Yeah, they just gave up and decided Allies were more trouble than they're worth haha. It's thematic for Keeper of Nenya, Keeper of Vilya, and for the Rohan allies in King Block to have their home site represented by the previous block. I wonder if there's a particular reason they made Gondorian Merchant instead of a condition. I think the departure from allies on the whole was a real shame for both sides. Dunlending Warrior + War Club will always be one of my favorite combinations, but then Corsair Looter discarding allies so trivially shows Decipher got tired of them pretty quick... and then decided Followers were a suitable replacement
These posts are fun -- I thought I was pretty familiar with set 7 but haven't done well trying to guess the rarity of the cards every day I keep forgetting that Decipher often made the interesting cards rare instead of just the best or most popular ones.
I appreciate that you've been following along! It's been a real joy to be able to fill out my collection this way, especially since King Block stuff is way more scarce. It's taken some real willpower on my end not to just crack the entire box, but I think this way has allowed me more time to reflect and enjoy the journey, so to speak.
It's also a process. Open the pack, look at the cards, post it here, snag a pic to send to friends (who don't always know how to play, but appreciate me taking this journey as well), update my collecting file, then sort the cards into my collection box.
With three packs left (about to open one and just have two), it's kind of sad. I remember when I was like "Oh, I still have half a box left!".