[Thinlómien]

Well... that was some finale. I had been spoiled about the Halbrand plot twist and I wonder at what point would I have seen it coming. Before I got spoiled (after seeing episode 4) I still thought the theory was ludicrous, mostly because the plot twist wouldn't make much sense. Should have known the writing in this show doesn't make much sense anyway, duh.

So, some thoughts based on the finale, the previous episode and the season overall:

Halbrand and Galadriel plot
Well, let's say that in retrospect it's entertaining, intriguing even. I'm not up for a thematic dissection, but I do like the idea of Sauron trying to corrupt Galadriel as Morgoth once corrupted him. I also find it very funny that basically Sauron's return is Galadriel's fault. So I hope Form isn't right and she didn't just arm the Witch-King too! Do I still think Halbrand's characterisation was weird and intentionally misleading? Yeah. And do I think it was stupid to make the whole season about "guess who's Sauron, here's 20 red herrings"? Certainly. I'm also extremely baffled by Galadriel not telling anyone who Halbrand was. Was she too ashamed to admit how she'd been fooled? And also, why on earth after centuries (?) of hunting Sauron, she suddenly gives up on it when she finally knows who he is and he's fleeing from her with just minutes of a head start??

The rings of power
Like others, I was not a fan of the forging of Elven rings speed run. I did like Saurobrandatar's part in it, but not Galadriel's. Still wishing they'd have gone in a different direction with Celebrimbor's portrayal, but whatever. (Give the bond of trust and sexual tension to Celebrimbor/Sauron, not Galadriel/Sauron, please. Also younger Celebrimbor's crush on the older and married Galadriel would have been fun to see. And more of some Feanorean passion too. Ah well...) I'm not going to deign the mithril solarium plotline with any further commentary, but it's nice to have the Elven rings now. I wonder how they're going to distribute them for starters. One for Galadriel, one for Elrond and one for Gil-Galad which will pass on to Gandalf later? Also wondering when we'll see the other rings being forged.

Gandalf and the hobbits
This plot had the best characters but the least development (and the most annoying red herrings). Can't say I'm very interested to see Gandalf and Nori's adventures in Rhûn next season. Seriously, what are they going to do for four more seasons? *yawn* (Gandalf will go east, then south, then take a boat and circle around to the Gray Havens to arrive on a ship? I sure hope not.)

The Dwarf plot
Interestingly enough, it probably has the most fleshed out relationship dynamics between characters. Not a fan of how stuff ties up to the mithril solarium plot (and what will they do with it now that the Elves won't need those anymore?) and curious about the friendship of Celebrimbor and Narvi and whether we're going to see that. The balrog was a huge letdown, you put that in the trailer and we see it for 0.5 seconds? Guess we'll see it again in season 5 or something... *another yawn*

The southlands and Adar
A displaced people without a leader? A boy with a (potentially) dark destiny? A star-crossed romance between an Elf and a human? That's a bunch of archetypes I could have found interesting. Alas, thanks to the clumsy writing with very little buildup anywhere, I don't really care about any of that. Cool, go to Pelargir and found a city. But how's that gonna provide plot for four more seasons? As I've said before, Adar on the other hand is the best character in the show by far. I'm genuinely curious about what will happen to him and his orcs, how they will be portrayed, and what the inevitable power struggle between Adar and Sauron will look like.

Númenor plot
Here we barely got started. What role will Míriel's blindness play? When will isildur come back from his fake death - or Anárion, for that matter? And there's a lot of story to tell about Pharazôn and Sauron, as well. I feel like this is probably the plotline that has the most material for future seasons.

All in all, I sadly found the series pretty subpar. The writing - pacing, dialogue, characters - is simply bad, which is a pity. I'm not convinced I will watch the future seasons. I cannot fathom how there will be material for four more seasons. They must be even more drawn out and boring than this one was at its worst. Sure, there are still some rings to forge and balrogs to wreak havoc and Celeborns to reappear (he can't be really dead) etc, but that won't be enough to hold my interest for 32 more episodes. My verdict is that this is a laudably ambitious project and not without merits, but overall a failure. Maybe it was always doomed to be one, given the (lack of) source material.