S02 E07: Doomed to Die

[Erestor Arcamen]

For discussion of episode 7, Doomed to Die

"The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power" Doomed to Die (TV Episode 2024) ⭐ 7.9 | Action, Adventure, Drama

1h 12m | TV-14

www.imdb.com

 

[Erestor Arcamen]

I personally really liked this episode. Really good story and lots of action. Maybe not book/lore perfect but I think they did a good job showing what affect Sauron had on Celebrimbor and am looking forward to next week’s episode.

 

[Berzelmayr]

Positive

• The troll looked really good - it's a bit of a shame that he's already gone now.
• Despite the fact that the Annatar-actor doesn't really look much as he should, he does a pretty good job.

Negative

• Orcs shoot down half the mountain with their catapults and create an instant "levee" - how absurd is that?
• Dwarf rings: The gold-greed theme is passably realized, but also a bit clumsy; the fact that Durin sr. then attacks his own people with an axe is too much in my opinion. And that then an army is needed to fight that - if he at least had allies......
• Durin Jr. was bullied by other dwarves not long ago and has now been hailed as the absolute leader type.
• How about a normal battering ram for the city gate? They keep repeating stuff from the PJ movies, why not that, too?
• The Elrond & Galadriel thing went a bit too far for me. That's his mother-in-law!

 

[Halasían]

To me, it's always been a given that we were going exploring into the world of fanfic, much like what PJ did, so I'm not hoping for much, especially with the 'usable lore dance' the producers are having to do with what they can get. That said; it's clearly well into the realm of a fanfic, so I accept it as such. The timeline is compressed and the ring creation is out of order, but I do think all the callbacks to the PJ fanfic is detrimental to the series and gives it yet another level of shallowness. C'mon! Do your own!

Now... Ep7 .... The battle for the most part was good. Sauron and Celebrimbor are excellent in their scenes and the Halbarad/Annatar/Sauron depth is really good in fleshing out Sauron, who we only get glimpses of in lore and is portrayed as the ultimate baddie eyeball searchlight in PJ's fanfic. I really liked the slight manipulation Sauron did to 'cause' Celebrimbor to shove Mirdania over the wall. Guess here wasn't a need for a smith now that the rings were done. I'll miss her. The orcs look great and so do the dwarves. There was even a very 'Galadriel' moment from Galadriel in her brief interaction with Arondir... Before that though...

Spoiler

Sure, get close. Sure, whisper... but why did you have to go there? Could have done without the 'kiss'.

I thought having Selina Lo's 'Rian', an elf on 'team Elrond' be wasted as the only one empowered to set a convenient oil pot ablaze while being pin-cushioned ala Boromir was a bit shallow. Would have liked to have seen more of her. The best thing about this episode was it concentrated on Eregion and Ost-in-Edhil.

The one frustrating thing about this series this season is when I think they have gotten over most of the S1 cheese, they throw in Ep 4. Then Ep 5 rises again only to run into Ep6. Ep7 was excellent. I'm afraid for Ep 8. Once they all are out, I'll binge the season and see how it holds up. Personally, I give no spoons for the whole Harfoot/Stranger/Stoors/Dark Wizard/Cult-followers/Bombadil storyline. Wish the time was spent on the Eregion/Numenor Stories. Oh well. Overall I think they are line-balling the series as well as, if not better than PJ with Lord of the Rings, and definitely better than The Hobbit.

 

[Erestor Arcamen]

I agree about Elrond and Galadriel but to me that was an act for Elrond to legitimize getting closer to her and slipping her the pick. Could be wrong though

 

[Eljorahir]

Just when I was wondering if Sauron was developing a soft spot for Mirdania...well...that's it for her. I should know by now: never think Sauron has a soft spot of any kind for any one! Sorry to see her go.

A few days ago I came across the significance of Mirdania's name from Unfinished Tales:

Gwaith-i-Mirdain: "People of the Jewel-smiths," name of the fellowship of craftsmen in Eregion, greatest of whom was Celebrimbor, also simply "Mirdain."

