Lothrandir is my favorite Ranger now...

[Chrysoprase]

... I still miss Candaith. LOL.

I HATED Candaith. He was SO STUPID. And he died in the stupidest way, so it was befitting.

Lorthrandir is the least embarrassing ranger. I'll admit I rolled my eyes when he did that dramatic stand up, "I AM A RANGER, I AM PROUD" thing because let's face it, rangers suck and are nothing to be proud of. But still, I was disappointed when I had to leave him behind in Isengard and I hope he survives to the end. Lorthrandir and Dagoras are the only rangers I can even barely tolerate. Oh, also Corunir, because he is clearly in a romantic relationship with Golodir and I would be sad if it ended.

[Malachi108]

He is Schrödinger's Ranger: he is among the Grey Company and then again he is not. I only played once through Book 4 so far, on a character who left him in the Shire. But if something happened to him if you took him along, I'm sure someone would have mentioned it by now.

[CmdrMagic]

Yea I was bummed when I got to that part as well, but I also thought that maybe he did not kill him, but rather is just saying that to try and convince you that you had lost, and to join him. Saruman is a tricky dude and beware his voice!

I was thinking along these lines too. Once Saruman knew what he needed from Nar, why bother going back to kill him? It would not be worth his time. But TELLING us that he killed he would be a provide a good source of manipulation on us. I don't believe he really killed Nar.

I HATED Candaith. He was SO STUPID. And he died in the stupidest way, so it was befitting.

I am probably one of the few, but I actually think Candaith did exactly what was necessary to complete his mission, at the cost of his life.

This is how I follow it:
The Rangers did NOT know if the oathbreakers would fulfill their oath and fight for Aragorn. The whole purpose of going into that barrow was to find out once and for all if they would obey Aragorn. It is clear from the first encounter that the oathbreakers have no loyalty to Halbarad even though he is Aragorn's chief ranger. Despite Halbarad's efforts in talking with the oathbreakers, they got nothing.

When Candaith and you went deeper in to speak to the leader, it was obvious no answer was going to come from him either as he just continued to toy with you and sent oathbreakers to attack you. THE ONLY option you had left was to flee and leave the cave without knowing the answer to the question that you came there in the first place. This was unacceptable to Candaith and he knew it.

Candaith knew the importance of answering this question for Aragorn. They needed all the allies they could get on this road to war. The world was about to be filled with war and they all knew it. They had to know for Aragorn if the oathbreakers would answer the call, and Candaith's sacrifice provided the answer.

When Candaith declared himself as the heir, the oathbreaker leader, who up to this point had just been laughing and toying with you, suddenly became serious and listened. When Candaith ordered him to fight for him, the oathbreaker leader declared he would obey, until he realized the imposter that was in front of him was not really the heir. The oathbreaker leader killed Candaith, but it was clear up until the moment he realized the deception that the true heir will have power over them to make them fight.

It cost him his life, but Candaith's sacrifice was not in vain in my opinion. The rangers (should) now know that the oathbreakers can be called upon by Aragorn to fight and fulfill their oaths. That was the ENTIRE purpose of the mission into the barrows, and Candaith completed it.

[Chrysoprase]

My hatred for Candaith far precedes what happened in the Enedwaith, which was an IMPROVEMENT. Sorry, I leveled too many character through the Lone Lands, my hatred for Candaith will never, ever die.

[CmdrMagic]

Any other Star Wars fans out there? When I watched what happened with the rangers and the falcon clan it made me feel exactly like I did when I watched Episode III with order 66 and all the Jedi being killed off. It was very sad...


The only thing I didn't like, in the caverns below after freeing the rangers....Lheu Brennin would not have left that cavern alive if I was that close to him. They may have killed my character for doing it, but he would have died right there and then if I was that close....No second thought about it...

[Arness]

Thank you for non-stupid rangers.

Although letting Gun-Ain go...way back when...mmmm. (NOTE: nice touch!)

I agree completely! It makes you wonder just how long ago did they sketch out things for the epics, that certain things come into play here.

Although I have to wonder - spoiler alert - why weren't we able to rescue Lothrandir when we rescued everyone else that was imprisoned with us?

[Arness]

While talking about the Epics, I was really heartbroken when Saruman revealed that he had Nár killed. Poor Nár

SPOILER:








I'm not sure he did. When you go back to Nar's Peak at 75 for the Dragon quest, Nar's still there, and you have to talk to him for the quest.

[Arness]

I HATED Candaith. He was SO STUPID. And he died in the stupidest way, so it was befitting.

