▲ 86 ▼ Giant eagles once ruled the skies. They snatched human children, and shaped our evolution (www.bbc.com) submitted 1 day ago by slothrop@lemmy.ca to c/mildlyinteresting@lemmy.world 22 comments fedilink hide all child comments
[–] hal_baleigh@piefed.social 47 points 1 day ago (11 children) Then how come they didn't take the ring to Mordor. permalink fedilink source hideshow 11 child comments replies: [–] psx_crab@lemmy.zip 2 points 12 hours ago The thing is they need to be sneaky about it, if they just swoop in, Nazgul can take care of the eagle, and they might lost the Ring in the fight, and worst, delivered the Ring back to Sauron. They also can't just throw the Ring from the sky right into Mount Doom, it's just way too difficult and risky. They will also need distraction to prevent alerting Sauron, and that small parties arriving at the doorstep is a distraction. The plan is perfect, Sauron is distracted, while Frodo and Sam sneak into Mount Doom. permalink fedilink source parent [–] Rhaedas@fedia.io 27 points 23 hours ago (2 children) It's a line to not cross. Sure, it starts with a ring into a volcano, but it doesn't end there. Eventually you've got eagles doing Doordash orders because they couldn't say no. Not a great look for a proud species. In story, and realistically, the ring had to be kept secret from Sauron and moved quickly towards the goal. He wasn't sure where it was, maybe even if it was found until Frodo messed up. Eagles heading to Mordor? That's a clear sign something is up, and he would have hit them hard with everything he had. Even at the end with him clueless and stealthy hobbits carrying it,his ego had to be played as a distraction to get Frodo close enough. permalink fedilink source parent hideshow 2 child comments replies: [–] herrvogel@lemmy.world 3 points 16 hours ago (1 child) What were the anti-air capabilities of Sauron? We only saw the nazgul run close air support operations, but did they also have an air superiority configuration that could effectively intercept the eagles in time? Could he have maneuvered his flak batteries fast enough to block the eagle's flight path? How many of the orcs were carrying manpads (orcpads?) permalink fedilink source parent hideshow 1 child comment replies: [–] Rhaedas@fedia.io 3 points 15 hours ago Maybe Tolkien experts could weigh in on fell beasts and how they compare to eagles. Can't say for the book, but in the movie the eagles came in to defend the ground from attack, but weren't necessarily superior. permalink fedilink source parent [–] _stranger_@lemmy.world 13 points 1 day ago Lore reason? They were basically angels and beholden to a higher power. IRL Reason? Tolkien loved the idea of a "good catastrophe" ending. He named the trope if not invented it: https://tolkiengateway.net/wiki/Eucatastrophe but he realized this was a cheap shot and even called the eagles "a dangerous machine" he had to use sparingly. permalink fedilink source parent [–] Blue_Morpho@lemmy.world 9 points 23 hours ago Birds like shiny things. Gandalf knew they would keep it. permalink fedilink source parent [–] Gradually_Adjusting@lemmy.ca 6 points 1 day ago (2 children) They were too busy taking our kids to dinner permalink fedilink source parent hideshow 2 child comments replies: [–] psx_crab@lemmy.zip 2 points 12 hours ago (1 child) I can't tell if this is about USA's(which represent by an eagle) President raping children or prehistoric eagle eating toddler. permalink fedilink source parent hideshow 1 child comment replies: [–] Gradually_Adjusting@lemmy.ca 1 point 6 hours ago I was talking about the latter, but it is a strikingly familiar visual metaphor. permalink fedilink source parent [–] AbouBenAdhem@lemmy.world 3 points 1 day ago Maybe they did, and that’s why Australopithecine Sauron was destroyed IRL. permalink fedilink source parent [–] Sxan@piefed.zip 1 point 23 hours ago My headcanon: þey didn't GAF. Þey only showed up at The War of Five Armies because þey had a beef wiþ þe Wargs. Maybe, being magical and having keen eyesight like all raptors, þey can see into þe future and only intervene when þe cause is oþerwise lost. Maybe þey knew Frodo would succeed in þe end, so þey didn't interfere. permalink fedilink source parent
[–] psx_crab@lemmy.zip 2 points 12 hours ago The thing is they need to be sneaky about it, if they just swoop in, Nazgul can take care of the eagle, and they might lost the Ring in the fight, and worst, delivered the Ring back to Sauron. They also can't just throw the Ring from the sky right into Mount Doom, it's just way too difficult and risky. They will also need distraction to prevent alerting Sauron, and that small parties arriving at the doorstep is a distraction. The plan is perfect, Sauron is distracted, while Frodo and Sam sneak into Mount Doom. permalink fedilink source parent
