The Rings of Power Episode 1: A Shadow of the Past [SPOILERS]

[The Good Hunter]

As Théoden once said, "So it begins"

Galadriel is disturbed by signs of an ancient evil's return; Arondir makes an unsettling discovery.

Written by J. D. Payne & Patrick McKay and directed by J. A. Bayona.

What are everyone's thoughts?

[The Good Hunter]

Also to be noted, live posting is welcomed and encouraged from where or whenever you are watching

[Rivvy Elf]

"Galadriel is disturbed by signs of an ancient evil's return; Arondir makes an unsettling discovery."

Crack prediction based on synopsis: Morgoth returns, but Thuringwethil does not return, and Arondir discovers a discrepancy in the tax records leading to an imbalance in revenue.

[Boromir88]

The introduction of the Harfoots was really cool. Clever way to show the hobbit "magic" to go unseen when Men come blundering through :)

[Rivvy Elf]

Alright I'm 8 minutes in....

And Morgoth appears! Or is at least referenced.

Nice to know that the male elves do not consider hair to be an important body organ. So that they are oh so willing to cut it... Why? It would better to have hair be precious, as in the Undying Lands, I'm assuming hair never falls off. That lowers the significance of Galadriel giving her own hair to Gimli!

I will assume that the person who destroyed Galadriel's boat in the beginning was Feanor. Good hidden allusion to Alqualonde, opportunity completely wasted if it turns out to be somebody else.

Someone forgot to add another brother to the house of Finarfin in The Silmarillion. Because that is not Finrod, nor Angrod, nor Aegnor. Yes I know they don't have rights to the Silmarillion. But don't add in a scheme for "hunting Sauron post-War of Wrath," just say her brother (imply Finrod) was flat out killed by Sauron during a key infiltration in Morgoth's Land. Why complicate it? Just.. just why? Waste of an opportunity to have a connection with the Beren and Luthien tale which was in Fellowship of the Ring

I'll just pretend that the cutting of hair was symbolic as breaking off their ties with Valinor.

If I had not read the Silmarillion though... I would like the opening and I would be watching the first episode instead of pointing out some things that I would not have done/would have done as a writer of this show.

Edit 1:

17 minutes in...

I love Forodwaith. Wish the fortress was darker. Too much light for a setting that I'm assuming was part of Melkorland. The intensity and horror would have went up if there was more darkness (use torches).

Galadriel is not the best leader, which gives character development potential for her to become the leader of Laurelindorenan. But I thought it was way too obvious what they were doing here with the objectional-sub-commander. Have the sub-commander give compliments (that is our Galadriel! Slaying that troll-thing singlehandedly!) too. Because I sure would, even if I despise the leadership! Destroying that giant thing is quite impressive. Because it feels like this was written by people who never researched what it was like to run a military operation as a team. Have her leadership be called out but her martial might be praised. Otherwise, we're getting into distracting territory like "Why does Galadriel bring along such disloyal people with her towards the wastelands?" "What caused the dissension? The cold? The fatigue? I thought elves were indefatigable?" "They just saw some potentially horrid stuff. Investigate it? No! (what?!)"

This doesn't feel like this was written from an Elf's perspective in terms of time. A few centuries is nothing! Dwarves live centuries! They could be evil too, in fact wasn't there an entire kingdom that was destroyed by the dwarves?

Edit 2:

26 minutes in...

I'm assuming those two people believe that balrogs have wings.

If this show was just about the hobbits I would love it. Give me more hobbits please.

Elrond is the only person in Lindon that I actually would be fine with having short hair, because he's part human and it would make him different from the rest of the (should be long-haired) elves. There was no clear mocking from the elves of Elrond's reliance on written history or written anything. If we're going to go with the "full-blood elf" thing, his reliance on written history needs to be directly mocked. As in laughed at.

Speaking of that... Elrond is the only freakin surviving son of Earendil, the guy that was the turning point of the War of Wrath. This is the kind of logic I expect Post-Kin Strife Gondor to be when they decide to concentrate on only getting pure-blooded people on the throne after the whole civil war was won by... Just... just send them all to the west already. Elrond can take the sane ones and go to Rivendell.

