I’ve even joked before that you can tell a fake ASOIAF fan because they never threaten to give someone a clout in the ear - I have been so excited for the show to come out and give us Ser Duncan the Tall, a true Knight, a real hero, and our sweet little Egg, the bright eyed romantic youth who would grow into a fascinating king.

Now discussion about Dunk & Egg is everywhere and it feels like a real monkey’s paw moment because 80% of the conversation is centered again on yet another evil Targ, and this one isn’t even complicated! He has no depth or redeeming factors - he has three scenes

A one where he’s a jerk to the kindhearted hero, one where he coldly breaks the fingers of a brown woman while burning her livelihood to the ground and calling her a whore, and then one where he loses to the eponymous protagonist .

There is no depth to be plumbed there - what we learn about him additionally is that he’s a cowardly child molester- he is the personification of the cold indifference of the ruling elite to the fates of the poor, the proletariat, women and children. He serves no purpose but to disgust and to be vanquished.

But we don’t wish to see him that way - we love this pathetic loser of a monster who yearns to cut children’s penises to feel a thrill. We wonder what his future adventures will be, how soon will he be back so we can see what’s become of him, he has us in a stranglehold but not one of revulsion or fear but of admiration. We are forgiving him, craving to protect him. Meanwhile, Tanselle and Dunk for sale, never worn.

We are experiencing a story where the author takes great pains to point out, with the title hero looking at the camera, that anyone who sides with or supports Aerion and his acts is corrupt. His defenders are emblematic of the rot consuming a empire. To be on his side is to court injustice and deny solidarity to victims.

We have seen this message, and we have happily chosen that side. We are on the sidelines ignoring the call to action to support what is right, we are swearing our swords to evil.

Post dmc5 where vergil would rather take his insatiable twin on a lovely bonding trip than paying for child support

nero's honest reaction: 🖕

I've seen many excuses in my life for excluding women from narratives. The latest? "Canonicity". This is how some fans — in their eagerness to appear cultured, demanding, or simply "protectors of the work" — hide a latent and ancient misogyny, painted in the colours of textual purism. The Rings of Power series, which dared to make Galadriel a warrior, complex, fierce and, above all, a protagonist, has become the target of the revisionist movement that calls for fidelity to the books only when it comes to men.

It's symptomatic. When we talk about bringing Celeborn into the series, we're talking about "fixing" Galadriel, it's not about deepening a relationship or enriching the world. It's about control. This cursed verb appears in whispers and between the lines of posts and videos: "Galadriel needs to be controlled", "she needs balance", "Celeborn will bring sobriety". And when they talk about balance, what they mean is: she needs to be pruned. Because an angry woman, wounded by pain, brave enough to defy Sauron himself, seems to bother more than the Dark Lord himself.

These criticisms are not innocent. They are symptomatic of a culture that only tolerates women when they are silent, when they are supporting actors, when they love and die for men — never for themselves. And that, for me, is at the heart of this disguised misogyny.

You want "canonicity" so much, but you forget the women who are part of the canon and are solemnly ignored.

Let's talk about Inzilbêth. She is the mother of Pharazôn, the man who defines the last and most tragic days of Númenor. But she's not just any mother. She is a descendant of the Faithful — of those who resist corruption. In a world where Pharazôn represents the pride and arrogance of the Númenorians, Inzilbêth could be a character of dramatic depth: a mother torn between love for her son and horror at the path he is following. She could be the voice of the past, of the ancient faith, of the warning against worshipping the Valar and Sauron himself. But she isn't even mentioned in the debates.

Erendis, Tar-Aldarion's wife, is another powerful figure who lies forgotten in the corners of the Unfinished Tales. She is an abandoned woman, scorned by a man whose nautical ambition speaks louder than any affection. Her story is a cruel mirror of what happens to many women in the stories of men: they are loved while they serve their plot, discarded when they claim their own space. And even though Erendis' timeline predates the events of The Rings of Power, she could be mentioned — as a symbol of the price Númenor has already exacted from its women. A legend told in the courts. A warning whispered on the island's street corners.

And if they really want to keep their feet in the "canon", why don't they talk about Lúthien? The woman who faced Morgoth himself. Who, together with Huan, the dog of Valinor, defeated Sauron. It's not fanfic: it's in the Silmarillion. But female figures are only remembered in fanart or in niche discussions, never clamoured for with the same force as Gil-Galad, Elendil, Isildur, Glorfindel, Anárion, Celebrimbor or even Celeborn. The logic is simple: when the past is male, it's glory. When it's female, it's forgotten myth.

And I'm not saying that the series is immune to criticism. It's far from it. It has problems with pace, the construction of certain arcs, and dialogue that sometimes sounds forced. But it's curious — or rather, revealing — that the most virulent criticism is directed at Galadriel. Not at Sauron, with his still nebulous motivations. Not the aesthetic choice of Númenor or the lack of exploration of certain cultures. Galadriel has become the scapegoat for a wounded masculinity.

The misogyny that hangs over these reviews is not just about what they say, but about what they choose not to say. I never see posts calling for more women in the series. Tolkien's world has incredible and fascinating women. They exist, they have always existed. The problem is that many of you never look at them with the same fervour as you do the warriors.

So, enough. No more pretending that this is about being faithful to the books. If it were, many of you would be asking for Inzilbêth, Erendis, Lúthien, Aredhel, Nienor, Berúthiel, Nimloth, Idril Celebrindal, Andreth, Thuringwethil. But no. You're asking Celeborn to silence Galadriel. You're asking for silence disguised as tradition. And that, my dear, is not Tolkien. That's misogyny.

It's not wrong to want to be faithful to the original material. But it's cowardly to use this as an excuse to erase female voices that were already there — in tales, appendices, half-forgotten stories. The series has a chance to do what many books, series and films have failed to do: give space to women as agents of their own history, and not just as a silent chorus for the tragedies of men.

I want female characters. May they come, with armour or without. With wisdom, pain, fury, tenderness or glory. But let them come.

I want to see Lúthien. I want to see Inzilbêth. I want to see Berúthiel. I want to see the women that Tolkien wrote about and that fandom insists on forgetting and erasing. Because, honestly, there's nothing more "canonical" than the pain, strength and light of these women.

It's time to put aside this lazy and selective reading of Tolkien. Middle-earth is too vast a world to fit only the mould of heroes in armour and beards. It has also been shaped by women — wise, brave, charming and tragic. They have names. They have a voice. They have history. And they deserve to be told and seen.

If The Rings of Power really wants to honour Middle-earth, it shouldn't bend the knee to misogynistic clamour disguised as purism. It should dig deeper, listen to the echoes of those women who are repeatedly forgotten — and let them shine through at last. Because fidelity to Tolkien's work doesn't lie in preserving the fragile masculinity of the fans. It's in recognising the complexity of what Tolkien built — including, above all, the female characters that many insist on ignoring.

And if that bothers you, perhaps the problem was never with the series.

Fill for my T4 Merlin Bingo square:

Good Morgana

Since doing professional research with academic training, I've realized that what I thought I knew was dependent on biased, outdated, and generally wrong historiography. Those books I read are incorrect in multiple ways, and I didn't know how badly until I was doing the research myself.

The point is: having a special interest may (and doesn't have to) make you read everything there is about something. But that might lead you to read old things or outdated things or things that are debated without necessarily having the ability to parse what is and isn't good information because you're just glad that it's about Your Thing. It does not make you an expert or even necessarily a discerning reader because the good feelings while reading a Wiki or an old book can make you less critical.

Like oh Morgana’s back and she’s got a plot to kill the king who drove her away by refusing to stop massacring the group she’s realised she’s a part of!!