**Spoiler Warning** Rings of Power S2E3 - 'The Eagle and the Scepter'

[Huinesoron]

Oh look, it's the B-plot.

• Oh man, is Isildur dead??! No, because Hugo Weaving has to yell at him in about, oh, probably 6 months on this compressed timeline. It really takes all the tension out of it.
• Apparently "intense relationships with their horses" is a Line of Isildur hereditary trait; see Movie!Aragorn.
• The Random Shelob Excursion really didn't work for me. For one, it was Game of Thrones-dark (a massive and continuing problem with Isildur in this episode), and for another... Shelob wasn't even in it! Just random, I guess Mirkwood spiders? Unless that was pocket-sized Shelob at the end, in which case, shouldn't she have grown a bit more since Ungoliant spawned her an age ago?
• Side-note: I once archived a fanfic featuring Her Ladyship's whereabouts in the First Age, which I feel like sharing: Philosopher@Large's Hunting
• So... does this mean the tower they stuck the sword into to set off the volcano is the Tower of Cirith Ungol? That seems to be what the flyover was showing. Did we know that?
• Why... is the troll named Damrod? That's Sindarin. Everyone else in Mordor is called like Graskhagra.
• Orc family! I mean, Adar is already around, so makes sense.
• Like Oddwen says, Celebrimbor is falling hard here. It's like they can't decide if he's under Sauron's influence or annoyed by his presumption.
• Durin IV is super stubborn... unless it looks like his wife might get the credit, then he'll just do the thing.
• Like, I like the dwarves, but their story here is pretty dull.
• The pacing on the whole Numenor section is really really rushed. Or, no: I think it's that Miriel doesn't get a single scrap of agency in this entire episode. The focus is entirely on Pharazon and his machinations. And then Miriel and Elendil completely drop the ball (sorry) in doing nothing to prevent the usurpation of the sceptre. Like... Elendil should have planned for something dodgy to happen? He should have stayed right next to Miriel rather than sending the blind woman up alone, and yelled "make way for the queen" when the Eagle showed up. It might not have worked, but it would be better than doing nothing.
• Also I wanted the Eagle to bite Pharazon's head off.
• Oh hey, Pelargir, neat.
• And Bronwyn is randomly dead. I assume the actress left, but it really cuts the entirety of Arondir's plot away from him. Now he's just Some Elf.
• Some Elf who argues with Theo, who is... like... just a random teenager now, surely? Why are we caring?
• Oh, it's because he's acting out.
• Oh, it's because Isildur is following.
• Oh, it's because he got EATEN BY TREES hahahahaha.
• I would so love it if Theo was just dead now. Tree got him, he's gone, whoops!
• Also gasp! Isildur's girlfriend is branded with Adar's mark! Because... she's a Southlander, and didn't escape immediately, and therefore literally her only choices were brand or death. Adar isn't even a Maia, faking submission to him isn't going to have corroded her soul or anything. But I guess we're doing Fantasy Victim Blaming now.

Overall I didn't like this episode much at all. Isildur is boring, Numenor was clumsily handled, and the dwarves are busy being pushed so hard by the plot that their only personality is saying "stubborn" over and over in a variety of accents. Also, Isildur spends so much time in the pitch black! I had to turn off the room lights and I still couldn't tell what was going on.

hS