Zothique kickstarter

I’ve long been a great fan of Clark Ashton Smith’s fiction, especially his fantasy stories set in Hyperborea, Averoigne, and Zothique. Indeed, on balance I would rank his work to be at least as innovative and compelling as that of his “pulp” peers, H. P. Lovecraft and R. E. Howard. Unfortunately, despite his influence on a few later authors – most notably, Jack Vance – CAS’s writings are not especially well-known.

So I naturally was intrigued when I learned about a kickstarter to produce an illustrated omnibus of CAS’s Zothique stories, as well as role-playing adaptations of the setting. The latter consist of: The Zothique RPG Campaign Guide (the gazetteer and rules for the setting), The Denizens of the Dying Sun (essentially a “monster manual” for Zothique), and Litanies of the Dead: A Trilogy of Doomed Adventures (three adventures).  

Unfortunately, the role-playing systems in question are 5th edition Dungeons and Dragons, Dungeon Crawl Classics, and Shadowdark. I’m not really interested in any of these systems. The possible exception is Shadowdark, which I think is fine but nothing special. (I’m a little puzzled by its current popularity, to be honest. I have nothing against it, but for this kind of “rules-lite-ish, deadly, low magic” game, I regard Dragonbane to be a superior alternative. Nonetheless, unlike 5e D&D, I would be happy to try out Shadowdark some time. But enough of this tangent…)

I plan to get the omnibus. CAS’s short stories are available for free online (at Eldritch Dark). But it would be nice to have them all collected into a sturdy, attractive physical tome. I’m going to skip the RPG adaptations, but perhaps others might find them of interest. 

[Map by G. R. Hager. From Eldritch Dark.]

Praise for Songs of the Dying Earth

Among my favourite works of fantasy fiction are the Dying Earth stories and the Lyonesse trilogy by Jack Vance. I’ve read the Lyonesse trilogy three times and most of the Dying Earth stories twice since I first discovered them as a teenager. While I preferred the Lyonesse trilogy when I was younger, as it was (despite its many quirks and abundant dry Vancian humour) closer to the “high fantasy” style that I adored then, I now think that I prefer many of the Dying Earth tales overall, especially the two Cugel sagas, due to the remarkable uniqueness of the setting and characters. In any case, they’re all well worth reading if you’re a fan of fantasy fiction. 

I recently finished an excellent collection of short stories written in honour of Jack Vance called Songs of the Dying Earth. It actually took me a few years to get all the way through the twenty-two stories included in the volume. This isn’t a criticism – after reading a few stories I would put aside the volume in order to read something else for a while (a new novel or whatever). That’s the nice thing about short story collections: they’re easy to dip into if you want to read a few tales and then put aside without “forgetting” anything important to continue onwards later.

The collection includes a preface from Jack Vance and stories from an impressive set of authors. I especially enjoyed the stories by Robert Silverberg (“The True Vintage of Erzuine Thale”), Jeff Vandermeer (“The Final Quest of the Wizard Sarnod”), Glen Cook (“The Good Magician”), Byron Tetrick (“The Collegeum of Mauge”), and Tanith Lee (“Evillo the Uncunning”).

But in my judgement the best one of the bunch – and the one that is a proper novella because of its length – is “The Guiding Nose of Ulfänt Banderõz” by Dan Simmons. It is a wonderfully bizarre tale that captures the flavour and “ethos” of the Dying Earth delightfully well, but without simply trying to imitate Vance’s style. It’s worth the price of the book alone. 

One thing I especially like about many of the stories in this collection, as well as Vance’s own classic Dying Earth tales, is that the protagonists often are magicians. I love mages (or wizards or sorcerers or whatever) and regret that they are only rarely the main characters in fantasy stories. 

The Lord of the Rings film trilogy with live music

This was one of the most enjoyable experiences I’ve had in recent years: watching Peter Jackson’s film trilogy, The Lord of the Rings, accompanied with live music -- in the case of The Return of the King, the FILMharmonique Orchestra, along with the Amadeus Choir, the Bach Children’s Chorus, and soloist Kaitlyn Lusk -- at Meridian Hall in Toronto. One film was shown each January over the past two years (The Fellowship of the King in 2023, The Two Towers in 2024, and most recently The Return of the King in 2025).  

