Rings of Power: Episode 4: The Bad... and the Ugly
Putting aside such squicks as having Galadriel being so damned gullible (Seriously? Can't you see who he is? No wonder Gil-galad pulled you off the case!), let's start with Adar. I was intrigued with the possibility that he is one of the original orcs, an early elf perverted by Morgoth as he either refused the journey into the West or was lost along the way. Nice nod to The Silmarillion without violating the copyright. But this statement rubbed me the wrong way:
"You have been told many lies. Some run so deep, even the rocks and roots now believe them. To untangle it all would all but require the creation of a new world. But that is something only the gods can do. And I am no god. At least [sighs] not yet.”
Projecting much? Morgoth is the father of lies, and Sauron his mini-me. This is actually a statement that makes more sense coming from a human, specifically a Numenorean, than an elf, especially an original generation one (or pretty close to that). This echoes Sauron's lies to Ar-Pharazon about seeking to wrest immortality from the Valar (to become 'gods'). It also reminds me a lot of 'The Tale of Adanel' in Morgoth's Ring, the tale of the original fall of humans into Morgoth worship. While you might say that it is good to reference Tolkien's original works, you can't just interchange the cultural history/mythology of elves and humans (or any other two species). Tolkien specifically made them DIFFERENT and DISTINCT, taking to care to give each its own beliefs, history, languages, etc. That is what a talented world-builder does. It is not a "Mad-lib" where you have a bunch of blanks and just pop in whatever adverb comes to mind, or a fast-food menu where you get to mix together any carb with any sauce and any protein.
Moving along, we come to the mention of Orodruin (cue the scary music). When Theo and Rowan run off to get food from the village (The Walking Dead fan in me was yelling "Stay in the house, Carl!") I thought the dead animals was a nice touch. After all, volcanoes emit noxious gases....
But then we shift to Elrond and I get angry again. Seriously. Celebrimbor making like he is an old family friend of the line of Luthien is enough to make you want to go all Feanorean on him. Again, I understand that there are holes that need filling in the legendarium, and things that cannot be mentioned outright, but making such changes in what is a fundamental theme in the mythology is unforgivable IMHO. I mean, it is called The Silmarillion for a reason!
Elrond swearing on the memory of his father is a nice touch, I guess, except that he HAS no memory of his father, his having been born while his father was out to sea. But sure, go ahead and swear on everyone else's memory of him.
Back to Numenor, where the king who should be dead isn't - yet. The Evening star statue/ wall relief is a nice touch by the set designers. But the moment is broken by the idea that there six lost palantiri. I'm not even going to say anything else about this silly scene...
... but I am going to say a few things about Elrond's wistful speech to Durin:
My father sailed single-handedly to Valinor, and convinced the Valar to join the war and vanquish Morgoth. So great were his deeds that the Valar lifted him beyond the bounds of this world. To forever carry the Evening Star across the sky. For many years, at day’s end, I would look up at it, wondering what might he think if he were watching me. Would he be proud of what I’ve accomplished with his legacy? Or disappointed by the countless ways I’d failed to live up to it? But then, one night, it struck me that I would be only too happy to hear any judgment, so long as it granted me the opportunity to have but one more conversation with my father. Do not waste what time you have left with yours.
Single-handedly????? What was your mother, Elwing, chopped liver? The Silmaril was HER family heirloom, not Earendil's! And what about the elves who accompanied your father? I think your father would be VERY DISAPPOINTED in your getting the story wrong! Not the way that the future loremaster of Rivendell should be acting, hmmm?
And deeds? He failed to find his father, the main reason he was sailing around rather than being at home in the first place! He was placed in the sky before he took part in a single battle, sort of like winning a Nobel Prize before you make the discovery. The half-elven as a "thing" were a migraine and a half to the Valar, and Earendil had violated several international trade laws in sailing to Valinor in the first place. What else were they going to do? Yes, he showed great courage, but he had no choice but to sail West, right? I mean he couldn't exactly go home to Middle-earth, ask Gil-galad for help, and take out the Feanoreans once and for all, could he? (Rhetorical question).
And then a rather ominous conversation between Waldreg and Theo, setting up a sizeable rant for episode 5 (coming soon, I promise!):
Waldreg – Do you know what it [hilt] is? It is no sword. It is a power. Fashioned for our ancestors by his master’s own hand. A beautiful servant. He who was lost, but shall return. Have you heard of him, lad? Have you heard of Sauron? [Theo pulls away] You must have seen it in the skies. A few weeks back now.
Theo – The starfall.
W – It means his time is near. (he winks) And it is to you and me, lad, to be ready. [he tells Theo to save his strength because he will need it for what is coming]
AAAAARRRRGGGGHHHHHH!!!!!!!! NNNNOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!
Have these people even read The Silmarillion? Varda, the maker of the stars, is the one Valar above all others who Morgoth fears! She placed the initial stars into the heavens and then made the brighter stars and constellations to herald the coming of the Elves. And then, her greatest work, was making the Valacirca (Big Dipper) as a warning to Morgoth of his eventual downfall and Menemacar (Orion) as a sign of the last battle (representing when Turin will return from wherever he is waiting - perhaps the Restaurant at the End of the Universe - and avenge his family by helping in the ultimate WWE smackdown of Morgoth).
Repeat after me - STARS ARE GOOD. SAURON DOESN'T MAKE STARS. MORGOTH DOESN'T MAKE STARS. VARDA MAKES STARS. There is perhaps one caveat to that, but it is so buried in the legendarium that twisting it to fit this is just untenable... more on this next time.
The point here (and in episode 5) is that bad things don't come from the heavens. It is true that there is a statement that when Morgoth attacked the sun and moon he made stars fall from the sky, but he didn't make bad things fall from the sky, he was attacking good things (stars). And this would apply equally to all meteors.
I know that someone will bring up that the Sun (and Moon) is considered a tainted heavenly light because it was made from the light of one of the Two Trees after Morgoth attacked it. This is true. But we are not talking about the Sun. The Sun and stars are considered very different objects in Middle-earth with very different origins. Again, it is not a "mix and match" mythology.
I must warn you that Episode 5 made me even angrier, so read that post with extreme care... once I calm down enough to write it....
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