#then you'd do ANYTHING to ensure that he makes it to the halls of mandos instead of the Void | Explore Tumblr posts and blogs

ieatwormsandtheytasteverygood · 8 days ago

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And remember: "to evil end shall all things turn that they begin well"

It never ceases to amuse me that Feanor’s narrative arc ends like THAT.

like this guy is built up to be a genius in 2384739847 different ways, charismatic as fuck, insanely spiritually powerful, made the magical artifacts the book is named after, he’s got Sexy Protagonist Energy for days, you’re only like a few chapters into the actual story of the Silmarillion, so you’re like “yeah, alright, this guy’s our guy, i can’t wait to see what crazy shit he gets up to in Middle-earth, what kind of character development he has–”

and then he gets to Beleriand, tries to fight Satan, and IMMEDIATELY dies. like. Battle #1. he beefs it. literally spontaneously combusts.

AND YOU STILL HAVE MOST OF THE REST OF THE BOOK LEFT. absolutely ICONIC of tolkien to kill his main character in the first third of the story, and then despite elves being able to return from the dead, he literally never does, not even post-canon. NO ONE ELSE CAN PULL THAT OFF. this is SUCH a power move.

….on a more serious note, Feanor’s decisions and motivations leave a huge impact on every other character, almost every other plot point in the entire story can be traced back to what he did, and killing him off not only increases his narrative importance to those he left behind but also makes it impossible for any character to actually confront him or reconcile with him. he’s a ghost throughout the whole rest of the story, but he’s haunting everyone in myriad ways, through the Oath, through the Silmarils, through his sons, through the repercussions of the First Kinslaying, through the unrest of the Noldor and the rebellion against the Valar, through everything.

So like. Feanor might die as soon as he sets foot in Beleriand, which is hilarious from a narrative standpoint - but only at first glance. Because he’s still there for the rest of the story. You can’t escape him, no matter how hard you try.

#and remember: “to evil end shall all things turn that they begin well”#they were doomed from the start. especially the house of fëanor #one thing i wish had made it into the published silmarillion tho is the story of amrod #what's worse than the ghost of fëanor haunting the narrative?#a very good justification for the sons of fëanor's atrocities.#if your baby brother faces the Everlasting Darkness because of YOUR actions and YOUR crimes #if you were tricked by your own father into burning the sibling you helped raise alive #then you'd do ANYTHING to ensure that he makes it to the halls of mandos instead of the Void #it gives the sons of fëanor so much more guilt right from the start. it removes the veil of ignorance that they cld claim re: the helkaraxë #no longer can they say “but it was only boats! we thought they would return to the valar!”. because they burned their own brother to death.#it gives them reason to hate. it gives them so much more guilt to deal with. it makes their rapid downward spiral make so much more sense #it makes amras's lack of notable involvement in the silmarillion become a Plot Statement rather than just jirt forgetting he existed #it gives caranthir a reason to encourage the attack on menegroth (which is smth that doesnt make much sense in later versions of the silm)#it makes everything so much worse. but it makes the writing so much better.#just let the tragedy be more tragic dammit!!#silm #jirt #fëanor

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