TRoP: Battle stations
Dec. 19th, 2024 09:10 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
shallownessThe Rings of Power - 2.7 Doomed to Die
This episode was mainly a battle, which was fine, if suffering a bit in comparison with Jackson’s bigger battles. The first shots of Celebrimbor having a drink on his balcony in the fake Eregion irritated me, although I suppose it was about showing how much Annatar!Sauron’s spell had him in thrall. Epic gaslighting from Sauron in general throughout the episode, preparing the ground by telling the Eregionites that Celebrimbor had lost his reason, even in his absence, while the Orc army battered them, and then – in an impressive feat – dammed the river, making it easier for them to attack the walls.
In Khazad-dun, Durin snr’s personal guard had had enough and defected to Durin jnr’s side, oh, and Elrond had come a-calling, begging for martial aid. The dialogue flipped from being almost Tolkienesque to not. I thought they generally did a good job for Elrond, who also got to speak a lot of Elvish.
Eregion’s soldiers wore somewhat tarnished armour, so when Lindor’s army turned up, it was good to see Elves looking like I’d expect Second Age soldiers to do. Adar showed off his prize hostage and checked them. (Elrond’s armour REALLY bulked the actor up.)
Elrond went to parlay with Adar, who wanted them to combine forces, because Eregion had fallen into shadow (Elrond’s faith in Celebrimbor was touching at this point.) Adar’s grand plan still seemed suspect to me. Elrond refused, and raised some doubt about Adar’s care for his offspring in the Orc lieutenants hearing and begged the right to say goodbye to Galadriel. Nice exchange of dialogue and then kissing on the lips. EW, NO! FUTURE MOTHER-IN-LAW!! reaction. My more considered reaction was that he was passing something on to her. The ring, I thought, but it turned out to be a key so she could escape, which was probably more sensible.
Have I noticed there were female orcs before? There were in this camp. Galadriel was helped on her way by Arondir, who she realised was on a suicidal mission to kill Adar. She talked him into waiting (which turned out to be helpful for the defence of Eregion, even if it looked as though it was a suicide mission delayed. And I doubt that Theo will even weep a tear for him.)
Celebrimbor saw a nasty reflection of himself in the mirror. There was a lot of stuff with a mouse, that, like Sauron, I did not get, but turned out to be Celebrimbor figuring out he was in a loop. He then realised how badly he’d been deceived.
Have I mentioned how Annatar!Sauron’s costume in the last couple of episodes has been epic, regal (a bit Japanese) with hints of the evil? (I think even more so in this episode with like feather details.) Anyway, he coldly threw Lady Smith to her death, making it look like it was Celebrimbor wot dunnit to keep the soldiers on his side. Celebrimbor was forced back inside to finish his work, tried to destroy the rings, couldn’t. He had a good point about Sauron lying to himself, and was hardcore enough to cut off his thumb to escape briefly.
Galadriel had sneaked into Eregion via a dwarf tunnel that nobody else knew about!!!??? She and Celebrimbor had a poignant reunion, as two fellow victims of Sauron’s, with a lot of associated guilt. He forced the rings on her, asking her to escape (not shown, but I’m imagining her taking the traumatised elf kids with her). He had a speech about how the Elves needed to learn to trust not in strength but in light, or something, which made me go, ‘Yes, but…’ The soldiers, chided by Galadriel, restated their loyalty to the true lord of Eregion. Except of course, he was facing Sauron, who promptly made them kill each other.
Edwards was good showing Celebrimbor’s slow realisation of the truth and all the guilt, self-knowledge and regret that came with it. Vickers probably had the harder job, conveying the feelings of a villain (blah blah Morgoth tortured me, blah blah this is my version of utopia, blah blah not my fault) relatively subtly.
Lots of fighty stuff, big weapons, attacking the wall, kind of calling back to big screen Helm’s Deep. I felt they should have established some bond between Elrond and his horse (as they had with Isildur) previously to earn the moment over the equine’s passing. Oh well, I suppose you could be generous and say it showed the (half-)Elf’s concern for life in contrast to Adar’s (and Sauron’s) attitudes. I liked Elrond’s ‘Any arrow could turn the tide’ speech, but the way that the archer had all the arrows sticking out of her when she took the shot was overblown.
Then enter the troll, who the Orcs did NOT like, enough that the lieutenant queried Adar. Daddio said he loved his kids enough that he didn’t want them to become Sauron’s slaves, missing the point that by holding their lives so cheap, he was going to drive them to him anyway. I loved that it took three fighters (Elrond, Gil-galad, and uncanconical Elven hero Arondir) to bring the troll down.
Elrond was hoping the dwarves would be coming, and we could see that they were planning to. Durin had made a Rousing Speech and all. It was just that his ring-crazy da had killed his own guards and gone down to the mine himself, and probably awoken ‘the monster’ (the Balrog.) So Durin chose to save his home, thus meaning that there was no relief when the morning came (in a reversal of several moments in Jackson’s iconography) and few Elves left to fight the Orcs.
I dunno, can Galadriel find some men (preferably not giving them the rings, although they’re going to get them somehow?) Obviously, we all know it’s hobbitses who will bring Sauron down eventually. Also, Galadriel and Sauron did not meet again, which is a little frustrating given the actors’ chemistry. Wonder if they’ll pick up what The Stranger is doing, at least, in the next episode – that’s the problem with having so many strands. Now they’ve killed Arondir off, apparently, I am reminded to wonder what was the point of introducing him and Bronwyn. I guess the answer is Theo, but is his storyline not that of a less mature, lower-born Isildur? In an episode that was totally in dialogue with the movies, it begs the question ‘What is the point of this show, then?’ (Watching Morfydd Clark’s Galadriel be a force of nature aside.)
