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I couldn't agree more with you. I'm not entirely hating their fight, I was so excited to see it, but in the end, it dragged on, and it was filled with cumbersome elements (pointless shapeshifting and swinging swords with no damage inflicted), and there was no emotional payoff.

I was waiting to see their "cosmic connection" being acknowledged by both characters, but it's like the writers categorically refused to make Galadriel admit for one second that what they had was real, which would make their bond even more horrifying knowing who Sauron is and what he has done and will do.

Sauron torturing and killing Celebrimbor was devastating, it was beyond traumatizing, and yet Celebrimbor pierced Sauron so thoroughly he made him lose control, and they both cried. It was a gut punch, but it was emotionally satisfying.

I didn't feel that with Sauron and Galadriel, and I don't care that Charlotte Brandström said that Galadriel and Sauron 'love' each other, and I say that as someone who enjoys haladriel (doomed lady of light/dark lord dynamic). Show, don't tell.

I understand my take is very unpopular, but the "heal yourself" line really sounded like a "go fuck yourself", and I don't think it was earned at that point, not truly. It's cliché, but I think even the "over my dead body you shall have my ring" would have worked better than that line. :/

Hello there, Nonnie! Thanks for sharing your thoughts, I love this kind of insightful exchange. If you're the same Anon from the previous ask then thanks for coming back!

"No emotional payoff" yeah, I couldn't have said it better, my friend. But that's not exclusive to the Saurondriel reunion: most character arcs and storylines were concluded the same way (notable exception being Celebrimbor and Annatar). After rewatching the last two episodes and picking scenes apart I'm mostly certain that:

There were reshoots;

They filmed a LOT more content than what was aired, and that missing content left clear gaps in the narrative;

Many scenes that made it to the finale were done in a hurry, including most of Galadriel x Sauron fight and, I believe, the Stranger confrontation with the Dark Wizard;

The good points of the Saurondriel reunion are drowning in a sea of uninspired action gimmicks and stale dialogue;

Either they genuinely didn't know what to do with the Saurondriel confrontation (hence the uninspired and recycled dialogue) or they decided (or were pressured) to tone down from what they originally intended to do, leave things as ambiguous as possible and not commit to a clear path (hence all the narrative mixed signals and tentative hints of elrondriel);

The Galadriel we got in the finale was, for the most part, Young Adult Action Franchise Protagonist Galadriel. She stood out from the emotional backdrop like an incredibly 2D sore thumb made from witty remarks and don't f*ck with me attitude;

All of the above leads me to believe that the showrunners and writers are having real trouble with all the different storylines. They might know what story they want to tell, but they surely are struggling with pacing, development and execution within the screentime they have available. Some external factors might be weighing down on the narrative decisions as well.

P.S.: I hate the 'heal yourself' as well. It's not about the idea in itself, it's all about setting and delivery. There are better ways to convey the message than with that 'Pwned! Galadriel out! *mic drop*' cringe approach they went for.

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I'm back with another half-baked TROP analysis post, this time to dissect some aspects of the season finale. I will be focusing more on the events surrounding the fall of Eregion and comment briefly on the other storylines because, well, let's be honest, there was not much going on there.

Beware of mammoth post under the cut

So we begin Episode 8 already in Khazad-dun with King Durin III awakening the Balrog. When I first read the title 'Shadow and Flame' I was convinced that the Balrog would be the climax of the episode, Durin's Bane and all that being such anticipated event to LOTR fans. And as much as I found the dialogue between the two Durins really touching, the Balrog appearance itself was kinda bland. I didn't feel a sense of true menace like I felt while watching the fellowship desperately running for their lives. Probably because it seems like to escape the Balrog they just had to... close the opening? Second Age Moria's Balrog apparently just wants to sleep without uninvited dwarves barging into his bedroom. If you just leave and close the door he won't come after you. 🤷

Balrog box ticked, now we move to the Stranger and the Dark Wizard of Rhûn. This whole sequence felt like something done in a hurry, everything feels weird and flat. So the Dark Wizard comes out with some bad acting and with 'Hey, wanna hang out with me so we can overthrow Sauron to take his place as Dark Lord?' *wink wink* 'No? Then take these CGI rocks! Dark Wizard out!'. I won't even comment on the sand peop- I mean, the nomads comedic exit. I say only that Gandalf and the proto-hobbits deserved better. This was supposed to be the big reveal of the season, right? The Stranger is Gandalf! Instead, it felt more like an after thought. I really hope they can bring back the good writting to these storylines since theirs was my favorite part of season 1.

