1.07: The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power - The Eye

[The Crawling Chaos]

I am really not a fan of the creation (maybe "reawakening" would be a better term?) of Mordor as depicted in the show, and it has nothing to do with how respectful or disrespectful it might be to Tolkien's lore.

I'm assuming a lot because the show has kept most of it under wraps, or I just missed the details and dialogue that explained it, but Sauron's master plan seems completely inane and out of character. If he designed that plan to have a dormant volcano destroy the Southlands and see them replaced with his own little wonderland, why is it all triggered with a Sauron-shaped "key" (sword) that needs to be slotted under a statue that represents Sauron? I thought Sauron was a trickster figure who liked manipulating his enemies into doing his bidding without them realizing it until it was too late. This is far too obvious and too unrefined for the big Master of Evil.

But beyond that, I don't even like the fact that Mordor's creation was depicted on screen. In my mind Mt Doom and Mordor were always there, primeval places of evil born alongside the rest of the world, their origins shrouded in mystery and inexplicably linked to dark and evil powers predating all living things. A fixture of Middle Earth, which decent folk had always avoided out of superstition. The fact it just sprouted out of a fertile land where humans already congregated somehow lessens its aura for me.

Anyway I haven't really posted my thoughts on this episode because most of the things I would have said were already said by others. All that's left for me to express is my general feeling towards the show as it draws to a close. I think it failed to deliver on its promise, and I don't see how it could rectify the course in one last episode. By "promise" I mean all the things that I enjoyed in the first two episodes, that hinted at faraway journeys to distant lands, heroes caked in grime and mud from their travels, pushed to their limits, all to unravel a great mystery (that turned out to be... the shape of a mountain range on a map. Is this The Goonies?). Peppered with decent action scenes.

Instead so far I saw a show that is far too clean, gentle and pedestrian. If heroes do travel great distances, it is at the expense of all the things that make journeys worthwhile and exciting, and transformative experiences. A real sense of time and space. The feeling of being lost in foreign or strange places, of confronting danger and the elements. Our characters keep to well travelled paths, progressing sluggishly along a path that was already clear from the get-go. No one veers away from their road, no one ever drifts too far. Everything is right where it belongs. What little obstacles and diversions they have to overcome feel manufactured, tacked on. And in spite of the thousands of miles their bodies may have traveled, the characters feel like they have been walking in circles throughout the season.

What makes it all the more frustrating is that the show feels like it's taking its time not to ease us into the world and characters, but simply, like so many other shows nowadays, because it has very little exciting stuff to say and show, and therefore wants to save them all for the last two episodes to end with a bang, after a very, very long pschiiit. It is incomprehensible that after seven episodes we still know so very little about The Stranger or the three weirdos who follow him. All we have is that he fell from the sky and has great powers that are equally wondrous and scary. And that was illustrated in at least three scenes in three different episodes by now. The same point being made over and over, without giving us anything more. What little fun might be derived out of it is if you're a Tolkien scholar, which will allow you to pick up on some detail and form hypotheses about his true nature or identity. But if like me your knowledge of Tolkien's world is limited to Jackson's movies, well... He's just a guy who may be Gandalf based on his looks, and who can heal and kill things with his hands. Fabulous.

The same goes for Halbrand. To me he's still the Aragorn placeholder of this show and little more. The reluctant king with a handsome face, who is good with a sword. There's a darkness inside him, sure. But what and why? The show has given me nothing beyond a fight scene. Again the only people having fun trying to guess what this could all lead to are those who can pick up on the signs with their knowledge of the lore as a basis. If all you have to go on is the show, you have Dark Aragorn and nothing more.

I wanted to love this show, I wanted to love it ten times more than House of the Dragon because I'm getting fed up with G.R.R Martin's brand of grimdark Fantasy. But I have to admit that House of the Dragon has accomplished far more than Rings of Power in as many episodes - and I have no knowledge of Martin's books either, I just watched the GoT series. So... unless I'm really bored and have a few bucks to throw at Bezos's company next year, or whenever it is released, I don't think I'll be back for season 2.

