Spoiler alert: ROP is sexy.
Someday, maybe, we can all forget about Space Karen and his tantwums, or Biden’s Biggest Loser and his ridiculous copyright-infringing cringe cards.
And then we can all get back to the important business of minutely dissecting our favorite fantasy/science fiction shows, scene by scene.
There’s a busted-up raftload of people on YouTube who created tons of videos on Rings of Power, some of which are very well produced and informative. I mostly watched without commenting. But recently on Twitter a “Galadriel is actually pretty hot, and so is Halbrand” discussion made it to my feed, a welcome change from my navel-gazing, political snark, and “should I get in the lifeboat, or sing the alto part of ‘Nearer My God To Thee?’”
The best discussion I saw recently was on the rather fierce woo-pitching scene. You know the one if you’ve seen the entire season.
Did you notice the dark silhouettes reflected in the water? The crowns, Galadriel’s pose, and her arm cradling her belly? That was a moment of truly visceral horror for me, especially in 2022. There’s a very in-depth discussion (with full spoilers) on Screen Rant.
Imagine the temptation to remake the worst person in the world as the best person in the world, if offered to someone whose PTSD has raged since the First Age and well into the Second? Imagine the “oh he’s a good person deep down, just misunderstood” in council with the High King and Elrond, with Celebrimbor adding support?
This story doesn’t mention that aspect, but for some reason that Twitter discussion popped into my head today. And I wonder how the show runners will handle the on-screen interactions between the characters in the next season. She can expose him, but he can mess with her mind because she doesn’t yet possess her own Ring.
All that aside, I did have questions about how they met and how he managed to show up at that specific crisis moment. Was he already subtly messing with her mind from afar, literally trying to turn her into a powerful ally? Or was it just a big meet-cute friggin plot hole?
I also have questions about what Celeborn, her husband, is doing, since she thinks he’s dead?
Held captive and tortured and in need of rescue, or…something far more terrible? Season 2 may tell.