The key to Melenkurion Abatha and the Power of Command

[shadowbinding shoe]

In the time of the Old Lords a special lock was placed on the entrance to Melenkurion Abatha so the Power of Command would be protected. With their end and the death of the Seventh Ward it looked like no one could enter the mountain anymore (time traveling to the times before the locksmithing excluded of course)

But what about the Dead? When Elena broke the law of death she made the dead accessible. Lord Foul could easily command Lord Kevin to give him, or anybody else he wanted, the magical key. Why wasn't this power abused?

[wayfriend]

You seem to be asking, Why didn't Foul use the Power of Command?

Good question.

I am sure part of the answer is the rebound effect that the Power has. Kevin was too wise to use it; probably Foul is the same wise.

[dlbpharmd]

I doubt Foul could have used the Power of Command at all. The Earthpower would have been too much for him to stand.

[sindatur]

In the time of the Old Lords a special lock was placed on the entrance to Melenkurion Abatha so the Power of Command would be protected. With their end and the death of the Seventh Ward it looked like no one could enter the mountain anymore (time traveling to the times before the locksmithing excluded of course)

But what about the Dead? When Elena broke the law of death she made the dead accessible. Lord Foul could easily command Lord Kevin to give him, or anybody else he wanted, the magical key. Why wasn't this power abused?

You had to go back in time to before Elena used it, because the whole Mountain came down. Perhaps Roger was the first Ally Foul had that could use the Power of Command. perhaps any Land Born Allys would not be able to use it in his service, due to the Earth power Nature of it.

[shadowbinding shoe]

In the time of the Old Lords a special lock was placed on the entrance to Melenkurion Abatha so the Power of Command would be protected. With their end and the death of the Seventh Ward it looked like no one could enter the mountain anymore (time traveling to the times before the locksmithing excluded of course)

But what about the Dead? When Elena broke the law of death she made the dead accessible. Lord Foul could easily command Lord Kevin to give him, or anybody else he wanted, the magical key. Why wasn't this power abused?

You had to go back in time to before Elena used it, because the whole Mountain came down. Perhaps Roger was the first Ally Foul had that could use the Power of Command. perhaps any Land Born Allys would not be able to use it in his service, due to the Earth power Nature of it.

Yes I think that was the official reason but surely with the use of cavewights a new passageway could be carved out eventually. If the fountain of earthblood wasn't destroyed by the mountain breaking in two, the smaller cataclysm Elena caused wouldn't affect it.

[Cameraman Jenn]

How could Foul drink the earthblood to give any command if he hasn't got a corporeal body? Isn't that why he had to have others use all the other powers he's tried to control such as the staff? (Drool) and the Illearth Stone, (Ravers) and so forth?

[shadowbinding shoe]

How could Foul drink the earthblood to give any command if he hasn't got a corporeal body? Isn't that why he had to have others use all the other powers he's tried to control such as the staff? (Drool) and the Illearth Stone, (Ravers) and so forth?

Sure. If he needs someone else to do the deed he's shown plenty of talent in manipulating others to do his dirty work.

[wayfriend]

Jon Webster: This is a simple question, but probably does not have a simple answer. If time travel is possible, why can't any number of characters who desire ultimate destruction, like Kastenessan, LF, or Roger just go back in time and change the course of history, which would destroy the arch of time?

Also, why did Lord Foul never use the Power of Command to wake the Worm?

• You're right: simple question; complex answer(s). Most of what I have to say on the subject is stated or implied in "Fatal Revenant". But briefly. If Time itself, and the whole structure of Law, weren't already under attack, time travel would not be possible (except, one assumes, for the Elohim, who have no interest in destroying anything). Meanwhile the Elohim consider it their mandate to protect the Arch. They certainly wouldn't let Kastenessen--of all beings--wander around in that way. They only leave Roger and Jeremiah alone because Linden is with them. And as a part of the Arch himself, Covenant fights constantly to fend off the forces of collapse.
  
  As for LF. Being a prisoner of Time, he probably can't travel through it. (If he could, this entire story would have fallen apart long before "Lord Foul's Bane". <sigh>) And since he's incorporeal, drinking the EarthBlood would be a difficult feat.
  
  (12/05/2007)

[shadowbinding shoe]

Jon Webster: This is a simple question, but probably does not have a simple answer. If time travel is possible, why can't any number of characters who desire ultimate destruction, like Kastenessan, LF, or Roger just go back in time and change the course of history, which would destroy the arch of time?

Also, why did Lord Foul never use the Power of Command to wake the Worm?

• You're right: simple question; complex answer(s). Most of what I have to say on the subject is stated or implied in "Fatal Revenant". But briefly. If Time itself, and the whole structure of Law, weren't already under attack, time travel would not be possible (except, one assumes, for the Elohim, who have no interest in destroying anything). Meanwhile the Elohim consider it their mandate to protect the Arch. They certainly wouldn't let Kastenessen--of all beings--wander around in that way. They only leave Roger and Jeremiah alone because Linden is with them. And as a part of the Arch himself, Covenant fights constantly to fend off the forces of collapse.
  
