I was motionless and breathless almost the entire time. I was *feeling* the fear, grief, hopelessness, and "this is the end" of the Southlanders. Because we stayed with the Southlanders the entire episode, we really got to be immersed in their plight. I actually felt overwhelmed with grief when they were trapped inside the tavern and Adar's army got to them. Like they had gone through so much grief and trauma already, and defeated them and felt that hope was still there, but now it was all for nothing. It was all to end in death anyway. UGH. It honestly, in a way, was felt deeply by me in a relatable way (not going to explain that here). And so, when the Numenorians thundered to help them, I cried. 😭 Enough rambling, sorry. 🙈 Just... My heart.
Also, MOUNT DOOM. I let out an audible gasp and sat up straight when I realized what all that weird fire and water stuff did when it erupted. Soooo cool to get to see a part of the LOTR era displayed in this time.
Only a couple things that I didn't like about this episode -
I thought it was a surprising lack of brains to have not opened the cloth to make sure it was the real hilt. I get that they could have just been trying to be really careful with not exposing it/be tempted by it, but still.
All the blood coming out of Bronwyn's shoulder wound. There would NOT be that much blood gushinggggg out like that with a wound in that location. I had to roll my eyes a little at that.
I thought it was really weird that they literally just asked Halbrand "Hey, are you our King?" and he's like "Yeah" and they're just like, "Cool!" I don't know if that's poor writing or if the writers did that on purpose to show that the Southlanders are gullible or something. I suppose we'll see.
Did anyone else notice alllll the Dutch tilts in the scene with Adar in the barn?! It's not really that I disliked it, I just thought it was interesting and a little too much 😅
But man, this episode was so good. ❤️ I really hope that they give us some conclusive thoughts on who Halbrand is..... But we probably won't get to know that till a later season 😩
Bronwyn and Arondir <3 I was seriously stressing they would die and I was not okay with that.
Adar is interesting, obviously twisted but a different take about the orcs- that he sees them as individuals rather than just his slaves (in as far as he speaks to Galadriel).
I also found it intriguing how early on we see Bronwyn give Arondir Alfirin seeds (yay they saved her life, but where are they gonna get more to plant in their home together 😭).. and if I’m not mistaken Adar plants the same seeds on the grave where I’m assuming they buried Rowan. Both Bronwyn and Adar say the same line “New life, in defiance of death” Adar speaks it over Rowan’s grave in Quenya. My ears pricked up when Brownyn said it to Arondir when he gives her seeds to plant before the battle.
Halbrand is pretty suspicious, what beef does he have with Adar? I don’t trust Halbrand, but I am still sitting in the morally grey camp with him at this point.
We’ve not many episodes to go until the season wraps up, and I fear the wait will feel very long before the new season starts releasing!
I was definitely on the edge of my seat! Two things I didn't like: 1) The scene where orc blood is spilling onto Arondir's face while he's fighting the orc he stabbed in the eye. It felt like an unnecessarily long shot just for the sake of being gruesome. 2) Arondir points out Adar to Galadriel as Adar is trying to escape and tells her that he has something (the key) that he can't be allowed to escape with, and then after Galadriel and Halbrand catch Adar and take the all-important object wrapped in burlap, NOBODY OPENED IT to check and make sure it was actually the key! The moment that Adar told Waldreg he had a special job for him, and then we see Adar riding away, I suspected they pulled a switcheroo and it drove me crazy when they showed the burlap-wrapped thing on screen several times without anyone checking it.
But all in all this was an incredible episode and cannot wait to see where they take things in the final two.
I think this was my favorite episode so far! I agree that it felt like we kind of got payoff for some of the buildup, and that was incredibly satisfying! And I too really enjoyed the Adar storyline. I thought it was such an interesting way of incorporating the tension Tolkien himself felt about the origins and spiritual status of orcs. So cool!! I have SO MANY comments and concerns about Halbrand but I’m beginning to fear we won’t get answers this season :(
THIS. EPISODE.
I was motionless and breathless almost the entire time. I was *feeling* the fear, grief, hopelessness, and "this is the end" of the Southlanders. Because we stayed with the Southlanders the entire episode, we really got to be immersed in their plight. I actually felt overwhelmed with grief when they were trapped inside the tavern and Adar's army got to them. Like they had gone through so much grief and trauma already, and defeated them and felt that hope was still there, but now it was all for nothing. It was all to end in death anyway. UGH. It honestly, in a way, was felt deeply by me in a relatable way (not going to explain that here). And so, when the Numenorians thundered to help them, I cried. 😭 Enough rambling, sorry. 🙈 Just... My heart.
Also, MOUNT DOOM. I let out an audible gasp and sat up straight when I realized what all that weird fire and water stuff did when it erupted. Soooo cool to get to see a part of the LOTR era displayed in this time.
Only a couple things that I didn't like about this episode -
I thought it was a surprising lack of brains to have not opened the cloth to make sure it was the real hilt. I get that they could have just been trying to be really careful with not exposing it/be tempted by it, but still.
All the blood coming out of Bronwyn's shoulder wound. There would NOT be that much blood gushinggggg out like that with a wound in that location. I had to roll my eyes a little at that.
I thought it was really weird that they literally just asked Halbrand "Hey, are you our King?" and he's like "Yeah" and they're just like, "Cool!" I don't know if that's poor writing or if the writers did that on purpose to show that the Southlanders are gullible or something. I suppose we'll see.
Did anyone else notice alllll the Dutch tilts in the scene with Adar in the barn?! It's not really that I disliked it, I just thought it was interesting and a little too much 😅
But man, this episode was so good. ❤️ I really hope that they give us some conclusive thoughts on who Halbrand is..... But we probably won't get to know that till a later season 😩
So many interesting bits in this episode!
Bronwyn and Arondir <3 I was seriously stressing they would die and I was not okay with that.
Adar is interesting, obviously twisted but a different take about the orcs- that he sees them as individuals rather than just his slaves (in as far as he speaks to Galadriel).
I also found it intriguing how early on we see Bronwyn give Arondir Alfirin seeds (yay they saved her life, but where are they gonna get more to plant in their home together 😭).. and if I’m not mistaken Adar plants the same seeds on the grave where I’m assuming they buried Rowan. Both Bronwyn and Adar say the same line “New life, in defiance of death” Adar speaks it over Rowan’s grave in Quenya. My ears pricked up when Brownyn said it to Arondir when he gives her seeds to plant before the battle.
Halbrand is pretty suspicious, what beef does he have with Adar? I don’t trust Halbrand, but I am still sitting in the morally grey camp with him at this point.
We’ve not many episodes to go until the season wraps up, and I fear the wait will feel very long before the new season starts releasing!
I was definitely on the edge of my seat! Two things I didn't like: 1) The scene where orc blood is spilling onto Arondir's face while he's fighting the orc he stabbed in the eye. It felt like an unnecessarily long shot just for the sake of being gruesome. 2) Arondir points out Adar to Galadriel as Adar is trying to escape and tells her that he has something (the key) that he can't be allowed to escape with, and then after Galadriel and Halbrand catch Adar and take the all-important object wrapped in burlap, NOBODY OPENED IT to check and make sure it was actually the key! The moment that Adar told Waldreg he had a special job for him, and then we see Adar riding away, I suspected they pulled a switcheroo and it drove me crazy when they showed the burlap-wrapped thing on screen several times without anyone checking it.
But all in all this was an incredible episode and cannot wait to see where they take things in the final two.
I think this was my favorite episode so far! I agree that it felt like we kind of got payoff for some of the buildup, and that was incredibly satisfying! And I too really enjoyed the Adar storyline. I thought it was such an interesting way of incorporating the tension Tolkien himself felt about the origins and spiritual status of orcs. So cool!! I have SO MANY comments and concerns about Halbrand but I’m beginning to fear we won’t get answers this season :(