Nightmare Fuel / The Fall of Gondolin

• Tuor and Voronwë travel towards Gondolin, but they are hindered by the Fell Winter summoned by Morgoth. After battling frost, snow and ice for weeks as their supplies dwindle down to nothing, both warriors find an Orc camp. Tuor wants to fight them over their campfire, and he is hungry enough to consider eating Orc meat.
• Tuor and Voronwë crawl into the dark tunnel leading to Gondolin, and the Elf becomes worried and even fearful since he cannot see or hear anything or anybody...but the Guarded Gate cannot possibly be unguarded. He fears that they are about to be attacked, and right on cue a voice in the darkness tells them to stand still or get killed.
• As a grim reminder of the level of destruction caused by the battles between Ainur, it is implied that the Orfalch Echor, the high-walled, narrow ravine through the Encircling Mountains was carved by a gigantic axe blow during the wars between the Valar and Melkor.
• Maeglin is captured by Morgoth, who threatens to torture him if he does not reveal Gondolin's location. It is not known what torment Maeglin was threatened with, but he was not weak or cowardly...and even so, he immediately caved in.
  But often Maeglin went with few of his folk beyond the leaguer of the hills, and the King knew not that his bidding was defied; and thus it came to pass, as fate willed, that Maeglin was taken prisoner by Orcs, and brought to Angband, Maeglin was no weakling or craven, but the torment wherewith he was threatened cowed his spirit, and he purchased his life and freedom by revealing to Morgoth the very place of Gondolin and the ways whereby it might be found and assailed.
• Regardless of whether he betrayed Gondolin willingly or not, every version of Maeglin intended to rape his cousin after murdering her son.
• How can Morgoth's army march over the mountains, bring Gondolin's walls down, and burn Gondolin to the ground? Morgoth builds massive iron dragons and metal fire snakes to transport his troops...in other words, war machines, tanks, and armored troop carriers. And he is about to unleash them upon people armed with bladed weapons and bows.
• When the battle begins, Salgant crawls into his bed and is abandoned by his partisans shortly after. Nobody knows what happened to him afterwards. It is suggested that he either burned together with his house or was captured and made a slave (Morgoth's buffoon, possibly). None of these alternatives are nice to think about.
• Tuor and Idril watch how several dragons set the Tower of the King on fire and then crush the base, bringing the building down and killing Turgon.
• Tuor and Idril lead several hundreds of survivors out of the city, but some of them argue against climbing the steep Eagle's Cleft, and head towards the Way of Escape, where they are slain by a dragon that was waiting there.
• The remaining refugees start ascending to the pass when they are ambushed by an Orc band led by a Balrog. Morgoth really, absolutely wanted no survivors left.
• Thanks to Glorfindel and his sacrifice, the last Gondolindrim escaped with their lives. But if Glorfindel had not been there and protected Ëarendil, Middle-Earth would have been doomed.

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