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

[direwolf]

Originally Posted by blankall

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

I didn't mind the Hobbit, but stretching it out to three movies was totally unnecessary for such a short book. Surely one film would have sufficed.

[dammage79]

Nice to see an entwife before they got lost

[bdubbs]

What did everyone think of their portrayal of the Eldest? I thought he was fun, but maybe not as strange as I expected. And maybe a bit too on the nose about our Stranger's mission.

[Wastedyouth]

Originally Posted by blankall

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.

Is it? Or is it the terrible writing?

[TrentCrimmIndependent]

Why do people still refer to him as the stranger.

It's f-in Gandalf.

[TrentCrimmIndependent]

Originally Posted by blankall

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.

Dear lord, is this a thing?

Who am I kidding, of course it is.

Remember when it was rare that this genre was made political or drew comparisons to current societal gripes (bigotry)? Escapism was just escapism - especially fantasy.

Miss those days.

[FireGilbert]

Has to be Gandalf. They freaking called him a “Grand Elf” last episode.

Definitely a huge toxic fanbase for this show and it’s become trendy to hate on it. You’ve got Tolkein fans upset at the interpretation of source material, Jackson fans wanting the tone to be more like the trilogy, and others pushing an agenda, all described as “bad writing”. It’s part a trend in fandom where everyone has a personal view of where the story should go and gets upset at any deviation.

This is my favourite show on streaming right now. Love the world building and cinematography, and other than some pacing issues in S1 it provides a super interesting story filling in the blanks in the history of Middle Earth. Can’t wait to see what happens next and how the storylines converge.

[octothorp]

I loved all the things that LotR book fans can dig into in S2E4.

Spoiler!

Ent-wives! Stoors! Tom Bombadil! Barrow Wights! Particularly cool to have the Wights and Bombadil in back-to-back scenes. Connecting the Harfoots and Stoors and being able to shape a larger story there is really promising for future seasons, I think.

And yeah, I'm convinced that the Stranger is Gandalf, I don't think they're being subtle about it and at this point it would be too upsetting to viewers if he wasn't. I do think especially with his fearful reaction to his task of opposing Sauron, there's a really cool character arc that ends with him returning to the Valinor, a time jump, and then being dispatched to middle earth again, and meeting Cirdan upon his arrival in ME again.

[blankall]

Originally Posted by TrentCrimmIndependent

Dear lord, is this a thing?

Who am I kidding, of course it is.

Remember when it was rare that this genre was made political or drew comparisons to current societal gripes (bigotry)? Escapism was just escapism - especially fantasy.

Miss those days.

To be fair it was a little odd that the orcs were now reluctant combatants just wanting to settle down and raise a family. Doesn't really explain how they constantly act like murder driven lunatics. I just want to raise a family......and randomly torture to death that innocent person. The ironic part is that the orcs all speak with working class English accents. If anything its more of a depiction of the class system, as opposed to an allegory for immigration.

This show is really starting to get good overall though. I'd say it feels very Lord of the Ring-sey right now. Whereas the first season felt more like a random fantasy show with some nods to the LotR.

The whole going into the graveyard thing was odd though. The one elf just dismissed everyone else's concerns about ghosts? You live in a world where ghosts are real, and they can drag you into a hole and instantly kill you.....maybe before walking into some ancient hero graveyard in a creepy looking forest, you might want to at least consider the risks.

[Ashartus]

Originally Posted by TrentCrimmIndependent

Why do people still refer to him as the stranger.

It's f-in Gandalf.

Some people still think the 2 wizards on the show are the blue wizards based on timing, but everything sure points to him being Gandalf. Less clear whether the other one is Saruman, the Witch King of Angmar, or someone else though the indications last episode that he is an Istar points suggests not the Witch King.

[TrentCrimmIndependent]

If that's young Saruman I'm not a big fan of the casting choice. The guy playing the stranger works as Gandalf though. I can hear it in his voice and looks well enough the part.

[octothorp]

Unlikely but thematically rich interpretation for the Dark Wizard: Rhun is near where the elves first were put on middle earth at Cuiviénen, and there was a company of Maiar who were to guard them. Eventually the elves would split with most travelling West. Of those that stayed behind, this is where Morgoth originally captured the elves that he twisted into Orcs. That includes Adar. So suppose the Dark Wizard is a Maiar that stayed in those lands after most of the elves departed, and was unable to protect those that remained from Morgoth. He stayed through the first age, stayed when Cuiviénen was destroyed during the changing of the world at the beginning of the second age. Maybe when men start arriving in those lands, he originally sees himself as a protector of them, but then that changes into a desire to rule over them, for their protection. The Valar become aware that there's a forgotten Maiar in Rhun, and send Gandalf... a Marlow to this other Maiar's Kurtz.

Highly unlikely, but I'd love that direction so much more than the dark wizard being one of the other five istari from the third age.

[FireGilbert]

Excellent episode. The Annatar and Celebrimbor relationship is brilliant and the Numenor story is becoming very dark and intriguing. Dwarves were great too. It flew by and didn’t feel like 60 minutes at all.

[Dentoman]

Originally Posted by FireGilbert

Excellent episode. The Annatar and Celebrimbor relationship is brilliant and the Numenor story is becoming very dark and intriguing. Dwarves were great too. It flew by and didn’t feel like 60 minutes at all.

Agree! Probably the best episode of the series so far. They were able to get the Numenor storyline moving quite quickly which I wasn't sure they would be able to

[TrentCrimmIndependent]

Congrats on them making their first complete 60 minutes of engaging TV. I didn't doze off!

If I was none the wiser you could convince me that one was Jackson-directed. Pretty solid all around.

[octothorp]

Originally Posted by FireGilbert

Excellent episode. The Annatar and Celebrimbor relationship is brilliant and the Numenor story is becoming very dark and intriguing. Dwarves were great too. It flew by and didn’t feel like 60 minutes at all.

Yeah, my biggest frustration with season one was that I thought that from where the left it (with Galadriel knowing his true identity), we weren't going to get to see Annatar as a manipulator, but they're showing that side fantastically well.

[bdubbs]

Thoroughly enjoying season 2 thus far. Can't believe I almost passed because of some online early reviews saying it was boring.

[TrentCrimmIndependent]

I like this season!

[dammage79]

Next episode is going to be a big one. This was totally a table setting episode this week. And they did it well and by the book.

The Balrog has always been my favorite part of Tolkien's world. I'm here for his unleashing. Totally ready.

[FireGilbert]

I loved that cheeky look Sauron gave when he saw the Balrog in the flame. That wasn’t Mithril he handed over right, it was his blood?

That illusion scene with the transition from day to night was amazing. Definitely pumped for next week.