The Worst Times To Be Alive In Middle-earth

In this video, we look at the worst times to be alive in Middle-earth across the three ages, and what made those times so terrible.
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[@gyuui4242]

Best time to be alive in Middle Earth: be in Bree the day after Gandalf blesses all the beer in the Prancing Pony!

[@arturleperoke3205]

childhood me: "I want to go on exiting adventures like Aragorn, Legolas and Gimli!" .. todays me: "damn man, those Hobbitses not involved in the Ring-War truly livin the dreaaaaam.."

[@DarthGandalfYT]

The Scouring of the Shire would disagree.

[@markstott6689]

I wouldn't have fancied living in Arnor when the Witch King took up residence in Angmar, personally. 😱💀☠️💀😱

[@maxhannah6425]

especially if you happen to be born in rhudaur

[@DarthGandalfYT]

I mean, except for a few periods, Arnor was still mostly peaceful, but yeah, you would be keenly aware of the fact that you're living in a decaying kingdom, and that the final stroke could come at any time.

[@Callisto_Arcas]

It's a great time to be alive right now because we've been getting a steady stream of DarthGandalf videos. Your rate of uploads has been amazing this year. Thank you!

[@aarontalksculture4946]

It's a great life being oppressed by rouge Valar (Morgoth) and Maiar (Sauron) in Middle Earth while the rest of the Valar and Maiar are living in eternal blissful peace on the other side of the planet. Hey Manwe, aren't you King of the world or something? Come get your boy.

[@ralphsmith5871]

Rogue.

[@YanquoiZaza]

Take away the Valar power

[@CursedAnqxl]

just king of the west which refers to valinor, it feels like it would be borderline tyrannical for a not rogue valar to declare themselves king of the entire world.

[@DefinatelyNotAI]

@@ralphsmith5871 I'm pretty sure Morgoth was a bit red after that asskicking he took from an elf.

[@luthandomdadane]

He can't do that, Manwë is actually expressing his trust in you by letting you deal with an evil immortal reality-twisting angelic being by yourself, even if it's physically impossible for you to succeed without divine intervention (all while he and the elves feast and sing in blemishless sanctuary). But in case all the suffering, eldritch sorcery, mindbreaking, torture and corruption-of-all-things is a bit much for you, he'll make sure to send 5 lesser beings to "guide" you without too much direct interference (and only 80% of them will betray/forget you), so what can you even really complain about in Middle-Earth?

[@rafaelgustavo7786]

First Age: War of the Wrath/after the Nirnaeth. Second Age: The Fall of Numenor. Third Age: At the of the Great Plague and the winter caused by Sauron.

[@Diegoromir]

Can you do "The Best Times To Be Alive In Middle-earth"?

[@ricardoandre7049]

1st Age of the Sun, between the Arival of the Edain and the breaking of the siege. 2nd Age early Numenor 3rd Age, probably Gondor at the time of the Ship Kings

[@talesoftheeldar8688]

The time betwen the Fall of Gondolin and the War of Wrath.Morgoth ruled Beleriand

[@SvengelskaBlondie]

Speaking of time, this was a great timing for me to watch while I enjoy a monster energy drink and some grilled chicken..

[@saladinbob]

You'd be lucky to make it to 8, let alone 80 in parts of the First Age when Morgoth sent forth his plague across the lands. Plus unless you lived under the protection of the Elves you were subject to constant raids by Orcs and Easterlings, as well as Westerners who themselves had lost everything. Pick any 80 year block you want from that period and it's going to be a pretty shitty time to live.

[@Byenie0912]

My bet would be the awakening of the elves and men. Imagine opening your eyes for the first time. Seeing the stars… seeing the rising sun… and then suddenly you’re abducted inside a dark fortress and suffered all manners of torture until all you’re left with is an empty instinct to obey your master’s command Or If you’re a low ranking Maiar, minding your business being a steward of some forest, river, or mountain, and then suddenly you saw the introvert Ainur raining hellfire on everything.

[@YappingLegend]

Its always a good day when I wake up and see an upload from Darth Gandalf.

[@RocketHarry865]

I wonder what was the world like outside of Beleriand in the first age considering Morgoth attention and his monsters were focused on Beleriand its likely the worst you would encounter in the far east was some rival human tribe

[@coreyander286]

Remember that the Edain were fleeing from other Men who were under Morgoth's shadow. Morgoth somehow found Men shortly after they awoke. The Tale of Adanel, the Middle-earth version of original sin in the Garden of Eden. Even if Morgoth wasn't micro-managing the rest of Middle-earth, his monsters might still have roamed there, including Orcs, and a lot of tribes could have carried on Morgoth-worship, which might have made them pretty brutal.

[@DarthGandalfYT]

Not as bad as Beleriand but still not great. We know that Orcs roamed the east of Middle-earth, and lots of Men were underneath Morgoth's shadow. There were also evil Dwarves at this time as well.

[@morgothfromangband6082]

I always thought other ancient human empires existed in other parts of the world. And after Morgoth conquered most of Beleriand he attacked the other empires all over the world too (except Valinor), until War of Wrath began.