Although I have my criticisms of specific aspects of the films (the portrayal of Denethor especially rankles), overall, they do a great job of capturing the look and feel of Middle-earth, and the spirit of the novels. Visually and musically, they are amazing -- the Howard Shore score is singular. It’s hard to describe just how much live music added to the experience.

Some people were dressed up as characters from the films. A few people complimented me on my "I survived Helm's Deep" hoodie.

The Main Problem with the Rings of Power series

So, the final episode was a mixed bag like the rest of the series. 

• The “Wizard” storyline ended pretty much as I expected (disappointing, lazy, and predictable). The story of the Istari belongs to the Third Age. There is no narrative reason for the writers to cram them into the Second Age (especially given that they already have too many other storylines to properly unfold). (But it looks like the proto-hobbits won't be around for next season? Or is that too much to hope?) 
• The Durin III conclusion made no sense. (He single-handedly managed to bury the balrog with a swing of his axe? And since the dwarves now know that a balrog lies beneath Khazad-dûm, why would they later “dig too deeply” and release it in 1980 of the Third Age?)
• The Númenor storyline feels forced and under-explained. (You would have no idea of the central role that the “fear of mortality” vs “faith” plays in the conflict between the “Kings’ Men” and “the Faithful.”) 
• The Adar story was a surprise and I found it moving. 
• A solid ending for Celebrimbor. (I like how he manipulated Sauron into killing him, thereby ending his torment.)
• Sauron/Annatar is a joy to watch whenever he's on the screen (the actor Charlie Vickers really captures the essence of the character). 
• And … how the hell is Gil-Galad the High King of the Elves? He’s portrayed as an indecisive doofus in the series.

Taking a step back and considering the series overall (both seasons), the MAIN PROBLEM with it is that it comes across as something written by people who are only familiar with the Peter Jackson films but have been given some notes and lines to use from the novels. It’s as if a group of people thought about what a cool “prequel” to the movies would involve, and, almost as an afterthought, were given a sheet with a list of things from the Second Age to mention as well. 

Sadly, The Rings of Power is not what a series that aimed to tell a story about some key events of the Second Age – as described by J.R.R. Tolkien – would look like. It is no wonder that people who actually like the writings of Tolkien find it so disappointing.

Finally, I assure you that this almost certainly will be my last post on this frustrating television series for some time (at least until the third season is imminent).

Rings of Power Season 2 Thoughts

Season 2 of The Rings of Power is definitely better overall than season 1. But the series remains, on balance, disappointing.

Below are some quick thoughts on RoP season 2.

Positive:

• The sets in both seasons are great. Ost-in-Edhil, Númenor, and (especially) Khazad-dûm look amazing.
• Many of the actors are quite good and are well cast for the characters they represent (e.g., Elendil, Annatar, Celebrimbor, Durin IV, Elrond, Miriel, Ar-Pharazôn). 
• I like the new character Adar and the nuance that he brings to the condition of orcs in Middle-earth (a topic with which Tolkien himself struggled throughout his life).
• The original character Arondir also is cool (and well-acted).
• The relationship and interactions between Celebrimbor and Annatar this season are quite compelling. Annatar’s “gaslighting” of Celebrimbor is well done overall, I think. (But I’m annoyed that the relationship unfolds over a period of months instead of decades.)
• The portrayal of Sauron (Annatar) this season has been excellent. 

Negative:

• I’m still really annoyed by the grossly compressed timeline. Smashing together events from the middle of the Second Age – the forging of the rings and the war of Sauron and the Elves – with events near the end of the Second Age – the fall of Númenor – irritates me to no end. 1700 years reduced to … 170 days?
• Not only does the compressed timeline make a mess of the history of Middle-earth, it creates too many storylines, none of which are adequately developed. E.g., Why is Númenor split between the Faithful and the King’s Men? Watching the show, you’d have no idea (aside from the prospect of “elves stealing jobs”!?!). 
• The “Wizard and proto-hobbits” storyline is terrible and pointless. It doesn’t even have a minimal connection to anything that Tolkien wrote. It’s an attempt by the writers to ram into the series a “Gandalf and the Hobbits” origin story. There already are too many storylines in the show and it definitely does not need this one. (The actor who plays the Wizard is quite good, though.)
• The scripts, especially dialogues, are often quite bad (albeit slightly improved from last season).
• Middle-earth feels too “small” in the series. Characters pop around the vast land (from Lindon to Ost-in-Edhil to Khazad-dûm, or from Pelargir to Ost-in-Edhil) far too quickly. (A great virtue of the original Peter Jackson trilogy was that it conveyed a real sense of the enormity of Middle-earth, the far distances and wildlands of the world.)
• Related to the previous point, the pacing always feels off, too rushed. 

