Quote Originally Posted by Karou32 View Post
“… Think of this as a deleted scene, considering that it didn’t survive to the final cut of the Epic.

The Man With the Blood Eye Brooch was recruited by Grima in furtherance of Saruman’s plans for the Kingdom of Rohan, alongside some others (who you root out while working in Edoras). Unlike those allies of Wormtongue, however, this man’s true allegiance is to Sauron and the Black Numenoreans who follow him — his loyalty is unknown to Grima

Well, this is interesting, I completely forgot this traitor storyline involved a brooch. Turns out it was never specifically said Blood Eye in this older storyline, I think, except for these snippets:

"I believe he may have worn a red brooch around his neck. The setting was gold, or very polished bronze, but the gem in the middle glowed red in the light of dawn."

"He wore a brooch at his neck, fastened with a clasp. I saw the gemstone in its centre glinting as he ran.
'It put me in mind of a blood-red eye."

But it does mention it's similar to a blood-red eye and sounds like it's the same kind of brooch as was introduced later in Bingo.





This knowledge makes it easy to claim the Cult of the Blood Eye stuff from Bingo were just Mordor spies. But then again, it's still weird, because there are all these weird things pointed out and some weird inconsistencies in this tale:




BLOOD EYE BROOCH "The red gem in the centre of the brooch shines dully."
The brooch contains a red gem, and reminds you of the Rothstone


Why Rothstone? Something that's been somewhere in Eriador and that's quite a distance?




'This cursed man attacked me with an axe. He was one of ours; he was! What a laugh that is! He had a strange look in his eye. Desperation, I think it was. He stole my plunder, all I had: a bag of dirty coins.

Backstabbing an orc but this orc was clearly surprised.




Sneering Uruk: 'I saw this man. He tried to buy the loyalty of my boys with a sack of dirty coins, but we refused. We might both serve the Blood Eye, but I know if our spots were reversed, that maggot would not give us a second look. Let him die on his own in the High Knolls! He will have none of our protection.

This was a White Hand camp and this is a White Hand Uruk at that. Sure, technically, Isengard and Mordor are allies so far, but it's a bit strange for Saruman's commander to just claim he serves Mordor/Sauron, no? Unless, for some reason, he is somehow a part of this "Cult of the Blood Eye" network and it's something else entirely, in a way, that's beyond the 'national' (Isengard/Mordor) differences? I can't find it now, but I believe it was actually pointed out how strange it was these men collaborated with both Mordor and White Hand orcs, even though there are these differences and hostilities between the two sides.




Even in death, the cultist reaches for the brooch of the Blood Eye lying next to him in the snow. You wonder if the man believed his actions had been worthwhile in the end, but the only certainty is that he will not be able to tell you the answer.
You pick up the brooch and marvel at its similarity to the Rothstone

Again, the Rothstone, and if these were supposed to be men of Rohan in their appearance, as was previously implied, not some hardcore spy types out of Mordor, this is all very strange, IMO, that kind of... devotion? To a gem? And similarity to Rothstone? It's worth pointing out this man, at this point, was willing to just backstab his orc allies, and move forward though the snow as if he was in a hurry on some kind of important errand rather than... idk, just stick around, with one group of these orcs, for better or worse, since they weren't particularly hostile and some of them clearly treated him as "one of ours"