Adar

This episode is a slow one but it is setting up different story lines. The harfoot storyline is quite boring, I hope it fizzles out abit as the show goes on. The new island of men introduced us absolutely stunning. Listen, I haven't read the books but I am a diehard lord of the rings movie fan. The show is quite slow but you can tell it's building up and I believe it will payoff. If you ignore the hate around this show you will find a decent show which is only going to get better. The special effects are absolutely fantastic. The orcs don't look half bad either. I know this isn't the world Tolkien envisaged, but it is an interesting one.

I think this episodes has some improvement from the last two. Keeping the episode focused on only three different stories is much nicer than the back and forth of 4-6 stories in the last two episodes. So far in the series I haven't really been interested in any of the characters or story lines however the Númenóreans has so far been the most interesting setting and characters so far and this episode managed to make me more interested in Arondir. The Halfoots were much of the same, I didn't really care for it but it you liked them in the first two episodes you'll probably like them here. On episode 3 and it's still feels like there's a lot to set up, and I'm nervous the whole season will end up feeling like set up however it does seem to start to get its footing.

The introduction to Númenór as it was slowly revealed was great.

The writing and dialogue is a still not anything great however my issues seemed reduced in this episode and contains a couple stronger written scenes. The action and cgi wasn't great in its direction and I really hope they'll change the style of action in the future.

If you liked the first two episodes I think you'll like this one even more though if your like me with some criticism and skepticism I think this episode is at least an improvement from the last.

The cinematics, visuals, and similar elements of this show continue to be fantastic. It's also at a point in the story where it's expanding into other realms and cultures (Numenor, Orcs, etc.), so this is also an exciting part of the series.

The thing that sticks out and, in my opinion, is lacking is the writing and storytelling. There's a lot of (for lack of a better word) lazy dialogue that's added to explain the deeper lore or character history. For example, Muriel asking Pharazon who the captain (Elendil) is not only doesn't make sense for the greater lore, but I think it's also a device the writers use to quickly tell the audience who the character is. There's a similar moment when Halbrand doesn't seem to know what Numenor is so Galadriel just tells him the quick backstory. Just my opinion but this feels like lazy world-building. Strangely enough, mainly because she's such an important character to both the show and in Tolkien's universe, Galadriel's storyline is the only storyline that I've completely lost interest in. I do like Morfydd Clark and think she's doing as good a job as she can, but I'm just not interested in Galadriel's storyline.

Overall, I did enjoy the episode and think there are some interesting storylines developing, but I think it fell short when it came to writing and world building.

8.4/10.

Overall solid third episode. With some breathtaking cinematography, beautiful soundtracks, and an interesting plot.

I really enjoyed this episode. It started off strong with Galadriel and Halbrand arriving at the Kingdom of Númenor. That arc was the best part of the episode for me. Halbrands attempt to fit in and make a new life for himself doesn't work out since the natives are not welcoming. Galadriel travels with Elendil and finds interesting information about the Southern Lands and Sauron.

Arondir and a group of men from his company get captured and are forced to work as slaves by what I assume are Orcs. Throughly enjoyed this arc as well.

The only part of the episode that somewhat dragged is the harefoot storyline with the mysterious man. It was the weakest part of the episode for me but wasn't enough for me to dislike it. I'll want to see what they do with these characters later on.

ROP is on top of the game visually & musically speaking (it is at least expected given the $ behind it). Each & every single shot does not waste anything, you can tell the huge mgmt behind it. The pace so far has been very slow, with many conversation filler scenes; the story within the series is still on the making yet there are many interesting hints that need be developed. This episode is okay, maybe it was just us expecting it to be very much lotr-recalling, but if we detach from this perspective we'd enjoy it more. The characters are well written, I really like the development of Galadriel & Arondir; on the other hand acting-wise...not so good.

The 5 arcs story goes on peacefully & coherently, some are more boring than others yet. Lets see how it continues!