kinda goofy that they made Celebrimbor walk out of his tower in a daze, be knocked over by an explosion and lose consciousness twice in the same episode

glad that we didn't see the Hobbits, though I dread to see them in the next episode

the Orcs stopping the river with their catapult looked a little weird. I think I would have preferred if they would have just built a dam beyond sight of the wall. Not like the Elves would have noticed it, with they way they only realized an army was intruding into their lands after it had arrived at less than a mile away from them. (even though it didn't particularly bother me tbh)

find it kinda hard to believe that Durin + Disa and those bats were enough to hold that tunnel. The other dwarves really just didn't try again? The bats have already come down, it's just those two there now. You're telling me you couldn't get half a dozen armored soldiers in there, disarm them and drag them away so that the miners can work in piece?

The fact that Galadriel escapes with the rings isn't exactly exciting since I both know that Sauron will get the rings anyway but also that no harm will befall her

Speaking of Galadriel: I do not believe that that kiss was the only way Elrond had of slipping her the lockpick undetected

And what I believe even less is the fact that Adar just let her get away. Like... he told Elrond he would kill her if they didn't ceased their fighting. Elrond refused and promptly started fighting Orcs. Galadriel now has no value for Adar as a hostage because from his perspective, the elves have marked her as expendable. He now gains nothing from keeping her alive anymore. So I really don't get why he doesn't do what he said he would do, which is kill her the moment that Elrond leaves that tent. Literally, why does he just her let live?

And also, Galadriel wanting Arondir to spare Adar didn't really make sense to me. Galadriel doesn't want Arondir to give up his life by killing Adar, so instead she convinces him to wait till later when he... gives up his life trying to kill Adar???

I did kinda like that they had Adar just kill Arondir off like that. Made him seem more of a serious threat. However, the suddenness with which it happened makes me think that Arondir's death is gonna be a fakeout simply because I don't think they would end his storyline this quickly after doing so little with him this season

Also, the cut from Adar marching with the Orcs against the Elves during the night to when he arrives during sunshine was so jarring that I genuinely thought the Orcs had marched against the Dwarves instead and that that was the reason they weren't coming. But no, the Orcs just needed what seems like a laughably long time to cross that woodless field to get to the Elves. Just very weird editing, I have no idea what was up with that

And I thought that the guards of Eregion were kinda very quick to change their minds regarding Celebrimbor, mainly in favor of him. Like... two minutes ago you thought that this guy pushed an innocent woman to her death and had completely lost his mind, and now you belief him again? I know it's because Galadriel showed up, but it still happened so quickly... I don't know

Also, Adar's insistence that his army is undefeatable in battle. I just don't get why he would think that, I just don't get it. His army got their asses handed to them by a few hundred Numenoreans and only managed to gain the upper hand because they caused a fucking volcanic eruption. You're telling me that the mightiest Elven realm in Middle-Earth can't do better than that meager Numenorean expeditionary force? I don't know, I already found Adar's belief in his army's strength very weird in the previous episodes. And like... his perfomance in this episode doesn't make me revise my opinion.

Also also, the Asian archer Elf dying was a bit of weird scene to me. I think the show wanted the moment to be sad and dramatic, and I know that she was one of Elrond's companions on the way to Eregion, but like.. I don't know this woman. I don't think she's spoken more than ten sentences in that show, probably less. Just came off as a bit silly.

It's kind of surprising how much I don't dislike the show and even enjoy watching it even though I think so much of it is bad. I think it's because I compare myself to people who seem to actively hate the show whereas I'm mostly emotionally neutral to everything happening in it.

And with everything you can criticize about this show, there's still people *coughcough maulerandcriticaldrinker coughcough* who think that Celebrimbor's character was akin to Jar Jar Binks and that the sun shining on the elves during their initial cavalry charge while the orcs were shrouded in the darkness (you know, a scene very simply symbolizing good and evil... during a fucking sunrise, a perfectly fitting situation for that depiction) is too unrealistic for a fantasy show.

The discourse surrounding shows like Rings Of Power and The Acolyte has become so ridiculous. All too often nowadays I find myself having to defend shows I think are deeply flawed and badly written against people who also claim to dislike those shows based on bad writing, but whose actual reasons I can't take seriously.