Captain Talion of the Black Gate - Epic Character History (& Shire Map Giveaway!)

[@MenoftheWest]

Hey everyone! Thanks for commenting and watching, lots of great Middle-earth games out there. We have a winner for our giveaway! Thanks so much!

[@rileycord1248]

"Ratbag was the key to everything. Without him Talion wouldn't have gotten as far." - JRR Tolkien

[@MrHaffnaff]

“Christopher my son, did I ever tell you about Ratbag the Coward? He was a good friend.”

[@dwiz]

Regardless of the lore breaking, I still think Talion's and Celebrimbor's story is pretty cool.

[@rwilson1197]

I like how cool celbrimbor is in this game

[@marcusblackwell2372]

Literally and figuratively

[@tommykawaii]

So far this is my favorite Middle Earth videogame! Talion and Shadow of Mordor / War feels more canon - even though it obviously isn’t - than a certain show intending to be a LOTR prequel during the Second Age. There’s way more care and respect for Tolkien’s lore here than Amazon has ever put. Will definitely play again.

[@T33NSPIRITDOTCOM]

I love Talions story arc and what transpires in the games. The writers obviously took some liberties with the lore. But I always felt that Talion was another shining example of the men in the Tolkien universe. Like Boromir, he did what he thought was right to defend his people. Hero's both, albeit flawed in their own way. In other words, they were both human.

[@gjeggi6760]

I have had a soft spot for Talion. I like to imagine Eru Illuvitar cleansing Talion's soul from Sauron's influence when he died. Giving Talion a chance to see his family again. I'm not knowledgable about Tolkien's legendarium, so i don't know if Eru is capable of something like that, but i would like to think so.

[@radagast7200]

It never really made sense that a wraith would need a host. We never really hear of other wraith doing that. Unless the Nazgul were actually taking hosts, and when they died and returned they were actually going back to claim a new host or something. That might be an interesting retcon. And could expand on how exactly the Barrow Blade Merry used on the Witch King actually functioned. Might be useful for a LoTR reskin of D&D or something.

[@kitamibu]

Eru Illuvitar would definitely be capable of something like that. Now, whether or not he would actually do that is a different story but I'd like to think he would.

[@FireLordJohn3191]

Eru is God, basically. Nothing He can't do.

[@teleportedbreadfor3days]

I don’t think there’s a reason to doubt it

[@sebass_la]

Ratbag is such a funny character it made me crack a couple of times not gonna lie

[@teleportedbreadfor3days]

The Shadow of Mordor series is an example of making a story based under a title you actually like. But more than that, it shows how necessary it is to like something if you’re gonna write it. Whether it’s Star Wars, Middle Earth, Star Trek, etc., if you don’t like what you’re partaking in, why are you even there except to make mint. I think they did their best to adapt Talion’s story into Middle Earth, especially during Shadow of Mordor. They put him in a dark place and time hidden beyond the sights of the greats, while making Celebrimbor’s story like that of historical fact; the kind which legends are often based on. There was definitely less room going into the events of Shadow of War, which was closer to the events of the Lord of the Rings.

[@Badboyben1422]

Yes the game had a lot of lore breaking moments, but in the grand scheme of it, it was fun. The premise was fun, the game play was phenomenal and the story was engaging. The voice acting for all the characters and the all of Orcs with their unique dialogue was amazing. Plus that ending scene with Talion removing his armor and weapons as he travels beyond was sad, but happy to see our hero get his peace.

[@marcusblackwell2372]

One of the best videogame protagonists. Honestly, this is a video that could've worked any day of the year. That's just how good the games are. Also, how respectful they are, too

[@radagast7200]

I was always really disappointed that the Nemesis system never caught on in other games, even other WB games. The Hogwarts game would have been perfect for it.

[@marcusblackwell2372]

​@@radagast7200 Not Hogwarts. Definitely a Batman or other DC game though

[@radagast7200]

@marcusblackwell2372 Yeah, Hogwarts was a little cheezy, but I think it still could have worked. Maybe a dedicated Nemesis who had a Horocux split soul or something that would change based on interactions and combat. I think it might have been difficult in Batman since his Rouges Gallery was already so well established, but I guess you could have some particular henchmen keep reappearing. Hogwarts was also a surprisingly violent game, considering you were a 15 year old that just sort of... slaughtered... everything.

