#denethor/finduilas

[rarepairnation]

alone is the star i follow on ao3: in which the histories may have been wrong about finduilas of dol amroth, and a withering is not always quite as it seems.

Words: 1674, Chapters: 1/1

Rating: General Audiences Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply Relationships: Denethor II/Finduilas of Dol Amroth Characters: Denethor II, Finduilas of Dol Amroth Additional Tags: Late Night Conversations, Foreshadowing, Hope vs. Despair, (hope mostly. but we all know what's coming), the denethor/finduilas romantic political partnership agenda, book!denethor, yes he is full of pride and hubris but have you considered: i love him, -me and finduilas probably, set nebulously early in their marriage

Denethor feels Finduilas tremble, when cloud draws once again across the light. They have lit no candle to chase away the dark, and starlight is too faint to pierce it. Yet when he goes to turn her away from the East, she does not permit it.

[bretwalda-lamnguin]

#conclusion: denethor/finduilas is monster4monster faramir/éowyn is monster/monsterfucker

@anghraine's tags because they're perfect.

Gandalf about Denethor:

‘He has long sight. He can perceive, if he bends his will thither, much of what is passing in the minds of men, even of those that dwell far off. It is difficult to deceive him, and dangerous to try.’

Frodo with Faramir and Gollum:

‘Do you know the name of that high pass?’ said Faramir.

‘No,’ said Frodo.

‘It is called Cirith Ungol.’ Gollum hissed sharply and began muttering to himself. 'Is not that its name?’ said Faramir turning to him.

'No!’ said Gollum, and then he squealed, as if something had stabbed him.

:)

[bretwalda-lamnguin]

On the one hand I've just had the absolute worst journey home from work (including nearly ending up in Sunderland...) but on the other hand I did realise Garbage-Even Though Our Love Is Doomed is literally a perfect Denethor/Finduilas song, so life isn't all bad.

[tanoraqui]

I've seen 2 separate infuriating, or at least baffling, posts about Rings of Power recently, so as a reminder, here's the 5-season outline of the Young Aragorn show that I would make if I was given Amazon money + copyrights to The Lord of the Rings & The Hobbit, including the Annals & other indexes but NOT The Silmarillion. Highlights include:

dumbass baby Rangers!

dumbass baby Ranger bisexual love triangles, interrupted by Fated Romance!

healing and diplomacy!

Aragorn and Arwen bonding over being history nerds!

walking into Mordor despite multiple explicit warnings not to do that!

guest appearances from: teen Theoden; anxious, about-to-be-a-dad Drogo Baggins; chatterbox teen Ioreth of Lossarnach; toddler Boromir & baby Faramir; all the (living) House of Elrond; Stephen Colbert and many more!

Arwen and Finduilas discussing mortality and queenship!

Aragorn and Denethor representing estel and amdir, respectively, clashing for two seasons as potential rulers of Gondor!

framing narration by Sam Gamgee, parent of at least six by the time he's telling this bedtime story!

[bretwalda-lamnguin]

Hehehe... Well cruel and unusual is my middle name (not really but it is always something I strive for, along with emotionally ruinous.)

Hmm, the starry mantle, Númenor as the land of the star, elves as children of the starts, stars as the symbol of the Húrinionath, the distance between them in spite of their closeness, the gap that cannot be closed... I see it. They are both light from a dead star. The echoes of Númenor that haven't quite died yet.

denethor is said to have been greatly affected by finduilas’ death, right. and i know their marriage was a political one but i like to believe that they still loved each other. not in the ‘traditional sense’ i guess but they loved each other’s spirits, their souls. the duty (as they viewed it) to protect their people & the willpower to do it, they both shared. and so i think that more precious than love, they understood each other perfectly. as no one else could, or did. i can’t stop thinking about denethor’s grief at losing her. to love someone, and to have them understand you, but to lose them so abruptly… no wonder denethor became embittered by her death. i think he became sad too. closed-off. built even more walls around him, not wanting to be seen as vulnerable by anyone. but his anger, at what (or whom), exactly? he already broke up with god when he was young. at the universe? at his fate? to have lost her so unfairly.

i came here to talk about their love & somewhere in the middle lost myself in his grief lol. never mind, bc what is grief if not love persevering????? they loved each other. i can’t. i CAN’T get over this simple truth. the love was there. it wouldn’t have been this tragic if there’s wasn’t. the love was there. and isn’t that enough (it isn’t. but it is. IT IS). the love was there. THE LOVE WAS. THERE. sobbing. truly sobbing DON’T TOUCH ME