Lorthrandir is the least embarrassing ranger. I'll admit I rolled my eyes when he did that dramatic stand up, "I AM A RANGER, I AM PROUD" thing because let's face it, rangers suck and are nothing to be proud of. But still, I was disappointed when I had to leave him behind in Isengard and I hope he survives to the end. Lorthrandir and Dagoras are the only rangers I can even barely tolerate. Oh, also Corunir, because he is clearly in a romantic relationship with Golodir and I would be sad if it ended.

I have to admit, I did think Candaith deserved his death. That whole instance I was thinking, "we should not be here," and then when Candaith said what he said, my inner lore monkey was saying something like, "he did not just go there!"

[CmdrMagic]

I agree completely! It makes you wonder just how long ago did they sketch out things for the epics, that certain things come into play here.

Although I have to wonder - spoiler alert - why weren't we able to rescue Lothrandir when we rescued everyone else that was imprisoned with us?

You mean in Isengard? I actually wondered about that... I doubt anyone else made it out, despite our efforts. Makes me wonder if our escape cost all those prisoners their lives

[Fantomex]

I'm also of the opinion that Nar isn't dead. Saruman sent his hit squad of Uruks but we foiled them just before we plunged into Dunland. I doubt he had time to send out another group between then and our capture, and much like the Mouth of Sauron tries to dishearten Aragorn and co. at the Black Gate, Saruman will say what he has to in order to break us.

[Leonhast]

I think it is hinted at that Saruman keeps Lothrandir close - so he would not be in the dungeons, would he?

[Chrysoprase]

I think it is hinted at that Saruman keeps Lothrandir close - so he would not be in the dungeons, would he?

Yes, one of the NPCs you're escaping with mentions that they won't be able to rescue him because Saruman keeps him elsewhere.

[brasswire12]

Lothrandir has really risen up as a favorite in my book... I hope he stays alive. Other Turbine-created favorites who are still alive are Dagoras (at least we haven't seen him die..) and Daervunn

I agree. Personally I would also add Saeradan (one of the first Rangers you meet in the game and is actually one of the more intelligent/grounded ones), and Mincham (is able to keep it together despite the loss of his family, unlike some other Rangers *cough*Golodir*cough*).

Calenglad and Golodir are ones that I actually don't really like, and fully expect them both to kick the bucket, but I do think that they're significant enough characters that they deserves on-screen deaths at the very least.

I'm fully expecting that Lothrandir will get the Mordirith treatment at the hand of Saruman and we'll be seeing him again towards the end of this Epic book.

Not that they were all that significant, but I was very disappointed that we got confirmed deaths of at least two Rangers in this epic but they did not get the touching cut-scene treatment that Candaith got when he died. I was expecting to see those for at least each of the guys that we specifically went and recruited earlier in the Epic story.

[Macfeast]

I'm also of the opinion that Nar isn't dead. Saruman sent his hit squad of Uruks but we foiled them just before we plunged into Dunland. I doubt he had time to send out another group between then and our capture, and much like the Mouth of Sauron tries to dishearten Aragorn and co. at the Black Gate, Saruman will say what he has to in order to break us.

Hmm, true, never considered that he might be bluffing. His voice must be powerful indeed if it affects not only my character, but me aswell

SPOILER:
I'm not sure he did. When you go back to Nar's Peak at 75 for the Dragon quest, Nar's still there, and you have to talk to him for the quest.

Worth to note is that with Frithgeirr giving out dailies, I don't think it would have been possible to kill either of them permanently (had Nár been killed, then Frithgeirr surely would have, too). I haven't checked, but I expect the Rangers, too, to still be in Enedwaith (even the ones who died in RoI). I think Nár still appearing in Zudrugund can be attributed to the "region locked in time"-design; Enedwaith is earlier in the timeline than Dunland (and by extension, probably Draigoch aswell), hence the Rangers are still there and Nár would still be alive. Even with phasing, I don't think the developers will abandon that approach entirely.

Plus, Draigoch was scheduled for launch before Isengard. Had it launched, we wouldn't hear about Nár being killed off, only to return to Zudrugund for the Draigoch-storyline at 75 with him still alive (think the storyline would make a big deal out of that); I think this might just be a chronology error caused by Draigoch being delayed, Draigoch being supposed to be part of the same timeline as Enedwaith as a whole, but bumped up to level 75 with the delay so that people wouldn't be able to do him below level.

