Summary: Miriel has a dream that Numenor is destroyed. Galadriel asks Miriel to join her in war against Sauron but she refuses. Later, she changes her mind and announces to Numenor that they will be joining the fight against Sauron. Isildur is kicked off of the cadets and volunteers to fight. Arondir meets Adar who sends him back with a message. Bronwyn's village arrive at the Elven tower Ostirith. Theo goes for a food run and gets found by an orc. When he pulls out his sword, the orcs hunt him down. He is saved by Arondir and manages to get back to Ostirith. Arondir gives the message that they will all be allowed to live if they swear fealty to Adar. Elrond figures out that Durin is hiding something, and discovers him in the old mines after investigating. Durin tells him that the dwarves have discovered mithril, but that his father doesn't want to mine it. After an argument with his father, Durin is upset but Elrond comforts him. Durin reconciles with his father and tells him that he's been invited to Lindon by Elrond.
The Good: Elrond's storyline returning was a definite plus. His relationship with Durin and Disa remains engaging to watch because we get to see why they enjoy each other's company so much. It's an unlikely relationship, but we are given backstory on how they met, we understand their dynamic, and their banter is fun to see. Of all of the relationships in the show, this one is by far the best. The scenes with these characters are quite good. It's engaging to see Disa lying to Elrond, who knows that something is amiss. It's endearing to see Durin realize that Elrond does not have malicious intent and share his secret discovery with him. And it's sweet to see Elrond share a personal story to help Durin mend fences with his father. Theo's mission back to the village is decently tense. There is a thrilling sequence as he fights an orc, and a very suspenseful sequence as he escapes from the orcs at night, shot as a brilliant oner. I enjoyed the action and suspense, and we got the important reveal that Theo's sword is what the orcs have been looking for. I also quite liked the twist that Waldreg is an open Sauron supporter. It's easy to forget that these men were loyal to Morgoth, and I think it's exciting to think that not all of the men inside the walls are going to be willing to fight against the orcs. I suspect that most of these men might be willing to swear fealty to Adar, and it should be interesting to see this unfold and how the likes of Arondir and Bronwyn will react. The Bad: This show is still flat, and I'm really perturbed by the amount of TV tropes and cliches that are present in this show. Any sense of surprise is sucked away because of the use of typical TV moments that hurt my immersion. I'll give some examples to make it clearer how this is affecting my enjoyment of the show. Take Theo's escape from the orcs. As it was happening, it was a tense sequence where Theo tries to stay out of sight. But then in such a predictable manner, Theo, while still in a dangerous position, lets his guard down only for a random orc to jumpscare and attack him. You can see it coming from a mile away since Theo inexplicably does not look behind the wall he's hiding behind, and it's such a manufactured moment of drama. Even worse is that Arondir arrives as a convenient deus ex machina to save Theo and help him get away. I predicted it all moments before it happened, and it is shot in a way that it doesn't even attempt to subvert my expectations. This is not just one isolated moment. So many scenes in this show falter because they align with easily predictable tropes which lessen the quality of the show. These repeated moments frequently break my immersion when watching the show. I continue to have big problems with Numenor as a community. We finally learn that the people of Numenor are the ones who do not like the elves, and that's why the previous king was deposed. This answers questions, but it still is not written well. Why? Well we don't know why the men of Numenor turned on the elves to begin with! It's inexplicable, and especially problematic considering how quick the men are to protest the castle when they wonder if Miriel has become an elf-friend. We need to know why these men hate the elves so much. The worst part about this however, is that this angry mob is so easily influenced by people in power, which is shockingly unrealistic. One short speech from Pharazon and the protesting mob is suddenly cheering for their rulers. What??? That is unbelievable. Even worse is when Miriel declares that Numenor will fight alognside the elves against Sauron. Surely this should cause an uproar amongst all of the men who will have it confirmed that the Miriel is an elf-friend. But instead they go alogn with it for no reason and I was stunned. The inconsistent writing of this community and the way it functions has destroyed any sense of immersion in believing that Numenor is a real place. It's disappointing to see this kingdom written so poorly. It seems that Numenor is doomed to be destroyed, but I don't care currently because the kingdom has been so poorly written that I don't buy into it as a real location to care about. Galadriel remains a poor main character. She is annoying, immature, and consistently stupid in most scenes. She should be quite old and intelligent by this point, but she continually has to be told simple things by Halbrand, and it makes her come off as needlessly stupid. Galadriel is also still able to get around Numenor easily without anyone catching her, which I find to be wholly unrealistic. The show conveniently chooses not to show us how she evades the guards, which makes it all the more unrealistic. Our other main characters remain uninteresting. Halbrand doesn't do much this episode, and is inexplicably released into the public despite his crimes. Elendil and Isildur are very uninteresting in this episode, and I have a hard time connecting to them as characters. Adar ended up being a generic villain with very little that interested me about him. It seems that he's an elf, but that isn't enough of a hook to make him an exciting villain. Having him release Arondir is super convenient, and inexplicable from the villain's point of view. This is the one guy who was skilled enough to survive, and you let him go free? A shocking decision. Furthermore, sending a messenger with terms for a surrender is another one of those predictable tropes that I was talking about earlier. The meeting with Adar went exactly how I expected it would, with nothing that gripped me. It is stupid of Durin to give mithril to Elrond when he wants to keep it secret. All it takes is for one elf to find it wherever Elrond keeps it, and the secret is out. The Unknown: How did Numenor get a palantir? Is this one of the palantirs that we see in "Lord of the Rings"? Why does it have a vision of Numenor's destruction? How will Numenor fall? When will this happen? What's going on with Earien and Kemen? It's an uninterestin side story so far, but I imagine that it's going somewhere. Adar is as elf. Why is he helping the orcs? Did he get corrupted by Sauron? Why is he looking for Theo's sword? Why did Celebrimbor forget what Elrond's father said to him? Is that part of his powers of foresight? How is Elrond going to play a key role in Celebrimbor's future? Is there more to the old king than what Miriel let Galadriel know? I wouldn't be surprised if it was all a ruse by her to hide the actual truth. Why has Elrond invited Durin to Lindon? What else are the elves planning to do with the dwarves? Best Moment: The nice moment in the caves between Elrond and Durin. Character of the Episode: Elrond. Conclusion: This was another slow and unsatisfying episode. Writing problems are popping up more and more and the show is still struggling to engage me. It's not bad television yet, but the show is starting to test me. Score: 54
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Aaron DhillonJust a university student who loves to watch TV. And analyze it way too much. Archives
March 2024
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