The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power - Season Two

As people watch the latest episode, which I have watched today, they will likely come up with questions; mostly about the poorly founded story within the show. There were multiple places where the writers clearly did a terrible job with the storyline, and they were so terrible, they deserve mention.

At Númenor, after Míriel survived the Trial by Sea, Ar-Pharazôn used that as a power-play; he named Sauron as one of Míriel's allies, and used that as an excuse to persecute the Faithful. However, you saw the High Priest's face when Ar-Pharazôn handed him the decree; that was a face of incredulous enlightenment; the reaction to a truth so shocking, that you can scarcely believe it. If Ar-Pharazôn had merely peacefully shown the Faithful the proof that he had, which would likely be very solid (for Míriel was allied with Sauron; even if she did not know his identity), then that could have made a bloodless coup. Taking and persecuting the Faithful, while effective, was not optimal; if he had rather done what I have suggested, then he could have utterly destroyed the entire rebellion, or at least most of it; the few that would remain against him could be taken at that point, with little consequence. But by persecuting them, he gave them martyrs; he gave them infinitely more reason to fight, resulting in a (probable) rebellion. This is highly uncharacteristic of Ar-Pharazôn, who was very wise; a big error on the writer's part.

Another point that is highly pathetic is the Dark Wizard's identity; who could he be? Saruman is unlikely; why would Gandalf (the Stranger, for those who have not yet seen the episode), Radagast, and the Blue Wizards rally under him as the leader, knowing how volatile he is. Radagast is possible; but he was a kindly wizard, and rather meek; it is highly unlikely that he would 'rebel' (for lack of better terms) in such a way. One of the Blue Wizards is probable; but they had little effect, or ambition, in western Middle-earth; both of which are leading characteristics in this Wizard. I think that it is possible that the terrible writers will overlook the reason against his being Saruman; if he tried to be Sauron's successor later, then why not earlier?

Obviously, this episode was a rather underwhelming season finale; little actually happened. If the writing was better, perhaps that would reflect upon the show's quality, whose improvements have been slight.

Can we talk about Elrond making out with Galadriel in episode 7 of the Rings of Power season 2? Was I the only person who was extremely uncomfortable and caught completely off guard? I I always assumed their relationship was entirely platonic, and I never found any hints in previous episodes to change that assumption. Also, considering they both have spouses and kids in the future, let alone the fact that Elrond marries Galadriel's daughter, I'm not sure how the writers are going to reconcile that.

Anyone feel similar, or have a different viewpoint?

According to the timeline which the TRoP showrunners seem to want to ignore, Celebrían (Galadriel's daughter and eventual wife of Elrond) was born in SA 300 or basically before all the events shown in S1. Since rumors say Celeborn (who may just be disguised Sauron...SMH) will show up in S2.

I mean, what's a billion dollars here or there to Amazon? Elon Musk probably lost like $20 billion or more on Twitter (I won't call it _).

I found the recent list of rumors mostly disgusting, so if even like 1/4 them are true, I might not watch more than like 2 episodes after careful research. Then again I might watch all the episodes, but maybe just completely skip or fast-forward through some storylines.

https://boundingintocomics.com/2023/11/06/the-rings-of-power-season-2-rumored-to-feature-fight-between-adar-and-sauron/

I hope the rumor in this article isn't true. This just sounds like very fan fic stuff.