[@bleekskaduwee6762]

Very cool video once again Lord DarthGandolf

[@LittleRedSerge]

I'd say LOTR took place during a Dark Age. Although, for the people living there, it would have *felt* post-apocalyptic. It doesn't help that there were Barrow Zombies along the road between Buckland and Bree, lol. That definitely adds to the post-apocalyptic flavour.

[@cavetroll666]

cheers from Toronto thanks for videos :)

[@SquirrelASMR]

Ya i live there too sadly

[@flip1sba]

For the orcs, wraiths, etc. The Fourth Age was the worst for them to be alive!

[@motherlesschild102]

Good LOTR knowledge & good arguments!

[@wedgeantillies66]

Being alive during the time of the great plague would be worst time to be alive as although you can continue to fights against physical opponents and their oppression. Fighting against something that you cannot see, hear or touch and attacks you on a microscopic level is much worse and without hope.

[@ryancarter1080]

I'm just wondering after the war of Elves and Sauron why did it take 1600 years for Sauron and Numenor to fight a true war? There does seem to be some skirmishes between the powers as Sauron seemed to strive with Numenor in the South but no direct action. Sauron was willing to march from Mordor to Eraidor in 1600 but was unwilling to march on Pelagir at any point in the second age despite being fairly close to the heart of his power Mordor. Clearly Sauron wasn't afraid of them, initially when A-Pharazon marched Sauron gathered his army to confront them believing he could defeat them, while this proved untrue, it is true that in 3261 Sauron believed he could defeat the main Numenorian army. So, why didn't he try and destroy the much weaker Numenorian colonies at any point between the years 2000 (considering the recovery ability of dark lord armied it should be rebuilt by then) to 3200 on his own terms rather which would have ignited a war year or even centuries before rather than wait for Numenor to declare war on him. After all his other records always show him as the aggressor, as proactive against his enemies in some for or another, war, rings or subterfuge. But as far as I can tell he didn't touch a single Numenorian colony in the 1600 years between those two wars

[@istari0]

Númenor beat Sauron badly in The War of the Elves and Sauron. Sauron wasn't going to rush back into another war with them.

[@SquirrelASMR]

Procrastination. I know how bad it gets im still planning to respond to texts i got 10 years ago.

[@stivklif]

I love procrastination but I never get round to it​@@SquirrelASMR

[@fgf4973]

Imagine a TV series set just as the Great Plague starts and it's centered on human survivors trying to outrun the plague. They could be unknown carriers spreading it to new human communities as they flee from borders of Rhun to the far west in Arnor. The story could explore how different human settlements along their journey would react to what is happening and see how they explain or who they blame for the plague's cause. Would be interesting to also tie in how human-elf-dwarf relations changed during this time. Since they were immune to sickness did they provide aid or were they indifferent seeing it as not their problem? A good writing team could have so many interesting narratives available to make a great story that could respect the lore while showing a fresh perspective...

[@przemekreszka2825]

Did Fëanor unwillingly saved the seceond children of Iluvatar by his rebelion?

[@pedrovargas2181]

Most likely. What with Illúvatar being the origin of everything and everything being his plan. Or so I have read over there.

[@coreyander286]

I'm tickled by Tolkien's use of "outlaw". Tuor and Turin's Gaurwaith make sense, the Easterlings have a price on Tuor's head and the Gaurwaith were feared by the Haladin presumably preying on innocents until Turin redirected them to fighting Orcs. But how is Barahir's band a band of outlaws? Are they robbing innocents? Are they defying any Mannish or Elven government? Or is it just like, "We're wanted by the Law. The Law of literally Satan." And Morgoth stands there with a ten-gallon hat and a Shirrif's Star.

[@LittleRedSerge]

That's basically it, lol. Morgoth conquered most of Beleriand and made it his Dominion, so his word of law and the resistance fighters would be branded as outlaws since they'd attack his forces. We see it a lot in real life, historical and modern. Something something terrorists and freedom fighters.

[@LittleRedSerge]

*his word WAS law, lol

[@DarthGandalfYT]

Maybe it was a marketing strategy to make them sound cooler.

[@ClareBearBunny]

Could Sauron have absorbed the One Ring if he'd wanted? Maybe after the War of the Elves and Sauron, he realizes he is vulnerable to its destruction. He decides his plan with the rings of power didn't work out, and the ring is more trouble than it's worth. How would the story have played out? I know this completely goes against his character, but I think it's an interesting hypothetical.

[@Test-mq8ih]

More like he couldn't do it even if he want to By your logic, Morgoth should absorb Silmarilion as well especially when he got cornered in the Last Great War :)

[@Test-mq8ih]

At least with how Tolkien wrote the story, it doesn't seems like that any creature, even a superior entity like a Maiar (Sauron) or Valar can absorb stuff whenever they want to

[@ClareBearBunny]

@@Test-mq8ih What I mean is, he put his essence into the ring. Could he have gotten rid of the ring, and reabsorbed that essence?

[@stivklif]

That would mean deliberately damaging the ring which no-one could do, not even Sauron

[@squamish4244]

The Children of Hurin takes place almost entirely in the shittiest time to be alive in Middle Earth. Good thing it has a happy ending.

