Comments on Episode 13:
The Frame seems sufficiently celebratory and a good ending to the story over the course of the season. It might suffer from 'too many endings', but I understand having to show Erebor, Dale, and the Woodland Realm in the end.
ACT I:
The 'peace montages' are nice, with lots of focus on growth, but with a melancholy elvish air to it as well with deserted Vinyamar.
Celeborn sounds surprised to learn that Thingol has not lifted the Ban. There is no reason for Galadriel to be better informed than he is on this matter. Perhaps he is meant to sound more exasperated? While the 'hey, time to get married' cold open might seem a bit abrupt, the rest of the beats and transitions in this conversation hit fairly well. With maybe a comment that Galadriel immediately gets to the 'guess my family can't come' without any other topics discussed. Maybe ease into this at least a bit?
I guess we get points for having characters saying 'hurry, we're late!'...and then having it mean something when they actually do arrive late.
Celegorm taunting Fingon with his own prayer to Manwë is a nice touch. Probably all to the best that Celegorm does not actually name Manwë in his mockery.
ACT II
Hmmm, I dunno what I think about the Meril, Galadriel, Lúthien conversation. Meril...is a hot mess. One, Meril putting herself forward seems very...pushy. She's the young Sinda wife of Galadriel's nephew. Volunteering to stand in as her mother is a bit presumptuous (and forces Galadriel to manage a polite decline). Also, she kinda stipulates that the requirement is 'wedded female relative,' which *does* make her the more appropriate choice than Lúthien, but...the requirement is truly 'actual mother of the bride'. So it sounds as though she is making up rules to insert herself into Galadriel's wedding party. And then she assumes that Lúthien and Daeron are getting married despite no engagement between them. And blurts out that she and Galadriel aren't even really friends. If we want to portray Meril as someone who is young and pushy and clueless, that's fine, but...I don't know that we want that characterization for her? It's like she's going out of her way to put all the feet in her mouth at once - she's causing really intense second-hand embarrassment! I know we want her to be 'unrefined' and not very princess-like, but we're not going for drunken sorority girl, either. A more fitting topic for her to comment on might be how both Galadriel and Orodreth have chosen to marry into the Sindar, and how she'll be happy not to be the only non-Noldo in the family now. Or something. Because Galadriel's assurance that they could be good friends if only they saw more of each other rings
completely false. I picture her looking around the room over Meril's head and trying to judge how fast she can get out of this conversation.
Also, while there is nothing wrong with 'rite' in this context, I might choose to say 'custom' instead. We have to go out of our way to avoid associations of this wedding ceremony with a European Christian wedding ceremony.
Ummm. Lúthien should under no circumstances say anything about marrying Daeron. Others can say that about them, but she has never viewed Daeron as anything more than a friend/brother, and she would not herself speculate about a marriage between them, even as a joke or 'what-if'. Daeron is significantly younger than Celeborn; Celeborn was born at Cuivienen, while Daeron was born in what would become Doriath.
Lúthien recruiting Círdan for stand-in father-of-the-groom is less egregious because she is herself already assigned a role in the wedding. And I understand that it might be awkward to have Celeborn approach and ask him just to 'fire' him later when Thingol arrives. But there's a reason you don't volunteer/put yourself forward for wedding party inclusion.... Reminding the audience how close Círdan and Celeborn are/were is good, though, especially with Círdan saddened over the departure of Turgon and Galdor 'forever'.
Wait...why on earth did Galadriel invite 'any random three Fëanoreans' to her wedding? And we're to believe that Celebrimbor invited himself as a wedding guest now? Don't get me wrong, I've 'invited myself' as a +1 on someone's wedding invitation in the past, but it's suuuuuuper awkward if you do that when the invite didn't say +1. Galadriel loathed Fëanor. We are not led to believe that she was particularly close to
any of his sons. There will be later interactions with Celebrimbor (
after he disowns his entire family), but I think this very much reads like we're starting with Maedhros, Maglor, and Celebrimbor being there....and retroactively justifying that. I think it might be better if she invited all of her half-cousins out of duty, (maybe secretly hoping they wouldn't make the trip), and then Celebrimbor comes in his father's stead so he can see his good buddy Orodreth again? So it's a partial gate-crash, but there was no 'quota' of Fëanoreans involved?
