Weird Russian Remake of the Lord of the Rings - Tolkien Revisionist History

0:11 Did you know that there is a revisionist

0:13 history of Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings?

0:15 Indeed, it seems not everybody believes Tolkien was telling

0:18 the truth about what happened during the War of the Rings!

0:21 Written by Russian paleontologist Kirill Yeskov,

0:24 The Last Ringbearer reinterprets Tolkien’s events as a victor’s history,

0:29 reversing its moral binaries.

0:31 In Yeskov’s interpretation of Middle-earth,

0:33 Mordor is a thriving hub of irrigation, mining, science, and higher education,

0:38 while the West is feudal and magic-dependent.

0:40 Against this backdrop, the War of the Ring emerges not merely as a struggle

0:45 between good and evil but as a geopolitical contest over resources, memory,

0:50 and the meaning of civilization,

0:52 a clash of civilizations whose pursuit of power and progress threatens

0:56 to thwart an industrial revolution and plunge Middle-earth into a dark age.

1:36 Arda reimagined Yeskov reimagined Arda as a world

1:57 split by the magical realm of Aman,

2:00 inhabited by supernatural creatures such as Elves,

2:02 and the physical world of Middle-earth, inhabited by Men.

2:06 Two ancient instruments anchored this division: the Mirror,

2:10 which could glimpse possible futures,

2:12 and seven palantíri, which enabled long-distance communication.

2:15 A few Men who travelled to Aman, known as Wizards,

2:19 dragged palantíri and the Mirror into Middle-earth,

2:22 monopolizing the corridor between the two worlds.

2:25 Some became infatuated with Aman, known as the White Council,

2:29 and sought to mould Middle-earth in Aman’s image.

2:31 To do so, they began migrating Elves into Middle-earth,

2:35 expanding magical influence and eroding

2:37 the political autonomy of western realms.

2:40 The Wizards opposing them, the Nazgûl, began aiding the center of Middle-earth,

2:44 Mordor and her allies, Umbar and Khand, to a lesser extent.

2:48 A Different Mordor Yeskov’s reimagined Mordor is

2:51 not a barren wasteland but a technologically advanced,

2:54 meticulously organized nation sustained by irrigation, mining, and trade.

2:58 Gorgoroth was an oasis that supported two annual crops:

3:03 cotton, rice, dates, and grapes.

3:05 Barad-dúr was “a city of alchemists and poets, mechanics and astronomers,

3:10 philosophers and physicians,” the heart of a civilization that bet

3:13 on rational knowledge and “barely

3:15 adolescent technology” to challenge ancient magic.

3:18 Rather than a monolithic war machine,

3:21 the Mordorian state supported universities,

3:24 engineering, metallurgy, and a diversified economy,

3:27 mining, farming, trade, and crafts.

3:29 It was a scientifically engaged state built upon

3:32 rational knowledge with a heavy emphasis on metallurgy,

3:36 chemistry, mining, and large-scale engineering.

3:38 Its economy and technology were centred on turning

3:41 raw resources into infrastructure, weapons, and power.

3:44 The Mordor we were shown stood on the verge of the industrial revolution,

3:49 producing early forms of steam engines, electricity, and even flying machines.

3:54 Mordor was multiethnic and cosmopolitan.

3:57 The Orocuen were a nomadic tribe of men who inhabited Mordor’s plains,

4:01 labelled with the racial slur “Orcs” by the men of the West.

4:06 Trolls formed a hardy, family-centred culture of men who lived in thick-walled

4:11 stone towers high in the Ash mountains.

4:14 They were proud stonemasons, engineers,

4:16 chemists, masters of mining and metallurgy,

4:18 and the economic and military backbone of Mordor.

4:21 Mordor relied on Umbarian traders who operated the cross-sea networks,

4:26 and a bureaucratic elite that attempted to balance

4:29 security with the preservation of cultural memory.

4:32 Mordor also traded with Khand,

4:34 a Caliphate built on a highly organized slave economy,

4:37 and Harad, a large and diverse

4:40 empire that lacked a centralized urban civilization.