Gandalf test ticked, now we go back to Ereg-I actually had to come back and edit this because I forgot about Númenor. Ok, so I loved Míriel's sea trial, it was so beautifully done and it gave me hope that we would see the Faithful forces start to fight back and some actual power struggles going on. Since season one we have been told that Númenor is divided but we don't get to actually see it playing out (I guess if you count that MAGA guy making that speech about immigrants stealing their jobs...). All it took for Pharazôn's faction to get rid of the Faithfuls was a piece of paper written by God knows who. Míriel's trial was simply unnecessary. You could have it cut out from the narrative and it wouldn't make a difference. If a piece of paper was all it took, Pharazôn wouldn't even need to say that Míriel used dark arts to survive. He could have touched the Palantír at any time, let's be honest: he would never abstain from using such a powerful device solely based on political values. His political values are power. *sigh* At least we got Narsil, that was a good fan service.

Now back to Eregion, the dramatic and action core for the season and the only storyline that got a proper development (or did it?). So one shot sequence and Galadriel captured back by Adar's Orcs, yeah. It was a nice touch that they showed her rescuing the same people that appeared previously on Sauron's illusion. She uses the Nine to bargain with the Orcs and the scene ends with her delivering a witty line. Cue to... Celebrimbor's torture. Yep. We go from that quip to a torture scene. There's so much weird stuff coming from Galadriel's deliveries in this episode... But I will come back to that later.

Back to Annatar and Celebrimbor, the outstanding part of the season. The whole torture scene with the dialogue between them was so emotionally heavy! Celebrimbor's lines were soooo good! I mean Dear Lord this is what I want from this show! It was SO good I transcribed it:

"Your only craft is treachery! So pure it shall betray the very hands that forges it! [...] No. No, hear me. Hear me, Shadow of Morgoth! Hear the dying words of Celebrimbor! The Rings of Power shall destroy you. And in the end, I foresee, one alone shall prove your utter ruin! [...] You are their prisoner: Sauron, Lord of the Rings."

The way we see the spear in Sauron's hands start to tremble while Celebrimbor spells his doom right before he strikes out in rage? Get. Out.

In death, Celebrimbor finally triumphs over Sauron. His will prevailed. He didn't give up the location of the Nine rings, enduring all that torment under Sauron's hands to buy time for Galadriel to get the rings away from the city. And this is why Galadriel delivering a quirky one-liner right before such a poignant scene leaves a bad taste in my mouth. For surely Galadriel knows what's going on after her last talk with Celebrimbor. She certainly could imagine what fate awaited Celebrimbor. But whoever wrote her lines didn't seem to be in the same room where Celebrimbor's scenes and dialogues were written, not only because of the glaring disparity in quality but also because of the tone deafness, the lack of awareness about what's the emotional state Galadriel is - or should be - in.

We still have another box to check: the Southlanders. I like Isuldir and Estrid, but my favorite part was Theo and Isil talk. Poor Theo just needs an adult parent figure, ffs bring Arondir back to his boy before Sauron shows up offering him a ring. 🥺 Anyway, something something Kemen is in Pelargir and I hope Berek kicks him right into Mount Doom's fiery pits.

BACK to Eregion: Celebrimbor is dead and Galadriel is brought before Adar who we see has been healed by Nenya just by WEARING IT. This is huge! We see Adar's fair elf form but once again the show skirts around revealing his old elven identity by having Adar outright reject it and give Nenya back to Galadriel. Now I have a problem with how the show dealt with Adar's arc conclusion because they had been setting up everyone and their mothers to have confrontations with Adar. The guy had a waiting list with Sauron, Arondir and Elrond on it. And all of them lacked emotional depth. I mean, don't get me wrong, I felt for Adar, being killed by the children he loved so much. It was incredibly cruel of Sauron, but also kinda impersonal? Even more compared with their interaction back in season 1 where Saurbrand almost finishes Adar. Anyway RIP Adar, I will miss you.