Where is Celeborn? Is he a commander too? Is he a warrior? Is he an actor? Is he a chef? Is he adultsitting Celebrian? What is his profession? Would Celeborn be fine with Elrond trying to flatter his wife.

No mention of Celebrian. MINUS FIVE STARS. Instead you have Elrond... well they better reference this weirdness later when Galadriel becomes Elrond's mother in law. His actions would make more sense if I could clearly infer that he was doing this to try and court Galadriel's daughter. But... gah! You know Galadriel's married right, Elrond?

Gil-Galad clearly inherited more of Orodreth's blood instead of Fingon's, because I can't explain why... Wait Orodreth was Galadriel's brother too! So now... ugh! This is a horrible first impression of Gil-Galad, because if you approve a military operation, then at the end of the day the fault will lie on the leader. Galadriel didn't mess up, Gil-Galad did.

Edit 3:

36 minutes in

I love the Harfoots. More harfoots please. So much potential for agency for all their characters. Conversations feel like conversations, no one is one-upping each other. This is how you develop a society.

And we go towards the exact opposite in terms of writing quality towards the Elves! ...So it's considered a victory? How is that considered a victory? I wish it could be made more clear. And since when was going to the West a reward? That staying in Middle-Earth is some sort of burden and that leaving it requires some high action. That lowers the agency of all the elves who decided to stay in Middle Earth at this time period. What does Cirdan think of all this? As the boatperson, does he not have a say?

...Gunpowder... or they figured out how to make gunpowder-less fireworks. Makes Gandalf's fireworks a bit less special if more people in middle-earth can make fireworks. Remove that, save money, and use singing. Heck, the Elbereth Gilthoniel song would do.

Elrond lost his parents and permanently lost his brother. As in, probably won't see him again, unlike Galadriel who can see his brother again if his brother reincarnates. Elrond probably witnessed elves killing elves. He indeed does have an understanding of Galadriel's pain... I liked parts of the conversation, but again, they are lacking obvious things like no mention of Elros, no mention of Earendil. Did they purposefully hire writers that never skimmed the Silmarillion? Or even looked at the Appendices? Those are basic details that one can put into the conversation, make it more two-sided. Give complexity to both characters because otherwise it becomes obvious that the concentration is on Galadriel.

Edit 4:

49 minutes in

Unfortunately I was not paying much attention towards the map, where are the Southlands again? Because I don't remember the Lindon kingdom having that much influence over lands that Oropher and Amdir would have more influence in. It is a very an interesting scene that grabbed my attention. But once again, the writing and the characterization feels so black-white. So... binary and basic.

The conversation on "those men were the descendants of followers of Morgoth, who betrayed us." What Vorondil (I do not have subtitles on) should have responded with was "many of them sided with us in the end," and then immediately the other person replies "but most did not!" A simple addition that would give the guy more of a philosophical reason to stay, to see the goodness in humans, and it gives the allusion towards the Easterlings that stayed loyal to the Sons of Feanor during the Nirnaeth. I just came up with this two seconds after hearing about it, and I'm not getting paid to write for Amazon.

I see the writers' attempts at trying to make gray characters and gray societies, but they aren't doing it optimally. This can be done through a change of words in dialogue, a change in expression, conceding points, etc.

Edit 5:

Now onto the end credits

The marring of middle-earth has started. This... is something I would expect for Morgoth returning, and not the subtlety required for Sauron to begin his deception of the Elves.

...And so the Battle of Sudden Flame begins. I would not have had such a dramatic ending until the Forging of the One Ring was done. I would have focused more on the destruction of the Southland villages (which I can see is now Gondor to Mordor). Then start the next episode with that angle.

Ents! Or Huorns! Love that blink-and-you miss it moment.

Elven singing is awesome. Were they singing the Elbereth Gilthoniel song? Again I wonder what Celeborn and Celebrian think about being forcefully separated from Galadriel. Galadriel will obviously swim all the way back, but will somebody (Cirdan) please show up and not let her drown.

