LotR: The Rings of Power 2.04
Sep. 6th, 2024 06:11 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
selenakIn which a previously unfilmed LotR character makes his screen debut, and lives get saved in practically every storyline.
Now I had never any problem with both the Sibley written BBC audio adapation and Jackson cutting out Tom Bombadil, because when I read the books I was an earnest teenager and he was just a bit too twee for me, but either middle aged me is way more receptive to whimsy or Rory Kinnear is just that awesome, because I loved good old Tom B. here. Possibly the fact he interacts with We-re-still-not-calling-him-Gandalf instead of the Hobbits also makes a difference? Anyway, Rory Kinnear last impressed me as Caliborn/John Grey/The Creature in Penny Dreadful (and also in that one flashback episode of s3 as the person later providing the Creature's body), and while he was completely different here, there was a quiet intensity under the cheerfulness that made TB suddenly believable aas the embodiment of nature to me. Also the fact he had ended up in a desert and remembered in being green.
Meanwhile among the Southlanders (and one Numenorian): Arondir deducing pretty quickly that the girl Isildur had met en route was in fact one of those survivors who'd taken the oath to Adar to survive was a relief, I wasn't really up for a spying storyline, whereas I continue to like the greater shades of grey this show is adding to what previously were just barely fleshed out concepts, in this case, the humans who side with Team Overlord(s) (be it Morgoth, Sauron or Adar). Some are true believers, like the late unlamented Waldof (spelling), and some just didn't want to die, like Estrid, who shows her continued capacity not just for courage (for which you don't have to be good) but compassion when trying to help Arondir and Isildur in the swamp.
Arondir and the Ents reminded me of Arondir's visible flinching and suffering back in early s1 when Adar's Orcs made him and the other captured Elves hack at trees; it was a lovely scene. (Also: going by the voice one of those Ents was an Entwife. Well, we are in the Second Age, so presumably they haven't taken off yet.) And I'm glad Arondir and Theo made up, of course.
Nori and Poppy end up with the Stoors (spelling?), like the Harefoots proto-Hobbits, only not nomads but already settled down and in fact older, with the wandering Harefoots a branch that got lost. (Literally.) Who encountered a Wizard before, to wit, the Dark Wizard played by Ciaran Hinds. I didn't mention this before, but I don't think the Dark Wizard, who turns out to have been behind the Acolytes last season, is Saruman - that would make no sense since Saruman only fell in the era between The Hobbit and LotR. So while I still think the Stranger is Gandalf, I am now also willing to entertain the theory voiced elswhere that both the Stranger and the Dark Wizard are the two Blue Wizards whose fate no one can quite remember in the Third Age; at the very least the Dark Wizard is a Blue.
No Numenor and no Sauron seducing Celimbror this week, but Galadriel and Elrond, still at odds, along with their small company find out what happened to Gil-Galads previous messengers and have a satisfyingly creepy encounter with the Barrow Weights (spelling?). (Another bunch of characters like Tom Bombadil who were in the book but not the movies.) During which they save each other's lives, and I like both that Elrond figured out how to deal with the monsters du jour (the show doesn't forget he's well versed in history and learning) and that Galadriel's self sacrificial act has an ambiguity for him since he sees it not her saving him and the others but Nenya, the ring. (I think he's somewhat unfair since she clearly wants to save all of the above, and also for Galadriel those three rings have already proven themselves in terms of stopping the Fading and unlocking the gift of foresight for her, so clearly the Elves need that ring more than they need her, the person.) And then Galadriel ends up facing Adar again as the episode's cliffhanger kicks in. I may have squeed, because their s1 scenes were disturbingly intense, and now of course not only are their positions reversed, but Galadriel knows something Adar does not, to with, Haldbrand = Sauron.
So..... Dark Elf/ Elf-in-Crisis alliance, y/n?
Now I had never any problem with both the Sibley written BBC audio adapation and Jackson cutting out Tom Bombadil, because when I read the books I was an earnest teenager and he was just a bit too twee for me, but either middle aged me is way more receptive to whimsy or Rory Kinnear is just that awesome, because I loved good old Tom B. here. Possibly the fact he interacts with We-re-still-not-calling-him-Gandalf instead of the Hobbits also makes a difference? Anyway, Rory Kinnear last impressed me as Caliborn/John Grey/The Creature in Penny Dreadful (and also in that one flashback episode of s3 as the person later providing the Creature's body), and while he was completely different here, there was a quiet intensity under the cheerfulness that made TB suddenly believable aas the embodiment of nature to me. Also the fact he had ended up in a desert and remembered in being green.
