The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power (Prime)

[Ragnar]

Originally Posted by Looch City

Lol how have you managed to watch it for this long with all this rage??

I also loved the finally and can't wait until S2. The reveals were great and now I'm digging through the Youtube channel explanations of the lore.

I have no rage. Just pure dissapointment. I was truly hoping it would get better, but the poor writing, dialogue and character development lingered on and on. I'm not sure how you can spend 1 billion dollars and deliver this crap? Visuals were great but that is the ONLY redeeming quality from this show. This was an epic fail from Amazon all things considered.

I would not bother youtubing the lore explanations because they have completely bastardized it from the books.

[Pizza]

I typically find that the people who hate this show, are the ones who are really immersed with the Tolkien books and nitpick with the details. You wouldnt believe how many have been screaming on Reddit "H=S" (Halbrand is Sauron) since the third episode

Could the show be better? of course

Is the show that bad that you should stop watching it? no

As a Casual fan of the Tolkien lore and only have watched both movie trilogies, it's probably best to just accept it for what it is and not get into the details

[Hack&Lube]

"So you know this guy who is basically Hitler that I've been scowling at and chasing the whole series? I just met him and I'm really embarrassed about it so I won't tell anyone about it even though it's crucially important information that could save a million people from horror and destruction.

Also, while telling you nothing about him, I'll enthusiastically help you finish the DIY project he started, there's nothing sinister with following through on his plans right? I'll just make a slight adjustment. Everything will be fine!"

- Galadriel

This has got to be the most illogical character writing ever.

[#-3]

Originally Posted by TrentCrimmIndependent

it would be weird if he wasn't Gandalf after the winks in the dialogue that episide . he's Gandalf

I was rooting for it not to be Gandalf, because I was hoping with a 1000 year time just they'd be able to develop different characters and types of relationships, just for the fun of it. But if in doubt follow your nose, come on, it's Gandalf. They aren't even being coy about it, he's probably be credited as Gandalf before season 2 starts.

[accord1999]

Originally Posted by Hack&Lube

This has got to be the most illogical character writing ever.

You could say that for #1, Galadriel in her heart is still tempted by the offer and by power, and will continue to be so all the way to when Frodo offers her the One Ring and she repeat the same lines that Sauron says here.


For #2, all this point the Elves are still desperate to prevent the fading and without them, the evil powers will grow to dominate Middle Earth. She tries to reduce the risk by changing it to three rings, and they don't know yet that Sauron can craft a ruling ring.

[octothorp]

Originally Posted by CroFlames

If meteor man is Gandalf, that's honestly kinda boring. I was really hoping blue wizard.

Yeah, I'm still really hopeful that we see the blues in Rhun in Season 2. Assuming that the Wizard is Gandalf, I can't think of a reason for sending him to Rhun, so far away from the rest of the plot, unless it's to learn his identity from other wizards.

[JohnnyB]

Originally Posted by accord1999

You could say that for #1, Galadriel in her heart is still tempted by the offer and by power, and will continue to be so all the way to when Frodo offers her the One Ring and she repeat the same lines that Sauron says here.


For #2, all this point the Elves are still desperate to prevent the fading and without them, the evil powers will grow to dominate Middle Earth. She tries to reduce the risk by changing it to three rings, and they don't know yet that Sauron can craft a ruling ring.

Crafting the three rings turns out to be the right decision anyways as those three never get bound to Sauron's ring but do add to the power of the elves in opposing Sauron.

[blankall]

Originally Posted by accord1999

You could say that for #1, Galadriel in her heart is still tempted by the offer and by power, and will continue to be so all the way to when Frodo offers her the One Ring and she repeat the same lines that Sauron says here.


For #2, all this point the Elves are still desperate to prevent the fading and without them, the evil powers will grow to dominate Middle Earth. She tries to reduce the risk by changing it to three rings, and they don't know yet that Sauron can craft a ruling ring.

I got the impression that Sauron still had some kind of power over her, as she was smiling and acting very oddly through the ring crafting process. She'd also discarded that scroll, which was a pretty key part of her trying to bring down Sauron.

