TRoP: season 1 finale
Jul. 30th, 2023 09:54 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
shallownessThe Rings of Power - 1.8 Alloyed
The Stranger reached the Greenwood (That Greenwood that becomes Mirkwood?) I didn’t buy the three Perils’ claim that The Stranger was Sauron, because there’d been too much evidence that he was Gandalf and I trust Nori’s judgment when she isn’t afeared. And really, is that the way to treat your ‘master’?
So in Numenor, whatever Elendil’s daughter was called, apparently she was a good enough apprentice to get to spend time drawing the king as one of the potentials responsible for his statue. Fine, whatever. A bit less convincing that there were literally no servants or guards anywhere about when he started acting funny. I liked that his first lines could have been directed to her, but turned out to be a warning for Miriel to be faithful (wonder if that message got passed on, since what’s her name got distracted by a Palantir. I’m not sure if she can hack that. Yes, she is of Elendil’s line, but her motivations have been highly questionable.) Ooh, also nice touch in the previously to remind us that his prophecy about Miriel had been spot on.
Six days riding (six days riding!) got Halbrand to Elven hospital, where Gilgalad wasn’t too chirpy that Elrond only had a teensy weensy bit of mithril, as the tree had reacted badly to the whole Mount Doom thing. He wasn’t too chirpy to see Galadriel either, but Elrond apologised to her, as he should. As to what they should do next, Galadriel suggested they ‘swim’. I love you, babe, but you need to work on that plan.
It was probably still too light outside when I watched the night-time sequence where the Harfoots tried to rescue/help the Stranger. I thought Sadoc had been injured and then was confused because he seemed mobile. Faking bird calls and throwing rocks went so far, but it took Nori trusting him again to get the Stranger to use his power, and the three Perils hadn’t been wrong about that. But no, he wasn’t Sauron. Echoes of the ring wraiths before they went poof and the three lady Harfoots realised Sadoc was dying. The way they played his passing beautifully.
Elrond squashed the beginnings of an idea Celebrimbor was having. Halbrand was up and about as if he were Bronwyn, although at least he’d been tended to by Elven healers, and fanboying Celebrimbor. I was still thinking ‘King Smith’. They got chatting, Halbrand suggested alloys. Celebrimbor got excited by the idea and developed it. At least Gilgalad was dubious about there being just the one crown of power. Galadriel heard something that reminded her of Sauron, and while it was clear she was right to investigate, I was still holding on to old suspicions of Celebrimbor.
Miriel and Elendil shared a moment, and too right she called him out for being patronising. I respected her for being direct about the impact of his grief on him, although it seemed as if he’d processed it to become less bitter than in the previous episode (and honestly, no, you couldn’t just let Galadriel drown, and even more honestly, no, you couldn’t have stopped Isildur from going to Middle Earth.) I was starting to ship them during the hug, although Elendil needs some training about assisting blind people (not describing what you’re seeing when she asks? Rude. And probably worse seeing as you can tell from the black flags that she’s going to be dropping the Regent from her title and become your full-blown Queen now. Although in every second the Chancellor of the Technicolored Facial Hair was onscreen, we were reminded she might face opposition.)
Galadriel read the scroll about the Southlanders' royal line and oh, yikes. I should have seen it coming, because I’d had my questions about Halbrand’s strength and this whole King of the Southlands business when they were lesser men. The worming himself into Celebrimbor’s favour ought to have been another clue. The reveal that Halbrand was Sauron worked, mainly because Galadriel, of all people, had been so deceived. And I mean, show, you went and made him hot (wasn’t ‘fair’ the word Tolkien used? Halbrand as played by Vickers wasn’t fair, he was hot, scruffily hot.) Having made her have UST with your actual Sauron just made it all so very, very twisted. (Setting them up as antagonists now is undercut by our knowing Galadriel will not be his undoing, but there you go.)
And as he pointed out, she’d saved him, she’d brought him to Middle Earth and, indeed, to the superforge, she’d poured out her belief and mission into him and seen it when it wasn’t there. Ouch. Then there was the twisting of what she’d said to Halbrand about making up for the past. And the whole ‘in her mind’ stuff, while a cliché that’s overused because it’s easier to film, having her brother be Sauron briefly continued with the twistedness. I kind of think they could have had two or more scenes of that, but I suppose it had to end on the raft for her to come to in the river. He promised that they could rule and we had echoes of Galadriel’s temptation in FoTR (this doesn’t quite work as continuity for that or all the movieverse Hobbitverse shenanigans), but she stuck to the truth despite it all.
