The Rings Of Power. Wait, come back! It has the Tolkien seal of approval!

[Moon Ronin]

"Elf workers, taking our trades. Elf ships on our shores." - What does that sort of blatant overreaction racism say to you? It seems very real world familiar to me. No thanks, I'm not interested in a poorly veiled fantasy allegory. If you are, more power to you. I'm out.

Tolkien was not a fan of allegory, it is suspected that this may be one of the reason's he didn't like Dune by Frank Herbert.

[krazijoe]

"Elf workers, taking our trades. Elf ships on our shores." - What does that sort of blatant overreaction racism say to you? It seems very real world familiar to me. No thanks, I'm not interested in a poorly veiled fantasy allegory. If you are, more power to you. I'm out.

So, Middle Earth can't have racism? Even blatant racism? I don't understand. Maybe you are reading too much into it.

[Captain Smith]

Forbes magazine has a reviewer who regards Galadriel as a genocidal racist in regards to the Orcs. They are victims and enslaved. She wants to kill all of that race.

[Kirby101]

The only good orc....

[MichaelC]

Forbes magazine has a reviewer who regards Galadriel as a genocidal racist in regards to the Orcs. They are victims and enslaved. She wants to kill all of that race.

It's clearly the point of today's episode that she IS a genocidal racist. She threatens to torture Adar's children, aka her prisoners of war, with sunlight if he doesn't talk. And she takes great glee in the thought of genociding the orcs and making him watch before murdering him, who would at that point still be a prisoner of war and a completely broken one by that point.

All that convinces me more than ever that Halbrand is Sauron. Adar had to be stopped, but his goal of giving his children a land to call their own makes him a relatively little "e" evil. Because of her hatred blinding her, Galadriel practically handed the future Mordor over to "Halbrand".

Also, what Adar took from Halbrand is being kept incredibly vague very late in the story. I mean, Adar is a prisoner, why not have the revelation happen this episode? The reason is that what Adar took from "Halbrand" is, he killed his previous body. That's why Galadriel hasn't been able to find him: he's been a spirit slowly reforming a new body for centuries. Now he's finally got a new body reformed, and he's manipulated Galadriel into helping him conquer his murderer and the lands he wanted in the first place. And unlike Adar, he won't be content with just giving the orcs a land of their own. It will be a staging area for his conquest of all Middle-Earth.

[Indian Ink]

Addition; I quite liked Sauron's mark looking like the shape of Mordor. I know these things have nothing to do with the story, but as an artist I like visual rhymes.

Ha! It seems it did have something to do with the story. I thought it was a rhyme within itself, like the prairie dog mound collapsing at the beginning of the Indiana Jones and the Crystal Skull film. So Sauron's been using that symbol for over a thousand years and someone only works it out now?

[Indian Ink]

Genocidal yes, but racist? Splitting hairs, but aren't they functioning as species rather than races? They barely, if ever, seem fertile with each other.

[Indian Ink]

I believe Tolkien mentioned once in his letters somewhere that the (or an) orcs could become good or be redeemed, but of course he never wrote a story in which they did. This theoretical what if was probably due to his Christian belief that no one is beyond redemption.

[ChrisIII]

Looks like the fan theories were on target regarding Adar and the sword.

[Tofali]

That was a great episode and I better not hear anyone say that they missed Elrond, Durin and the Harfoots - a Southland story is finally epic and exciting.

If Halbrand becomes anyone but Sauron this would become the best "where is Mephisto?" game ever lol!

Could Adar have thought he killed Sauron but now doesn't recognize Sauron in disguise as Halbrand?

Anyway Lord Father has created a home for his children.

[Jared]

Surprisingly brutal. Some of those scenes would fit on House of the Dragon. Except that the horse wouldn't have been just fine after that fall.

Those three ships looked much too small to me to hold all those horses. I wouldn't mind being proven wrong somehow.

The heroes were fooled wait too easily by such a simple bait and switch. Neither Galadriel or Arundir thought to unwrap the thing?!

And it wasn't even some orc blade of roughly similar shape. Just a plain hatchet. It's like Adar knew he would be dealing with Keystone Cops.

Action was pretty good. And I liked how the lore was presented here.

If Halbrand is Sauron, I think he must not be consciously aware of it. His hesitation to return and take up the kingship didn't seem feigned at all.

So, Middle Earth can't have racism? Even blatant racism? I don't understand. Maybe you are reading too much into it.

"Dey took r jrbs!!" doesn't make much sense for the politics of an island kingdom in a medieval world. Especially when Tolkien provided actual reasons for Numenorean resentment: jealously of Elven immortality and frustration with being barred from sailing West.

I wouldn't be surprised if some modern hack has Ar-Pharazon yelling "build the wall!" in a future ep.

[Tofali]

"Building the wall" goes against every thing that Pharazon believes in, he might take advantage of such sentiment to get his own way but his number one thing is to gain power.

[Celgress]

It's clearly the point of today's episode that she IS a genocidal racist. She threatens to torture Adar's children, aka her prisoners of war, with sunlight if he doesn't talk. And she takes great glee in the thought of genociding the orcs and making him watch before murdering him, who would at that point still be a prisoner of war and a completely broken one by that point.....

Damn, I stopped watching this show just when it was about to get good. I've thought she was a vengeance obsessed deluded lunatic skating dangerously close to outright villainy since episode one.

[Celgress]

Genocidal yes, but racist? Splitting hairs, but aren't they functioning as species rather than races? They barely, if ever, seem fertile with each other.

She is certainly a speciesist or racist depending upon how you slice it. Imagine in our own world if someone went over to say Russia, China, or Iran and said I want to kill everyone here I'll wipe out the entire population because these people don't deserve to live, damn...

I really hope the series does something with one or more Orcs like Star Trek Deep Space Nine did with the renegade Jem'Hadar who wanted to be free of the Founders. "Why do you look so shocked? Are you surprised a Jem'Hadar would want more than the life of a slave?" The renegade Jem'Hadar commander told two of the primary characters. That would be epic.

[choptop]

Would it be racist to wanna kill every zombie in a zombie movie? It's pretty much the same difference.