[FormerPresJamesTaylor]

The early complains were too much explanation and exposition but it appears we might need more of it. Nothing wrong with Galadriel's choices, Sauron is kinda known for seducing and controlling people. They're crafting rings that will help their people, they have no idea one ring will be forged to rule all the rings.

And at this point it would be a let down if the stranger isn't Gandalf. Lots of little clues, quotes etc. If it isn't too many annoying red herrings.

[agulati]

I had higher expectations from the quality of the show. Half way through so far. Hopefully it gets better in the second half.

[Hack&Lube]

Originally Posted by JohnnyB

Crafting the three rings turns out to be the right decision anyways as those three never get bound to Sauron's ring but do add to the power of the elves in opposing Sauron.

Yes but they don't know all of this, only the audience does. I guess what's also bothering me is how rushed this process was. I would have been far more invested as a viewer into the drama of how Tolkien's Elven Annatar (Elvish for Giver of Gifts) introduced himself to the Elves and spent years growing the trust of Celebrimbor and quietly encouraging the creation of the rings.

Annatar has been removed from the narrative completely, replaced by a different character, and we get the whole thing in half an episode.

[d_phaneuf]

Originally Posted by Hack&Lube

Yes but they don't know all of this, only the audience does. I guess what's also bothering me is how rushed this process was. I would have been far more invested as a viewer into the drama of how Tolkien's Elven Annatar (Elvish for Giver of Gifts) introduced himself to the Elves and spent years growing the trust of Celebrimbor and quietly encouraging the creation of the rings.

Annatar has been removed from the narrative completely, replaced by a different character, and we get the whole thing in half an episode.

Annatar is from the silmarillian, dont think amazon got rights to that

[JohnnyB]

Didn't catch it the first time round, but watching bits for a second time I thought it was really striking the way that when the mithril dropped into the circular container of the molten metal it flared up and looked just like the eye of Sauron. Nice imagery.

I also wonder about the use of moths when the wizard banishes those three wraiths. It seems like a very Gandalf kind of thing given the relationship he seems to have with moths later on, but I wonder if there's more to it.

[Sliver]

Originally Posted by Sliver

My prediction is the tall guy the lost boys picked up becomes Gandalf.

Fatain called it back in September.

Good finale!

[nik-]

I root for this show, and I will continue to watch it because I don't really have many series I watch anymore, but man, it's pretty rough. The dialogue, acting and action scenes in this show are all really amateur. So those are pretty major problems. With good execution on the things they have 100% control over, this could be a really great show.

[bdubbs]

The Stranger totally is Gandalf. He didn't seem to have any idea where he was going in the end, when leaving with Nori, so maybe their destination is Rhun and their journey ends up in the Northwest and closer to the Shire? ie. they get lost

[Sr. Mints]

Originally Posted by d_phaneuf

Annatar is from the silmarillian, dont think amazon got rights to that

The more I learn about the rights breakdown, the more annoyed I get about it. These days I tend to avoid details like that as I would potholes along Northmount Drive, so it was a bit of a surprise going in - especially after the sum Amazon paid for the rights. I assumed they went all-in.

I'm struggling to think of a modern rights acquisition as fractured LOTR. Marvel parcelling off IPs to different studios in the late 90s, I guess. And more recently didn't Warner Bros have issues with DC about a decade ago when trying to get their DCEU rolling?

[dobbles]

I thoroughly enjoyed the first season. Reflecting on it, I don't feel it was particularly great TV, but thanks to the source material being familiar, was still a good watch.

I do have to wonder if we have our newer generation of fans blinded by sentimental feelings. I have long felt that was a problem with Star Wars. A generation that saw the original moves as youngsters that will forever immortalize them. And because the visuals were stunning, the plot and story issues get glossed over. Then new material comes out and is held to insanely higher standards. Is the same thing going to happen with LotR? For those that grew up with the trilogy, will we hold all future content to a higher standard? Would the original trilogy have been review bombed by our current toxic social media communities?

