This may come as a shock to anons who filter their entire existence through video games but literature does not need to operate according to rules of game balance.
Anon watches Lord of the Rings
Submitted 3 weeks ago by Early_To_Risa@sh.itjust.works to greentext@sh.itjust.works
https://sh.itjust.works/pictrs/image/09535a03-2535-4d3d-b1f5-2bde30b6cb3b.png
Comments
EtnaAtsume@lemmy.world 3 weeks ago
i_am_a_cardboard_box@lemmy.world 3 weeks ago
Cinema, not literature. In the books the undead army is way less OP than in the movie adaptation. Their only weapon is fear, and they do not liberate minas tirith, but only scare the mercenaries off their black sail ships. Aragon uses the boats to quick travel to minas tirith with his elf and half elven friends and fresh troops from the south.
Klear@quokk.au 3 weeks ago
Their only weapon is fear
Fear and surprise
prototact@lemmy.zip 2 weeks ago
Ye I don’t blame Jackson for chainging it, there was less time to explain in the movie and the payoff was bigger. What works in books does not always work in films and vice versa
zloubida@sh.itjust.works 3 weeks ago
Yes! The answer is “you can’t, and that’s the point.”
RaivoKulli@sopuli.xyz 3 weeks ago
It just makes other threars in the world feel a bit meaningless
Kolanaki@pawb.social 3 weeks ago
Man, even games don’t need to operate according to the rules of game balance. Just look at [current hot live service game’s most recent update]!
AGD4@lemmy.world 3 weeks ago
Man, [current hot live service game] has really gone down hill since [game’s most recent update] released. It’s like the Devs don’t even care anymore, y’know?
rtxn@lemmy.world 3 weeks ago
“A story is not a machine that does what you tell it. A story is a beast with a life of its own. You can create it, shape it, but as the story grows, it starts wanting things of its own. Change one thing, and you set off a chain reaction of events that spreads through the whole thing. The characters have to be true to themselves. The events need to follow a logic that fits the story. A single flaw and the magic is gone. The story dies. - Alan Wake” - Sam Lake
Established rules and constraints must be consistent throughout the story, otherwise nerds on the internet with nothing better to do will call you a hack.
dreadbeef@lemmy.dbzer0.com 2 weeks ago
I agree, David Lynch is objectively a bad writer.
/s
ryathal@sh.itjust.works 2 weeks ago
It’s not just Internet nerds. That’s a basic rule of literary analysis asa whole.
UnderpantsWeevil@lemmy.world 2 weeks ago
I think there’s a whole webcomic DM of the Rings that makes fun of this idea at great length.
dalekcaan@feddit.nl 3 weeks ago
PuddleOfKittens@sh.itjust.works 2 weeks ago
Can cause physical harm
The irony is that they can’t, but their greatest weapon is that the people they fight think they can, and flee without even trying. And this post is making the exact same mistake, while also assuming they’re invincible. The answer to the post is the post. That or pointing to the post and laughing.
Empricorn@feddit.nl 2 weeks ago
Book version. In the movie version they absolutely can cause physical harm. A ghost sword and Aragorn’s even stop each other, iirc.
toynbee@lemmy.world 2 weeks ago
I’ve never been a huge LotR fan so I don’t necessarily remember any details, but isn’t that because the sword had special qualities (being the sword of the ghosts’ king IIRC) rather than because the ghosts can interact with physical objects?
sp3ctr4l@lemmy.dbzer0.com 2 weeks ago
Psychological warfare sure is … funny, isn’t it?
UnderpantsWeevil@lemmy.world 2 weeks ago
The irony is that they can’t
Pretty sure I saw a bunch of these guys sucking people’s souls out or whatever, during the battle, at least in the movie.
From the book, its ambiguous. Per Legolas to the hobbits, following the battle:
Faint cries I heard, and dim horns blowing, and a murmur as of countless far voices: it was like the echo of some forgotten battle in the Dark Years long ago. Pale swords were drawn; but I know not whether their blades would still bite, for the Dead needed no longer any weapon but fear
A lot of Tolkien’s storytelling involves this kind of Word of Mouth recounting, such that it’s hard to know whether you’re getting real High Magic or just mythology passed down second hand.
