Cherry-Picking the Good Parts

[Pitchwife]

Originally Posted by Bêthberry

Because folks have complained about the ship to Valinor--and even I had a stab at calling the situation a Rapture--I thought a good post here would be to a post I found elsewhere which really helped peopl (including me) appreciate how the scene/event could be understood within this new narrative interpretation.

Looking at this with a very un-Tolkienic pair of spectacles, I can almost see ship-jumping Galadriel as a kind of warrior-Bodhisattva: She has been granted passage to the realm of eternal peace (Nirvana), but refuses it because she knows evil is still afoot in the world and she cannot/refuses to enjoy peace herself while others till suffer under evil.


Also I like the idea of this Galadriel and the veiled spectre-like psychopomps as severed aspects of one archetype. The Sorceress of Dwimordene is very much a spectral character herself, so she will have to integrate that other aspect at some time.

Originally Posted by Legate of Amon Lanc

I also liked Largo's chronicle and proto-Hobbit-script, as a different, yet somehow appropriate nod to their future bookworms like Bilbo and their genealogical and other interests.

Agreed. Even if Hobbits at this time didn't have script as per Tolkien, it's still a nice visual shorthand for legends and tradition.

Originally Posted by Legate of Amon Lanc

I liked the idea and the visual effect of the "reverse Morgul-Blade", even if I know not how it works, what it should be, or anything else about it.

My first thought about this blade was "Do we know what happened to the shards of Gurthang after Túrin's death?" We do, they were buried with him, and anyway they can't use it because rights, but I sense some use of the 'vampiric black blade' archetype (à la Tyrfing or Stormbringer) in the offing. Not sure how that will fit into the narrative.

Originally Posted by Blind Guardian

Orcs quietly digging under houses is creepy as heck... I don't like it but at the same time I do like it. Are they just trying to heist away that sword in the middle of the night via tunnels? Creepy. I dig it.

Have you ever played Skyrim? The tunneling Orcs reminded me very much of the Falmer there. I hadn't considered that they were after the blade, but that's actually a valid idea. I saw it as the Orcs literally went underground after Morgoth's defeat and are now resurfacing here and there.


I liked the angular style of architecture and ornaments in Khazad-dûm - very fitting for a people working in stone. And I love Sophia Nomvete's Dísa! I have no idea what her ethnicity is, but considering that Tolkien likened the Dwarves to Jews, I wish the makers had made all the Dwarves of a more levantine type (rather than Scottish, which is just regurgitating Peter Jackson's Gimli).

[Boromir88]

Originally Posted by Pitchwife

My first thought about this blade was "Do we know what happened to the shards of Gurthang after Túrin's death?" We do, they were buried with him, and anyway they can't use it because rights, but I sense some use of the 'vampiric black blade' archetype (à la Tyrfing or Stormbringer) in the offing. Not sure how that will fit into the narrative.

In the character bio for Theo it says "As he struggles with the questions in life and seeks to prove himself, he finds himself tempted by a dark discovery."

So, I don't think you're too far off on predictions about the sword. This might be better to ask in the spoiler thread, but did they reveal whose barn that was where Theo found the sword? I can't remember

Originally Posted by Pitch

I liked the angular style of architecture and ornaments in Khazad-dûm - very fitting for a people working in stone. And I love Sophia Nomvete's Dísa! I have no idea what her ethnicity is, but considering that Tolkien likened the Dwarves to Jews, I wish the makers had made all the Dwarves of a more levantine type (rather than Scottish, which is just regurgitating Peter Jackson's Gimli).

I particularly liked Disa talking about singing to the mountain. It will tell you where to mine, and which places to avoid. Not only foreshadowing, but I think it's a different idea that we didn't get with PJ's dwarves. Combined with Celebrimbor's "giddiness" telling Elrond how he's always wanted to see dwarves work their craft. The viewers probably weren't expecting to hear an elf immediately speak positively about dwarves.

Celebrimbor's my favorite canonical character. Disa's my favorite non-canonical character so far.

[Boromir88]

The best parts from Episode 3.

-How the Harfoots incorporate camouflage in their clothing to disappear in a moments notice, or in an emergency. Such as the Stranger being in camp.

-The orcs. The orcs are much better than in Peter Jackson's adaptations. They looked great in Lord of the Rings. I think they look even better in the Amazon series, but they are also developed better. Seeing them be hurt by sunlight and toying with their captives. They are wickedly cruel and feel like legitimate threats.

[Formendacil]

Originally Posted by Boromir88

-The orcs. The orcs are much better than in Peter Jackson's adaptations. They looked great in Lord of the Rings. I think they look even better in the Amazon series, but they are also developed better. Seeing them be hurt by sunlight and toying with their captives. They are wickedly cruel and feel like legitimate threats.

Absolutely true with the orks! That the sun actually hurt them was excellent.