Now to the main event: Sauron x Galadriel. First thing I would like to point out is the use of Dutch angle. This is used mostly to convey that something is wrong, it is meant to leave us weirded out. So it's worth noticing that the show changes to Dutch angle at the moment the Orcs present Galadriel to Adar. The camera goes back to regular angling only after Galadriel picks up the blade to attack Sauron. Could it mean that Sauron was already around while Adar and Galadriel talked? Was he listening to their conversation? I'm not sure what they intended with this yet. But it is also worth noticing that right when the orcs arrive carrying Glûg and Adar leaves her side to see him, Galadriel pointedly puts her hand on her chest (a gesture that has been repeated enough times so we know it means something) and breaths heavily. When Sauron finally appears, the camera work gets even weirder: here we see Sauron and Galadriel with the use of shot and reverse shot. This is filming 101: shot and reverse shot are used to show characters interacting face to face. But then we see that Sauron is actually behind Galadriel. What exactly were they going for with this? I have some ideas but tbh at this point I'm not completely sure it wasn't another editing mistake so I will try to not read too much into it. :/

There are several posts about Sauron's line about not wanting to harm Galadriel, so I will not delve into it. I truly believe that he meant it at that point. Instead, I want to focus on something that I haven't seen be addressed: right after Sauron sees Nenya on Galadriel's finger, he demands that she hands it over... and the Nine. Now HOW TF did Sauron know that Galadriel had the Nine Rings of Men???? This is such a glaring gap in the narrative. Celebrimbor endured torture and still didn't reveal the rings location. By the time that group of orcs captured Galadriel outside the city Celebrimbor's torture was still going on so there weren't any Orcs working for Sauron yet to send him word. Was Sauron in her mind? But then if he could access her thoughts so easily why waste so much time on trying to extract information from Celebrimbor? Unless he could only do so after she put on Nenya back on her finger? If so, why would he want Nenya back? Isn't it better for him to have her using it so he can influence her? Why send her visions to attract her to Eregion and not do the same with Gil-Galad and Círdan if he wants the elven rings back? Or does he want only Nenya? Then why only Nenya? The show brings up many questions and offers no answers. I really hope that they don't just brush it all aside. Anyway, I have already expressed my views on their fighting scene here if you all are interested. I will only comment that I like the idea of Sauron using the same crown that killed him to forge a blood bond by piercing Galadriel with it. If Sauron talking directly into Galadriel's mind and the interesting camera lens use are anything to go by they might be setting up a scenario where they can interact through a mind connection. I hope they go in that direction.

P.S.: That shot with Sauron holding Fëanor's hammer, where the hell did he get that??? I mean, the last time we saw that hammer was when Celebrimbor yeeted it thru the window when he tried to hit Annatar with it 🤷

P.S.2: That epilogue was way too cringe :/

P.S.3: I realized that I probably sound like a hater lol I swear I'm not. I really got invested into the show watching season 2. I watched episode 1 twice because it was so good! To me S2 was a significant improvement compared to S1. For the most part. Notable exception being the the last two episodes. And I really hope they can get back on track and figure out how they want to tell this story.

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What did you think of the Galadriel/Sauron fight? I saw many people loved it, but I also saw others criticize it, and I can't help but feel thrown off by it, at the very least visually speaking.

I'm painfully aware of Morfydd Clark's true height because I'm as tall as her, and I think the angles/shots/editing felt very... unnatural?

When Sauron stabs her with the crown and she's pinned to the standing stone? This whole sequence took me out. The heights, the angles, the way the camera moved, it felt off to my eyes. I could barely feel the damage inflicted by the attack because it was all so static, no movement. Am I crazy or?

Also, the 'free peoples of Middle-earth' and 'heal yourself' lines took me out of the scene. They didn't feel like proper replies to Sauron's lines, it felt very impersonal and distant.

Hey Anon, thanks for the message!

