I was late seeing episode 3. I think most of the awkward moments (slo-mo horse, warg, and evil plot enacted a thousand years after Morgoth’s fall) could be pretty easily trimmed.

One thing that has been running through my head since the premiere is the question of how these plot lines could be more organically arranged. My first idea was to push the Southlands to the start of episode 2, but now I’m wondering if it would make even more sense to jump there only after Galadriel discovers that the mark is a map and says that the Southlands are in danger.

I’m also wondering if much of Arondir’s story in episode 3 is worth keeping. Yes, it shows the Orcs’ brutality, but nothing is really accomplished or learned. We may be able to go straight from his capture to the initial scene in the trench where the name Adar is first spoken, to him being brought before Adar in episode 4.