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

[henzINNIT]

 

[blackdragon6]

Is this like that magical canon where Resident Evil Netflix is canonical to the Resident Evil games?

The RE TV show could have worked if Lance Riddick's character was NOT Wesker, and they dropped the future post-apocalyptic angle all together and just made the show about the inner workings of Umbrella. A kinda corporate horror/thriller show with corporate and government intrigue. That way it could be it's own thing while still being faithful to the source material. But it seems like whoever was behind the show wanted to do their own project and just use the name "Resident Evil" for marketing.

 

[Persona]

Durin & Elrond was my (and many others') favourite material in the show, but even so it's a great example of how little things progressed. After a season of conversations about mithril, the situation is practically unchanged. Dwarf/Elf relations at large haven't improved. Elves aren't allowed in just as they weren't to start with. No more mithril is mined. The elves just moved forward without it. Durin III remains cautious. Durin IV remains ambitious. We're shown the balrog but the dwarves aren't getting any closer to it.

I'm looking forward to seeing Rhun, but Nori and Gandalf(?) going somewhere, in order to do something, is not a strong hook for the next season.

It is to me. Rhun is an unexplored part of the world. Khamul comes from Rhun. We know there is a connection with the Cultists and the Stranger and Sauron. Plenty a strong hook.

A schism has been formed between the Durins. Mithril's value has been elaborated upon and involved in the ring forgings. Elrond has been banished from Khazad-dum and a rift has been formed further between the Elves and Dwarves. Meanwhile Durin and Disa are asserting their own plans in opposition to his father. A lot of it is character development and set-up for future seasons, but still integral to the story and what is coming.

And again, a ton has happened in the Southlands, Galadriel, Sauron storylines, and a lot of things put in motion with Numenor.

At the same time I don't mind the show taking more time than many shows do on vibes and character moments. That's very true to Tolkien in style and a nice contrast to so many modern TV shows that are so obsessed with plot movement. There will be plenty of plot movement in future seasons, smart to use their first season to really set the stage and spend time with this large group of characters so we can grow in understanding of them and their relational dynamics.

 

[henzINNIT]

It is to me. Rhun is an unexplored part of the world. Khamul comes from Rhun. We know there is a connection with the Cultists and the Stranger and Sauron. Plenty a strong hook.

A schism has been formed between the Durins. Mithril's value has been elaborated upon and involved in the ring forgings. Elrond has been banished from Khazad-dum and a rift has been formed further between the Elves and Dwarves. Meanwhile Durin and Disa are asserting their own plans in opposition to his father. A lot of it is character development and set-up for future seasons, but still integral to the story and what is coming.

And again, a ton has happened in the Southlands, Galadriel, Sauron storylines, and a lot of things put in motion with Numenor.

At the same time I don't mind the show taking more time than many shows do on vibes and character moments. That's very true to Tolkien in style and a nice contrast to so many modern TV shows that are so obsessed with plot movement. There will be plenty of plot movement in future seasons, smart to use their first season to really set the stage and spend time with this large group of characters so we can grow in understanding of them and their relational dynamics.

Hard disagree I'm afraid. I was rolling with it througout the season, but once it was wrapped up and you could see the whole picture, I feel the pacing issues are even more pronounced.

Rhun is intriguing. Only with extended lore knowledge though. The potential is felt from external sources and the expectations from those. The show gives you next to nothing. We don't see where they're heading, hear anything about it; hell the characters themselves have no idea either. The epic Tolkien journey has a sense of direction and purpose. You have wizards and other guides who can tell the protagonist (and us) what sort of adventures lie ahead.

There was already conflict between the Durin's. They already thought Mithril was precious and magical. Elrond was already unwelcome and there was already no love lost between elves and dwarves. After an entire season, things have barely changed from how they started. Durin IV may be poised to more directly oppose his father, but "may" is the key word here because the show stopped short of him actually doing anything. The elf/dwarf relationship has been limited solely to dwarves building forges off-screen, lame, and now apparently they're done working together. Either that is all we're getting, or the show will have to repeat the union again for the benefit of no-one. I'd agree that this story is set-up. My counter is that it has been drawn out and wasting time. And this is some of my favourite stuff in the show, ha.

