Azog the Defiler

I'm not saying that they need to go as far as making him a grey area villain where we question if he has valid reasons for doing what he's doing, but it would be great to show us that the bad guys are more than mindless bugs.

He reminds me a lot of Azog the Defiler from the Hobbit movies, and no matter where you stand on those films, he was a pretty great villain, and he had motivation that made him dangerous, and made me understand why he was as ruthless as he was.

Lord of the Rings vibes were all over the latest trailer, and just like in those movies, I think adding more voices to the Locusts, adding more character, some Locust-only scenes, could bring a perspective to Gears of War that many people haven't seen before, so I would love to get something like this.

Next up, what do I not want to see? Vrak defeated.

On the road, we learn more about the tragic dwarves battles that led to this moment.

Um, and we also get the introduction of Azog the Defiler, who's kind of the main boss/sub-boss under Sauron, um, these movies, but he's also kinda, like, the main boss of these films overall.

Mm-hmm.

Um, he's a giant orc who swore to wipe out Durin's line, who Thorin ha- is, um, a, like, tied to.

...

I think that's a good way to do it.

The bad way to do it, which is what they do also in this movie, is be like, "Here's all the prequel nonsense to set up Sauron, and, uh, here's all, like, let's add the sub-boss orc who's, like, who gives a shit about Azog." Uh, so and, like, the references there where he's like, "He's at Weathertop" at one point in the movie.

Ooh.

So heroes that can wound you on a set value, so whether it's Aragorn, whether it's...

Azog, or...

Amdur.

Amdur you don't care that much about, but still does it on fives, right? You're worried about, and then you might get trapped, and suddenly this Aragorn that charged you on a horse is getting eight swings, needing threes.

He carries...

Famously, he slays Azog at the Battle of Azanulbizar with a red axe.

Again, never given a name, but it's said it's, like, this distinctive color.

Which makes me think, like, what was it made of that it was red? It couldn't have been painted red.

Really fun game.

Jesus Christ, Azog, and Bulg are fucking scary.

Don't fight them.

Don't fight them.

They absolutely did.

Let's take the main villain of the first film, Azog the Defiler.

Okay, so in the books, Azog is dead long before Bilbo is even born.

Very dead.

According to Tolkien's timeline, Azog died 140 years before the events of The Hobbit.

Right.

It's true that Azog killed Thorin's grandfather in Moria, but Thorin didn't chop off his arm in some epic duel.

A dwarf named Dain Ironfoot actually killed Azog at the Battle of Azanulbizar.

so now according to AI, the actual in, in the book, the Hobbit, the five armies are the goblins or orcs, the elves, the men, the dwarves, and the wargs.

And then in the movie adaptation, apparently in Peter Jackson, slightly changes that to the elves, the men, the dwarves, the orcs from Dol Godur led by Azog, and then the orcs from Gundabad led by Bolg.

That's true.

That does happen.

Crazy stuff.

Crazy stuff.

Well, anyway, so Azog then secures a spot up on the hill.

And I love the tactics of the flags and the way they give orders.

We got Ouroboros and Bristlebud Farmer in the sideboard.

Uh, the new Azog, Moria's Ruin guy.

This is, like, some cool stuff.

Abigail, we're playing Abigail.