Hmm...I'm not gonna lie...I'm torn after this episode. The episode was great, the acting and scripts are great, the scenery and CGI were terrific...but the Harfoots, man. I'm still kinda bored with them, and I'm starting to get pissed off when we spend that much time and just barely move the story of the mystery man forward. We're almost halfway through the season and we've barely moved the needle there.
But like I said previously, I REALLY wish they would have decided to just tell a completely different story with original characters in this world that we do not have definitive storylines for. As has been alluded, this episode completely demolishes the second age timeline. Numenor does not become hostile to the elves until well after the War of the Elves and Sauron, which is triggered by the forging of the rings of power. As the rings have not been forged yet, Numenor should still be friendly to the elves, otherwise why would they come riding to the rescue to save Gil-Galad and Elrond?. And while I know that the timeline pretty much had to be compressed, geez, this just frustrates me to no end. It creates a tension for me, because I know what the books say, and therefore that's what my brain expects, and when it doesn't happen my little brain goes "NO YOU SONS OF HARLOTS, THAT'S WRONG!!!" At this point, it actually makes me a bit more concerned that they're going to really deviate from what Tolkien wrote, and I'm not convinced they're good enough writers yet to pull that off. This thing could still turn into a beautiful trainwreck.
A few other thoughts
- Given that we're chucking time to the side, I really think meteor dude is Gandalf. I wish he wasn't, but we're seeing someone with magical powers, long grey hair (Gandalf the Grey), and we know that by the Hobbit he is very fond of Hobbits. Why is he so fond of Hobbits? Well, if one of them (or a pair if you want to count Poppy) saved his life when he showed up in Middle Earth, not to mention let him live among them assuming nothing bad happens to Nori and her family, I suppose he'd be pretty fond of the bunch.
- They are trying too damned hard with the misdirection on who is actually Sauron. Halbrand is not Sauron. Pretty sure Adar is, it would actually still fit within what Tolkien wrote if that even matters at this point. That said, I think Halbrand will turn out to be one of the Nazgul. There is actually one that has a name, and we know him to be a king from the east. Maybe that's what Halbrand turns into?
- My gosh Numenor was beautiful. Really nice architectural tie-ins with Gondor. Hope we get to see more.
Overall, I'm still entertained and onboard with the show, even though I'm more concerned now about how far we're going to deviate from Tolkien in terms of storyline. Far more annoying is the continued physical abuse of dead horses on this thread. And you know exactly who you are. Knock it off.