[@marcusblackwell2372]

​@@radagast7200 I'm thinking about a Batman Nemesis System game that's basically Gotham Knights but better executed

[@radagast7200]

@@marcusblackwell2372 that could be pretty fun. Though I never really played Gotham Knights, I think I can picture what you're talking about.

[@hcassada18]

Shadow of Mordor/War are two of the best video games of all time. If I'm remembering correctly, the nemesis system in those games is still patented to preserve the unique gameplay. If you treat it as alternate-universe Tolkien history, you can enjoy it for what it is, without the glaring lore contradictions bothering you.

[@ProvencaLeGaulois]

I spent hours and hours running around Mordor in SoM and SoW, thank you for that video :D

[@heybudgamingsethbennett3246]

I'm a huge Tolkien fan, hence why I am here, but being one makes it hard to pick just one favorite LoTR video game. Being a mid-90s kid, I remember going to the movies to see the Peter Jackson films, and many of the best Lord of the Rings games come out on various systems. I would say based on time spent in game, either the PS2 releases of the Two Towers and Return of the King are my favorite LoTR video games. However, I want it to be known that I am a very forgiving video gamer and even have a special place in my heart for the PS2 version of The Hobbit and the PS3 version of LoTR: Aragorn's Quest amongst other "bad" LoTR games.

[@MrLag2024]

Happy easter dude, my Favorite game was for a long while The battle for middle earth 2 and its expansion Rise of the witch king, I loved the lore and the rise of Angmar and creating my wizard hero and armies of Hobbits!!

[@lostshirehobbit]

My favourite Middle Earth game is LOTRO. tbh it is the only game I play but I love how big it is, all the stories and the fact that you can meet the main characters and help them along the way as well. I love the fact you can meet new players and make friends with them as well.

[@wawrzys9824]

Tolkien has been busy lately, to write another 40 000 letters from heaven

[@MrBuddyGuy]

Hands down my favorite is The Battle for Middle Earth 1! The OG Box was so cool, and having the instal discs is my greatest treasure haha! Early online lobbies of just crazy summons and uncapped command points was my version of learning cheat codes for your favorite game lol. Such an old game that will never leave my pc ❤️ Great Vid man!

[@MenoftheWest]

Thanks buddy, I totally agree! BFME is such a well-made game, it is still quite a treasure! Congrats on winning our giveaway, my friend! Please email me at [e-mail] and we will get you set! Appreciate you! Thanks for watching!

[@busterizow]

Oh man ! I remember play Lord of the rings: battle for middle earth online with friends !! This game was awesome !

[@LOT9T]

Shelob was quite the vixen in that game! that is a fun game to play!

[@radagast7200]

Love me some goth spider girl. Makes me wonder if Frodo didn't take the wrong approach to the situation...

[@Alexs.2599]

Yep,voiced by Pollyanna McIntosh who played Jadis in The Walking Dead Universe series.

[@timonsolus]

@@radagast7200: Er… when it comes to some things, size does matter…

[@DevapathPeinn]

He belongs in a museum !

[@marionbaggins]

"So do you!!!" Sorry I always Quote these Lines Back to Back...and that movie has Gimli!!!

[@geviesanta3631]

@@marionbaggins Both Sullah and Gimli are the absolute goats!!! 🐐🐐

[@marionbaggins]

@@geviesanta3631 Heck Yeash, they are!!! Also they unintentionally inspired my name here: Marion from Indiana Jones and Baggins from Middle Earth!!!

[@geviesanta3631]

@@marionbaggins oh my goodness, that's cool 😎

[@marionbaggins]

@@geviesanta3631 Yeah: I choose Marion because best Indy Woman and it sounded more Hobbity than my Birth name *not going to say what that is* and Baggins, because I loved the Hobbits!!!

[@Daniel0061]

Not a video game but "LotR Journeys in Middle Earth" is a fantastic boardgame. Similar to DnD or Gloomhaven, but based more on exploration. Absolutely love it.

[@garretttheophileo29]

I was addicted to the Battle for Middle Earth video game series (including Battle for Middle Earth 2 & Rise of the Witch King). I would always play elves. Love the Tolkien letter at the start of video, it was sick!

