Shadow and Flame

I know that most of the LotR fans are still hating and they will continue to do so. I am a very steady LotR fan too, but I am also eager to feed myself with this series too, as it is something that I really expected for so long and it seems, for me, that I am nourished with the feeling that RoP explains in such a lovely way, in a visual way, what I have read all the time through Tolkien's books.

I know that this is not of the grandeur of the most-acclaimed trilogy, but this episode just caresses my soul and makes me wait with a great warmth in my heart for the next season. I was smiling and gasped through so many moments in this season finale, that I really am thankful I can relive this Middle Earth fantasy story with such great actors and such a fine combination of visual almost eye-gasm.

This is the best episode so far, in my opinion. The first sequence was probably the best scene of both seasons. The action scenes were very well done.

This is much closer to what I was hoping for with this series, and hopefully it keeps going that way in the next seasons.

I feel like pieces are falling into place now, and it's much easier to see where this is going, and understand how this would lead to The Hobbit and Lord of the Rings.

I wasn't a big fan of Halbrand but his transformation into Sauron has been very cool to see, and how he actually deceives people.

Well done, now we wait 2 years! XD.

Strong 7/10 - this is a challenging show to rate because what's good is _very_ good but many of the storylines are uninteresting and poorly executed.

Overall this season had some excellent Sauron/Annatar material, with Galadriel, Adar, and Celebrimbor as excellent foils/mirrors. All four performances were great, and this storyline has a satisfying conclusion in this finale.

The Dwarves storyline was also satisfying (though to a lesser degree.) I think the actors struggle with the greenscreens and with the stiffly written material.

Unfortunately most other stories were short-shrifted by the abbreviated episode count and accelerated pace. Arondir, the Stranger, Nori, Isildur, and Elrond all felt like afterthoughts and the conclusions to their storylines felt unearned and abrupt.

And then there's the worst part of this show: all the humans. The Numenor scenes have been irredeemable for the entirety of the series. They feel like high school theater instead of a billion-dollar prestige TV show. Uninteresting and momentum-killing.

I watched House of the Dragon season 2 and this season sequentially, and this was better than House of the Dragon season 2 in many aspects.

This season explores more in depth stories of all the characters in a great way. Even when the episodes were slow I find them not to be disengaging.

And some revealing characters from the old movies was a nice touch. Returning of some beloved Lord of the Rings characters was really nice to watch. I am now all open for coming seasons of this because the story is making more sense now. The introduction of the rings and their influence on the minds of it wearer, great.

And just like that, it was all over again. This is a show that I have been consistently entertained by throughout both of its seasons, and personally, I think that there are a lot more stories to tell here, so hopefully Amazon is going to give it more life in the coming days. With that said, this is clearly a show that has a lot of opposition, and while I don't understand it, this season is probably not going to change those people's opinions. However, this finale certainly put a nice bow on a season that has been entertaining and full of some spectacular visuals.

This show has really pushed the boundaries on what can be done on a television scale, and with the big pockets of Amazon behind it, they have pulled off some truly incredible sequences. The previous episode had huge battle sequences almost constantly, and there is some carryover here. It opens with an impressive visual feat that just looks jaw-dropping as it did back in the days, and the battles continue to roar in explosive fashion, rooted in a very nice battle between Galadriel and Sauron. The episode features some reveals that have been brewing for a long time, and while it may have come just a smitch later than would have been preferred, all of it came with a lot of satisfaction and some great character moments to boost. With that said, some of these characters feel like they have played their part and would probably not be that important for future seasons, although they'll probably be brought back. There are also some satisfying closure to the storylines set in Khazad-dûm and Pelargir, with the Númenor storyline still leaving a few things to be desired. And the episode features one of the season's biggest weaknesses, which has unfortunately been the character of Galadriel. Not that she's not still a great inclusion, and Morfydd Clark is still doing brilliant work, but the writing for her has been wildly inconsistent throughout with many of her decisions coming off as confusing and nonsensical. However, it's a small part to take away from an altogether solid episode and season.

"Shadow and Flame" offers significant closure to major storylines and progresses the plot forward in interesting fashion, guided by some truly spectacular action sequences. There are still some issues to be dealt with in terms of the writing, but the episode (and the season overall) was a solid payoff and setup for a lot of things.