[velvet4510]

Perhaps I’m reading this the wrong way, but one of the countless reasons why I prefer the book version of Faramir is that I think his book characterization more strongly depicts the positive impact that his big brother had on him. Despite their mother’s absence and their father’s cruelty, Faramir always had Boromir as his support system growing up. So the fact that book-Faramir still has a good bit of self-esteem - and isn’t desperate to prove himself to Denethor like film-Faramir is - is a testament to Boromir’s success in gifting Faramir with that invaluable sense of self-worth. In Faramir’s young childhood mind, “Mom went away too soon to leave much of an impact, Dad is always mean and nothing is ever enough for him…but big brother says I’m enough, and big brother is the best person in the whole world, so he must be right, and I AM enough.”

Maybe I’m mistaken and I should be considering other factors in book-Faramir’s strong self-possession, but I firmly believe that one of the factors in the film’s massive mischaracterization of Faramir is it does not reflect that Faramir indeed grew up with a loving support system in the form of Boromir that helped him to realize his worth didn’t have to be defined by Dad’s approval. Thus, he would never try to take the Ring to Minas Tirith to impress Dad.

[lanthanum12]

Random AU idea

So a bunch of characters in Tolkien's Legendarium share names,

I think it would be quite fun if everyone met their name matches and had a picnic or something with them!

Denethor I meets Denethor II meets Denethor son of Lenwe

Tar-Miriel meets Miriel Firiel Þerinde

Legolas Greenleaf meets Legolas of Gondolin

Lily Baggins meets Lily Brown meets my oc Lily

Finduilas of Dol Amroth meets Finduilas Faelivrin

Bill the Pony meets William "Bill" the troll

Durin I meets Durin II meets Durin III meets Durin IV meets Durin V meets Durin VI meets Durin VII meets Durin's Bane

Frodo Gardner meets Frodo Baggins :')

[warrioreowynofrohan]

Favourite Female Tolkien Character Poll - Round 1, Match 29

Finduilas of Dol Amroth

Was married to Denethor, and the mother of Boromir and Faramir. She died when Boromir was 10 and Faramir was 5.

[Denethor] had married late, taking as wife Finduilas, daughter of Adrahil of Dol Amroth. She was a lady of great beauty and gentle heart, but before twelve years had passed she died. Denethor loved her, in his fashion, more dearly than any other, unless it were the elder of the sons that she bore him. But it seemed to men that she withered in the guarded city, as a flower of the seaward vales set upon a barren rock. The shadow in the east filled her with horror, and she turned her eyes ever south to the sea that she missed.

Ioreth

A talkative elderly woman of Gondor who worked in the Houses of Healing. Also chats with her country relative during Aragorn’s coronation.

Then an old wife, Ioreth, the eldest of the women who served in that house, looking on the fair face of Faramir, wept, for all the people loved him. And she said: “Alas! if he should die. Would that there were kings in Gondor, as there were once upon a time, they say! For it is said in old lore: The hands of the king are the hands of a healer. And so the rightful king could ever be known.”

And Gandalf, who stood by, said: “Men may long remember your words, Ioreth! For there is hope in them. Maybe a king has indeed returned to Gondor; or have you not heard the strange tidings that have come to the city?”

“I have been too busy with this and that to heed all the crying and shouting,” she answered. “All I hope is that those murdering devils do not come to this House and trouble the sick.”

[sonxofxgondor]

Anonymous asked: Since you are the Boromir Blog, I’d humbly like to offer you my Boromir headcanon.

So, we all know that Faramir is the forgotten child. Nothing is ever good enough and Denethor doesn’t bat an eye at him unless he has something to complain about. Boromir is the absolute favorite. I have concluded that this means that Boromir is most definitely saddled with sky high expectations for everything he does. Faramir can’t do anything right, Boromir isn’t allowed to do anything wrong.

And this entire situation is worse since Boromir grew up in a period of heavy societal unrest. His country is falling apart at the seams and he is the one supposed to keep it together. This expectation has been put upon him since he was little too, so he probably has an extreme fear of failure. With their mother passing away and Denethor rather ignoring Faramir’s existence, a lot of the bonding and comfort tasks were probably shoved onto Boromir too.

