Diving into the worlds of science fiction, fantasy, the occasional period drama, and the tapestry of Robert Jordan's The Wheel of Time series. Insightful discussions and interviews about storytelling revolving around the series I enjoy.
@@floydald You should message Jordan with this question. His links are in the description. I'd assume there's a way to do it though. The soundscape can be downloaded or played via an RSS feed. If your speakers connect to Bluetooth that would be super easy. -Amber
yall didn't mention durin III's epic line... about the arm wrestling and how he never faked it for durin IV... was a really nice parting line / last words to his son, right before he sacrificed himself. they really needed to show how deeply he managed to get them buried tho.
I took the movie reference, that Kiran couldn't remember as a possible hint that the Livesuit had already been replacing parts of his mind. It seemed similar when Piotr couldn't remember the little phase they both shared. To me, it felt like a hint that what had happened to Piotr was happening to him as well. That being said, nice review and summary of the novella!
Love your analysis of the show! I'm really tired of all the hate directed at it and seeing people go into it open minded and discussing both its weaknesses, but more importantly also its strengths is very refreshing.
@@roadtotarvalon Yeah I know what you mean. I think the Maiar have different powers and strengths and it depends on which Vala trained them. I’ll have to do more research as I only bits and pieces of the Tolkien lore
Really loved this analysis. Specifically the part on Piotr's "recruitment" speech. I'd missed the implications of that. SPOILERS: I think it's pretty clear (when you hear reference to that scientist who went rogue and revealed... something) that the fact that the livesuit procedure is permanent got out. I'm guessing that's what Mina was protesting, knowing Kirin was trapped like that forever. Not sure if it's anything more, but that would hugely impact recruitment if it was known, meaning the pool of livesuit candidates would shrink dramatically. Overall I think your final point is the most important. What's left? We know some part of it exists, as there was that massive battle with the Carryx in TMOG, but how much of it is still regular people? How much did we give up? The thing that threw me the most in Mercy of Gods was the evolution of the swarm. It absorbing humans and evolving as it did seemed... unexpected. Like something new. Yet, given that we know it's a human creation (and that other swarms have tried and failed to infiltrate carryx space)... it's confusing. It's the single biggest thing that made me think 'the enemy' wasn't humans, and that the fusion of Swarm and Human was happening for the first time, and was unique. We now know that isn't the case, which means it's the specific combination of the people the Swarm is absorbing + Dafyd that creates this ultimate weapon. That gives more credence to him being special, and opens up a lot of possibilities of what I imagine will be the argument of keeping humans in the equation vs the AI that are the full integrated livesuits. That in the end, humans are strongest when they're still human. And that it takes humanity, and most importantly *empathy* to beat the Carryx, when all the cold AI efficiency could not.
@@Paul_Todkill I really love YOUR analysis 💜 I wasn't entirely sure of the direction of the series until I read Livesuit and now I legitimately need more material. I'm dying for some answers. It's going to be really fun seeing the evolution of Dafyd the more he learns. Thanks for the feedback.
In Tolkiens lore, Pelargir is actually a hub of the Faithful while Umbar, where later in the 3rd Age the corsairs rule, is the hub of the King‘s Men! Pelargir is the city where Aragorn defeats the corsairs with the help of the Army of the Undead, releases their slaves and sails north with their ships and the saved southern army of Gondor
There are far worse destinies then dying in this world… like getting „gifted“ one of the Nine and becoming a Nazgûl! Except for the Witch-king and his lieutenant Khamul, the other 7 have no identities and Kemen can easily become one, which would relate to his mothers prophecy Theo is another candidate to potentially become either a Nazgûl (Kings and Lords -> he is called the lord of Pelargir) or even the King of the Oathbreaker (Army of the Undead) who later swears fealty to Isildur but doesn‘t support him in the war against Sauron… the personal relation they established would make that treason personal and even more hurting! On the other hand, Hagen, the partner of Estrid, Isildurs love interest, could be a candidate for the King of the Oathbreakers too… they are said to be first sworn to Sauron (they are people of the Southlands), but changing sides and swearing loyalty to the Faithful, which they break by not supporting them in the war. This could then be also personal with a potential love triangle Hagen - Estrid - Isildur
Charlie Vickers is the absolute best!! Watching the tears stream down his face as he watches Celembrimbor die reflecting his feeling for the loss and necessary death was masterful!
