Spoilers for Rings of Power s2, ep5!!
Screw Annatar. I want to gouge his eyes out with a spoon. I want to cut his ears off. I want him to have Celebrimbor's fate. The Everlasting Darkness is not enough; I want to wring his neck like a wet rag and not in a good way. He is hypocritical, manipulative asshole and I want him gone. Charlie Vickers has magically managed to make me hate Annatar even MORE, and I applaud him; good acting has moved me to further dislike of this character.
And that smarmy little BITCH from Numenor. It was iconic when all of the King's Men still called Elendil "Captain", and even better when they said, "Valar bless you". As a religious person, this struck my soul. What struck my soul even more was when that scrawny little-- lemme not say. But when that guy, Pharazôn's apprentice whose name I don't even want to learn, desecrated the temple!!!!! He destroyed a relic likely from the First Age!!!! He KILLED VALANDIL IN A HOLY PLACE. Not only was I sad to see such a strong supporter of Numenor's Faithful perish, it was how it happened that saddened me the most.
Valandil prayed for the Valar's forgiveness (slay of him) and fought Smarmy Bitch, and it was great!!! Not very honorable in my book, but I loved to see it!!! And then, Smarmy Bitch tried to drown him, but Valandil took the upper hand, either dislocated his shoulder or broke his elbow, and pointed Smarmy Bitch's own sword at him!!! But then, he took the high road; he showed mercy, even when he didn't want to. He chose to value life instead of take it. BUT GUESS WHAT SMARMY BITCH DID?
Smarmy Bitch stabbed him in the back. Literally. As Valandil chose to be the better man, to be honorable and good, Smarmy Bitchy chose the opposite.
It was heartbreaking to watch Elendil cradle Valandil as he died, someone he likely saw as a third son (You know, with Isildur and Anarion).
It was interesting to watch Smarmy Bitch wash his sword in the water. It was almost symbolic of how he washed the blood away; he thinks that he is cleansing Numenor of her past, creating a brighter future. He is misled. Instead of cleaning her bloody sins, he is demonstrating that those in power, those who agree with the king, can get away from anything. He can get away with murder in front of countless witnesses; he can tell the guards that Valandil was the first aggressor; he can manipulate the variables to his side all because of Pharazôn's favor.
And the storming of a religious building, complete disregard for the peoples' privacy and respect, I found terrible.
And poor Durin and Disa. Their king has gone corrupt with the power of the ring, and will not see reason. The tree that Elrond gave Durin is dying, symbolizing the growing, yet strained, relationship between the dwarves and the elves, as well as Khazad-dûm's slow descent. The Doors of Durin were a delight to see, but Annatar's jealous, manipulative reaction hurt my heart. Celebrimbor only sought to do good, to honor his grandfather by making powerful, good things like Fëanor tried to do. But just like with Morgoth's whispers, Celebrimbor is facing the same manipulation by a similar force. Sure, Fëanor did not trust Morgoth,but he heeded his words and let them plant the seeds of distrust in his mind.
And poor Celebrimbor; I mourn for him already. He is falling swiftly to Annatar's game. You can watch as Annatar grows closer to him, Celebrimbor grows less stable, more agitated, and more harried. When Annatar said that Celebrimbor should head for Lindon, implying that he would rule in Celebrimbor's stead, was a terrifying thing to see. Thankfully, Celebrimbor knew not to leave his city in the hands of a Maia who was likely beginning to distrust.
And by the end of the episode, after Celebrimbor declared that they were to make the nine rings for men, he looked terrible. He looked close to tears, knowing that he was making the wrong decision but still felt it was necessary, for it would fix a wrong that he had not, or had accidentally, made. He needs that First Age bottle; better yet, one of the Trees.
And Sauron. You whorey bitch. You tell that nice elven lady that she looks like Galadriel. Sure, she knows it's a compliment; to be compared to daughter of Finarfin in beauty is a very fine thing to say, but she does not realize that Annatar's honeyed words will lead only to horror.