I'm glad the comet did not hit the ship, I seriously was fearing that was going to happen. Thank goodness it didn't.

[The Good Hunter]

I had considered live posting but figured it would be better to, you know, pay attention to what I'm watching to be able to give a real first impression. So...

1) LOVED the Trees and the convo between Galadriel and Finrod. Didn't love the "it was Finrod's mission to find and destroy Sauron" bit but I'm willing to let it slide.

2) Utumno, or what I'm assuming was meant to be Utumno, was pretty damn cool but not quite foreboding and filled with enough dread. I feel like the music should have played a big factor here with a brooding dark ambient track or something like that.

3) Loving the Hobbits Harfoots. They're reminiscent of the hobbits we know and love but at a much less Victorian point in their history and as Boro said, I'm loving the magic they seem to have, practical and simple feeling but wonderfully executed.

4) Uh, where the hell is Celeborn and why is Galadriel going West without him? I know the guy is the most overlooked elf in all of Tolkiendom but damn, I feel for him

5) Well, the Stranger doesn't look like Slim Shady but there's no way to tell just yet who he is (I'll pop a theory in the thread for next episode once I make it)

Overall, I'm generally positive, I really loved the way look of the show, it's familiar enough to the movies that things make sense, but new enough to make us feel a sense of awe. I'd say 7/10

[The Good Hunter]

One small, but important and obvious, bit of advice to myself and everyone else: don't go searching through social media because good gods the bitchiness over there right now is staggering

[Rivvy Elf]

Oh yes, bunch of annoying trolls on social media. Don't bother looking.

I criticize, but I usually offer suggestions on how to improve it or change it (see above).

Overall I would rate this episode a 5/10. As in, if the dialogue for the elves was heavily revised, the unnecessary additions and alterations to lore were removed, if there more references that do not cross the copyright line but vague enough for a Tolkien fan to smile at, and being more congruent to the gray-ish feel the creators were going for, then I would rate it higher... and if I feel like I can write better dialogue without the incentive of money... aah well, I would have done it for much cheaper if offered.

Edit: oh and the writers who are writing this show, since we’re not dealing with a gondorian kin-strife scenario here, there could have been a better approach to explain the southlands racism towards elves: high taxes (protection money/crops) and self determination of humans (“we can protect ourselves, we don’t need you,” “our ancestors betrayed you, not us,” “you’re no better than Morgoth, generalizing us”).

Knife ears? If the intent was to make shallow, I guess. But I feel the fall of humans to Mordor would be more tragic if we could understand their objections to the elves

[Fuin Elda]

Alright so yes.....

Ahem. Opening scene love it. I would like to think that's Feanor but hard to tell (It kinda reminds me of the bratty little shire that leads the mutiny in Utemno since that's what I feel that is as well) Findrod and all that was good (also willing to let the destroy Sauron bit slide)

As for Forodwaith I enjoyed that it was as light as it was visually - it made it seem less muddled on my screen though I"ll agree I feel like the music was a touch off could have been darker more brooding but honestly maybe it's just me and my BSG loving self of Bear I don't think I've ever described his work as dark and brooding so that may be where the issue is? It was on theme, it just didn't push that envelope that little bit further. (Am also however also very glad we didn't get a DC superhero film sort of action scene were we see nothing because of how bleeding dark the shots are)

The symbol wtf is with Sauron symbol, I'm not sure I like the symbol. I suppose it does need to transform eventually he's not a ruddy eyeball right now but I dunno. Makes me feel like that should be Ulmos symbol not Saurons that may be the Greek lore coming out?

The Elrond doesn't understand Death thing with Galadriel - this bothered me this is so far outside the realm of the actual stories, I almost have to wonder if they did that because it was toeing the line to close the the Silmarillion which they don't have rights to? It did very very much bug me. And the whole Galadriel/Elrond dynamic was weird it felt. Very very much off and perhaps it's because Celeborn wasn't there but I think it was because at this point I feel Elrond is content to be Gil-Galads herald and Galadriel I feel would be starting to look for her own path and being far more independant of Gil-Galad - high king or not she IS a daughter of Valinor She's the bleeding grandaughter of Finwe. LIke she'd be that much of a pushover with her visions of the future and willingness to fight. The fact I feel the two of them are on equal footing just sits wrong.