EDIT: I'm going through the Draigoch-storyline as we speak, so I'll be back if there's anything I got wrong. Basically though, my first instinct is that Nár's appearance is caused by the raid being delayed, and might not be 100% proof that he is still alive after the Isengard Epic; Feels like bad storytelling to make it sound like he's dead, with us later returning to see him alive without anyone making a big deal out of it.

[Chrysoprase]

I agree. Personally I would also add Saeradan (one of the first Rangers you meet in the game and is actually one of the more intelligent/grounded ones), and Mincham (is able to keep it together despite the loss of his family, unlike some other Rangers *cough*Golodir*cough*).

Yeah, but Mincham's family wouldn't have died if he wasn't such an idiot. "Honey, I'm super lonely! Could you please walk alone across an orc and undead and barghest-infested area with our small child?" Stupid!

I hate Saeradan because he is lazy, even lazier than most of the other rangers (Calenglad is the laziest of course). I bet he was happy when he got beaned in the head with that rock because it was a chance to lay on the ground lazily without people asking what the heck was wrong with him.

[OldMadeOfLions]

Basically though, my first instinct is that [his] appearance is caused by the raid being delayed, and might not be 100% proof that...

I come bringing spoilers for Epic Book 4, so do not read on if you haven't finished Volume III Book 4 yet!







Here be the spoilers:

He's alive. You were dealing with a lying liar.

MoL

[Macfeast]

I come bringing spoilers for Epic Book 4, so do not read on if you haven't finished Volume III Book 4 yet!







Here be the spoilers:

He's alive. You were dealing with a lying liar.

MoL

Ah ok, glad to hear so. Might I suggest adding some sort of quest-text for Nár, where we tell him what Saruman said, so that it is officially cleared up that he was lying? Or maybe that is in the works? It feels like our characters should have some sort of reaction to seeing Nár still alive.

[Targean]

Andreg is pretty hardcore too. His name sounds almost russian, he says very little, and all he wants is to kill some orcs along with you.

A simple man of simple tastes!

[Sarathaela]

I think my least favorite Rangers were Lorniel and Amarion. I hated that epic instance in Carn Dûm where Lorniel aggroed everything and nearly had me ripping my hair out of my head... only to die for real and leave me stuck with her depressed father :P

And Amarion because he needed rescue from Shadow wolves and only kept on sitting on a rock and doing nothing....

[Dawnsblood]

You mean there's an actual Ranger that isn't Aragorn in this game that isn't useless and dies easier than a fly under a rolled-up newspaper? I'll believe it when I see it.

There sure is. I didn't catch his name but he shows up in the 'Moors a lot

[Chrysoprase]

I think my least favorite Rangers were Lorniel and Amarion. I hated that epic instance in Carn Dûm where Lorniel aggroed everything and nearly had me ripping my hair out of my head... only to die for real and leave me stuck with her depressed father :P

And Amarion because he needed rescue from Shadow wolves and only kept on sitting on a rock and doing nothing....

That was so stupid! They were normal wolves, too. "I got pinned on this rock by two normal level 62 wolves, halp!" Really?

[Elendric]

Thanks MoL and others for making Volume III such a blast to play. I've always been a fan of the rangers in the game, but seeing them fleshed out has been a joy to see, and made this by far the most engrossing Volume to date.

Book IV just proves that the epic book and story is paramount to Lotro, and I hope it stays that way because some of the stuff you guys are doing with those is remarkable for an MMO and its story.

Looking forward to Book V and hopefully seeing some more familiar faces, you'll just need to add a graveyard somewhere to post Mincham!

Lothrandir and Candaith - Gone but not forgotten

[Malachi108]

Looking forward to Book V and hopefully seeing some more familiar faces, you'll just need to add a graveyard somewhere to post Mincham!

+ REP!!!

[Jadzi]

And Amarion because he needed rescue from Shadow wolves and only kept on sitting on a rock and doing nothing....

That was so stupid! They were normal wolves, too. "I got pinned on this rock by two normal level 62 wolves, halp!" Really?

Amarion seems quite used to perching on rocks. When we first met him, he was perched on Amon Raith, no? You would think protecting farmers from ghosts and barghests and zombie-bears would equip him better for shadow-wolves.

Eh, but maybe he was just low on morale.

[djheydt]

Named Rangers seem to have at best about a 50:50 chance of survival recently. At the rate they're being killed off I really wouldn't get too attatched

Okay, for those who haven't read the books (and why haven't you?), SPOILER ENSUES:




















Halbarad is killed on the Fields of Pelennor. None of the other Rangers are mentioned by name, whether living or dead, by Tolkien.