4:43 Mordor was led by Sauron the 8th, who oversaw a parliamentary monarchy.

4:48 Sauron interacted in high diplomacy with other great powers,

4:51 such as the Elves, the White Council, and Gondor.

4:54 The Nazgûl were the professional elite within Mordor,

4:58 doctors, lawyers, merchants, engineers, and others.

5:00 They acted as a specialized governance and security corps,

5:04 blending magical heritage with science.

5:06 They wielded rings made of inoceramium

5:09 that empowered them and engaged in espionage, diplomacy, and covert operations.

5:14 They were Mordor’s bridge between magic and science,

5:18 and Mordor bravely employed adolescent technology against

5:21 the tyrannical ancient magic of the West.

5:25 The Synopsis of the Third Age As the Third Age waned,

5:26 climate upheaval accelerated in Mordor: the savannah dried into desert plains.

5:31 In a bid to irrigate,

5:33 Mordorians unleashed a network drawing on the Sea of Núrnen,

5:36 only to doom their fields with overly saline groundwater.

5:40 Despite this setback, Mordor’s innovation and commerce kept them afloat,

5:45 trading manufactured goods for food with Khand and Umbar.

5:48 The White Council discovered through the Mirror that Mordor was on the brink

5:52 of an industrial revolution that would surpass their magically dominated West.

5:56 To safeguard the West,

5:57 Gandalf devised a “final solution to the Mordorian problem.” The White

6:02 Council would wage a war of attrition and blockade to strangle Mordor.

6:07 Gandalf overthrew Saruman, who advised against the plan,

6:09 and loaned the Elves the Mirror to involve them in the conflict.

6:14 The Elves acted as magical and political brokers, and, in turn,

6:17 manipulated the Men of the West to the cause.

6:20 To counter this and maintain the status quo,

6:22 the Nazgûl and their Mordorian allies began exploiting

6:25 the economic and military networks of Umbar, Khand, and Harad.

6:30 All of this culminated in the War of the Ring.

6:33 The War of the Ring The War

6:35 of the Ring became a high-stakes geopolitical chess game,

6:37 fought not only with swords and sorcery but with strategic deception,

6:42 political maneuvering, and contested narratives.

6:44 The Nazgûl, led by Sharya-Rana, engineered a clever ruse:

6:48 they forged a ring and spread rumours

6:50 that it could grant dominion over all of Middle-earth,

6:53 shipping it towards the Anduin to spark

6:56 distrust and infighting between Gondor and Rohan.

6:59 However, Gandalf quickly saw through the ploy,

7:01 retrieved the ring, and hid it in the Shire.

7:04 In response, the Nazgûl comically stormed the Shire in terrifying disguises,

7:09 scaring and driving village simpletons with the ring eastward.

7:12 After Gandalf’s coup, Saruman broke with the White Council in support of Mordor.

7:17 He gathered an army at Isengard and began courting

7:20 King Théoden of Rohan and Steward Denethor of Gondor,

7:24 assuring them that Isengard and Barad-Dur sought nothing but peace.

7:28 He taught Denethor and Sauron how to communicate

7:31 through the palantíri to build trust and de-escalate.

7:33 Furthermore, he managed to undermine Prince Boromir,

7:37 manipulating him into going on an adventure for the ring.

7:41 The Nazgûl–Saruman plan seemed poised to work,

7:44 but Boromir was murdered by Aragorn,

7:46 who blamed his death on an orc raid, and the ring became lost.

7:51 Likewise, Prince Théodred was killed under suspicious circumstances,

7:54 also blamed on an impossible Orc raid.

7:57 Despite this, the three kings understood that a bad

8:00 peace was better than a good war.

8:03 Meanwhile, the food situation for Mordor

8:05 deteriorated further when Gondorian green cloaks

8:08 speaking a suspicious northern accent began

8:11 raiding Mordor’s caravans along the Ithilien crossroads,

8:13 a chokepoint that united the South

8:15 with the absolute necessity of food and raw materials.

