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Tumblr crosspost (5 January 2021)
Mar. 27th, 2024 12:49 pm- All my thoughts are underpinned by my firm belief that Faramir was, rightly, the preferred choice of whoever sent the dreams (Irmo?) and things would have worked out better if he had gone. So I’m not here for things like “Faramir would have died on the journey because Boromir is tougher and ultimately all fallen into ruin”
- In fact, I think it’s possible that Faramir would have made the journey more easily, because although Boromir is tougher than he is, it’s entirely believable that Faramir (who is repeatedly described as a master of beasts and, in canon, can keep his horse under control in the face of five Ringwraiths) is the better horseman and wouldn’t have lost his horse on the way—
- allowing for the possibility that Faramir is already at Rivendell when the others arrive (it’s also possible, for convenience, that these things basically cancel out and he gets there at the same time as Boromir, but I think it’s more interesting if we look for differences).
- If the former, there’s time for significant interactions with Elrond, Bilbo, random Elves … how does that go? Especially since Faramir canonically thinks it’s dangerous to have too much to do with Elves these days.
- Pippin registers Faramir as vaguely Elvish in canon, and also in canon, Legolas later recognizes and respects that Faramir’s uncle is partially Elvish. Does that hold for Faramir or is he more associated with Númenor/Aragorn/Gandalf(!) like Denethor?
- Specifically, how does the “the blood of Númenor is spent in Gondor and the country is in decay” stuff work with a Gondorian Dúnadan right there in whom the blood of Númenor is clearly not spent and who believes that the integration of non-Númenóreans strengthened his people, but also believes that the Dúnedain are permanently fading? Does it come up?
- Gandalf is eager to consult with Faramir in ROTK and stressed about him not being in Minas Tirith yet. How does he react to reaching Rivendell and finding Faramir, of all people, just … there? And brought by a prophetic dream? How does Faramir react to Mithrandir showing up?
- Really curious how the psychic powers possessed by quite a few characters here, including Faramir, play out generally.
- Pippin’s first impression of Faramir is affected by a) Faramir having just risen above a harrowing experience and b) reminding him of Aragorn in his (A’s) ‘high’ moments; at this point, unless I’m misremembering, Pippin would have little/no experience of either, so I’m also curious about how much of his canon first impression would be present in the AU.
- Similarly, I’m curious if Sam would associate Faramir with wizards without the trial of the Ring. What does he think of Faramir’s ‘quality’? And vice-versa?
- Really curious about how Faramir and Aragorn interact without Faramir being unconscious and dying and the whole mystical kingly … everything going on, especially given Faramir’s canonical skepticism in TTT. I tend to assume that Imrahil gave Aragorn some background on Faramir’s situation in ROTK, but with no Imrahil present and no or very few preconceptions, what do they think of each other?
That’s not even getting into, uh, most of the plot, just Faramir literally being in Rivendell. But, obviously, there are plenty of things to think about through the rest of LOTR, too!
Tagged: #faramir #elrond #bilbo baggins #(i mean. faramir and bilbo interacting is just... amazing) #(though i think i'm most interested in faramir+elrond and faramir+aragorn) #i think one of the things that makes the au so interesting #is that lotr is so tightly plotted that any change creates major effects #but it's also really clear that there's some happier alternate scenario with faramir that was supposed to happen #but it takes some doing to figure out how to make it end up there without adding in a bunch of changes that don't follow from it #...none of which this post was about but anyway
