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fukutomichi · 9 months ago

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It’s review ramble rant tiiiiime! Decided to go on and post about my thoughts as the iron is still hot and my braincells are still firing. Lots of spoilers are gonna be in there and it’s looong as hell so you’ve been warned! Grab a cup of coffee or tea. Here we go!

Okay, the general feel about Season 2 is that it is slightly better than Season 1 for sure, better at some parts, but has shortcomings on others, BUT STILL, we got what we got and I think it was overall positive.

The first 3 episodes being aired was a direct response from the previous backlash that they had about Season 1 starting slow. And yes, those first 2 episodes were shaaaky as hell, but they found their feet in Episode 4 and then the series picked up with full steam ahead. This time to avoid this, they wanted to get the set up out of the way as soon as possible and then release at a weekly schedule. Was it a smart idea? It would have been. If the series was longer than 8 episodes?

This latest trend of overblown streaming series with such small number of episodes, between A HUGE waiting period for each season, needs to stop. I get that the RoP crew would need more time, schedules with other actors, filming locations, building locations, writing, filming huge battle sequences, CGI. But I feel everyone is still chasing The Game of Thrones type of hype, and the studios need to realize that it ain’t happening anymore, not for a while. Just focus on making good stories with interesting complex characters and the viewers will come. Stop trying to make series be movies. I caught one of the directors in one of the BTS clips for Episode 7 saying “We’re not making series, we’re making movies” AND THAT’S THE BIGGEST PROBLEM. STOP DOING THAT.

I would sacrifice all the big budget CGI sequences and wide beautiful shots for just a minute of conversation between Gil-galad and Cirdan. I don’t want “the Balrog shot that was 5 years in the minds of the showrunners”, I wanted people to see why Gil-galad respects Cirdan so much, instead of my non-reading Silmarillion friends asking me what’s his deal with him, and me having to explain that Cirdan is as close to a family member to the high king, that’s his adoptive dad. The series is very non-reading Silm friendly, but they somehow fail to explain some of the crucial relationships between characters. I KNOW there’s next season maybe they’ll expand on it, but some things like that need to be established IMMEDIATELY.

But with 8 episodes, what can you really focus on to adapt and show on the screen? This is why, AGAIN, stop making movies, we want a series. The biggest strength that a series has is CHARACTER DEVELOPMENT AND PACING. A series will always have the upper hand in that, and they are still trying to make a movie, cut in 8 parts. Please, arrange the pace for 10 episodes, so it doesn’t feel like one episode is laid back, and then the next one is rushing to the finish line. MAKE A SERIES, NOT MOVIES.

The thing that made Game of Thrones great those 4 first seasons was not the big battles or the CGI dragons. It was people talking in rooms. Their history and relationship with each other. Actors giving their A++ game with dialog which was moving the story. THAT made Game of Thrones worth the hype.

Learning about the fact that they have a change in the writers room can either be a good thing, with some storylines now being over and concluded so they might be preparing to change gears for Season 3, or with my mind going always in work corporate mode, writers not being payed as they should for their work so why stay…

The series did get a brush with the writer’s strike, which I will always support. YOU CAN’T HAVE A STORY WITHOUT GOOD WRITING! PAY YOUR WRITERS!!

I think Episode 8 is where I felt some stuff were cut off and rushed, probably during the strike, that were set up in Episode 7, didn't land well. But I’ll get to that.

I started this in rant mode, but had to get it out of the way cause it bothered me the most. The series has SO much potential and it sometimes pains me to see fail on the most basic stuff.

Okay, moving on with the juicy stuff now!

This season was The Charlies™ season, hands down. Absolute rollercoaster with Celebrimbor and Annatar/Sauron playing off each other on the screen. From the moment Sauron enters Eregion, to the final shot of him stealing Fëanor’s hammer. The showrunners were fully concentrated to that side of the story and, holy hell did they outdo themselves there. Charles Edwards as Celebrimbor needs to get some push for awards, or somehow ship one to him. I remember being a little a skeptic at first about his portrayal, since we got so little of him is Season 1, but as you rewatch it, you can see the foundations being set for his character. Season 2 is where he’s fully unleashed and, he is truly THE Celebrimbor. A sweet, sensitive soul that just strives to get out of his family’s shadow, by creating something unique that would be his legacy. A perfect victim for Sauron that finds his connection with Celebrimbor through that. I loved the fact that they filmed their scenes in order of the episodes and it shows the slow descent of both of their characters, helplessness and paranoia for Celebrimbor and Sauron barely managing his uncanny elf mask while trying to withhold annoyance and rage. Masterful acting by both. The last scene with them was MUCH more impactful than if we would have gotten the banner scene in the book. They started their pact alone in the forge, and they ended their manipulative partnership, alone in that same forge. With Celebrimbor getting the upper hand in death. Sauron AGAIN getting a knife straight into the heart, but with words instead of a pointy crown. Only this time, he won’t be able to get pay back for the insult. Because Celebrimbor in death, went where Sauron CAN NEVER go. The slow realization that he’s always gonna be a prisoner in his own cycle of violence. He has many names…And the cycle begins again.

Bless you Charles Edwards, thank you for being our Celebrimbor.

Charlie, be seeing ya next season you giggly perfect casting of Sauron’s messy character person you!

I was most excited to see were the elvish side of the story is gonna go after the end of Season 1, with the making of the three rings. And I think they did well! Robert Aramayo, I once again put myself on blast for ever doubting you as Elrond. My hubris must follow me till the end of this series. You have a shitty old phone, don’t know what a Brat Edit is and will never read this, but the universe will know of my foolishness.

Elrond's feud with Galadriel HURT to watch. Those are two besties that want their best for each other and will protect each other no matter what. The rift that was going on between them and mending it in the last episode was so sweet, kudos to Morfydd as well for always bringing her A++ acting game. FINALLY we have a bit more of Gil-galad this season and IS STILL not enough. I ranted before about not a single blip of a Gil-Cirdan convo happening, but getting FREAKING BEN DANIELS for just a few scenes IS CRIMINAL!!! Also, still sad about that beard of his, he was already perfect damn iiiit.

I’m glad that we had this push and pull with the elvish rings, are they good are they bad, they are a new invention and the elves have no idea how to deal with them at first. Gil-galad and Galadriel’s visions were a nice representation of that. What are their power levels, what are they truly capable off. What I like to believe though, is that while Sauron had his hands on crafting the seven and the nine…guess who’s hands last touched the mithril that made the three. It was Elrond. With all his hopes and need to help his kind survive when he threw that nugget into the melting pot in the last episode in Season 1. And guess who wears those rings now? His closest family and the people he cares the most. When he finally decides to give Nenya a chance, we get to see the result of all his hopes and desire to protect those he loves the most in the last scene of this season. Rivendell. ELROND’S KINDNESS is the reason the elvish rings remain untouched by Sauron’s evil.

Galadriel vs Sauron. Oh! OH! I can only imagine Lúthien smiling and pointing at Galadriel, Sparta kicking him over the boulder. “That’s my girl! THAT’S MY GIRL! Wipe the floor with that bozo!!” If I’m being honest, spoiling myself with Bear Mccreary’s Season 2 soundtrack, listening to the track “The Last Temptation” gave soooo many vibes that something might happen to Galadriel that will leave me SHOOK, aka taking Sauron’s offer and Elrond being there to witness it, but Bear tricked meeee!!! She just fell through a tree! The clash was *chef’s kiss* though, Sauron constantly shapeshifting trying to mess with Galadriel’s feelings and even pulling the Halbrand puppy eyes card. But she wasn’t having it. Sauron gets denied, AGAIN.

Alexa, play Drive by The Cars for one dark lord. And conjure some of that sad rain again while you go waddle your way home to Mordor, you absolute clown.

HEAL YOURSELF. QUEEN.

We got more of the dwarves as well and the creation of the seven rings. I was a little disappointed that we got robbed of the Narvi and Celebrimbor friendship happening while making the Doors of Durin, but what can you choose to put in just 8 episodes, right? Sophia and Owain truly are such an amazing combo to watch as Disa and Durin, they did amazingly this season. I’m gonna miss Peter Mullan as King Durin, every scene with him and Owain was just beautiful and heart breaking. “Forgive me my son, King Durin”. I was choking in tears not even 5 minutes into the last episode. And will you look at that, forgiveness is the theme that starts off the episode, huh?

The Uruk storyline…where do I even begin jfc. I went from Season 1 and loving Adar as an interesting unique character, to loving the entire Uruk story with its sad tragic end. Whoever was responsible for that, amazing job.

I was sad when Jospeh Malwe left and his role was recasted. But HOLY SHIT, enter Sam Hazeldine and he just took that character to a new height. Adding more complexity, adding more black speech to his dialog, and being a representative of my favorite theme that I speculated is central to this season. Forgiveness.

The orcs being humanized was a great move imo. Because how else would we see the tragedy that is their entire kind being slaves to their own violent nature, that Adar sees past it, and Sauron can’t wait to exploit it. When Sauron tells Celebrimbor about the fall of Gondolin and the orcish blood rage I was FEASTING. THIS is how you introduce lore and expand on the history of the characters. They are a tragic invention of Morgoth, and yet are still sentient beings with names and feelings, that have been drilled and brainwashed about the fact that they’ll never be accepted by anyone, ever. Adar doing everything possibly wrong just to protect them, only to serve them right at Sauron’s feet as his new army.

