Amazon's Rings of Power - General Discussion Thread (SPOILERS)

[Iceman]

Yeah, once I get around my Tolkien head cognitive dissonance about the mithril stuff, the Elrond/Durin storyline keeps giving. Wonderful interactions (and Durin's interactions with the other Elves were great, too, the table thing was hilarious).

And if I put aside that a desperate Gil-Galad was trying to get Elrond to break his oath, I did really love the conversation that they had by the Tree of Lindon about hope. Especially how it ended with Elrond looking at the stars and that cutting to the statue of Earendil in Numenor. *chef's kiss*

I’ve put all the source material concerns aside for now. My main thing was getting good LotR films (even there it was almost impossible to do justice to it all) and I’m very happy with that. This is all massive bonus territory now and I just want them to make whatever they make good, regardless of relationship with the lore.

Durin and Disa are a great addition to LotR live action. Elrond is growing on me a lot. I’m hoping all the other parts and characters come together well from next episode. The end of this last episode was very promising on that front.

 

[Iceman]

I am still firmly onboard with this show, but I am really hoping the second half of this season has a much better structure and pacing because these last two episodes haven't done much for me at all.

If it wasn't for the few scenes that we got with Durin, Elrond and some of the stuff with the Harfoots this first half probably would have been a chore to get through IMO but maybe that's just me.

I'm glad that things are at least starting to come together though.

That was episode 5 out of 8 right? If so we’re more than halfway so no time left to muck about.

 

[emc5466]

It’s honestly shocking to me how boring this show is. All that money spent and they didn’t bother to create a compelling story.

 

[Sithborg]

The major difference is that Star Trek or Star Wars and similar properties are entertainment franchises that are the product of many different people. And with the respect to the latter, it actually involved the principal creator handing his creation over to a new generation of stewards to continue on with with his blessing. As corporate art, there is an understanding that others can play with these properties as they please and re-invent them.

Tolkien's works are a defined and limited canon of real, serious literature and the product of a single author. Tolkien sold the rights to adapt his works into other media, not to take his creation and do what you please and twist it beyond any resemblance.

A more apt comparison is the works of Jane Austen. The BBC miniseries or 2005 film are adaptations of varying faithfulness. Death Comes to Pemberly or Pride and Prejudice and Zombies are not adaptations. They are fan fiction or speculative Elseworlds stories if you want to be more generous, which is fine and can be fun, but cannot and should not be confused with an adaptation of the real work of art.

This series deserves the label of fan fiction and the condescension shown because Amazon has been actively trying to promote and sell it as a faithful adaptation of Tolkien's writings, which it is most definitely not. They are trying to sell this as something it is not. If they were honest and held this out as what it is, an original story using some characters or concepts from Tolkien's writings or to be very generous, a very loose adaptation at best, they would not get so much derision from me.

WRT canon, ST, and LotR, "this" is a terrible comparison, I addressed exactly this issue some time ago (in fact. I brought up ST specifically) and I don't need to do it again; especially because @DKDetective did it better than I probably did.

I have no idea why the things I write would get under your skin (I'm assuming you mean me by "you guys"). I don't have a problem with fan fic and have said so on numerous occasions. In the case of a book like this, I would prefer the fan fic to fit the narrative of the book "somewhat", but beyond having rings, certain places, a war, and certain people, virtually "nothing" fits. I don't know who has told you that the plot wasn't that egregiously different than the narrative of the book, but it is.

A more apt comparison would be if they made a movie based on Les Miserables and had Javert and Valjean as former high school friends who had a falling out over Cosette's mother and this was Javert's motivation for hunting down Valjean. In the meantime, Cosette and Marius, had a tumultuous relationship because of Cosette's on again and off again hijinks with Enjolras.

