At all times I'm thinking about the poetic grandiose, the wretched grace, the brutal beauty, the hard-won victory, and the sad magnificence with which Maedhros falls.
It's about the way Maedhros finally gives in and yields to what he's been fighting against since the first kinslaying, the way he still has his unyielding determination & great battle strategies but when once they were considered good qualities of him now they drive him and the Middle-earth he once fought so hard to protect to their demise, the way Celegorm was the driving force behind the second kinslaying but still as the overlord of the Fëanorians Maedhros was the one who had the final say and decided to go with it & the third kinslaying happened with the reluctant agreement of all of the four sons despite their best effort (and they who held the borders and protected the people of Middle-earth once now ravaged a refuge) but at the end, Maedhros-who once was a beacon of hope before Nirnaeth & would not slay his kin hoping that he would free the Simarils from Melkor's grasp- was the driving force behind the fourth Kinslaying out of desperation. It's about the way he who once led the free folk against Melkor wouldn't even fight in the War of Wrath anymore. It's about how he who once held the banner against Melkor and whom Melkor was weary of at the end helped Melkor in some ways. It's about how all throughout his spiral you can see his inner turmoil & noble nature still shining through as he searches for Elured & Elurin, tries to forswear the oath, tries to negotiate in peace, and at least agrees to take Elrond & Elros in and protect them, and eventually when the Silmarils burn his hands he can't live with himself anymore. The way he loses the one battle and war that he truly wanted to win and after that in a new war that he doesn't want, wins every battle that he doesn't want with every realm but cannot win the one thing he truly wants (and the thing he supposedly "wants" is the thing that ruined his family and his life. So the Sons of Feanor in the whole Arda must have been the only ones who truly didn't "want" the Silmarils) so he still loses the war. It's about the way Maedhros' final downfall comes with him "winning" his last fight. With him "winning" the thing he spent all of the story seeking and fighting for. It's about the way that thing truly wasn't a thing Maedhros himself ever sought or desired. It's about the way in which his story truly comes to an end. Just not the end anyone hoped for but the end that anyone could see coming. The way it was both preventable and inevitable. It's about the way in the end he essentially fills the role of Fëanor against whom he was a voice of reason (if still a loyal follower) at the beginning and despite how he tried to do things differently than his father, he eventually became Fëanor. He did, in the end, burn people's ships. He did burn his way back. He did ignore Eonwe and took up arms against the Valar and convinced Maglor to do so, too. The way Fëanor always haunts the narrative from the beginning but before Nirnaeth it's in a mute far away subtle way but after Nirnaeth it becomes completely obvious to the point that it's like Maedhros' story essentially ended with Nirnaeth & it's now Fëanor's story that continues through him. Maedhros after Nirnaeth is like a dead man haunting his own life trying to finish an unfinished business so he can finally die in peace. But at the same time, at that point, it all seems like a natural, fitting end to him. He was always meant to be a tragedy.