I rather enjoyed the appearance of Númenor too: it was exceptionally full, I thought, of things one could nitpick, but the overall effect was very well done: larger, more glorious than the Gondor of the movies, older too and with greater wealth. But what I especially liked was the variety: there was different architecture in Rómenna/Armenelos (whichever the royal city is supposed to be) compared with Andúnie, and there were different locations and people: naval, royal, Faithful, common. Again, I think there was plenty to nitpick in Númenor, but I very much liked the breadth and depth of it.

[Galadriel55]

A couple things that I enjoyed:

• Harfeet: much has been said about these proto-hobbits, and I agree - I found them surprisingly delightful. I liked the camouflage and secretive ways, and the hobbitish tendencies. I loved that they have their own mannerisms and expressions (oh great goats! The wheels have quite rolled off your wagon! - or somesuch). I even liked the revelation of the darker side of their society in Ep3. So far, my favourite setting/plotline.
• Also agreed with all of the above about the Orcs disliking the sun.
• The hints at actual Tolkien stuff. In the very first sequence, when Galadriel recounts a brief history of the FA, you see images which are not specific enough to outright violate any copyright, but a knowing person might recognize them as Oath and Alqualonde. Then there's a random one of a heap of helmets after a battle, which better not be the Haudh-in-Ndengin, because a bunch of things would not make sense if it was... But the two other flashbacks I think were very nicely done. "Generic battle stuff" for the general public, but a wink to specific events for those in the know. Likewise, I liked the reference to Elros, and the tapestry showing the parting and the different choices of Elrond and Elros. I enjoy these little references, and this kind of thing boosts the quality of the show for a Tolkien audience.
• This one starts as a thing I hate, but I will explain why it turns into a thing I liked. I absolutely hate the set up with Finrod hunting Sauron being the reason Galadriel is now obsessed with him. It was just so unnecessary. If they wanted to have Galadriel chase up and down the countryside looking for ghosts, all they had to do was say that her brother was brutally murdered by Sauron, and she swore revenge. Instead, the convoluted thing where Finrod vowed to hunt Sauron, so Galadriel vowed to hunt Sauron, just leaves me asking... but why? HOWEVER. This did make me wonder about something I have not necessarily appreciated before about the books and other adaptations. Galadriel is a key player opposing Sauron in the TA, the Melian to his Morgoth. And it is natural that she should oppose him. But no matter how deeply you dig into analyzing Galadriel of the TA and her motivations, I feel like I've never once considered the connection to Finrod's death. I mean, I don't think that was anywhere near her driving force in the TA, but it would also not be amiss for a victorious Galadriel reflecting on the ruin of Sauron as the walls of Dol Guldur crumble before her in Tol-in-Gaurhoth style to add a thought about Finrod. I think that could make a good fanfic short story. At any rate, it is a plausible connection that I have not made before.
• The attempts at Elvish are plausible attempts, and it shows they've made some effort at least to make the names make some sense. This point is not without caveats (*glares at "Isil"*), but at least the minimal effort of linking words to actual existing meanings is there - rather than just making up sounds.
• Durin - so far his behaviour and temper and speech seem consistent enough with a Dwarf, it's believable.
• The discovery of the sign in Ep3 - I liked the twist that the sign is actually a map. I thought it was well done: set up well for the audience, and kinda makes sense as a way to communicate to illiterate minions where to assemble.

[Bêthberry]

Folks in my barrow here found this a more interesting episode than either of the first two. It secured our continuing interest.

Numenor is stunning, not just aesthetically but also sociologically. We see not only palaces and regal homes and pubs but the entire range of a culture--ports, navies, smithies, markets, jails, libraries, workers and labourers as well the aristocracy. The shades of blue work well. Gorgeous and clearly a highly developed culture, not a static depiction.

The orcs are also given a fuller sociology, greater depth to their hateful and hurtful culture, with their brutalising of men (and likely women as well). Their faces aren't black but ashen white and their fear of the sun/light palpable. The warg's CGI was cartoonish but these orcs are clearly opponents to be feared, intelligent and not only physically threatening. No lower class slang to make them ridiculous.

The Harfoots continue to be developed in credible ways especially as a migrating tribe.

I think this is repeating what others have found good.

[Boromir88]

By 1918 all but one of my close friends was dead.~Foreward to Lord of the Rings

Perhaps in landscape. The Dead Marshes and the approaches to the Morannon owe something to Northern France after the Battle of the Somme.~Letter 226

Along the same lines of G55 likes the little hints to actual Tolkien stuff. The orc work camp scenes reminded me of these quotes.

The trenches the captives were digging, and the landscape above the trench reminded me of reading about WW1 trench warfare, as well as Tolkien's experiences. The experiences of soldiers who knew they'd probably die if they left the trench. Then all of Arondir's friends dying in the trench or trying to escape.

I find it hard to believe the critics who have said the series creators never read Tolkien or don't understand it, after scenes like the orc work camp. The buildup of hope, to all of Arondir's friends are dead, and the industrialization of warfare to a ruined landscape above the trenches.