Harfoots - Love. More please. I like the more primative feel of them but not so far that they don't feel like they are proper hobbit forebearers.

The Stranger - I feel like this is a play at 'falling to earth' angels sort of nonsense rather than traveling from Valinor - It reads at least to me that this is coming more from beyond Arda than part of Arda which Valinor currently is. (more on that next thread)


The Kin strife - agreed knife ear felt very shallow I think the taxes, or protect ourselves or our past relations shouldn't affect us - after all at this point the elves seem to be at peace with one another especially at the end of the film. It would have been I think interesting to have Celebrimbor apologize or being off balance or Elrond being off Balance that's a relative of the men that ransacked where he was as a child, drove his mother into the sea (as a bird) and killed elves around him when he was a child. Yes sure that relative also took him and his brother in to raise as their own... But that relationships seems meh to me. Should be more tension. Those wounds should still be fresh to me for an elf. The relations all seem very very week.

honestly They could have gotten some far better writing and tension from some of the writers here on the plaza while steering clear of the Silmarillion copyright issues etc. As mentioned elsewhere though I feel like a bit of it was very much well we have this fanbase already lets work through it. For how long the show took to air, I feel they could have worked a hell of a lot more in terms of costuming/styling even speech patterning for the different races. It just felt a little lazy - a little towards The Hobbit rather than The Lord of the Rings. Leaning on cheap quick effects rather than practicalities that are small and detailed that draw you in even if you don't realize it.

Over all I still absolutely enjoyed it and am happy to continue watching.

[Boromir88]

I don't have a bunch of time this morning, but a nice long weekend for Labor Day, so just 8 more hours to go.

Episode 1:

As mentioned yesterday, and by the other comments, I loved the Harfoots the most. The way they were introduced, and blending in with their environment as Men come passing through was well done. I also liked the comment from one of the men about being careful if you see a Harfoot. I don't love the naming but I do like Nori's character to be a curious and adventurous hobbit (erm Harfoot). It feels like a proper community.

The visuals are quite stunning. I mean I was expecting them to be one of the strengths with the money spent on the series, but I loved the way it showed the darkening of Valinor and Melkor destroying the two trees. I loved Forodwaith and I'm assuming Utumno? I don't care for Galadriel's story in Episode I (more on that later) but I do love how they showed the entrance into Valinor. That was cool visually, showing what appears to be endless ocean, but the appearance of the birds and the transition to gates opening/a bright light coming through.

Arondir and Bronwyn invented characters, but I'm curious and interested in their journey, where their characters go in the show. Arondir being warned about a joining of Elves and Men always ending in death and tragedy. I don't know if we need yet another union between the two races storyline, but I do want to see where they go with them.

I know the show's general purpose with Galadriel is to show her before becoming the Lady of Lorien, and showing her in youth, prideful and tempestuous. I mean a drama series has to show their characters grow. So it is at first a little jarring this is 2nd Age Galadriel, she shouldn't be so feisty and confrontational anymore, but it's the differences of media. They have to show character development, given the time compression it's going to be all thrown off, Galadriel doesn't feel like an Elf who has already lived through an age and seen the light of the trees, but I do believe (or at least hope) their intention is to show how she does change and become the Galadriel in the Lord of the Rings. So, yes the time compression is going to be jarring, Galadriel seems very young, when she should already feel like a wise, and powerful Noldor, but I'm not going to slate on it yet. I don't like her whole story line in Episode I, that is the dynamic between her, Elrond and Gil-galad. It doesn't make sense (not yet), why Gil-galad apparently wants Galadriel out of Middle-earth. I mean he wanted a rival gone, I guess? And the whole courting and oogling Elrond is doing is weird. I mean if if they're going with these 2 become very good and powerful friends that's good. I just think Elrond's coming off a bit creepy as if he hopes to be more than friends.

