Cherry-Picking the Good Parts

[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.

[Legate of Amon Lanc]

I have to second, third, fiftee... nthise... ?!? Sorry, my English has failed me here... the sunlight and the Orcs. Yes, going over the top and capitalising it, actually a great plot device, making the Orcs more distinct - because after all, what would they be otherwise than just ugly men?

And the Uruk-Hai lover that I am and always have been, I so much appreciate this portrayal of the "inferior", pre-Saruman Orcs, who cannot even be in the sun! (And I like to think that given how far in the past we are, maybe these are even "less evolved" and take the sun worse than their Third Age versions. Maybe by the time of LotR, even the basic Orcs can be in the sun without totally dying - they have some years of Dark Power-enhanced evolution for that. But the Uruk-hai, now there is a pinnacle of Making [as opposed to Creation, see what I did there] and always shall be!)
Compare to PJ, who sometimes half-heartedly ran along with it in LotR, but by the time of the Hobbit at the latest he stopped giving a damn and his Orcs can stroll in the sun and not even notice.

So for all the Uruk-lovers in the world, and all Orc-lovers in general I guess, well done!

***

As we delve deeper into the Harfoot culture, I like (even though with some reservations) the more sinister aspect of it, ie leaving others behind. It gives them sort of a rough edge that balances out all the merry poppy fluffy stuff we expect and know also from the sedentary Hobbits. (But then, perhaps this is a way to show the hidden rough edge of the Hobbits, too - thinking of the Scouring of the Shire.)

At the same time, the memorial service is amazing. And I still love the entire "worldbuilding" of the Harfoot culture the more we learn about it, the migrations, the way of camouflaging even their vehicles, etc.

***

Míriel's headdresses. They are just beautiful and I'd wear all of that.

***

And yes, definitely happy to see more of the "trees vs. cutting down living things" theme. I feel like it should be an automatic thing, something to inherently Tolkien, but it is certainly something done right.

[Galadriel55]

Faithfully adding to this thread (so that, maybe, if all the things here were combined into a single episode, it would actually make a good movie):

• Numenor anthem song: firstly, that there is one, and secondly, the lyrics are actually appropriate - a land created in the Sundring Sea for mortals, the Land of the Star, etc.
• The Harfeet Walking Song: and in particular the "not all who wander are lost" reference.