Yeah, I'm not a big fan of it as well. I agree with you that it wasn't particularly well shot. My guess is that it was done hurriedly with the lack of care that they showcased in the execution (we can see clearly Charlie Vickers' real hair beneath the Annatar wig right after Gal gives Sauron that cut on his cheek). Perhaps it was done in the reshoots (I'm pretty convinced that they happened). But I don't dislike all of it, there are some aspects that I enjoyed. The first half of it is mostly ok to me and what I would expect of a sword fight between these two: Galadriel on the attack and struggling to land a blow while Sauron merely parries her blows without sweating. The main thing in this confrontation should have been them talking things out, the fighting choreography merely another language to showcase their respective emotional states. But in the second part - that for me starts after that burning of scrolls in Eregion cut - things get a lot more centered on action than on dialogue. We get Sauron 'Loki like' tricks. We get Galadriel delivering an one liner like a young adult action franchise protagonist right before that awkward kick (that kick was telegraphed, you wouldn't need an Elf's superior sight to see it coming from miles away).

The lines, well, except for the 'not all of it', most are not even rehashing, they are just lines that we've already seen in the show or the in the books being repeated sometimes verbatim. It's only after he stabs her with the crown that we get some good lines from Sauron. Gal, on the other hand... I'm starting to think that whoever wrote Galadriel's lines in the last episode did not like the task and made sure to only give her the cringiest lines. You're absolutely correct that it was impersonal. Generic. Lacking.

There are good ideas there, like the possible binding by blood with being pierced by Morgoth's crown. Sauron's 'not all of it'. The way he looked at her. I just wish it was better developed. :/

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I went back to rewatch episodes 7 and 8 of TROP season 2 because I wanted to be sure I hadn't actually missed anything. And I noticed some things...

So I already shared thoughts about how it felt like there were missing pieces in the season finale and how the show suffers with the challenge of condensing events that happened in the spam of several centuries in a shorter timeline.

After rewatching the last two episodes of the season I stand by my previous assessment. And even more: they had problems condensing the plotlines of the season into 8 episodes. Thus a season that started incredibly well dialed down to a messy combination of emotionally flat conclusions.

I will try to organize my considerations in different posts, the first one being about episode 7 and the Battle of Eregion. This episode has some weird editing choices and continuity mistakes that led me to believe that either there was more to the Battle of Eregion than what made it to the final cut or there were post filming changes that led to reshoots of some scenes (or even both).

The most notable slips are related to Gil-Galad's weirdly timed appearances and his absence for the majority of the action sequences. The first time we see the elven cavalry arriving the camera focuses on Elrond leading the forces and briefly shows the High King to the side. When the cavalry charges and we get a wide shot, Gil-Galad is gone. After that very brief appearance he comes back only near the end of the episode to help Elrond and Arondir and deliver a one liner in the fight against the troll. And even then the moment he spears Damrod seems weirdly disconnected from the whole sequence as it is shot in a way that does not show Gil-Galad in the same framing as Damrod, Elrond or Arondir. When the troll is finally dead, there are a few shots were we can see Gil-Galad upon his magnificent horse delivering another one liner. With the fighting still going on around them, Gil-Galad, Elrond and Arondir look in the direction of the treeline. Cut to a shot of Adar ordering his children to march and various shots of the orcs advancing from the edge of the forest to cross the battlefield. We see by the lighting that it's still the middle of the night. Cut back to Gil-Galad on his feet and we have no horses on sight, all the orcs that were fighting the elves a few moments ago have disappeared or dropped dead and the lighting is completely different as the sun is already rising on the horizon. Oh, and the body of the troll they just killed? Nowhere to be seen.

Back to the battle, we finally have Arondir facing Adar. Now, this should have been a big moment, since they interrupted Arondir's story arc with the southlanders to have him pursuing revenge against Adar as his main arc of the season. But it's resolved in less than 30 seconds. Or in 24 seconds, to be more precise: Arondir shoots his first arrow directly at Adar around 1:05:34 and by 1:05:58 we have Adar leaving the frame while Arondir crawls on the floor with what should have been a mortal wound. When I first watched this I was genuinely scared for Arondir's life. This is the last we see of him in this episode and when the finale came out one of my concerns was knowing who would come to Arondir's rescue... No wonder I was confused when he showed up perfectly fine like he didn't had a big ass sword thrust on his belly.