I feel the time wasting is even more apparent in other plotlines. Galadriel is our active protagonist. A woman on a mission. And she spents half the season stuck at sea or stuck in Numenor. Episode 4 ends with the tremendous promise of finally letting her go after the enemy, only for episode 5 to stall and end with essentially the same beat: Galadirel finally getting on a boat to leave Numenor. That does no favours for her or the location. Not only does it take the entire season to start the Stranger's quest, we don't even finish the Harfoot migration in the process. The southlands plot is fine but it was a little unfortunate that we had no reason to care for anyone bar the couple of major characters. I'd gladly discard a huge chunk of this time for more spent in Eregion, as the creation of the rings was bizarrely truncated and squeezed in at the end of the run.

I'm happy with a slower pace too. I'm perfectly happy to spend time in middle earth. There needs be a consistency to that pace though, and I don't think the show quite got a grasp of it. It doesn't feel particularly true to Tolkien either, less about rich detail and more about prolongng mysteries.

I think Galadriel will be received better from next season given the growth she’s already gone through since the start of season 1. She’s going to get gradually wiser over the course of the show.

I both agree and disagree. I liked Galadriel for the most part this season, and think there's a number of people who will dislike the character regardless, for cringey culture war reasons. Her final decision this season kind of undermined a decent arc for me though, so I'm a little apprehensive moving forward. I hope the writing improves and Galadriel becomes more popular. I really like Morfydd Clark in the role and only find issue in the scripts.

It is a tough situation finding a convincing arc for a character with this age and ability. Stealing someone else's idea - but I think this story would have worked better if Clark was playing Celebrian instead. Far younger and better suited to coming of age style development. There would be more to do between her and Elrond too.

 

[Iceman]

@henzINNIT I also really liked Morfydd Clark and agree it’s likely the writing limiting her and the fact she’s playing someone destined for much greater things in a way that doesn’t quite fit with what would have been expected of the character at that age. I think a different character with less baggage might have worked better for her.

 

[Persona]

Hard disagree I'm afraid. I was rolling with it througout the season, but once it was wrapped up and you could see the whole picture, I feel the pacing issues are even more pronounced.

Rhun is intriguing. Only with extended lore knowledge though. The potential is felt from external sources and the expectations from those. The show gives you next to nothing. We don't see where they're heading, hear anything about it; hell the characters themselves have no idea either. The epic Tolkien journey has a sense of direction and purpose. You have wizards and other guides who can tell the protagonist (and us) what sort of adventures lie ahead.

There was already conflict between the Durin's. They already thought Mithril was precious and magical. Elrond was already unwelcome and there was already no love lost between elves and dwarves. After an entire season, things have barely changed from how they started. Durin IV may be poised to more directly oppose his father, but "may" is the key word here because the show stopped short of him actually doing anything. The elf/dwarf relationship has been limited solely to dwarves building forges off-screen, lame, and now apparently they're done working together. Either that is all we're getting, or the show will have to repeat the union again for the benefit of no-one. I'd agree that this story is set-up. My counter is that it has been drawn out and wasting time. And this is some of my favourite stuff in the show, ha.

I feel the time wasting is even more apparent in other plotlines. Galadriel is our active protagonist. A woman on a mission. And she spents half the season stuck at sea or stuck in Numenor. Episode 4 ends with the tremendous promise of finally letting her go after the enemy, only for episode 5 to stall and end with essentially the same beat: Galadirel finally getting on a boat to leave Numenor. That does no favours for her or the location. Not only does it take the entire season to start the Stranger's quest, we don't even finish the Harfoot migration in the process. The southlands plot is fine but it was a little unfortunate that we had no reason to care for anyone bar the couple of major characters. I'd gladly discard a huge chunk of this time for more spent in Eregion, as the creation of the rings was bizarrely truncated and squeezed in at the end of the run.

I'm happy with a slower pace too. I'm perfectly happy to spend time in middle earth. There needs be a consistency to that pace though, and I don't think the show quite got a grasp of it. It doesn't feel particularly true to Tolkien either, less about rich detail and more about prolongng mysteries.



I both agree and disagree. I liked Galadriel for the most part this season, and think there's a number of people who will dislike the character regardless, for cringey culture war reasons. Her final decision this season kind of undermined a decent arc for me though, so I'm a little apprehensive moving forward. I hope the writing improves and Galadriel becomes more popular. I really like Morfydd Clark in the role and only find issue in the scripts.