And Annatar. Are you looking for a rebound? Afraid the exes are unionizing? Because Adar and Galadriel looked close to an alliance, last I saw.
And once again, I want to know where Celeborn is. I know he won't be in this season, but still. I miss my little guy. And ngl, when those orcs kept growling at Galadriel, I thought she was going to growl back 😭😭. Frankly, I wanted her to; at least bare her teeth, let them know she was not afraid.
AND LASTLY, the name drops!!! Eärendil, Tuor, Beren!!! Even Barahir!!! All great men who had elven sugar mommies!!!!! Minus Barahir, though.
So, obviously, this is an episode I have a lot of thoughts on.
I will acknowledge that Kim does have some cool moves in this episode.
But, it also seems fair to acknowledge that, despite those cool moves, Kim didn't defeat the bad guy.
That was done by Ron, with a little help from Rufus.
It's also worth mentioning that, yes, Kim is dependent on Ron to succeed on missions, as shown in "Bueno Nacho".
And it's not fair to anyone, Ron especially, that, after Ron defeats the bad guy, he decides to give Kim all the credit.
Kim has impressive skills and definitely demonstrated them in this episode, but that doesn't mean Ron isn't a factor in her success.
And a role model would recognize that yes, Ron is important to her success, but that doesn't mean she's not amazing too.
She'd be supportive of Ron and happy for him, while still making Global Justice see that she's still amazing.
(And, no one said she wasn't amazing, they just said Ron was probably the key factor to her success.)
Other thoughts, in no particular order:
So, did Betty and Sheldon actually lose their eyes, or are they just being dramatic?
(I wouldn't put it past them.)
Is Sheldon's robotic hand prosthetic or some kind of glove? If prosthetic, how did he lose it?
Realistic sibling relationship: Betty and Sheldon immediately resort to childish squabbling when near each other, despite having spent the entire rest of the episode being ominous and brooding.
(The Cain Instinct is strong with these two.)
Honestly, that Chaos Theory thing might not be far off. And if Wade thinks there's some merit to it, I'm inclined to believe him.
I realize they said Ron was a "non-factor" at the end, but there is canon evidence that contradicts this.
It's probably that Ron is a factor, but not in any way that would actually show up on tests.
Thus, they assumed there was no "Ron Factor".
Obviously, I have thoughts.
And they're mostly about Kim/Ron.
More specifically, the fact that Kim doesn't remember the fact that she and Ron are dating.
Even more specifically, he reaction to being told they're dating.
Ron: No, not to worry. I’ll have KP back in time for dinner. After school I’ll give her a refresher around Middleton. It’ll be like a second first date.
Kim: Are you hitting on me?
Ron: Um, Kim, we are dating. I’m your boyfriend.
Kim: Boyfriend? Oh, wait, you’re serious?
So, here we have Kim finding the idea of her dating Ron amusing. She doesn't take it seriously, and doesn't seem interested in the idea.
I realize that Kim can't remember anything at the moment, and thus she's not really acting like herself.
But it's kind of unfair that Ron is the last thing Kim remembers.
Ron, who should be the most important person in Kim's life.
Ron, who is certainly the most integral person in Kim's life.
Ron, who is the biggest constant in Kim's life, the person she's spent the most time around, and she doesn't remember dating him until the end of the episode.
And it's annoying when we get scenes like this:
Ron: Hey, just take it slow, Kim. Nothing to worry about. You’re among friends.
Bonnie: Unh. Just learned to walk, K?
Ron: Except for Bonnie!
Kim: Bonnie? Oh, Bonnie! She and I are on the same cheer squad, right? So we’d be friends.
---
Monique: Ron, Wade told me. Lost memory. How’s she doing?
Ron: Eh, a little sketchy in some areas, particularly relationships. You know, she needs to remember things on her own, so don’t expect Kim to just--
Kim: Monique? Monique! I remember you! The first time I met you was at Club Banana. We’re, like, best friends.
---
Ron: Now, you can’t tell me that you don’t remember Bueno Nacho.
