Adar

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.

So much of the story is still being laid down for this series. We have one of the most beautiful TV shows but it just hasnt got that feel from the original movies, the grit and dirt has been completely taken from the story. So just hasnt got the same feel.

The first time that Numenor is shown on screen and that is a major point for any of the stories that are from the world of Tolkien. The characterization of Isildur hes very young in this series but how many years is this before the battle for middle earth at the end of the second age? Hes meant to be a king and found Gondor but seeing him here this is a very different take and hopefully he leaves the island to found a new city with the southlands to keep watch over Mordor after seeing the sign of Sauron is actually the mountain range including Mount Doom!

The story between Galadriel and Isildur's father was great. The connection between the Harfoots and the Meteor man is getting better and with the amount of theories that are floating around its going to be one hell of a ride by the end of the series! Then the best part of the story so far is Arondir and his fight with the Orcs in the deep south of Middle Earth. The Orcs are perfectly crafted in every way, no more CGI giant Orcs, old school makeup and acting is great to see. All expressions and movements can be seen its great to be back at seeing that. The final moments of the episode is awesome that we never got to actually see who Adar is. I can only hope that his structure is one of the Ringwraith as he stands closely to who stabbed Frodo on Weathertop. Or this could be the early introduction to the Mouth of Sauron who helping push the mythology of the character.

Overall this is a story that is growing and growing. So much of the second age isnt documented but i hope it continues to adhere to the source but crafting the best stories for everyone to enjoy.

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.

Episode 3 of Rings of Power is a vast improvement over the previous episodes. I know the bar for that is pretty low, but ep3:Adar is actually pretty decent. It's not amazing, there are plenty of problems here like the usual bad dialogue the average acting and poorly paced story - of which is finally progressing. In the first episode and we are finally moving forwards with the plot, that is a major issue.

The characters are all still stiff and only few of them stand out. Halbrand is the stand out here, he plays a street smart rogue and the actor does a pretty good job. Everyone else.... not so much. Galadriel is still dull main character as is Arondir. Although the parts with the orcs were good moments. I was glad to see the orcs in full make-up and costume.

I'm not fully knowledgeable of Tolkien's works, but I know some of it and a lot of the story and characters don't add up, which is my biggest issue with this series as a whole. I know you can't critise the series without being named all sorts of insults, but the Elves are the weakest part about this episode and the series. They just don't work at all. The elves are supposed to be elegant and stunning and should never look old. There are several old looking elves and it is just weird.

That aside for the bad, the best thing about this episode were the scenes in Númenor. The visuals and sets built for this place were astounding, even if it didn't make a lot of sense.

Ep3 was a better episode but it still isn't great. The story is still poor, the characters bland and is carried mainly by it's visuals (apart from that warg, that looked horrific).