I get that there are timeline and plot issues. Stanger shouldn't be Gandalf, where's Celebor, etc. But the OT had issues too. Where was Tom Bombadil? Why did they compress the early stages where Gandalf leaves for years in the books but is made to seem like a very short period in the movie? No Elves at Helms Deep. Why the heck is Liv Tyler showing up all the time?!?!? I know the internet was just getting rolling back then and there were places those discussions were had, but it was nowhere near as mainstream as now.

I think the criticisms about poor writing and poor pacing are totally valid. It just sucks so much time and effort is spent either bashing the show for having people of color, or hyper-analyzing how every episode compares to source material.

(for the record, all of this whining is in relation to what I've read online, not comments on here)

[blankall]

Originally Posted by Sr. Mints

The more I learn about the rights breakdown, the more annoyed I get about it. These days I tend to avoid details like that as I would potholes along Northmount Drive, so it was a bit of a surprise going in - especially after the sum Amazon paid for the rights. I assumed they went all-in.

I'm struggling to think of a modern rights acquisition as fractured LOTR. Marvel parcelling off IPs to different studios in the late 90s, I guess. And more recently didn't Warner Bros have issues with DC about a decade ago when trying to get their DCEU rolling?

It all seems pretty misguided to me too. This Amazon deal, was likely the pinnacle the Tolkein estate was going to receive. The Hobbit movies still made a lot of cash, but had pretty wanning support, and that was a much bigger and more popular property than the anything besides the LOTR. This also isn't Star Wars. People are not buying action figures of obscure characters from the Silmarillion in large numbers.

If the goal is not financial and to maintain the integrity of the works fracturing them into bits seems like the exact opposite approach.

Whatever the motivation, if Amazon's show isn't insanely popular no major studio is going to be throwing another 9 figure cheque at the Tolkeins to acquire the Silmarillion, or any other, rights.

Edit:

Just looked at the copyright info. Many of Tolkein's works will begin to hit public domain in the 2030s. However, the Silmarillion won't hit public domain until much later (2090s), as it was co-written by his son. Still seems a bit silly. Once again, I can't see anyone paying extra for the Silmarillion, when they can just use LOTR and the Hobbit for free.

[Sliver]

Originally Posted by dobbles

I thoroughly enjoyed the first season. Reflecting on it, I don't feel it was particularly great TV, but thanks to the source material being familiar, was still a good watch.

I do have to wonder if we have our newer generation of fans blinded by sentimental feelings. I have long felt that was a problem with Star Wars. A generation that saw the original moves as youngsters that will forever immortalize them. And because the visuals were stunning, the plot and story issues get glossed over. Then new material comes out and is held to insanely higher standards. Is the same thing going to happen with LotR? For those that grew up with the trilogy, will we hold all future content to a higher standard? Would the original trilogy have been review bombed by our current toxic social media communities?

I get that there are timeline and plot issues. Stanger shouldn't be Gandalf, where's Celebor, etc. But the OT had issues too. Where was Tom Bombadil? Why did they compress the early stages where Gandalf leaves for years in the books but is made to seem like a very short period in the movie? No Elves at Helms Deep. Why the heck is Liv Tyler showing up all the time?!?!? I know the internet was just getting rolling back then and there were places those discussions were had, but it was nowhere near as mainstream as now.

I think the criticisms about poor writing and poor pacing are totally valid. It just sucks so much time and effort is spent either bashing the show for having people of color, or hyper-analyzing how every episode compares to source material.

(for the record, all of this whining is in relation to what I've read online, not comments on here)

I fataing hated the books (couldn't get through them...I made it to some part where the Hobbits were singing the worst song ever and I had to slam it shut in disgust) and I thought the movies from - what 15 years ago or something - were absolute boring trash. Like, I was looking around the theater because I thought we were all going to start throwing our Cokes at the screen. It was infuriating sitting there watching the ####iest most boring movies ever.

This TV show, though, is not bad. Half decent little watch. Not sure how people can complain about the dialogue and stuff - it's always been terrible.