Final Scene from FotN

[Huinesoron]

Okay, I know I was going to put them all in one thread, but this one is so massively out of place that I think it'd be confusing. Anyway... this is the final closing scene from Fall of the Noldor. It deals with the crowning of Fingolfin -- I thought that it made a nice end-point, and that anything that took place after, mainly the founding of Nargothrond and Gondolin, and the Dagor Aglareb, could be dealt with in flashbacks or, and I'd suggest this for the Aglareb, which is really a very pointless battle, missed out completely. Withouth further ado, then, here it is:

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Last Scene: Mithrim


Maglor: Oh, hello, Fingon.
Fingon: Hi, Maglor. [He looks around, obviously searching for something]
Maglor: You're wondering where Maedhros is, I suppose?
Fingon: Well, yes. He said he was recovered enough for us to hold the Festival, I assumed he'd be here.
Maglor: Oh, he's here. He's in the tent over there. [He nods in the direction of a tent not too far from the dais] He's got Celegorm and Curufin in there with him sorting something out. I'm not sure what, but I gather it's going to involve your father, and possibly the rest of the family too.
[Fingon frowns]
Fingon: Hasn't he already made amends for the whole Losgar thing?
[Maglor shrugs]
Maglor: Well, you know Maedhros. He never does anything by halves.
[Fingon nods, uneasy. Then Celebrimbor runs out of the tent and tugs on Maglor's arm. Maglor stops playing to look at him]
Celebrimbor: Uncle Maglor! Uncle Maedhros says he wants all of the de-scen-dents of Finwe up on the stage. [He struggles visibly with the word 'descendents', but gets there eventually. Maglor nods thoughtfully]
Maglor: Very good, Celebrimbor. Go back and tell Uncle Maedhros that we'll have them up in twelve minutes.
[Celebrimbor nods, and dashes back to the tent. Maglor looks at Fingon]
Fingon: I'll find my father and siblings, you go and get Caranthir and the twins. I can see Finrod from here, I'll ask him to round up his siblings.
[Maglor nods, and Fingon walks off into the crowd, stopping along the way to talk to Finrod. Maglor stands up on the stage and looks around for his three missing siblings. Apparently spotting them, he jumps down and runs off towards Lake Mithrim. Fade out, and then back in to show Maglor once again playing his harp, and the rest of the Finwe clan -- now only excluding Maedhros, although Celegorm and Curufin are talking together in low, angry tones, stopping if anyone draws near -- are clustered in front of the stage, talking animatedly about why Maedhros has called them there. Maedhros comes out of his tent dressed in full High King of the Noldor gear, including the crown. We can see the stump of his right wrist. He moves so quietly that no one except Maglor - who raises an eyebrow - notices him until he jumps up onto the stage]
Maedhros: People of the Noldor!
[Everyone suddenly stops talking and turns to look at him. If the camera angle allows it, show people slowly gathering into the area in front of the stage]
Maedhros: People of the Noldor, my brethren, today we celebrate a reunion between those who followed my father, and those who followed my uncle Fingolfin. I know that many of us never believed that Fingolfin's folk would come - I know, too, that many of them did not survive the passage of the Helcaraxe - but we underestimated the hardiness of the Noldor.
[He pauses, letting the silence reign for a moment, and the camera pans around to sweep over the crowd, which is now large. It continues to do so during his next lines, which have a voiceover feel]
Maedhros: As I look around me now, I see many who I once knew as friends, and who I abandoned that night at Araman. My captivity gave me time for reflection, though I thought it useless, though I thought myself dead. When salvation came, through one of those left behind, I knew what I had to do to ensure a split such as this could never again occur in the Noldor people.
[Camera focusses on Maedhros again, who is standing at the very front of the stage]
Maedhros: Brothers, cousins, Uncle, could I have you all on stage, please?
[Quickly, the House of Finwe ascend to the stage. The Sons of Feanor stand in a slightly curved line next to Maglor, Celebrimbor in front of Curufin, the children of Finarfin stand in a matching line on the far side of the stage, and Fingolfin stands in the middle, at the back, Fingon and Aradhel to one side of him, Turgon on the other. Idril stands in front of Turgon, and he has one hand on her shoulder. Maedhros stands at the front of the stage, facing Fingolfin, but speaks loud enough for the crowd to hear. He speaks in a formal tone - this has the feeling of a rehearsed speech]
Maedhros: Lord Fingolfin, brother of my father, I beg your forgiveness for our desertion of you in Araman. By the deeds of your son, Fingon the Valiant, I have been given a second chance at life, and I wish to make amends for what I did before.
[He pauses for breath, and in the next section his voice begins to betray some emotion]
Maedhros: There is nothing I can do or say that will make up for the lives lost in your crossing of the Helcaraxe. The rule of my father was a rule of madness, and one that I do not wish to follow.
[He drops down onto one knee, removing the crown and holding it up towards Fingolfin with hand and stump]