It is a tough situation finding a convincing arc for a character with this age and ability. Stealing someone else's idea - but I think this story would have worked better if Clark was playing Celebrian instead. Far younger and better suited to coming of age style development. There would be more to do between her and Elrond too.

This arc doesn't work for Celebrian at all. Seeing how they developed this relationship between Galadriel and Sauron, it's actually an ingenious elaboration on how Tolkien wrote that Sauron viewed Galadriel as his greatest rival/counterpart in the 2nd Age and then the substance of the Mirror of Galadriel chapter, both in terms of what it means for Galadriel and also how Galadriel described how Sauron is groping after her mind but "still the door is shut." You lose a really rich interpretation of Tolkien's texts in these areas if you try to make Celebrian the protagonist. And of course it's natural that they made one of Tolkien's most known characters their protagonist. People would have been apathetic about Celebrian as a main character.

Anyways, yeah, sorry it didn't work for you. I also understand not everyone was cool with how her final decision played out in the finale but that made sense to me, too, within the context of what the show established about her character and the circumstances. She thinks she can outwit Sauron so wants to use his plan against him, on top of the fact that no one except maybe Elrond would have believed her about Halbrand. So we see some of her pride at work and not wanting to be removed from the situation and exiled again, but we also see some growth in her character in willing to sacrifice parts of herself and things she has been clutching to (represented by the dagger) for the greater good.

 

[Pennywise]

 

[Pennywise]

‘The Lord Of The Rings: The Rings Of Power’ Recasts Adar With Sam Hazeldine – Deadline

 

[Boom]

o_o

 

[henzINNIT]

Seems only fitting that one of the strongest elements of season 1 is being replaced. That's lame.

 

[Iceman]

Hopefully the new actor is great but the existing one was very good and didn't deserve to lose the role.

 

[Pennywise]

 

[Silvermoth]

It’s a shame about Adar but I guess that’s the way it is. I’m excited to see the new actors and I’m glad they weren’t scared off by the people carrying on about diversity

 

[TheVileOne]

Still makes no sense to me that the Tolkien estate hates the films but is OK with this show. Other than the $250 million but whatever.

 

[henzINNIT]

Still makes no sense to me that the Tolkien estate hates the films but is OK with this show. Other than the $250 million but whatever.

It is probably just that the 'estate' has changed. We're talking about an author's grandchildren now, not the man himself or even the son who dedicated his life to studying and preserving the unfinished works.

 

[Deck Rickard]

Weird about the Adar recast. Really loved Mawle in the role and I’m sad to see him go. Not sure if this was his decision or the showrunners, but either way, I don’t like it. Hopefully the new actor will be good though.

 

[Loden Greatstorm]

Still makes no sense to me that the Tolkien estate hates the films but is OK with this show. Other than the $250 million but whatever.

Real talk.

 

[Pennywise]

‘Lord Of The Rings: The Rings Of Power’ Adds 8 To Season 2 Cast – Deadline

The Lord of the Rings: The Rings Of Power has added eight additional recurring cast members for the upcoming second season of the Prime Videoseries. Oliver Alvin-Wilson (The Bay), Stuart Bowman (The Pact), Gavi Singh Chera (The Undeclared War), William Chubb (Vampire Academy), Kevin Eldon (Game of Thrones), Will Keen (Ridley Road), Selina Lo (Boss Level), and Calam Lynch (Bridgerton) join the series, which is currently in production on Season 2 in the UK.

 

[Loden Greatstorm]

Meh. Only seeing some Ents would get me excited for this show again.

 

[Silvermoth]

It’s wonderful to see how excited people are to see the new cast additions. I still remember when Faramir and everyone was announced in the two towers in the paper

 

[Pennywise]

 

[Silvermoth]

That’s cool!

 

[TheWiseGuy487]

Good move on getting her in a larger capacity for season two. Her episode was definitely the best paced, written and overal most dramatically successful of season one. As much as I liked and didn’t mind how season one was handled, now that we’ve got all of the pieces on the board and the settings dressed, the show can move at a more brisk and even pace.

 

[Pennywise]

‘LOTR: The Rings Of Power’: Vernon Sanders Talks Season 1 Return On Investment & Season 3 Renewal, Teases Faster Pace & Bigger Battles In Season 2

 

[henzINNIT]