You might have been wondering why Shelob—who is a giant, flesh-eating spider in every single iteration of The Lord of the Rings in which she appears—suddenly becomes a sexy lady in a black dress in Middle-Earth: Shadow of War.
As de Plater explains, Shelob takes the form of a human woman in Shadow of War because a giant spider is a little too icky and terrifying, and Talion probably would be less apt to listen to a spider than Pollyanna McIntosh.
Middle-earth: Shadow of War is launching for Xbox One, PlayStation 4, and PC on October 10th.
Developer Monolith’s creative vice president Michael de Plater didn’t take the decision to make Shelob a beautiful brunette lightly.