Valar

Ainu? No, that's not the word I was looking for.

The Valar.

So you see all of that reoccur in even Tolkien's work.

Yeah.

It makes sense for someone at this point in the timeline for him.

He's just lost the war with Morgoth who was the Valar he served and so this is his first time really having to assert his authority in his own right he doesn't have that backup there and he's a bit too confident in his unearned authority like he's nervy about it so he kind of knows he's on shaky ground goes in really really hard with the whole you're all gonna die that's fine it's worth it And it's like a really fun performance.

He really goes quite extra on it.

And I think it does really work for that quite flamboyant, quite petty, nasty first-age Sauron that we hear of in Beren and Luthien.

But yeah, I really love the kind of tit for tat for them.

in this scene but it's just so subtle as well there's a moment towards the end of that Elrond actually in a way arguably contributes to the orcs doubting themselves in relation to Adar's leadership as if are they willing to you know spare their lives for for this fight battle against Sauron So Elrond's doing some seed planting of his own.

And then there's a lovely, I think for me, like this whole kind of scene of passage is that whilst I joke about it, there's a line in it where Adar goes, you have the beauty of your foremother, Melian of the Valar.

And I always appreciate a little cheeky lore reference.

Because the thing is, again, influencing the choice of somebody, especially a human, is like the last thing that Morgoth would be able to accomplish with his...

Like, of all of the things that the Valar just can't snap their fingers and do... determining and, you know, forcing the choices of mortals and especially men is like that's at the bottom of the list.

Right.

Like they can't do that.

Basically the same thing as Morgoth, only slightly different.

So Morgoth is what's known as a Valar, which is an Ainur that came down to Middle-earth and started ruling over it.

There are 14 Ainur.

Morgoth basically trained Sauron because Sauron is what's known as a lesser spirit called a Maia.

And so Sauron is like, all right, cool.

I'm just forgiven.

I'm going to hang out in Middle-earth and I'm not going to worry about the Valar over there.

Yeah.

And there's this barrier.

And that's why they have to do all this rigmarole so that way the, I almost said the Valar, which is what they are, why the Eldil have to come down and possess Merlin.

It's kind of this loophole.

Yeah, yeah.

That's so sweet and so Pippin.

Of course, as fate has it, the Valar have it.

He is on the right chessboard, but he feels in the wrong place, which I think is, he's such a relatable character.

And we go back to our sort of lighter moments in this chapter where he walks through the city and everyone's calling him the Prince of Halflings, which I think he quite enjoys, but he can't bring an army of halflings to help and he's quick to try and diffuse those rumours.