[Androthelm]

Alright, going to keep a running live thoughts commentary here in this post — haven't read the posts above yet, but here we go:

- "Nothing is evil in the beginning" ft. blindfolded innocent children in all white, no metaphors here, no siree.
- I will say I like the boat-making bit. And it turns into a swan!!! Eee thats cute.
- Wow mean kids:( RKO'd that boat.
- I don't know if the stone / ship metaphor is meant to be a broader reference to the Matter of Arda issue slash "Morgoth's Ring" in the material of Earth, but I like it anyway.
- Finrod: "I don't have an answer for that so I will be kissing you on the forehead. Mwah. Be good, Galadriel."
- TREES! TREES! TREES! TREES!
- No Ungoliant but I'm unsurprised by that
- I will say the drawing of the blades (with Finrod maybe showing hesitation there? unclear?) was extremely cool. Good nod to the Oath and the Sons of Feanor even if they don't have the rights.
- Did anyone catch what it was that Finrod yells as he's grappled by that orc? (Also, for the record: I know some folks are irritated with them rewriting his death but, again, I think it's both unsurprising and also not that big a deal given the scope of this show).
- "The pain of those days passed out of thought and mind" is a really interesting link — especially since they played up the innocence of the Elves in Valinor, recognizing the idle comfort of the Noldor (even if they say "Elves" broadly) who opt to remain in Middle-earth is a good beat, I think.
- Incidental, but I love the elvish snow-gear. Galadriel's mail hood is really cool, as are all the gray wrappings they're all in.

Aghhhhh I have to run for a bit. It's unfortunately looking like I may have to grab continuing to watch in bits and pieces this afternoon, so more posts upcoming (still not going to read thread until I've finished episode 1, though). Stay groovy y'all.

[Silky Gooseness]

Agree with @Rivvy Elf that it must be Fëanor who ruins Galadriel’s swan ship - that’s got to be a nod to the Kinslaying and to their animosity?

Harfoots: I did like them, even though I cannot unsee Lenny Henry as Lenny Henry, but the Irish Times has put out a criticism that making early Hobbits filthy, simple and migratory with stage-Irish accents is A Take: The new hobbits are filthy, hungry simpletons with stage-Irish accents. That’s $1bn well spent

Lots of language reminiscent of the films - Galadriel’s prologue in particular.

Absolutely gorgeous scenery and some familiar looking places!

Finrod’s body shows slashes - as if made by claws. A nod to an off-screen fight with werewolf????

[Androthelm]

First impression thoughts part 2:

- More orcs must have survived than they anticipated etc. — good line imo, really underscores the tendency in Middle-earth to win one (admittedly decisive) victory and then assume we're good forever.
- Galadriel navigating on pure (temperature) vibes alone.
- Hidden door cool. Good guys really need to be better about knocking holes in those foundations.
- Interesting reframing of Galadriel's exile as mission-based (until every trace of our enemy is vanquished I can never return). Not necessarily good or bad, just interesting —
- Snow-troll HIGH PITCHED? Seriously the squealing is THROWING me.
- The mutiny here is fascinating, and Galadriel's whole dynamic with her lieutenant really paints a picture of what her flaws are going to be as a character.

- THE ANTLER PEOPLE ARE HUMANS! Oh good lord this first Harfoot scene is good. And the vision of Hobbit precursors as far more sprightly and pixieish is incredible. Writing this as their whole encampment springs up from nothing and I love this all so much. They really are true Little People.
- Their pictogram language is fascinating.
- Nori Peter Rabbiting. Literally all of this is filling me with so much joy.
- And now the wolf. This whole sequence has such an energy of folk-table and fable and... wow wow wow.

- Elrond is a dork lol. Yes write your nature poetry bestie.
- Lindon looks gorgeous. The oranges and whites, the falling leaves — at a quick symbol analysis, this is a place on the cusp of summer-gold and autumn-orange, but it hasn't realized yet.
- Also Elrond's longing for Valinor viewed through Galadriel's memory is interesting. It's strange to think about but — they're right, aren't they, that even at the height of his power Elrond only knows of the height of the Elder Days through second-hand sources. It puts a new spin on his lore-interest.

