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| The Last Maker by Ecthelion of the fountain | 15 Review(s) |
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| Leithian | Reviewed Chapter: Epilogue 2 on 3/9/2025 |
| This final chapter is so beautiful, and so evocative, that I don't have words to praise it. It is the perfect ending to an amazing piece of work. The way you have included flashbacks to the creation story and the Lay of Leithian, as Celebrimbor, manages to free himself from the 'shackles of deception' is marvelous. It is very rare to find a fanfic which addresses the concept of the Unseen in Tolkien's world. You have done it very skillfully, and it makes a lot of sense. 𝘠𝘰𝘶 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘲𝘶𝘦𝘳 𝘍𝘪𝘯𝘳𝘰𝘥 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘱𝘢𝘯𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘴 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘴𝘵𝘰𝘰𝘥 𝘣𝘦𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶, 𝘣𝘦𝘳𝘦𝘧𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘢𝘳𝘮𝘴; 𝘩𝘰𝘸, 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘯, 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘩𝘰𝘱𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘴𝘶𝘣𝘥𝘶𝘦 𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘸𝘩𝘰 𝘣𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘴 𝘢 𝘙𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘰𝘧 𝘗𝘰𝘸𝘦𝘳? Just remembered that Finrod, and Maedhros along with Celebrimbor are the only characters who were tortured by Sauron, yet managed to defy him... Author Reply: Thank you! This all started with me wondering: Why didn’t Sauron use a Ring of Power on Celebrimbor if he already possessed the Ruling Ring? One possible answer is that it takes time to corrupt those who wear the Rings—but another possibility is that he tried, and it backfired. Combining this with the description of the Unseen, I shaped this story where Celebrimbor lost—because he forged the Rings—but won in his final defiance. Just remembered that Finrod, and Maedhros along with Celebrimbor are the only characters who were tortured by Sauron - I’m not sure it was ever explicitly stated that Sauron tortured Maedhros, but yes—and, Celebrimbor remembers them in this story as those who mattered most to him (along with his father) too. | |
| Leithian | Reviewed Chapter: 8 on 3/9/2025 |
| Oh, oh, oh. What a sad, and tragic turn of events. Poor Celebrimbor, somehow, I think, he is still pursued by the Doom of Mandos. '𝘛𝘰 𝘦𝘷𝘪𝘭 𝘦𝘯𝘥 𝘴𝘩𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘴 𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘣𝘦𝘨𝘪𝘯 𝘸𝘦𝘭𝘭; 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘣𝘺 𝘵𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘴𝘰𝘯 𝘰𝘧 𝘬𝘪𝘯 𝘶𝘯𝘵𝘰 𝘬𝘪𝘯, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘧𝘦𝘢𝘳 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘴𝘰𝘯, 𝘴𝘩𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘱𝘢𝘴𝘴. 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘋𝘪𝘴𝘱𝘰𝘴𝘴𝘦𝘴𝘴𝘦𝘥 𝘴𝘩𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘣𝘦 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳.' I believe that deceiving Celebrimbor was one of the worst things Sauron did, and one that had the greatest and long lasting consequence in the form of the War of the Ring, and the diminishing of the Elves. However, he also paved the way for his own destruction, as he concentrated a large amount of power in the One Ring. I have a question for you: do you think that the creation of the One Ring rendered Sauron destructible? In the 1st Age we see that despite the destruction of his bodily form (Huan ripped his throat out), he was able to take a new form. Similarly, the flood which destroys Numenor does not kill Sauron, although his fair form is lost. I am aware that Sauron being a Maia, cannot be truly killed, however, I'm curious to know if, in your view, there is any other way in which, Sauron would have been reduced to impotency the way he was after the destruction of the One Ring. Thanks in advance Author Reply: Sorry for the late reply—I hadn’t checked the reviews here for a while, and the email notifications don’t seem to be working. As for whether Sauron became destructible, I don’t think he did; as you said, a Maia can’t truly be killed. However, the Ainur can dissipate their own power and diminish themselves. Morgoth, for example, poured so much of his strength into corrupting all of Arda that he significantly weakened himself, ultimately leading to his exile. Sauron’s case is similar—when the Ring was destroyed, he was permanently weakened to the point that he could never take physical form again. However, his evil and will endured, and his influence would linger indefinitely, becoming more insidious and even harder to combat. | |
| Reviewed Chapter: 5 on 2/23/2025 | |