I’m sad that we couldn’t have had more of Adar’s character and he was absolutely full with potential, but he was doomed by the narrative from Season 1 and his actions had led to have little wiggle room for him to be left alive in the end. His last moments with Galadriel were beautiful. The very opposite of Sauron and Celebrimbor. He breaks from his cycle of violence and chooses forgiveness and peace. What happened after that though, was what we were supposed to be expecting about Adar's fate from the very first episode. Sauron never forgives and never lets a debt of insult go unpaid.

But what I DIDN’T like is the fact we never had a resolution between him and Arondir. Them stabbing each other and both of them still walking it off?? This is where the disconnect between episode 7 and 8 begins. Cause when they face off on the battlefield, you can see Arondir mouthing some words to Adar, but it must have been cut in the editing room. Adar was Arondir’s main reason why he lost everything and we will never have an appropriate closure between them I guess. Adar and Galadriel forgave each other, but he never asked Arondir for forgiveness. And we should have seen that. Instead, as one of my friends put it while we were gossiping about the last episode “And they just left Adar laying on that hill, huh?”

I want to believe he was Maglor, but hey, even with his elvish identity remaining a mystery, he still wanted the name he earned. I think that was nicely done. They didn’t have the rights to the lore after all lol.

Sam Hazedine, I hope you get a huge bump up in your CV for playing such an amazing character and may you get other amazing acting roles in the future.

For now, what me and my friends group came up as a batshit “How do we still keep him in the series somehow” plan in 1am in the cafe drinking americanos, we figured he should apply to play as Glorfindel, but with a shaggy beard! Glorfindel is already half-maia at that point. He can get the wizard/elf vibes! Go with the grizzled dad look, no one will notice!! SEND YOUR CV, SAM!!

NÚMENOR!!! We’re slowly, but surely getting to the “and the island goes boom” storyline and ooooohhh I can’t wait. We’re getting hints of Isildur being the messy character that he is. As we slowly go through episode 3, we are hit with the biggest foreshadowing shot in the season, him basically seeing his own ending in the water. And what does he do there?? He steals from a dead man. He then meets and falls for a girl that’s already spoken for. What does he do? Tries to steal her too. Still riddled with guilt for the death of his mother, and using that to try to at least make up for it and cover his guilt with it. But this is Isildur we are talking about. Name a better combo than Isildur and bad decisions. But I love the fact that he was paired up this season with Theo. Similar experiences, both connecting through their loss. And I LOVE Theo’s arc so far, probably the character I’m most interested to see how his story will unfold.

See, a friend of mine had an interesting theory that, while everyone is still going about Theo being either the Witch King or the King of the Dead…he might have another direction. What If Theo is Aragorn’s other side of the bloodline? Okay. Bronwyn falling for Arondir, human in love with an elf. Can you guess who has the same taste as well? Theo’s unknown lineage on his father’s side. It is almost as an open door to introduce the Dúnedain still living in Middle-Earth, and what better way to introduce them, then through Theo. A mainland Númenor vs. Númenor storyline? The paring of Isldir and him this season is also a hint. “The king’s hands are the hands of a healer”. And guess who’s the ONLY healer in Pelargir now? Theo ALWAYS choosing to stay with his people regardless if he’s been given a way out with either Arondir or Isildur…

Are we’re on to the showrunners or are they just throwing hints like this to lead people in one direction while they figure out his story?

Back on the island, things are heating up for the Faithful vs. The Kings Men, and I’m here for the doomed story that is Miriel and Elendil. I’M HERE FOR IIIT!!! Pharazôn using both Kemen and Eärien as his tools to set himself on the throne was nicely done too. I was a little disappointed to see some Eärien hate going on though? Pharazôn, used her grief and anger for HIS means. After everything that her family goes through, she has the right to be angry and look for someone to blame. Why would she blame her father? He was under the queen’s orders, right? Grief makes you do terrible things and makes you blind, her respect for Pharazôn as the “smart” leader, falls right into Pharazôn’s hands in the right moment. And he uses it. He tries to turn her against her father too. BUT what does she do? SHE TRUSTS her father and goes AGAINST HERSELF to call the queen to help her save her Elendil, SHE KNOWS about their feelings for each other at that point, even if she doesn’t agree with it. Her love and loyalty to her family is stronger then everything Pharazôn threw at her. I never wanna see Eärien hate in the tags, as Galadriel says it best, heal yourself pls.

Kemen’s development on the other hand, I find really interesting. I get that he’s everyone’s favourite to hate right now, and Leon Wadham does an incredible job if people have such strong reactions to his character. Please don't be weird and don't harass him, he seems incredibly sweet compared to his RoP character. But there’s something really sad about him, you have this númenorian nepo baby that has everything on a golden platter, but the only thing he craves for is his father approval. And his father happens to be the worst person ever. He doesn’t want the scepter, he wants his father to have it. The moment he mentions to Pharazôn “us” he IMMEDIATELY cuts him off with a look and starts telling his own son how his dead mother had an ill prophecy about him. Cruel to the bone. And he blackmails him into telling it IF he does his bidding well. Of course, Kemen does a shit job at it, and we lost Valandil in the process, WHICH I DIDN’T EXPECT!!…BUT, I’m gonna take his death into advancing Kemen’s arc into a more villainous path, him arriving at Pelargir and seeing Isildur alive was such a moment, I had to cackle! The SINGLE PERSON RESPONSIBLE for the start of the domino effect of Númenor slowly going towards its downfall, turns up alive and is headed back home. Where Kemen killed his best friend, imprisoned his father, helped banishing his father, helped imprisoning Miriel and his sister is now target number one of Pharazôn. And Isildur saved Kemen’s life. Name a better combo than Isildur and bad decisions.

Now, mentioning Valandil, I gotta rant about something else. And it’s about character deaths, especially for POC characters. Valandil dying, while not liking it, thinking it would happen much later when Númenor finally goes boom, it makes kinda sense for him to loose his life to Kemen, WHILE IN THE TEMPLE OF NIENNA. Lady of forgiveness, mercy and grief. Kemen even breaks her statue, which we should take as Kemen being beyond forgiveness. Advancing his character into a darker path. And then Nienna would be the first to forgive him lol.

But Rian?? Dying in the battle for Eregion like that? I get that her death represents a visual queue of the sheer evil and misery that is war. But, Vorohil surviving Boromor levels of arrows in his back, but not Rian? They couldn’t have switched their roles for that?? Rian being the messenger and Vorohil dying to protect his commander?? I’m kinda relieved that at least he survived from Elrond’s little party group, and Camnir is godknows where, but come on man. COME ON MAAAAN! Do better next time please, showrunners. If you introduce cool characters, at least don’t take them away like that, especially when they are POC.

And lastly…the Harfoot storyline. Oh boy. I don’t know if I’m in the minority, but for me this is probably this season's weakest point, A STARK difference from the previous season where I was invested the most. AND WE FINALLY GOT THE CONFIRMATION THAT HE’S GANDALF!! And it felt like, eh. We been knew.

This probably was the most cut storyline and felt like so many moments were missing. HAVING CIARÁN HINDS ONLY FOR A FEW SCENES!?! CRIMINAL!!! At least we got to see some Rhún scenery and got to see another clan of halflings. But the transition to the last episode felt like it lasted like 3 minutes, and then compare the previous season finale where everyone was still buttclenching if Halbrand or The Stanger was Sauron, right until the last conflict with the cultists! THAT was a nice ending of a climax. This season felt like they really didn’t want to bother with it anymore and now we have Gandalf going to Tom Bombadil, which is another perfect cast with Rory Kinnear, and Nori and Poppy leading the remaining Stoors, west. The gang is split. And it felt like a blip, compared to the goodbyes from the previous finale where emotions were high and you felt crushed and hopeful at the same time. But this storyline is now over, so that’s that.

I think that’s the overall general feelings for this season! Not going TOO much into detail, cause this will probably be a BEYOND long post lol.

Previous Personal MVP from Season 1 for me was definitively Daniel Weyman as GANDALF, having so little dialog, but using body language and emotions to act his way into the story. Season 2 MVP goes to Sam Hazeldine’s Adar. The dude swooped in and made the character his own and added so much more. To make me ROOT for the orcs? BLACK SPEECH making me emotional?! Unheard of!! Rest easy Uruk goth king, may you live in other people’s fanfics and be an inspiration for other amazing complex characters.

So…what do we expect now from Season 3 coming up?

Rivendell is coming up baybeeeeh!!! The first defensive bastion of the elves before the war with Sauron starts to heat up! Oh, that last shot was just beyond beautiful, BUT LIKE I SAID!! I would have had Ben Daniels just coming over and saying a few words than having that CGI shot.

SO MORE CIRDAN NEXT SEASON, PLEASE!!!

I honestly have no idea where Galadriel’s arc is gonna be headed, but her connection to Sauron will always be there, now that she’s sort of marked? by his crown and the evil it’s made off, I wonder if it’s gonna come into play like Frodo when being stabbed by the Witch King’s blade.

We didn’t get Celeborn as a surprise, and looking back, it was just impossible to get that. Season 1 and 2 are almost glued to one another and if you look at it from another side, it’s a full 16 episode season. This was basically Part 1….of The Rings of Power The Movie.

Hopefully more of the golden boi Gil-galad, give the man more twirling Aeglos moments, come on!! AND MORE GOLDEN FAM MOMENTS TOGETHER!! PLEASE. Some people still don’t know that Galadriel is Gil-galad’s auntie!!

