Carnan is a forest spirit and supporting character in Middle-earth: Shadow of War. A physical embodiment of nature, she resides in the forest in Nurnen that bears her name.
Personality and abilities
Carnan's primary concern is the continuation of nature in the world and she is fiercely protective of life. She despises the Uruk-hai for their disregard for nature, and views Zog and his cult of necromancers as abominations that threaten the balance of life. All creatures in her forest obey Carnen because of her oneness with the embodiment of the food chain.
Carnan was able to control any creature in her forest. Predators such as caragors, Ghuls, and graugs were mellowed and refused to attack when in her presence, but would readily defend both her and themselves if they were threatened. She could take on the form of an elemental caragor, elemental graug, or a drake, with each of these creatures resembling their flesh-based counterparts, though made of vines and leaves. Her power was such that even as the Bright Lord, Talion and Celebrimbor could not defeat her, and she was a match in power for the Balrog Tar Goroth. However, she was not invulnerable and was badly injured by fires started by Zog's necromancers.
History
Carnan first appears during Talion and Celebrimbor's quest to recruit orcs into their army. When Talion hears her song, he is tempted to see what lies within the Forest of Carnan. However, Celebrimbor convinces him to turn away.
However, Carnan's song calls Talion in again, and he enters the forest to investigate. As he treads deeper into the forest, he peers into the minds of entrapped Uruks and discovers that she is behind the attacks on their numbers. Continuing on, Talion comes across her tree; the center of the forest itself, where she approaches in the form of a caragor. She is made curious by the ranger, whose deathless nature intrigues her. Talion prepares to fight her, but Celebrimbor advises against it, saying she can't be defeated and they should kneel before her. When Talion refuses, she fights him as a caragor, graug and finally, as a drake before catching Talion off-guard and dragging him inside her tree, where she reveals herself in her true form. There, Carnan explains that the forging of Celebrimbor's Ring of Power has awoken Tar Goroth and a legion of necromancers that intend to control him, and that only they can stop it. After informing them of what they must do, she departs, leaving them free to go.
Later, when Tar Goroth emerges from Gorgoroth and attacks Talion and Celebrimbor, she arrives to aid them, fighting beside the Bright Lord in her Graug form. Though Tar Goroth escapes and destroys her graug form, the trio still manage to wound the Balrog and Carnan reforms as a drake to continue her pursuit. Talion remarks that Celebrimbor was right about her being a force to be reckoned with and he in turn replies that Carnan has seen Middle-Earth form and reform over and over, and that she will remain long even after they are gone.
Additionally, Carnan aids Talion in graug and drake form to stop Zog and his cult from resurrecting Mordor's dead and stopping the resulting ghul infestations they create.
After tracking Tar Goroth to Seregost, Carnan and the Bright Lord once again confront the Balrog, where upon they do battle with the monster atop a frozen lake. Eventually, after much effort, Carnan uses her drake form to trap the Balrog beneath the ice and freezes him solid. Afterwards, she returns to the forest to recover.
Zog, having been denied his goals, eventually attacks Carnan's forest and tries to burn it down. Talion's interference saves Carnan, but she is greatly weakened and she eventually enters slumber to heal. Talion then sets out to kill Zog and keep him from reviving Tar Goroth, and eventually kills the necromancer.
When Zog is revived once again by his cult, Talion once again kills the Necromancer. Carnan, having seen that Zog is finally defeated once and for all, reappears in drake form and burns the revenants and necromancers to ash, knowing that Talion and Celebrimbor were able to defeat the undead due to being undead themselves.
Trivia
- Carnan resembles an Entwife from Tolkien's original stories.
- Carnan's graug form resembles the Legendary Graug from Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor.