9:12 I can’t watch the tumbling pebbles of the into without thinking of the Sauron blob tumbling down the mountainside.

3:45 Elendil. He’s trying to calm a recalcitrant horse by telling it “You’re going home, you’re coming with us.” That suggests he has not yet departed for home, which we saw him reach at the end of last season. Is it Isildur’s horse?

4:48 It IS Isildur's horse. Why, when he lectured Isildur about the mystic bond these horses have with their riders, is he not taking the horse’s stubbornness as a possible indicator that his son is still alive? Especially since no one saw the body, and pyroclastic flows don’t work like they do in a post-Sauron world, where he could have been assumed to have died in the eruption?

5:07 Were these orcs just waiting with ropes for a horse to wander by?

5:47 The horse, whose name I cannot be arsed to look up, is running into the Black Forest, according to the orcs, from which nothing comes out alive. It speaks as if this is a firmly established fact, based on long reputation, but the area has just DRASTICALLY changed, as a result of a volcanic eruption. Not a Dark Realm being somehow transported onto this spot from another evil dimension, where Evil Woods build up a reputation over the eons. How would the Black Forest have been established as such a dire place in so short a time?

7:01 ISILDUR’S ALIVE?!?!? How? They said he was dead! Who would have thought that the person whose name is mentioned the most in the first five minutes of Fellowship of the Ring, for his deeds involving a ring that has not yet been forged on this show, would have survived an off-screen death?

8:00 Did the people of the Southlands know about the giant spider cave so close to their village?

8:34 A giant spider pounces on an orc from behind and instantly strikes, exploding its orc head. Then, facing an unarmed Isildur, rears up and hisses in warning. Plot armor really is the best defense.

9:41 The whole point of the volcano plan was to render Mordor a hospitable environment for creatures that don’t like the sunlight. So why is baby Shelob balked when Isildur and Beric (he shouted the horse’s name several times) make it out of the cave? Isn’t the outdoors (especially within a place called the Black Forest) safe for all these evil creatures that hate the touch of the sun?

10:15 Elendil will miss King Tar-Palantir, because he always protected the Faithful. Always is Elendil’s word. Except for a while now he has been A. deposed and B. dying. How has he protected the Faithful? Elendil will miss the guy who has been shut up in a room with no visitors for an indeterminate amount of time.

Also, his non-canonical daughter rebukes him for speaking so freely of dead kings while not even mentioning his own son’s name. And he is giving her a look like “Bitch, who do you think you are talking to?” It’s probably going to be revealed to be a look of awe at her wisdom and insight, or some such bullshit, but I am enjoying the headcanon that she’s about to get a trip to the woodshed.

10:30 Did she lose a lot of weight between seasons? Her facial features look a lot sharper and I don’t think I am imagining it, because we just got a flashback to her encounter with the dying king last season. The flashback was because she reassured Elendil that even though he blamed himself for Isildur’s death, the true blame lies with another. He asks her who she’s talking about and flashback to the king’s warning against going to Middle Earth.

On a properly written show, this would indicate that the blame is somehow connected to the king’s warning. Which came too late, since the expedition had already set out. Missildur (which I will be calling Elendil’s daughter until the show reminds me what her name actually is) was opposed to the expedition but contented herself with asking Pharazon’s feckless son to tell his dad to stop it, in unspecified ways, which he took to mean, “Blow up the ships”.

Also, IDK where anyone would think Elendil is at all to blame, even a hyper-scrupulous Elendil. He would not let Isildur go, refused to get him a post in the army, and then had his efforts thwarted when Isildur somehow contrived to be rewarded for covering up an attempt to sabotage the fleet.

10:54 Elendil asks “What is it” when Missildur visibly reacts to her flashback and then ominous music announces the entrance of Pharazon with a veiled figure I assume is Queen (Regent? ) Miriel. Are they whom she blames? Pharazon told his son that he was just making the best of the situation which had widespread support among the people. Miriel was led into the whole thing by Galadriel.

11:45 According to Elendil’s response to Miriel’s awkwardly phrased question, Lord Belzagar, from the North, has Pharazon’s ear. Pharazon does not have his ear. Which means that Pharazon is listening to Belzagar, takes his advice, heeds his suggestions, etc. Since Pharazon has been shown to be more or less running things in Numenor so far, I don’t think that’s what the writers meant.

12:43 This woman struck a queen, in public, over the death of her son, who volunteered for an expedition and probably died by an unforeseeable bullshit volcano. Not only is this a highly inappropriate reaction to an act of God, she is striking an actual casualty of the war. She swung at a blind person who could not duck or defend herself because she was blinded by the same thing that killed her son. I am all for freedom of speech and opposed to the notion of lese majeste, but I kind of support an exception in this case.

Also, what does it mean that Miriel is a Queen, if things like this happen that simply do not happen to queens? I don’t think anyone would have gotten away with doing that to Queen Elizabeth in the most egalitarian point in her reign.

13:30 How is it Pharazon can just walk into a queen’s bedroom? On a show with sensible world-building and consistent depiction of societal structures, I would assume this is a demonstration of his power. But here, it feels like a random thing that happened to allow this conversation.

13:37 He points his finger at her for emphasis. She is blind, remember?

14:09 Pharazon entered on her right side. He probably saw her right wrist didn’t have a giant, clunky bracelet on it. Also, her donning it was not that slick. So I have to assume his grin was because she did not fool him at all. So why did she try? He gave her an out by leading with a conversational gambit assuming she was engaging in a very normal reminiscence over her dead father’s possessions. The only thing I can figure out is that it is some sort of symbolic piece tied to allegiance to the Faithful. But she can say that it means nothing to her, that she only wears it for the fact that it belonged to her father, even if she disagrees with his politics. Hell, she can pretend she didn’t realize it was THAT bracelet, since she is newly blind.

14:55 This feels almost like politics, but the colors are clearly so obviously political statements. The white is the color of the Faithful and the Valar while the red is associated with the opposition, which was known as the Kings Men in the books, but has received absolutely no characterization, despite being the dominant faction in power throughout the show. We don’t even understand the factions as they related to the politics depicted in action last season. Which faction wanted to go to war and which one opposed it? To which party did the “Elves are gonna take our jobs” extremists belong? Nominally, they would seem to align with the Kings Men, but Pharazon didn’t seem to be a part of that, and his conversations with his son suggest he is simply a pragmatic administrator who rides the currents of popular opinion. The people want a war, so he’s going to support the war and try to eke favorable trade deals from it.

So, in this wildly inappropriate conversation, Pharazon is asking Miriel which color she is going to wear at her coronation, white for the past or red for the future. She wants to wear white, because she remembers her father wearing white, and a lucky eagle showed up, which Pharazon admits would be an auspicious sign. But he prefers red to make a statement about change. It’s like they are both trying to pretend the political division does not exist, even though a king was deposed over it, and also that her choice of gown is going to mean something, even though she is pretending otherwise. Her choice of a white gown isn’t going to do much to encourage the Faithful if she is claiming it’s not, just a symbol of humility and continuity with her father. If it IS that politically significant, Pharazon should be saying “Your father was deposed, let’s not make the same forces that rose up against him nervous by imitating him.” Is she giving away her allegiance, or making a permanent commitment, to the Faithful by wearing white?

15:43 Why is Missildur at a table, in what seems to be a public establishment, with Pharazon, Belzagar. the lord who has his ear, and Pharazon’s son? Is she dating the son? Why is a uniformed officer of the expeditionary force drinking in the place near them? And why are Pharazon and Belzagar talking sedition in front of the son’s date, who happens to be the daughter of the military leader of Miriel’s expedition and who was publicly supporting her at the funeral, in earshot of a veteran who is wearing his uniform off duty?

15:49 “Many is hardly enough to supplant a queen” says Pharazon, having apparently forgotten what happened to the last king. On the other hand, he supposedly has a claim that rivals hers, meaning he had a claim that rivaled the late king. So if the anti-Faithful had so much support that they can demand the king step down, why leave his daughter as regent, instead of turning to the rival claimant who, if not openly anti-Elf, is at least not a supporter of the Faithful? The best explanation I can think is that there is a certain awe of the crown, so that there won’t be support for changing the line of succession without extreme reasons. That might also explain why Pharazon really wants to stop her from wearing Faithful colors at her coronation, because she is so respected, or revered, that the color will improve the public opinion of the Faithful.

But all of that means that anyone who slapped the queen, in public, in front of her father’s casket or effigy during his funeral, would be in deep shit, and, in fact, would not have even contemplated such an act. And you would not dare float the idea of swapping monarchs in front of a committed officer and the daughter of her military commander.

And for the record, historically, blindness was often a good reason to depose a monarch. In fact, deposed rulers or thwarted claimants were frequently blinded to render them ineligible to rule.

Belzagar corrects Pharazon, saying queen-regent, but for whom is she regent? The king is dead and she’s the next up to the point that her coronation is taken as a given by Pharazon & Miriel.

15:54 And meanwhile, it seems that Missildur blames Miriel for the loss of her brother, and is offering Pharazon & friends a way to increase the support for getting rid of Miriel.

This twit is going to back a coup against a queen her father & brother are loyal to, because in her opinion, despite being outside the political and military circles in which the other members of her family travel, her brother’s loss is all the queen’s fault.

17:15 See, this is what I mean! Not only are they plotting in front of a visible crown loyalist, they are doing so in a pro-queen NEIGHBORHOOD! “Burying a king” doesn’t explain why two anti-royal politicians are meeting in this place to scheme together. Either to Valandil or to the audience. When the show maintains consistency in the setting, they make the characters stupid by doing things that are counter-indicated by the consistent rules of that setting.

Also, Valandil was very clearly directing his insults at Pharazon’s son. Asking him about the insult was basically leaning into the punch.

Plus, there is the bit where Miriel was blinded trying to help Isildur. Which Missildur seems to have forgotten (and to be fair, so did I).

Interestingly, Valandil identifies Pharazon and Belzagar as guildsmen, suggesting that there is a class and economic basis to the political divisions, and that Pharazon & Belzagar are patrons of, or draw support from, the guilds who are the people opposed to the Elves and the Faithful, because the Elves are going to take their jobs. But then why did they turn around and support the war an Elf was urging on them? The fact that there are politically aligned neighborhoods, and there were so many craftsmen present during Elendil’s & Galadriel’s training session last season, suggests that the guilds so staunchly supported the war that the volunteers were drawn heavily from their ranks, and thus training in their neighborhoods, or that they went into the guild neighborhoods to train recruits because they’d have support there.

17:58 Ee-are-ee-en is how you pronounce Missildur’s name.

18:35 In the 36 seconds since Pharazon asked Earein (guessing at the spelling) what she was about to tell them, she said “I … found something … something secret … something dangerous… something forbidden” with long pauses. Who talks like that to two of the leading political figures of your country, when you are trying to get them to listen to you on a matter relating to a major policy change you want to see?

The answer is: someone who is not really talking to people, but actually narrating a scene which reveals that Earein has stolen the Palantir. Microsoft Word automatically capitalizes Palantir, for the record.

18:50 Why are they all nodding and exchanging significant looks? Are they seeing Miriel groping the Palantir stand? Also, Miriel, you’re blind, and it’s a ball. How do you know it didn’t roll off the stand and is not on the floor somewhere?

19:19 Calling him “Adar-father” is basically calling him “father-father”.

19:30 “Why do we have to go to war if you said Sauron was dead?” “There’s some things I can’t tell you, but trust me, we have to make sure Sauron is dead.” That means you should not be trusted, since you are telling them things that are not true.

20:59 So what was the message Adar sent to this celebrity troll, and what does the troll’s question mean? It seems that the troll killed the messenger and brought his head back, which doesn’t seem like the kind of thing Adar can overlook if he is going to maintain his paternal affection and trust with the orcs. And he asks, as he tosses the head of his son to Adar, “where is Sauron?” Does that mean he is here to fight and take down Sauron? Why? Or is he saying “I don’t answer to you bitches, where’s the actual boss?”

21:06 The scene of all the buildings is known, I believe, as an establishing shot, to tell the audience where the scene is taking place. Except I thought it was Numenor until we got inside and saw Celebrimbor, Durin & Disa. I don’t ever recall being confused about whether I was in Rivendell, Rohan or Gondor in the movies.

21:31 Celebrimbor offers rings, one for each of the most powerful Dwarf lords in Middle Earth. “Seven for the Dwarf Lords in their halls of stone” in the words of his collaborator. One each for Sleepy, Happy, Sneezy, Bashful, Dopey, Grumpy and Doc.

That’s right, Tolkien did Easter Eggs too.

25:16 I can’t help but notice that once again, where the female character is arguing with the males, she is being framed by the narrative as right and sensible, even though, objectively, we know that the men are right. It was the case with Elrond & Galadriel and now they are replaying the dynamic with Durin and Disa, with, I presume, Durin the elder in the role of Gil-Galad. From season one ramming spunky adventurous women who don’t need to listen to no men into every plot line, to this season making them all be the ones who succumb to temptation. I have heard this season they are using exclusively female directors. I wonder if they were hired for their sex instead of any knowledge or Tolkien’s work, so we get these scenes where the women seem like the sensible ones, except we know they are wrong, and even if it is toxically masculine stubborn pride making Durin & Elrond suspicious of the rings, it’s still right.

On the other hand, the Elven rings were pure and not evil since Sauron had no part in their making, although, because Celebrimbor was using his design specs, he was still able to control them through the One Ring. And the Dwarven rings did not work, because Dwarves are too tough to be physically corrupted and too mentally resistant to domination. So, one might actually argue that Galadriel and Disa are onto a good thing here. The problem with analyzing this is that we have no idea what the writers know or how accurately they understand the lore.

30:51 Ah, great. Isildur has a love interest. Bet she’s going to be all spunky and probably a whole lot smarter and more competent than he is, and no one is ever going to point out that she believed Isildur was an orc when he arrived on scene riding a horse, which no orc has ever been seen to do on screen.

32:41 How does he know who her folk are? Why is he even trusting her? Anyone can - and would – say “I didn’t mean to attack you, I thought you were an orc, when you have a blade at their throat. Maybe she’s a Waldregite, or whatever you call the people who follow Sauron. Either they are making Isildur dumb to set up a betrayal, or they are just playing at depicting danger.

33:30So this Astrid woman is betrothed to someone. Why? Do we need more original characters? Or is this just a datum that will never ever be relevant and is only mentioned to provide Drama?

33:35 Oh, gee. A cart that’s covered up. I wonder if someone is hiding inside.

33:45 Is she telling Isildur “don’t” (approach the old man leaning on the “abandoned” cart) because she’s hardened by her experience in this crisis, or just because she’s smarter and instinctively knows there is something off here. Except she’s not explaining why she warns him, so there shouldn’t be any reason, just the fact that she knows she’s in a hack-written show, and a second covered-up cart in a few minutes is too suspicious.

34:18 Is she secretly a villain who wants to get on with using Isildur to infiltrate wherever he is going, or just wary of this whole situation?

34:24 What did she pass him, a potato?

34:33 Oh, no! He has the map to Mordor on his wrist!

34:36 And he was setting up an ambush. Now, set aside the hero’s peril at the moment, before Astrid saves him, and let’s examine what is going on here. The seaport is empty, no ships. But they are in sight of it. Maybe the refugees from the Southlands who followed Elendil and the Numenoreans are living there. If they are not, why are these two followers of Sauron setting up ambushes on the off-chance someone will emerge from the woods on the way to Pelargir? If it IS inhabited, and thus likely to have people coming to and fro, why are they setting up broad daylight ambushes in sight of the city?

35:22 How many of these guy where there, and how were they keeping three or more horses quiet during their ambush.

Also, yay. Mori is back.

So what was HE doing? Lying in wait for the Sauronites to ambush someone? Was he letting the old dude lie there in apparent pain and suffering to see whether or not he was shamming if some good guys came by? If he knew the old guy was a bad guy, why wasn’t he doing anything yet? Did his elf eyes need to see the trap sprung to find the rest of the shill’s comrades?

35:35 That was a really crap shot for an elf, who is standing still and has time to aim, at a man shuffling slowly less than 10 yards away.

37:06 I thought maybe the scene had changed to some other plot, until we zoomed in on Isildur and Astrid at this funeral. Could this be Bronwyn? Is that why Mori was so brusque? It even adds some depth to the comment about Elven memories not dimming, if he’s thinking of carrying her memory until the end of the world. Might have helped if they had actually done something with their relationship last season.

37:30 Why is this scene so dark? There have been a lot of scenes this season that have been lit like the Battle of Winterfell.

37:41 Why is her son taking the torch from Mori? The implication of the scene is that Mori was supposed to light the pyre, but could not bear to, so Theo stepped up to do it, but shouldn’t her son be the first choice to light her pyre?

42:29 The apology scene with Durin and his father (Durin) was not bad. And I get that he is using an argument he thinks the king will listen to, even if the fate of the Elves being decided by wiser minds is right out of left field or a dumb way to express the idea that they shouldn’t be meddling with something so vast. But he’s making the case like the King has already decided to accept the offer and there has been no indication of that. Unless, as scriptwriters, the people responsible for Durin’s dialogue know what King Durin is thinking.

44:25 A. This cannot be Pelargir. This shabby craphole cannot be a Numenorean outpost, unless they are going with a colonization narrative, and trying to give it that shitty feel. But why is it all shacks built alongside ruins? Did Numenor have their enclaves and outposts in the past, and then retreat into their current isolation? Why do we still not have any explanation for this, despite the show’s attempts to delve into Numenorean politics? Why have they not given us some overview of their history? How did they become estranged from the Elves and why?

B. Now they are going to acknowledge the existence of Beleriand? I shudder to guess how they are going to abuse this piece of the lore.

45:03 Beleriand was more than merely an Elf realm. It was a large portion of the continent, which contained the Elven kingdoms of Doriath, Nargothrond and Gondolin, and many other regions where Elves dwelt. It sunk beneath the sea as a consequence of the powers that fought over it in the War of Wrath. It’s not exactly analogous to the suffering of a young man whose mother has died from a poisoned arrow.

47:41 “I’m not half so strong as you think.” Let me guess. She is compromised. She has been persuaded to serve Adar or whoever the bad guys are at the moment. Perhaps because her betrothed is being held hostage.

48:53 This is the most pedestrian and clichéd answer to the mystery of Isildur’s mother, and the tension within their family. She drowned saving him from childish recklessness. Bor-ring.

48:59 Oh. How shocking. She had a huge mark of Sauron on her back. I am appalled. Just when I was getting attached to Astrid.

55:43 This is so stupid. First of all, Miriel, you are not in a super-great position to react to the unexpected, disabled or no. The opposition faction is strong enough to have forced your father from the throne, and you are provoking them by wearing white, whatever rationalization you gave to Pharazon. This is just begging for some sort of confrontation where you will be at a disadvantage. Secondly, in your position, you want to lean hard on tradition and ceremony. Stick with the rules, especially established traditions, since you are of the traditionalist faction. Compromising on your strengths and giving them more leeway is just going to embolden them, because it erodes the authority of your rank. You make concessions on policy, not personal power. Third, there is a time and place. Considering how scant the expedition was, the nature of the casualties and Miriel’s own suffering, she really should not have to put up with the caterwauling at every turn. Disrupting a sacred ceremony to wail about your loss is literally putting yourself and your troubles above the nation (and the question I always have for those who try to bludgeon the regime or administration with their deceased loved ones who were part of an all-volunteer force – How do we know he didn’t enlist to get away from you? ). This is all very inept statecraft on Miriel’s part, especially when she has the commander of the force on her side. But the feeling I get is that the writers think she is being wise and compassionate.

56:28 “If there is another who wishes to speak, ask yourself this, for whom do you cry out?” What kind of question is this? They will all say they are crying out for whatever person they know who died. It’s not going to shut them up or shame them into thinking instead of reacting, emotionally.

56:42 Yeah, that’s was a lousy rhetorical question, because phrasing the accusation that they are being selfish like a question gives them an opening to say “I’m crying out for my country, suffering under such shitty leadership.” As Chesterton wrote: “The men who fought for England following a falling star/Alas, alas for England, they have their graves afar/ But the men who ruled in England, in stately conclave met/Alas, alas for England, they have no graves as yet!” The rhetorical question is the tactic of someone so smugly certain they are in the right, they cannot possibly conceive of people looking at the same situation and coming to a different conclusion about who is at fault.

Needless to say, I don’t believe this is how Miriel is intended to be depicted, but it is how the writers see their own beliefs and they write their heroine accordingly.

56:45 Oh, never mind. She just gave that awkwardly phrased rhetorical question to set up Missildur’s answer. ~Sigh~ Carry on.

58:17 Yeah, sorry. Miriel is too dumb to function.

58:28 Why was Elendil shouting “Take my hand,” when he is not in control or capable of helping her?

58:33 Let me guess, the titular Eagle is going to show up to rectify Miriel’s inept PR efforts.

58:44 ‘Sup? Am I late?

59:21 Pharazon is going to somehow twist this to be a sign that he is the true chosen one or some such.

59:33 The Eagle is like “What? Who’s Pharazon? I was told there was a queen?”

59:50 It really looks like the Eagle is trying to object.

1:00:27 Does real metallurgy involve such long, dramatically winding channels when casting metal? It seems like the longer it has to ooze, the more it will cool down.

1:01:36 Okay, Annatar just dropped the mithril into the pot, and stuff is already flowing out the channels underneath. It hasn’t had time to mix yet.

So, despite our central Dwarf character being strongly opposed to the forging of the Dwarven Rings, there isn’t even an argument or debate, they just go ahead with it, and King Durin personally delivers mithril to Eregion to be forged. And there is some bullshit going on with humans who serve Adar, doing … stuff. IDK. I guess we’ll see next week. I don’t know why these three episodes dropped all together. What do they think is in here that will hook us by the third episode, if the first didn’t?