8:19 To protect the routes, on April 14, T.A.

8:22 3016, Mordor deployed 200 light cavalry

8:25 into Ithilien to secure their trade routes.

8:28 Gondor responded by reclaiming the Osgiliath Crossing,

8:31 transforming the Ithilien corridor into a watched seam

8:35 where trade was monitored, taxed, or cut off.

8:38 Mordor faced a dilemma:

8:40 it could not hold Ithilien against both Gondor and Rohan.

8:43 Seeking to split them apart,

8:45 Mordor sent an expeditionary force to try to link up with Isengard,

8:49 believing that a strong garrison there would threaten and hold down Edoras,

8:53 allowing Mordor to compromise with an isolated Gondor over the Ithilien problem.

8:58 However, Gandalf and the Elves foresaw this in the Mirror and took action.

9:03 King Théoden mysteriously became ill,

9:05 allowing Gandalf to ruse Éomer to lead Rohan’s

9:08 army against the Mordorian expeditionary force near Fangorn Wood.

9:12 Éomer’s surprise attack routed the Mordorians toward Fangorn,

9:15 where they were annihilated by Elvish bowmen using poisoned arrows.

9:19 Gandalf then spread rumors of Isengard’s diplomat to Rohan,

9:23 Grima being a spy, spurring Éomer to besiege Isengard.

9:28 Realizing Isengard could withstand a siege for roughly six months,

9:32 Mordor gathered all her resources and hired mercenaries from the Easterlings

9:36 and Haradrim for a blitzkrieg against Gondor before Rohan could aid her.

9:40 The plan was to shock and awe Gondor

9:43 and press for terms over the Ithilien crossroads.

9:46 However, the Elves breached the dams of Isen,

9:49 drowning Isengard before Gandalf spurred the Rohirrim to storm and conquer it.

9:53 With no other option, Mordor unleashed its blitzkrieg.

9:56 A feint attack was laid north toward Lothlórien and Esgaroth,

10:00 tying up most of the Elvish army there

10:02 as the main force of Mordor’s army slammed Gondor.

10:06 Osgiliath fell in six days as siege weapons

10:09 were erected against the walls of Minas Tirith.

10:12 Before attacking the city, Sauron, through the palantír,

10:15 offered an immediate peace in exchange for Ithilien,

10:18 too, which Denethor accepted immediately.

10:20 The next day, through the palantír, a man in a white cloak spoke to Sauron,

10:25 claiming to be the military commander of Minas Tirith,

10:28 as Denethor was gravely ill and Faramir had

10:31 been shot in the back by poison arrows, a weapon Mordorians did not use.

10:35 The commander asked for a few days’

10:38 ceasefire until a proper leader could parley.

10:40 The Mordorians waited, only to be suddenly attacked by the Rohirrim against

10:45 their flanks as Gondorians sortied from Minas Tirith against their front.

10:49 The Mordorians routed the Gondorians as the Rohirrim pressed forward.

10:54 Orocuen horseback archers calmly pelted

10:56 the Rohirrim while performing feint retreats,

10:58 and the Mordorians, though outnumbered two-to-one, were winning.

11:02 Umbarian archers and Orocuen cavalry tied up the armour

11:06 of Rohan to the northern edge of the field,

11:09 while the mûmakil of the Haradrim trampled the Gondorians

11:11 as engineers worked to breach the gates of Minas Tirith.

11:15 To the southeast, however,

11:17 Umbarian reinforcement ships arrived and disgorged a phalanx

11:20 six men deep and about a hundred across,

11:23 led by a mounted Dúnadan ranger, Aragorn.

11:26 The phalanx cut through the Mordorians like butter.

11:29 They had no armour, no helmets, and no shields.

11:33 Umbarian arrows pelted them, but they would not die.

11:36 Cavalry and mûmakil were hurled at these units,

11:39 but the animals became wildly uncontrollable.

11:41 Then it dawned on the Mordorians that these were the living dead.

11:46 The South Mordor Army commander challenged Aragorn to a duel

11:49 only to be stabbed in the back by an undead.