That Halbrand!Sauron ditched the Elves was a bit anti-climactic (and the huge question now left is whether he forged the One Ring offscreen.) I presume Adar will have to kneel to him or get killed by him and the Orcs will have to suck it. I liked Galadriel forcing Elrond to prove he was himself and to stick to his promise to trust her. I’d have liked to see her test Celebrimbor, but her brother’s knife was put to good use, and she made a good argument for there being three rings (except one of them will eventually be given to a non-Elf.)
So, okay, I fell for it. I did not consider that Halbrand was Sauron the Deceiver (it might be worth rewatching his scene with Adar and how much that was theatre for Galadriel), mainly because Will Vickers is hot (although not quite able to drop the accent?) Embarrassingly, now I’ve started looking up fanworks at AO3, others were theorising that Halbrand was indeed Sauron from early doors. (Hope they cast someone who looks like he could be a young Marton Csoskas and has something like all that chemistry with Morfydd Clark if they’re bringing Celeborn back in the next series.)
Also, LOVED what Galadriel was wearing, although the state of her hair has been terrible for an Elf all miniseries.
Daniel Weyman did a good job of becoming more cogent and more Ian McKellan!Gandalfy in timbre. It did feel as if the show felt it needed to underline and emphasise ‘No, really, this is Gandalf, honest.’ Given how sad I was that he and Nori (and Nori and Adventure) were to part ways, I was glad her family said that she had to go with the wizard, although…without Poppy?? Sadface. I have loved watching girls play out that dynamic after all the hours of Sam and Frodo on film.
I don’t want to check who sang the rhyme about the making of the rings, because I hope it was the actress playing Disa.
It’s had its moments (as Nori and her tall fella walked towards Adventure, New Zealand looked beautiful again.) It’s had its stupid moments, too. For every time I’ve complained about them twisting canon, I’ve enjoyed them twisting canon to give girls and women more to do. But some things were stretched waaay too thin or given more import than deserved because we’d enjoyed it in the original (mostly I mean Harfoot business), but some of the things happening here weren’t that big a deal. And yet, some of them were. I don’t think it deserves all the opprobrium it’s had.
The Stranger reached the Greenwood (That Greenwood that becomes Mirkwood?) I didn’t buy the three Perils’ claim that The Stranger was Sauron, because there’d been too much evidence that he was Gandalf and I trust Nori’s judgment when she isn’t afeared. And really, is that the way to treat your ‘master’?
So in Numenor, whatever Elendil’s daughter was called, apparently she was a good enough apprentice to get to spend time drawing the king as one of the potentials responsible for his statue. Fine, whatever. A bit less convincing that there were literally no servants or guards anywhere about when he started acting funny. I liked that his first lines could have been directed to her, but turned out to be a warning for Miriel to be faithful (wonder if that message got passed on, since what’s her name got distracted by a Palantir. I’m not sure if she can hack that. Yes, she is of Elendil’s line, but her motivations have been highly questionable.) Ooh, also nice touch in the previously to remind us that his prophecy about Miriel had been spot on.
Six days riding (six days riding!) got Halbrand to Elven hospital, where Gilgalad wasn’t too chirpy that Elrond only had a teensy weensy bit of mithril, as the tree had reacted badly to the whole Mount Doom thing. He wasn’t too chirpy to see Galadriel either, but Elrond apologised to her, as he should. As to what they should do next, Galadriel suggested they ‘swim’. I love you, babe, but you need to work on that plan.
It was probably still too light outside when I watched the night-time sequence where the Harfoots tried to rescue/help the Stranger. I thought Sadoc had been injured and then was confused because he seemed mobile. Faking bird calls and throwing rocks went so far, but it took Nori trusting him again to get the Stranger to use his power, and the three Perils hadn’t been wrong about that. But no, he wasn’t Sauron. Echoes of the ring wraiths before they went poof and the three lady Harfoots realised Sadoc was dying. The way they played his passing beautifully.
Elrond squashed the beginnings of an idea Celebrimbor was having. Halbrand was up and about as if he were Bronwyn, although at least he’d been tended to by Elven healers, and fanboying Celebrimbor. I was still thinking ‘King Smith’. They got chatting, Halbrand suggested alloys. Celebrimbor got excited by the idea and developed it. At least Gilgalad was dubious about there being just the one crown of power. Galadriel heard something that reminded her of Sauron, and while it was clear she was right to investigate, I was still holding on to old suspicions of Celebrimbor.
