It's really much more fun to watch Episodes 7-9 after hearing Amanda Overton (one of the three writers to S2) during her interview mention that she basically watched Marvel movies, and then thought "Huuh, multiverse and time-travel, it would be fun to introduce these concepts to Arcane since viewers already are familiar with them!". This and many other bizzare writing decisions in S2 really make me doubt her invovement in the creating of Season 1. Seasons 2 is a huge flashy disappointment that wants to make you blind with how shiny it is. It carries the legacy of S1 and I belive it's the only reasons why mass viewer liked it, since if it wasn't branded as Arcane this story would be just an obvious scenaric mess which it is. I really appriciate your bravery on critisizing Season 2! The voices of wide-eyed kiddos that call S2 a masterpiece already crawl under the skin tbh. It's always great to see someone adressing the problems of the show. For that I thank you! Good luck and don't mind the upcoming fanatics that will try to bellitle you for critising their sacral goat! ❤

viktor changes cuz his humanity got erased some shit by singed after he got blasted by jayce

No media literacy

18:38 this is right time to that, i mean man, u probably understand someday, just put it in man :3…

man oh man, couldn't agree more on everything 🫠 season 2 seemed to ignore their own characters, a lot of their motivations, and the phrase "this came out of nowhere" best describes... everything the season is not terrible, on it's own or could be even good, but when you compare it to season 1 and how well its character arcs worked, it's confusing

2:16 imagine how much trust and acceptance powder lost when Ekko said that, to have to accept the fact that it was him that gave them the tip and hear him say that, I’m genuinely surprised powder didn’t shoot him then and there, he tried to pull that with jinx he’d be a dead before man he said another word.

You have some good points, but you also have brain dead monkey points that make me recoil in my chair

Rage bait?

honestly respect the bravery to talk shit on arcane. most points i dont agree on but brave nonetheless

This is like a crappier version of Cinema sins. Heimerdinger never stopped caring about Piltover. The lanes and Firelights hideout are a part of Piltover and he specifically went back to his study with Ekko to stop the spread of the hextech runoff. I can go on but this kind of nitpicking to the point of being nonsensical is everywhere on youtube. You're looking way too hard to find flaws where none exist. And if you cant forgive Jinx for what she did then fine, but i recommed being like the Force when it forgave Darth Vader for the countless slaughter he commited. Flawed but sympathetic characters work when it's well written and Arcane was so well written that nearly everyone forgave her. Or maybe we should just abandon redemption arcs because everyone is unforgivable?

You missed that Dictator of Piltover for some reason guarding Ambessa camp. How believable and convenient

Great video. Looking forward to the next one.

This is a world where powder wasn’t called a hindrance, a jinx, where it wasn’t entirely her fault her whole family died but instead just vi. It’s supposed to show that powder is able to do things that could lead to incredible outcomes and that ekko really still did love her the whole time even when she became jinx. Also I think you just might be miserable, dude shows are ment to make you enjoy the story without having to read a book and see it in action, if you don’t like it then nice

I made a big mistake. I was editing my latest video, trying to get around the copyright strikes I kept getting, and had one version of the video uploaded to youtube so I could keep track of the specific spot in the video that was getting struck. Once that part was edited, I attempted to delete the copyright struck version, but accidently deleted part 2 of my arcane reviews, which is why this video now appears with no views. I'm so embarrassed about this ☹

You know why LOTRs is superior? When I think of Sean Bean in Fellowship of the Ring I think Boromir. When I think of Sean Bean in Game of Thrones I think Sean Bean (even though he was one of the better characters).

You deserve more subscribers I love your content.

