A new trailer for Middle-earth: Shadow of War arrived this week, showing that the massive spider, Shelob, will have a key role in the upcoming game. She can also perform a couple of nifty tricks. On top of being able to turn into a human lady, she apparently has the gift of prophecy.
Fans will remember Shelob from her appearance in the second Lord of the Rings book, the Two Towers. There, she took the form of a massive, terrifying spider with a mean hunger on for Frodo Baggins. In Shadow of War, she'll be playing a very different role, though we can't be sure if it is ally or friend to the game's protagonist, Talion.
In the midst of all of that Comic Con insanity this week, Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment and Monolith Studios released the above new trailer for Shadow of War. In it, we see Shelob take the form of a woman who has a prophecy or two to share with Talion. Since her vision of Minas Ithil being under siege turns out to be true, it appears she has started to gain the trust of our undead hero. His spectral counterpart, Celebrimbor, doesn't seem to agree, saying she is no ally of theirs.
We're definitely a fan of this sort of relationship. Anyone who has ever met a spider knows they are shady as hell and will lie straight to your face if they feel it will serve their own purposes well. And it's clear from the trailer that Shelob doesn't exactly appreciate the company of Celebrimbor in the first place. But is she genuinely interested in helping Talion succeed or is she just looking to get her hands on a Ring of Power? Perhaps she just likes playing with her food before she eats it.
Either way, VG24/7 brings up a good point in that some fans might not be too happy with the fact that Shelob looks like a lady in the game, even though she's clearly shown as a spider, too. I mean, sure, I guess Monolith could have just had a terrifying spider share its knowledge of the future, but it would probably be far more convincing coming from someone with fewer legs and less sharp teeth.
They also point out that the book specifically says Shelob is an evil creature "in spider form," which means they're well within the realm of creative license to take that as meaning she can take other forms. But at this point, are we really worried about continuity and fan theories so long as Shadow of War is every bit as badass as it currently seems?
Anyway, you'll have the opportunity to trust or distrust Shelob in just a few months. Shadow of War is set to launch on the PC, PlayStation 4 and Xbox One come October 10.
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