I'll still keep my fingers crossed that we are treated to a groundbreaking finale this Friday. But... too little too late?

 

[RicheyShrimptom]

@HareBrain @Teresa Edgerton @farntfar - She was reading The Lost Road at the time - which i've never read. Looks like it was speculation on her part though.

Always stuck with me though as its a neat idea.

 

[Elckerlyc]

Should I say the same thing to all the people who come in other treads to show their "hate" and "disappointment"? I don't do that, even though it's annoying. All voices are equal, even those that shows their disappointment.

You are missing my point. Sure, all voices are equal. And of course it is legitimate to hate or be disappointed in a show, and voicing that view.
But what matters in all this is the tone, spirit or intent with which these views are vented.

And I am sick and tired of it, the hateful posts. I will not participate in it any further.

 

[Teresa Edgerton]

I am really not a fan of the creation (maybe "reawakening" would be a better term?) of Mordor as depicted in the show, and it has nothing to do with how respectful or disrespectful it might be to Tolkien's lore.

I'm assuming a lot because the show has kept most of it under wraps, or I just missed the details and dialogue that explained it, but Sauron's master plan seems completely inane and out of character. If he designed that plan to have a dormant volcano destroy the Southlands and see them replaced with his own little wonderland, why is it all triggered with a Sauron-shaped "key" (sword) that needs to be slotted under a statue that represents Sauron? I thought Sauron was a trickster figure who liked manipulating his enemies into doing his bidding without them realizing it until it was too late. This is far too obvious and too unrefined for the big Master of Evil.

But beyond that, I don't even like the fact that Mordor's creation was depicted on screen. In my mind Mt Doom and Mordor were always there, primeval places of evil born alongside the rest of the world, their origins shrouded in mystery and inexplicably linked to dark and evil powers predating all living things. A fixture of Middle Earth, which decent folk had always avoided out of superstition. The fact it just sprouted out of a fertile land where humans already congregated somehow lessens its aura for me.

Anyway I haven't really posted my thoughts on this episode because most of the things I would have said were already said by others. All that's left for me to express is my general feeling towards the show as it draws to a close. I think it failed to deliver on its promise, and I don't see how it could rectify the course in one last episode. By "promise" I mean all the things that I enjoyed in the first two episodes, that hinted at faraway journeys to distant lands, heroes caked in grime and mud from their travels, pushed to their limits, all to unravel a great mystery (that turned out to be... the shape of a mountain range on a map. Is this The Goonies?). Peppered with decent action scenes.

Instead so far I saw a show that is far too clean, gentle and pedestrian. If heroes do travel great distances, it is at the expense of all the things that make journeys worthwhile and exciting, and transformative experiences. A real sense of time and space. The feeling of being lost in foreign or strange places, of confronting danger and the elements. Our characters keep to well travelled paths, progressing sluggishly along a path that was already clear from the get-go. No one veers away from their road, no one ever drifts too far. Everything is right where it belongs. What little obstacles and diversions they have to overcome feel manufactured, tacked on. And in spite of the thousands of miles their bodies may have traveled, the characters feel like they have been walking in circles throughout the season.

What makes it all the more frustrating is that the show feels like it's taking its time not to ease us into the world and characters, but simply, like so many other shows nowadays, because it has very little exciting stuff to say and show, and therefore wants to save them all for the last two episodes to end with a bang, after a very, very long pschiiit. It is incomprehensible that after seven episodes we still know so very little about The Stranger or the three weirdos who follow him. All we have is that he fell from the sky and has great powers that are equally wondrous and scary. And that was illustrated in at least three scenes in three different episodes by now. The same point being made over and over, without giving us anything more. What little fun might be derived out of it is if you're a Tolkien scholar, which will allow you to pick up on some detail and form hypotheses about his true nature or identity. But if like me your knowledge of Tolkien's world is limited to Jackson's movies, well... He's just a guy who may be Gandalf based on his looks, and who can heal and kill things with his hands. Fabulous.