Boromir has to be perfect at everything he does; the perfect brother, the perfect son, the perfect noble, the perfect soldier, the perfect protector, the perfect everything. Boromir is this (/\) close to burning out, but if he were to do that, countless of people would die. This man is ten minutes and some bad news away from collapsing on a good day, but nobody other than Faramir gets to notice because he has to keep everything up. If he doesn’t live up to Father’s expectations, he also can’t keep his ire away from Faramir. If he doesn’t live up to expectation, his people will lose their lives.

TLDR: I hc that Boromir was raised to be the ‘perfect older sibling’ type on steroids + the looming threat of his country collapsing. I think not enough people account for the fact that Denethor wouldn’t be good for his other son either, it just goes in the opposite direction than Faramir. I am so sorry for the rant, I just need someone to yap to.

Anonymous Messages!

AH! OKAY! Firstly, thank you so much for taking the time out of your day to message me, Nonnie! I know it might seem silly to say, but truly, it means the world to me that you feel comfortable to do so. Never apologize for sending something to me - I LOVE hearing your thoughts and opinions on things, whether it be of my own work or just the wonderfulness that is our beloved Steward-Prince. My inbox is ALWAYS open; I value your time and friendship beyond what words could express. I also want to say thank you for the lovely compliment! I only hope and pray that I do Boromir justice! Our dashing boy deserves nothing but the best - and I do hope that my writing continues to provide that for him and you.

Secondly, that headcanon SHOULD be solid canon, and no, I won't hear otherwise. More so seen in the movies than in the books, it's clear that Boromir feels to be under constant stress and pressure. Not solely from his position as steward-prince or as captain, but as brother and son, like you mentioned. Look, Denethor was obviously devastated after the death of his dear wife. He went mad with grief. He lost part of himself when she was gone; he'd never come to love again. HOWEVER. That doesn't make what he's done to his children alright or appropriate. Bouncing off of what you've said, I find that Boromir had to be more than just a brother-figure to Faramir. Both father and mother when he was only a boy, a protector and provider. Not that he would've minded much, though, for it's very obvious that he adores little brother and loves him more than, well, literally anything. I mean, heck, JRR makes a point about this in his OFFICIAL works.

But back to your point, 100% yes! It isn't that Boromir can't mess up, he isn't allowed to. No mistakes may be made. No time for accidents or imperfections - its the demands of both his father and his kingdom. Boromir, as you beautifully wrote, must be PERFECT in all ways. Naturally, I find him to be a people pleaser, too. He hates to see others upset. He'd do whatever he had to in order to make things better - even at the cost of his own happiness. Personally, I believe, Denethor trained him for such a role. Almost too good, Boromir, now as an adult, is unable to overcome this intense sense of perfectionism. It's why the ONE RING was able to manipulate him and drive him to near MURDER. Boromir fears to be imperfect, worries so greatly about letting others down. Sauron understood this and used this against our dearest man! Really, had it not been because of the Ring's influence, I do think that, eventually, we would have seen Boromir completely snap. Not violently, of course, but just be so overpowered by exhaustion and defeat. There's only so much a man can bear before he crumbles.

In all honesty, Boromir is someone who needs soft attention and kind words. He's carried an entire kingdom upon his shoulders, never been allowed to rest and actually take time to himself. Sure, Denethor favors him over Faramir, but have we ever seen Denethor actually be gentle to his eldest son? Least, when the years of boyhood were replaced by man? Congratulating your child over a victory against Orcish invaders is awesome and all, but sometimes, your child would like to be told that they are loved, also. I would NEVER say that Faramir deserved his treatment, but, consider Boromir for a moment. He's only seen as a soldier in his father's eyes, a physical pawn, someone who looks great and does well at his job. Do I think Denethor loves Boromir? Yes, I do. Do I think that he has said as much to him face-to-face, especially in recent? No, I don't. Much like we saw in the ROTK movie, Denethor loves Faramir but didn't say so, not even at the END. By the powers of his depression or the palantir regardless, Denethor doesn't see either of his sons as his babies, his little boys, the treasures born of his beloved wife.

Boromir and Faramir are means to an end for Denethor, though those ends fork onto two very different paths. Faramir is the son who can do all but right; Boromir can do all but wrong.

And no matter how you look at it, it's beyond heartbreaking!