To be fair, the Silmarillion _did_ give the hook that Sauron/Anatar used to fool the elves of Eregion. It's said both the elves and men misunderstood their fates within Middle Earth; the elves possess immortality, whilst men are mortal. Both rather envied the other, with the elves calling "death" the Gift of God (to Men) and a "liberation from the circles of the world", whilst they themselves would live forever, and see all their great works crumble. To quote Galadriel for example: “The love of the Elves for their land and their works is deeper than the deeps of the Sea, and their regret is undying and cannot ever wholly be assuaged". Men on the other hand saw the elves' immortality and envied that. And I think it's more than implied that those misunderstandings are what Anatar exploited; first in Eregion with the elves, then later in Numenor with men. Baring the Gift of Iluvatar, the elves wanted realms in Middle-Earth outside of Valinor but feared the effects of time unraveling all their efforts, as well as the knowledge that their race would eventually 'fade' if they stayed. The Great Rings were designed to arrest the effects of time, as was apparent in Lothlorien and to an extent in Rivendale. To quote Tolkien himself _But the elves are not wholly good or in the right. Not so much because they had flirted with Sauron; as because with or without his assistance they were ‘embalmers’. They wanted to have their cake and eat it; to live in the mortal historical Middle-earth because they had become fond of it (and perhaps because they there had the advantages of a superior caste), and so tried to stop its change and history, stop its growth, keep it as a pleasuance, even largely a desert, where they could be ‘artists’-and they were overburdened with sadness and nostalgic regret._ So Sauron manipulates the elves by seemingly giving them what they want, though this not only has a price that could ruin them completely but also goes against the divine plan Iluvater had for them. It's an interesting juxtaposition with how Sauron later corrupts the men of Numenor; promising them immortality. I think it's quite possible in fact to draw a line from that first corruption of the elves to that of the Numenoreans. You could easily imagine for instance, Sauron demonstrating that 'elvish magic' (wearing the Great Rings) _did give immortality_ Maybe show one of the Black Numenoreans who should have aged and died to appear to be unchanged by time (before they became a wraith of course). And from there he could claim the elves and Valar were denying immortality to man simply from choice. That would be a great bit of manipulation, with misleading half-truths to promise something forbidden but desired.

Brilliant critique. Very satisfying to watch. On a subconscious level I was experiencing all kinds of disappointment but you point out all kind of great specifics, particularly the writing, dialogue, internal consistency and contrivances. S1 was an emotionally affecting masterpiece. I felt like it should have stayed a single season as it was a well contained and complete story. This one fell short everywhere. Looking forward to the next vid!

Sauron: As you can see, I am the master manipulator! Emperor Palpatine: You sure about that?

Villains should be competent to be well-written. But there isn't a single competent character in ROP.

As others have pointed out, there are also moments that seem very similar to other shows and franchises. Similar scenes to HOTD/GOT. And Gil-Galad's robes are VERY similar to the costumes/robes for Lord Varys in GOT. And the "there is a tempest in me" scene that is virtually identical to the dialogue in Elizabeth's Golden Age where she says "there is a hurricane in me." And the design of the worm monster in mud VERY similar to Peter Jackson's Kong. Tolkien ironically was the one who said evil cannot create, only imitate.

That's how I was watching Star Wars sequel trilogy with my cousin. "This line is cool, it reminds me of the better star wars movie I should be watching instead of this"

"Don't remind people of a great movie in your crappy movie." -MST3k

I thought the "bitch" scene in the new Alien was fun! I guessed they might make the guy the hero at the end considering the first Alien subverted expectation with a female protagonist. This newer Alien kinda did the opposite by setting up the female as the hero, which she still kinda is, but gets saved by her brother - who is shown to be nothing but a burden to her. It was less of a "I know that" moment and more of a "That's a fun twist of an established trope in Alien" The scene that did make me think of the problem you're talking about was the scene to do with Rook. Why did we need him back? Just so the audience knew he's be a problem later? Just make him some senior android, androids are proven to be untrustworthy in Alien stories often. We didn't need Rook. Edit: I have to say, the mouse click after every sentence is tunnelling into my brain more than the sentences. Other than that, enjoyable content 👍

12:05 Gay bar pickup lines be like.

Just to be clear, you released this two days before the series finale of Agatha? Not saying the show is great, but it does address a good deal of the issues you bring up. A more complete analysis would have been far more interesting, had you only waited a few days longer.

so i had 1 thought at the end of your video. "IP Mining" IPs can be mined, but there is inherently a problem with this approach. this isn't like mining a natural mountain or resource. You are mining a construction. as if you were "mining" a building. it might work pretty well at first because most of the building (the IP) is still in place and structurally sound. but eventually either not enough of what made the building recognizable remains or the building collapses because it was so damaged it couldn't be supported anymore. When the effort is in getting as much as you can "out" of something, it becomes evident that nothing honest is being invested "into" it.

NGL, when I found out Into Darkness was a "reboot" I kinda groaned. It was a good movie though. I haven't watched the new star wars because of all the bad reviews, and I did not appreciate them killing off Han or Luke. I have seen enough reviews to have watched the movie myself anyway. I felt the same way about Rings of Power. They either need to make a good series or pander. They can't do both. I didn't watch The Hobbit when it came out and its my favorite Lord of the Rings story. I read the book at least 4 times when I was kid. That is where the story should have started. I will never understand why studios pander OR why they start stories backwards from their source material. And if they do, they should be ready to offer more. And stop teasing! If they'd do that, and less pandering, these additions to great films would be amazing. Is it just me, or does it feel like there is a bad rash of moveis bwing produced for nothing but cash grabs and/or fan service!?!?! I watch and read too many movie reviews.

