Spoilers Lord of the Rings TV series

[Moist_Cake]

The 3rd episode was OK. I thought there would have been an escape for sure from the slavers. I wonder where it's going? The bad guy at the end looked kind of elvish. It would be cool if he was a half-orc.

While I get there 's obviously a painful history between the Númenóreans and Elves, you'd think if they didn't like Galadriel so much they just give her a small boat as quickly as possible and be done with it instead of all of the handwringing over whatever. .

I think they knew it was destiny, it was foretold. That's the impression I got when the Queen said 'the elf has arrived' or something like that.

 

[Jedi Marso]

What happened to the Elves and others who went to Valinor at the end of LOTR? If LOTR were really a forgotten history of our world from thousands of years ago, then would they still be alive hidden away in Valinor today?

Yes, they theoretically remain alive in Valinor to this day, and will remain so until the ending of the world.

 

[Jedi Marso]

A good video on the history and origins of Numenor.

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[The Nth Doctor]

I think they knew it was destiny, it was foretold. That's the impression I got when the Queen said 'the elf has arrived' or something like that.

Yeah, I figured that but doesn't mean they had to be such sniveling snots about Galadriel.

 

[Jedi Marso]

One of my big gripes so far is the lack of gravitas about Galadriel. Her mannerisms and actions are too impatient, and human.

At this point she is already thousands of years old, and was alive in the time of the Two Trees. She needs to channel a little Cate Blanchett, here. A little light of the Eldar, slower movement, slower, more relevant and eloquent speech... a bit more of an ethereal quality. Even Legolas in LOTR managed to inject more elvishness into his elf character.

 

[fireproof78]

She works fine for me. She senses a great evil and wants to do something about it. Why would she wait?

 

[Jedi Marso]

She works fine for me. She senses a great evil and wants to do something about it. Why would she wait?

It's not that she should want to wait- more that her sense of time should be a little more elongated, as it were. When you've lived thousands upon thousands of years, my guess is that you would have the wisdom to be a little more patient and canny than to simply Tauriel your way down the docks the same afternoon to steal a boat and escape. Elendil comes off as far older and wiser than she does, but compared to her he is a mere candleflame flickering briefly in the wind before going out.

 

[fireproof78]

It's not that she should want to wait- more that her sense of time should be a little more elongated, as it were. When you've lived thousands upon thousands of years, my guess is that you would have the wisdom to be a little more patient and canny than to simply Tauriel your way down the docks the same afternoon to steal a boat and escape. Elendil comes off as far older and wiser than she does, but compared to her he is a mere candleflame flickering briefly in the wind before going out.

Except, it feels like her sense of time has been altered due to her experiences. It lends to this idea of her becoming more impatient, rather than just immediately being meditative and reflective. There are times to be patient, but there are certain experiences for people that drive them to be impatient. Happens to everyone.

 

[Ragitsu]

One of my big gripes so far is the lack of gravitas about Galadriel. Her mannerisms and actions are too impatient, and human.

At this point she is already thousands of years old, and was alive in the time of the Two Trees. She needs to channel a little Cate Blanchett, here. A little light of the Eldar, slower movement, slower, more relevant and eloquent speech... a bit more of an ethereal quality. Even Legolas in LOTR managed to inject more elvishness into his elf character.

It's a modern-day "thing" to consistently depict heroic characters as brash, impetuous and/or all-around vulgar; they were around before, but they weren't represented to this degree...especially among characters/races known for being conventionally unambiguously heroic. This shift supposedly has to do with relatability.

 

[Jedi Marso]

Well, that's kind of the point. An elvish character shouldn't be all that relatable to us mere mortals.

 

[Asbo Zaprudder]

I think they knew it was destiny, it was foretold. That's the impression I got when the Queen said 'the elf has arrived' or something like that.

When used by persons with great strength of will, Palantíri can show real objects or events, past, present and future. Galadriel's mirror in the Third Age perhaps uses some of the same magic. It's possible that Tar-Míriel is only pretending to support Ar-Pharazôn, is really one of the Faithful, and that she will pass knowledge to Galadriel that allows her to create a similar device.

Fëanor created a number of palantíri in the First Age. Seven were given to Amandil of Númenor during the Second Age, and Elendil took several to Middle-earth. In the Third Age, Saruman, Denethor and presumably Sauron had one of these stones each and Sauron was using them to manipulate Saruman and Denethor.

Well, that's kind of the point. An elvish character shouldn't be all that relatable to us mere mortals.

Elves are constrained by the Music of the Ainur. They have no free will. They do what they were always going to do. Of course, it makes no difference in practice as they do not have foreknowledge. So, one could argue Galadriel has no option to behave otherwise. Even if she did, it would be deterministic even if she believed she had made a choice of her own volition. However, Men do have free will and their choices are unconstrained by the Music. I suspect the same applies to Hobbits/Harfoots as Olórin aka Gandalf - a Maiar and Istari also constrained by the Music - seemed to be constantly surprised by them.

 

[fireproof78]

It's a modern-day "thing" to consistently depict heroic characters as brash, impetuous and/or all-around vulgar; they were around before, but they weren't represented to this degree...especially among characters/races known for being conventionally unambiguously heroic. This shift supposedly has to do with relatability.

