I've seen all 4 of the current episodes nao. I am enjoying the show, even if it takes liberties with the material.
I am glad they are showing the more "reasonable authority figure" side of Gil-Galad, because that's what he was. And he certainly would NOT want to leave middle-earth to darkness. I'm also glad Cirdan showed up, and yes he is one of the oldest elves.
Annatar using Celebrimbors pride in wanting to be as great as his grandfather Feanor....is EXACTLY what Sauron would do.
I did like the flashback to when Adar and his orcs destroyed Sauron's previous form. He deserved it! Of course, being a Maia, he is hard to kill.
I enjoyed seeing Durin and Disa again, and Durin and Durin-dad reconciling. I smiled when Durin knew Annatar was full of shit regarding Elrond. Elrond loves Durin like a brother, but he'd NEVER say he's the wisest of Dwarves. That Chief Miner Narvi is the one who makes the west-gate of Moria with the "Friend" password using Celebrimbors Ithildin stuff he showed to his assistant.
I'm glad Poppy showed up and I figured she would follow the Stranger and Nori. The dark wizard to the east....at first I thought he might be a human user of "magic" descended from those who served Morgoth. But after he brought back one of the Pale Weirdos, I figured he had to be some lesser Maia gone bad who had served under Morgoth/Sauron in the first age.
I was totally surprised by Tom Bombadil showing up with his Hey dol, merry dol ring-a-dong dillo. His goat being named Iarwain is a reference to one of Tom's names: Iarwain Ben-Adar. He is Oldest, Fatherless, and the woman singing is his wife...Goldberry. What he is exactly is unknown....but he knows things. IIRC Tolkien said that he isn't Eru Iluvatar (God) because Eru can't fully enter Arda (the world) without destroying it. But he isn't a Vala or Maia either. Think of him as a sort of Druidic-neutral Father Nature. There was also a reference to Old Man Willow when the tree swallow'd the Stranger. (It was also referenced in the Extended Edition of LoTR in Fangorn when a huorn tries to eat Merry/Pippin)
The Withywindle he refers to is a river in the Old Forest...one of the last remnants of the Great Forest of the Elder days. (alongside Fangorn and Mirkwood). The old Forest is near the Shire and some of the Stoors of Buckland know about Tom Bombadil. What are Stoors? a type of Hobbit. They like water more than the others, also wear boots now and then. Smeagol's people were Stoors of the Gladden fields off the Upper Anduin west of Mirkwood.
And that "Suzat" place that Stoor Matriarch was talking about sounded like the shire didn't it. rolling hills, green lands, rivers. Do you know what the name of the Shire is in untranslated Hobbitish? "Suza"
Yes, Ents know elvish, it was the elves that taught them to speak and woke them up. They use a very formal form of Quenya as Entish.
The phrase Adar says to Galadriel is "Elen Sila lumenn omentielvo" an elvish phrase from LOTR....Adar even uses the Quenya version of her epesse "Galadriel"...Alatariel.
Forgot to talk about the Numenorean plot with Earien being a dumbass and listening to Pharazon and revealing the Palantir. Palantir were once prized relics! The Numenoreans used them to know what was going on throughout their realm and communicate between them. Yes, there's more than one and it's good that Earien doesn't know that. Seven Stars and Seven Stones and One White Tree. The Eagle was obviously NOT sent to approve of Pharazon the Asshat..but he had to overthrow Tar-Miriel somehow. I was annoyed at how cheap the numenorean sceptre looked, the prop people should have done a better job. They got the Tar Miriel's Diadem right though. Miriel's over a hundred years old at least, since her father dies in 3255 SA
This won't be the first time Elrond will carry one of the Three. (He gets Vilya when Gil-Galad gets fried by Sauron) Not a spoiler because that's shown in the prologue of LOTR:Fellowship!