[@General12th]

Hi Darth! I don't think our civilization is doomed.

[@coreyander286]

No guarantees! Not one way, nor the other.

[@DarthGandalfYT]

I hope so.

[@chesterbless9441]

Seventh Age 2024

[@katsomeday1]

Just for the last joke alone this video deserved a like.

[@jackkennedy70]

Post 2015 when you found out that Back to the Future got everything wrong, no flying cars, no hoverboards, no self drying clothes. 😅

[@dansuciu733]

Now do the best time.

[@fightforaglobalfirstamendm5617]

Which of all fantasy/ sci fi fantasy Universes/ World's would you most like to live in?

[@SvengelskaBlondie]

Would be tempted to live in Pokemon's fictional world, until you remember that the powers pokemon have would sort of make not "not work". Sort of the same with 1 punch man, way too many monsters roaming around destroying sh!1 to make me want to live there (doubt you would become one of the A let alone S rank heroes in that universe). Star Wars is quite nice, as long as you avoid the "creepy zombie virus" regions of the uncharted space. Warhammer 40k is also alright, there's countless worlds that are not battlegrounds or directly involved with nasty things like orks, chaos warbands or dark elf raiding parties. Biggest problems are space bugs and space Egyptian terminator robots.

[@RocketHarry865]

@@SvengelskaBlondie I think Star Trek is one of the best choices, especially if you were in some federation world if you are lucky. You are most likely going to be some random civilian who has easy and free access to technology that can give you comfortable lives and a working medical system that can trivially treat most illness. And if you weren't born in the federation most places are still decent to live, with only a few really horrible places. Of course there are still many horrors that exist in star trek universe if you drew the short stick.

[@DarthGandalfYT]

I kind of like Mass Effect...but the Reapers are a thing so maybe not.

[@andrewwong295]

I accept a pineapple pizza but that ain't no pizza

[@moistmike4150]

A good analog for the worst time to be alive in America would be the Age Of Disco 1974 to 1980.

[@DarthGandalfYT]

Truly an accursed time.

[@aweirdredguy3885]

Ok right winger​@@DarthGandalfYT

[@venkelos6996]

I don't see any reason to argue with any of these, but I still feel like I can pick what, for me, would be the worst point. I'm not going to describe it well, with years, and locations, by name, but there is a region of western Middle Earth, or at least it WAS, that is now just gone; list underwater after the wars with Morgoth. Even after endless fighting, and giving everything they had to resist, or conquer, Morgoth; even when they did technically claim a victory, their very lands were lost under the swell of the sea. Sure, Beleriand was broken, Nargothrond destroyed, and even Gondolin was sacked, but despite Tolkien sometimes bizarrely leaving areas fallow of people, or forgetting that they breed quickly, in times of peace, cities can be rebuilt. Yet, the very land some of these places once stood is now gone. A traveling historian couldn't go visit the ruins, or a descendant go pay respects, unless they were hardy swimmers, and could breathe underwater. To fight so hard to Dave, or even just reclaim, your homeland, just to watch the very world swallow it up; to know that, even as Numenor was raised out of the sea, as reward, your home had been consigned to the depths, would beso disheartening, leaving you to need to find a home in foreign domains. And the tide, though it washed in, would never recede, and the place of your home, and history, was gone forever, save in your memories.

[@pawbard]

Meanwhile in the far east everyone is chilling forever

[@coreyander286]

We know there might have been some anti-Sauron powers in the east, maybe helped by the Blue Wizards and Aragorn, but we don't know how far east they were and how taxing their battles with Sauron's Easterling forces were. Plus, apparently they have Were-worms.

[@ingold1470]

Or the calamities there are not recorded because our sources are the Imladris elves, Frodo and Bilbo.

[@DavidNewmanDr]

What was the worst time to be an orc?

[@talesoftheeldar8688]

Dagor Aglareb,War of Wrath and War of the last allience

[@SquirrelASMR]

Did Trump name his kid after Beren?

[@bristleconepine4120]

So, let's speculate. My LotRO character, Tinúviel "Nuvi" Nos Cestawen, born in Caras Galadhon in 2898 T.A., is part of a family that has been active in Middle Earth's events since the Second Age, in disguise if need be. Obviously Nuvi herself is way too young to have seen any of these events (she's younger than Gimli!), but what did her family experience? What were the worst times of the Second and Third Ages to be Nos Cestawen? I would speculate that in the Third Age, the period from 1974 to 2050 would have been pretty awful for them, too. We know that a large fraction of the population of Lothlorien went over the sea following the awakening of Durin's Bane in 1980. I have to imagine that it was pretty rough in Lothlorien at that time, even if the Gondoran scribes who annotated the Red Book of Westmarch didn't know much about it.

[@user-js2ky3ih2m]

Thirst !!

[@SvengelskaBlondie]

POWERTHIRST 😁

[@Seraphus87]

Alright, you know what, I agree. We should have just ended it in 2012. Everything since then has just been a shitshow. And for a lot of people the time before 2012 was also pretty poo. Edit: except learning that Celeborn is actually Teleporno, that was fun.