[@lazaruskane7294]

I really liked Shadow of Mordor, it felt like I was playing an untold story in Middle Earth. I feel it went way off base with Shadow of War but I always felt that if they fixed the way off lore points of the games it could make a solid show. Talion in the end does feel like a character that belongs in the Legendarium though.

[@AegisRick]

I like Shadow of Mordor, but hands down my favorite was the LotR: Two Towers game. It was a very fun and challenging hack and slash with RPG elements. And the Battle of Helm's Deep was as chaotic and difficult as it could ever be.

[@columbatiberius2176]

Fun video. The Shadow of Mordor games are probably my favourite Middle-Earth videogames. It definitely takes liberties, but I enjoyed the designs and the story. *"SUFFER ME NOW!"*

[@Talion-jv1zp]

Thank you for this video! Shadow of mordor is my favoutite video game of all time. I know its not cannon, but I actually played it before I experienced the Lord of the Rings movies and the rest of the Legendarium, so I never had a problem with that. And nowadays my nostalgia for the game is simply too big to think bad about it.

[@Shirlenaaaful]

I loved those games. To me, they felt more faithful to Toklien’s vibes than other non-canon media.

[@thebrowneyesofmandalore]

One thing I really loved about these games are how they explore the concept of domination and control which was Sauron’s goal for Middle Earth rather than Morgoth who wanted to utterly destroy Arda. Another aspect this game perfected in my mind, was the portrayal of Celebrimbor. His personality, his more controlling desires, and his cynicism. They displayed how not all Elves are these perfect beings but that they have dark sides. I believe they nailed Celebrimbor a whole lot better than Rings of Power did.

[@austex1996]

Shadow of War is an amazing, modern video game. I do have to give a huge shout-out to ROTK on PS2, though.

[@upschutt4842]

Happy Easter! Christ is risen. God bless you for your service to community :)

[@FireLordJohn3191]

Amen! He is risen indeed.

[@Thegreyarcher03]

My favorite game is The Fellowship of the Ring, as it introduced me to Tom Bombadil and many book only characters. As for the Shadow games, I actually own an official replica of the new ring, which is an extremely rare find now.

[@TheJmlew11]

The best Middle Earth video game is hands down Lego Lord of the Rings. Close second is Return of the King. My guilty pleasure is LOTR Conquest

[@kazorbrooks3980]

I like Shadow of Mordor, I don’t play because I don’t have the game, but I’ve enjoyed watching it in the past.

[@lowesgameing2003]

Even if they're not cannon The middle earth games are fun

[@amordramon22]

Battle of Middle-Earth series will alwayd be my favorite Lord of the Rings games

[@michaelcooke3253]

Shadow of Mordor and Shadow of War...its like assassins creed but LOTR style. Great Nemesis system, and the Shadow Wars ohhh boy don't even get me started.

[@KrisCandamil]

Just started playing Shadow of War again this week! My all time favorite LOTR game is def Battle for Middle Earth 2. I grew up playing age of empires and loving LOTR, so I was pretty much mine blown when we got a game that was basically both of those things combined 😂

[@loganw1232]

Happy Easter

[@JoshuaHopper-l8b]

I think Shadow of War is my favourite but I do have a real soft spot for the original Battle for Middle Earth game!

[@juanchoguerrero9143]

Favorite Middle Earth Video Game: Shadow of Mordor and War but will be replaced by Return to Moria

[@Grayson030]

The Battle for Middle Earth series was peak LOTR games. Still play the original version as well as Age of the ring mod. P.S. Merry Easter to those that celebrate.

[@Greymangamer]

Favorite LOTR game is Battle of Middle Earth 1 and Return of the King from PS2 era

[@shadowofchaos8932]

Shadow of Mordor is a great game.

[@sean.burman98]

Happy Easter! I think my favorite game would have to be Shadow of War. Yes, it isn't close to being canon, like at all BUT building your uruk army was pretty neat. It was also one of those games that you could just play mindlessly. It would've been cool if they stayed the canon route but alas.

[@ScottGladstein]

I gotta be honest, those games re-ignited my passion for LotR and they were an absolute blast!