[rarepairnation]

don't let the curtain catch you (you've been here before) on ao3: ladies of dol amroth are the inheritors of their myths

Words: 1374, Chapters: 1/1

Rating: General Audiences Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply Relationships: Finduilas of Dol Amroth & Mithrellas (Tolkien), Denethor II/Finduilas of Dol Amroth, Finduilas of Dol Amroth & Finduilas Faelivrin Characters: Finduilas of Dol Amroth Additional Tags: Sea-longing (Tolkien), Unconventional Hauntings, finduilas of dol amroth is a palimpsest of all her foremothers you can't change my mind, in-universe reinterpretation of myth, this is a fic about finduilas and mithrellas but denethor is inside finduilas's soul, and thus is indelibly present, finduilas's specific flavour of inherited narrative doom, a woman who lives in a myth and a woman who is doomed by the narrative, narrative parallels, anticipatory grief

Perhaps Finduilas is not the first lady of Dol Amroth who has loved a lord of Númenor, and been taken too soon from his arms.

[anghraine]

Another Tolkien rant before I (finally!!) go back to BG3:

By and large, heredity and ethnicity in Tolkien cannot be understood through blood quantum logic. I don't think this is even seriously debatable, really—it does not work.

Yes, Imrahil of Dol Amroth is many generations removed from his nearest Elvish ancestor. Yes, he's still visibly part-Silvan to someone like Legolas, and is Silvan-style pretty to everyone else, and his sister was mystically susceptible to Mordor's miasma and died of sea-longing.

Yes, Théoden has as much Númenórean ancestry as Eldacar, a literal Númenórean King of Gondor, and has the same Elvish ancestor as Imrahil. No, Théoden is not a Dúnadan and does not inherit Silvan features. Tolkien specifically contrasted the visible Silvan Elvish heritage of Imrahil and his nephews Boromir and Faramir with Théoden and Éomer's lack of them, though in some versions, Éomer inherited remarkable height from his Númenórean ancestry (but not specifically Elvish qualities like beardlessness).

The only known member of the House of Eorl to markedly inherit the distinctive Elvish appearance of the House of Dol Amroth is Elfwinë, son of Imrahil's daughter Lothíriel as well as of Éomer, and Elfwinë's appearance is attributed firmly to Lothíriel-Imrahil rather than Théodwyn-Morwen.

Aragorn and Denethor are descendants of Elendil removed by dozens of generations, and Elendil himself was many generations removed from Elros. Aragorn and Denethor's common heritage and special status results in a strong resemblance and kinship between these incredibly distant cousins, including innate beardlessness and various powers inherited from Lúthien, and a connection to the Maiar presumably derived from Lúthien's mother Melian (great-great-grandmother of their very distant ancestor Elros).

Galadriel has one Noldo grandparent (half as much Noldorin heritage as Théoden has Númenórean). She has ties to her Telerin and Vanyarin kin and inherits some of their traits (most notably her silvery-gold hair), but she is very fundamentally a Noldo.

Túrin Turambar is a member—and indeed, heir—of the House of Hador via patrilineality. However, he's strongly coded as Bëorian in every other way because of his powerful resemblance to his very Bëorian mother, while his sister Niënor is the reverse, identified strongly with Hadorian women and linked to their father, whom she never met.

Elrond and Elros have more Elvish heritage than anything else, but are defined as half-Elves regardless of choosing mortality or immortality. In The Nature of Middle-earth, Tolkien casually drops the bombshell that Elros's children with his presumably mortal partner also received a choice of mortality vs immortality (and then in true Tolkien style, breezed onto other, less interesting points). Elrond and his sons with fully Elvish Celebrían are referred to as Númenóreans as well as Elves, with Elladan and Elrohir scrupulously excluded from being classed as Elves on multiple occasions. Their sister Arwen, meanwhile, is a half-Elf regardless of how much literal mortal heritage she has but also is identified with the Eldar in a way they never are.

There's a letter that Tolkien received in which a fan asks how Aragorn, a descendant of Fíriel of Gondor, could be considered of pure Númenórean ancestry when Fíriel was a descendant of Eldacar, the "impure" king whose maternal heritage kicked off the Kinstrife. Tolkien's response is essentially a polite eyeroll (and understandably for sure), but it's not like ancestry that remote (or far more so) doesn't regularly linger.

The point, I guess, is that there's no hard and fast rule here that determines "real" ethnicity in Middle-earth or who inherits what narrative identification. It's clearly not dependent on purebloodedness (gross rhetoric anyway, but also can't be reconciled with ... like, anything we see). It's not based on upbringing or culture alone. Túrin and Niënor, for instance, are powerfully identified with the Edain narratively despite their upbringings. Their double cousin Tuor, however, is a more ambiguous figure in terms of the Elves, whom he loves and lives among and possibly even joins in immortality—yet Tuor's half-Elf son Eärendil, whose cultural background is overwhelmingly Elvish, is naturally aligned with Men and only chooses immortality for his wife's sake.