The same goes for Halbrand. To me he's still the Aragorn placeholder of this show and little more. The reluctant king with a handsome face, who is good with a sword. There's a darkness inside him, sure. But what and why? The show has given me nothing beyond a fight scene. Again the only people having fun trying to guess what this could all lead to are those who can pick up on the signs with their knowledge of the lore as a basis. If all you have to go on is the show, you have Dark Aragorn and nothing more.

I wanted to love this show, I wanted to love it ten times more than House of the Dragon because I'm getting fed up with G.R.R Martin's brand of grimdark Fantasy. But I have to admit that House of the Dragon has accomplished far more than Rings of Power in as many episodes - and I have no knowledge of Martin's books either, I just watched the GoT series. So... unless I'm really bored and have a few bucks to throw at Bezos's company next year, or whenever it is released, I don't think I'll be back for season 2.

I'll still keep my fingers crossed that we are treated to a groundbreaking finale this Friday. But... too little too late?

I don't entirely disagree with this—at least not all of it— and of course you are entitled to your opinion even if I did. At least your thoughts are based on actually watching the show. I hope you will weigh in after watching the season finale.

One thing that Tolkien fans were adamant about before the show even started filming was that it shouldn't be another GOT with all its sex and violence. I think the producers have, at times, tried too hard to go the other way, with mixed results. But in my case, I'd rather that than that it should be too much like GOT, or like a hyper-active video game, which a lot of people probably would have preferred.

But I'm not paying to watch the show. Or rather, I've been paying for Prime anyway, for a long time, for some of the benefits like free shipping, and since the show comes along with that, it feels like I get it essentially for free. I don't have to ask myself whether it is worth what it costs to watch it, but whether it is worth my time, which so far it has been. If I was paying a bunch of money just so I could watch one series, maybe I'd be less tolerant of missteps.


(But as regards the characters travelling and remaining too clean, don't you find the Harfoots satisfyingly grubby?)

 

[Teresa Edgerton]

And I am sick and tired of it, the hateful posts. I will not participate in it any further.

I think that will be less of a problem in the future, if one sticks to the episode threads. There may be a general gripe thread or two, but those could be easily avoided.

Criticism is one thing, of course—we've both been criticizing aspects of the show ourselves—but relentless negativity can be wearing, and can quash discussion, whether it is meant to or not. I hope we won't lose your valuable insights.

 

[SilentRoamer]

Ok so I stopped writing my reviews on this show because I didn't want to be seen to "dunk" on it or "trash" it. I thought there were a couple of good episodes, there are also some threads which I actually quite like (Elrond and Durin).

This episode really jumped the shark, everything is on fire, we SAW a huge fiery wall of death about to engulf Galadriel and she doesn't even have singed eyebrows, no one seems to have any difficulty breathing while they are engulfed in an ash cloud.

On top of that we are seeing the Stranger - still doing odd things and creating Peril, something we have now seen multiple times with no furthering of his character or relation to the plot.

I just don't feel invested.

On the other hand, the recent episode of HotD - took place with a small cast, inside mostly one location, very few special effects and very little action, yet it was thoroughly engaging and I found myself hanging on their every word - the suspense felt palpable.

I'll finish this series, but I am not likely to watch a Season 2. (I say that but ill probably end up watching it anyway as so little on TV actually engages me.)

So those are my thoughts - to the people enjoying the show, I wish you continued enjoyment in it and feel saddened I cannot join you in its support.

 

[farntfar]

As someone who will almost certainly continue to watch it by employing a hefty level of suspension of disbelief (*) I nevertheless consider this to be an entirely reasonable way to feel @SilentRoamer, and I applaud the way that you have stated it.
(* though certainly no more suspension of disbelief than for any SF programme containing FTL for example, from Star Trek and Blake's Seven onwards.)
I am willing to suspend my recognition of conflicts with Tolkien canon in a similar fashion for the sake of seeing the invention that the story writers have made; sometimes, it's true, with a fairly heavy heart.

