They sure have spent a lot of time on those characters, given that the only one who seems to be relevant to the plot is the mysterious big guy from the sky.
I admit that the Nori character is charming. But yeah, that subplot always slows things down, and at any rate hobbits of any kind are not supposed to be relevant in the second age. I want to see story development in Numenor, and also in the South with the orcs rising. I'm looking forward to watching it sometime this weekend.
Along the lines of your hobbit comment and the speculation as to Sky Guy's identity, Gandalf (Olorin) doesn't get sent to Middle Earth until the third age, as well, right?
Correct. He can't be Gandalf. Though arriving nestled in the middle of an asteroid would be a pretty cool way to come to Earth.
As a certified Tolkien nerd I can assure you that Gandalf arrived to Middle Earth in the third age. Also, he arrived by sea and was greeted by the elf Cirdan at the Grey Havens. It was Cirdan who entrusted him with the ring of fire. However, there is a plot opening if they want to be weird in a Marvel Comics way. After Gandalf fell fighting the Balrog at Moria he passed out of time. In the Two Towers if I recall correctly he tells Aragorn that he has forgotten much that he knew and learned many new things (something like that). So, what if, after fighting the Balrog and presumably dying, Gandalf is brought back to the second age, for an important purpose, like to learn something he needs to know in the third age? It would fit with his being brought in a fireball and not remembering who he is. If that's what they are trying to do, then the purpose for Gandalf being there better be damn important!
Whoa. That's some meta-LotR-nerd shit right there. I was figuring it's one of the Blue Wizards, that it landed in the West before traveling East. They are only briefly mentioned at all in the Unfinished Tails, so I'm guessing they have lots of liberty to write their story as they wish.
Saw a theory that Halbrand could end up being the king of the army of the dead that Aragorn leads in ROTK. I actually like this theory more than the others I’ve seen, him being Sauron seems stupid and the Witch King only slightly less. Could totally see him promising to help then bailing on Numenor.
I'm pretty sure they aren't sent until the third age, as well, but I could be wrong. [rushes off to lotr.fandom.com to check] Well, seems in The Peoples of Middle Earth, Christopher Tolkien speculates they may have shown up around the time of the forging of the rings.
I watched a video on this recently (by Nerd of the Rings, who’s very good until he starts trying to do voices in character, super cringey). And apparently Tolkien originally said they came in the third age but modified that to second age in later writings, and he changed their (sparse) story significantly. But in both versions they we’re supposed to be good friends who arrived together, so if it is one of them this is very different.
That would be a nice arch. As I recall, he swore oaths and then betrayed Elendil, or Isildur, so the timeframe fits.
Big foreshadowing too, when he cut his ship from the rest of the flotilla instead of trying to help others.
For sure, but my point is that their story is basically completely untold. It wouldn't change much of the larger LotR world if only the Harfoots had interacted with one/them, and the whole thing was unnoticed by anyone else. edit: definitely much less of a modification than Galadriel's story arc.
Yeah totally agree, I’m actually leaning toward one of them being the likeliest choice. And maybe he’s even trying to find his buddy. I also just REALLY don’t want it to be Gandalf….
Sauron disguised himself to befriend the Elves and work with them on the forging of some of the Rings of Power Sauron was a Maia Gandalf was a Maia If Gandalf was present at the time a disguised Sauron was mixing with the Elves, there is a good chance he would have recognized/felt the real Sauron Unless in the histories they have him come after Sauron revealed himself I don’t think Gandalf is the comet man, could be another Maia At least that’s what I suspect…. That or it’s Sauron himself
Right. A new character would make more sense than an existing character, and the blue wizards had no role in the Lord of the Rings story. And that's why I don't think the stranger can possibly be Sauron. That would be a huge mistake. Sauron, for all of his grandiose plans to dominate every race, had completely overlooked hobbits, at least until he found out that one of them had the ring. He never made a ring for them, as they were of no account to him (or to elves men or any other sentient race), and it's likely that he might not even have known of their existence. So, it wouldn't make any sense that they would have been the ones who found him and interacted with him in the 2nd age.
Yeah, I agree. Don't ruin Gandalf like you ruined Galadriel. But, unfortunately, I could see them wanting to force Gandalf into the stories, as he is one of the most popular characters in the books and in the Peter Jackson movies.
The writing for Galadriel remains horrid. I also find it hard to really care much about Elrond and Durin so far. I'm sure it'll become more significant soon enough but right now it isn't justifying the screentime devoted to it.
Personally I think seeing we know Saurons role in the forging of the rings/numenor he will need to be revealed to the audience but not to the elves or numenorians But i wonder if we even get up to that this season?
Also Sauron was already around in the 1A? He's been shown on screen already so he has to be already in middle earth.
Two of the four plot threads move -- Galadriel/Numenor, and Arondir/Southlands. The other two threads, being Elrond/Durin and the Hobbits/BIg Sky Guy, do not.
I switched it off after 15 mins At least tits and dragons has some upsides - this is like season 2 of the walking dead with epic production values of Herschel's barn
Side point, but the scene of Rhaenyra leaving the palace at night in Episode 4, wandering the streets in a giddy and intoxicated daze, and eventuslly losing all inhibitions was brilliantly filmed. It was perhaps the most convincing depiction of youhful bad judgement that i have seen. I felt as if I were 18 once again. There's no brilliance like that associated with ROP. I am not knocking the show, mind you, just saying that its filmmakers don';t have that special touch.