[@shakkarugat]

I really really loved this game! Not just for the LOTR/Assasins creed feel, but this was the first game that I played on my first built PC and not just a crappy laptop! Also the whole nemesis system was gosh darn awesome to play with and abuse!😆

[@jackolantern147]

Happy Easter Yoysten! Talion the Gravewalker is among my favorite LOTR characters, whether he's canon or not.

[@socialaccount0000]

I consider Shadow of Mordor/War to be a "What If". It changes far too much to be considered a part of the normal canon, but I consider him worthy of being in the non-canonical parts of LOTR. Even if his actions change the lore, his journey is worthy of being told, as well as his act of self sacrifice, holding off Sauron for years in constant suffering to buy the free peoples the time they needed

[@balrog262]

The messed up lore can be easily fixed and canon.

[@Calloushades19]

I'll always have fond memories of Lego LotR and Return of the King!

[@Calloushades19]

And Lotro of course!

[@wolfheart1136]

Personally the return of the king video game is my favorite. One of the few good movie tie in games and an early example of online co op and when you beat the game you unlocked more characters

[@wolftal1178]

Shadow of war and Mordor are two of my favourite Lord of the rings games, narrowly overtaking battle for Middle Earth and then the return of the king the game. I know it’s nothing to do with Canon, and I accept and acknowledge that. But I do not play it as an accurate depiction of Middle Earth, it’s more of a What If fanfiction story and I accept it as that, plus also as a good game in itself. What I like about it is the creators never once claimed that they were doing an accurate depiction of Middle Earth, or for that matter that they were improving or fixing it, which is a stark difference from rings of power. They also added a personal colour while giving him a believable and good backstory, of him being a Haradriam from the south, adopted by a noble Gondorian family, They always claimed it as it was a fanfiction what if.

[@starkilr101]

A hero worthy of Tolkien’s Legendarium and legacy. Good character, game and story.

[@nisargshah2162]

Middle-earth: Shadow Of Mordor is one of the best games I have ever played!

[@honorarydig8835]

The Two Towers, Return of the the King, and The Third Age for the PS2 will always have a place in my heart.

[@sageofcaledor8188]

Great video! I think, in spite of the lore break, Talion and the Shadow of Mordor/War games are Tolkien enough. Favorite game, Lord of the Rings Battle For Middle Earth 1 and 2

[@Aelin18]

This game has a lot of lore problems? YES But still my favourite game in the Middle Earth theme

[@winters-ghost89]

My favourite lord of the rings channel. Also I just started shadow of war last night for the 6th time! But my favourite game is definitely the two towers ps2

[@jannerwingfeather]

My favorite LOTR video game is definitely Return to Moria!

[@imherkhan]

The Lord of the Rings: The Third Age was my favorite even though i loved ME:SOM & ME:SOW. I wish they could have gotten family permission to use more of the actual lore.

[@jakelaurence30]

My favourite middle earth game is probably shadow of war. While the lore is very off, it's such a great game. Either that, or battle for middle earth 2. Happy Easter!

[@BexMatthies]

The Lord of the Rings: The Third Age remain my favourite ME game based on nothing but nostalgia. It had some absolutely ludicrous elements like fighting the literal eye of Sauron atop Baradur, a female Rohirrim wearing hotpants, a dwarf character named dwarf. Absolutely hysterical.

[@LebanonStorm]

Even if it is lore breaking, it was a great game. I’ve played it more than once and I really liked it every time I’ve gone through it. What really sold me on it? The nemesis system. It’s honestly ground breaking as far as gaming mechanics go and I’m glad it wasn’t diluted at all by being adapted to other games.

[@briangronberg6507]

Happy Easter, and thank you! I’ve never played a video game based on the Legendarium, but I have played the TTRPG The One Ring. Its “canon start” is 20 years after Bilbo returns from Erebor. The system encourages deep roleplaying and makes combat feel truly threatening and dangerous and though it’s not exactly lore friendly, it’s as close as you can get without sacrificing some of the core elements of an RPG.

[@tristanthompson1980]

LOTR the Third Age on PS2 was freaking great Loved running through the world and it’s hidden touches of lore Loved the story and characters too

[@Anfernee3355]

Thanks for your work in the community! While I absolutely loved SoM and SoW, I was obsessed during my childhood with the Two Towers and Return of the King PS2 games.

