The whole reason why Halbrand is considered the new king is because he descends from a past king, long ago.

It’s already been established that there are many, many villages.

It’s a sword that’s powered by blood which doubles as the key to some magic mechanism that blows dams, but also the aqueducts to channel the water to Orodruin hadn’t been dug yet. I think it’s easiest to accept that the writers simply decided that Mt. Doom needed to go boom in this episode, and that Adar should still…

the “Do you remember me?” line, that didn’t mean much until Adar revealed that he (thinks he) killed Sauron to free the Uruk.

Presumably Waldreg snuck out as the Numenoreans came in and was well gone by the time Halbrand brought down Adar. It’s difficult to imagine anybody who had stayed with Bronwyn/Arondir not noticing him otherwise.

Basic physics? Snapping the arrow like that’s going to move the shaft in the process.

It is straight from J.R.R. Tolkien’s letters that after Morgoth’s defeat Sauron repented his evil ways and wanted to help the people of Middle-earth. But his pride kept him from surrendering to the Valar, and the same pride made him believe that only he could bring the world into the order that it’s supposed to…

Part of the problem is that Elves are supposed to seem aloof/haughty to hobbits and people.

PS Anyone else see the browser title of this page being for the Walter Hill Western article?

And I really liked that Adar claims that Sauron had, in his own mind, benevolent intentions for Middle-earth.

Even Galadriel (who really isn’t shown to be as powerful as she’s supposed to be either) wouldn’t be so dismissive and flippant while in Númenór.

Not sure a sword expert was really needed for that call. I’d imagine there’s a case to be made for using dull metal swords if they better match the weight and balance than wooden ones.

Even Greek fire wasn’t highly explosive, and was usually assigned to dedicated ships/crews rather than the general navy. And even then, who are we supposed to think are Numenor’s naval rivals? The orcs won’t fuck with water, and it’s hard not to think Halbrand’s ramshackle raft has nothing to say about the Southrons’…

Sure, possibly? FWIW I’d have thought it much less ridiculous had the ships simply burned—a ship that needs significant repairs isn’t any more fit for deployment as a ship that’s been sunk, after all. And it makes so little sense to carry something so risky in a small fleet with the monarch abord.

Not only isn’t there any hint of an investigation, but everyone just buys that Isildur and Kemen happen to be out fishing in the middle of the night?

Well, fwiw, I wish the show had more time to delve into Numenor. Even if they’re putting off any political focus until season 2 or 3, give some characters Adunaic names and have them lean into the narcissism/elitism. What if a Southron 10 is really just a Numenorean 6? Make Halbrand conspicuously shorter than Elendil.…

What’s weird is that you could see them setting up a certain kind of narrative: since Miriel’s apparently unwed/childless, Pharazon’s already next in the line of succession, with an arguably valid claim to the sceptre on the basis of the King’s Men’s greater wealth and numbers.

Sure, but in that case they both hang. My bigger point is that unless the show’s trying to establish a running joke about Numenorean ships being death traps, there’s no obvious reason for Miriel, Pharazon or anybody else in power not to entertain the idea that it was sabotage and treat it as such.

Problem with that would be explaining why he needed Isildur to swim him back to shore. They’re just not remotely comparable crimes, and even if Numenorean law dictated throwing stowaways overboard rather than just dumping them on the nearest land, it’d take some explanation to have that apply to a boat still in harbor.

Do we know why Isildur covered for Kemen’s treachery?