Next we have this beautiful shot of Elrond looking despondent, his gaze on the battle going around and his hair mostly in place. Then it cuts to Adar's sword being sheated while he stands right in front of Elrond, who's in a slightly different position, face looking down, hair a lot more disheveled. The lighting also changes from one shot to the other: on the first it looks more natural while in the second it's weirdly artificial. It's clear that there was supposed to be a fighting scene between Adar and Elrond before the moriondor takes Nenya. What happened to that scene?

One can't help but wonder how such primary mistakes in continuity could happen in a billion dollar production like TROP. My guess is that originally there was a different version of the Battle of Eregion and what aired was a mix of that version with reshot scenes but I still can't say what was on the first version and what was a result of reshooting.

That's it for now, I might come back later with more comments on these last two episodes.

P.S.: I've seen some people theorizing that it could have been Sauron impersonating Elrond in that infamous kiss scene. And as much as I think that kiss was gratuitous, purposeless and completely out of place I don't think that is what went on. As many editing mistakes as they did the sequence of events here seems mostly ok and I can't imagine how Sauron would have been able to pull that off. But who knows? As I've said, that kiss was weird enough and might be another evidence of the mess that went on in the making of episodes 7 and 8.

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So, yeah, this is another resurrection to ramble about some new obssession

The Rings of Power Season 2!

So, first season didn't leave a lasting impression but I was still curious enough to come back for S2, which led me to rewatching S1 and getting more into some aspects of it, like... any Saurondriels in the crowd tonight?

Anyway... I just finished the season finale. And first of all let me say that I enjoyed this season much more than the previous one.

Yet (oh boy, here we go) I feel this show suffers from a chronic problem of pacing and dealing with condensing epic stories in a shorter timeframe (sometimes I had GoT last two seasons feels while watching TROP S2), which are really apparent in this last episode. More than once it felt like there were missing scenes, and I don't think it was merely a problem of editing. Also the dialogue, in more contemporary and direct speech, often feels out of place. Not to mention some that are just bad, altought I will hand it to them that they improved since last season (probs gave someone in that writing room that's a tad more competent a chance to come up with something more inspired here and there). As a result, many moments that were supposed to be poignant just fell flat. It's a shame, because you can say those are mostly good actors that could make memorable scenes with a better text to work with.

But overall I really liked it. Truly. I just wish it could be better, because you can see the gigantic potential in every underdeveloped storyline or sidelined character. Like my girl Galadriel (she reminds me so much of another non conforming blonde *cough*Karen Page*cough*)...

On the other hand, I mostly loved Sauron's arc! His contradictions, his twistedness, the glimpses that there's something that's not wholly evil buried deep down, perhaps the memory of who he once was and the grief of not being able to achieve what he was supposed to be *chef's kiss*. It's a shame that they didn't use more of the mind connection trope. I mean, that moment were he turned into Celebrimbor seemed to confirm that he sent that chilling vision to Galadriel!? So he probably wanted her to come to Eregion? For what? Just to ask for the ring back? Also, why did he want HER ring back? Since he didn't seen to send visions to Gil-Galad and Círdan, at least not with the same intention. Wouldn't him WANT her to use the ring, since that's the whole point of all these rings, having high ups of each race to use them so he can influence/control them when he finally has the One Ring?

Okay, there are many other things I want to talk about, but I will stop here, I have a job to go to.

P.S.: please if you are a lore-evangelist that hates TROP or thinks that I should feel ashamed for enjoying Saurondriel, don't even bother. You'll be blocked and ignored.

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So I'm back to Tumblr because I need a place to vent about a fictional character yeah big surprise

So here is what I find refreshing about Vincenzo Cassano: he's simply unapologetic about who he is. That's not to mean that he's incapable of feeling guilt or remorse, but at the end of the day he is who he is, he owns his choices and lives up to his creed. He's capable of both fierce loyalty and ruthless deceit, the key is knowing where you stand with him. He's not searching for redemption. And the show actually pokes fun at this idea often using Ahn Gi-Seok's fanboy fantasies as a comic device.