One other question has sprung to mind though, unrelated to the volcanic problems. Why is the episode called THE EYE? What eye are was mentioned? Did I miss it?

 

[HareBrain]

Why is the episode called THE EYE? What eye are was mentioned? Did I miss it?

Given that "i" and "o" are next to each other on the keyboard, I think they intended to name it after the character THEO, but someone mistyped it as THEI, someone else then asked what it was to be called and got the answer "the I" which they mistakenly transcribed as THE EYE. Betcha.

 

[farntfar]

written by a theist then.

 

[The Crawling Chaos]

I don't entirely disagree with this—at least not all of it— and of course you are entitled to your opinion even if I did. At least your thoughts are based on actually watching the show. I hope you will weigh in after watching the season finale.

Thank you, @Teresa Edgerton . I don't consider myself a hater of this series at all (more like a disappointed lover?) and I'm not here to participate in any pile-on. If I come back to these threads every week to read fellow Chroners' opinions it is precisely because I want to read what people like you who appreciate the show have to say about it, in the hope that it will make me see it in a different light. I'm also enjoying all the extra info gleaned from reading reviews from Tolkien aficionados who know what this or that reference might mean or foretell.

If I ever came off as harsh or overly negative about the show, it's not because I don't think it has any redeeming qualities. I simply have a tendency to focus on the negative when writing reviews online. A need to vent what frustrates me, rather than one to praise what I love. This show certainly wasn't a waste of my time or I would have stopped watching it sooner. I really liked the first two episodes. I am enthusiastic about Morfydd Clark's acting. I enjoy the mystery surrounding the identity of "Gandalf" and his three stalkers, although I lack the knowledge to pick up on what little hints we may have been given about them. I enjoy Halbrand and his actor. I might see the character as little more than a 'Dark Side Aragorn', but the idea of a twisted Aragorn might be good enough if the showrunners are able to capitalize on it.

As for voicing my opinion after watching the show, well that should be a given. We are reading and hearing far too much negativity from people who made a conscious decision to hate the show as soon as it was announced, and haven't made the effort to give it a fair chance. And I'm glad there are Tolkien fans out there reasonable enough to look past the twisting and bending of the original lore to enjoy the show on its own merits.

(But as regards the characters travelling and remaining too clean, don't you find the Harfoots satisfyingly grubby?)

This and their connection to the Stranger's arc are possibly the only things I enjoy about them. They sure are a grimy, resilient lot.

Looking forward to discussing the final episode with you all.

 

[Elckerlyc]

I hope we won't lose your valuable insights.

Well, we'll see. But I shall not leave my synopsis of this episode unfinished.

 

[Elckerlyc]

Part III

The group survivors from Tirharad has reached the encampment of the Nûmenorean force, tired and dirty. The horses are being led away to the stables where they, I hope, get the care they will need after their ordeal. But Berek refuses to be led away.
Not even when Elendil tells him, “No. You’re going home, you hear me? You’re coming with us.”
“He won’t listen to any of us,” Valendil is telling Elendil something he probably already knew, but didn’t want to acknowledge. However, he doesn’t seem to understand or ask himself, why? He releases the horse, but apparently not in the expectation that the horse still may have a connecting with Isildur, with a living Isilsur.
He laments, “I should never have pulled the Elf on board. I should’ve left her in the sea, where I found her.” It seems Elendil unworthy, untrue to his character. After all the goofy talk about the bond between horse and rider, he himself should have jumped on the first horse he saw and follow Berek.
Actually, he should have done so far earlier and not have waited until they had made it all the way back to the encampment.