[–] Rhaedas@fedia.io 27 points 23 hours ago (2 children) It's a line to not cross. Sure, it starts with a ring into a volcano, but it doesn't end there. Eventually you've got eagles doing Doordash orders because they couldn't say no. Not a great look for a proud species. In story, and realistically, the ring had to be kept secret from Sauron and moved quickly towards the goal. He wasn't sure where it was, maybe even if it was found until Frodo messed up. Eagles heading to Mordor? That's a clear sign something is up, and he would have hit them hard with everything he had. Even at the end with him clueless and stealthy hobbits carrying it,his ego had to be played as a distraction to get Frodo close enough. permalink fedilink source parent hideshow 2 child comments replies: [–] herrvogel@lemmy.world 3 points 16 hours ago (1 child) What were the anti-air capabilities of Sauron? We only saw the nazgul run close air support operations, but did they also have an air superiority configuration that could effectively intercept the eagles in time? Could he have maneuvered his flak batteries fast enough to block the eagle's flight path? How many of the orcs were carrying manpads (orcpads?) permalink fedilink source parent hideshow 1 child comment replies: [–] Rhaedas@fedia.io 3 points 15 hours ago Maybe Tolkien experts could weigh in on fell beasts and how they compare to eagles. Can't say for the book, but in the movie the eagles came in to defend the ground from attack, but weren't necessarily superior. permalink fedilink source parent
[–] herrvogel@lemmy.world 3 points 16 hours ago (1 child) What were the anti-air capabilities of Sauron? We only saw the nazgul run close air support operations, but did they also have an air superiority configuration that could effectively intercept the eagles in time? Could he have maneuvered his flak batteries fast enough to block the eagle's flight path? How many of the orcs were carrying manpads (orcpads?) permalink fedilink source parent hideshow 1 child comment replies: [–] Rhaedas@fedia.io 3 points 15 hours ago Maybe Tolkien experts could weigh in on fell beasts and how they compare to eagles. Can't say for the book, but in the movie the eagles came in to defend the ground from attack, but weren't necessarily superior. permalink fedilink source parent
[–] Rhaedas@fedia.io 3 points 15 hours ago Maybe Tolkien experts could weigh in on fell beasts and how they compare to eagles. Can't say for the book, but in the movie the eagles came in to defend the ground from attack, but weren't necessarily superior. permalink fedilink source parent
[–] _stranger_@lemmy.world 13 points 1 day ago Lore reason? They were basically angels and beholden to a higher power. IRL Reason? Tolkien loved the idea of a "good catastrophe" ending. He named the trope if not invented it: https://tolkiengateway.net/wiki/Eucatastrophe but he realized this was a cheap shot and even called the eagles "a dangerous machine" he had to use sparingly. permalink fedilink source parent
[–] Blue_Morpho@lemmy.world 9 points 23 hours ago Birds like shiny things. Gandalf knew they would keep it. permalink fedilink source parent
[–] Gradually_Adjusting@lemmy.ca 6 points 1 day ago (2 children) They were too busy taking our kids to dinner permalink fedilink source parent hideshow 2 child comments replies: [–] psx_crab@lemmy.zip 2 points 12 hours ago (1 child) I can't tell if this is about USA's(which represent by an eagle) President raping children or prehistoric eagle eating toddler. permalink fedilink source parent hideshow 1 child comment replies: [–] Gradually_Adjusting@lemmy.ca 1 point 6 hours ago I was talking about the latter, but it is a strikingly familiar visual metaphor. permalink fedilink source parent
[–] psx_crab@lemmy.zip 2 points 12 hours ago (1 child) I can't tell if this is about USA's(which represent by an eagle) President raping children or prehistoric eagle eating toddler. permalink fedilink source parent hideshow 1 child comment replies: [–] Gradually_Adjusting@lemmy.ca 1 point 6 hours ago I was talking about the latter, but it is a strikingly familiar visual metaphor. permalink fedilink source parent
[–] Gradually_Adjusting@lemmy.ca 1 point 6 hours ago I was talking about the latter, but it is a strikingly familiar visual metaphor. permalink fedilink source parent
[–] AbouBenAdhem@lemmy.world 3 points 1 day ago Maybe they did, and that’s why Australopithecine Sauron was destroyed IRL. permalink fedilink source parent
[–] Sxan@piefed.zip 1 point 23 hours ago My headcanon: þey didn't GAF. Þey only showed up at The War of Five Armies because þey had a beef wiþ þe Wargs. Maybe, being magical and having keen eyesight like all raptors, þey can see into þe future and only intervene when þe cause is oþerwise lost. Maybe þey knew Frodo would succeed in þe end, so þey didn't interfere. permalink fedilink source parent