I'm of two minds regarding the secret "dwarf tunnel". It seemed a little too convenient and strange that we didn't get a glimpse of the tunnel in the episode. However, then I thought it could be nicely reminiscent of the secret tunnel out of Gondolin. Galadriel will lead the survivors through the tunnel away from the fallen city just as Tuor did from Gondolin. I hope we see this in next week's episode.

 

[Halasían]

I agree about Elrond and Galadriel but to me that was an act for Elrond to legitimize getting closer to her and slipping her the pick. Could be wrong though

Yeah I get that, but a full-on mouth-locking drooly kiss? A bit over-the-top for merely being a visual ruse to keep eyes away from the hands. Of course, there is a theory-rumor going around on a couple groups that Adar is really Celeborn who gets 'healed' by Galadriel's ring. I suppose anything is possible in this fanfic. Enjoying this series.

 

[Maedhros_Nelyafinwë]

The Elrond & Galadriel thing

a full-on mouth-locking drooly kiss

Wh--what now?! 😱

So far, I feel affirmed in my decision not to watch the show.

*goes back to hide in my Silmarillion hole*

(And by the way, this is not me criticizing anyone who decided to watch the show and even likes it, but personally I've decided not to spend my time on it and based on what I'm hearing, I don't regret that choice.)

 

[Eljorahir]

Yeah I get that, but a full-on mouth-locking drooly kiss?

If you wanna distract the attention of a room full of orcs you gotta give 'em more than a brotherly peck on the forehead.

 

[Fingon_Findekáno]

Wh--what now?! 😱

So far, I feel affirmed in my decision not to watch the show.

*goes back to hide in my Silmarillion hole*

(And by the way, this is not me criticizing anyone who decided to watch the show and even likes it, but personally I've decided not to spend my time on it and based on what I'm hearing, I don't regret that choice.)

Yeah… 😳😓

It was very unexpected, and knowing they’re kin, it was uncomfortable to watch. I’m choosing to go along with the idea it was mostly for a distraction, because he was able to slip a lock-pick into her hands while Adar and the Orcs looked away, but still. Ew. 😣

The rest of the episode, though!! I really did enjoy what happened. Just to mention one thing, the battles between the Elves and Orcs heavily reminded me of major First Age battles, with how violent, gory, and grim they were. 🙂

Also, shoutout to Annatar/Sauron for his smooth yet devastating manipulations everywhere! Very well executed.

 

[Tar-Elenion]

"We did a really gory thing where, [Mirdania, during the battle], she gets thrown off the castle wall and the orcs kill her. And Charlotte [Brändström], my director friend who directed [the episode] — she's a great buddy of mine, fantastic director, good counterpart — she said, 'Give me some really gruesome bits!' So I said, 'OK.' So I had [Mirdania] thrown off the roof, you see her go down and hit the ground, there's a really good shot, and you see this orc chop her. And then he holds up her whole shoulder and arm and starts drinking the blood. But they deemed it a bit too gory, which, I can't understand why, of course. [laughing]

Read More: https://www.slashfilm.com/1669707/t...y-featured-more-extreme-death-scene-mirdania/

 

[Berzelmayr]

Not muh gurl Mirdania!

 

[Halasían]

And by the way, this is not me criticizing anyone who decided to watch the show and even likes it, but personally I've decided not to spend my time on it and based on what I'm hearing, I don't regret that choice.)

I did like Rían here. She was a minor soldier on team Elrond and apparently a good shot.

Unfortunately she made a good target too.

 

[Erestor Arcamen]

Unfortunately she made a good target too.

*pin cushion

 

[Elthir]

A few days ago I came across the significance of Mirdania's name from Unfinished Tales: Gwaith-i-Mirdain: "People of the Jewel-smiths," name of the fellowship of craftsmen in Eregion, greatest of whom was Celebrimbor, also simply "Mirdain."