- Back to Noriiiiiii, yayyyyy.
- The Old Farm? Whose old farm?
- Also classic Tolkien trope of seeing trouble via its refugees before the trouble comes.
- "We harfoots are free" speech is interesting. Little ripples, little folk — they've adapted the small-mindedness of the Shire to a traveling culture quite well, I think.

- Ohhhh Elrond was speechwriting. This makes sense. Well, still.
- Again, the line between eternal gold and the orange which conveys autumn and the ending of things is so thin and it really feels like they're playing with it all throughout the Lindon sequences.
- A boat to Valinor as... a reward? I have to say this is the first shift that's almost bothered me, but we'll have to see if they expand on it. I do generally think the idea that eventual departure to the west is the fate of all (or anyway most) elves, but we'll have to see how they continue to play with it. We'll see.
- Galadriel's desire to die in Middle-earth and be remembered is reminiscent for me of all sorts of Tolkien bits — from his commentary on Maldon to the inevitable defeat of Beowulf to her own line in Rings — about fighting the long defeat. G's monologue about how Valinor would be hurtful to her is powerful in this context... but also reminiscent of the departure of the Noldor, and the pride that brought them (wrongly) to Middle-earth in the first place.

- South and east beyond Mordor. Interesting, interesting — but I'd hate to be living here not that long from now.
- Interesting reminiscence of the Rangers and Bree-folk in these human villagers and the elves. I've got a light critique for this scene so far but I think I'll let it stew for now. Living under occupation is such an interesting thing.
- I do love the sort of Green-man face on the armor. Honestly the vision of what the standing army of the elves looks like is really compelling generally.
- "The blood of those who stood with Morgoth still darkens their veins" "That was long ago watch warden." See this would be really compelling — and I would love to see these kind of elven biases against humans be critiques — but it loses something when you just had a peasant call him "pointy ears" or w/e and talk about the "true king returning." Idk. This is basically the critique I was going to give above, but — I just don't think you can both telegraph "they are going to return to evil" and also "some of them are good at heart" without really risking falling into "she's one of the good ones" territory. Idk idk. It may turn out better than I'm anticipating, but I don't have particularly high hopes.

Ach, gotta step away again. Enjoying these mother and son moments but I'll come back with more thoughts soon.

Actually one quick one: the poisoned grass / poisoned animals / bad food from the east thing feels... God, its ominous if I commit to it, but I think there's a way that this kind of stuff can become, again, really prickly when you're talking about a people who traditionally occupy the land.

Back in a bit.

[Winddancer]

I was not diappointed. I expected it to be shire and it was. Gorgeous scenery and beautiful music though, exactly as expected too. What I hated the most? Mary-Sue killing the troll by herself. Wait, I am actually completely hating this hateful Galariel. This one has so much hate in her eyes there is NO WAY she can ever become the loving, kind, generous Lady of Lorien.

[Androthelm]

Last sitting to finish the ep, probably:

- Good god these kids. Again, I think the anti-elf racism particularly just feels... idk. Like a pretty heavy-handed means of telegraphing that these folks are the bad folks, and its something that I'm less than thrilled with, because one of the failings of the Rings franchise historically has been any real acknowledgement of the dynamics of power / occupation.

- Wow, they don't get seats the whole way to Valinor?

- Gil-galad and Elrond scheming a bit. Honestly I like this quite a lot... Gilly boy as an almost Denethor type, willing to do unethical things in the name of rulership, is really interesting given where he ends up.
- y Celebrimbor lookin like an old Elrond tho

- The skois... ar straenj...

- Again, refusal to believe that "Good people" can have a loyalty to Morgoth... I'm here for this tension between the Elven and human perspectives on things, but I doubt that this series will do a proper examination of what it means to have elven outposts looming over peoples villages all the time.

