Minas Morgul was a city of Gondor, originally known as Minas Ithil. Sauron's forces attacked it and overtook it, turning it into a fortress for his Nazgûl.
History[]
Minas Ithil was founded by Isildur, son of Elendil. The city was taken by the servants of Sauron at the beginning of the War of the Last Alliance.
War of the Ring[]
During the War of the Ring, the Nazgûl departed from Minas Morgul when they went searching for the One Ring.[1] After their defeat at the fords, they returned to Minas Morgul and began focusing on the war with Gondor. The forces of Minas Morgul engaged the forces of Gondor on multiple fronts. Frodo, Sam and Gollum passed by Minas Morgul on their way to Mordor as the massive final army marched out of the city, towards Osgiliath. The Witch-king and Gothmog led the forces in Osgiliath and then later during the Siege of Minas Tirith and the Battle of the Pelennor Fields. The forces of Minas Morgul were all defeated during or following the War of the Ring, dying off with their master Sauron.[2]
Monolith Timeline[]
Shadow of War content
The Monolith games, Shadow of Mordor and Shadow of War, are confirmed to be non-canonical in the Middle-earth cinematic universe and therefore take place in their own timeline adjacent to the movies. See Canon for more information. |
Following the defeat of Sauron, the city was taken back by the Gondorians at some point and life continued there. A Palantir was placed in the city and the General in charge was responsible for keeping it safe. General Castamir would eventually take leadership of the military at Minas Ithil. Following Sauron's return to Mordor in TA 2942, the dark lord looked at the city for it's strategic placement in Gondor as well as the Palantir, making plans to lay siege to the city and overthrow it. When meeting with Shelob, Talion the Ranger was given a vision, showing the downfall of Minas Ithil and vowed to try and stop the city from falling into the enemy's hands.[3]
Siege of Minas Ithil[]
Orcs, Uruks and war beasts of all kinds were sent from Mordor by Sauron to take the city. The guards managed to hold them off for a while under the leadership of Castamir's daughter Idril. Talion arrived to help and eventually they were forced to fall back to the inner city. The Witch-king captured the General, although in reality he was making a deal with him to protect the life of his daughter in exchange for the Palantir. Castamir was eventually rescued by Idril and Talion but the city was attacked by the Nazgûl in full force. After taking control of the Palantir, they wraiths killed Castamir, letting Idril go free as promised. Talion fought against the Nazgûl and was outmatched, although he was saved by the Blade of Galadriel, Eltariel. The Witch-king used the Palantir to tell Sauron that he had successfully taken the city and Sauron appeared in physical form, gifting the city to the Witch-king and renaming it Minas Morgul.[3]
Talion defends the city[]
A couple of times Talion and Eltariel re-entered the city, unsuccessful in their attempts to drive out the Nazgûl, until Talion took the Nazgûl ring of Isildur and charged the city with an army of undead Revenants. He then used the fortress as his base, defending it from Sauron and his forces until the ring he wore overcame him and he became a Nazgûl. The Witch-king and the other Nazgûl re-entered Minas Morgul and began breeding armies of Orcs and beasts there.[3]
Trivia[]
- In Tolkien's work, Minas Ithil becomes Minas Morgul during the War of the Last Alliance and is never taken back by the Gondorians until after the Third Age. This was changed for the game Middle-earth: Shadow of War.
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