Elladan and Elrohir, as mentioned above, are sons of an Elf, Celebrían, and of Elrond, a half-Elf who chose immortality and established a largely Elvish community at Rivendell. But the twins have a centuries-long affinity with their mortal Dúnadan kin and delay choosing a kindred to be counted among long after Arwen's choice.

Patrilineal heritages are more often than not given priority, which has nothing to do with how much of X blood someone has, only which side it comes from. Queen Morwen's children and descendants are emphatically Rohirrim who don't ping Legolas's Elvishness radar (though Elfwinë might, later on; we're not told). King Eldacar is firmly treated as a Dúnadan with no shortening of lifespan or signs of Northern heritage. Finwë's children and grandchildren are definitionally Noldor.

But this is by no means absolutely the case. The Elvishness of the line of Dol Amroth is not only inherited from Mithrellas, a woman, but passes to some extent to Boromir and Faramir through their mother Finduilas. Denethor and Aragorn's descent from Elros primarily comes through Silmariën, a woman (and also through Rían daughter of Barahir and Morwen daughter of Belecthor for Denethor, and Fíriel daughter of Ondoher for Aragorn). And of course, Elros's part-Maia heritage that lingers among his descendants for thousands of years derives from women, Lúthien and Melian.

So there's not some straightforward system or rule that will tell you when a near or remote ancestor "matters" when it comes to determining a character's identity, either to the character or to how they're handled by the narrative. Sometimes a single grandparent, or great-grandparent, or more distant ancestor, is fundamental to how a character is treated by the story and understands themself. Sometimes a character is so completely identified with one parent that the entire other half of their heritage is negligible to how they're framed by the story and see themself. It depends!

[bretwalda-lamnguin]

Tagged by @anghraine to do the Tolkien favourite character poll!

No pressure tagging @afaramir, @sweetshire, @saentorine, @swanmaids, @melestasflight

[janeeyreofmanderley]

“ The kittens are already walking and climbing, and what can he do?” Boromir asked derisively looking into the cradle next to his mother with a look of annoyed disappointment.

Finduilas, swallowing a laugh was about to reply and list the things 3 week old Faramir could do already ( though fearing, that Boromir would not be as excited about „Making a fist“ and „ already lifting his head” as the proud parents were), but Boromir had already run off, out to new adventures. Most likely one involving kittens who frequently were cast as wargs these days it seemed.

„The poor lad really got unfair competition from the start” commented Denethor as he lifted little Faramir in his arms. The baby made a contend sound and delightedly started pulling his father’s hair. Denethor allowed it. He’d suffered worse things in his life. “ Being born the same day the cat had a large litter- he never stood a chance to get his big brother‘s attention this way.“

„Oh I am sure once Faramir is a bit older they‘ll be fine and will have plenty of fun playing with each other!“

„Well“ Denethor mumbled hesitantly,“hopefully. Unless the dog has puppies that is!“

Fortunately by the time the dog started a family Faramir had already firmly usurped any pets‘ place as favourite playmate in his brother‘s heart.

[yeoldegent]

Together, a short story about Denethor's family.

[tanoraqui]

Crownless highlights, season 4! (of 5, if you’re wondering) [1&2, 3]

This season’s central location is, at last, Minas Tirith

“I’m leaving, too,” Arwen had said at the end of last season (which, reminder: she spent most of disguised as a mortal woman, through careful use of covered ears and illusive Song). “When will I see you again?” Aragorn had asked. “Sooner than you think,” said Arwen.

Arwen, walking into the Tower of the Steward halfway through s4e1, in beautiful traveling robes and star-like gems in her hair: “Hello, I am Arwen Undómiel, daughter of Elrond Half-Elven, and I’d like to study in your library for a while. Do you mind?” [winks at Aragorn behind Ecthelion’s back]

(Side note: when people of Gondor reference Elrond, it’s like, “the wise and respectable mysterious Elf lord”, whereas when the northern Dúnedain reference Elrond, it’s like, “our wise and respectable collective great-great-uncle”)

Remember Roddis, the Ithilien Ranger from s2? She’s back in the main cast! Though, making this up as I go, i may retcon her family to well-off merchants rather than aristocracy—I wanted Aragorn to have a ready ally in Ecthelion’s court, but I think between Arwen, a little Finduilas, and Ecthelion himself (who recognizes his Nice Young Man energy and wonderfully developing leadership skills), he’s fine. She does come to court sometimes, but she’s more here (narratively) to introduce Aragorn—and Arwen—to the lower classes of the city.