However you slice it, I’d describe “literally scares you to death” as physical harm.
dreadbeef@lemmy.dbzer0.com 3 weeks ago
kadaverin0@lemmy.dbzer0.com 2 weeks ago
Aiyoyoyu
ArbitraryValue@sh.itjust.works 3 weeks ago
They’re a limited-use item - once they do enough to fulfill their oath, they won’t keep fighting. Also, in the books it wasn’t clear that they could actually cause physical harm.
stupidcasey@lemmy.world 3 weeks ago
Crashumbc@lemmy.world 2 weeks ago
We need a bigger trap!
5714@lemmy.dbzer0.com 2 weeks ago
Opportunity for LotR x Ghostbusters brainrot
Kenny2999@lemmy.world 3 weeks ago
oce@jlai.lu 3 weeks ago
Enchanted weapons or your own army of the same ghostly type.
InternetCitizen2@lemmy.world 3 weeks ago
And Sauron didn’t have a few?
oce@jlai.lu 3 weeks ago
He didn’t have time to cast or summon, it was not in his primary deck for this battle.
carrylex@lemmy.world 3 weeks ago
TheSlad@sh.itjust.works 3 weeks ago
Its funny how this scene implies that Aragorn came up with this flashy theatrical entrance idea, explained it to the ghosts, and they were all like “hell yea thats sounds bad-ass lets do it”
Nomad@infosec.pub 3 weeks ago
Well, it’s not like the enemy army has one if the two most ancient and most powerful magicians on their side. They’ll figure something out.
captainlezbian@lemmy.world 2 weeks ago
Two actually. Sauron and Sarumon are the same class of being. Balrogs are too, but iirc they’re more on Morgoth’s side
Nomad@infosec.pub 2 weeks ago
If i remember correctly, Saruman had already fled at that point. Correct?
thatsTheCatch@lemmy.nz 2 weeks ago
Saruman was dead by this time though
sp3ctr4l@lemmy.dbzer0.com 2 weeks ago
Superior diplomacy and/or subterfuge and intrigue.
… and/or superior magic.
The Dead Men of Dunharrow only respond to and follow Aragorn because they believe he is the heir to Isildur.
Make them doubt that.
… Or just kill Aragon, specifically, with extreme prejudice.
Or, generate a pretender heir to Isildur, mislead them.
Or… and I am… admittedly not sure if this is possible within LotR canon…
Basically, get Sauron or Saurumon to directly intervene with some kind of magic that is at least as, or more powerful than that of Isildur, such thst they can be paralyzed or rendered combat ineffective in some way.
In more modern military lingo: Re evaluate your enemy threat profiles and re allocate resources and attention accordingly.
individual@toast.ooo 5 days ago
win them over
Jesus_666@lemmy.world 3 weeks ago
Call the Ghostbusters, duh. They ain’t afraid of no ghost.
wizardbeard@lemmy.dbzer0.com 3 weeks ago
zod000@lemmy.dbzer0.com 2 weeks ago
Great, now this will be stuck in my head for the next six months… again. Worth it!
(bustin’, bustin’, bustin’, bustin’…)
imetators@lemmy.dbzer0.com 2 weeks ago
AN INVISIBLE BED?! FREAKING GHOST BED!
xkbx@startrek.website 3 weeks ago
Close your eyes and say you don’t believe in ghosts
stray@pawb.social 3 weeks ago
I’m my experience, simply refusing to acknowledge the supernatural has made such entities incapable of properly manifesting 100% of the time.
RaivoKulli@sopuli.xyz 3 weeks ago
“I ain’t afraid of no ghost”
programmer_belch@lemmy.dbzer0.com 3 weeks ago
10 necromancers turning them against each other
Kolanaki@pawb.social 3 weeks ago
Have you not played Luigi’s Mansion?
Image
Gork@sopuli.xyz 3 weeks ago
Person wielding vacuum cleaner when countering this threat: “lol skill issue”
stray@pawb.social 3 weeks ago
It does make a ton of thematic sense that the counter to a purely magical threat is a technological weapon.
Kolanaki@pawb.social 2 weeks ago
You might like Arcanum: Of Steamworks & Magicka Obscura. The clashing of magic and technology plays a major role in the mechanics.