Galadriel and Theo also made it safe to the encampment. Theo hurries ahead of Galadriel in the hope to find his mother there. He enters the camp and seemingly heads straight for a tent that functions as infirmary, the most likely place where his mother, as a healer or as a patient, would be.
(It may be nitpicking - and I am willing to assume Theo did inquire where to go - but the way it was presented here made it look as if he knew unaided, which seems unlikely. Unless he had seen an encampment and infirmary before. Just a short shot of him asking directions would have been more natural, logical. Nitpicking yes, but it are these small things that indicates a certain lack of insight.)
Theo enters the tent. So far the viewer has been saved gruesome sights, but now we get the full dose. It is shocking, but also in a way surprising; we had not seen people being carried or transported in carts, only walking or riding survivors. It is a bit strange how these patients arrived here before Theo did.
He looks around, at the wounded and sees several covered bodies. From one body some dark is visible from under the cover and he bends down to pull the cover back and look at the face. But then suddenly Bronwyn appears behind him. They embrace fiercely. Next Arondir appears and Theo hugs him as well, which is being answered after a slight hesitation.
Galadriel enters the tent. Arondir bows. She hardly greets them back. She only want to know where the queen-regent is.

Míriel is outside, outside the encampment even, sitting on a windy rock with a bandage around her head to cover her eyes. Is she sitting there so no one will notice she is blind? It remains unclear.
Elendil approaches Míriel and informs her that the preparations nearly are complete, “We can depart within the hour.”
“What of the Southlanders?”
“One garrison will remain behind to escort them to a safe settlement. And search for our missing.”
At that moment Galadriel walks up to them. Is all this shortly after her reaching the camp? It seems so, as Bronwyn accompanied her her.
Elendil takes his time to announce Galadriel’s presence to the queen, and with some distaste. Míriel also needs time to allow her to approach. What exactly are they blaming her for? The eruption of a volcano? She behaves somewhat as a person burdened with guilt herself, as she slowly approaches and, also after some hesitation while taking in the bandaged eyes, kneels.
“No one kneels in Nûmenor.”
“You are not in Nûmenor. Neither of you are. A fault that is mine alone.” Oh dear.
Elendil doesn’t want to listen to it, so he doesn't has to accept apologies, if they come. "Our ships are waiting, my queen,” he reminds Míriel with some emphasis, and adds, while looking at Galadriel, “Let us put this land behind our sails.”
Mïriel puts out a hand and reaches for Galadriel’s face. “Do not spent your pity on me, Elf. Save it for your enemies. For they do not know what they have begun.” Galadriel sheds a tear.
But Míriel isn’t done yet. With Galadriel’s help she rises and declares, “For I, Míriel, daughter of Ar-Inziladûn, vow this. Nûmenor will return.”
“Then the Elves will be ready,” Galadriel answers.
Elendil had turned away meanwhile, clearly not happy with this.
“Captain,” Mïriel says, “We sail with the tide.”
She doesn’t get any acknowledgment. “Captain!”
But Elendil has turned away, crying.