Because Arwen is allegedly here for library research but really she’s here for much the same reason Aragorn is: she knows she likes him, but does she like the responsibilities that would come with him? Minas Tirith, Gondor, queenship….mortality.

Yeah, Arwen is just straight-up deuteragonist, maybe even co-protagonist this season

Dúnawen and Halbarad are officially demoted to secondary cast. They’re still around! Periodically Aragorn walks into a council meeting with Ecthelion and is like, “We should send a troop to investigate this one stream; my friend says a bird told her the water has gone bad.” And they’re hanging out in the lowest parts of the city, seedy bars and slums, which Aragorn also needs to get to know. Dúnawen and Roddis start to develop a romance (or not ‘til s5?) and Halbarad…Idk, but I want you to CRY when he dies in LotR.)

But they’re fundamentally here for Aragorn the Ranger, while Aragorn has more or less achieved that, and is now learning how to be Elessar the King. S4 is fully half monster of the week, half The West Wing-esque political/bureaucratic struggle of the week (often interwoven)

Denethor is still [passive-aggressive territorial cat noises] at Aragorn. Ecthelion is aware of this, but thinks his son and heir needs to figure out how to work with people just as competent as he is, and so is staying out of it.

Aragorn and Denethor start getting along better when the birth of Denethor’s second son makes him emotionally vulnerable for, like, 2 seconds. (Denethor had been slacking in husbandly/parental duties and this reminds him how important that is? Not, to be clear, that he doesn’t adore Finduilas and little Boromir. But that just drives him to work harder, as the world starts to creep darker…)

Of course, ironically, Faramir’s birth makes Finduilas’s already frail health decline further, making Denethor only more stressed (and we know from the future, eventually leading him to tragically resent Faramir…)

Arwen is drawn to Finduilas like a moth to a flame, by which I mean they have multiple intellectual/philosophical but also deeply personal conversations about mortality and other differences between Elves and Men (little Athrabeth joke there!). Also queenship and motherhood. Ecthelion’s wife died several years ago; Finduilas is the Lady of Minas Tirith, functionally Queen of Gondor. And motherhood is intricately linked to mortality for both of them: Arwen’s mother is…not dead, but close enough. Choosing mortality is choosing to never see her mother again. Meanwhile, motherhood is killing Finduilas, they both know it, despite Arwen’s best healing arts.

Finduilas correctly identifies that Arwen is seeking lessons in queenship, and that she and Aragorn have a mutual Thing, but doesn’t figure out the whole Isildur’s Heir thing. Arwen might imply that there’s some distant northern kingdom… (Fans will debate what exactly Finduilas guessed and never said)

The season finale is: there’s been trouble building all season with…Rhun? Near Harad and Khand? Both or all of the above? (And the Corsairs of Umbar are always making trouble, of course… (The truth is, they are all riled up by silver-tongued emissaries and shadow-carrying winds from Mordor.)

The attack comes through Rhun, though not from Rhun alone—either they let Haradrim pass through or it’s Rhunese funded partly by Harad…an unexpected direction, and they strike not at Gondor but at eastern Rohan. Aragorn and Denethor (and Halbarad, Dúnawen, maybe Roddis?) (maybe already all in northeastern Gondor for some reason?) take a large chunk of army to go to their ally’s aid, and they meet up with Thengel’s people and kick fucking ass. Classic Rohirrim PLUS Gondorin cavalry charge, total rout of the enemy, they won’t try this again…except King Thengel is slain in the field. It’s tragic, and Théoden is a young king (18-20 by now?), but Thengel was old and he died heroic as hell. They stay for the funeral; it’s stately and beautiful.

The battle is cut, however, with scenes from Minas Tirith of Finduilas falling faint, maybe even toddler!Boromir trying frantically to rouse her in their chambers, calling for his mother and for help. Arwen crushing athelas and singing softly over her in the infirmary, to no avail.

When our noble captains return home triumphant, Denethor is greeted by his father not with praise, but with sympathy and grief that makes Ecthelion for once look his old age. Ecthelion is holding little Faramir in his arms; Boromir, red-eyed and starting to cry again, runs from clutching his grandfather’s leg to his father’s. From behind the family, Arwen meets Aragorn’s gaze with similar grief.

[season 5]