Meanwhile among the Southlanders (and one Numenorian): Arondir deducing pretty quickly that the girl Isildur had met en route was in fact one of those survivors who'd taken the oath to Adar to survive was a relief, I wasn't really up for a spying storyline, whereas I continue to like the greater shades of grey this show is adding to what previously were just barely fleshed out concepts, in this case, the humans who side with Team Overlord(s) (be it Morgoth, Sauron or Adar). Some are true believers, like the late unlamented Waldof (spelling), and some just didn't want to die, like Estrid, who shows her continued capacity not just for courage (for which you don't have to be good) but compassion when trying to help Arondir and Isildur in the swamp.
Arondir and the Ents reminded me of Arondir's visible flinching and suffering back in early s1 when Adar's Orcs made him and the other captured Elves hack at trees; it was a lovely scene. (Also: going by the voice one of those Ents was an Entwife. Well, we are in the Second Age, so presumably they haven't taken off yet.) And I'm glad Arondir and Theo made up, of course.
Nori and Poppy end up with the Stoors (spelling?), like the Harefoots proto-Hobbits, only not nomads but already settled down and in fact older, with the wandering Harefoots a branch that got lost. (Literally.) Who encountered a Wizard before, to wit, the Dark Wizard played by Ciaran Hinds. I didn't mention this before, but I don't think the Dark Wizard, who turns out to have been behind the Acolytes last season, is Saruman - that would make no sense since Saruman only fell in the era between The Hobbit and LotR. So while I still think the Stranger is Gandalf, I am now also willing to entertain the theory voiced elswhere that both the Stranger and the Dark Wizard are the two Blue Wizards whose fate no one can quite remember in the Third Age; at the very least the Dark Wizard is a Blue.
No Numenor and no Sauron seducing Celimbror this week, but Galadriel and Elrond, still at odds, along with their small company find out what happened to Gil-Galads previous messengers and have a satisfyingly creepy encounter with the Barrow Weights (spelling?). (Another bunch of characters like Tom Bombadil who were in the book but not the movies.) During which they save each other's lives, and I like both that Elrond figured out how to deal with the monsters du jour (the show doesn't forget he's well versed in history and learning) and that Galadriel's self sacrificial act has an ambiguity for him since he sees it not her saving him and the others but Nenya, the ring. (I think he's somewhat unfair since she clearly wants to save all of the above, and also for Galadriel those three rings have already proven themselves in terms of stopping the Fading and unlocking the gift of foresight for her, so clearly the Elves need that ring more than they need her, the person.) And then Galadriel ends up facing Adar again as the episode's cliffhanger kicks in. I may have squeed, because their s1 scenes were disturbingly intense, and now of course not only are their positions reversed, but Galadriel knows something Adar does not, to with, Haldbrand = Sauron.
So..... Dark Elf/ Elf-in-Crisis alliance, y/n?
no subject
Date: 2024-09-06 05:31 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2024-09-08 04:15 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2024-09-08 10:47 am (UTC)However the TV series makers are free to play with the narrative a lot, and insert/edit/change things with care.
But yes, I agree it's most likely not him.
And I still need to watch it :)
no subject
Date: 2024-09-06 05:39 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2024-09-08 12:50 am (UTC)Yeah, it was definitely an Entwife. They'd previously implied that the Entwives were still around in the first season, as we saw a flash of two adult ents and an entling when the meteor-that-turned-out-to-be-a-person went across the sky, but it was nice to get the confirmation. I'm curious to see if the show decides to give a proper explanation about what happened to them, since it was left a mystery in Tolkien's works.
I love that they introduced the Harfoots last season, and the Stoors this season, which means they'll presumably introduce the Fallohides (the third of the three proto-hobbits) next season. And, based on the stories about the long ago Stoor-turned-Harfoot's dreams, I very much expect them to find the Shire before the show ends. Yes, it wasn't founded until a fair bit into the Third Age in the books, but they've been handwaving the timeline significantly for the show, so I could still see them at least showing its discovery.
I know that a number of people seem to think the Dark Wizard is Saruman based on his appearance, but - as you said - that really doesn't make sense. Part of the reason his fall to darkness in the Third Age was such a big deal was that nobody saw it coming, so it wouldn't make sense for him to have previous fallen to darkness and then stepped back from it. It's much more likely for him to be one of the Blue Wizards.
In (one of) the books, the Blue Wizards came to Middle Earth quite a bit before the others, so it would make sense for one of them to have fallen to darkness. If that guess is right, I do expect we'll either meet or find out what happened to the other Blue Wizard as well before it's all said and done, as - like you - I do still think that the Stranger will turn out to be Gandalf.
no subject
Date: 2024-09-08 04:22 am (UTC)Shire: yes, I expect that whenever the series ends, the united proto-Hobbits will end up there, and someone, probably Poppy, will say, “well, we’re home”.
The Entwives, otoh: here I think they will leave it a mystery, though I could be wrong, and not show us their definite fate, precisely because Tolkien never was clear about it.
no subject
Date: 2024-09-08 04:28 am (UTC)