Sauron snatching Fëanor’s Hammer from Celebrimbor was VILE. And I loved it. He killed the only person talented enough to use it, and now he is left on his own to craft the final ring, by probably a) melting the hammer b) using it half-assedly and in the process messing up the One Ring so that’s why he ends up binding his entire life force to the Ring. BUT before he does that, he has the Nine Rings and he needs Nine Kings. So we’re on our way to seeing more Kingdoms of Men and that means we’re getting more casting announcements as the months go by.

Pelargir!!! Theo being stuck with Kemen? Recipe for trouble. Hopefully Estrid gets some character development there, cause what we got so far from her was not enough imo. We’re already on our way to seeing the Ent’s promise getting broken. UGHH!! I don’t wanna see that, not when Episode 4 made me so emotional and is probably one of my favourites so far. We’re gonna get a clash with the Low Men vs Númenor for sure and this is where it starts.

We’re getting Khazad-Dum’s Game of Thrones!! NOOOOOO!! I don’t want them clashing with each other uughhh, especially family, but their fate is already written and it’s not gonna be a happy one. We will see if Durin will be tempted to use his father's ring as well. He did leave it to his son. So hoping they go for the emotions in that storyline. And in the mix there’s also the rift being open again between Durin and Elrond. And is it gonna get wider, or are we gonna see it mended next season? QUEEN DISA PLEASE PULL THROUGH!!

NÚMENOOOOR AGAAAAIN!! GOD there’s gonna be a lot of pain in there. And I was off with my prediction, we’re not getting Anárion this season, but we’re DEFINITIVELY getting Anárion next season!! Isildur coming home is gonna cause some chaos I’m sure, finding out pretty much like the pizza burning meme gif that A LOT of shit has happened during his absence. Are we gonna see a rift between Eärien and Isildur though? Her actions pretty much stem from his “death”, so it will be interning to see if the siblings clash or try to settle things first and find their dad and other brother. Pharazôn slowly setting himself up for the arrival of someone special AKA Sauron. We’re maybe still too far off from that plot, but as much as I enjoyed The Charlies™ and their scenes together, I CAN’T WAIT to see Charlie and Trystan being a combo act on screen. I LOVE Trystan’s portrayal as Pharazôn, he just oozes those charming but menacing vibes when he’s in his act. And to pair that up with Charlie? Which mask will he choose to manipulate him with? OH! CAN’T WAAAAIT!!

And then again lastly, as each season and episode, the Harfoots and Gandalf. It was nice to see that we’re getting the lore about how the halflings find The Shire, so we’ll probably gonna follow them on their travels to the west, and hopefully they meet some of the other key characters from the series. At some point, most of the characters HAVE TO HAVE A BRIDGE to meet up, instead of getting multiple separate stories. Hopefully Season 3 is that. Gandalf being mentored by Tom Bombadil in Rhún while the other wizard is still on the loose. The showrunners did confirm that Cirian is not Saruman, so that makes him one of the blues that failed their mission. They can go aaaanywhere with this storyline, but they better bring it up closer to Sauron and Galadriel. If they wanna show us the connection between Galadriel and Gandalf, and why Gandalf fears Sauron so much, I think Season 3 is the best point to start.

And that's pretty much it I guess.

Now the painful wait of TWO FREAKING YEARS begins for Season 3.

I'm gonna try to stay as active as possible with my gifs and plan out some sets, maybe including some of the other acting gigs of the other RoP actors, like my "Hazeldine cope mechanism for Thursday" sets, if my time allows it. But time is all we have now.

September flew by for me with this series. Like, 28th of August was two weeks ago, right?

So what are we doing next Thursday?

#looooong post ahead you've been warned!!!#shut it fuku #the rings of power #trop #rop #rings of power #trop spoilers

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internetaddict104 · 11 months ago

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My live thoughts on Deadpool and Wolverine

* I’m torn between wanting to fangirl over the fight scene and wanting to sing and dance to *NSYNC

* Also I’m crying at the shots of DP doing the Bye Bye Bye choreo cut into the fight 😂

* The Iron Man helmet covering Tom in the photo with RDJ 😂

* Hearing Matthew Macfayden’s natural British accent is so jarring after watching Succession

* Wait I’m so confused on how Wade was interviewing for an Avengers position with Happy on Earth 616 and then it cuts to 6 years later on Earth 10005

* Wambsgans being the villain is insane

* This movie takes place within 3 days?

* DID THEY JUST REFERENCE THE OSCAR SLAP

* The little cgi Logan is so jarring

* *turns around* “I’m Marvel Jesus you dull creature and I-“ *gets bitch slapped by the Hulk and dies*

* HENRY CAVILL WOLVERINE VARIANT HOLY SHIT

* CHRIS EVANS?!?!?!?!?!

* IT IS CHRIS I’M FUCKING CRYING I LEGIT JUST STARTED SMILING

* JOHNNY STORM CHRIS EVEN FUCKING BETTER

* Did he just die

* I knew Wolverine was gonna just slice Sabretooth’s head off but I’m still sad there wasn’t any real fight

* Oh thank God Johnny is still alive

* Wait where’s the rest of the og FF? Where is my Ioan Gruffudd, Jessica Alba, and Michael Chiklis???

* Fuck she killed Chris 😭 I knew it was coming but it still hurts

* Why do I lowkey feel like whatever this Logan did to fuck up his world is gonna be something jokey and/or stupid

* Lady in Red playing during Dogpool’s intro 😂

* Also I did not know Dogpool was a girl

* The intro to The Greatest Show on the radio 😂

* There’s a lot of random music in this movie and idk if I’m really feeling it

* I saw a Scarlet Witch statue… 👀

* Oh shit Garner Elektra

* WESLEY SNIPES?!?!?!?! IS HE REAL OR CGI

* CHANNING TATUM GAMBIT ❤️❤️❤️

* My jaw literally dropped for these 3 I’m dead serious

* Oh this is where X23 comes in

* Wait is this Laura the same one from Logan or is she a variant

* So he’s the worst Logan because he went to a bar and the rest of the XMen got killed by humans? That’s so stupid he wasn’t even there like he didn’t lead the humans to them or run away

* Should I know who the purple girl with Cassandra is bc I feel like I should they keep focusing on her

* Should I know the bearded guy in the striped tank top bc they keep focusing on him too and I don’t recognize him

* Wait so Logan did run away when the XMen were attacked?

* Wait Logan betrayed the XMen?

* Huh so the portal was just white anyway it wasn’t an editing trick to hide anything in the trailer

* I know I should know who Pyro is but I don’t 😭

* Did they digitally elongate Emma Corrin’s fingers bc they look way too long

* Cassandra without the coat looks so sickly idk why the coat made her look fuller

* Logan’s disgusted look when Wade and Dogpool reunite 😂

* Oh I was wondering when Ladypool would show up

* I need to know if any famous actor is in the Deadpool Corps

* Logan holding Dogpool as far away from him as possible like a dirty dishrag 😂 he’s so disgusted by this dog

* WAIT LADYPOOL SOUNDS LIKE BLAKE

* Why is Kidpool a girl

* Cowboy Deadpool sounds familiar too who is he

* THE COWL 😭❤️

* I can’t make out what Blind Al says during the Deadpool fight and I really wanna know what she says 😭

* PETERPOOL

* So Logan is gonna sacrifice himself isn’t he

* Yeah I knew Wade would go in Logan’s place over the heartfelt speeches began

* And Wade isn’t gonna die he can’t he’s too popular

* Oh they both went

* Logan’s top disintegrating 😂

* “You look damn good in that suit” “I’m so sorry” I love Peter

* Wait that’s so cute they’re all in the main universe now (or Wade’s universe idk if they’re the same yet or not)

* I need to find the post credits scenes apparently they were leaked online but I can’t find them anywhere please I wanna watch them I read what they are but I still wanna see them myself

#seriously if anyone has the post credits scenes please let me know I really wanna see them #I literally just finished this movie I watched it on a 🏴‍☠️ site shoutout to the guy who uploaded it #The movie wasn’t even out yet in my country when I started watching it but since I went past midnight it is now 😂#Deadpool and Wolverine spoilers #spoilers #deadpool and wolverine #wolverine #deadpool #deadpool 3 #Marvel #mcu

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real-life-senshi · 3 months ago

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Hello Rei! Wait... is this Ajimoto Stadium or another film location? It looks familiar but the text is too blurry to see in the bottom left corner of the 1st image... oh well.

On top of my mind, the indoor location in the second image looks similar to the battle location of Act 15, Act 30 and Act 45 I think?

I love how PGSM consistently shows Rei actively trying to use her power to trace the enemy, and show it visually with a frame like this - usually with some form of visual distortion effect or 360 degree shot. It visually demonstrates how much is going in Rei's head, and as if how Rei's reading her surrounding around her.

This is so very fascinating to me, how quickly Rei tried to backtrack and doubt her own hypothesis earlier, just because she got here and couldn’t find anything (yet). This scene actually really influenced me on how I write Rei in my fanfic and how I try to portray her power:

Rei seems to have a really delicate balance in trying to perceive the world through her psychic power and her rational thinking. The combination of both gives powerful intuition, and she's quick to take action when she has a "hunch" that something is wrong, and she finds a way to rationalize it. Hence, her action in this episode - She believes something's wrong with Minako's behavior, so she goes after her and shows tremendous initiative and capacity for action by getting to this location within an episode. But as soon as she arrives, we see her try to find Minako or any sign of the enemy, and as soon as she thinks she's in the clear and finds nothing's wrong, she starts doubting herself - thinking she overthought it. She has shown no doubt before with her theory, but when faced with a perceived "fact" that she can actually see in person, she backs down, even though she only JUST arrived and hasn't done a full search yet. It's as if her initial confidence is so... fragile? I imagine this comes from a place where she's torn between accepting her powers as a reality for herself and also coming to terms with how unnatural it is, so she tries to learn to navigate a world without it... It's like - her quick action is a way for her to get things off her mind, to prove to herself if there is truly an issue or not, because if she chooses to not act on it, it's bugging her, and she doesn't know how reliable it is. So as soon as she did all she could and got to the result, if the result was not as she expected (ie she couldn't physically find anything wrong here), she was quick to drop it and assume she and her powers were wrong. (I hope I'm making sense. She has no second opinion to rely on, because it doesn’t exist at all. No one else can do what she can. Might need to redo this analysis later if I'm not getting my thoughts out clear enough.)

