I kept thinking how powerful some of these scenes could be if the set up was proper. From Balrog and on… Galadriel spamming cheesy lines reminiscent of the 80’s movies (“Give me one reason, elf” — “I’ll give you nine”, “Heal yourself” and there was another one between them that I’ve already forgotten) was probably the worst of it.
Yes, the season was better than the first one but overall such a disappointment and this episode, filled by potentially great scenes, showcased its deficiencies (writing, first and foremost) the most, even though it was certainly not the worst episode of the series.
And why did the orcs, under the direct command to kill all of the elves except for their leaders, spared a random soldier (his rank had been highlighted multiple times throughout the series) alongside Gil-galad and Elrond? Not the biggest concern and I knew that they wouldn’t kill him off but damn it I had hoped that he’d die off in the background.