So there is this incredibly elegant guy who is always in one of his beloved exclusive haute couture italian suits and expensive watches and he is capable of snapping a dude's fingers with his equaly expensive lighter with the same naturality he drinks his nightly glass of wine. That whole thing of three piece silk pajamas and shit is not a mask to conceal his violent side: he's both. He's a charming, soft spoken, handsome, lithe figured guy who is also a fearsome mafioso. And he gets the scare of his life from a teenager wearing horror makeup and almost dies of embarrasment while embarking on his friends ridiculous methods to get information.

What a great character, really.

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murder really doesn't seem so bad when he does it:

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“Who the heck are you?” “Vincenzo Cassano.”

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Look at this beautiful doe-eyed space god

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Ever think about how in under 10 minutes the Mandalorian had a better Luke characterization than the entire sequels trilogy-

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Looking at stills of Floor Jansen from the virtual concert and

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TUOMAS HOLOPAINEN Thought There Was ‘No Coming Back’ For NIGHTWISH After MARCO HIETALA’s Departure

NIGHTWISH keyboardist and main songwriter Tuomas Holopainen says that Marco Hietala’s decision to leave the band “came as a bit of a surprise.”

The bassist/vocalist announced his departure from NIGHTWISH in January, explaining in a statement that he hadn’t “been able to feel validated by this life for a quite a few years now.”

Holopainen spoke about Hietala’s exit from NIGHTWISH in a new interview with Finland’s Kaaos TV. He said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): “Marco informed us in December last year [that he was leaving the band]. And even though he has been very open about his state and problems during the past years, it still came as a bit of a surprise for us. So it was a really tough pill to swallow. And for a few days, I was actually quite confident that there’s no coming back, that this is it. I remember talking to Emppu [Vuorinen], the guitar player, and we were, like, ‘You think this is it?’ 'Yeah, I think this is it.’ I mean, enough is enough. So much has happened in the past. Something that broke the camel’s back, as they say. Then, after some time had passed — a few days — we started to think that it’s been such a ride of 25 years, with so many ups also, that this is not the way to end it.”

Tuomas elaborated on NIGHTWISH’s reasons for carrying on, saying: “I think we still have something to give, and that’s the main point. The music is still there. We felt that there’s still so much music that needs to come out from this band that, 'Okay, let’s give it one more shot.’ And then finding the new bass player was really easy.”

He added: “It’s not like we do this just because we need to do it and there’s nothing else to do. On a personal level, I feel that there’s still so many stories and melodies that I want to share with the world with one lineup or another, so that’s why you want to continue and keep on going.

“I’ve said this a million times, that a lineup change is the ultimate energy vampire, and that’s how it really felt and still feels.”

Holopainen also confirmed that NIGHTWISH’s future setlists will likely also be affected by Hietala’s absence from the group. “There are some songs that are so profilic [sic] to Marco that we cannot do them, I think, ever again,” he said. “I’m not absolutely certain, but, for example, 'The Islander’, 'While Your Lips Are Still Red’ and definitely 'Endlessness’ from the new album is something that cannot be performed without Marco. But then, after spending five days in the rehearsal room, there are some songs that actually work surprisingly well without Marco, that Floor [Jansen] or Troy [Donockley] is doing [Marco’s] parts. And I was a bit suspicious about that, but then when I heard the new arrangement for those parts, I was, like, 'Yeah, I think this actually might work.’”

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Oh, hi I'm Young Accolyte of Wedge Who Lives Among the Mulberry Trees From a Place In The Province of Ourense

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I���ve never been a huge fan of death or black metal... But holy shit this is insanely good! The day Fernanda and Luana left Nervosa to found Crypta with Sonia and Tainá was a happy day! They deserve the world!

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Everybody talking about Hayden being in the cast and ok it's good but hellooo Joel Edgerton and Bonnie Piesse are back as Owen and Beru Lars and that makes me excited because not only we're getting more Obi-Wan & Anakin interactions but Obi & Lars couple interactions and possibly LUKE AS A CHILD PLEASE

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