Feb
12
Riddles in the Dark: Episode Two
In this session, Dave Kale and Corey Olsen discuss the extraordinary sequence of misfortunes that afflicted the House of Durin, especially Thror. They explore Thror’s story and gruesome death in Appendix A ofLOTR and The Quest for Erebor and connect it to the story of The Hobbit. Finally, they speculate on what role Thror may play in the upcoming film, particularly in the light of casting news.
Learn more and listen to Riddles in the Dark
I just watched the “Dol Guldur” bits in the trailer frame by frame. at the 01:36 mark you can see that Gandalf is slowly making his way down precarious winding stairs that descend into pitch black. Gandalf is using the light on the end of his staff to see. There is also a doorway behind the shot of Galdalf fighting Thrain. It is possible that Gandalf found Thrain down in the pits and brought him up. At this point Thrain could go nuts and attack Gandalf.
It could also be that Thrain somehow escaped shortly before Gandalf came and is “witless and wandering” around the surface looking for his ring.
I thought immediately of Hurins ‘prison’ being outdoor, thats kind of open air too!
Seriously though, I think the ‘witless and wandering’ could be key. I think he may have escaped, or even let go; considered by Sauron to be ‘used and broken’ meandering around the footings of Dol Guldur. This would make some sense, as much in the same way Hurin was let go, he could be deemed to be no more threat, or indeed as some last act of torment perhaps hoping he may reap more trouble before his end.
It will be interesting to see.
That’s a nice thought about Hurin. It does seem more twisted for Sauron to break Thrain to the point that he doesn’t need to keep him imprisoned in a pit as he is imprisoned by madness. I like the idea that he has been crawling around the ruins all this time looking for his ring. This would also add more to the threat of Sauron gaining power over the rings again.
I was just pondering Thrain’s attacking Gandalf and wondered if Jackson might try to have Thrain “possessed” by Sauron – ala Theoden and Saruman. It could be that this is how they will have Gandalf find out that the Necromancer is indeed Sauron.
PS. As for the “sunny”, outdoor prison, they could go with the idea that there is a perpetual darkness over the spot due to Sauron’s evil presence. And as I said elsewhere, an above ground prison might be seen as more cruel to a dwarf than a dark pit.