Maedhros: If there lay no grievance between us, lord, still the kingship would rightly come to you, the eldest here of the House of Finwe, and not the least wise. House Feanor waives its claim to the Crown of the Noldor. You are now our king.
[There is a collective gasp from the audience, and especially from the sons of Feanor - except Maglor, who seems to have been expecting something of the sort. Having borne the crown himself for a short while, he perfectly understands Maedhros' desire to get rid of it. Fingolfin, conversely, is frozen in shock, and requires a little push from Aradhel to move forward and take the crown in his own hands, lifting it onto his head. Maedhros lowers his head, subservient. Elrond's voiceover runs over the final shot]
Elrond: [VO] Thereafter, even as Mandos fortold, House Feanor were called the Dispossessed, because the overlordship had passed from it, the elder, to House Fingolfin. United now under one banner, the Noldor set a watch on the borders of Dor Daedeloth, and Angband was beleagured from west, south and east. With Morgoth contained, they sent forth messengers far and wide to explore this new land. Valinor lay behind them, cut off. Beleriand was their new home. Thus began the First Age of the Sun.
[Cast roundup. Slow, low sweep up over the crowd towards the dais. Fingolfin, crowned, is at the front. All the others of House Finwe are still placed as before, save that now Curufin has his hand firmly on little Celebrimbor's shoulder - he doesn't approve of Maedhros' actions, but doesn't want Celebrimbor spoiling it. Any other speaking parts are in the front few rows of the crowd. Behind the dais we see the Ered Wethrin, and beyond them, Thangorodrim, black in the dusk. The camera passes low over Fingolfin's head and turns to look back over the assembled Noldor from behind the dais. West, over the Mountains of Mithrim, and further, the Ered Lomin, and over the Sea beyond, the Sun is setting into banks of red cloud. Camera moves forward over the Noldor, and up, until the ground is out of shot and all we see is the sky, and perhaps the Sea. Roll credits over the sunset]

~~~~~~~~~~

So, thoughts-feelings-reactions? I've tried to make it dramatic without losing the feel of real people, but... well. I don't know.

(And on a side note, do we want to add in a little more tragedy to this whole story by using the point mentioned in the Shibboleth of Feanor wherein Amrod stayed on one of the ships at Losgar that fateful night to sleep and ended up being burnt alive? I ask now so as to know when I get to that scene)

[Maeglin]

About Amrod..it's a real dilemma. The thing is, Tolkien gave these twins no characterisation except for their mutual devotion (and general Feanorian rashness). While killing Amrod at Losgar would be powerful in the short term, we would risk making Amras either entirely non-canonical material, completely overlooked, and/or redundant.

If you decide to kill Amrod at Losgar, may I suggest a solution to the ploblem of characterising Amras? I'm seen quite a few rather well-written pieces throughout fanon where Amras becomes an insane, schizophrenic wreck. If this angle were taken (although in a subtle, understated way; not the whole Gollum deal) we could actually make some poignancy out of this enigmatic and utterly silent figure...

PS Nothing to suggest on the scene. I like it a lot, by and large; little Celebrimbor irritates me slightly but I know he's a detail that could work well if done properly...

[Huinesoron]

The thing about Amras is that he doesn't actually show up again. He's not there for the Luthien saga, he's not in Turin, and if the final film is focussed around Gondolin and Earendil, he's not there either. His only purpose after Fingolfin's crowning is to get himself killed at the Havens of Sirion.

However, point taken. If I decide to kill off Amrod, I'll show it in Amras' character in the scenes thereafter.

[Maeglin]

If we follow Nerdanel's schedule-which has the fall of Doriath tacked onto the end of Turin-then he is in Turin, just, for the killing of Dior. I don't think all the ruin of Doriath will fit though-I see both Feanorian attacks, on Doriath and the Havens, being in the War of Wrath. So in any case, he has two moments-killing Sindar Elves at Doriath and dying at the Havens of Sirion, as you noted.

[Huinesoron]

I was thinking fit everything to do with Elwing's family into either the prologue of WoW, or into flashback sequences later on. I've already deviated slightly from Nerdanel's list -- the Aglareb isn't in FotN, and nor is Thingol -- and she kept including epilogues which don't really fit into the story as a whole. I'll issue my own version of the list as soon as I've written one up, if I do.

But yes, Amras is a real nonentity. So is Caranthir, actually, because most of what he does is offscreen -- he's at the two Kinslayings, plus he whines about Thingol. Ah, well. We'll work it all out, I'm sure.

[Maeglin]

As you say, Aglareb and the founding of Gondolin and Nargothrond will be skipped, and just assumed to have happened, because the next scene after this will be the prologue of Lay of Luthien.

Basically, that shows first the closing stages of the Dagor Bragollach, and Barahir saving Finrod at the Fen of Sirion. Then Finrod gives Barahir his ring and oath. Finally we have a tiny bit of Doriath; Thingol giving orders to Beleg and Luthien dancing. Have a look at it, if you like.