The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power | Amazon | September 2, 2022

[MikeQ]

Galadriel has become a lot more compelling and refined over the last couple of episodes. The focus on her this episode was the real highlight for me.

 

But yeah, what a cringe ending with the Southlands title being changed to Mordor. We didn't need it spelled out; just give us the wide shot, and the implication is clearly there.

 

Peace,

Mike

 

PS. I continue to be impressed by the orcs. The level of craft put into the practical effects and makeup for the orcs is just terrific and makes for more interesting orc characters.

Edited October 8, 2022 by MikeQ

[MikeQ]

18 hours ago, Porthos said:

You know, I do have one other quick observation and it's about Fan Debates over Who Is Sauron.

 

  Reveal hidden contents

I could be wrong here.  I could be *VERY* wrong, but I simply can not fathom Halbrand as Sauron.

 

Like, not at all.

 

See, the thing is, this Lord of the Rings/Tolkien isn't a work which is based on misdirection, false trails, and trickery.  If we want to call Tolkien a genre into itself, it isn't a genre that lends itself to such sort of things.

 

No, this is more the type of series where they, if not wear their emotions on their sleeves, at least telegraph who are Heroes, who are Villains and who might tip one way or the other.

 

Like, NotEminem?  He's up to no good.  Adar? 3 dimensional, but still clearly a villain.  Even the Stranger, who is up in the air, doesn't have the air of menace or villainy that a Second Age Sauron would have.

 

Doesn't mean Halbrand can't be corrupted.  He most certainly can.  But he might as well have a sign over his head that says "Yes, I *AM* the stand-in for Aragorn in this series."

 

Now this it is very likely that Halbrand won't be as... successful as Aragorn.  He has his own demons to battle, after all.

 

But Sauron?  Just don't see it.  And with every passing episode I find it that much harder to believe that this is Sauron pulling a con. 

 

(especially given that the Forces of Sauron are already moving all over the place [including Mr. Balrog])

 

 

I completely agree.

 

Spoiler

At this point, I think Halbrand is being set up as a prime candidate to be the Witch-king. I think the angle you mention of Halbrand "fighting his dark side and genuinely trying to be a better person" actually lends itself really well to this. A king who tries/wants to do good, but falls to the power of the ring/Sauron. 

 

Peace,

Mike

[Elessar]

Not sure about this week's episode. Still not a fan of elfs fading for some reason and mithril having magical elf curing abilities, it feels contrived. I hoped for some ploy from the bad guys but they seem to double down on that (leaf turbo healing), which is the reason i can't fully enjoy that plotline even though the actors portraying both Durins deserve kudos (some more beautiful moments between the two).

 

And then some other nitpicks like that somewhat on the nose and cringy mordor reveal at the end, or Isildur suddenly having this deep connection with his horse - since when was that established? Wasn't his father more of the horse whisperer? Or the sometimes rather forced references to LOTR.

 

I dunno, stuff like that mars the overall picture.

Edited October 8, 2022 by Elessar

[Hatebox]

Despite the length of episodes it still feels like a lot of stuff gets cut.
 

Galadriel and the boy don’t bother looking for anyone before going off together (only to end up back with everyone anyway)? Those weird villains burn the Irish gypsies’ huts, are never shown leaving, then we return to the scene the morning after with them gone? 
 

Just two examples, but the show’s riddled with those narrative gaps, and it’s asking the audience to meet it more than halfway to mentally fill in the blanks. 

[Black Hawk]

2nd viewing.
I chose to watch each subplot individually. It actually works much better on rewatch. Strange show.

[Valonqar]

I think this should have been a binge. Not much happens to tide people over for 7 days but it would flow better if it was 8 episodes all at once.

 

All those characters not opening Adar's fakeout package to see what's inside was peak bad plotting we all expect from Bad Robot. 

[Liiviig 1998]

1 hour ago, Valonqar said:

I think this should have been a binge. Not much happens to tide people over for 7 days but it would flow better if it was 8 episodes all at once.

 

All those characters not opening Adar's fakeout package to see what's inside was peak bad plotting we all expect from Bad Robot. 

Obviously doing it to captillize on viewership and to keep In the conversation.

 

Interms of plot structure,I do agree binge was definitely better and makes it more digestable .

 

But business wise , conversation for the show would have like completely disappeared , alot doesn't happen in this previous episodes .

 

Bingable shows always disappear from conversation even juggernauts like stranger things.

 

And ROP is no where near stranger things in reach even with a large IP recognition.

 

Marketing for the show overall was quite meh and bad at points(superfans).

 

The show overall lacks a significant hook and progression.

 

Let's see what the finale brings. But S2 should be a little sharp and move the plot alittle fast.

 

Showrunners having been fine ,expected a super generic show or a train wreck  but it's pretty decent.

 

The writers need to swing Abit more .

