Talion's History
Talion was born and raised in Minas Tirith in Gondor; he was a descendent of the Rhovanion Northmen. At some point after marrying Ioreth and fathering a son, Dirhael, he joined the Ithilien Rangers, quickly rising through the ranks to become the Captain of the Watch. After he killed a nobleman, Asgon, in defense of his wife, he was appointed to the Black Gate rather than executed as a punishment by Hallas, Ioreth's father. Because Sauron had been gone for over three millennia, life at the Black Gate was usually uneventful, and Talion would often pass the time taking care of his family and sparring with his son. One fateful night, however, Sauron and his Black Captains returned, putting everyone at the Gate to the sword until only Talion and his family remained. After being ritualistically murdered by Sauron's Black Hand and left for dead, Talion learned he had been bonded with Celebrimbor's wraith, who offered to help him find the ones responsible for murdering him and his family. Agreeing, he will use anything the Wraith (who has his own motives) gives him to kill those responsible. Talion hunts down and kills Uruk Captains, and makes a reluctant alliance with Ratbag the Coward, helping Ratbag become a War Chief. During this, Talion encounters Gollum (searching for his "Precious"), who is able see the wraith form of Celebrimbor (whom he calls the "Bright Master"). Gollum helps them to find gifts of The Bright Master's past that, through touching them, grants visions of Celebrimbor's past. Collecting and finding the gifts, he learns Celebrimbor was an Elf-Lord who had helped Sauron create the rings of power. After helping Hirgon, a former soldier from the Black Gate, destroy a statue of Sauron, the Gorthaur, at an Uruk stronghold, the Hammer of Sauron comes and (seemingly) kills War Chief Ratbag (for being the only surviving War Chief). Talion battles and kills The Hammer. Afterward, he meets Lithariel, the daughter of Queen Marwen, who claims to be able to assist Celebrimbor with his mission. Marwen is the ruler of Núrn, a kingdom of sea raiders located in the south of Mordor. She uses prophetic powers to guide Talion and Celebrimbor to another of Celebrimbor's relics.
Talion also gets help from a Dwarf hunter named Torvin, teaching Talion the ways of the hunt to dominate Caragors and Graugs (beasts native to Mordor), eventually fighting a massive Graug from Torvin's past who killed Torvin's hunting partner, later revealed to be his brother. Later, Marwen advises them to use Celebrimbor's powers to take control of an army of Orcs and other beasts, using them to lead an assault against Sauron.
Talion eventually realizes that the wizard Saruman is possessing Marwen, and assists Lithariel in freeing her from his control. Talion, however, still carries out Saruman's plan, leading an army of mind-controlled Orcs in an assault against the Black Hand's stronghold in the Ered Glamhoth. However, rather than the Black Hand, Talion finds the Tower of Sauron waiting for him. The two battle and Talion emerges victorious after viciously stabbing the Tower to death with his son's sword.
Talion now returns to the Black Gate for a final confrontation with the Black Hand. The Black Hand quickly incapacitates him with a spell that also restores the last of Celebrimbor's memories. He then kills himself as part of a ritual that forces Celebrimbor to depart from Talion and merge with himself. This allows Sauron to possess the Black Hand's body and incarnate in physical form. However, Celebrimbor is able to briefly paralyze Sauron from within, allowing Talion to destroy Sauron's physical form. With the Black Hand dead, Celebrimbor wishes to depart for Valinor. Talion instead convinces him to stay and attempt to overthrow Sauron. Gazing at Mount Doom, Talion declares his intention to forge a New Ring of Power.
alion and Celebrimbor forge a new ring for Talion to use, a pure ring that is not corrupt. Celebrimbor, however, is captured by the spider Shelob, who forces Talion to give her the ring so that he can save Celebrimbor. With this ring, Shelob sees into the future, and sends Talion and Celebrimbor to Minas Ithil. They find it under attack by Sauron and the Ringwraiths. Talion learns that this is because in the city there is a palantír.
