Rings of power EP 3 Review
With all this “Queen” hype, I almost forgot to post my review for the 3rd episode of ROP. (CONTAINS SPOILERS)
While we are getting closer and closer to discovering Sauron, the third episode takes us to a bunch of familiar characters from the Lore.
We’re getting our first look at Elendil, Isildur, Tar-Míriel, and Ar-pharzon (AHHH here’s the dude who’s entirely responsible for the fall of Númenor) from the lore with a handful of shots from the Kingdom of Númenor I was longing to see.
Let’s dive deep in to how much of the second age we’ve seen so far, from the lore and everything new, and what we can expect from the next episode releasing next Friday.
First, we’re getting some clever action from Arondir, the silvan elf we have as a new character made for the show, which also happens to be one of my favorites so far. and I’m interested in the future he has on middle earth. (I think I’m starting to finally accept Arondi’s overly protruded elf ears, for he’s hella handsome)
Arondir and the Orcs
One flaw I noticed with Arondir and the silvan elves, was the language, we see them speaking in Quenyan a couple of times, but by the end of the second age to third age most of the wood elves/silvan elves spoke Sindarin or Silvan, and Quenyan remained to be spoken by the descendants of the high elves. However, considering the lines they spoke (phrases like, “filthy orc”, or “I’m sorry”) they could’ve been some common Quenyan phrases that any elf spoke.
Silvan elves are also called wood elves, mainly because their ancestors dwelled in the woods, like Lorian and greenwood, and consider nature/trees as something dear to them. The part where an absolute heartache is etched on Arondir’s face before he says: “Ánin apsene” (Forgive me), when it was time to cut the tree down was pretty emotional.
Finally, I’m happy to see some good practical effects/ FX makeup on orcs, after those dodgy CGI orcs we had to digest in the Hobbit movies.
But I must say I’m not a fan of how they’ve designed the warg, it looked a little derpy.
Númenor
Here, we’re meeting an important character, Elendil (you might even remember him from the Fellowship of the ring; in the war scene from the monologue)
In Tolkien’s books, Elendil is the high king of all Dúnedain who united the future kingdoms of Arnor and Gondor, fought against Ar-Pharazôn / Sauron, a loyal member of the faithful ( Elf-friends) and the ancestor of our beloved future king Aragorn. I instantly liked Elendil’s portrayal, that was some decent acting and a good casting choice as well.
We’re getting to see a bit of somewhat young Isildur (Son of Elendil), which we also see in PJ’s movies as some of you would identify as “the one who cut Sauron’s finger off”. Isildur apparently has a sister (??), which I don’t recall from the lore, (someone please enlighten me here)
It was visually pleasing to see the first aerial shots of Númenor, holy heavens the scenes were spectacular! I love how the maps are shown. I was able to identify the great rock carvings of Ulmo, (a Valar in Tolkien’s lore, who’s sorta responsible for Waters and King of the Seas) which the Númenorians believe high of.
we could notice some Gondorian architecture, especially that bridge-like part similar to the one we see in Minas tirith (where Denethor jumps off in The Return of the King) in the third age, we also get to see Nimloth of Númenor , the white tree that has so much history for the men and the elves in Tolkien’s lore.
It’s too early to see what Queen Míriel and Ar-Pharazôn got in store for the series.
Oh wait, I almost forgot Galadriel. So, Galadriel’s desperation for what she’s after continues, she seems to have almost convinced Halbrand into her quest,
I Liked the part where she introduces herself to the queen as Noldor, and as the daughter of Finarfin (one big shot from the lore again), for a moment it made me think, dang she’s thousands of years older than just anyone standing with her in that room and she’s been through so many events that the race of men wouldn’t even know of!
(Totally don't want to talk about that awkward super slow mo shot of Galadriel’s face while riding her horse, no)
Every time Halbrand gets closer to her I whisper *Don’t*, cause we don’t want that kinda relationship here for Eru’s sake! (See what I did there), mainly cause I’m afraid these new elf-man romances are gonna end up like the kili-Tauriel scenario. (Which was an absolute disaster from the Hobbit series)
Middle Earth
I was half asleep during the Harfoot scenes. The only thing they have that I’m interested in is the “Man from the meteor” which still remains to be a mystery.
While Halbrand’s character still is very ambiguous, we see some reveals, like the mark Galadriel is after finally becoming the map of Mordor where the evil will rise again. We see a glimpse of a poster that reveals the parting of Elrond and Elros, (Again, big stories from the lore).
That last scene!
Now on to the final part and the part that left us all hanging, That blurry shot of Adar! For a moment I saw thought I saw some elf ears on him and instantly believed it could be a disguised version of Sauron, the orcs spoke highly of in this episode, and was also called the successor of Morgoth, the ultimate dark lord of Tolkien’s world. But no, I don’t want that to be Sauron (because that’s not how I wish Sauron to be revealed).
I prefer him being revealed as Annatar, where he appears to be a good guy helping Ar-pharzon during these times, being the lord of the gifts, fooling everyone, cause come on that’ll be a good twist then now innit?
All in all, I haven’t got much to diss in this episode and I’m totally waiting to see who Adar is, what Númenor will bring us, and how far Galadriel will progress. Let’s meet again after the 4th episode.
Namárië!