To live life like that, where you are trying to cope and navigate the world with a set of perceptions that is extraordinary and often unaccepted by people, must be so challenging, especially for a kid. The lack of a second opinion also means she’s left alone to make her own decision on how to use her power - it’s metaphorical to how Rei’s life has been to. Unable to connect and find others to lean on with her mother gone, her father abandoned her, and her peers isolating her from school.

Another thing this scene suggests to me is Rei's power takes time to reach across certain distances. In Act 15, we see how instantaneous and even minorly prophetic that Rei caught on that the Youma is near them nd about to create a sinkhole when the Youma is mere meters away from them.

Here, Rei takes a few moments before she senses Nephrite, and when she does we get the motion-blurred quick zoom in on her. It suggests to me the furtheraway something is, the longer it takes for her power to read and get the signal back to her.

I wish we could have this for Senshi transformation as the norm in the show instead of the CGI sequence. This just makes so much more sense instead of the sequential dancing around. It just gets so much target time to get attacked during transformation if the CGI sequence is canonically in real time.

#pgsm act 19 #hino rei #character analysis #khmyh rewatches pgsm #khmyh liveblogs #khmyh's gif #khmyh translates #pgsm filming locations #pgsm magic theory

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bdzonthareel · 4 months ago

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Captain America: Brave New World

I'm sick of the MCU, I just had to get this out of my system; not the I.P.'s themselves, but as a concept. Every project that has come out since Endgame feels more like a homework assignment, If I miss one show or film then I'm going to miss one narrative crumb. It's stupid and I sincerely hope this content course correction rumor is actually going to happen.

So how does Captain America: Brave New World look when considering this? Let's talk about it.

The story takes place over six months after the events of Falcon and the Winter Soldier. Sam Wilson (Anthony Mackie) has adjusted to being the symbol of Liberty and Justice for all, and even has his own sidekick Joaquin Torres (Danny Ramirez) the new Falcon. The film's central conflict puts them and former Captain America, Isaiah Bradley (Carl Lumbly) at odds with President Thaddeus "Thunderbolt" Ross (Harrison Ford) and his aide Ruth Bat-Seraph (Shira Haas).

Let's talk about this cast, Giancarlo Esposito as Sidewinder, leader of the Serpent Society was true to form with his criminal mastermind schtick, he looked like he was having a blast in every scene.

Harrison Ford also played to type as the grumpy old, I mean stoic former soldier turned elected official.

I'm not familiar with Shira Haas' work prior to this film, but I thought she was fine.

Danny Ramirez really impressed me with his performance as the second Falcon. Upbeat and capable of being Cap's guy in the chair as well as a competent partner on the battlefield.

He and Mackie have amazing on-screen chemistry and I'm here for it.

Anthony Mackie understood the assignment, Cap is supposed to be an anchor for a world that needs hope, and we saw him wrestling with that responsibility on Disney Plus. There are moments where his resolve is shaken, but he plays the character in such a way that you believe that he has made his own Captain America, in and out of character. And I can't wait to see his career flourish even more.

Visually, I see that this film's 180 million dollar budget was well spent, the fights are well shot and choreographed relying less on wire-fu, which makes perfect sense narratively.

When the CGI hits, it does so like a freight train, I don't have an opinion on the Red Hulk, because well he's a red hulk; but he looks good just being there.

But man those green screen moments aren't fooling anyone, they stick out like a sore thumb.

Director Julius Onah has adamantly expressed the fact that this Captain isn't Steve Rogers, without beating it over the head of the viewer. The overall message is overcoming our circumstances despite whatever ideas the world might have of us, that anyone can change the world, without serums, power, influence, or whatever advantage the world might grant someone.

He gets the idea of Captain America, he gets the character, and why so many people love him, regardless of who's holding the shield.

This movie is fun and while it's no Winter Soldier, I think it's on par with Civil War.

Does it change my mind about the MCU? Absolutely not! But the damage is done, and I'm just going try to watch this stuff at my own pace, hell I'm going to keep skipping things that don't interest me.

But we need this film now more than ever to show what the American people can and should be.

I give Captain America: Brave New World a 3 out of 5.

#hollywood #movie review #marvel #disney #captain america #sam wilson #mcu #marvel cinematic universe #avengers #mcu fandom #marvel mcu #avengers endgame #anthony mackie #red hulk #brave new world #avengers assemble

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greenknightlao · 7 months ago

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Bleach 34

Mayuri and Kenpachi (especially Kenpachi) are gonna need a hand to take down Pernida here… in other news we finally get to see what Pernida looks like under his hood and IMO he looks like he might be someone who’s left handed… is it just me… oh I guess that is all CGI huh… kind of fitting… well now I’m concerned what were those things Mayuri shot at Pernida… the ending is still visually reversed huh… but this time Pernida is without his hood… huh so I guess that’ll be the next episode huh? Interesting… honestly probably for the best pacing wise if I’m right here think it’ll definitely make the fights here better.

#anime #anime and manga #bleach #bleach tybw #mayuri kurotsuchi #kenpachi zaraki #pernida parnkgjas #bleach thousand year blood war

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cannoli-reader · 2 months ago

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Watching the Wheel of Time show, season 3, episode 7

Originally posted on readandfindout.com on 4/11/25

Quick reminder: My own reactions at the time of watching are in red. Editorial meta comments are in blue and lines in green are points made from the perspective of a strictly show-watcher to point out places where such viewers might not understand something without the book content.

Emond's Field now has a log wall and a watchtower. Perrin is forging weapons while people drill with weapons, under not-Owein's eye, and Alanna trains the Cauthon girls. Perrin pauses to survey the preparations for war and advise a couple of helpers who are making weapons with him. One of them refers to him as Lord Perrin, and when he says not to call him that, the other calls him Lord Goldeneyes.

2:14 LoL. He's only teaching black guys how to be smiths. It's "black" smiths or nothing.

A bell rings. People start calling out that the Trollocs are coming, despite it being bright and sunny and the show's CGI not capable of enduring that kind of scrutiny. Everyone runs to the gate, where an old guy I am going to assume is Cenn Buie, says "Trollocs! And their wagons!" Perrin is puzzled by the mention of wagons and goes to peer between the logs, to see it's people. He says it's the Tinkers and to open the gate.

2:41 Oh, cool. Raen & Ila showing up again, with zero context. This oughta be good.

Quite a few wagons roll in, and in the middle of the line, sure enough, we get Ila and Aram.

3:03 Oh, I forget. Raen isn't really a thing in this version, is he?

They greet Perrin happily, although Ila doesn't seem pleased that he has an axe, and he asks about Raen, who was recently killed by Trollocs. Some of the wagons have arrows sticking out of them.

3:46 Not Taika Waititi! Those bastards! They killed my favorite Tinker. Because he was the one who never said anything stupid.

Perrin sends them off to get water, and Faile & the Maidens follow in behind the wagons. They all exchange looks with Perrin who says, "They'll come for us tonight."

3:57 So why were they not in front, to let the village know the Tinkers were friendly? Also, why are Bain & Chiad so sanguine about following after the Tinkers?

We get an overhead shot and pull out of the village to reveal several abattises erected outside the walls, in the area between the forest.

4:10 Awful lot of trees so close to the village, considering they are expecting an attack. Also, there is a lot of new wooden structures, which meant they needed wood, but could not be bothered to cut down the trees that would cause problems.

Title Card!

Perrin is eating with the Tinkers, and Marin serves them meatless food. Ila wishes Perrin had joined them, but Aram is still bitter about the attacks, and says he'd probably be dead like Raen. Ila pushes back with Way of the Leaf, because that's what they have always done.

5:10 I notice she's saying the "we bury our dead and go on" line from the Rhuidean flashbacks.

Perrin says that maybe the leaves are falling now, but people will long for spring when they see how bare the trees are, and then the Tinkers' "wagons will fill again." He looks around like he's expecting applause for stretching out the metaphor until it screamed, and Ila says maybe there's hope for him. Faile looks proud or miserable.

5:35 That sounded so patronizing. And nonsensical. What are the trees supposed to be in this metaphor? And Ila's reply sounds like Perrin has proved he can stoop to be as stupid as a Tinker.

Bain and Chiad eye Aram from another table, saying he's handsome for a coward and express with hand gestures what they might like to do with him. Loial doubts he'd like it, but Chiad says Bain would not actually do it, and "no Aiel would dirty themselves with a Lost One." They both spit in disgust, because wasting body moisture like that is a totally sensible custom for desert dwellers.

5:58 Can't even have Bain & Chiad express their issues with the Tinkers without using sex.

Several villagers appear to be making Molotov cocktails. Several women are hefting or sharpening blades as the men work on stakes and abatises.

6:10 Our second montage of military preparations in less than five minutes, and I've yet to see any evidence of the Two Rivers longbow. Which is the only way the village holding off the Trollocs was at all plausible.