The Harfoot are busy salvaging what they can from the burned rubble that once were their carts. Except for Nori, who seems lost in regrets and quilt.
Largo won’t have it. “Let this not splinter your spirit, it’ll be all right.”
“Don’t lie to her, Largo,” Marigold reproves him. “She’s too old for that now.”
“I wasn’t lying. It will be all right.”
Naturally, the other Harfoot interfere.
“Pity’s sake,” Sadoc exclaims, “Give us a moment to weep.”
“Weep? Is that all you think we have left in us? We’re Harfoots!” Now he gets everyone’s attention, including Nori’s. Unexpectedly, he is showing to be more of a leader, offering encouragement, then Sadoc is.
“Look, we don’t slay dragons. Not much for diggin’ jewels. But there’s one thing we can do, I warrant, better than any creature in all Middle-Earth. We stay true to each other. Now matter how the path winds or how steep it gets, we face it, with our hearts even bigger than our feet. And we just keep walking.” It seems a re-definition of ‘No one walks alone,’ which, earlier, we found them a bit lacking in that department.
Whatever the case, the ‘no one goes off-trail,´ is also about to be thrown into the wind. Largo’s speech has awakened something in Nori.
She gathers some food and is ready to go in about 4.5 seconds.
“Nori, where are you going?” Marigold questions her.
“To help my friend. Warn him what’s coming. He deserves at least that.” She’s quite determined.
“Goin’ off-trail? Now? Alone?” Sadoc doesn’t sound adamantly against it, but questions the when and how.
“She won’t be alone.” Poppy jumps in. And for very good reasons, “We’ve left enough folk behind, we’re not leaving him.” Nori and Poppy would have done a high-five here, had it been invented already.
“You girls aren’t going anywhere!” Marigold rebukes them. “Not without me.”
Largo is astonished. “Are you sure about this, Goldie?”
She doesn't get the chance to answer that.
“You go into those woods, you might never come out alive.” Sadoc's wife (what's her name?) warns.
“They might if a trail-finder were to go with them,“ Malva looks at Sadoc, who looks back as if he sees water burning. “Brandyfoot girl was right to help him. Was right all along. And if you think Malva Meadowgrass is to proud to admit it, well what’s the good of living’, Sadoc, if we aren’t living good.” Water is burning.
“You know, Malva, just once, once, it would be grand if you weren’t right all the time.” (Eh... this once was the first time, I far as I'm aware. But correct me if I'm wrong.) “I’ll fetch provisions and get me stick. I’m coming with ya, ” he adds.
Nori and Poppy are beaming, a bit self-righteously.
“It doesn’t matter anyway, we’re all gonna die,” Sadoc mutters as he turns to get his things.
With their short legs they will have to run, will they find the Stranger in time. And somehow evade the Maleficent Trio.

Arondir and Galadriel watch Míriel sail away, back to Nûmenor. Just the one ship, it appears.
“You believe she’ll keep her promise?” Arondir wonders.
“No,” Galadriel replies, “I’m certain of it.”
Bronwyn joins them. The wounded have been cared and prepared for. They can travel.
”Where will you go?” Galadriel asks.
“An old Nûmenorean coloney by the mouth of the Anduin. Pelargir, they call it. They say there’s fresh land, fresh water.”
“A fresh start,” Arondir adds softly, with some undertones. Bronwyn and him look at each other.
“Then I will report to our High King. To face whatever awaits me.” Galadriel isn't looking forward to it. she does have something to explain.
It triggers a question with Bronwyn, “And what of our king?”
“Your king?” Galadriel seems to assume he is dead. (Much as we viewers are meant to believe so as well, by not showing him. Like Bronwyn and Arondir. Yes, it worked *cough*)
“Has no one informed you?” Given that Galadriel barely arrived an hour ago in the encampment, it’s not that weird.
They go, not the infirmary, but a different tent and enter.
“Halbrand!” Galadriel says, “I thought you had died.”
Bleary-eyed, Halbrand looks at her. “Better for me if I had done.” He looks ill and feverishly.
“Southlanders found him on the road(?) like this, yestereve,” Arondir informs Galadriel.
“The wound soured overnight,“ adds Bronwyn, “I thought to try and treat him on the road, but…” She ominously doesn’t finish her sentence.
Galdriel inspects the wound. Halbrand half groans and breathes heavily.
“This wound needs Elvish medicine. Can he ride?” He doesn’t look like it.
Despite her ominously unfinished sentence, Bronwyn replies, “I’ll have the healers gather all the provisions they can.” She leaves the tent, followed by Arondir.
Galadriel turns back to Halbrand, who looks too ill to even sit up. “Well, my friend, it seems fate has in store for us one more raft.”
“This is not over. I will not abandon these lands and condemn to burn. Nor will you.”
Galadriel just looks at him.
Sometime later, looking slightly better and wearing a clean shirt, Halbrand leaves his tent and walks through the crowd.
“Strength to the king,” Bronwyn shouts. The crowd joins in. He will need it.
Arondir is waiting with two horses. Galadriel gets on her horse, which Arondir is holding for her. He nods his goodbye. Halbrands grunts and gasps, but it looks like he has to get on his horse unaided. That’s no way to treat your king.
Theo comes forwards and wants to give the sword back to Galadriel.
“Keep it… Soldier.”
He smiles and greets her, “Commander.” No question we will see him back in the next season.
And as Galadriel and Halbrand ride off towards Lindon, Theo raises his sword into the air and, no doubt inspired by his mother, shouts, “Strength to the Southlands.” He is joined by many.

