I agree with the complaint about Gimli’s comic relief aspects. However I think Gimli’s whole character and persona in the LoTR films, look/feel/presence/personality, was well done for giving old-world Tolkien gravitas rather than the comic clowning of the Hobbit movies and the Rings of Power portrayals.
He was a good character in Fellowship of the Ring, when Merry and Pippin were used for comic relief. But then they got serious in the second and third movies, and the writers screwed over Gimli.
I agree with both reactions.
Indeed. In the Third Age (circa The Hobbit) Necromancer/Sauron is driven out of Dol Guldur and he flees to Mordor. It would be hard to imagine he’s fleeing on foot. If he does so at night Manwe and Thorondor - if they had any concern (unlikely at this point) - won’t notice. Any more than Barad-dur being rebuilt.
If it’s a plot device in this series that our favourite baddie can take up bat-wing and fly off to be another character - coolio.
Just for funs, Sauron’s Blog was hilarious.
I’m reminded of The Very Secret Diaries by Cassandra Clare, which she posted to her Livejournal back in 2001/2002 before she became a professional author.
https://www.ealasaid.com/misc/vsd/
I’d say more, but Sam will kill me if I try anything.
This was an awful episode, and my least favorite by far. I wish they could find some writers with imagination.
I don’t think Adar is Sauron anyway. He’s too…hands-on. I agree that Arondir is really doing well as one of the only interesting characters so far.
Slate ranked the possibilities for Sauron in their opinion. From most to least likely:
- Annatar, a not yet introduced character. Talking about the rumors regarding the actress who appears in the trailer, “her homeland suggests she’s more likely a follower of Sauron, not Sauron himself, but perhaps casting a woman (Sauron can take any form, after all) would be a way to keep viewers on their toes.”
- The Stranger
- Halbrand. “Halbrand being Sauron would be the most dramatically satisfying of the theories so far, since he and Galadriel have strong chemistry and have spent a lot of time together now. Learning that he’s the man responsible for her brother’s death would make for a powerful betrayal.”
- Adar. “It’d be pretty anti-climactic for Sauron to be disguised as someone so clearly evil, and personally overseeing construction of his lands rather than delegating seems beneath him.”
It can’t be Adar - “Sauron went by many names, perhaps this is one of them” == no way in hell it is.
Assorted thoughts on this episode;
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There’s been speculation on the subreddit that Arondir is Theo’s father, and I could almost believe it after this episode. The scene where he rescues Theo from the orcs, picking arrows out of the air as he goes and standing off with them against the backdrop of the rising sun, was nothing less than magnificent cinematography and perfectly executed.
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Celebrimbor probably knows about the mithril and is abusing Elrond’s friendship with Durin to find out more about it. The scene of Elrond swearing on his father’s name felt bittersweet since he’s probably going to betray that trust at some point. I liked the scene where Elrond talks about wondering what his father would think of him.
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Borowyn mentioned that Ostirith has taken in refugees from “every village from here to Orodruin”, which would seem to confirm that the mountain we see in the background in Ep1 is indeed Mt. Doom. Calling it Orodruin is a bit of an anachronism, though, since it implies that the elves were already calling it “Fire Mountain” before it became an active volcano. Perhaps in this timeline, Mt. Doom was active during the First Age and became quiet after Morgoth was defeated.
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Adar is probably one of the first generation of elves, and likely one of the first elves Morgoth corrupted when making the orcs. If I may yet again draw comparison to Dragon Age, he’s probably their Corypheus.
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Theo’s Morgul-blade doesn’t correspond to anything in the legendarium that I can think of. A hilt that spontaneously grows a blade when wielded? It’s more of an orcish lightsaber than anything Tolkien devised. It’s apparently important enough that Adar and the orcs were actively seeking it out while ravaging the Southlands, and judging from the rambling of the old man at the end of the episode it probably belonged to Sauron himself. I have a feeling that Theo is going to wind up being the undoing of his people, and he might even eventually become one of the Nazgul.
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Does anyone else think that Pharazon kinda looks like Jack Black? They both have the same kind of medium-length feathered hair and half-grey beard.
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It’s looking like Numenor’s war against Sauron is going to take up the second half of the season. By the time the finale rolls around four weeks from now, we should definitely know who he is.
My mileage varied, I enjoyed it a lot.
Definitely this - he speaks Elvish, he remembers Beleriand, and the Orcs literally call him “Father”. And he’s clearly been tortured.
I have one question - the Orcs now know the sword is with Theo, so they don’t need the slaves digging any more. Are they toast, or will they become the seed of the slaves that farm Núrn in the Third Age?
I’d say the latter. Sauron has several races of Men under his thrall in the Third Age, including the Haradrim who the people of the Southlands are apparently the ancestors of. Borowyn and Theo’s village is called “Tirharad”, after all.
I don’t think these people are the ancestors of the Haradrim we see in LotR, I think there are other people further South for that (as in, the part of Harad south of Mordor).
Which means “Watch the South” - why would you need to watch it if you’re in it?
Remember that the Southlands is not the same as later Harad - it includes large parts of later Gondor too (everything south of the White Mountains AFAICT.)
If we’re taking Peter Jackson’s films as canon within the context of the series, then the Haradrim who fought for Sauron in the War of the Ring were light of skin, just like the people of the Southlands.
Since Middle-Earth is meant to correspond to Europe and Harad to Africa, I assume that those Haradrim originate from the Southlands/Mordor, and the people living further south of Mordor, in Far Harad, would have been darker of skin. Looking at the wiki, Tolkien described the Far Haradrim as “black men like half-trolls with white eyes and red tongues”, and he doesn’t describe the complexion of the Near Haradrim, but the way Near Harad’s geography is described is reminiscent of Egypt, where the locals are mostly light-skinned.
I would’ve read it as “Southwatch” myself, implying that it is a watch in the south, much like the name of Southwark, on the southern bank of the Thames opposite the City of London, originally meant “southern fort”.
I’m not. I’m sticking with the LotR description of them, as “brown” and “Swertings”.
Mordor is a blasted waste, or it’s slave plantations, in TA. It’s clear those Men were willing followers, which would mean they come from further South. That and Mordor is not considered part of Harad in the TA. There’s even a Gondorian buffer between the two
Possibly, but that’s not exactly logical to me, as it’s pretty far North in Mordor, why would it be called Southwatch as a location descriptor (Southwatch as in “Watch on the South” is in line with what I mean)? Southwark is called that because it is South of what it’s protecting (London). But Tirharad is watching the Southlands. Most of which are South of it.
This was well done, but I was distracted by Arondir’s weird upside down/backwards style of gripping the bow string. What a weird thing to put in, unless all elves do that and I hadn’t noticed before.
And activated by blood also. That could count towards Theo being Arondir’s son. If Adar wants it, maybe it only works with elf blood.
I was going to mention that when I first saw him. Nice to know it wasn’t just me.
Me also. Finally some forward movement with the plot taking shape.
I can’t believe there are only four episodes left. I think we will be in for one heck of a cliffhanger.
Not just the two of us either, as I found via Google;
Jack Black is a merry fellow! Bright blue his jacket is and his boots are yellow!
The old guy who was talking to Theo at the end seemed to have given it blood as well, but you might still be right-perhaps full elf blood (if Theo is a hybrid) really makes it wake up.
I think they do the same thing in Prey. Maybe there’s been some new archaeological research IRL that shows that’s how they did it? Or they just had the same archery teacher.