Kim: How could I forget? The center of the cheese and chip universe. Home of the naco and managed by Ned.
Ron: How is it you remember everything but the fact that we’re a couple?
Kim: Couple of what?
Ron: People who are dating.
Kim: Are you sure that we were dating? I mean sometimes people read a little more into things than they should, right?
Ron: OK, look, photo evidence, K.P.
Kim: Oh, wait a minute.
Ron: Prom, dancing, the kiss.
Kim: You called me in the middle of the night once to ask about us dating.
Ron: Yes!
Rufus: Yeah!
Kim: Then you said I melted.
Ron: No, ok, no, that was just a dream.
Kim: So we were dating in a dream you had?
Ron: Well, yes, in the dream, but also--
Kim: Why is my watch beeping?
Ron: Wade.
Kim: Hi, uh, Wade?
Ron: How did you remember his name?
Kim: You just said it.
Ron: Oh, right.
Wade: How are you doing, Kim?
Kim: Wade? Oh, Wade! Better. I’m starting to remember stuff.
---
Ron: Wait, wait, wait, wait! Shego, you tell her. Kim and I are dating, right?
Shego: What? For real? Oh, come on. That never made any sense to me. I mean--
Ron: See? That wasn’t a no. Unh.
Kim: Glowing hand. Glow…Go…Shego!
---
Wade: Ron? Ron fought Shego? Alone?
Kim: Well, I don’t know if fought is the right word.
Ron: Sure it is. I fought. Fought for my life.
Wade: Well, hopefully this will help Kim remember her fighting skills.
Kim: Cheer practice?
Wade: Well, so far all of your memories have been triggered by some event or meeting. Good luck.
Bonnie: Hello? Late for practice much?
Ron: OK, don’t let Bonnie get to you and whatever you do, don’t listen to anything she says. You’ll be fine.
Bonnie: I don’t know what your problem is, Kim. I knew this would happen when you started dating Naco Boy.
Ron: Aha, Kim, you see? Do you see? I’m Naco Boy.
Kim: Yeah, I shouldn’t listen to what Bonnie says.
It's not fair that Kim can't remember dating Ron, her best friend of 10+ years, someone who is extremely important to her, until he loses his pants again.
She remembers everything about Monique after just running into her in the halls.
She vaguely remembers Bonnie after running into her, and gets her full memory of Bonnie, including a complicated cheer routine, back after one try.
She remembers Bueno Nacho by just showing up.
She remembers Wade after a phone call.
She remembers Shego as soon as her hands start glowing.
And she remembers Drakken and how to fight before she even goes to confront him again.
But she can't remember Ron until the end of the episode?
This is unfair to everyone.
Especially since Kim is, for some reason, so resistant to the idea of them dating.
I mean, I guess I can understand not immediately believing you're dating some random guy, but Ron's not some random guy.
Kim still remembers their friendship, and trusts him on everything else.
But she doesn't accept that they're dating.
She won't even consider the idea.
And, if dating Ron was as important to her as cheerleading, fighting Shego, hanging out with Monique, or going to Bueno Nacho, shouldn't something have triggered her memory earlier?
Especially since Ron is involved in pretty much every aspect of Kim's life?
But, no, she doesn't remember until he loses his pants.
Not riding on the back of his scooter, which she did during the Li'l Diablos incident which, coincidentally, was the same day they started dating.
And did several other times before Kim got her own car.
Not going to Bueno Nacho, which they do all the time.
Not cheerleading, which Ron happens to be kind of involved in as the mascot.
Not even seeing Ron, which was enough for her to completely remember Monique and Wade (over video!) and kind of remember Bonnie.
No, the only thing that triggers Kim's memory of Ron is that he loses his pants.
And the fact that nothing but Ron losing his pants triggers her memory of them dating, implies that, on a subconscious level, that's how she views Ron.
Not as her boyfriend, but as her clumsy, bumbling, inept sidekick who's always losing his pants.
And everyone - Kim, Ron, us viewers - deserved better.