Overall, I stuck with the second season primarily because of the Annatar-Celebrimbor storyline. While not perfect, I found it compelling enough to want to keep following it (in part because the actors are excellent). I also think that Elendil is a great character, but the Númenor storyline has been underdeveloped this season (and wastes time with silly tangents like the “sea worm” trial). I’ll reserve final judgement until after the final episode (this week), but so far, I’d give the second season a 6.5/10.

My grievances concerning 5th edition Dungeons and Dragons: a final statement

Let me start with some background about what “fantasy” means to me and hence what I generally look for in fantasy role-playing games (FRPGs).

I saw The Lord of the Rings animated movie when I was 9 or 10 at a repertory theatre. Then I read The Hobbit. That got me really interested in fantasy stuff. It’s what motivated me to then ask my parents for the Dungeons and Dragons Basic Set for my birthday. (It was the one written by Dr. Holmes – hence it had those annoying chits instead of dice.)

As an adolescent I became interested in other works of fantasy – especially, in the early-mid 1980s, Michael Moorcock and Robert E. Howard (along with a lot of related pastiche “Conan” stories) – because of D&D and AD&D. The “Melnibonéan Mythos” in the Deitites and Demigods was one of my favourites in the book even before I read anything by Moorcock. 

 

Given these influences, I would say that Tolkien, Moorcock, and Howard had the most influence in shaping how I interpreted D&D/AD&D when I got into FRPGs in the early-mid 1980s. (I eventually would go on to play games directly based on the writings of Tolkien and Moorcock; indeed, these eventually supplanted AD&D in my high-school group.) Perhaps this is why – more than any particular set of rules – the more recent Wizards of the Coast versions of the game leave me cold. Over the past 25 years the game has felt more like “fantasy superheroes” than the kind of fiction that I had associated with it – and, I suppose, still do, when I think of “classic D&D.”

Turning to my experience running a “World of Greyhawk” campaign using the fifth edition rules – and leaving aside the game’s overall “ethos” and “aesthetics” (including its unfortunate recent turn towards “twee”) – there are three elements of the game that especially came to vex me:

a. Its “superhero” “no-wounds-are-serious” system of rest and recovery; 

b. Its “unmagical” magic system; and

c. Its flavourless, often tedious combat system.

(For further explanation of each of these points, go to the posts to which I’ve linked above.)

I recently managed to sell most of my WotC 5e D&D collection (I kept the core rules and a few books I liked, such as Saltmarsh and Yawning Portal). I used a local used bookstore for the sake of convenience. It felt good to free up the shelf space. I don't know why I bothered getting most of those books originally – even when I was playing 5e, I barely used most of them. (I stopped buying WotC stuff years ago when I realized this, as well as the declining quality of the line.)

I will say this for 5e D&D: it’s far better than 3e was. I mean, if 5e D&D were the only FRPG available, I would play it – whereas I would just abandon the hobby if 3e was the only option. And I would not rule out occasionally playing 5e D&D in the future (say, running a game for a friend’s kids or something like that). And I would be happy to play the Middle-earth variant, The Lord of the Rings RPG (indeed, I greatly enjoyed that game’s predecessor, Adventures in Middle-earth, having run a successful campaign about seven years ago).

But as for my “main” FRPG, I’ll never use 5e D&D again. Hence, I don’t have any interest in the new 2024 books. There are just too many superior alternatives (including, of course, earlier editions of D&D/AD&D, and related “retro-clones” and “near clones”).

On the Trailers for Season 2 of the Rings of Power

There have been two recent trailers for the next season of Amazon’s The Rings of Power series. One from Comic Con a couple of weeks ago (link) and the final one released before the second season starts on August 29th (link). 