Talion travels to Minas Ithil and quickly comes to odds with Celebrimbor. Talion wants to help his fellow Gondorians, while Celebrimbor believes the city is already lost and the retrieval of the palantír must take priority. Talion reasons that protecting Minas Ithil will also protect the palantír and he meets up with the city's defenders: General Castamir, his daughter Idril, and his lieutenant Baranor. Together, they sabotage Orcish efforts to break into the city until Castamir betrays them, allowing the Orcs to breach the gates and handing over the palantír to the Witch-king of Angmar in return for sparing Idril. Talion fought with The Witch-king, who nearly defeated him and Celebrimbor. Castamir is killed by the Witch-king and Talion is escaped thanks to the help of Eltariel, an Elven assassin working on Galadriel's behalf. The Witch-king seizes Minas Ithil, renaming it Minas Morgul. With the palantír, Sauron realizes that Shelob is holding Celebrimbor's new ring and sends the Nazgûl to attack her. Talion and Eltariel are able to save Shelob, who returns the Ring to him and tells him that the fate of Middle-earth is in his hands.
With the Ring back in his possession, Talion begins to use its power to dominate Orcs and build his army. During this time, he assists Idril and Baranor rescue Gondorian survivors, helps the forest spirit Carnán defeat the Balrog Tar Goroth, helps Ratbag defeat a traitor, and hunts the Nazgûl alongside Eltariel. Eventually, Talion builds up enough strength to assault Sauron's fortress directly. During the battle, Talion faces Isildur, now corrupted into a Nazgûl. Talion manages to defeat Isildur, and he and Celebrimbor use the New Ring's power to break Sauron's hold over him. Celebrimbor attempts to dominate Isildur, but is stopped by Talion, who horrified by this, frees Isildur by killing him. Celebrimbor lashes out angrily that Isildur would have been a valuable asset to their cause, leading Talion to realize that Celebrimbor's desire for revenge and thirst for power has corroded all reason, and Talion fiercely states "I will not trade in one dark lord for another." Talion refuses to follow Celebrimbor's orders any more, causing the wraith to abandon him, giving the ring to Eltariel, and possessing her instead.
Without Celebrimbor, Talion begins to die, but is visited by Shelob in a vision. Shelob informs him that if Talion had gone on to fight Sauron, they'd have succeeded and Celebrimbor would have enslaved Sauron and marched on to conquer the rest of Middle-earth. She implores Talion to continue to fight to contain the darkness within Mordor as her goal was to prevent the rise of Celebrimbor. Deciding to put his fate in his own hands, Talion dons Isildur's Ring of Power to preserve his own life. He then uses the power of Isildur's Ring to assault and seize Minas Morgul, defeating the Witch-king in the process. Talion then takes possession of the palantír and observes Celebrimbor and Eltariel making their assault on Sauron. The two manage to gain the upper hand and Celebrimbor attempts to dominate Sauron, only for Sauron to cut off Eltariel's ring finger and merge himself with Celebrimbor. As a result, Sauron and Celebrimbor remain trapped in Sauron's tower in the form of a flaming eye as their spirits continue to battle for dominance. Talion decides to use Minas Morgul as a fortress to keep Sauron's forces contained in Mordor and out of Middle-earth for as long as he can. By doing this, Talion hopes that by keeping Mordor in a constant state of war, the rest of Middle-earth can prepare for Sauron's coming.
Decades later, Talion eventually succumbs to the corruption of Isildur's ring and joins Sauron's forces as a Nazgûl, replacing Isildur. He goes with the others to hunt Frodo and the One Ring and pursues Frodo from the Shire to Bree. Like the rest of the Nazgûl, he lost his horse at the Ford of Bruinen and received a Fellbeast as his new mount. Talion was also present at the Battle of the Pelennor Fields and Battle of the Black Gate. However Talion's prior efforts were not in vain as he bought Middle-earth enough time to prepare enough for Sauron which eventually lead to the destruction of Sauron and the One Ring. Talion dies with the rest of the Nazgûl, killed when his fellbeast is struck by debris from the final eruption of Mount Doom following the One Ring's destruction and his spirit is freed. He is last seen in the afterlife discarding his weapons and armor as he walks off into the sunrise, finally able to rejoin his family once again.
