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.

Whilst it was enjoyable to see Numenor, this storyline feels slow and laborious, with the scenes of Isildor feeling like they were more bothered about name dropping than anything of substance. Although this part of this episode underwhelmed me, I do think this storyline is the one with most potential, and I'm very excited to watch it play out.

The Harfoot storyline is dull, I feel no affinity to any of the characters or the plot that they will ultimately be pushing along. I don't think I'd have such issue if there wasn't such screen time taken up. If they had been given no screen time and you now saw them migrating with some stranger, then I don't think anything would be different. Waste of screen time.

For me the Arondir portion of this episode was great (minus the killing off of unimportant characters trying to evoke emotion from the watcher). It provided actual world building and gives a better picture of what is going on in the Southlands.

Overall I think the episode was a step in the right direction. Hopefully as the world develops, we will spend more time with the more significant and interesting storylines.

Lord of the Rings was plot heavy, and the main difference I see with that and Rings of Power is that it feels aimless. We're 3 episodes in and I still feel like it's lacking in overall direction.

What has happened so far could easily be condensed into 1 episode, and I'm sure the watcher would still have the same affinity with the characters.

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.

I hope this episode wins more over to the show, as I felt it really got things moving story wise. The visuals and music really whisk you away and immerse the viewer in this vibrant world. That is something to behold, even if you don't like the story.

I enjoyed seeing Númenor, as well as other familiar characters from the history of Middle-Earth. The episode does a good job switching between storylines, and while there are a few moments where I thought it lagged or wasn't the best, it just delivers with each new scene.

The Harfoot's continue to be the heart of the story, and they very much have won me over with the character of Nori Brandyfoot. She's a kind, sweet, and curious person who wants to do the right thing.

There are some Orcs in this one, and I won't get into spoilers, but the scenes surrounding them were great. I loved seeing practical Orcs again, and not the terrible CGI ones from the Hobbit films. Bravo to The entire makeup and costume department. They most certainly will wins some awards for this.

Overall, and exciting episode with some more great word-building and some tender heartfelt moments that really shine out and remind me why I love Tolkien and his world.