I only got about halfway through Rings of Power season 2 because I honestly just couldn't take the fan fiction anymore, but it drove me absolutely crazy how often they used lines from the Jackson trilogy for absolutely no reason. Every time it happened (and it happened often), I cringed.

I don’t have the time or energy to unpack all of this, but re: the orcs not listening to him, that’s in Tolkien. See this excerpt from “The Nature of Middle-Earth”: “the eastern orcs, who had not experienced the power and terror of the Eldar, or the valour of the Edain, were not subservient to Sauron- while he was obliged for the cozening of western men and elves to wear as a fair a form and countenance as he could, they despised him and laughed at him.” This exemplifies my problem with a LOT of critiques of the show: reviewers simply don’t do their homework. I’ve seen people say Sauron being a “pretty boy” is stupid, or “showing Numenor isn’t something Tolkien would have wanted.” The writing is bad, the plot is crazy, the dialogue feels like it was written by AI, but 90% of the time, I feel like the lore-based issues KZbin critics bring up could easily be explained by doing some research. I hate having to defend this show because it’s truly not a good piece of media, but I also hate this smug sense of superiority reviewers take when they’re *wrong*.

as soon as you said the Batman was just okay I was just wondering how you understood the message of the penguin it's your opinion of course I respect it

Yup 12:39

What ya think of the sudden positive reaction for Agatha?

I am an am ambitious student, so I love watching the Penguin’s ambitions. To me it’s also a fun warning about what happens when the ambitions take complete control over you

I genuinely loved The Batman, but the Riddler is the worst part of it. I think Dano's preformance is good at first but he goes too hard and gets a little too over the top

Finally someone that found the Batman just okay and not some masterpiece

Ill never watch agatha all along simply vuz it has the dumvest sounding title ever. Who the fuck cMe up with that

I don’t think the characters in Agatha implicitly trust her. They’re basically all stuck in the same situation and Agatha has held herself out to be an expert in the situation they’re currently in. Feeling like they might have to rely on her might explain why they keep moving with her despite her outright deception. I also think for what Agatha attempts to be, it still manages to succeed. The characters may not be as fleshed out, but everyone gets their moment to shine. Also given the time constraints of each episode, there is only so much writing that can be done to explore each character. Episode 7 was also a standout moment for me and I think Wiccan’s introduction was mostly handled well. I think a fair comparison also has to consider the difference in genre and the networks that are airing them. The themes are different and Penguin has almost double the runtime each week to say what it wants to say. Agatha may not be a deep character exploration on the level of a crime thriller like Penguin, but you will definitely have a good time watching it.

One is woke other is not😋

I mean, your opinion is your opinion. I like the Riddler. But hey great video!

Great video, disagree with your opinion about riddler tho.

Instant Mordor is so funny. The thing about this show is that there are at least 100 things competing for "worst things about Rings of Power". Season 2 is just one disaster after another, trashing the Lore, trashing their own characters, trashing plot continuity, and in general making every single character behave like a moron because the writers have no capacity for plot, character, nuance, dialogue, nor anything else. For me, "Grand Elf" from season 2 should have actually seen the writers and showrunners arrested for crimes against intelligence. I've never shouted at a screen so hard as I did when I watched that utterly insulting, ludicrous moment. Hopefully Amazon just pull the plug. It deserves to die and stand as a warning to writers everywhere about how not to be make a series.

10:12 - Boy, Gotham City is just like Brazil in 2024

That's the difference between character-driven plots and action-driven plots. Agatha All Along is restricted in terms of how truly "evil" Agatha can be because it's following the Disney Marvel formula which is very action/event oriented. Things happen to the main character and the main character is forced to act on it, rather than the main character making choices that have direct consequences, and having to adapt and grow in order to get themselves out of it.

Very good video and analysis!

The depiction of Sauron is really good.

_Sauron_ would not _kneel_ so a subordinate can crown him. He would crown himself, he wouldn't think anyone else was worthy enough to do it, especially not some elf that Morgoth fcked up (also, the crown was melted into a collar for Morgoth when he was chained, obviously before Sauron tried to take over, its long gone)