I intend to catch up with you around the middle of July, so my comments will be concurrent with the episodes by then. In the meantime, I wanted to give my impression of what the Last Homely House east of the sea means.
Corey mentioned that the term "east of the sea" implies there are other Homely Houses west of the sea but I disagree. I think the phrase suggests that there were other Homely Houses in Middle Earth but that this is the last one, perhaps due to the fact that the elves are leaving and there are fewer of them to take advantage of a Homely House. (Also, maybe there aren't enough elves left to staff these houses?) The complete phrase might be, "There were once 10 Homely Houses east of the sea, but Rivendell is the last one. "
Thoughts?
Corey mentioned that the term "east of the sea" implies there are other Homely Houses west of the sea but I disagree. I think the phrase suggests that there were other Homely Houses in Middle Earth but that this is the last one, perhaps due to the fact that the elves are leaving and there are fewer of them to take advantage of a Homely House. (Also, maybe there aren't enough elves left to staff these houses?) The complete phrase might be, "There were once 10 Homely Houses east of the sea, but Rivendell is the last one. "
Thoughts?