- Please! Let! The! Valinor! Boaters! Sit! Down!
- Ok the ritual removal of armor is actually very powerful, especially to return to the white robes we saw the elf-children in back at the start.
- Love the birds!!!!!!!!
- They're going hard in on the music thing for the journey to Valinor, ok. Again, not with it or opposed — just interested.
- I've been saying this for ages but Meteor Man's villainy is all but confirmed by the "ship floats, stone cannot" cut to meteor, right?
- I am really interested to see the way Galadriel's hesitation is framed here, because it's like... they want this to be a heroic thing, right? and as a result they're framing the arrival in Valinor as a lot more... alarming than I think it necessarily needs to be. Like them elves just got vaporized by light in a way which I think is a legitimate read but a more controversial one than they may be realizing.

- Gil-galad forced to reckon with the autumn leaves. Interesting given his involvement in the ring-making (so far).
- Nvm its an evil leaf? Little disappointing... I would honestly prefer that tension (the elven desire to preserve) be marked against the natural decay of the world, but that's fine.

- Meteor man and the fiery birth imagery.

Overall thoughts: good opening episode, honestly more compelling than I was anticipating, I liked the Harfoots WAY more than I expected (although I do still think the voices are a little silly) and I'm excited to keep watching.

[Boromir88]

I was not diappointed. I expected it to be shire and it was. Gorgeous scenery and beautiful music though, exactly as expected too. What I hated the most? Mary-Sue killing the troll by herself. Wait, I am actually completely hating this hateful Galariel. This one has so much hate in her eyes there is NO WAY she can ever become the loving, kind, generous Lady of Lorien.

And that's going to become a major problem if she doesn't go through significant character development. I mean your female lead can't be someone the viewers hate. It's my thoughts on why I had a bigger problem with Alfrid in The Hobbit than I did with Tauriel. You can't make a character the audience think is annoying and dislikes be the comic relief of the story. I have no doubt Galadriel will undergo significant character growth, my question is will I be interested enough to care about it?

[The Good Hunter]

I had no problems with Galadriel completely wiping the troll, it was meant to show us just how martial she is before her conversation with Elrond asking "what am I without a sword" and it seems that this is going to be her journey through the series. I think the problem with accusing things of being "Mary-Sue" stems from what we think certain people should be capable of and being aggressively disappointed when that belief is not met. Galadriel can kill a troll, that's pretty much the extent of that scene to me.

[Androthelm]

Responding off the cuff to a couple of things people have said here:

1. Seems like a lot of people are echoing a frustration with how shallow the anti-elf racism in the Southlands sequences were. Seems (also) like a lot of people have similar ideas to fix it: emphasize the policies of occupation, the things that are making the people hostile. I absolutely agree and think it echoes what I was trying to get at in my blind commentary. I want to see why people turn to Sauron because to some degree he offers a better future than the elves are giving them. So far I think we're seeing people turn to darkness because they're naturally bad people.

2. On Galadriel's personality: I think I'm maybe a little more on board with this one than others seem to be? I think we should remember that, while we see Galadriel at nearly the moment of her total redemption in Rings, there was a moment (in a particular phase of Tolkien's thinking, anyway) where she was... nearly as prideful as Feanor, and dreamed of conquering her own realms in Middle-earth. I'm glad to see that Galadriel here -- and to play out the tension between the unsettled elves who are prideful and single minded (of whom there are plenty in the Silm... But Galadriel seems to be the only one here) and the unprepared elves who have opted to bury their heads in the sand.
All of that, of course, is contingent on us seeing some of that growth -- or at the very least, her making peace with Elrond!

3. O Celeborn o Celeborn, where art thou Celeborn? This one is going to continue to bug me, but I'll just have to take it on the chin, I think, and accept that this is a different take on the story. That's honestly my whole approach to this series -- we should look at this as a different text in the same tradition, not as another look into the same world. There are going to be changes... A lot of changes, and we're better off looking at this text as a text itself (as we might a new arthurian adaption) rather than worrying over the inconsistencies.
But still... Where is my Celeborn!?

[Silky Gooseness]

- Is Celeborn going to be how Galadriel is “redeemed” from her anger and her pride - through the love of a good nis????

