Spoiler warning for the arc "Suspicious Signs in the Angle"! Do read if you love the Rangers, because I don't recommend you learn of it the hard way.

So forgive me if I proclaim to be a diehard Dúnedain fan but just began the Angle this past week! Because of Reasons I was delayed six months, like being too busy, and one that directly relate to the subject of this post: I've lost enthusiasm for new content in the game, because as an almost twelve-year-player, the new content doesn't feel as canon. I noticed the shift in the devs' priorities in the North Downs overhaul of 2014, which was from storytelling to game mechanics: many quests were removed or reworked, often to the extent that their spirit & often logic was butchered, and the skill descriptions were rewritten to the liking of a gamer who gives no attention to the plot at all (sorry, I've never gotten over that.) I feel that all the content since has followed that scheme, though still with some glorious moments, but past the conclusion of Volume IV I think the stories have deviated so far from Lotro's own canon that I can no longer take them seriously.
So getting back to the point of this post: I was still looking forward to the Angle, although without the euphoria I would have had five years ago , and I enjoyed it right up to that quest arc, "Suspicious Signs in the Angle." Over every way Lotro's stories have bent Tolkien's canon, or even its own, the last quest in this crossed a line. (pun not intended with its title)

From the beginning of this region, a big dent in the plot was the openness of the Rangers--a people who are supposed to be wary & slow to trust, despite their nobility & sweetness that runs from their seductive hood to their precious little boots--and that was most present in this storyline. In this case, the Dunlendings were also strangely trusting; the core of this quest arc was a bunch of strangers from warring factions who ask each other for help, with only an acknowledgement "hey it's a risk to ask you for help but im doing it." But finally, "At a Crossroads" defiled the essence of the Dúnedain lore. I can't even bend it to make sense:
  • Under no circumstances have the Northern Dúnedain ever killed one of their own, nor did they see reason for such: there was no basis for such a thing in the books, and Lotro faithfully portrayed this nobility up to this quest. Even in the worst scenarios, the Dúnedain held true to each other; Toradan & Reniolind lost their lives to Amdir, due to desperate hope even when he was half-wraith; when Golodir sank towards madness after his long imprisonment by Mordirith, the Grey Company stood by him to his end.
  • Lagordal's "betrayal" isn't plain, here: the PC is a more convincing traitor than he is. The PC is the one whose been running around serving these Dunlendings. Lagordal offered one of them a very similar deal: take what you want and leave the Angle & its people alone. The Dunlending spy wanted to kill the Cuan-luth, and for all Lagordal knows (and the PC, for the matter; so what you killed a few crebain?) the Cuan-luth could also be servants of Saruman, and the spy is hunting them over internal quarrels.
    Consider his dialogue:
    Lagordal says, "This man is one of the fugitives you seek, yes? I can direct you to the rest."
    Lagordal says, "If you take them and leave, I'll let you go peacefully."
    Dunlending Spy says, "Why would a Ranger like you help me?"
    Lagordal says, "Do not mistake this for help."
    Lagordal says, "The Dúnedain have enough worries to tend."
    Lagordal says, "These fugitives are just one more problem to solve."
    (BTW I couldn't resist correcting grammar here, which doesn't align with the classic Evendim content)
    This doesn't exactly say "heh heh i'm in league with Saruman! screw my people!!" And we don't know what he's not saying; perhaps Lagordal sought to manipulate the spy, although such indirectness isn't the usual way of the Dúnedain, but this plot has already strayed from the usual.
  • Not to mention the total canon-break that is the absence of the Rangers in their own town: the PC & Dunlendings walk up to Lagordal & Other Dunlendings with no hindrance. I first thought the Dúnedain were spying, although it's odd they would allow strangers to trespass, but ultimately no spying Rangers reveal themselves; the other three walk up to Lagordal entirely as "what's going on here??"
  • So ultimately, there was no logic in which the Dúnedain would hand over one of their own with no questions asked, least of all for execution. They expressed no idea of what was happening (within their own town...), and accepted the words of the PC and a few Dunlendings over their own kin. I can't stress that enough, nor should I have need. And then they just turn their backs...and leave us outsiders to escort ourselves out of town?!!


Yes, this unmade my day, and my week. I can't shrug off a lore-break of this scale, unlike so many lesser quirks.
I'm surprised there are no threads about this already on the forum or the subreddit. Does anyone have any thoughts to share?