That crystal ball on Numenor (called a Palantiri) is a way that Sauron could know about what is happening there. (While Miriel and Pharazon have both seen "the future" in it - it is actually primarily used as a communication device)
Not sure if I like this final episode or not. Some stuff were quite obvious, some just very unclear. But lots of stuff to look forward to for next season.
Eventually, each Elven Ring protected the realms of Rivendell, Lothlórien and the Grey Havens. In the books, Elrond did NOT use Vilya to establish Rivendell for many spoilery reasons. But maybe the show will do it. They made us love Adar to make it hurt when they killed him. The Celebrimbor death was well written and acted. I liked Charles Edwards in Downton Abbey but was initially skeptical of him playing Celebrimbor. I'm happy to be wrong, both he and Charlie Vickers were magnificent in this scene. This show really nails Sauron. Favorite things: - Gil-galad making a little joke - Seeing the statute of that tool Fëanor come down. - Narsil, it's incredible, it was forged by the Dwarves in the 1st Age - Khazad-dûm, can't wait to meet Prince Durin's brother. I am not sure if anyone has actually been crowned king yet. Things I want to see next season: - More Númenor, less hobbits - Anárion - Theo learning to become a leader - Angry Ents - Kemen getting kicked in the face by Berek, but I actually think he's destined to become a Ringwraith in S5 My head is spinning from the accelerated timeline and there was a lot of foreshadowing in this episode. Now that this season is over, I'd like to thank you for keeping your reviews so positive. I'm a book fan, but I'm open minded and I'll take ANY Tolkien adaptation. Thanks for the video! Looking forward to more Dunk & Egg, I have read everything that GRRM has ever written, even the weird stuff. He excels in short stories and novellas because they prevent him from being too detailed. 😂
Kemen´s mother died because of the vision . The boy is cursed since birth and that is why Pharazon does not like him. Earin seems not to like him anymore too. Theory: Pahrazon wants Kemen far and leaves him in Pelargir. Kemen will receive one of the nice rings. A couple of Nazgil are thought to be numenorean.
Great review! I am really enjoying your thoughts about this series. Tom Bombadil and Gandalf was a great scene, and I agree that this felt very much like the movies. The ending scene was very moving! Celebrimbor's redemption arc over the last two episodes was great, also. His fortelling of Sauron's ultimate fate was chilling and thrilling all at the same time.
The kiss between Elrond and Galadriel was especially weird given in the lore, he later marries her daughter Celebrian! But given we were only getting one mention of her husband Celeborn in season 1, her family is off the table in this adaptation 🤷🏻♂️
some questions: 1) why didn't elrond and his gang go into eregion and look for celebrimbor? they would've found halbrand/annater/sauron and dealt with him, possibly delivering him to adar instead of fighting the orcs for a whole full day or more... galadriel got in and went straight for celebrimbor, why didn't elrond and gilgalad? 2) why didn't adar ask the elves to deliver sauron to him? why would he risk losing so many of his children with no guarantee that they could even find sauron or take him out? 3) that scene with the asian elf lady... "find me a line of sight" like wut? yall are elves! yall have insane good eyesight... why is your plan to march closer to a crazy mass of orcs when you should be going to _higher ground_ ?? elrond and his men, real good job escorting your special flaming archer (whose special ability was apparently using convenient floor fire to set arrows alight, which can then convenient stay lit through the air all the way to ignite convenient oil barrels which conveniently explode)... how do you escort your one VIP and lose her like that xD this scene was so contrived, i don't really have a question, just why couldn't it be written better i guess. the only other issue i've had with this season is the weird flow of time maybe? there's completely no sense of how much time has passed... it could be half a week or 3 years, literally.
If we wanna find some stupid or even lazy writer decisions/mistakes, we‘ll find them everywhere… In The Two Towers movie, Legolas hits every Uruk between the weakspots of the armor in the dark night while it rains; he even hits a rope that holds one of the huge ladders; he hits Uruks while surfing on a shield… BUT he cannot fatally hit the one Uruk berserk who carries the torch to blast the bomb and the other Uruks even stay away to let the berserk pass In The Return of the King movie, the Men of the West let themself get encircled in front of the Black Gate which is stupidity… but then it gets madness when they loose their cohesion and charge into an superior force with thick cohesive lines Just two minor examples concerning battles in the PJ trilogy… don‘t get me started with The Hobbit 😂
@@michelmorio8026 that's why i think live action fantasy needs to adopt some tropes from video games, just have them charge up and glow a bit to indicate they're using some sorta spell or ability to enhance themselves. then the enchantment runs out and they're depowered for a bit for the enemies to get one up on them. would be a cool little bit of in-world logic.