- Naughty ship sinking boy cannot be Fëanor actually given Finrod is a grown adult Elf at the time

- The slightly annoying thing about Galadriel wiping the troll was how unhelpful all her companions were, although I expect it’s to show the fractures in the group. Contrast with Fellowship scene where it takes pretty much all of them, including two skilled Men and an Elf to take the Cave-troll

[Rivvy Elf]

@Silky Gooseness Unhelpful and ungrateful! I do not recall any praise from elves who were going to clearly die from the troll. If they at least said, "that's our galadriel, no surer sword can be found in all Middle-Earth," then you have a clear acknowledgement that they respect her as a warrior, but not a leader. That also gives respect to the Troll too. "Putting over" would be the pro wrestling term.

I would have made the death of the troll more cerebral. Instead of using a sword, have Galadriel use a spear (or borrow a spear) for precise and quick strikes. First clearly attack the legs (as one should logically do when facing a taller opponent), dodging and weaving the troll while spearing the foe repeatedly. Force the troll on the ground, concuss it (or have the sub-commander take the opportunity to do so) on the head to daze it. And then use the sword to make mincemeat out of the beast.

[Hanasian]

Watched the first couple episodes a couple times and am still processing my thoughts on them. I'll note a couple things here for Shadows of the Past:

Initial Positives
+ The young lady who plays young Galadriel was really good! I quite enjoyed that prologue!
+ The overall look and feel rings true enough to my head-canon to make it quite enjoyable, and I love the various easter-eggs presented. Seeing Luthien and Huan carving was awesome!
+ The Harfoots really delivered as forebearers of Hobbits.
+ Theo is quite the mystery guy at the moment. I look forward to the development of this character.

Initial Negatives:
- I thought the whole 'snowball' assault by the ice-troll was good, but was Galadriel's company so inept that they got tossed around so? I took that as a hat-tip to Peter Jackson when the Gondorian tin-soldiers were being used in the orcs 'kick-the-can' game in Osgiliath in his Lord of the Rings Trylogy, and Galadriel being superpowered and running up a sword and taking on the ice-troll in a one-on-one fight and slaying it so quickly, complete with sword-spin a hat-tip to Orlando/Legolas. That whole fight scene has me shaking my head.
- Galadriel taking a ship to Valinor only to jump-ship into the Sundering Sea? Seriously? She's going to 'swim back to Middle Earth? Absolutely a stupid scene. Not sure where the writer's heads were with this whole sequence. it would have been better to have her defy Gil Galad and take a place in the elven politics of Middle Earth than what they came up with.

The Initial Neutral Zone
• The whole dynamic between Arondir and Bronwyn seemed a bit 'forced' to me until I started adding Theo to the mix with my speculations. My suspicion is there will be backstory between the two brought in throughout the coming episodes.
• Meteor Man I believe is an Istari. My gut feeling is pointing to Gandalf, but my hope is it's one of the blues. Look forward to this development.

[Boromir88]

In thinking about the Elrond/Galadriel scenes in Episode 1, a terrible thought came to me and it's making me cringe. I first thought "Oh I hope they don't do some Jorah-Dany friend zone thing between them." But I'm dreading it could be worse. It could go Twilight plot, with the daughter of your crush being the consolation prize for guy who get's friend zoned. Romance plots don't get any more cringy than that. I definitely hope it's an over reaction to those Episode 1 scenes and Elrond just honestly views Galadriel as a friend.

[Balfur]

Right, I have endured the first episode and I won't be seeing any more of it.
I could go on a rant about the start, the middle and the end (to keep it specific) but that would just be a waste of my time and effort.
Honestly, it's not for me, just like Game of Thrones wasn't for me.

It does irk me a little that none of it felt 'Tolkienesque' so to speak. It all felt more like a Dungeons and Dragons campaign set in Middle Earth, written by a guy who apparently had never heard of Beleriand.
And to be honest, my farts have created better campaigns than this one. That is all.

[The Good Hunter]

Given how much you value them, I'd love to see what they create.