Alanna is coaching the Cauthon girls through novice exercises, and one of them wants to learn to throw fireballs. Alanna says they don't have time to learn, so she's just going to use their strength in a link. They ask if she can throw lightning like Moiraine did, and she turns around in exasperation or something, and suddenly notices Daise Congar watching (behind the girls, the direction she was already facing, so that could not have been the reason for her spin). She greets her, guessing Daise is the new Wisdom and saying that she can see the weaves, so she must be able to channel, and has been watching the lessons all week. Daise isn't interested in learning to channel if she has to stop drinking. Light help me, but that is the actual script and not remotely my joke.

Not-Owein is guiding a group of villagers in spear moves, telling them that they just have to touch the enemy with poisoned spears, and being accurate isn't important, so they just have to hold the line.

7:13 That's bullshit. A. Trollocs, I am pretty sure, have much stronger constitutions, at the very least being capable of eating things that would make humans sick, and they are already much bigger and stronger than humans. And I doubt there are many natural poisons, available in temperate climates in the small mountain villages in large quantities, that can kill a Trolloc quickly enough to matter in battle. But even if they have something fast-acting, like liquid nerve gas, the last people who should be using it is a bunch of amateur, barely trained villagers, in close formation, where they are as likely to flick drips into each other's eyes or scratch themselves or each other with their weapons. When you're a bunch of effeminate theater kids and writing nerds, stick close to the methods given in the book written by a decorated military veteran, rather than trying to get clever, 'kay?

Cenn Buie takes exception to the admonition to hold the line, and not-Owein condescendingly tells him that the longer he holds, the longer his family will survive. Cenn retorts that he can hold the line all night with a Two Rivers longbow. Not-Owein is amused at the idea, and asks if Cenn can actually draw a longbow, which he insists he can, "better than you, boy." With a smirk he makes no effort to hide, not-Owein dismisses poisoned-spear class to fetch their longbows.

7:35 This should be a moment of not-Owein getting the smug wiped off his face, but they are playing this like Cenn is just an old crank.

Not-Owein gets himself a drink in the meantime, when Alanna comes up to ask about their progress. He says they're all going to die, LoL. Alanna is more optimistic because she found another powerful channeler, and blah blah Old Blood. Not-Owein concedes she was right & he was wrong and hopes that comforts her when they all die.

They look up to see a banner being unfurled, a white, or dingy tan, field with what looks like a pencil sketch of a wolf with a pig snout. Music starts up as everyone oohs and ahhs, and comes to look. Faile mocks Perrin saying she knows he loves it. He doesn't think the Two Rivers needs any banners, let alone that one, and she objects that she told people about Trollocs being afraid of wolves, and it gives them something to rally around. Perrin worries that he's not ready and Faile agrees he's not, but the people follow him because he's one of them, not the best fighter, like the Aiel or best general available, like Alanna. His ability to fight monsters gives them confidence they can do the same.

8:49 I just noticed but Faile is always kind of hunching forward.

Perrin appears to accept this and asks if she got a message to Lord Luc, and she replies that he said "they'll meet us at the pass."

At the pass, there are more people erecting abatises in the roadway and prepping arrows, and Dain Bornhald is waiting, taking a swig from his official Children of the Light flask.

9:38 Dain drinks. I'm going to start keeping track of these shots.

Faile speculates what if they just murdered Dain, but Perrin says they need their help, since the Children have 200 trained men, and reiterates that he means it, while she rolls her eyes, because she's so cute and spunky. Dain asks if they are trying to keep out the Children's patrols and Perrin says he's asking them to join the villagers against the Trollocs. Dain is skeptical of his claims about their numbers, but Perrin says they've taken as many refugees into their camp as the village has, and does that sound like only a few Trollocs, with his aha! posture.

10:13 That's not a win or even a smart argument. It says nothing about the Trolloc numbers, just how many people went running for shelter at the first sight of them. It could be the same band making the rounds, with each family having seen the same ones before fleeing. That was kind of the point of Emond's Field standing together, to have the numbers that can resist what scattered families can't. Also, the Children are taking in refugees. Their ITB incidental help is rather more substantial on the show.

Perrin insists that the Trollocs want to destroy them and will attack tonight. Dain is still skeptical and dismounts, saying Perrin knows a lot about them. Perrin says he's not a Darkfriend, no matter how much Dain wants him to be. Dain asks why he'd want that and Perrin says to make it easier to hate him.

10:36 He doesn't need any reason other than you murdering his father, while he was trying to save people from the Seanchan!

Dain makes that very point. Perrin says he's sorry. Honest.

10:52 Do the writers honestly think that apology makes it better? Perrin literally did that. There's no excuse. No justification. Also, he has no way of knowing the Trollocs are going to attack tonight, or if he has, the show has done nothing to establish their knowledge of that.

As Dain is stomping back to his horse, Perrin calls after him asking if he's sorry for what he did to Natti. He calls her "an innocent woman, burned alive, in your camp." Dain turns back as he adds the irrelevant datum that Natti was already their prisoner (like, those are the only people you actually can burn alive). Dain says she was a witch and Perrin says, without offering any sort of proof or counter, that she wasn't and died for Dain's grief.

11:15 This just sounds really stupid (and Marcus Rutherford's dumb voice doesn't help), because we saw what happened, and as far as anyone knows, Natti channeled, and received the penalty the Children exact, as we see in the first ever scene with the Children. Whatever one thinks of that practice, it is an established one, and Dain's grief has nothing to do with it. What's more, Perrin is not actually offering a diegetic argument, he is not saying anything to convince a person in the same world as he, who had the One Power used on him, and heard Natti take credit. His argument is aimed entirely at the show's audience the writers assume are automatically ready to accept all the worst things about the Children of the Light.

Perrin adds that Dain's father died for his (Perrin's) grief, and rhetorically asks "Where does all this stop?"

11:18 This is not some cycle of revenge nonsense. Perrin got mad that a soldier, in the middle of a pitched battle, killed a wild animal who was attacking his comrade in arms, so Perrin ran him down and attacked him by surprise and kept up mutilating his corpse, all while a battle was raging against their common enemies, and Perrin was ostensibly undertaking a vital mission to retrieve a critical object from enemy territory. Dain did not kill Natti out of revenge, he was holding her prisoner as an accessory to obstruction of justice, he was very much insistent on doing things by the book and not letting the Cauthons be harmed, when he was assaulted with the One Power for grabbing her hand when she was trying steal from him. He turned her over for execution when she admitted to doing it, in the first ever demonstrated instance of her prioritizing her children over herself. Perrin, and Perrin alone, has the information necessary to make all the right choices here.

Bornhald Sr had no way of knowing that Hopper was quasi-sapient or that Valda had gone off-mission for his own deranged grudge. Perrin knows these things, and knows the limits of Bornhald's knowledge (also he knows what a piece of crap Natti is). He is the one who had the power to not start the cycle by accepting that Hopper got involved in human shit, and paid the price and Bornhald's killing him was in innocence and ignorance. His implied plea to end the cycle, in his current position, is that of a man trying to evade the consequences of his own part.

Dain's answer for when it ends is "when the Light's justice is done." Perrin passionately argues that letting the village full of accessories after the fact be slaughtered isn't justice or revenge. He says it's a betrayal of what Dain claims to stand for and what his father stood for. Dain states, gesturing with his flask, that his father fought for the Light.

11:44 Seriously, if it was not for the usual shallow dipshit channeler-stan hate-boner the writers have for the Children of the Light, they'd never write this stuff, with a guy who wrongfully murdered a man, deigning to speak of and for him, to his bereaved family and ideological kindred.

Dain demands to know why they should fight for Perrin. He pompously replies that it's the right thing to do. He approaches Dain closely and offers that if Dain & the Children come to the village and fight for the Two Rivers, he'll go with Dain afterward.

12:05 Rutherford has three acting moves: there is the constant whispery voice that sounds like a normal person affecting stupidity. He furrows his brow, or scrunches up his nose, to indicate emotion. And finally, cocking his head with one of those expressions when he thinks Perrin has just said something clever. And that's it. Marcus Rutherford's entire acting repertoire.

12:16 Dain drinks.

He says he won't waste his men's lives on an empty promise, and that if the Trollocs don't finish Perrin, the Children will.

12:30 Notice how despite all the extra alcohol consumption they have inserted into the show, the signal that Dain is not reliable or "good" is that he punctuates every scene or conversation he is in by swigging from that canteen?

Loial is writing in a book, with Bain & Chiad standing over him. They ask him about a word in the text and he tells them it's the name of the last king of Manetheren, who died fighting Trollocs where they are. Bain notes the similarity of his name to Rand's. Loial stares at the camera for a bit, then gets up and turns to the Maidens, saying that if this is going to be their last night together, he'll finally play Maiden's Kiss.

13:24 Is nothing sacred? Keep your disgusting, grubby, sex-addled hands OFF of Loial you perverted hacks!

Not-Owein approaches Alanna in their attic, offering her a choice of food. She is excited for one of the choices, but when he hands her a bowl, she looks less than enthused, so I guess he lied about the good option. She asks, with too many words, if he wants her to turn off their bond so he can enjoy a little peace before the battle starts. He says no and her face lights up. He goes on to say that if it's going to be their last night together, he doesn't want to miss it. Also, he has a fig. They playfully fight over it, and she calls a man "you bitch" isn't this progressive?

14:08 Why is this getting serviced instead of the main characters? Oh, right. These are the main characters, in the writers' eyes at least. Yay, nepotism. But notice we know absolutely nothing about Alanna & not-Owein and especially Ihvon, outside of their relationship? Every trait, every datum that does not go on a resume, concerns their relationship. It's the entirety of their personalities and motivations.