11:52 The commander called Aragorn a coward,

11:54 who smirked and proclaimed he was the new king of Gondor.

11:58 Despite catapults of naphtha destroying some of the undead,

12:02 the Mordorian forces, now leaderless, were driven into head-to-head combat.

12:05 As Éomer made his way past the line of Rohirrim and Dol Amroth cavalry,

12:10 he received word that Théoden had been slain.

12:13 Éomer and Imrahil charged into the Easterlings,

12:16 scattering them like bowling pins as Aragorn’s remaining

12:19 undead and Gondorians struck the Mordorians from the rear.

12:23 The battle ended in a slaughter.

12:26 Aragorn then embraced and kissed Éowyn,

12:28 before holding council in a tent with Gandalf,

12:30 a few Elvish lords, Imrahil, and Éomer.

12:33 Aragorn proclaimed that Denethor had gone insane

12:36 and immolated himself on a funeral pyre,

12:39 while Faramir had been sick from a poisoned arrow,

12:42 but that Gandalf had courageously brought him to the hospital

12:44 and he would be tended personally by him and him alone.

12:48 With no one else able, he, the heir of Isildur,

12:51 would take the burden of leading the Reunited Kingdom.

12:54 No disagreement was heard as Aragorn took command

12:57 of the western coalition and marched upon Morannon,

13:01 joined by turncoat Easterlings.

13:03 The Western coalition easily defeated the last defenders of Mordor

13:06 and began slaughtering all those they could find in Mordor.

13:10 Barad-dur was razed to the ground, and the Elves formed a local administration

13:14 seeking to destroy all remnants of Mordor civilization.

13:18 They hunted down and systematically killed anyone with an education.

13:22 Afterwards, Aragorn refused to treat Faramir’s illness unless

13:25 he gave up his claim to the throne,

13:28 before placing him and Éowyn under house arrest in Ithilien.

13:33 Then Aragorn married Arwen Undómiel,

13:35 becoming King and Queen of Gondor and Arnor.

13:38 Victory was bittersweet as Aragorn's entire

13:41 motivation was to finally lay with Arwen,

13:44 but she refused his advances, deeming it to be bestiality to lay with men.

13:50 With the Mordorian problem seemingly dealt with, Gandalf

13:52 and the White Council sought to exert dominance over Arda.

13:56 However, the Elves refused to give back the Mirror to the White Council,

14:01 seeking to exert their influence over Middle-Earth.

14:03 Aragorn, grown tired of being used as a puppet,

14:06 sought to overcome his Elvish overseers.

14:09 All three enter a covert war against each other,

14:12 with all hope seemingly lost for Middle-Earth.

14:15 The Anti-Fellowship All hope seemed lost,

14:17 if it had not been for an unlikely fellowship.

14:19 Haladdin, an Orocuen field medic, and Tzerlag,

14:22 a Cirith Ungol ranger sergeant, saved the life of a Gondorian baron,

14:26 Tangorn, who was left for dead after trying to stop massacres in Mordor.

14:31 They killed an Elf named Eloar

14:33 before Sharya-Rana appeared and recruited Haladdin

14:35 for a quest to destroy the Mirror held by Galadriel at Lothlórien.

14:40 However, such a magical object could only be

14:42 destroyed by the eternal fire found only in Orodruin.

14:46 Haladdin devised an elaborate plan.

14:48 Tzerlag oversaw reconnaissance and countermeasures

14:50 against the spy networks of Aragorn, the Elves, and the White Council.

14:54 Tangorn, acting as a spy in Umbar, procured a meeting with Eornis,

14:58 the mother of Eloar, who was part of the ruling class of Lothlórien.

15:02 They deceived and blackmailed Eornis, claiming they were working for Aragorn,

15:06 that her son was still alive in a hideout in Mordor,

15:09 and that they would allow her to communicate with him and ransom him.

15:13 They stated that she would be given a palantír

15:15 to use precisely at noon on August 1st.

