems by "slaves" they didn't mean Human slaves. The "slaves" seen in the game are other Orcs.
77	*** [[WhatMeasureIsANonHuman Is that any better?]] [[AlwaysChaoticEvil Well, Maybe.]]
78	* Consider for a moment the vision Shelob had about Celebrimbor defeating Sauron. Had he managed to successfully enslave him, practically nothing would have stopped Celebrimbor in his path, barring the Istari and Balrogs such as Durin's Bane or Tar-Goroth. For one, Sauron's existence is tied to the One Ring, who as far as anyone knows is lost (at the time of the game, its currently in Bilbo Baggins' possession) and considering how important it was for Talion to HoldTheLine in Mordor to preserve the balance of power until the Fellowship was assembled, an invasion spearheaded by Sauron in his physical form would have been devastating with no one knowing how to stop him.
79	** Worse still, think of what could happen at this point if Celebrimbor reacquired the One Ring. Best case scenario, Sauron reclaims it, breaks free of his brand, and the two then slug it out, giving the Free Peoples time to lick their wounds, and weakening the victor sufficiently for a possible final defeat. Worst case scenario, it's not enough for Sauron to break free, meaning he is now back at full strength and still Celebrimbor's servant... or the Bright Lord takes the One for himself once more, gaining direct control of the Nazgul ([[ShootTheShaggyDog including Talion,]] this time [[AndIMustScream as a slave instead of a semi-equal partner]]), and with two Great Rings, power beyond even the Maiar. It could potentially be another ''Silmarillion'' moment, with the Valar forced to ask [[{{God}} Eru Illuvatar]] for help once again. Let's remember [[ApocalypseHow what happened]] the last time Eru got personally involved...
80	** From Shelob's perspective: this future only did not come to pass thanks to Talion being a SpannerInTheWorks and choosing to MercyKill Isildur. Consider that she returned the Ring to the leads so they could raise their army to stop Sauron, even though she knew that future could still happen, but had no way to stop them. She did not influence Talion in any way, as she tells him that "he saw Celebrimbror [[EvilAllAlong for whom he was]]". It was due to sheer luck and chance that this BadFuture was '''barely averted'''; one might argue it wasn't chance, but Shelob being the rare Evil '''Can''' Comprehend Good and knowing giving Talion a little bit of knowledge would save the world.
81	* Dying to an orc named [[StalkerWithACrush the Obsessed]], luckily Talion is dead and his body regenerate somewhere else but we are never told how long the body stays in front of the orc.
82	* Ogg is one of the original Orcs, a servant of Morgoth. he's also the only orc wearing elven armor and with semi-long white hair. [[WasOnceAMan Which means that he could very well have been an elf at some point.]]
83	* Decoys always look practically identical with the captain they're pretending to be... Even if the captain is horribly deformed, scarred, burned, maimed or poisoned. Imagine what the decoys-in-training go through to gain their new appearances.
84	* Let's all hope that Mâku is the only one who knows how to make the poisonous fog that Eltariel uses to gas the Seregost fort. If Saruman or Sauron had that or something like it for Helm's Deep or Minas Tirith, those battles would have gone very differently.
85	** Or maybe not, if you suppose that Mâku's poison only becomes lethal upon exposure to Orc grog. The games make it abundantly clear that grog is ''repulsive'' to Men, so they wouldn't store them in their fortresses, at least not in large quantities, and certainly not in open barrels all over the place.
86	* Baranor and Serka better reconsider trying to take the nearby forts, because even before Talion succumbs to being a wraith, there's little chance any sort of human foothold can ''possibly'' be made for a few decades. [[SubvertedTrope Although, even when they attain the forts, the two brothers' plans ultimately involved destroying them after taking all supplies with them.]]
87	* Eltariel never finds out that Celebrimbor would be just as bad as Sauron if he was in charge. The new ring wishes to reunite with Celebrimbor, and the ring's influence + Celebrimbor's manipulative nature + Eltariel's lack of knowledge = an excellent vessel for Celebrimbor. She still thinks Celebrimbor is a force of good, and as Eltariel rivals Talion in terms of skill, he is back where he started in ''Shadow of Mordor''; only there's no Sauron to overthrow...
88	* Lithlad is said to be worthless from a tactical viewpoint, largely because it's so far from Mordor and the land is dead. Yet it is filled with orcs. Are they in Lithlad to avoid the entire Bright vs Dark conflict?
89	** Nope. ''Desolation of Mordor'' reveals that they're stationed there, thoroughly bored and wishing that they were on the front lines.
90	* During one of Takra the Sandspider's drunken ramblings, he reiterates that the Orcs are not to attack the Vanishing Sons mercenaries without provocation; apparently, this order comes straight from Barad-dûr itself, since the mercs are needed for the upcoming war. When one remembers that Easterlings and Haradrim (the main ethnicities of the Vanishing Sons) were part of the ''armies of Sauron'' in the original books...
91	* Sauron's necromancy was powerful enough in ''Shadow of Mordor'' that [[BackFromTheDead he could ressurect fallen orcs]]. The only way to permanently kill an orc was to [[OffWithHisHead chop off his head]]. In ''Shadow of War'', even that isn't enough -- fallen orcs (and trolls!) can return with their heads stitched back on. This on its own is bad enough, but the real horror sinks in when you realize that [[FromBadToWorse Sauron is becoming even more powerful]].
92	* The reason Sauron couldn't corrupt the three Elven rings of power was because they were created in secret and carefully hidden from him. Celebrimbor, on the other hand, would know all about them because he ''made them''. So if he succeeded in defeating Sauron, what would have stopped him from then corrupting or dominating [[BigGood Elrond, Galadriel, or even Gandalf]] through their rings? Nothing, most likely. No wonder Shelob thinks he's worse than Sauron.
93	** In the books, it's stated that (at least by the time of the War of the Ring) Sauron could have dominated the Three if he had managed to regain the One. Although, since MindControl is not a thing in the books, the main danger was that Sauron would essentially be able to read the minds of the Three's bearers.
94	* Mixed with Fridge Tearjerker, Eltariel likely had to fight Talion over, and over, and over in the decades between his fall and the destruction of the One Ring. Imagine the emotional cost on her.
95	* Talion was doing Sauron's bidding from the moment he put on Isildur's ring. Locked in a battle of wills with Celebrimbor, Sauron would not have been able to unite the armies of Mordor, and left to their own devices the armies would have kept infighting just as they had for three millennia. Talion wasn't holding back the forces of Mordor, it was a lie he told himself to deny his will was no longer his own; when his job uniting Mordor was complete, he was turned Nazgul.
96	* Sauron turning both Helm Hammerhand and Isildur into Nazgul could give an insight what fates might be in store for Eowyn (destroyed the Witch King after Merry Brandybuck stabbed the Lord of the Nazgul with the enchanted Barrow-Blade) and Aragorn (heir of Isildur) had Sauron won the War of the Ring.
97	!!FridgeLogic
98	* See Headscratchers/MiddleEarthShadowOfWar

Context Fridge / MiddleEarthShadowOfWar