From sword to axe. Back once more to Durin and Disa. They sit and talk and drink together.
“I failed him,” Durin glumly describes his day to his wife. “It’s all my fault.”
Disa looks at him. “No. No, it isn’t.”
“Whose is it than?”
She doesn’t take her long to name the guilty party, “It’s you father’s.”
Durin just listens as Disa describes his father as too old, too suspicious, his mind too feeble, his eyes too dim to see that, one day, he, Durin the son, will be king Durin IV and no one else. And that they, Durin and she herself, will rule their mountain and all others together. And, it seems, mostly thanks to Disa and not Durin. She looks the strong-willed of the two.
“That mithril belongs to us. To you and me. And together, one day, we are going to dig.”
It was just what Durin needed to hear. He grins and kisses her.

Meanwhile, deep down at the place where he and Elrond had been digging, king Durin looks at the place and sees a leaf on the floor. He picks it up and studies it. It is clean, unstained by any blight.
He dismisses it, tosses the leaf into the hole Durin had cut and orders the hole to be sealed up. And probably the entrance to the dig as well.
The leaf whirls and twirls, falling ever deeper and deeper into the mountain. Until it finally hits the bottom and immediately burst into flames. Welcome into the Balrog’s den.

Adar walks between the remains of what (I assume) once was Tirharad.
“This is our land now,” he tells his Orcs. “It is our home!”
“Hail Adar,” Waldreg acclaims, “Lord of the Southlands!” His words are taken up by the Orcs.
But Adar, who seems weary, objects. “No. That is the name of a place that no longer exists."
“What shall we call it in stead, Lord Father,” Waldreg asks.
But Adar doesn’t answer. He just looks into the distance, at a volcano still spewing tons of dust and ash into the sky.
Slowly, under heavy rumbling, the golden letters ‘THE SOUTHLANDS’ change into a black-lettered ‘MORDOR.”

The end of episode 7. But, but, where is the Eye?

Some remarks.

Sometimes writing is easy, sometimes it goes sluggish. Especially this last part I found troublesome to describe. Much of it was about the Southlands. Almost anything concerning Nûmenor and the Southlands, the setting, the characters, feels clumsy, illogical, unnatural, a bit off.
Galadriel remains stiff and stilted, unable to socialise or deal with ‘commoners’ it seems.
Enough has been said about the volcano, pyroclastic clouds and surviving that. Not. There wasn’t a coordinated attempt shown to save and help the victims and wounded, at least not that we got to see.
The friendship between Elrond and Durin endures and captures me. Perhaps Disa got a bit beyond herself in the end, but I forgive her. The generation divide and clash between father and son was somewhat tiring, a bit stale, but Durin vs Durin does has a ring to it.
I know a lot of people dislike the Harfoot, even fervently so. Mostly, I assume, because the pseudo Hobbits are seen as an insult to true Hobbit-dom. I have gradually come to like the proto-Hobbits. They seem the most natural, the most ordinary group of people, and the easiest to sympathise with. They also grow and evolve, learn from their mistakes. I could watch a show just with the Harfoot.
Well, that would depend on the writing, of course. When you look at the different groups, species, whatever, you sometimes wonder whether each group has been developed by a different writer. The differences in approach and presentation are remarkable and consistent throughout the episodes so far.
One more episode to go, to resolve may loose ends.

 

[Dave]

This series is worse than the Raised by Wolves.