Understand that, from my perspective, fan fic isn't a derogatory term and I've even gone so far as to label it a Tolkien knockoff (which, IMO, it is with names, places, and "some" events being the same) without meaning the term in a derogatory way. In fact, I said if some people felt it was being used in a derogatory way, they should substitute "What if" (a direct comparison to the comics). The bottom line is that this is fan fic not generally based on the narrative of the author and, as has been pointed out, it happens all the time. I've also said I find it mildly entertaining, but I keep in mind that it just isn't a representation of the author's works. It's not a sin, but it's not his works. It's just that simple.

Thank you. Sorry I did not respond earlier, but I found I needed to be in a better headspace when talking about this series. I do apologize for my potential tone. The fanfic "criticism" is one I have grown very tired of directed at media I enjoy, which has only been exacerbated by other factors in my life. Talking online is fun, but like in real life, one does need to be aware of ones emotions when when engaged.

And considering a lot of my favorite current Star Wars authors clearly have a past in fanfic, I do find the criticism to be annoying. I fully understand why people don't like this show. For me, I am just not in the headspace to really enjoy HotD.

 

[Deck Rickard]

I think they took an episode more than they needed to with Galadriel leaving Numenor. That said, part of me appreciates how much the show was trying to set up there with all the different characters and I do think episode 5 had the best Galadriel, Halbrand, and Numenor stuff so far.

This episode did seem to stall a little on the Southlands storyline. They could have moved it along a little further or cut a few minutes out of it (just don't cut any of the Adar bits, those are gold).

Yeah, this was the first time I felt the show was dragging things out. I figured this episode would BEGIN with Galadriel convincing Halbrand to go with her and we’d get the departure from Numenor in the first 20 minutes. I don’t think we really needed a stupid act of terrorism from Priss Valiant or more chastising of Isildur for being a bit of an entitled screw-up. That said, I still really liked a lot of the stuff we got in Numenor (Isildur and his friends, Pharazon scheming, Galadriel and Halbrand). I just think it could have been condensed a bit more.

 

[InCali]

Thank you. Sorry I did not respond earlier, but I found I needed to be in a better headspace when talking about this series. I do apologize for my potential tone. The fanfic "criticism" is one I have grown very tired of directed at media I enjoy, which has only been exacerbated by other factors in my life. Talking online is fun, but like in real life, one does need to be aware of ones emotions when when engaged.

And considering a lot of my favorite current Star Wars authors clearly have a past in fanfic, I do find the criticism to be annoying. I fully understand why people don't like this show. For me, I am just not in the headspace to really enjoy HotD.

No apologies needed in this corner. As I've said on multiple occasions, I don't dislike the show and find it mildly entertaining. It just doesn't follow the writings of the author and I've basically been able to come to terms with that. In addition, I've also said that I'm glad that some people really like it because, ultimately, it's supposed to be entertainment. While, at times, I DO find the almost constant deviations from lore distracting, I just basically tell myself it's not a story of the 2nd age; it's a retelling or reimagination of the events.

What I actually find more annoying is when people try to say "Oh well.....this COULD have happened.....uh, no, it's not in the book and the events in the book preclude a trove of the events depicted in this series from happening. I won't go into details, but there are numerous examples of this and, if requested, I'll provide them.

To those who like the show, that's great. Enjoy it. I watch it and don't let my knowledge of Tolkien's writings get in the way (too much). The funny thing is that I'm one of the people defending the "Mithril" storyline. While it's clear it is another deviation from the writings, it's not that big of a deal to me because of my general approach to viewing the show.

Hope I've cleared it up my take on the show because I hear a lot of people assuming I don't like it and that's just not true. There are people who love it, people who can't stand it and won't watch it, and people, like me, who are more towards the middle. That's not unusual for just about any show.

 

[Silvermoth]

Best episode so far, loved the songs and seeing Galadriel in armour. Really worried about Elrond giving up his values there

 

[Boom]

I'm leaning towards Adar not being Sauron at this point, but there is one thing to consider.

Spoiler

A lot of people have written the theory off after last week's episode because of how he reacted to Waldreg calling him "Sauron." Keep in mind, though, that Sauron actually hated being called Sauron.

Up until the downfall of Númenor, he continued to refer to himself as Mairon (his original maiar name) or Tar-mairon ("King Excellent").

