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Till Death Reunites Us by Ecthelion of the fountain	3 Review(s)
Leithian	Reviewed Chapter: 9 on 5/4/2025
𝘠𝘦𝘵 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘛𝘩é𝘰𝘥𝘳𝘦𝘥, 𝘸𝘩𝘰 𝘩𝘢𝘥 𝘯𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘧𝘢𝘤𝘦𝘥 𝘢 𝘙𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘸𝘳𝘢𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘪𝘯 𝘭𝘪𝘧𝘦, 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘳𝘰𝘳 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘸𝘩𝘰𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘯𝘦𝘸—𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘶𝘵𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘭𝘺 𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘭𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘨. 𝘏𝘦 𝘴𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘯𝘴𝘧𝘪𝘹𝘦𝘥, 𝘶𝘯𝘢𝘣𝘭𝘦 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘯 𝘵𝘰 𝘭𝘪𝘧𝘵 𝘢 𝘧𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘦𝘳. 𝘈 𝘤𝘰𝘭𝘥 𝘴𝘦𝘦𝘱𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩 𝘩𝘪𝘮—𝘵𝘩𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩 𝘨𝘩𝘰𝘴𝘵𝘭𝘺 𝘣𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘧𝘭𝘦𝘴𝘩—𝘥𝘰𝘸𝘯 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺 𝘤𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘣𝘦𝘪𝘯𝘨, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘪𝘵 𝘤𝘩𝘪𝘭𝘭𝘦𝘥 𝘩𝘪𝘮 𝘣𝘦𝘺𝘰𝘯𝘥 𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘳𝘦𝘤𝘬𝘰𝘯𝘪𝘯𝘨. 𝘏𝘦 𝘩𝘢𝘥 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘥𝘦𝘢𝘥 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘧𝘦𝘦𝘭 𝘴𝘶𝘤𝘩 𝘥𝘦𝘴𝘱𝘢𝘪𝘳—𝘴𝘩𝘢𝘳𝘱𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘯 𝘢𝘯𝘺 𝘨𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘧 𝘦𝘯𝘥𝘶𝘳𝘦𝘥 𝘪𝘯 𝘭𝘪𝘧𝘦, 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘭𝘪𝘧𝘦 𝘩𝘢𝘴 𝘪𝘵𝘴 𝘮𝘦𝘢𝘴𝘶𝘳𝘦, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘪𝘵𝘴 𝘮𝘦𝘳𝘤𝘺: 𝘪𝘵 𝘦𝘯𝘥𝘴. 𝘉𝘶𝘵 𝘥𝘦𝘢𝘵𝘩, 𝘶𝘯𝘮𝘰𝘰𝘳𝘦𝘥, 𝘮𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘦𝘵𝘤𝘩 𝘰𝘯 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘩𝘰𝘱𝘦, 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘰 𝘭𝘰𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘨𝘦𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘴𝘪𝘭𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘴𝘶𝘧𝘧𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘨. 𝘈𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘴𝘶𝘤𝘩 𝘵𝘰𝘳𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘤𝘢𝘮𝘦 𝘯𝘦𝘢𝘳 𝘵𝘰 𝘣𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘩𝘪𝘮. This paragraph is so evocative and chiling. You described the terror of the Ringwraiths in a manner that I could almost feel what Theodred was going through... As always your depiction of the Unseen world is plausible and interesting. I've always wished that Tolkien had developed the Unseen world more fully judging that the Calaquendi elves and the Ainur live in both worlds. Luckily we have you to extrapolate and interpret the source material, it is an impressive job. “𝘛𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘥𝘰,” 𝘴𝘢𝘪𝘥 𝘛𝘩é𝘰𝘥𝘳𝘦𝘥 𝘢𝘵 𝘭𝘢𝘴𝘵, 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘨𝘢𝘻𝘦 𝘱𝘢𝘴𝘴𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘮𝘦𝘯. “𝘕𝘰 𝘩𝘰𝘴𝘵 𝘴𝘰 𝘣𝘳𝘰𝘬𝘦𝘯 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘧𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘣𝘢𝘵𝘵𝘭𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘦, 𝘮𝘶𝘤𝘩 𝘭𝘦𝘴𝘴 𝘸𝘪𝘯 𝘪𝘵.” Ok, I never noticed that the areas they were passing through on the march to the Black Gate were for a long time under the dominion of the Shadow, so even passing through them would have a negative effect and even break the will of men. I merely interpreted Aragorn's proclamation as an acknowledgement of the fear that the soldiers must have felt at the prospect of marching on the Black Gate itself.... That's why I like your first so much; they always provide new interpretations and food for thought. Author Reply: Thanks! Honestly, this chapter and the next are much closer to what I used to write—I'm kind of good at imagining myself in others’ shoes and thinking the way they might. I've always wondered what kind of terror the Nazgûl actually stirred in people, and I took the liberty of touching on that here. It did make the story a bit darker—but, oh well, a ghost story’s got to have some scary moments, right?