Yep mírdan S. "Jewel Smith" (singular), but does anyone know if the Showrunners have explained this full name from an in-story Sindarin perspective?

Again, I'm no Tolkien langwich expert, so I'm actually asking

Joggin' me skull-chamber for names or sounds:

1) We have S. Moria of course, but this hails from iâ "void, abyss"!

2) As far as "sounds" go, we have a S. verbal suffix that explains certain verbal stems like egleria- "glorify, praise" for example, noting Tolkien's "Eglerio!" in The Field of Cormallen, when the Hobbits are being praised.

But that's all I can think of, for now. Anyway, just wonderin' how they've explained it, if so 🐾

 

[Ent]

@Elthir, are you still alive?
this says "doomed to die today at 8:24 AM". How many lives do you have left, if any?

 

[Berzelmayr]

*pin cushion

The Elven plate armor doesn't seem to be worth much.

 

[Elthir]

Elthir, are you still alive? this says "doomed to die today at 8:24 AM".

Still here! 🐾

How many lives do you have left, if any?

I'm afraid "we" aren't allowed to
divulge that kind of information!

Even to Ents.

 

[Ent]

I'm afraid "we" aren't allowed to
divulge that kind of information!

Well fine. Just knowing you are still here is sufficient to the moment.

 

[Ais]

Yeah… 😳😓

It was very unexpected, and knowing they’re kin, it was uncomfortable to watch. I’m choosing to go along with the idea it was mostly for a distraction, because he was able to slip a lock-pick into her hands while Adar and the Orcs looked away, but still. Ew. 😣

The rest of the episode, though!! I really did enjoy what happened. Just to mention one thing, the battles between the Elves and Orcs heavily reminded me of major First Age battles, with how violent, gory, and grim they were. 🙂

Also, shoutout to Annatar/Sauron for his smooth yet devastating manipulations everywhere! Very well executed.

Nothing like getting it on with the future mother in law? Sorry... thought the whole lot of it, including the battle, actually, especially the battle very budget conscious and rather empty of content... givne how they've compressed time and rushed some stuff, why drag on a battle for 30 mins of tv time when there's no actual dramatic consequence... it's getting a serious thumbs down from me on all fronts.

The Elven plate armor doesn't seem to be worth much.

Yeah, and suddenly elves are mere mortals and it takes 3 of them to tackle your average orc... who would have quailed and run with his whole band from the bright steel of one minor elven captain in TLOTR... not impressed

aPositive

• The troll looked really good - it's a bit of a shame that he's already gone now.
• Despite the fact that the Annatar-actor doesn't really look much as he should, he does a pretty good job.

Negative

• Orcs shoot down half the mountain with their catapults and create an instant "levee" - how absurd is that?
• Dwarf rings: The gold-greed theme is passably realized, but also a bit clumsy; the fact that Durin sr. then attacks his own people with an axe is too much in my opinion. And that then an army is needed to fight that - if he at least had allies......
• Durin Jr. was bullied by other dwarves not long ago and has now been hailed as the absolute leader type.
• How about a normal battering ram for the city gate? They keep repeating stuff from the PJ movies, why not that, too?
• The Elrond & Galadriel thing went a bit too far for me. That's his mother-in-law!

I've been having serious time dilation issues... a bit like the first PJ movie... one minute a small band of rebel elves are moving up country the wrong way... and the next episode they hope to lead a whole band against the besieging orc army, who wait... are waiting for another orc army who aren't on their side to turn up ... and as it stands we have a lovely bunch of pretty kite flying, embroiderers who can do a bit of not so dirty smith craft defending against ORCS?????? Sauron's so bleeding obivious he should have a red arrow pointing at him, our elves are so slow stupid and "mortal" that they don't twig, and die by the dozen... this series goes from awful to bad and back... and yet, I can't stop watching... but I do know this... Tolkien ain't best pleased