I agree with Nick's comment above - Celebrimbor saying 'I heard of her ordeal' would be sufficient, and then if Orodreth wanted to volunteer more details of her suffering and torment prior to said death, he could, but you don't just say to someone, 'so, hey, about the way your mom was tortured in Angband, yeah?' And Celebrimbor, having a mother who is potentially suffering torment in Angband as they speak, would be sensitive to that.
Example of how not to mingle, via
Supernatural - the event that the clueless and socially awkward Elvis refers to happens 7 years prior to this conversation; it's not 'news'; the social event here is a wake.
Also, as a reminder, this conversation is taking place 200 years after the Dagor Aglareb. So, even if Orodreth and Celebrimbor don't get together very often...Edhellos' death and torment are hardly news.
As for Daeron and Maglor - these guys are the best musicians the world has ever seen. Wouldn't they go off into a corner and talk shop or sing duets together or something? I'd rather see them geeking out with one another over music than having a come-uppance thing going on. And, yes, I get that Tolkien was generous with his superlatives and constantly labeling people greatest and eldest and such. But...I highly doubt that either Maglor nor Daeron cared what others would think of them to this degree. I think this is a case where an adaptation tells the story more truly not by finding an excuse to work in a quote from the text, but by imagining the spirit of what that quote means and telling
that story. So...what does the greatest minstrel the world has ever seen do when he's invited to a wedding?
Talking about having to eat horses will likely seem like sufficient horror to the audience; a good detail to add to the ordeal of the Helcaraxë that will shock the audience into paying attention to this story.
ACT III
I think the existence of a library is a unique way to show the passage of time and how much the Noldor are 'settling' into Middle-earth. Because apparently Finrod has had time to compose entire books since last we saw him. And, yes, Gondolin and Nargothrond will be able to preserve Noldor culture, so having them be something more than strongholds is represented in the library.
I'm not sure how I feel about Fingolfin saying he would have let Fingon come to the wedding if he'd known Maedhros would be there. "Had I known thou and Maglor were coming to this wedding, I would have asked Fingon to come also rather than overseeing the change of watch himself. " --> "Alas that Fingon did not know you and Maglor would be here. He would no doubt have begged off his responsibilities at Fort Soronume to be here." Fingolfin is High King, but he doesn't micromanage his subjects (even if he is down to 1 out of 3 kids and zero grandkids).
I don't think I like the reference to Sauron shapeshifting. For one thing, it's fairly irrelevant, since they don't think Sauron has anything to do with the beast they are tracking. And, honestly, shapeshifting is your first thought when the trail vanishes? Wouldn't they speculate if the beast could fly, first?
Celegorm neighing at the horses is likely to come across as quite silly in a very serious scene. I know he can speak to them in their language. I'm just not sure...this is the time/place to demonstrate that. He whistles to Huan - can't he do the same to the horses?
The dragon looting the corpse is a nice touch, as is the Lieutenant talking about her father under Glaurung's spell.
ACT IV
Fingolfin should not have to introduce himself. Someone else should offer that introduction between the two kings. Ditto for the Fëanoreans stepping up here.
And I guess we really do have to address what the details of the Ban are regarding wearing gems. Cause this scene has Thingol adorning a Noldo with a gem.
Journey of the Ents montage, eh? Sure, why not. I like it, though I think the audience might expect us to do more with Ents if we give them such a prominent place in the finale. They have a role in Seasons 1-3, but do we have much for them to do before FA 500? I guess we can add them to Season 5.....
Hard to believe that the Thingol of this episode is the same Thingol we saw earlier in the Season. I feel he needs a bit more than his late appearance and this end note. I'm not sure what, though.
I'm not entirely satisfied with Finrod's finding of Men being just a brief tag here at the end, but I know why we're making that choice and I think it's ultimately the right decision.
Typo:
p. 37: "Celegorm, we passed earlier this day a canyon with a wide
a wide entrance but steep sides and a narrow exit. Think you the beast we now fight could fit through the narrowest point? "