Miriel and Elendil shared a moment, and too right she called him out for being patronising. I respected her for being direct about the impact of his grief on him, although it seemed as if he’d processed it to become less bitter than in the previous episode (and honestly, no, you couldn’t just let Galadriel drown, and even more honestly, no, you couldn’t have stopped Isildur from going to Middle Earth.) I was starting to ship them during the hug, although Elendil needs some training about assisting blind people (not describing what you’re seeing when she asks? Rude. And probably worse seeing as you can tell from the black flags that she’s going to be dropping the Regent from her title and become your full-blown Queen now. Although in every second the Chancellor of the Technicolored Facial Hair was onscreen, we were reminded she might face opposition.)
Galadriel read the scroll about the Southlanders' royal line and oh, yikes. I should have seen it coming, because I’d had my questions about Halbrand’s strength and this whole King of the Southlands business when they were lesser men. The worming himself into Celebrimbor’s favour ought to have been another clue. The reveal that Halbrand was Sauron worked, mainly because Galadriel, of all people, had been so deceived. And I mean, show, you went and made him hot (wasn’t ‘fair’ the word Tolkien used? Halbrand as played by Vickers wasn’t fair, he was hot, scruffily hot.) Having made her have UST with your actual Sauron just made it all so very, very twisted. (Setting them up as antagonists now is undercut by our knowing Galadriel will not be his undoing, but there you go.)
And as he pointed out, she’d saved him, she’d brought him to Middle Earth and, indeed, to the superforge, she’d poured out her belief and mission into him and seen it when it wasn’t there. Ouch. Then there was the twisting of what she’d said to Halbrand about making up for the past. And the whole ‘in her mind’ stuff, while a cliché that’s overused because it’s easier to film, having her brother be Sauron briefly continued with the twistedness. I kind of think they could have had two or more scenes of that, but I suppose it had to end on the raft for her to come to in the river. He promised that they could rule and we had echoes of Galadriel’s temptation in FoTR (this doesn’t quite work as continuity for that or all the movieverse Hobbitverse shenanigans), but she stuck to the truth despite it all.
That Halbrand!Sauron ditched the Elves was a bit anti-climactic (and the huge question now left is whether he forged the One Ring offscreen.) I presume Adar will have to kneel to him or get killed by him and the Orcs will have to suck it. I liked Galadriel forcing Elrond to prove he was himself and to stick to his promise to trust her. I’d have liked to see her test Celebrimbor, but her brother’s knife was put to good use, and she made a good argument for there being three rings (except one of them will eventually be given to a non-Elf.)
So, okay, I fell for it. I did not consider that Halbrand was Sauron the Deceiver (it might be worth rewatching his scene with Adar and how much that was theatre for Galadriel), mainly because Will Vickers is hot (although not quite able to drop the accent?) Embarrassingly, now I’ve started looking up fanworks at AO3, others were theorising that Halbrand was indeed Sauron from early doors. (Hope they cast someone who looks like he could be a young Marton Csoskas and has something like all that chemistry with Morfydd Clark if they’re bringing Celeborn back in the next series.)
Also, LOVED what Galadriel was wearing, although the state of her hair has been terrible for an Elf all miniseries.
Daniel Weyman did a good job of becoming more cogent and more Ian McKellan!Gandalfy in timbre. It did feel as if the show felt it needed to underline and emphasise ‘No, really, this is Gandalf, honest.’ Given how sad I was that he and Nori (and Nori and Adventure) were to part ways, I was glad her family said that she had to go with the wizard, although…without Poppy?? Sadface. I have loved watching girls play out that dynamic after all the hours of Sam and Frodo on film.
I don’t want to check who sang the rhyme about the making of the rings, because I hope it was the actress playing Disa.
It’s had its moments (as Nori and her tall fella walked towards Adventure, New Zealand looked beautiful again.) It’s had its stupid moments, too. For every time I’ve complained about them twisting canon, I’ve enjoyed them twisting canon to give girls and women more to do. But some things were stretched waaay too thin or given more import than deserved because we’d enjoyed it in the original (mostly I mean Harfoot business), but some of the things happening here weren’t that big a deal. And yet, some of them were. I don’t think it deserves all the opprobrium it’s had.
