Hehe Nev, you had me for a second too!

I didn’t really find those scenes to be filler, they gave me a chance to observe the characters.

The rock-breaking scene had me wondering if Elrond was letting him win, part of his political strategy to let Durin look tough for his people while showing patience for his moment to speak with Durin alone on the lift.

And the fact that Halbrand so willingly cut away the other castaways shows that he’s no hero, which Galadriel calls him on. I find his character very suspicious. His very first line is “Looks can be deceiving.”

I think there’s a lot here under the surface, it’s just been a long time since this kind of material has been packaged in a fun exterior. GoT/HotD is just so dour (Westworld too) and while I still enjoy it, it feels like it’s using gritty realism in place of meaning. I don’t think it has anything to say other than the brutality of humanity, which these days feels obvious.

That’s not to say Rings of Power is fully working yet, and parts in the beginning are a bit clunky. But I don’t think anything so far has been superfluous.