Summary: In the aftermath of the eruption, Galadriel escapes with Theo and they go to meet up at the Numenorean camp. Ontamo is dead and Isildur seemingly dies in a burning house trying to save others. Miriel and Elendil escape and Elendil discovers that she is now blind. Everyone arrives at the camp. Theo is reunited with Arondir and Bronwyn who are fine. Galadriel speaks with Miriel who affirms that Numenor will return to finish the war. Elendil is distraught, blaming Galadriel for Isildur's death. Halbrand has also survived but is badly injured. Galadriel decides to take him to Lindon. Meanwhile, the Harfoots arrive at their grove only to find it destroyed by the eruption. The Stranger tries to fix it but fails, and is sent away by Sadoc. The next day, the grove has regrown. That night, the white-cloaked trio arrives, tracking down The Stranger. Nori tries to send them in the wrong direction, and they burn down the caravans and leave. The Harfoots collectively decide to help the Stranger. Nori, Poppy, Marigold, and Sadoc set out. Durin fails to convince his fatehr to help Elrond. After speaking with Disa, Durin decides to help Elrond anyways and they mine for mithril, finding an enormous cavern. However, King Durin finds out, sends Elrond out, and strips Durin of being his heir. King Durin covers the mithril deposit, where a balrog resides.
The Good: Credit where credit is due, the aftermath of the volcanic eruption at least looked good. I have my major issues with how this eruption was handled (see: The Bad), but the effects and camera work were excellent, and the production was certainly impressive. I was happy to see that this major event had consequences with Miriel going blind and some named characters dying, or at least appearing to die. I like that this event had a big effect on the story, actively affecting character arcs and character relationships. Elrond and Durin's story is by far the best thing about this show, and that continued to be the case in this episode. Where other storylines are cheesy and poorly written, this one story somehow manages to be emotionally effective, engaging, and interesting. Fittingly, it feels like finding a jewel after struggling to get through tons and tons of plain rock. I'm impressed with how the writers manage to give Elrond and Durin compelling interactions in every episode. These two feel like two real friends as it is clear what they like about each other as they help each other solve problems, poke fun at each other, and also show a genuine appreciation for the other's culture and lifestyle. For all of my problems with this show, this one relationship has been spectacular to watch in every episode. I really enjoyed Elrond trying to convince Durin that he let him win, and I liked them both commenting on their similarities. King Durin's involvement in this episode was also great. I enjoyed his conflict with his son (see: Best Moment), and it raised the stakes to have Durin act directly against his father's wishes to help Elrond. Lastly, I'll show some appreciation for Disa who has been great thus far in the show. She seems to be a Lady MacBeth of sorts as she always backs Durin to follow his instincts and take power for himself, proving herself to be a more cunning and ambitious woman compared to the fun-loving, respectful, and comparatively docile Durin. I enjoy their dynamic. The Bad: The fallout of the eruption is totally unsatisfying and filled with inconsistencies. It's frustrating how long this episode tries to tease us with the idea of characters dying or being dead, only to reveal them to be alive later. It's blatantly obvious that these characters are alive, and it feels like the writers have grossly underestimated the intelligence of the audience by doing these tricks repeatedly. Bronwyn's death was only just teased last episode, and here they tease her death again. Maybe it would have worked if she was an interesting character, but she isn't. Galadriel and Theo have a brief adventure together, and I like the idea of building a connection between them. But this should never have happened. When Galadriel found Theo, it was in the midst of a village with dozens of lives in danger. Instead of helping or finding others, she simply runs into the woods and abandons everyone else, a disgusting and laughably absurd decision. Furthermore, why did she go through the woods instead of taking the direct route which is where she would have a chance of finding more survivors? It makes no sense, and it makes Galadriel seem stupid. Furthermore, her story about her husband was perplexing to me. For someone who constantly preached about avenging her brother, it's absurd to think that she's been quiet about a potentially dead husband for all this time. The dialogue is also poorly written in this sequence (it often is), and there is a weak attempt at suspense by having an orc sniff out Theo and Galadriel. This had no suspense though because Galadriel could certainly kill the orcs with ease, and it felt cheap to have this orc conveniently sniff around when he doesn't even smell anything. Elendil ended the previous episode running from his son to find the Queen. In this episode we catch up to him and he has apparently left the village, leaving his son and Queen behind. What!? Not only is this inconsistent, but it's totally out of character for Elendil to run away, and it undersells his love for his son significantly that he would leave without searching to see if he survived. I wish we got to see more of Isildur in this episode, but instead he's given another fake-out death. I expect that his horse will return with him alive in the following episode, and it will fall flat. Speaking of deaths, Ontamo is the only named character to actually die here, and unfortunately I did not care about him enough to have any sort of reaction to this. Where the Elrond/Durin story has me consistently excited, the Harfoot storyline has me wholly uninterested. It's so hard to care about this storyline when it is so disconnected from everything else. The mysterious white-cloaked trio are not engaging villains, and I am not particularly interested in learning more about them. The Stranger is almost certainly Gandalf, and I am not interested in finding out what he is trying to do. The Harfoots are bland characters, with Nori and Poppy's relationship feeling like a blatant rip-off of Frodo and Sam, only worse. I hate the inconsistency within the beliefs of the characters and the society as a whole. Nori's father suggests that the Harfoot way is to keep on moving on and surviving without losing sight of their friends and family, which is pretty rich coming from a community that literally keeps a book of the people they have left for dead in the past. If they are so quick to leave their own community members for dead, why would they care about helping The Stranger? It's inconsistent. I got a huge laugh out of Malva guilting Sadoc into joining Nori and Poppy on their suicide mission when a couple episodes ago she was suggesting to leave Nori for dead. This inconsistency bothers me and it prevents the Harfoots from being endearing in the way that the show wants them to be. Instead of being uplifted by them choosing to help The Stranger, I'm too busy questioning the dynamics of the characters and the society. When the writing flaws are detracting from the story being told, that's when you know that something has gone badly wrong. The Unknown: Obviously the elves are not going to die off, so how will they get access to mithril. Will Durin manage to convince his father to help them, or will he end up acting on his own. Will Durin's actions cause the waking of the balrog and the destruction of Khazad-Dum? Who is this magical trio? Why did they burn down the Harfoots' caravans? Why are they after The Stranger? Will the Harfoots really be able to stop them and help The Stranger? Will Numenor actually return to help the elves? I suspect that it will be difficult to convince the Numenoreans to go back, even if Miriel herself wishes to return. What happened to Isildur? Obviously he isn't dead. This is the problem with having so many characters from the "Lord of the Rings" triology; there is no suspense because we know they can't die. Speaking of characters whose fates are known, Celeborn is most certainly going to return at some point in this series. He's in "Lord of the Rings" and yet Galadriel says that he has disappeared and is likely dead. This is evidently not true, so how will he re-emerge? Where has he been all this time? What is Durin's real name? Will Halbrand survive his wound? I am suspicious that he may be Sauron, if so it is plausible that he will survive. Best Moment: Durin arguing with his father was excellent stuff. Both had valid points to defend themselves, and it made sense that Durin would be steely enough in his defense of Elrond that he offends his father, causing the argument that results in Durin losing his status as a royal dwarf. It's sad stuff, well-acted and effective at showing us Durin's frustrations and the fundamental disagreement in the ruling style of the father and the son. Character of the Episode: Durin. Conclusion: This episode was more of the same. Flat, uninteresting storytelling with some exhaustively poor moments of writing. Elrond and Durin's storyline saves the episode again, but everything else was disappointing. Score: 50
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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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