Think you're outlined the key points we need to see in S3. According to Prime Video, if Amazon doesn't see a high viewship rating, it may not proceed funding any more seasons. Which is terribly short sighted. Even Game of Thrones didn't improve in ratings till after the 3rd season.
There was one, early ep this season that was disappointing, simply as it was too crammed and some of the editing felt too sudden (I will 1000% watch an extended edition of the show) but every ep after that has been more focussed on individual storylines and I'm loving it, I wish we had more episodes!
Good episode! Lots of things to wrap up in the next episode. Gonna be interesting. Amber falling for bad guys again? I can't complain this time, since you mentioned Lanfear, and she had the same effect on me... And as you pointed out last time I commented on it, a well played bad guy makes a difference. On thing that bothers me though, are they really gonna wake up the Balrog? As you might remember from Lord of the Rings, it was known as Durin's Bane, and for a reason. However, in Tolkien's stories it wasn't Durin III or Durin IV that got it that name. Guess we'll find out.
😂 i had to stop and show my qofe how fakey it was. I was like " ive never seen a horse jump straight in the air, let alone do a kung fu kick whilst in mid air." The physics were not adding up...
Its a legit thing they can do. Front feet stayed planted and the back legs kicked out. But to have a rider on the back as well is pretty unbelievable...
I want Annatar's conditioner. I really enjoyed the psychological torture of Celebrimbor, because all these years I've always pictured his torture by Sauron to be physical. To my recollection, the books just say torture generally, and I was a kid when I first read them so I just pictured medieval tortures ever since. I think the banged up Dwarf who came to get Prince Durin as he was leaving was Narvi. The Tolkien fangirl in me positively squealed at Adar's mention of Melian - just a reminder of how ancient Adar is. My money is on the orcs killing Adar and going over to Sauron, and Elrond is partially responsible for planting that seed. FYI most of what the show says about mithril is lore breaking. Missed the Numenoreans, and Elvish horses actually have NOTHING over Numenorean horses. The show didn't make up Berek's ability to locate Isildur. Where the heck is Celeborn? He's in LotR, so I keep thinking he will pop up sometime. Thanks for the video!
Except the Numenoreans didn‘t use their horses in battle! They rode them on Numenor, but didn‘t ship them to Middle-earth for battle, which would have also been very complicated given they already need their huge navy to transport a massive army to the continent! Their horses are famous and special, but in battle, they are known for their ridiculous strong steelbows and heavy infantry wielding spears and swords, not their powerful cavalry charges
@@michelmorio8026true, but since we are not exactly sticking to canon here, it hardly matters. Isildur being found by his horse was a sweet touch and nice callback, and Numenorean horses were still glorious.
This was such a joy! I was giggling the whole way through with you two. Thank you both for the amazing content as always. I, for one, would love more Ice and Fire coverage.
@@dentistofdragonstone You're so kind!!! We're doing The Mystery Knight next. Also, do people tell you they love your RU-vid name? Bc I get a kick out of it every time I see it!
I hope that we still get a little tension between Rand and Moiraine at the start of the season, with her advocating a direct assault on a Forsaken in charge of a city (maybe Sammael/Belal get merged, with Tear and Callandor fulfilling the role of Illian in the overall plot) and him having a feeling he needs to listen to the Aiel instead. The show has really matured their relationship into one of mutual respect and trust, so I think it will be even more poignant for Rand to disagree with her on the merits of her suggestions themselves, rather than being tinged with not wanting to be manipulated.
Audio books, are not the same as Movies, a good written script Actors and a killer Director will and have the capacity to tell more in much less time, Robert Jordan in his work is methodical and long winded. This makes fun reading but a movie picture is on a different order of Magnitude, Season 3 has big guns to slay us
SPOILER:Bouncing off you saying maybe Lanfear convinces Rand to go the Aiel Waste. What if instead of Lanfear it’s his “ 3rd option”. Motivated by his desire not to be manipulated by Moraine or Lanfear. He chooses the Aiel Waste because it’s not what Moraine or Lanfear want. Possibly motivated by a conversation with Avi and Egwene. Regarding Lews, I think it should start as a disembodied voice. But gradually move into him appearing in the scene.