I just want to make the single point that Rings of Power is Fantasy and as far as I'm concerned it can make up stuff as unbelievable it likes*. Raised by Wolves, on the other hand, was meant to be a future history; Science Fiction, therefore the rules of science, common sense and realism should prevail.

It is the reason that I prefer Science Fiction to Fantasy, and need my magical fiction to have some kind of rule book with an internal logic applied, i.e. as in the Peter Grant: Rivers of London Modern Fantasy series. Anyway, arguing over the lack of internal logic within this kind of High Fantasy seems quite pointless to me. I just have to accept it as it is, or else I don't watch it and go and watch something else instead. BTW Star Wars: Andor is very good right now.

*within reason. I do have some limits:

No, its not canon. I don't like it either.

I thought I had missed something there. It makes an interesting story, but if the Mithril idea is not canon, I don't like it either. Most of what you discuss in these threads of the story playing fast and loose with Tolkien canon goes way above my head, but I would draw a line in the sand at this, and no, they aren't allowed to make up that stuff. The difference here being that it isn't their world to play around with.

 

[Teresa Edgerton]

“They might if a trail-finder were to go with them,“ Malva looks at Sadoc, who looks back as if he sees water burning. “Brandyfoot girl was right to help him. Was right all along. And if you think Malva Meadowgrass is to proud to admit it, well what’s the good of living’, Sadoc, if we aren’t living good.” Water is burning.
“You know, Malva, just once, once, it would be grand if you weren’t right all the time.” (Eh... this once was the first time, I far as I'm aware. But correct me if I'm wrong.)

You're not wrong. Or, at least, that whole conversation felt out of character for both of them, to me.

But I think that Galadriel was stiff because she was feeling guilty and uncomfortable. She'd brought the Númenóreans there and many had died—and not just those who died heroically in battle (which might at least be a matter of pride for their families, and only to be expected), but because of the volcano erupting. How Galadriel could have possibly foreseen that I have no idea, and probably she doesn't either, but she still seems to blame herself.

I do agree with you about Elendil. I do cut him a certain amount of slack because he is obviously grieving for his son, but since they came there for a battle ... well, he could hardly have expected Isildur to return unscathed. (But grief, I am told, can feel a lot like anger, and it can take a while to figure that out when one is in the midst of it. So maybe he will come around, even before he finds out that Isildur is not dead.)

It makes an interesting story, but if the Mithril idea is not canon, I don't like it either.

Well, that's not the reason I don't like it. I don't like it because I found that part of the story clunky, and they couldn't excuse it by saying that Tolkien wrote it that way, because he didn't. On the other hand, Tolkien never specifically said that mithril was a naturally occurring metal (because it is not the sort of thing he would have felt the need to say, if it was) and perhaps the producers thought it rather suspicious that it has only ever been known to be found in one place and decided to explain it with their story about the tree and the silmaril, etc. etc. It goes against what Tolkien did write about the fate of all the silmarils, but the production doesn't have the rights to that part of the story, so I suppose they felt they could improvise.

But it's just the way they handled the whole thing, about the elves needing the mithril to restore their light, that felt silly and contrived to me, with various plot holes (like how did the elves know about the metal in the first place, when it had just recently been discovered and was still a secret carefully guarded by the dwarves, let alone know that it would solve their problem)? If it had felt right, I'd have accepted it, canon or not, so long as it didn't straight-out contradict canon, because there is little known about the second age, and certainly not enough to provide 50 hours of television with interesting plot twists and action, and I think if they didn't improvise a lot the five seasons could have largely consisted of obscenely extended battle sequences, since Tolkien did mention several battles between Sauron and various combinations of elves and men. It would have been like The Battle of Five Armies, only so much worse because of its length and being spread out over five seasons, instead of (mercifully) contained in one bloated movie.

Anyway, arguing over the lack of internal logic within this kind of High Fantasy seems quite pointless to me.

But not to many of us who read it, and write it, and love it. To us, internal logic is especially important in High Fantasy, because, among other reasons, it aids suspension of disbelief for the fantastical parts. But that's another discussion for another time.