"Nothing is
evil in the beginning"
https://twitter.com/x/status/1541453841408765953
What do you think about that phrase? Can we say of
Sauron or
Melkor that they were not evil in the beginning?
What about
orcs born from other orcs, that is, not Melkor's first orcs, made from captured
elves by torture or magic (at least according to the Sil.)?
Philosophically, one can certainly discuss this quite extensively. But
Tolkien's mythology is based on the struggle between good and evil.
Of course, this is anything but "modern", since today every villain needs his story, why an originally innocent being could become such a bitter, mean creature, and so on. But with Tolkien's mythology it is different. Even though there may be several individuals like
Gollum,
Saruman or
Denethor etc. who are more in line with this modern conception of evil or who became evil at some point, overall it is about the fight against ultimate evil.
I think it is also an illusion in reality that no one is evil from the beginning. Some people are just emotionless psychopaths from birth, and the more intelligent ones shamelessly exploit their lack of compassion to gain power. There is also scientific research that confirms this.
Why someone is or becomes "evil" can therefore have cultural, sociological or fateful reasons or developments as its basis. Or it can happen due to seduction, manipulation or brainwashing methods by other malicious, intelligent entities. But it can also be innate, for example through a genetic defect. And the latter I would postulate for example with the orcs. Even if Tolkien's mythology may not have anything like genetics in the scientific sense, it would still be passed on from generation to generation. In addition, there is the education and socialization component as well as the influence of Sauron and
the Ring etc. After the destruction of the Ring, they may no longer have been bound to a superior evil will, but that did not automatically make them to innocent, free and good beings from whom an evil
demon just had escaped (like in Warcraft).
So I wouldn't like it if they used their phrase as an opportunity to portray the orcs as mere victims to be pitied, or even Sauron/
Annatar as someone who was just misunderstood and driven to evil by adverse circumstances.
What would fit to Tolkien's statements, however, would be, if Sauron at first regrets to have got involved with
Morgoth (not because he feels guilty, but because he was on the losing side), but is too cowardly and too proud to face the
Valar, and at the same time has the will to make
Middle-earth his subject; at first perhaps even in the sense of wanting to create order, even if ultimately according to his will. It would be important, however, that he pursues the purpose to force in particular the Elves under his control from the very beginning. In further respect also the humans, with whom he quickly finds out that he can easily manipulate them and use them for his purposes, while the orcs, whom he perhaps actually even detests, serve him only as a "dirty" tool, if it is no longer possible otherwise - later, of course, as his main
weapon.
In any case, I think it's important to show in the series that he first wants to master the elves. After that doesn't work, he starts to hate them even more and attacks. After the
Numenoreans interfere to help the elves, he hates these as much as the elves, while cleverly manipulating most other humans for his own purposes.
At least if Amazon won't screw that up, all might not be lost...
It is rumored that Sauron/Annatar will go unrecognized in the first season, while a brother of
Galadriel turns evil and commands a band of orcs who worship him as a kind of father. How is that supposed to fit into canon? I'm very curious about that, but I fear that nothing good will come of it. It all sounds too much like random fantasy written by mediocre series
authors who don't know anything about Tolkien. In any case, this would all fit very well with the motto "nothing is evil in the beginning". Galadriel's weird brother was a good guy at first, of course, but circumstances drove him to it! And of course the orcs are just a poor bunch, who were just abused by certain rulers, and this brother of Galadriel now promises them to lead them to a better future etc..
But we'll see.
There are also new images of
Celebrimbor.
(Ah, another one of those lanterns. And a cheesecake.)
(Why is Celebrimbor standing in the forest instead of the magnificent High Elven
city of Ost-in-Edhil? Another indication that they will reduce even the
Noldor of the 2nd Age to the
Lorien stereotype.)
Many say that he was miscast because he is too old and looks like a lord from Game of Thrones rather than an
Elvish master smith. He should probably also be younger than Galadriel. So Galadriel and
Elrond look too young, while Celebrimbor is obviously a bit too old.
Quote from the far reaches of the internet:
"I was just thinking he fits better in star
wars senate indeed".
Even if he may seem a bit too old and lacks long hair, at least I personally like the actor's face, which I can't say about the Elrond actor (and that was already the case for Hugo Weaving - I don't even know who I find worse).