They start getting their bond on, if you get my drift. He stops her from using one of Ihvon's moves, because he wants to build something new with Alanna.

Perrin is brooding over an axe, he looks up at something blurry in the foreground, as Faile comes up and leans on a post behind him looking very pleased with herself. Perrin tells her that her hidden knives give her away trying to sneak. She comes up to reassure him that it's okay to be afraid before a battle, her father is and he's stupid enough to marry a Darkfriend and let her get to the kids fought in many. He asks if she's afraid and she scoffs that she's not a baby.

16:20 I'm gonna let that slide on the girl-power charges, assuming she's joking.

Perrin says he's not afraid of dying, but of seeing everyone realize he's a shitty leader who has doomed them all. Faile says they would never have fought without him, but he says they'd have had to, since it's their home, missing the point. But, he adds, it's not Faile's home, and asks why she's fighting for it. She gives him a look, and he says it's not just because of him, since they only met a day or two ago and their relationship is based on exactly zero character development and makes the book version look like a slow burn. Her answer options are that A. the question proves Perrin doesn't take her for granted, B. Mat ruined her plans to win glory with the Horn or C. she likes lost causes (despite her fleeing the lost cause of exposing the Darkfriend general in the Saldaean army), but lucky for Perrin, she's here. He tries to convince her to leave to spare him her death, and she asks if he's afraid he'll kill her like his wife. He gets mad and tells her to leave, but she yammers about her choice and whatnot.

18:12 Once again, they're doing the thing where the answer does not fit the connotation of the other party's question on argument. Perrin is telling her to go away, because she went too far with her comment about his wife, separate from the 'please get clear of the fight,' request, but she's answering that one.

Loial has two spear points at his throat.

18:21 Nope. Skipping.

After the game, Loial asks if men have died playing it. Chiad says yes, and women, because we're so progressive, and Loial says that by stopping the game, they saved his life and met their toh and can leave.

19:26 And their version of making Loial clever is really just making Bain & Chiad incredibly stupid.

Chiad gets mad, saying it is dishonorable to cheat an Aiel of her toh even though that means cheating the person who is OWED the toh does not get repaid. She storms off, but Bain rationalizes that by his efforts, Loial is trying to save her, Bain's life, who didn't have any toh issues, so now she has toh and Chiad is part of a package deal.

20:00 Well, ji'e'toh is incoherent gibberish in this medium. Must be a day that ends in Y.

Perrin is chatting up Bode & Eldrin and they are bummed about not being more successful at channeling and Mat not coming home and he finally takes the opportunity to show them the stupid portrait of Mat with the Horn. They are amused by the appearance of the Horn and start making jokes about it and mocking Mat over it, with the best laughter child actors can fake.

20:48 Their father is missing, they haven't seen their brother in over a year and they just watched their mother burn to death. Glad we're taking characterization seriously, instead of selling out for cheap laughs.

The alarm bell starts ringing as Trollocs are spotted. They decide this is the time to all sit down in the inn for a meeting. Since they have torches, Perrin assumes they have Darkfriends with them, even though Trollocs were seen carrying torches the last time they fought in a battle on this show. Alanna is sanguine about the numbers, and they have eliminated all the approaches but the mountain pass, and the strategy is to wear down the attackers at the pass and then retreat back to other fighting positions along the way to the village. Ila asks why the Tinkers are in the meeting since they won't fight, no matter what. Perrin has a special mission, because no one can run faster than a Tinker. Bain and Chiad make some noises.

21:49 Okay, that was funny. I'll give them that.

Perrin wants them to take the kids out through a secret tunnel that the Women's Circle dug under the inn after the last Trolloc attack. They agree. Now Loial points out that the Trollocs will eventually win by attrition as long as they can keep bringing in more through the Waygate. He is going to go shut it for good, with Bain & Chiad. Perrin tells him once he completes the mission to return to a stedding to recover from the Longing. He says that three more fighters won't affect the outcome at the village, but if they fall, Loial's book might inspire others when it's their turn to face the Trollocs. Actually, his words suggest the book will tell people how to fight the Trollocs, but if someone else hasn't written a book or 500 on that subject over the last three thousand years, the world-building is even more stupid than I like to believe. Perrin bids him farewell, using the Ogier phrase of introduction, because it's book words, so what's the difference.

24:19 This is multiple commercial breaks, and we're still in Emond's Field. I am afraid this is going to be an all-Perrin episode.

Perrin, Faile & not-Owein ride up to the first line of defenses. Perrin has armor now, and he checks the swords of the two guys he was teaching in the opening scene, Just Like Aragorn At Helm's Deep. The multiethnic Two Rivers men & women collectively do a much better job of conveying nervousness than all but a handful of main characters on this show are generally capable of.

25:07 Suddenly everyone has a bow. Is the show saving the Two Rivers archery skills for a surprise?

Perrin starts singing the Manetheren song from the first season and everyone joins in.

26:04 Remember, in the first season, none of the Two Rivers folk had ever heard of Manetheren, and Moiraine did not tell the whole village, she told the three boys & Egwene once they were on the road. This song should be utterly meaningless to them. And Rutherford sucks at singing, too.

The trollocs approach, not-Owein is apparently in charge of the archers, because Perrin says to shoot and he gives the individual orders. Blessedly, no one says "fire!" They do a number on the trollocs, Perrin gives the most underwhelming roar of triumph ever, and the rest of the people respond better, and not-Owein archly indicates he's impressed by the Two Rivers longbow, despite the non-longbow appearance of the bows in question. Perrin orders shields, as the Darkfriends with the Trollocs run up to the first obstructions and loose a volley and we do the scene from Braveheart.

Loial & the Maidens are observing the Waygate, while the Maidens in handtalk indicate they think it's lightly and poorly guarded. A courier runs up to tell the guards that they need reinforcements, which seems to be ahead of their intended schedule, so the guard turns to open the Waygate.

27:50 It's not a reinforcements cupboard! There aren't (or shouldn't be) reinforcements just waiting on the other side of the door for when they are needed! Anyone remember Journey of Destruction? The Black Wind of Lies That Are True?

Loial says they need to close the gates before the reinforcements arrive, so I guess the guard is going to run back through the Ways to the Blight to call for more Trollocs, who will run down through the Ways to join the battle.

27:54 In the first season, it took more than a month to travel from the Two Rivers to Tar Valon, which was then an overnight trip away from the Borderlands, and they bailed early, before getting to the Blight. At a minimum the courier won't reach the Blight until tomorrow, but more realistically, much longer, and the same amount of time (actually longer, for larger groups) for the Trollocs to return. So the master calling for reinforcements is counting on not getting them for at least three days, and more likely several weeks. Which is why I thought at first the guard was just opening the Waygate to let more Trollocs out. So damn stupid.

The Maidens veil up and move out, with Loial carrying a giant hammer and they make a frontal attack on the guards.

Back at the pass, a Trolloc heaves up an abatis, overturning it, and missing the point that it does not matter which end is up, it's still in the way and you still have to get around it, making you easier to shoot. Perrin tells not-Owein "now", he calls for the archers and starts ordering them to shoot. IDK why this is a new thing or what "now" was supposed to mean. Not-Owein is drawing a bead on another target when Perrin comes up to him and tells him "now" again, and the warder looks down all grim. On a hill overlooking the battle, Alanna is apparently telepathically signaled by not-Owein, and links with the Cauthons and Daise to channel at the sky. A spirally pattern causes stormclouds to form, and both sides, including Trollocs, pause to stare up at the sky. Perrin & not-Owein start ordering their men back.

On the hill, the girls are starting to spasm, and Alanna screams, but in a deep, macho way, not a high pitched girly tone, Light forbid. Giant shards of ice start slicing down onto the battlefield.

29:55 Blizzard, huh? I'd have preferred Death and Decay, personally.

The Trollocs and Darkfriends retreat and everyone cheers. Not-Owein sighs that Alanna will be insufferable now. On the hill, the girls are thrilled and Alanna & Daise look tired but satisfied.

Faile wonders if they've given up, Perrin says if they are lucky and looks at the Warder who tells him to go see what's happening, that they will hold the pass.

Perrin & Faile ride back to the village, where people are running around in the streets. Alanna & co are coming from another direction and Perrin asks if she saw where they went. Alanna says they made a tactical retreat, which Faile is skeptical because Trollocs. Perrin confirms that their use of armor & discipline is unusual so someone must be controlling them. He hears a rumbling noise, but Faile doesn't and he calls out a warning to Alanna, right before she gets shot by a giant arrow, and screams, low and manly. Over at the pass, her warder reacts as if he has been shot.

Well, this bond is a singularly bad practice for combatants. One shot, two kills, eat your heart out, Billy "Ishamael" Zane.

Daise holds up a shield while the girls drag Alanna to safety, but arrow hits disintegrate the shield like she's playing Space Invaders, until it collapses and she gets shot.

Back at the pass, the Two Rivers folk guess why not-Owein fell down for no reason, and then the Trollocs show up. Cenn Buie suggests retreat, because they are not soldiers and now there is no Aes Sedai cover. Not-Owein makes a speech invoking Two Rivers stubbornness and contrarianism, and they are fired up.

32:55 Not-Owein has taken over the leadership role now. Hey, remember in the books, how the Aes Sedai visitor specifically said that the Two Rivers would not have accepted her leadership, or that of her warder? That it had to be Perrin? And how Faile made a similar point earlier in this episode? Guess not.

