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

[Formendacil]

Originally Posted by Huinesoron

Oh look, it's the B-plot.

If that doesn't just sum it up!

Some "baby in arm" notes again for Episode III--I've actually been sitting on these since... Monday? Sunday? It's been a while. Long enough that I find myself wondering if I'll remember what I was going for.

Originally Posted by Formendacil with a baby in one arm taking notes with his phone in the other hand

Looks like Numenor thisntime...
Are we getting a flashbacks about a horse? Sauron and... a horse?
And what's the Black Forwt supposed to be?
Amd thr horse is Sam?
Valid use of jumpnscares
I foegotnthisbpalantir business and rhe existence of aisikdirs sister.
Can't they put Elendil in a dress uniform? Taht Armour is a disgrace
Eagle reference is nice.
Ref sunrise? Red at morningbsailors rake warning.
I don't buy uo as a consipriat at this level, girl: Your presence turns rhe fatness of Numenor into a small village
Adar us getting a plot too, I see.
Baby irks??? The fascination continues
And it extends to trolls, perhaps?
Funny he's never mentioned you
Dwarves scepticism about magic rings feels right
Now thisbisb some good annapulation, Annarar
No fonweam shall stand before thsibfwankraina and is sdate
Read marches ever the balle tkf fagolad?
You know, removing Arondir and Bronwyn helped thsi show, narratively. I suspect this is their replacement though
Too many amps in thsi story.
So how we get Pelargir. Should've been kast seasonwhsts the point of this smush?
Aronsir. I WAS JYST TAKLING ABOTF IOU
Pyre heathen, right? What's takeaway hear?
So proud, Druin. The both of ye.
ThatbDuring mistrust the rongs: another Elornd parallel.
Of course he wants Hus Sam back (horse)
Mother complexes a theme here? For just parents?
Well that's... something there lass (I've already forgotten uiur anme(
Come on Elendil--a uniform!
Sceptre--yes.
Isildurnus an odd rallying cry for an amti-Miriel movement.
Interesting to amend Elendil repulsed bybhus stone
The eagle!
Alsongascinayjng to have an Eagle of Manwe to legitimize iharaxon!
Saurons hand in thr Dwaven rings!

Which, I think more or less translates to:

1. Looks like we get Númenor this time...
2. Are we getting a flashbacks about a horse? Sauron and... a horse? On equal footing?
3. And what's the Black Forest supposed to be? The Southlands was Mordor, so we were thereabouts. Is this supposed to be local? RoP has a terrible sense of geographic scale, so I don't really know. A stepping stone from Shelob in the Ephel Dúath to her descendents in Mirkwood, if it is more local to Mordor than just BEING Mirkwood (which isn't Mirkwood yet anyway).
4. Is the the horse Sam in this story?
5. Valid use of jump scares.
6. I forgot this palantír business and the very existence of Isildur's sister.
7. Can't they put Elendil in a dress uniform? That armour--can I even call it mail?--is a disgrace. I realise they don't want to retcon it, but they could just... hide it offscreen, right? It bothered me last season; it bothers me more now.
8. An eagle reference is nice.
9. Is that a red sunrise? Can I take as a metatextual warning? "Red at morning, sailors take warning."
10. I don't buy you as a conspirator at this level, Eärien. You're either a tradesperson or a girl or the scion of the Faithful: whatever you are, your presence turns the visual vastness of Númenor into a small village where everyone knows each other. You just don't MAKE SENSE here, unless we're supposed to picture the city of Rómenna as tight-knit and eclectic as Stars Hollow [yes, that's a Gilmore Girls reference, of all things]
11. Adar is getting some plot too, I see.
12. Baby orks??? The fascination of this writing team with the life of the ork continues.
    And is that a troll I see? Does this fascination extends to trolls too, perhaps?
13. Funny he's never mentioned you: ugh. Another stock modernism slid barely touched into the dialogue.
14. The Dwarves' scepticism about magic rings feels right.
15. Now that was some good manipulation, Annatar.
16. No fonweam shall stand before thsibfwankraina and is sdate... ummmm.... I don't know what I mean here.
17. Dead marches even before the battles at Dagorlad?
18. You know, removing Arondir and Bronwyn helped this show, narratively. I suspect this is their replacement though, <-- Me, two minutes before Arondir appears on screen. Why did I think they weren't back?
19. Too many amps in thsi story. <-- Amps? Camps? What???
20. So now we get Pelargír! That should've been last season when the Númenóreans first landed.
21. Arondir, I WAS JUST TALKING ABOUT YOU!
22. That's supposed to be one of those heathen pyres Arondir is lighting, right? That's takeaway here, right? Tolkien actually talks about heathen pyres--so this is a reference, right? Why are the good guys doing it IN PELARGÍR (aka why is this happening in a Númenórean settlement of all places?)?
23. So proud, Durin. The both of ye.
24. That Durin mistrusts the rings: that's another Elrond parallel, I suppose.
25. Of course he wants his Sam back (horse).
26. Mother complexes seem to be a theme here? Or is it just about parents?
27. Well that's... something there lass (I've already forgotten your name)
28. Come on Elendil--get a ceremonial uniform already!
29. Sceptre--yes. Númenor does have a scepter. Good.
30. Isildurn is an odd rallying cry for an anti-Míriel movement, if you remember your Akallabêth.
31. Interesting to have Elendil--who would have nine of them--be repulsed by the stone. Especially since the stones are Elven--isn't he supposed to be Lord of the Faithful?
32. Eagle!
33. On the subject (with Elendil as stone-wary and Isildur as a rallying cry), it's... a choice... to have an Eagle of Manwë used to legitimize Pharazôn! Like, I get that the timeline is all muddled--are the politics also muddled? I thought the palantír were supposed to indicate the Númenóreans DON'T like the West--so why is an Eagle seen as a good omen and a right to kingship? I'm just not sure the writers get--or respect--Númenor like they do some other things.
34. Sauron's hand in the making of the Dwarven rings! Very nice.

And... it's time for another weekend and the next episode or two. I still like the actors in this show (the casting is good), but I find that I just... don't like how they're handling either the Southlands or Númenor. It's like I can see deep respect and some original thinking with Elves, Dwarves, Hobbits--even Orks. But as soon as they touch humans, the writers seem to indulge all their worst rewriting tendencies, and these are the plots too most affected by geographic smush and timeline rot.

We'll see how it scores going forward.