[@gravynog]

“We really need to make Talion work. He’s the key to all this… It’s like poetry, it rhymes.” - JRR Tolkien maybe

[@ghaythtarhouni]

The RTS games were one of my favorite games ever, all three of them. love your videos man, iv been listing to them on my way to work lately.

[@thunderstudent]

I love the Middle Earth games but my favorite is still Return of the King on Xbox. It's unfortunate that they made Celebrimbor go full super villain instead of being more of a helpful spirit like in the first game. Not entirely pure of heart, but one whom does wish to help. If even to just get revenge on Sauron. Talion is an excellent character to add to the EU of the Tolkienarium. Lore contradictions aside, I think it serves as an example of "What if" and how we should stay true to our friends and ourselves. Much like your what if on Saruman never becoming evil. But that being said.... What if Celebrimbor didn't turn evil in Shadow of War? What role would he and Talion play in the War of the Ring?

[@tobitsubasa274]

My favorite was the Hobbie that came out for PS2, GameCube, and Xbox! They do change a few things like adding a Female elf that Bilbo meets in the troll caves, but unlike in the films, she is not in a love triangle with one of the dwarfs. She comes back later in the wood elvis place and helps Bilbo free the Dwarfs. It was a very fun Action platformer with cool Collectibles.

[@dams6829]

To be honest my favourite Lord of the Rings game isn't Lord of the Rings game per se but mod. I don't know if this counts but I love lotr mod to Minecraft. It combines all the basic game mechanics of Minecraft but expands them in great ways. Firstly there is entire new Middle Earth dimension with tens of biomes and biome variants with many different blocks, new trees, ores, animals, items, foodstuffs and new mechanics like brewing drinks for an example. Secondly the faction system, it has like 30 factions from Lindo to Rhun and to Far Harad with them being fleshed out with alignment charts, inter faction relations, npcs, quests, fixed structures and also things like hiring of units. Third reason is how the mod is so huge but not overly complicated with great wiki with all info that you need and recipes but there are also like 30 crafting tables for almost each faction that means that if you want to build different faction armours or tools you need to know basic Minecraft recipes and just change sometimes some ingredients. Fourth, is the community. It is small but lively and there are many roleplay servers to join which are seen in wiki. I must be honest at the moment I am kinda innactive there but I sometimes hope to return there cause that community meant very much to me many years ago and I met people that I continued to keep in contact with till today.

[@Barbossa778]

I think the reason despite the major discrepancies with the lore and this game, is that the writing - the dialogue and the overall story/theme, very much vibe with Tolkien’s works. This is a great example of how to write a non-canonical Tolkien story that the ROP team should’ve taken notes from.

[@mc.ntavas]

I still play both of them and always will be. Favourite games of all time ❤

[@nickhouston6089]

My favorite ME game is the first one I played. I had War in Middle Earth in 1989 on Amiga. I was in my second half of high school and Amiga held the reigns of graphics and operating system...it had a two button mouse! Having read the LOTR books and Silmarillion from my mom's 1977-78 box set a few years earlier I was hooked on middle earth. The game was hard, being a mixture of adventure game and battle maps. I never beat it but the memories of that game and a bunch of other Amiga games hold great memories and expectations for current releases.

[@sb6370]

By far, my favorite ME game is Battle for Middle Earth II. I still play this regularly.

[@dgajic91]

My favourite game is Battle for Middle Earth II because I play RTS games the most. Love the campaign with Glorfindel but the Sauron one is also interesting to get to play from his point of view. Also, the map looks incredible!

[@randybarner6483]

Thanks to game themed lore, it helped me understand the dreadful malignancy that Sauron and maybe even Morgoth have unleashed. If made Tolkien even more fun, as long as I don't lean to my own understanding.

[@zoonbk]

One of the biggest disappointments from Shadow of War is that when you wear the One Ring you don't see the Nazgul in their wraith form.

[@timonsolus]

But it isn’t the One Ring. It’s Celebrimbor’s New Ring (or Two Ring). So it’s not strange that there would be some differences in how it works.