For illuminating discussion of both, I recommend the commentaries posted by the “Nerd of the Rings” (here and here). I don’t watch that much on YouTube (or anywhere, really), but I do follow the NotR and have enjoyed many of his videos about Middle-earth history. I think that he’s been pretty fair about the series – he gave the first season a 6/10 (see his review here), which strikes me as about right. 

I had planned to post a proper review of season one myself, but I never got around to it. Suffice to say that I found it to be very much a “mixed bag.” The sets and scenery were top-notch: Númenor, Khazad-Dûm, and Ost-in-Edhil all looked absolutely amazing in my opinion. And some of the storylines were compelling (e.g., the Elrond-Durin relationship; the character “Adar”). But others were terrible (e.g., the whole “mithril-cures-Elf-cancer” storyline that the writers pointlessly invented; the portrayal of Galadriel’s character throughout the series). The writing was often disappointing if not cringe-inducing (e.g., Pharazôn’s “Elves-will-steal-our-jobs” speech), and the conclusion – with the lacklustre creation of the three Elven rings before any of the others – was not especially promising for the series’ future. Finally, the cavalier attitude of the writers towards Middle-earth canon – especially the compression of 1700 years of history into a few years for the sake of the series – still grates on me.

But I have to say that the two trailers (to which I linked above) have me somewhat excited to see how the second season turns out. A proper “Annatar-Celebrimbor” relationship would be great to watch (even if it unfolded absurdly quickly compared to Tolkien’s timeline). And I retain (probably a fool’s) hope that the “Stranger” will turn out to be a Blue Wizard rather than Gandalf. 

Even though the second season starts on August 29, I probably will not be able to watch any episodes until mid-September, as I’ll be busy with travel and work. But I’ll post my thoughts here one I manage to watch a few episodes. 

The Hunt for Gollum

When I learned last year that Warner Bros would be coming out with some new movies set in Middle-earth, I was pretty sceptical. But I am now cautiously optimistic, as the first new film, tentatively entitled The Hunt for Gollum, will star and be directed by Andy Serkis and be produced by Peter Jackson.

I was disappointed overall by season one of The Rings of Power – and, based on some purported leaks, am dreading season two. But with The War of the Rohirrim coming out later this year, and The Hunt for Gollum in 2026, perhaps all is not lost for cinematic Middle-earth.

It’s Tolkien Reading Day

I recently started rereading The Silmarillion. I had last read it over two decades ago. I liked it then but I’m really enjoying it this time! Despite being a huge Tolkien fan, this is the first book by him that I’ve read or re-read since The Children of Hurin (which I read in 2017). 

After I finish The Silmarillion, I think I’ll keep going! I’ll read at least The Fall of Númenor and parts of Unfinished Tales. Perhaps I'll read parts of Beren and Lúthien and The Fall of Gondolin before The Fall of Númenor (most likely I’ll focus on the final or most complete versions of those tales). 

Happy Fall of Barad-dûr day!

The Rings of Power — Season 2 Rumours

 

Warning: spoilers about season one of The Rings of Power and rumours about season two below.

The first season of The Rings of Power was visually amazing. I have to give the show credit for some remarkable sets, especially those of Khazad-dûm, Númenor, and Ost-in-Edhil. But the writing — the storylines, dialogue, and so forth — was definitely lacking overall. A few elements were okay — the relationship between Elrond and Durin was often charming, the new character “Adar” was intriguing — but overall it was quite disappointing. 

Especially vexing were all the gratuitous deviations from Professor Tolkien’s creation. I can understand changing elements of the established canon for the sake of the medium (e.g., removing Tom Bombadil and replacing Glorfindel with Arwen in Peter Jackson’s Fellowship of the Ring). But so many of the changes in season one of TRoP were not simply unnecessary but painfully ridiculous. I loathed the “time compression” –- squishing 2000 years of history into maybe a decade or so. The whole “mithril-as-the-cure-for-Elf-cancer” invention was utter nonsense. And the existence of two “Durins” at the same time annoyed me. But I don’t wish to go through all the problems with the first season again.

Because of the weakness of the first season, I don’t have a lot of optimism about the next one. The One Ring website recently reported on some purported leaks about the second season and, well, it looks pretty grim. Granted, these rumours may all turn out to be vapours. But I remember dismissing the “leak” that “Halbrand” was Sauron — it just seemed too ridiculous and obvious — only for that to turn out to be the case.

