I recently beat Shadow of Mordor and thought to myself “a rushed, but interesting ending.” Wondering what other people thought of it, I began to read online comments, and the topic was discussed on some of my favorite podcasts (ehem). I was a bit surprised by how others had interpreted the events of the game. While I don’t consider the story particularly strong, I have a slightly higher opinion of its direction and consistency than most. So I figured I’d lay out what I thought happens during the course of the game. This will contain heavy, *heavy* spoilers for a story you’ve been told to disregard, but proceed knowing it will ruin what might otherwise be an interesting twist.