The Lord of the Rings- The Rings of Power: Eldest

 "Harfoots, living in holes! It doesn't feel natural."

This seasoin has already kicked up a gear... but now this. We have Tom Bombadil, and he;s Rory Kinnear! Barrow Wights, which look amazing! ENTS!!!

But mostly we focus on a party of elves which foreshadow the Fellowship: we also have a Caradhras moment. And we end with Galadriel, foreshadowing Boromir, using herself as bait so Elrond and the others can escape from the orcs and warn Gil-Galad that Adar's orcs are coming.

Except... that means their mission to Celebrimbor is delayed, leaving plenty of time for the forging of rings...

And then we have the Stranger finding Bombadid, about whom we learn a few things- he is the "eldest", older that the stars, yet he can only offer wisdom, not act. The Stranger is rapt with respect for him, realising his own purpose: to defeat both Sauron and this Dark Wizard, who could simply never be allowed to join forces.

And then we have Nori and Poppy who discover more halflings, the Stoor. And they discover tragedy: the Harfoots once split from the Stoors looking for some non-existent Eden... and are wandering still. Ouch! One day, I hope they find their Shire. All this is beautiful, fairy tale stuff.

But then we have Isildur, Estrid and Arondir. Isildur and Estrid draw closer... until Arondir discovers the truth: despite their real attraction, she is one of the Wild Men. We have a brilliant moment with a CGI swamp monster... but the drama is palpable. We share Isildur's disappointment when she finds her betrothed.

And yet... ENTS!!!

This season gets better and better