Dr. Bret Devereaux

Yeah.

But this sort of concern for major naval powers that like the forests become a major strategic concern is a big one again, because only some trees are going to be big enough, tall enough, strong enough, straight enough to,

Right.

It isn't just the availability of wood.

It's the availability of specific woods.

Yeah.

To build large warships with strongholds.

No, it is not a financial move.

To begin with, in terms of the timeline, the rule of thumb when you're thinking about armies moving, infantry moving in large bodies, you want to think normally around 10 miles per day.

So you're looking at something like a month and a half once the force is fully mobilized.

Obviously, getting the force together might have also taken time.

So even once Gil-galad gets news, it could have taken a couple of months

to get Elrond's force to where it needs to go.

Now, I will note, right, there's some trickiness here with the timelines, because on the one hand, the Unfinished Tales timeline doesn't give us a lot of dates.

It just sort of presents events in sequence, and you don't get a sense of really how long this is all taking.

What I think is significant is if you bounce to the appendices, open war begins in 1693, right?

Second Age.

The invasion itself is in 1695, and Eregion falls in 1697.

At least that's when Celebrimbor is killed, right, which is the final fall of the city, which suggests that this is a somewhat more extended thing.

But you can see the trouble that that's going to create for Gil-galad.