Loial & the Maidens finish off the Darkfriends guarding the Waygate. The Maidens wonder how to close it, and Loial holds up an Avendesora leaf saying it can only be closed from the other side. He opens the gate and turns, formally asking them if they will defend his back. They just stare as he enters the gate closes behind him.

34:20 I guess their answer is "No"?

Back in the village it's now dark and Perrin sees not-Owein leading the defenders back to the village, saying they held as long as they could without an Aes Sedai. Faile is concerned that without her they can't hold in the village either. Meanwhile, the Cauthon girls are failing to Heal Alanna. Rather than a "there is no try" lesson, she gives them a participation trophy pat on the head.

Outside a horn is blowing and Perrin asks who it is. The lookouts say it's the Children of the Light with a truce flag. The gate is opened and the Children ride in.

35:42 They have the abatises lined up alongside the road, leaving open to the gate. That's not how you do it! You put at least one just in front of the gate, so that no one can ram it, or rush the gate when it's open, and others in staggered positions so there is no straight path, breaking up the momentum of oncoming enemies, by forcing them go wind around and through the obstacles.

Faile expresses surprise that they came, because she wasn't at Falme, where they saved the continent by driving off the Seanchan. Dain says that it was the right thing to do. Dain says they came by way of the pass, and saw no Trollocs, that it was abandoned so Perrin, channeling the Stalinist sympathies of the showrunners, promptly executes not-Owein for cowardice in making a tactical retreat. For the slow kids, not-Owein explains that the Trollocs took the pass less than an hour ago and it should not be abandoned.

Then Fain rides in wearing the uniform of the Children. Perrin is shocked and tells Dain he's a Darkfriend, ordering the gates closed, but Fain's men kill the gatekeepers and Fain orders them to hold the gates. Long pause for drama, and he orders an attack and his Whitecloaks charge the good ones, and outside Trollocs come rushing, shooting fire arrows ahead of themselves. The villagers start hucking Molotov cocktails off the walls and they blow up in the Trollocs' faces, but they have a straight shot at the open gate, almost like one of us, and I don't mean the show-writers, knows what he's talking about.

The Children of the Light are pushing the gates closed, but the Trollocs reach them and shove them open again, and are now in the village. Perrin orders the archers who are on the rooftops to shoot, not-Owein orders the fighters back to form a line and hold the village square, and Faile shouts, quote "Guys, let's move!" For real. Dain tells Perrin he didn't know about Fain and Perrin shouts "You should have," officially rebuking the Children of the Light for not being sufficiently paranoid about Darkfriends.

A group of people of a certain gender, guess which one, are standing in a line, looking determined and grim, with Marin al'Vere behind them. Ila comes out of the inn behind her and Marin tells her to go now. Ila backs into the inn as Marin shouts for the Women's Circle to hold the line. They hoist shields, and hold spears over them, like hoplites in dresses.

Inside the inn, Ila and Aram start leading the kids to the escape tunnel. Outside, people are fighting and the Trollocs are getting all the kills, are you worried yet?

In the Ways, Loial is hammering at the frame of the Gate, and making it vibrate, but causing no damage. The lines of torch-bearing enemies is visible in the distance and he starts to get worried. Outside, Darkfriends approach calling for reinforcements, and seeing all the bodies. Bain & Chiad are just chilling on the steps, and when the Darkfriends and Trollocs get close, walk down the steps, veil and hoist their weapons, which I guess is what Loial meant by watching his back.

In the woods, Aram and company emerge with the children, children, not the heroes of Falme, only to hear a Trolloc, so they run as it pursues them.

In the village, Valda is lurching around holding his side, but still cutting down false Whitelcoaks, looking around like he's searching for something.

In the woods, the White Walkers are closing in on Winterfell, but, actually, I mean Aram is running with the Trolloc in hot pursuit.

40:12 Let me guess. Aram's going to kill this Trolloc and they're going to try to draw parallels to Hobbit Rand from the flashbacks.

He stops to hide behind a tree that is not as wide as he is, and the baby he is carrying starts to cry. The Trolloc pounces on someone and then turns toward Aram and he runs. It lunges at him from all fours, he ducks and it rolls over, dropping a blade. Aram stares at the blade, then as the Trolloc draws near, grabs it and stabs. He gets up with the baby still crying, holding the bloody sword and of course, Ila shows up. Aram drops the blade, but she backs away from him, horrified, because the Way of the Leaf is a hymen.

Perrin is defending the forge by punching a Trolloc. He uses the dangling chains to shove the Trolloc into the coals. He then watches out the window as Trollocs start carving up the Women's Circle, exclaiming "Everyone's going to die tonight because of me, I failed them" so we understand his arc.

Actually Faile is there with him, and he was talking to her. She says that failure is liberating, because now he's faced his worst fear. She asks what would he give for the Two Rivers, he scrunches his face and says everything. So she tells him to show them, he scrunches his face again and charges out. After tossing a Trolloc out through the wall of the forge, he is all manfully stomping around snarling when he sees a big hammer hanging up, that I think he was staring at earlier in the day.

Holding both hammer and axe, he heroically moves to the door, preparing to enter the fray and tells Faile to stay behind him. She starts to whine about trying to protect her and he tells her to kill the ones he misses. She grins. He wades into the fight, swinging both weapons, and one-shotting Trollocs, while Faile does spins and flips behind him and the soundtrack makes slicing noises, and Trollocs fall.

He rallies the people in the square and everyone is all hyped. Fighty-fight-fight. Dain and not-Owein are also shown fighting. Women kill some Trollocs and Faile expresses admiration for the Women's Circle. Valda comes into the area where the Cauthon girls are still trying to help Alanna. He tells them to step aside, and they do, only for the Power to start swirling around them as they hold hands, just like they did every time we've seen them channel before, but which they haven't tried while hovering over Alanna. Valda stares at them in horror, realizing he was duped by these devil children into executing their innocent mother for their crimes, and they incinerate him. He falls screaming, while Alanna laughs hysterically.

44:17 R.I.P. Emmon Valda. He died trying to save children from a witch. Congrats on that, show. You've repeatedly made the Children of the Light more heroic, despite your mindless contempt for them.

The watchtower is on fire, and collapses. Two women take down a Trolloc with the rope-held-between-us trick that only ever works on screen. Fighty-fight-fight. Perrin's just kind of standing there watching. Fain is also staring, giant teeth gleaming as he cuts a woman's throat. Perrin strides out to fight him, cutting down Trollocs that get in the way. Faile is riding one piggy-back, and prison-shanking it in the back of its head.

Perrin comes up to Fain, who laughs, but then looks worried when Perrin handily dispatches his two bodyguard Trollocs. He turns to run, but Perrin throws his hammer and knocks him down. He tackles Fain when he tries to get up again, and knocks the blade from his hand, and yells as he holds his axe over him. He just holds the axe while we follow Faile running somewhere for some reason. Back to Perrin and he is still holding up the axe, but can't bring himself to use it and holds it to Fain's throat.

He screams at Fain "Why did you do this to us! Why do you hate us?" but it sounds like "Whuh did yuh do dis do us! Whuh duh yuh hay tus?" And Fain can't believe this idiot, responding that he doesn't hate them, he DGAF about the people or the place, he's just following the Great Lord's orders to eradicate it in order to spite Rand.

46:00 You really needed to know this? You're as dumb as you sound, Perrin. By the way, what is the show's excuse for Perrin not surrendering to the Children after the battle, since they're actually fighting? Are the Children going to be slain to the last man defending Emond's Field? Or is Perrin going to just blow them off, after he has shown more scruples about killing a known Darkfriend then he did murdering the man who was leading the fight against the Seanchan?

He tells Perrin to kill him or don't, he has too many Trollocs coming through the Ways to stop, and the village won't live to see Bel Tine.

Back in the Ways, Loial is still banging on the doorframe, to no avail. He can hear their screams now. He stops, closes his eyes and hums, before holding the hammer, and then starting to bash the floor at his feet. He stares determinedly at the approaching enemy, and roars at them, before striking a final mega blow. The Waygate, with Loial, falls off the end of the bridge, just as they reach it.

47:41 Welp, guess they got tired of doing Loial's makeup each episode.

Dramatic music and singing over the Aiel slo-mo fighting outside the Waygate. Their enemies knock them to the ground, but before they are killed, the Waygate explodes in a fiery blast.

Perrin sees the light of the explosion in the sky. He tells Fain that he's not getting reinforcements, but Fain is undeterred, saying he has enough troops already. Perrin asks why he smells afraid, and points out that his people are just shepherds and farmers, but Fain is the only one who is afraid. Fain blurts out an offer of a deal, but Perrin says, no, he'll make Fain a deal. He stands up and tells Fain that he knows he's been controlling the Trollocs the whole time, so if he wants to live, he has to call off his army and run far away and never return. Or he can die right here for no reason.

Fain asks if Perrin will trust him to keep his promise, and Perrin says to trust that he'll keep up his end if Fain doesn't.

49:24 The only justification for Perrin to make this offer is that the Two Rivers folk are going to be overrun and killed without the deal. Which completely negates his ability to follow through on his threat if Fain backslides. This is a nonsense deal, allowing Trollocs to run free, and counting on the word of a Darkfriend. This is treason against the Light and criminal stupidity all in one.

According to Fain, the Dark One wants the Two River eradicated. So what he is going to do, go back to the Great Lord and say "Sorry boss, but they were going to kill me unless I called off the attack"? Either Fain is dead anyway, with no incentive to comply, or the Great Lord is a wuss and a pushover of a boss. Are we supposed to be worried about Rand facing him?

