Spoilers Rings of Power is back!

[Von Corellon]

 

[Ibrandul]

Did anyone note that the ent-wife in Ep. 4 sounded like OG Galadriel (Cate Blanchett)? Was this a shoutout to beginning of Fellowship of the Rings film where Galadriel speaks Treebeard’s lines, “the world is changing …” (?!)
(Yes I’m sure I could Google it but it’s more fun learning by discovery)

The ent and entwife were voiced by recognizable British actors—Jim Broadbent and Olivia Williams—but neither of them is Cate Blanchett (though I’m sure that, like all rational beings, they’d love to be). Nevertheless, when in doubt, always assume it’s no accident whenever this show compulsively reminds you of Jackson’s LotR.

In this episode alone, Arondir’s “nameless things” line and Galadriel’s “go back to the Shadow” are the most desperate such moments. Those could, of course, just be shout-outs to the books, but they don’t feel like it, and many other instances couldn’t be (Grand-elf’s “follow your nose” line from last season, for example, which doesn’t appear in the books). Add to these Tom’s “You should not be waking” speech, which Jackson gave to Treebeard; here that one is at least restored to its original speaker, so it gets a bit of a pass, but it’s nonetheless the third line in a single episode that also appears in Jackson’s LotR.

I like some things about the show and will watch to the end, but I find the constant stream of needless call-backs to be one of its worst qualities. I respond almost viscerally with disgust whenever one of these pops out of the muck like a familiar-named thing.

 

[Paul Farquhar]

“And we call this one… diner” is the sort of thing you would expect a D&D PC to come out with though.

 

[Lidgar]

“And we call this one… diner” is the sort of thing you would expect a D&D PC to come out with though.

That gave me a chuckle. But man, that monster was totally creepy.

 

[Eric V]

I respond almost viscerally with disgust whenever one of these pops out of the muck like a familiar-named thing.

Wow...that's something.

 

[Horwath]

And call me crazy, but I like this idea of Elves as super heroes, swimming across oceans, jumping off waterfalls, and taking on 10 Thugs (CR 1/2) like it's nothing. And in many ways that continues what Jackson did in the two movie trilogies.

most of them are thousands of years old, they can gather 20 levels of fighter as a hobby.

 

[Zaukrie]

Wow...that's something.

Truly.

I'd say this season is good, but there's still something not quite as great as it seems sometimes. I can't put my finger on what's not quite totally hooking me. But I am enjoying it.

 

[MarkB]

Truly.

I'd say this season is good, but there's still something not quite as great as it seems sometimes. I can't put my finger on what's not quite totally hooking me. But I am enjoying it.

It's still a lot of very disparate storylines that are gelling together either marginally or not at all, and none of them are going to be everybody's cup of tea, so at some point in any given episode you're likely to be feeling "well, this is okay, but can we get back to that other storyline please?

Also, there's a degree to which the references feel a lot more like fanservice than connective tissue, especially in an episode like this one where we have Tom Bombadil, the Barrow Downs, Ents and Entwives all dropping in the same hour.

 

[Alzrius]

It's still a lot of very disparate storylines that are gelling together either marginally or not at all, and none of them are going to be everybody's cup of tea, so at some point in any given episode you're likely to be feeling "well, this is okay, but can we get back to that other storyline please?

So basically what Tim Kring did with Heroes, in other words?

 

[MarkB]

So basically what Tim Kring did with Heroes, in other words?

Sounds about right, but it's been too long for me.