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In some ways I liked this episode better than any so far, which I wasn't expecting... Legolas Send a noteboard - 14/10/2022 09:48:41 PM

but certainly not to the extent of redeeming the crap we've had before, and the episode still had plenty of problems of its own. I wasn't bored though and there were some decent enough twists, if you don't mind the show going its own path in often very non-Tolkien ways.




View original postNow with the whole season in the can, I feel I can safely say, most of this was crap. The whole side plot with the Harfoots and Meteor Man was completely superfluous, inserted only to get hobbits in there, and possibly fulfil some burning need for female hobbits that has been driving the feminists nuts for sixty or more years. And of course, to bait a possible Sauron. So now that plot will continue, teasing whether or not he is Gandalf. Can’t wait.

Definitely he's Gandalf, established timeline be damned. For the most part I found that storyline the least annoying one - but you're right about how little purpose it has served.
View original postGaldriel’s story was an utter butchering of his character, with no evidence of personal growth or lessons learned. At the outset, she was fixed on defeating Sauron, regardless of what anyone else said. Despite multiple setbacks, failures and errors over this season, she remains certain of herself and her judgment, withholding from her friends and allies the first real intelligence she has on Sauron simply to cover her own mistakes. It remains unlikely she will take away any lessons from this, since most of her opportunities to learn came via him.

I don't dislike Not-Galadriel as a character, of course she has the flaws you mention but then she'd be boring if she were too perfect - and I do actually find the more sexist criticisms of her character rather puerile and lame. But it's entirely valid to point out that she is, well, not Galadriel as Tolkien wrote her, for so many reasons. And while her interaction with Sauron and the suggestion of sharing power might actually qualify as one of the best new ideas the writers came up with here, they hadn't exactly bothered with proper foundations to build it on.
View original postThe Elven kingdom and Numenor were grossly misrepresented, Numenor’s downfall changed into some muddled political disagreements, and no indicator of what they might even do to bring about their fall, aside from the point that they have become estranged from the Elves for no real reason other than the sake of contemporary political allegory. The story ends with Elendil and Miriel committing to the mission of the Faithful at any cost, regardless of what that mission is, and also apparently having learned nothing from their disastrous intervention in Middle Earth.

Yep. Pharazon is good, but on the whole the Numeronean plotline was weak, pretty views and costumes/props but a very ramshackle plot and dubious character development.
View original postThe Southlands plot was apparently finished last week, no more attention needed for the most recent cross-species romance inserted into the visual adaptations. What did it all accomplish? The creation of Moria, and Mount Doom, because those were two things that needed an origin story? What kind of arc did we have for Arondir, Bronwyn and Theo? What were they except witnesses to the fulfilment of Adar’s attempt to fulfil Sauron’s long-time plan, even though Sauron names him an enemy in this episode?

Also rather meh, agreed - so can't say I missed them in this episode.
View original postAnd then there is Sauron himself. What was his deal? How much was him trying to run from his old crimes and persona and how much was efforts to corrupt Numenor and Eregion? Was he trying to take power in Moria when he rode up with Galdriel and the forces of Numenor, or to put a stop to Adar’s plan. Nothing about the reveal explains anything or answers any questions other than “They aren’t really setting this guy up to be Sauron, are they?

I guess I prefer some ambiguity on that point than them painstakingly explaining everything. Also in the key discussion with Not-Galadriel, the scene is stronger when you aren't actually sure to which extent Halbrand/Sauron means a word of what he says about healing the world or co-ruling. In hindsight, as much as I got annoyed about them teasing both Meteor Man and Adar as potentially Sauron, it did provide cover for Halbrand and he does make for a more interesting introduction to Sauron.
View original postThis was a big stupid show, with bad world-building, bad adaptation, and bad dialogue. It had good visual effects, I guess, at least when not related to Durin’s beard. Armenelos was really impressive, but the visuals of the whole Mount Doom thing two weeks ago were a lot of nice images for no sensible purpose. In the greater canon of Lord of the Rings, this is a meandering set up for the origin of Moria and a motivation for the Elves to create the Three Rings. I can’t say the efforts were worth it or that the payoffs could possibly have justified the journey.

Yeah. Similar to WoT in the sense that there's some great creative work that's been done on all the visual stuff and even on rare occasions in the writing, with mostly decent to good acting, yet the problems of the script are so big that it's still really sub-par overall.
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