Fain starts calling out commands in what I assume is Trolloc. Suddenly, the Two Rivers folk are looking around with no enemies in sight. Fain keeps yelling as Perrin lets him up. He and the Trollocs and Darkfriends start running, and no one bothers to chase them too far, except for a couple of Children of the Light, briefly. Faile comes up to Perrin and they kiss for a bit despite their gross, bloody faces. Marin hugs them, there are backslaps with Cenn and then he grabs his pupil from the opening scene by the face, and presses their heads together, calling him "warrior."

Suddenly it's daylight and the cleanup is well underway. Alanna is sitting on the steps of the inn under her Warder's arm, when the Cauthon Twins approach holding hands. They ask if she'll take them back to the Tower, but she says no, because the Pattern has bigger plans for them, since they saved her life twice. They accept this means they have been drafted into her private organization and wander off. She & not-Owein exchange looks. Aram watches Ila on her wagon from a distance.

51:29 Good thing the Tinkers somehow knew to bring the kids home.

Marin comes up to Aram and informs the show-only crowd, and reminds the book readers, that his people are really good at mending pots, so she offers him the job of Two Rivers blacksmith.

Inside, Perrin & the girls process up to Loial's desk, where his book sits in a sunbeam, because he's dead, and not around to worry about the damage sunlight would do to his book. Perrin notes the presence of the book is inconsistent with his final orders to Loial and Faile says that leaving the book meant he knew he wasn’t coming back.

52:08 Shouldn't Bain & Chiad be getting punched repeatedly for letting a comrade get killed?

They say the stuff about waking from a dream. Perrin scrunches his face to indicate grief, while Bain mashes up Aiel & Ogier courtesies in a half-assed eulogy. She and Chiad wave their hands in a synchronized motion and smile like "We're done here" and walk off.

Perrin opens the book to the last page, and Loial voices over a pseudo-poetic description of how the Two Rivers leveled up and became badass. Perrin walks out of the inn just as Voiceover Loial starts to blow smoke up his ass, and the Children of the Light ride in.

Dain dismounts and approaches Perrin, with the moral high ground, now that all the evil black guys have been purged from the organization, and reminds Perrin of their deal. Faile's all WTF? And Dain goes on to recite the terms of Perrin surrendering.

Faile holds a knife and points out the correlation of numbers and other people start hefting weapons, with the Children drawing swords in response.

Perrin stands there like a lump for a moment, then remembers his lines and starts waving his arms, telling everyone to stop. Bain sheathes her knife. Perrin tells Dain he'll come.

Faile points out the "gonna kill you" drawback, and Perrin sanctimoniously says that's their choice. He compares it, with much face scrunching, to her choice to fight and adds that his choice is to >scrunch< stop fighting. He asks her to respect that and she's a WoT-on-Prime character, so she is dumb enough to accept it. Perrin makes eye contact with Ila, who is watching with her arms folded, and a vaguely quizzical look, like he's doing okay so far, but will he stick the landing.

Then he sanctimoniously proclaims to Dain that "Violence never ends until someone says 'enough'" and then the Dark One takes over the world. Ila seems proud and Faile's expression is as opaque as ever, but devoid of the usual smirk, so she's probably just glad she didn't let him past second base before she realized what a tool he was. Perrin holds out his hands for cuffs and the Children lead him off while Loial keeps on hyping him in voiceover.

As the Children mount up to lead Perrin away, his pupil shouts "Hail Perrin Goldeneyes, Lord of the Two Rivers!" Others join in as he walks with his hands held out melodramatically and a possible CGI tether leading him behind his captor's horse.

55:52 This is just retarded. There is no cycle of violence going on, just a case of either the Children interposing themselves where they don't belong, or Perrin being a criminal. And the way the show has depicted it, he is. Also, hailing him as your lord while he is being led off in fetters is weak. And on the show's part, having a voiceover claiming Perrin is awesome does not make up for the complete failure to show his awesomeness over three seasons.

The end.

55:59 Liars!

That was utter shit and the fans are probably going to eat it up, because of all the awesome battles. Even though they sucked and there was barely any story. Ugh. Also, they're all acting like the village is saved for good and for all time now, except the Dark One wants it destroyed because Rand. Well, nothing has changed in that regard, so why do we think there is not going to be a bigger, badder attack, escalating if they are fought off, until the Dark One gets what he wants?

#wot on prime #season 3 #books vs show #timestamp annotations

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mx-mryzptlk · 6 months ago

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I'm still turning Wicked over in my mind over and over after a single watch but I really think it sets a gold standard for what a movie adaptation of a musical should be. It really takes advantage of things film can do that stage just can't. Besides just being a straight-up very strong adaptation (I actually can't name a single change I thought *detracted* from the musical, they were all either neutral or improvements, which is a first for me), there were so many little things I adored. Just to name a few (based on a single viewing of the movie so kind of surface level but I really just need to get this all out there):

Spoilers so I put them after the break

Most obvious is the set design, especially for Dancing Through Life and One Short Day. One Short Day in particular is a HUGE step up, the stage version just really can't get across the level of gross spectacle needed for the city in the same way that the movie can.

Exact opposite direction: being able to really zoom in and see subtle facial expressions changes the valence of certain moments. The opening number has a COMPLETELY different vibe with shots of Glinda's increasingly visible discomfort as the celebration gets more and more violent while she's still obviously trying to hide it. It really set a very strong tone for the whole movie in line with what the story is clearly intending but which is necessarily lost on stage where you can't really see the actors' faces as clearly.

Being able to have the Animals actually be animals instead of people with prosthetics, and mixing them into crowd shots made them feel like more of a part of daily Oz life, and adding more background things (like the giant Animal fresco that's revealed when Elpheba accidentally destroys the bas relief of the Wizard at Shiz on her first day) makes it feel more profoundly fucked up how they're being targeted.

The way that CGI is used for all of the magic in the movie but the Wizard's song and little tricks in the preceding sequence are all standard parlor tricks/stage magic done with no CGI

Story thing: Morrible having a seemingly closer relationship with the Wizard from the jump gives A Sentimental Man a much more explicitly manipulative sense than before since she likely fed him info about Elpheba's relationship with her father. I always read it as deliberate manipulation but there's much more here now.

The big escape sequence taking place in a room full of the Wizard's old memorabilia from his past life was fun.

The ability to make stuff look like the original Wizard of Oz movie is really cool too, I'm especially a fan of the little opening pan with Dorothy + friends skipping home (with the cowardly lion an actual lion!!)

Just like... the whole thing made really good use of the fact that film can expand the degree of spectacle and get much closer in on small details to show subtle acting than stage, without sacrificing the most fun parts of the stage musical

Almost all the best songs are in part 1 though and Nessa's storyline uhhhhhhhhhh cannot work so I'm.......... interested to see if they can keep up the quality in part 2

#wicked #i wrote all of this while i was supposed to be working #these are first pass thoughts i only finally saw this movie yesterday i was BUSY

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mistyheartrbs · 9 months ago

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vengeance thoughts

-i think the writers forgot mercedes became a vampire at the end of s4. rip queen you were a character of all time

-did we need to hear nedley say the word "rizz"

-karen knox of barbelle (2017) fame as the villain...i love you incredibly tight-knit canadian television community

-obsessed with the scene where they contrived an excuse for dominique provost-chalkley to speak french, sexily, despite it adding nothing to the plot.

-honestly my favorite callback of all the callbacks was The Goo. i remember The Goo. i remember everyone's angsty wayhaught theories about The Goo that never came to pass. and we finally got that angsty gooverly vs nicole fight everybody has wanted since 2016

-wayhaught sex

-hellhound designs were cool as hell tbh. i love you practical effects

-i liked how waverly and wynonna essentially switched places by the end - wynonna settling down, waverly seeing the world - and especially how that tied into waverly's arc in s1. she starts the series being held back by the expectations of her tiny town and nicole expands her world beyond what she could have dreamed of, but you can only rely on one person to do that to a point. eventually you have to make the choice to keep growing and keep changing yourself.

-not sure how to feel about doc's death? it did make me cry a little but it just felt like kind of a weird choice to do something so needlessly dark and sad when especially with the emphasis the show had on hope and love prevailing at all costs. it cheapens the s4 finale in a way i don't necessarily like (something which is very much exemplified through the final shot - paralleling the lovely "everyone welcome" ending shot of the series, where it was a capstone on a story that was defiantly, beautifully kind despite being about a woman who kills glowy cgi monsters with a magic gun, with a so-so "but demons please knock!" joke). kind of feels like doc himself in a way - something dead, dragged back to the surface a few too many times.

-that said, i couldn't tell if jeremy's "we're going to fix this" bit was about tracking down lafferty or bringing doc back? they definitely left the door open and since andras is very openly gunning for s5 it would be weird for them to do it without doc. so i wouldn't be surprised if they did a "the gang journeys into hell to get him back" arc if/when s5 happens (<- said the exact same thing about dolls in 2018)

-waverly in a gay little suit

-all in all absolute return to form for wynonna earp - i've been watching buffy for the first time and it was great to watch wynonna next to it, truly the heir apparent. quips and mcguffins and absolutely heartwrenching character work and beautiful women on my television screen. monster of the week i hope you never die

#wynonna earp #we spoilers #natsuki's terrible disco pants

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silencefromafar · 9 months ago

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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.

#trop season 2 #trop analysis #the rings of power season 2 #sauron #galadriel #celebrimbor #saurondriel #haladriel #adar #Balrog #durin's bane #arondir #shadow and flame

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