"Silmarils?"

"Recent project of my fathers'! He went for 'prettiest thing in Valinor' and succeeded so thoroughly that everyone's decided they're probably the prettiest things that will ever exist. He was a bit disappointed by that, it wasn't the sentiment he meant to inspire."

"What was the sentiment he meant to inspire?"

"We came to Valinor for the light of the Trees. The Outer Lands are dark. We can't leave and establish an independent Noldorin civilization, out from under the guidance of the Valar, because they are the source of all light in the world.

And now they aren't."

"That's a much better sentiment."

"I think so too. Don't go shout it in the square, though, some people think it's terribly treasonous."

"Because actual present gods are terribly compelling even when they have completely alien psychology such that they absolutely cannot be relied upon to get what's best for you."

"Yep. And because our ancestors risked so much to come here, and the King is King because he brought us here back then."

"I suppose I can see why it might seem ungrateful to want to go back after that. Ungrateful's not the same thing as treasonous, though."

"People get funny when the wisdom of the decision that incidentally underpins the monarchy is being debated."

"I dunno, it can have been a good idea to come then and still be a good idea to leave now."

"I believe that it was. We learned a ton here. But we grew up and now we're ready to make it on our own."

"And they don't want to let you."

"They don't agree that we are ready and they are very committed to maintaining the bliss of Valinor, which would be disrupted by lots of people leaving."

"Do they say how you're not ready? 'No, first you must do or be able to do thus-and-such a thing' is much more persuasive than 'No'."

"Worried we'd be disruptive to the local populations, I think is the current official objection."

"Lovely."

"To be fair, I expect we will be. We have general disruptive tendencies."

"Granted. But there's kinds and kinds of disruptive."

"We may have some of the bad ones too. I know some people who want to leave so they can rule over and educate the locals."

"Suddenly more sympathetic to the Valar."

"Yeah. Father's considering just taking the people he trusts but that's obviously a divisive idea, and harder to argue for in a principled way than 'free emigration from Valinor as a matter of principle'."

"No kidding."

"We'd just leave without permission but there's no way out."

"How'd you get here, then?"