This episode was mainly a battle, which was fine, if suffering a bit in comparison with Jackson’s bigger battles. The first shots of Celebrimbor having a drink on his balcony in the fake Eregion irritated me, although I suppose it was about showing how much Annatar!Sauron’s spell had him in thrall. Epic gaslighting from Sauron in general throughout the episode, preparing the ground by telling the Eregionites that Celebrimbor had lost his reason, even in his absence, while the Orc army battered them, and then – in an impressive feat – dammed the river, making it easier for them to attack the walls.
In Khazad-dun, Durin snr’s personal guard had had enough and defected to Durin jnr’s side, oh, and Elrond had come a-calling, begging for martial aid. The dialogue flipped from being almost Tolkienesque to not. I thought they generally did a good job for Elrond, who also got to speak a lot of Elvish.
Eregion’s soldiers wore somewhat tarnished armour, so when Lindor’s army turned up, it was good to see Elves looking like I’d expect Second Age soldiers to do. Adar showed off his prize hostage and checked them. (Elrond’s armour REALLY bulked the actor up.)
Elrond went to parlay with Adar, who wanted them to combine forces, because Eregion had fallen into shadow (Elrond’s faith in Celebrimbor was touching at this point.) Adar’s grand plan still seemed suspect to me. Elrond refused, and raised some doubt about Adar’s care for his offspring in the Orc lieutenants hearing and begged the right to say goodbye to Galadriel. Nice exchange of dialogue and then kissing on the lips. EW, NO! FUTURE MOTHER-IN-LAW!! reaction. My more considered reaction was that he was passing something on to her. The ring, I thought, but it turned out to be a key so she could escape, which was probably more sensible.
Have I noticed there were female orcs before? There were in this camp. Galadriel was helped on her way by Arondir, who she realised was on a suicidal mission to kill Adar. She talked him into waiting (which turned out to be helpful for the defence of Eregion, even if it looked as though it was a suicide mission delayed. And I doubt that Theo will even weep a tear for him.)
Celebrimbor saw a nasty reflection of himself in the mirror. There was a lot of stuff with a mouse, that, like Sauron, I did not get, but turned out to be Celebrimbor figuring out he was in a loop. He then realised how badly he’d been deceived.
Have I mentioned how Annatar!Sauron’s costume in the last couple of episodes has been epic, regal (a bit Japanese) with hints of the evil? (I think even more so in this episode with like feather details.) Anyway, he coldly threw Lady Smith to her death, making it look like it was Celebrimbor wot dunnit to keep the soldiers on his side. Celebrimbor was forced back inside to finish his work, tried to destroy the rings, couldn’t. He had a good point about Sauron lying to himself, and was hardcore enough to cut off his thumb to escape briefly.
Galadriel had sneaked into Eregion via a dwarf tunnel that nobody else knew about!!!??? She and Celebrimbor had a poignant reunion, as two fellow victims of Sauron’s, with a lot of associated guilt. He forced the rings on her, asking her to escape (not shown, but I’m imagining her taking the traumatised elf kids with her). He had a speech about how the Elves needed to learn to trust not in strength but in light, or something, which made me go, ‘Yes, but…’ The soldiers, chided by Galadriel, restated their loyalty to the true lord of Eregion. Except of course, he was facing Sauron, who promptly made them kill each other.
Edwards was good showing Celebrimbor’s slow realisation of the truth and all the guilt, self-knowledge and regret that came with it. Vickers probably had the harder job, conveying the feelings of a villain (blah blah Morgoth tortured me, blah blah this is my version of utopia, blah blah not my fault) relatively subtly.
Lots of fighty stuff, big weapons, attacking the wall, kind of calling back to big screen Helm’s Deep. I felt they should have established some bond between Elrond and his horse (as they had with Isildur) previously to earn the moment over the equine’s passing. Oh well, I suppose you could be generous and say it showed the (half-)Elf’s concern for life in contrast to Adar’s (and Sauron’s) attitudes. I liked Elrond’s ‘Any arrow could turn the tide’ speech, but the way that the archer had all the arrows sticking out of her when she took the shot was overblown.
Then enter the troll, who the Orcs did NOT like, enough that the lieutenant queried Adar. Daddio said he loved his kids enough that he didn’t want them to become Sauron’s slaves, missing the point that by holding their lives so cheap, he was going to drive them to him anyway. I loved that it took three fighters (Elrond, Gil-galad, and uncanconical Elven hero Arondir) to bring the troll down.
Elrond was hoping the dwarves would be coming, and we could see that they were planning to. Durin had made a Rousing Speech and all. It was just that his ring-crazy da had killed his own guards and gone down to the mine himself, and probably awoken ‘the monster’ (the Balrog.) So Durin chose to save his home, thus meaning that there was no relief when the morning came (in a reversal of several moments in Jackson’s iconography) and few Elves left to fight the Orcs.
I dunno, can Galadriel find some men (preferably not giving them the rings, although they’re going to get them somehow?) Obviously, we all know it’s hobbitses who will bring Sauron down eventually. Also, Galadriel and Sauron did not meet again, which is a little frustrating given the actors’ chemistry. Wonder if they’ll pick up what The Stranger is doing, at least, in the next episode – that’s the problem with having so many strands. Now they’ve killed Arondir off, apparently, I am reminded to wonder what was the point of introducing him and Bronwyn. I guess the answer is Theo, but is his storyline not that of a less mature, lower-born Isildur? In an episode that was totally in dialogue with the movies, it begs the question ‘What is the point of this show, then?’ (Watching Morfydd Clark’s Galadriel be a force of nature aside.)