15:18 To prove she was far from Mordor, she had to open the palantíri in view

15:22 of a known landmark at Lothlórien, the Mirror.

15:25 Meanwhile, Sharya-Rana recruited and gave a palantír to Kumai,

15:28 a troll engineer second class at Dol Guldur.

15:31 Kumai used a dragon of the Nazgúl to drop the palantíri in Lothlórien

15:36 just in time for Eloar to take them to the Mirror and establish communication.

15:41 Then Haladdin and Tzerlag from Mount Doom tossed their palantíri into the fire,

15:45 transmitting the eternal fire and destroying

15:47 the Mirror and the magic of the Elves.

15:50 Conclusion Kirill Yeskov’s The Last Ringbearer

15:52 offered a provocative counterfactual that reframed Tolkien’s

15:56 War of the Ring around geopolitics

15:58 and material power rather than simple good-versus-evil morality.

16:02 The war was read as an imperial contest between a rational,

16:07 industrializing East centred on Mordor and a West imagined as elven-dominated,

16:12 mystically agrarian land,

16:13 with each side pursuing resources, memory, and influence.

16:17 Characters were recast through realpolitik:

16:19 Gandalf as an interventionist seeking to disrupt Mordor’s modernization;

16:24 the Elves as isolationists guarding knowledge to preserve superiority;

16:28 and the Orocuen and their Mordorian allies as multifaceted

16:32 actors driven by scarce resources rather than mindless villains.

16:36 The narrative invited readers to evaluate empires by incentives

16:40 and structures rather than by inherited moral labels.

16:43 Yeskov stated that his work drew inspiration from the logical

16:47 challenge of addressing “several obvious contradictions in the image

16:51 of Middle-Earth.” He argued Tolkien had overlooked Middle-Earth’s economics

16:55 and questioned whether Rohan’s population

16:57 could be sustained by horse-breeding alone.

16:59 How could a city like Barad-Dur, in the middle of a desert,

17:03 sustain millions of Orcs for war campaigns?

17:07 Critics were divided in their reception.

17:09 Proponents celebrated the novel

17:11 for making Middle-earth’s ambiguities legible through

17:14 plausible military reasoning and for entertainingly

17:16 reversing traditional heroic tropes.

17:19 The result felt geographically and strategically grounded,

17:23 encouraging readers to see conflict as contingent

17:26 and tactical rather than simply morally polarized.

17:29 Many argued that the counter-narrative debunked idealized victory myths,

17:33 suggesting that dominant cultural histories,

17:35 Tolkien’s elven-centric lens among them,

17:38 marginalized the losers and elevated realpolitik over ideological purity.

17:42 Critics, however, read The Last Ringbearer as relativistic propaganda

17:47 that rationalized authoritarian structures by casting

17:50 Sauron’s regime as a rational,

17:53 proto-industrial state opposed by elitist imperialists.

17:56 Some worried that this framing echoed

17:59 arguments for centralized power in non-Western contexts.

18:02 Taken together, these perspectives treated the novel as a prompt to re-examine

18:06 entrenched myths and to rethink the drivers

18:09 of conflict beyond simple moral absolutes.

18:11 A frequent critique centred on Yeskov’s background as a paleontologist,

18:16 which some readers saw as injecting

18:18 reductive scientism that sidelined Tolkien’s spiritual

18:21 and ethical concerns—the corrupting lure of power

18:24 that could arise independent of material incentives.

18:27 This tendency was said to bias the inversion toward mechanistic explanations.

18:32 Proponents countered that a scientific

18:35 lens could illuminate propaganda in fantasy,

18:37 while traditionalists worried that such an approach eroded moral

18:41 realism and risked endorsing

18:43 an ends-justify-the-means worldview without transcendent anchors.

18:46 Taken as a whole, The Last Ringbearer stood as a provocative

18:51 invitation to rethink the causes and meanings of war, power, and narrative.

18:56 It challenged readers to question inherited myths and to consider

19:00 how geopolitical incentives and material

19:03 conditions shaped our understanding of conflict.

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