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

[BigThief]

First episode was excellent, I'd forgotten plot points of the first season but I enjoyed it.

[direwolf]

I'm enjoying it as well. A big improvement over season 1 so far.

[Finger Cookin]

Why are the elves always so emo about fading light and leaving the shores of middle Earth forever blah blah blah. They're so one note.

[Duruss]

Watched ep3 tonight and really liked it. Show has been entertaining and it fun to have the foreknowledge of how this all shakes out.

[accord1999]

Originally Posted by Finger Cookin

Why are the elves always so emo about fading light and leaving the shores of middle Earth forever blah blah blah. They're so one note.

It's the S1 plot element to drive the need for making rings and should be over for awhile now that Elves have theirs.

[TrentCrimmIndependent]

First episode was good.

Accepting that the show will be slow paced has helped.

Why does the acting feel more engaging? Maybe it's better writing. Don't want to get ahead of myself though since it's just one episode.

[dobbles]

Originally Posted by dammage79

From what I gathered, that Rhun Saruman lookalike isn't an Istari. More a witch king or one of the 9 kind of guys. He might get a ring.

Although the Blue Wizards might figure into things as well.

I'm guessing now the actual Saruman, is the nameless guy wandering around with the halflings. He was the 1st ( if you don't count the Blue Wizards)Istari to land on middle earth's shores in the books, so it should be him.

So far I've liked the first three episodes. Definitely has better pacing than the beginning of season one.

It's going to be fun watching celebrimbors descent into madness.

I enjoy listening to Nerd of the Rings on youtube, and he still thinks the blue wizards could be who they are. From how he explains it, they are talked about in two different ways in Tolkein's writing. In one instance it talks about how they failed in helping to stop Sauron and instead set up secret cults and magic traditions. But then in his later writings he did amend that and stated that they helped out in the east and helped distract Sauron from being able to focus as much on the west. In his theorizing, he thinks this could be a good way to cover both accounts of the blue wizards by having one be good and the other be bad.

[blankall]

2 episodes in and liking it. The biggest problem was remember what had happened in season 1. For whatever reason I had a total blank. As the show goes on though, I'm remembering more and more, without having to re-watch. Really quite strange. A bit of an eerie feeling, as so much of the show is devoted to characters having memory loss and blocks in their perception.

I guess we had 2 years between seasons, plus the general slow pacing of the show?

[Finger Cookin]

Originally Posted by accord1999

It's the S1 plot element to drive the need for making rings and should be over for awhile now that Elves have theirs.

That's good to know. It seems as pervasive to me as it does because it seems like that's all they were about in the movies, too.

[FireGilbert]

Episode 4 was great and left me wanting more.

The book nerds who didn’t like some things missing from the Jackson trilogy should be very happy with this one.

[dino7c]

Originally Posted by #-3

So I'm 2 minutes in and wondering to myself. why we have yet another expensive TV project that doesn't give a #### about the viewing experience when it comes to night scenes. I don't really care how authentic it is / isn't just light the actors for the damn night scenes.

1990s low budget are you afraid of the dark, note how you can see their faces, we have the technology

They are sitting around a fire, we have had the technology for a while

[dino7c]

So I kinda want to start this but I really don't want to sit through season 1...is there a good recap anywhere?

thanks

[dammage79]

Originally Posted by dino7c

So I kinda want to start this but I really don't want to sit through season 1...is there a good recap anywhere?

thanks

They do a long recap at the start of episode 1 season 2.

Otherwise there's some really good ones on YouTube. I don't know your personal taste for how you like to be fed your information so I can't really recommend one.

[accord1999]

Originally Posted by dino7c

So I kinda want to start this but I really don't want to sit through season 1...is there a good recap anywhere?

thanks

If you have a couple of hours, just watch the scenes with elves and/or the human male lead, skip the rest and the first 60 minutes of Episode 7. That'll give you the most important plot lines and if you haven't been spoiled yet, it's well worth it for the twist.

[dobbles]

Originally Posted by FireGilbert

Episode 4 was great and left me wanting more.

The book nerds who didn’t like some things missing from the Jackson trilogy should be very happy with this one.

I thought it was another pretty good one story wise. Though I am finding myself not particularly invested in the Theo/Isildur/Arondir storyline. I think some of is that they keep putting Isildur in trouble but we know he survives. And I can't say I've ever cared too much about Theo or the new lady from this season.

The stranger arc seems to be pretty good. Though if he does end up being Gandalf that might just be a "no thanks, I'm out" moment for me.

The Elrond/Galadriel arc seems good for me as well. While many of the actions/motivations may still be out of character in terms of Tolkiens writing, I feel I can at least get behind them compared to the first season.

There were no dwarf, Numenor or Celebrimbor/Annatar scenes at all in episode 4 were there? I do feel like they have too many storylines to keep going at this point.

[bdubbs]

Really enjoyed the first three episodes, surprisingly. I was expecting to be let down. Perhaps the constant stream of negativity about Season 2 before it was even released has lowered my standards...

[accord1999]

Originally Posted by bdubbs

Really enjoyed the first three episodes, surprisingly. I was expecting to be let down. Perhaps the constant stream of negativity about Season 2 before it was even released has lowered my standards...

I think the hate is way over-stated. The available Second Age material is relatively sparse and it was bound to require some creative adaptation and interpretation to work on TV but won't be what some fans have imagined it would. But I like most of the plot-lines. And finally seeing the things that were just hinted at in the LotR movies and books/appendices; Sauron in person driving the major events, the Elven states still a significant force, Numenor at its peak, the Rings of Power being used, etc

[TrentCrimmIndependent]

Toting a billion dollar budget will bring a scrutinous eye from most.

Season 1 started rough but had moments as it went along. This is certainly better on the whole. But yeah, the low bar could be playing into that. With no expectations, mere competence looks great. It probably helps when the visuals are pretty.

[GoinAllTheWay]

Had to chuckle a little bit as the Ent was grilling the Elf asking if he'd ever taken an axe to a tree before and the Elf explaining he had but with utmost respect.


(campfire crackles in the background)

[blankall]

Originally Posted by accord1999

I think the hate is way over-stated. The available Second Age material is relatively sparse and it was bound to require some creative adaptation and interpretation to work on TV but won't be what some fans have imagined it would. But I like most of the plot-lines. And finally seeing the things that were just hinted at in the LotR movies and books/appendices; Sauron in person driving the major events, the Elven states still a significant force, Numenor at its peak, the Rings of Power being used, etc

A lot of the hate is political at this point. Too much humanizing of the orcs for some. In some of the negative reviews I see absurd comparisons of foreigners moving to the UK. That orc with the baby scene seemed to particularly rub some people the wrong way.

Could also be that Fellowship is a hard act to follow. This is miles above that Hobbit trilogy though.