SPOILERS AHEAD!!! If you haven't read The Lastborn, Sands of Rhun, and the two Defenders of Middle Earth books read this at your own risk!

1. Part II almost didn't end happily.

The first draft ended with almost all of the characters except Edhael, Gilian, and Astrid dying, and with Edhael looking back as he was leaving the Grey Havens, remembering their sacrifices. This ending would have seen a different, obscure character taking the throne of Rhun (A character that never actually ended up appearing in the books at all) and with Astrid, the only other surviving character, marrying the next king of Dale. Gilian would have taken up the position of Warden of the North. 

2. Gerithor originally died before professing his love to Gilian

In the "tragic" ending, the chapter prior to Edhael's reminiscing would have seen Gerithor facing down Zaskia alone, eventually, like Caledorn, falling to her power but sufficiently weakening her for Glorfindel and Galadriel to finish her off. 

3. No Flicker?

Flicker was, in fact, added as I was writing the story. He was one of those characters that just sprang from the pages, coming to life without any intention of my own. He grew on me so much that I actually drafted a standalone book with him as the main character.

4. Wizarding Adventures

Until later on in the outlining process, Pallando played a key role in the defeat of Zaskia, and he and Alatar had a long history of opposing her. At the end of the book, Pallando went off in search of Alatar, who went missing after the events of the Sands of Rhun.

5. Thranduil and the Spiders

As stated in the last "Random Book Trivia" segment, the battle of Mirkwood was originally included in the story. But in an earlier draft, it was Caledorn, Glorfindel, Gloin, Edhael, and Taliel who split up to find him, where they met him on the Forest Road fighting Zaskia's spiders.

 6. Evil Elves

I'm sure by now you all know I have a fascination with the darker side of elves (Caledorn being a prime example of this). Up until the final draft, DoME Part 1 featured Zaskia's evil elven leuitenant, Morolas, who led an army of Avari archers to Lothlorien while the company stayed there (In the final draft, this role was taken over by the elite uruk Lurkai). These Avari were first encountered at the Redhorn Pass, where they were replaced by goblins in the final work. Caledorn killed Morolas in the battle that followed in Lothlorien, which was comprised of elves vs. elves instead of elves vs. orcs.

7. Looney Rhuneys???

The vast majority of the original Easterling host was going to be composed of Balchoth tribesmen; wilder, less civilized Easterlings that resembled the Wild Men of Dunland and went to battle in a frenzy. Ultimately I decided against this, since Sauron likely would have wanted trained, battle-hardened troops facing the dwarves. Further, the ordered armies of Easterlings fit in with the battle better, especially in the trench fighting that took place in the initial assault of Erebor. 

As always, I hope you all enjoyed getting a glimpse into the process of writing my stories! Make sure to let me know what you think! Were some of the ideas good? Bad? Ridiculous??