But once again, there's the question of whether or not the showrunners even have access to that detail.

 

[Kaleb]

 

[Kane52630]

 

[Persona]

I was so engaged by episode 6. I was freaking shaking at various points. It had some flaws or things that maybe could have been set up more clearly but what an absolute banger of an episode.

Seems like episode 7 will bring us to the lowest point or climax for the other two storylines and episode 8 will be denouement/set-up for S2?

 

[Bary]

I must wholeheartedly admit the first 5 episodes looked great and the characters while lacking had potential BUT after this newest episode I am officially hooked and excited for what comes next.

 

[Superhero 101]

About time something big happens in the series finally got interesting

 

[Deck Rickard]

I just realized old King Durin is Jacob from Ozark. MIND BLOWN.

 

[henzINNIT]

I just realized old King Durin is Jacob from Ozark. MIND BLOWN.

The moment I saw him I recognised the actor as Delos from Westworld. Those eyes are really distinctive. Then I came here and realized he was also Jacob in Ozark. Somehow didn't connect those dots. Damn man, he's a legend.

 

[Persona]

Peter Mullan has one of the best resumes of actors on the whole show. Hopefully he can get a couple meaty scenes before his time is up.

 

[Deck Rickard]

The moment I saw him I recognised the actor as Delos from Westworld. Those eyes are really distinctive. Then I came here and realized he was also Jacob in Ozark. Somehow didn't connect those dots. Damn man, he's a legend.

Peter Mullan has one of the best resumes of actors on the whole show. Hopefully he can get a couple meaty scenes before his time is up.

Yeah, I remember reading that he was cast back when the show was in production. But so much time had passed, I completely forgot. He’s an amazing actor. Great makeup job on him; he’s almost unrecognizable.

The show has done an overall excellent job in that department; I saw some photos of Durin IV, Nori and the Stranger in real life and they look like completely people too. Glad they didn’t skimp on the hair and makeup budget like some fantasy shows (**cough**Wheel of Time**cough**).

 

[misjuevos]

I am just waiting to see what they do with the "wizard" character. Who it turns out to be. That is my only interest, too bad it involves the harfoots. They should have cut them out completely.

 

[Weather Witch]

This is going to be really interesting in week 2, but particularly week 3. In isolation these can't quite be used to compare to HOTD just yet, given the different days on which they air, and the huge discrepancy between the amount of minutes of new content available.

Amazon shows don't tend to be super frontloaded so expect it to be ahead of HOTD by default again next week. After that, is where we can really start to compare at least somewhat.

Overall, I suspect this show will have much more organic growth than HOTD though.

 

[kvz5]

Yeah this ep is amazing especially the last 5-10 mins or so. There are way too many signs of

Spoiler

Halbrand being Sauron in this ep. So much so that I'm gonna be annoyed if it wasn't just a red herring because they couldn't be more obvious. Also, The Galadriel not suspecting anything would just be hilariously bad.

There's something so funny though about this and HoTD being the polar opposites of pacing. One ep of HoTD had a multi-year skip where so much happened in between while this one had eps that just happened in a day and barely nothing significant happened (like ep 5).

 

[Pennywise]

‘The Rings of Power’ Season 2 Has Started Filming – The Hollywood Reporter

I’ve really been enjoying the show for the most part, aside from some issues balancing storylines, preferring certain arcs such as Adar and the Orcs, Durin and Elrond, too much slow motion,

The cinematography, the VFX, the makeup and Prosthetics, most of the actors are pretty good, and the battles are epic, especially Episode 6!

 

[Boom]

So how are we all going to react if they DON'T reveal Sauron this season?

 

[Pennywise]

So how are we all going to react if they DON'T reveal Sauron this season?

Very, very disappointed!

 

[squeekness]

So how are we all going to react if they DON'T reveal Sauron this season?

 

[Sithborg]

So how are we all going to react if they DON'T reveal Sauron this season?

I think a lot depends on what else is in the last couple of episodes.