Granted, the idea of presenting an episode (or a few episodes) from the perspective of Sauron could potentially be really cool (so long as the show didn’t try to present him in a sympathetic light, a kind of “emo Sauron”). And I would love to see the Song of Creation –- the Ainulindalë –- portrayed well on the screen. But, based on the first season, I really doubt that the writers for TRoP have the chops to pull these things off.

And many of the other rumoured elements of the second season look absolutely terrible. A son of Sauron? (Who is killed by Adar?) Tom Bombadil revealed to be in fact Morgoth (apparently bound in this form as punishment from Mandos)? And Goldberry in fact Ungoliant? What? If true … why?!?

I pray to Eru that most of these “leaks” turn out to be nothing more than jokes.

Further discussion can be found at The One Ring and (in video form) The Nerd of the Rings. (As usual, I largely agree with the perspective of the latter.)

The Hedge Knight: Dunk and Egg coming to HBO

 

The first four seasons of The Game of Thrones HBO series are among the best ever produced for television. (The later seasons were weaker, especially the last two, although I didn’t loathe the final season.)

The recent House of the Dragon series was fine. But it lacked any especially sympathetic or engaging characters in the mould of Arya, Tyrion, of even Jon Snow. 

Fortunately, some stories written by G.R.R. Martin in the world of Westeros that do include a couple of sympathetic and charming characters — “Dunk” (Ser Duncan the Tall) and “Egg” (Aegon V Targaryen) — will be made into a series: A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms: The Hedge Knight. 

I’m cautiously looking forward to this. 

More Middle-earth movies are coming

 

Is Warner Bros. studio, inspired by the dwarves of Khazad-dûm, determined to “dig too greedily”?

The studio announced yesterday that it plans to make a number of films set in J.R.R. Tolkien’s Middle-earth. The films would be developed through New Line Cinema, which produced the original three films directed by Peter Jackson two decades ago. (Read more at Variety.)

 

Even limited to what is available in The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings (especially TLotR’s appendices), I think that there are many additional wonderful stories that could be told set in Middle-earth. However, I don’t have a great amount of faith that these new film projects will succeed in this endeavour. The Amazon television series, despite some bright spots (e.g., the beautiful sets), deviated wildly from Tolkien’s writings – and for the most part unnecessarily so. (I accept that some changes are necessary in adapting a complex work of literature to film or television, but many of the changes made in the Rings of Power were ridiculous.) And despite his admirable accomplishment with the original trilogy, Jackson’s The Hobbit films are something of a mess as well. (I will never forgive the shabby treatment of Radagast!)

 

So I’m rather pessimistic about these new films. But perhaps I’ll be pleasantly surprised…

(I am cautiously looking forward to The War of the Rohirrim next year.)

Best Wishes for 2023

I hope that all reading this old blog had a pleasant holiday time and that the year ahead brings them much happiness and peace.

 

My wife kindly got me these cookies. Obviously, she knows me well! I felt a bit guilty eating them but comforted myself in the knowledge that more could be obtained in the future.

 

 

I haven’t been too active here over the past couple of months. Hopefully my posting rate will pick up in the spring, as I thankfully will not have to travel so much for work.

 

In particular, I’d like to catch up on the following items:

 

§  Update the log for my regular “Greyhawk” (D&D 5e) campaign. A lot has happened since I last posted, some of it even a bit entertaining (I think).

o   The adventurers finally managed to defeat Lareth and clear out the Moathouse (more or less); soon they will be moving beyond Hommlet.

 

§  Update the status of my irregular “Against the Witch-King” (Against the Darkmaster) campaign.

o    Most of the characters have been created – and they’re an interesting mix: a Dúnadan lady of Arthedain (a champion or “ranger”); two Lossoth brothers from Forochel (one a scout, the other a shape-shifting animist or “shaman”), and a Dwarven scholar from the Ered Luin (sage).

 

§  Post descriptions of my characters for the Mythic Babylon campaign I played in over the past few years (which wrapped up last summer) and the Return to the Mountains of Madness campaign I’m currently playing in (using the Mythras rules).

o   I’m not keeping logs for these campaigns (I generally only do that for the games I’m running) but I think that these characters may be of some interest to others, especially people interested in the Mythras system and its associated settings.

 

§  Return to my top-10 list of fantasy and science-fiction films. (I’ve only covered number 10 so far!)