| “𝘛𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩 𝘔𝘰𝘳𝘨𝘰𝘵𝘩 𝘴𝘭𝘢𝘺 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘥𝘰𝘦𝘳 𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘢𝘯𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘮𝘢𝘬𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘥𝘦𝘦𝘥 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘣𝘦𝘦𝘯. 𝘌𝘷𝘦𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘓𝘰𝘳𝘥𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘞𝘦𝘴𝘵 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘩𝘰𝘯𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘪𝘵; 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘪𝘴 𝘪𝘵 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘸𝘳𝘪𝘵𝘵𝘦𝘯 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘩𝘪𝘴𝘵𝘰𝘳𝘺 𝘰𝘧 𝘈𝘳𝘥𝘢, 𝘸𝘩𝘪𝘤𝘩 𝘯𝘦𝘪𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘔𝘰𝘳𝘨𝘰𝘵𝘩 𝘯𝘰𝘳 𝘔𝘢𝘯𝘸ë 𝘤𝘢𝘯 𝘶𝘯𝘸𝘳𝘪𝘵𝘦?” (1) 𝘖𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘴 𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘥 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘦𝘭𝘰𝘲𝘶𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘴𝘱𝘦𝘦𝘤𝘩 𝘢 𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘳𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘦𝘤𝘩𝘰 𝘰𝘧 𝘭𝘰𝘯𝘨-𝘭𝘰𝘴𝘵 𝘷𝘢𝘭𝘰𝘳 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘳𝘢𝘨𝘦. 𝘉𝘶𝘵 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘊𝘦𝘭𝘦𝘣𝘳𝘪𝘮𝘣𝘰𝘳, 𝘪𝘵 𝘳𝘢𝘯𝘨 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘢 𝘥𝘢𝘯𝘨𝘦𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘴 𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘰𝘯𝘢𝘯𝘤𝘦, 𝘳𝘦𝘤𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢 𝘰𝘯𝘤𝘦-𝘧𝘢𝘮𝘪𝘭𝘪𝘢𝘳 𝘷𝘰𝘪𝘤𝘦: 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘥𝘦𝘦𝘥𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘸𝘦 𝘴𝘩𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘥𝘰 𝘴𝘩𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘣𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘮𝘢𝘵𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘰𝘧 𝘴𝘰𝘯𝘨 𝘶𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘭 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘭𝘢𝘴𝘵 𝘥𝘢𝘺𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘈𝘳𝘥𝘢. (2) The way you've drawn parallels between Feanaro and Turin is interesting. The way both sort to challenge the limit of possibility and take fate into their own hands. I can never decide whether this is defiance, hubris, or a mix of both. Nice touch with Celebrimbor leaving Nargothrond with the arrival of Turin. “𝘐𝘵 𝘮𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘣𝘦𝘦𝘯 𝘯𝘢ï𝘷𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘮𝘦, 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘐 𝘯𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘥𝘪𝘦.” Strangely enough, me too. When reading the Silmarillion, I put down my phone to process that shock. Author Reply: Yeah—I found it to be a strange yet compelling parallel between the two, and I felt there was something else Celebrimbor would keenly sense—a certain bitterness born from a sense of injustice. | |
| Leithian | Reviewed Chapter: Prologue on 2/23/2025 |
| After putting this story off for a time (because of too many tests and assignments), I've finally started to read it. I'm sure your take on Celebrimbor will be as rich and varied as all the other characters I've admired. BTW dear Ecthelion, I don't know about others, but as for myself, I have no doubt of your work being completely distinct from Amazon's ROP. Through all your stories, you have proved yourself to be a much better writer than any one on 'that' show's team. Author Reply: Thanks! No worries at all—life comes with many necessities, and we all have to tend to them! IMO, tests and assignments are waaay more important than my stories. And thank you for your trust in me regarding RoP—I just couldn’t risk being seen as following their example, lol. | |
| PSW | Reviewed Chapter: Epilogue 2 on 2/18/2025 |
| Interesting finale, indeed …. | |
| PSW | Reviewed Chapter: Epilogue on 2/17/2025 |
| Well, that’s going out like a Feanorion! This has been a great look at the relationship between Celebrimbor and Annatar/Gorthaur/Sauron/whatever he’s calling himself… Will be interested to see the extra chapter. Thx for sharing! Author Reply: Thanks for all the comments!! I didn’t reply to some of them earlier—especially those on the later chapters—because I didn’t want to give away spoilers. :P Hopefully, the story itself answered all your questions! I’m so glad you enjoyed it! :D | |
| PSW | Reviewed Chapter: 9 on 2/17/2025 |
| Everyone else seems to want her hair - why not? :-D So he has distributed the Rings and goes back now to face what he likely assumes will be his death… | |
| PSW | Reviewed Chapter: 8 on 2/16/2025 |
| Uh ohhhh…. I wonder if he will believe it a dream or a vision? (Or of course, both.) It’s good to see Galadriel and Celeborn - good that they all still desire to make some effort to get along even despite their differences over his friendship with Annatar. Now, we shall see if Galadriel takes a moment to say ‘I told you so’ … | |
| PSW | Reviewed Chapter: 7 on 2/15/2025 |
| Was that a jump-scare, or did he actually see Annatar coming out from behind the tree? In my mind, it would have made a very effective jump-scare on screen… ;-) Also, your description of his eyes came through very vividly. Hmm … I’m not sure what I think is happening here. Perhaps Annatar was meeting with the orcs and had told them to shoot him if they were discovered (as a cover)? We shall see… | |
| PSW | Reviewed Chapter: 6 on 2/14/2025 |
| Hmmm…. I have thoughts, but will need to see what happens to know how wrong I am. :-P ‘Receiving without depriving, giving without diminishing.’ Can that be done outside of Eru? Maybe the Valar? But no, even the Valar are diminished (if slowly) by their works. So, I guess we’re about to find out what he thinks he’s come up with … Enjoying! | |