UTfrog	Reviewed Chapter: 9 on 5/2/2025
Each new chapter draws me deeper. This is powerful. Author Reply: Thank you! Hopefully the end will be satisfying too! :)

Lindelea	Reviewed Chapter: 9 on 5/2/2025
Gandalf's observance is interesting – while totally believable: The evil that dwells here is perilous beyond death—more perilous to the dead than to the living. This was a particularly striking description: the shadow clung to his hooves like iron chains Boromir had never been more grateful for a wizard’s company. Ah, yes, Faramir was "the wizard's pupil", wasn't he? I imagine that Boromir found Gandalf rather dry and boring. Suddenly, I had a mental flash from the 2005 production of Pride and Prejudice, where (an admittedly silly) Kitty is ducking behind bushes to avoid interacting with Mr Collins. Even though Boromir is no Kitty (what an astonishing thought!), I can see him trying to avoid Gandalf in the same way, although (unlike clueless Mr Collins) the wizard would more than probably be completely aware of young Boromir... But I'm rambling, a sure sign I need to seek out some protein before my brain implodes. "How did he do it?" indeed! Oh my. Théodred's dream makes it sound as if he's suffering from the Black Breath. Which is quite plausible, considering the lingering hold of the call of Morgul's ruin. Similarly, the "dark voices" in Éowyn's dream told her that Éomer was dead. In a later (not yet published) chapter of my Farmer's Son story, the hobbits afflicted by the Black Breath describe seeing the Shire as a lifeless desert, littered with the corpses of friends and loved ones. Also, the mental image of Saruman wearing Gríma like a mask is quite effective. Hurrah for Boromir and "in the nick of time" rescues! But Théodred flickered? As if his essence might be snuffed out by the cold psychic wind pouring from the Morgul Vale? What a chilling thought! (Pun not at all intended.) (But had he drawn his blade and yielded to the nightmare urge, who would have been affected by his striking sword? I'm not completely clear on the implications.) It also makes perfect sense to me that the Rohirrim would not have had as clear a picture of the evil Gondor faced and the burden the Men of Gondor bore. The comfort of the campfire as a light to hold against the dark hits home. Faramir woke Boromir from his dark dream, where he was tempted like Eärnur? (I find this particularly fascinating since Eärnur just happens to be playing a large role in the current chapters I am revising prior to posting.) A little bit of humor to leaven this heavy dough: I doubt I could be haunted more than that. The whispers are reminiscent of Sauron speaking through his servants: the Ring, the Nazgûl, even Denethor's palantír. I do hope that Gandalf is aware and that part of his mind is keeping watch over these two intrepid warrior-ghosts. In the description of those who faltered, I was reminded that Aragorn sent some warriors to Cair Andros... and there it is, a few paragraphs further along: Aragorn's wisdom and mercy, preserving these warriors' honor and bringing hope. I was already thinking of hope when I read And for a moment, even amidst the lifeless waste, they felt a faint stirring within them: the memory of the world as it had been, and a longing to guard what yet endured. And, of course, hope itself sprung forth in the very next paragraph, ending the chapter quite fittingly. Well done! I'm looking forward to more. And the story is nearly done! Galloping to the finish, it feels like, despite the slow – and rather agonizing! – march, as to doom. (But luckily, we already know how the main story turns out, or this gapfiller would be much more difficult to endure.) Author Reply: "I had a mental flash from the 2005 production of Pride and Prejudice, where (an admittedly silly) Kitty is ducking behind bushes to avoid interacting with Mr Collins." -- LOL! I do think Boromir would brace himself and face the wizard, but the image of him ducking behind bushes to avoid Gandalf is hilarious 😂 It actually feels quite natural for someone like Boromir, who delighted in arms and had little interest in lore, to find a wizard frustrating—never speaking plainly, never pledging loyalty to any one realm, always hovering above it all. And of course, his father’s dislike for Gandalf would have left its mark on him too. I’ve always felt there’s a strong parallel between Boromir and Eärnur—Appendix A even says such (on their shared traits). Looking forward to your take on that!

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