 

§  Write up some final reflections on The Rings of Power series (which I found to be very much a mixed bag).

 

I’m watching Andor right now and finding it to be excellent. I had skipped the two most recent Star Wars series (the Boba Fett and Obi-Wan ones) but I quite liked both seasons of The Mandalorian. This series is even better, in my view. It doesn’t really feel like a “Star Wars” show to be honest – but that’s probably a good thing, given how badly the movies degenerated in quality after The Empire Strikes Back. The notable exception in recent years is Rogue One – the best Star Wars movie since Empire in my judgement – and so perhaps it’s no surprise that Andor is of such high quality, given that it’s a Rogue One prequel. Check it out if you haven’t already!

Tolkien: The Art of the Manuscript

As a huge Middle-earth fan, I was delighted to have seen this excellent exhibit – “J.R.R. Tolkien: The Art of the Manuscript” – today at Marquette University.

I thought that I had already seen it before in Oxford in 2018, but it turned out that this exhibit was somewhat different. The one at Oxford had a lot more of Tolkien’s artwork, as well as numerous biographical documents and photographs, whereas this one (unsurprisingly, given its title) focused more on Tolkien’s calligraphy, early drafts, and manuscripts. Nonetheless, there was some overlap in the two exhibits (the Bodleian Library had drawn on the Marquette collection and vice versa). And there were a few pieces of Tolkien’s beautiful art on display (including the troll hill above -- I quite like Tolkien's line work!).

 

The high point for me was the opportunity to see Tolkien’s original timeline “story board” for The Lord of the Rings – i.e., several pages which follow the days covered throughout the trilogy, broken down at points by character/group (e.g., “Gandalf”, “Sam and Frodo”, “Saruman”, etc.). It was cool to see the events and revisions written in the professor’s own hand. Also on display were Tolkien’s notes on the “stride” of hobbits, as he wanted to calculate how far they could travel in a given day in order to ensure that their journey times were plausible.

 

I also found it interesting to learn that Tolkien’s concern with carefully drawn maps – maps that clearly (if perhaps unrealistically) identify important landmarks – likely originated in his work as an army signals officer during the First World War. There was a copy of the manual he used during that time on display.

 

Now you might be wondering why this exhibit is at Marquette University of all places. It turns out that shortly after the publication of The Lord of the Rings the university’s new library director (William Ready) managed to purchase for the university the manuscripts of three of Tolkien’s published works of fiction: The Hobbit, Farmer Giles of Ham, and The Lord of the Rings. The manuscripts arrived in Milwaukee over the course of two years after the purchase, and were later supplemented with additional materials sent to Marquette from 1987-1997 by Christopher Tolkien.  They are now in the “J.R.R. Tolkien Collection” at the university.

 

[Tolkien created a number of images of the final page of The Book of Mazarbul.

However, the publisher declined them as they would be too difficult to print.]

 

Thoughts on the Rings of Power and House of the Dragon

[Note: minor spoilers below.]

 

“The Rings of Power” (TRoP) and “House of the Dragon” (HotD) are both just past the halfway points for their respective seasons. Overall, there is no denying that the writing and acting in HotD is superior. Yet I find myself feeling rather indifferent to its story and characters. Unlike the original “Game of Thrones” series, there are no characters that I really care about – no one remotely as interesting, entertaining, or sympathetic as Tyrion or Arya. I kind of hope that Daemon doesn’t eventually become king, as he clearly would be a rather bad one, but he’s not in the same league of awfulness as, say, Joffrey or Cersei (or at least not yet). (However, episode six reveals Larys Strong as perhaps a spiritual villainous ancestor of Petyr “Littlefinger” Baelish, so perhaps there’s some hope.)

 

Overall, I just don’t care that much about how things in HotD will turn out. Should Rhaenyra become queen?

¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Whatever. 

I’ll keep watching it, though, as I’m enjoying it well enough (and I’m a sucker for fantasy).