  As for LF. Being a prisoner of Time, he probably can't travel through it. (If he could, this entire story would have fallen apart long before "Lord Foul's Bane". <sigh>) And since he's incorporeal, drinking the EarthBlood would be a difficult feat.
  
  (12/05/2007)

Ah, the Elohim insurance policy. Though it's not just ultimate destruction seekers that would want to use the power of command. anyone that wants power would be drawn to it. The Harrow ("give me the power! "), Kasreyn of the Gyre ("make me immortal!"), the ravers in someone's body ("make them die and suffer! And turn off the Sun already!")

[wayfriend]

BTW, I don't consider Donaldson's GI answer to explain much. It doesn't explain why, for example, Foul didn't grab a random Stowndowner, brainwash him, and send him to Earthroot. He used the Staff of Law that way, via his Dead Elena proxy.

Certainly, if Foul had done that, there'd be no Chronicles. That's the real reason.

But as far as an in story explanation ... if Foul can use the Illearth Stone, why can't he use Earthblood? The answer he gives falls short.

However, according to Findail, Lord Foul doesn't want to break the Arch unless he has the white gold in his hand. Is that not sufficient explanation?

[Krazy Kat]

As for LF. Being a prisoner of Time, he probably can't travel through it. (If he could, this entire story would have fallen apart long before "Lord Foul's Bane". <sigh>) And since he's incorporeal, drinking the EarthBlood would be a difficult feat.

(12/05/2007)[/i][/list][/size]

The above quote makes me think about how the Land had been split in two, forming the Upper and the Lower Land. Could this have been Kevin's fault when he enacted the Ritual of Desecration and blew to bits the mountain where Kiril Threndor had been?

Isn't Kevin's Watch and the Watchtower of Revelstone one and the same, but separated by a crack in time that Kevin made? Which gives the Despiser access to places where others need keys!

[High Lord Tolkien]

BTW, I don't consider Donaldson's GI answer to explain much. It doesn't explain why, for example, Foul didn't grab a random Stowndowner, brainwash him, and send him to Earthroot. He used the Staff of Law that way, via his Dead Elena proxy.

Certainly, if Foul had done that, there'd be no Chronicles. That's the real reason.

But as far as an in story explanation ... if Foul can use the Illearth Stone, why can't he use Earthblood? The answer he gives falls short.

However, according to Findail, Lord Foul doesn't want to break the Arch unless he has the white gold in his hand. Is that not sufficient explanation?

I think so.
I could come up with a few more fan-fic ideas based upon the little that we know of him.
He's not supremely powerful.
Kevin eliminated/reduced him for a 1000 years.
Drool might have had him captive.
The energies/power of the Illearth Stone could be manipulated by lore that Foul possessed.
Earthblood could only be activated by a physical "immersion" of some kind.
Foul lacked the lore to bypass the Door that Damelon created.
Any use by a human of the Power of Command would free them from Foul's command.

Yeah, there's a whole bunch of reasons why not.

[DrPaul]

As for LF. Being a prisoner of Time, he probably can't travel through it. (If he could, this entire story would have fallen apart long before "Lord Foul's Bane". <sigh>) And since he's incorporeal, drinking the EarthBlood would be a difficult feat.

(12/05/2007)[/i][/list][/size]

The above quote makes me think about how the Land had been split in two, forming the Upper and the Lower Land. Could this have been Kevin's fault when he enacted the Ritual of Desecration and blew to bits the mountain where Kiril Threndor had been?

Isn't Kevin's Watch and the Watchtower of Revelstone one and the same, but separated by a crack in time that Kevin made? Which gives the Despiser access to places where others need keys!

The Land was split into an Upper and Lower Land long before Kevin came along. The One Forest bound the Appointed to form the Colossus of the Fall to prevent the Ravers from entering the Upper Land in the early years of the Land's history before the time of Berek. See Anele's account to Linden and Liand of the Land's early history as they are following the Mithil upstream after escaping from Mithil Stonedown in ROTE, and Esmer's account to Linden of the history of the Viles and Demondim in Chapter 2 of FR.

[Thorhammerhand]

The key to Melenkurion Abatha and the Power of Command

Shoot me with a big gun if i'm wrong here, but those are words. The mountain under which the earthblood is found in Melenkurion Skywier.

I agree that any ploy LF enacted to gain access to the POC would likely backfired catastrophically on him.

[Ur Dead]

The key to Melenkurion Abatha and the Power of Command

Shoot me with a big gun if i'm wrong here, but those are words. The mountain under which the earthblood is found in Melenkurion Skywier.

I agree that any ploy LF enacted to gain access to the POC would likely backfired catastrophically on him.

Melenkurion Skyweir...
(Picky..picky..picky..)


The World is Foul's prison.
It binds him...
It limits him in his abilities and power.
To partake of the essense that binds him would be the worse thing to do.

It would be like:
The Wicked Witch of the West, jumping into a pond.