Review by ladysherlockian
I find it really entertaining to find allusions/references/plagiarisms to both Tolkien's "The Lord of the Rings" and Peter Jackson's adaptation and my Tolkienist heart is happy to know how superior they are to "The Wheel of Time". The ruins of Shadar Logoth, the local equivalent of the Mines of Moria, seem a tad Gondorian rather than Dwarvish, though. It does not really seem threatening or terrifying at first, at least not when Rand and Egwene start their exploration deed (explore Shadar Logoth - get 10 XP) -> at least this brought the game "The Lord of the Rings Online" to my mind and its "deeds" which you complete by visiting certain places in the game). I remembered Mat's finding the cursed dagger there so I was just waiting for him to come across it so that one can tick all the boxes. I am not sure how it was in the books, but in the show I had the impression that Mat's picking up the dagger somewhat "activated" the shadow monster? I am not sure whether such a connection was made in the novel.
The behaviour of the characters in the episode is mostly illogical, and there were some boring parts in it, but I found the song of Manetheren and the story behind it rather touching, maybe because the tale of the nation left by their allies to face the enemy alone is somewhat evocative of Polish history.
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@ladysherlockian In the books we don't find out that Mat has the dagger until later.