[Valonqar]

Season 2 should move faster in theory. In practice, unless they don't change the team, they will keep Mystery Box Afictionados. And that's one big reason why it moves slowly. They stretch mystery boxes to fill episodes with mystery, lol. 

 

As for conversation, I see why HotD benefits from weekly release. ROP however offers very little to debate so it boils down to:

 

Is Halbrand Sauron?

 

Is [other character - Slim, Adar, Gil-galad lmao!] Sauron?

 

Complaints about Galadriel (Karen, Mary Sue)

 

Galadriel/Halbrand shipping

 

Complaints about nonsense writing 

 

It gives me TFA deja vu:

 

Is Rey a Skywalker?

 

Is Rey a nobody/Kenobi/Plapatine?

 

Compalints about Rey (Mary Sue)

 

Reylo shipping

 

Complaints about nonsense writing

 

It's Bad Robot thing. 100%. Same pattern because they approach everything the same way and get the same fandom response. 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited October 8, 2022 by Valonqar

[Hatebox]

I couldn’t even work out how that old guy had the hilt key. Benjen Stark had it, was captured, then some random guy’s using it? No doubt I didn’t pay enough attention, but it was another “huh?” moment rather than a “woah!” moment. 

[Ozymandias]

57 minutes ago, Hatebox said:

I couldn’t even work out how that old guy had the hilt key. Benjen Stark had it, was captured, then some random guy’s using it? No doubt I didn’t pay enough attention, but it was another “huh?” moment rather than a “woah!” moment. 

 

its because you're so checked out while watching it

 

i'm not gonna go back and watch it but I believe Adar told old guy he has a special mission for him after he gets the mordor key

[SnokesLegs]

Unless the finale sets up something genuinely interesting, I doubt I’ll be back for season 2. It pains me to say that as a massive LOTR fan (books and movies), but this has just been weak all the way through, we’ve now spent around 8 hours with these characters and I couldn’t give a crap about a single one of them. Compare that with Fellowship where you’re attached to like 10 characters within the first hour. I really wanted to like this, but I can’t make excuses for it anymore, it’s just not good.

[Menor the Destroyer]

6 hours ago, Hatebox said:

I couldn’t even work out how that old guy had the hilt key. Benjen Stark had it, was captured, then some random guy’s using it? No doubt I didn’t pay enough attention, but it was another “huh?” moment rather than a “woah!” moment. 

Adar specifically gave him a mission and gave him the key right before the Numenoreans arrived. 

[Ozymandias]

I noticed Amazon has rolled out a new hashtag emoji for the maestro himself(#Sauron) on twitter to hype up the "IT HAS ALL LED TO THIS DUN DUN" season finale.

PS the Jackson design is a masterpiece and I want this

 

 

Edited October 9, 2022 by Ozymandias

[Liiviig 1998]

Just watched the season finale trailer. Yeah some already seen footage is put in but small new scenes are sprinkled in . Finally going to get something about those damn witches and sauron.

 

Some interesting bits with the elves .

 

[Valonqar]

9 hours ago, Ozymandias said:

I noticed Amazon has rolled out a new hashtag emoji for the maestro himself(#Sauron) on twitter to hype up the "IT HAS ALL LED TO THIS DUN DUN" season finale.
 

 

This show literally builds up to whether Galadriel and Sauron are going to bone but it's PG so you know that there won't be a satisfying conclusion unlike HotD that built up to whether Daemon and Rhaenyra were going to bone. The power of R rating. And while I'm not suggesting that LOTR should be R, if your show builds up to boning than at least make it PG-13 and give people what they waited for since Ep 2. 

Edited October 9, 2022 by Valonqar

[Torontofan]

This show has way to much mystery boxing 

[Valonqar]

1 minute ago, Torontofan said:

This show has way to much mystery boxing 

 

 

shocking. 

 

So, anyone ready for Finale prediction? I'm thinking this:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Liiviig 1998]

2 hours ago, Valonqar said:

 

 

shocking. 

 

So, anyone ready for Finale prediction? I'm thinking this:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

If halbrand is sauron , then can see such a scenario happening but don't think writers will do that .

 

Not sure it would happen in finale though. I'm expecting a major tease or actual sauron reveal and that is about it.

[Valonqar]

I'm half-joking cause it's Bad Robot and they repeat their tropes a lot. 

 

Ngl but I'm getting a major kick out of Tolkien scholars and YT fanboys outrage that Sauron fell in love.  I mean, that was expected cause they have to sell a 1 billion production (even if it's 500M or less it's still a lot) and fangirls and shippers (BOT has proven guys are big shippers too!) are most dedicated and reliable. So Titanic influence wins culture war yet again. 

Edited October 9, 2022 by Valonqar

[Torontofan]

14 hours ago, Cassy0110 said:

I;m sorry but I can't watch it, a lot of money was spent on every episode, picture is really good but what about plot? 

 

Why spend 250 million on rights if you cant get full rights lol 

 

its like trying to make your own version of star wars and not be able to reference half the material.