Hardly a modern day thing.

 

[StarMan]

After three episodes I'm just not feeling it. They're trying so hard for something, but in the process are neglecting an engaging story with compelling characters. I'm simply not invested, save for some interest in Nori and her Stranger.

If you're going for a slow burn, character development is paramount.

I'm split on this episode. While I enjoyed the broader storytelling of the three threads of this episode, I quickly got tired of the melodramatic slow-motion sequencing that occurred during the Númenór and Orc enslavement of Elves stories. Reminded me far too much of Zack Snyder and that's never a good thing.

Oh God, now that you mention it.

 

[CaptainWacky]

Not really feeling it either. The dialogue just isn't impressive at all, even the elves just speak like humans but using slightly bigger words. Just doesn't sound like Tolkien to me.

It still looks great (most of the time) though, and actually seeing Numenor on screen was pretty cool.

That one slow motion close-up of Galadriel horse-riding was really weirdly placed. I get the idea is to show how happy she is to be riding but it would have been much better just to show her in slow motion on the horse.

The warg at the end looked like Weasel from The Suicide Squad.

Felt like they were really trying to remind us of Legolas' raction to Haldir's death with Arondir (twice!) reacting with surprise when his friends died.

 

[The Nth Doctor]

Oh God, now that you mention it.

Sorry about that! I truly am!

 

[JD]

It would be cool if he was a half-orc.

I'm not sure if I'd say it would be cool, since with the way Elves and Orcs are I can only see one way that would probably happen, and it probably wouldn't have been a pleasant experience for the Elf inolved.

It's not that she should want to wait- more that her sense of time should be a little more elongated, as it were. When you've lived thousands upon thousands of years, my guess is that you would have the wisdom to be a little more patient and canny than to simply Tauriel your way down the docks the same afternoon to steal a boat and escape. Elendil comes off as far older and wiser than she does, but compared to her he is a mere candleflame flickering briefly in the wind before going out.

I can understand her not being patient since as far as she's concerned there is an immediate threat to all of Middle Earth, that has to be dealt with now.

I absolutely loved the design for Numenor.
So I guess this episode seemed to more or less confirm there were no horses in Middle Earth. Galadriel seemed really surprised when he said they would be riding, but she seemed to be an experienced rider, and seemed happy to be doing. So I'm assuming there must have been horses in Middle Earth at some point, but for reason aren't any now. Did something happen to them at some point that wiped them out in Middle Eart, but not in Numenor?
Like I mentioned before, I've been a little shocked how few animals we've seen so far in the show. The movies had tons of animals all over the places, in all of the towns and villages, but here all we've gotten is a cow, some birds, the worm, 3 horses and a Warg this week.
I'm glad to see that Halbrand isn't Sauron,and is apparently a good guy. I had been assuming he was going to end up being a bad guy, even if he isn't Sauron himself.
The Harfoots being so quick to just abandon anyone who falls behind seems pretty harsh, especially for what appeared to be such a peaceful people. I was a little surprised they had the Harfoots finding out about The Stranger already, I had expected Nori to be keeping him secret a lot longer.
It was interesting to get our introduction to The Rings of Power's Orcs. Is the sun burning them something new to the show? I thought in the LOTR movies and books they didn't like the sun, but it didn't actually hurt them like it does here. Arondir and the other Elves attempted escape from the Orc was a pretty cool action scene.
I like the design for the Warg here, the movie design was OK, but I liked this better.
So is Ada Sauron or someone else?

 

[Ragitsu]

The fewer beasts, the better (except for monstrous versions to battle...those are fine).

 

[JD]

I take it you're not an animal person?

 

[Jedi Marso]

I can understand her not being patient since as far as she's concerned there is an immediate threat to all of Middle Earth, that has to be dealt with now.

Elves are immortal and Sauron is a Maiar, so now takes on a different meaning to their psyche.

I absolutely loved the design for Numenor.
So I guess this episode seemed to more or less confirm there were no horses in Middle Earth. Galadriel seemed really surprised when he said they would be riding, but she seemed to be an experienced rider, and seemed happy to be doing. So I'm assuming there must have been horses in Middle Earth at some point, but for reason aren't any now. Did something happen to them at some point that wiped them out in Middle Eart, but not in Numenor?

There are horses in Middle Earth. The Black Riders rode them, as did Arwen, and the entire host of Rohan. Oh, and let's not forget Bill the Pony.

The Harfoots being so quick to just abandon anyone who falls behind seems pretty harsh, especially for what appeared to be such a peaceful people. I was a little surprised they had the Harfoots finding out about The Stranger already, I had expected Nori to be keeping him secret a lot longer.

The entire Harfoot plot (such as it is) so far seems pointless and contrived.

 

[fireproof78]

Elves are immortal and Sauron is a Maiar, so now takes on a different meaning to their psyche.

Possibly, but the impact of evil seems to have altered the psyche.

Can't imagine why that would be...

Oh, and let's not forget Bill the Pony.

I mean, I'm trying but he has such a memorable...role.