In contrast, TRoP – despite how deeply frustrating and frequently disappointing I have been finding it* – has certain hooks in me. I also care about some of the characters more than I care about any of the ones in HotD. Part of this of course is carried over from Tolkien’s writings. For instance, Elrond and Elendil are two of my favourite characters from the history of Middle-earth, so I find myself invested in their stories despite the series’ flaws. And Ar-Pharazôn’s tale is a great one, so I want to see how it is presented in the series. But I also find the “new” villains (or potential villains) far more intriguing than anyone in HotD. Adar in particular stands out, but I also want to know who Halbrand is (and what his story will be), likewise for “The Stranger,” and others.

 

In particular, I find myself obsessed with finding out (hopefully by the end of this season):

 

-       Who is Adar?

o      Is he Maglor [my current guess given his gauntlet]? Eöl or Eöl’s son Maeglin? [Of course, unlike Maglor, those two are supposed to be dead...] Sauron? What is his plan? Why does he care for the orcs so much? [Perhaps he helped Morgoth form the first orcs from captured elves in ancient times?] Why does his armour have a design similar to Gil-Galad’s?

-       What is the deal with the broken dark sword?

o      Why does Adar want it? What role (if any) will it play in transforming the Southlands into Mordor?

-       Who is the Stranger (“Meteorite Man”)?

o      Is he Sauron/Annatar? An Istar? A balrog? Something else? [My current guess is that he’s one of the Istari. I’m hoping he’s a Blue Wizard but worried that lazy writing will make him Gandalf.]

-       Who is Halbrand?

o      Is he Sauron? The Witchking? A different future Nazgûl? The king who makes the oath to Isildur at the Stone of Erech, only to break it during the War of the Last Alliance? [The latter possibility would require relocating the people of the Southlands to the White Mountains; not entirely implausible, given that the Southlands are doomed to become Mordor.] Is he Theo's dad?

-       Who is Sauron?

o      Someone already in the show, one of the above? Someone yet to appear? Is he already giving Celebrimor advice “offscreen” as “Annatar”?

-       Who are the weird cultists who appeared briefly in episode 5 and seem to be tracking the Stranger?

o      Surviving servants of Morgoth independent of Sauron? Servants of Sauron? Future Nazgûl?

-       How will the friendship between Elrond and Durin IV unfold?

 

So I have lots of questions. I just wish the show had better writers!

 

It's an odd thing to recognize one series as clearly superior overall yet care much more about what happens in the other.

 

I will say this for TRoP: the sets are beautiful. The scenes of Lindon, Khazad-dûm, and Númenor are amazing. And I like the look (and music) that they have created for Númenor: somewhat Minoan/Mycenean in terms of colour, murals, and overall aesthetics. The Númenorean ships look distinctive and cool. I especially liked the statue of Eärendil the Mariner with his welcoming hand – a nice contrast to the raised palms of the Argonath statues (Elendil and Isildur) that we see in the “Fellowship of the Ring” movie.

 

 

* Some of my frustrations and disappointments with TRoP:

 

Here are the three things that I find the most vexing about TRoP so far:

 

First, as I’ve mentioned before, the series writers are greatly compressing the timeline of the Second Age. Roughly, they are squeezing almost 2000 years of history into perhaps a decade or two: it covers events from shortly before the forging of the rings of power (the 16^th century) to the War of the Last Alliance (the 35^th century). I really dislike this move and think it’s unnecessary – the series could’ve had two parts, the first covering the forging of the rings of power and the War of Elves and Sauron, and the second covering the downfall of Númenor and the War of the Last Alliance.

 

The portrayals of some of the characters, especially Galadriel and Gil-Galad, strike me as simply terrible. Galadriel is comically monomaniacal (she’s not a son of Fëanor!). And Gil-Galad comes across in the show as an oleaginous politician. I really hope they improve as the series progresses. (In contrast, others, e.g., Elendil, Pharazôn, Elrond, and Durin IV, are solid in my view.)

 

The whole invented story about how a Silmaril (plus a pure elf, an evil balrog, a tree on top of the Misty Mountains, and a bolt of lightning) caused the creation of mithril – and (adding to this absurdity) that only mithril (because it contains some of the light of Valinor thanks to the Silmaril) can “cure” all the Elves that remain in Middle-earth – is absolute rubbish. I’m really hoping that the Silmaril-mithril story turns out to be false within the series. Elrond does refer to it as apocryphal, and in the previous episode Adar refers to the many “lies” told about Middle-earth. So perhaps this is a false tale promoted by Annatar to obtain mithril for his own purposes? (Fingers crossed!)