[@an-animal-lover]

The only time you get to wear the One Ring is in the Bright Lord DLC in the first game. In the second, you either wear the New Ring or Isildur's Ring depending where you are in the story

[@JohnPeacekeeper]

Talion's true reward was to finally die... and yet him being able to die is treated and portrayed as something beautiful The Gift of Men indeed

[@varietywiarrior]

My favorite LotR game was definitely Lord of the Rings: the Third Age, which was a JRPG-style game with leveling, equipment, and a cast of original characters. I have it on XBox and have a ton of nostalguc memories playing the co-op mode with my younger cousin. It also had an Evil Mode that you unlocked battles for by getting to certain points in the story, which also awarded you little snippets from the films to watch that were narrated by Gandalf himself.

[@Anduril729]

Talion's great, Eradan from War in the North is a baller too! Awesome game, love how it weaves in and out of the main story

[@beatleblev]

I once played a love child of Saruman and a Dunedain noble will-worker. He was the best Smith in Tharbad for centuries. This was our in game explanation for why Saruman heads East with the Blues Brothers. An unexpected pregnancy and being passed over for Narya kept the White Wizard on a millennia plus field trip of Easternmost places of Middle Earth instead of doing his job. So...about the same canonical authenticity as a Shadow of game.

[@MsPuffykinz]

I love to imaginne these games as folklore in the world of middle earth.

[@qg8924]

“My friends thank you so much for watching..” Me: “nnnnoooooo…” 😂

[@rinus.art.]

As a non-gamer this was so confusing to me. Seems like a GoT and RoP mash-up. The prologue could make an epic movie though!

[@radagast7200]

I didn't see much Rings of Bezos in it. Though I also didn't watch much of it.

[@Talius10]

I still remember you playing LotRO with Nerd and Voice when someone in your chat recommended doing this video for April Fool's :)

[@melkhiordarkfell4354]

An underloved Middle Earth video game is the 2003 RTS War of the Ring, think Warcraft 3 but Lord of the Rings, based on the books and only having two factions, Good and Evil but had good selection of diverse units, beornings and huorns in the Good Side, all nine Nazgul for Evil. Worth looking into if you can find an old copy especially if you loved Warcraft 3.

[@jameswhite8840]

Very fun video. Absolutely love your channel! I still love playing Lord of the Rings online.

[@lynneglendenning947]

This was important in effecting the Royal Family. Royals are subjugated to sin, not subject. Talion is Adam and I grew up in him that he understand the body strategically. It helped me to effect Healthcare for Healing.

[@mearcstapa]

Lotro is the only! Middle Earth Video game i play. Dinking in the shire, exploring my favorite places from the books, following along the fellowship in an epic journey for my own player character... Highly recommend for folks who haven't tried, but who am i kidding? We've all played lotro here!

[@Didymus20X6]

I liked the part where Disa started singing "Diggy Diggy Hole." So stunning and brave!

[@Alexs.2599]

Oh god please keep her away hahahaha!

[@RobHamersma]

The game I have the most nostalgia for is the Hobbit game for Gamecube. I enjoy action/puzzle platformers and spent a lot of fun hours wielding Sting as Bilbo!

[@mirygarrido4836]

Aaaww this is wonderful! I'm glad you enjoy making this non canonical videos ❤

[@FireLordJohn3191]

Hard to pick just one favorite video game, but I loved the Battle for Middle-Earth games and I really wish they'd remaster or rerelease them.

[@chrismorin1047]

Love this video. And have to say "Shadow of Mordor" is my favorite LotR game. Always appreciate your content and the effort you put into it. I try to be smoking some Old Toby in my Petersen Sherlock Holmes Lestrade pipe while watching.

[@lukefranklin7363]

My favourite video game has to be the Lego Lord of the Rings. The nostalgia was great on that game and very fun to play, thanks for the vid

[@jaieregilmore971]

I love the game till this day.

[@bpbp7407]

my favorite game is actually the old PS2 games based off the movies. Played them all the time lol. i also collect maps and never won anything and if i win ill show you my map wall.

[@darrelljohnston8676]

The Two Towers and The Return of the King? Brother...lol.

[@bpbp7407]

@@darrelljohnston8676I KNOW I KNOW...but i cant help it lol. They're just my favorite.

[@williamhayes26]

Loved these games hopefully they make a spinoff someday.