The Rings of Power Season 1 Episode 6 "Udûn"

[Kane52630]

​

 

[Pennywise]

 

[Iceman]

Hopefully this is part of a larger action scene. Time for things to go all out after all this slow build up.

 

[Pennywise]

 

[Kaleb]

 

[Iceman]

Good to hear some serious praise for it. Hope it lives up to this as we get to the endgame of season 1.

 

[Sithborg]

[goes to Prime Video]
[sees Rings of Power thumbnail]

Boy, that isn't ominous at all.

 

[Persona]

Wow.

 

[Deck Rickard]

I’ll post more of my thoughts tomorrow. But for now…

HOLY ****.

 

[Sithborg]

Mt Doom go boom.

I was leaning toward Mt Doom exploding was the creation of Mordor, just did not expect that to happen so soon.

A little convenient Littlefinger travel sure, but this was a very good episode. Delivers big time on the action people may have been craving. I loved that initial trap at the tower. And the battle in the town was great. Not exactly best use of calvary by Numenor, but still fun. And Galadriel in action is fun. And seeing Arondir go hand to hand was fun.

Not quite sure what their love of slow mo horse riding shots are, but ehhh.

 

[Gothamsknight]

Woooow, just wow. I'm honestly speechless. Easily one of the best episodes of a TV show I've seen in a long while. If they keep this up, then the slow build will have been so damn worth it.

 

[Kane52630]

I've been enjoying the show before but yeah... this? This is what I'm talking about. It's not only the best episode of the season so far but it's better than any episode of HotD imo.

 

[Kane52630]

Not quite sure what their love of slow mo horse riding shots are, but ehhh.

It's not LOTR if there's no slow mo horse riding shots.

 

[Gothamsknight]

I've been enjoying the show before but yeah... this? This is what I'm talking about. It's not only the best episode of the season so far but it's better than any episode of HotD imo.

yup, as much as I'm loving house of the dragon, I think this episode was better than all episodes combined.

 

[Kane52630]

The scene with Adar and Galadriel was so good. I'm glad they kept him alive.

 

[Deck Rickard]

Speaking of Adar… what do you guys think is between him and Halbrand? Given what Adar said to Galadriel about Sauron, it could either confirm or negate those Halbrand theories, haha.

Also, I watched a bit of the Nerd of the Rings Q&A last night and some guy complained that he show is doing the “JJ Abrams mystery box” thing to cover up for bad writing. Okay, I have to say something about this. First of all, the moment that the showrunners name-dropped Abrams, I knew it would open the floodgates for Abrams haters to bash the show. JJ is good at some stuff and bad at others but he’s one of those polarizing figures that mentioning him as any kind of influence will immediately turn some reactionary fans against you. Second, you can make the argument that ANY kind of mystery in a TV show is just an “Abrams mystery box.” Looking at OG Game of Thrones for example, you can accuse it of the same thing. The White Walkers are a mystery box. Jon Snow’s parentage is a mystery box. Dany’s ability to resist fire is a mystery box. Bran’s ability to warg is a mystery box. See?

It only becomes a problem if you never explain those mysteries or stack so many on top of one another (like Abrams did in Lost) that you lose track of them. But so far, I don’t see signs of that happening here. We have a few mysteries at play, and at least a couple of them (the black sword and Adar’s background) got their reveals in this episode. And we have to assume that others will as well. They’re not going to just forget to reveal Sauron or whatever secrets Halbrand has in his past.

Now, if people don’t like this kind of intrigue and prefer something completely straightforward, that’s their call. But just for me personally, I’m enjoying what they’re building up to here. It’s definitely a key reason why I’m enjoying it more than HOTD, because so far on that show, there really hasn’t been any kind of mystery to solve yet (and IMO that makes it a lot less interesting).

 

[Kane52630]

I do think Halbrand is either Sauron, the Witch King of Angmar, or he's the King of the Dead who Isildur cursed.

 

[Gothamsknight]

Speaking of Adar… what do you guys think is between him and Halbrand? Given what Adar said to Galadriel about Sauron, it could either confirm or negate those Halbrand theories, haha.

Also, I watched a bit of the Nerd of the Rings Q&A last night and some guy complained that he show is doing the “JJ Abrams mystery box” thing to cover up for bad writing. Okay, I have to say something about this. First of all, the moment that the showrunners name-dropped Abrams, I knew it would open the floodgates for Abrams haters to bash the show. JJ is good at some stuff and bad at others but he’s one of those polarizing figures that mentioning him as any kind of influence will immediately turn some reactionary fans against you. Second, you can make the argument that ANY kind of mystery in a TV show is just an “Abrams mystery box.” Looking at OG Game of Thrones for example, you can accuse it of the same thing. The White Walkers are a mystery box. Jon Snow’s parentage is a mystery box. Dany’s ability to resist fire is a mystery box. Bran’s ability to warg is a mystery box. See?

It only becomes a problem if you never explain those mysteries or stack so many on top of one another (like Abrams did in Lost) that you lose track of them. But so far, I don’t see signs of that happening here. We have a few mysteries at play, and at least a couple of them (the black sword and Adar’s background) got their reveals in this episode. And we have to assume that others will as well. They’re not going to just forget to reveal Sauron or whatever secrets Halbrand has in his past.

Now, if people don’t like this kind of intrigue and prefer something completely straightforward, that’s their call. But just for me personally, I’m enjoying what they’re building up to here. It’s definitely a key reason why I’m enjoying it more than HOTD, because so far on that show, there really hasn’t been any kind of mystery to solve yet (and IMO that makes it a lot less interesting).

I'm genuinely curious why a lot of people are enjoying that show more than this. It's good, dont me wrong, but people are acting like it's on the level of GOT in it's prime when it's not. Both ROP and HOTD are very solid, in my mind. This show is scratching that fantasy itch a little more.

 

[Deck Rickard]

I do think Halbrand is either Sauron, the Witch King of Angmar, or he's the King of the Dead who Isildur cursed.

Yeah, I’m thinking he’s either the Witch King or the King of the Dead. While his rage towards Adar could be because Adar (supposedly) tried to kill Sauron, I doubt that Halbrand would have risked outing himself to Galadriel like that by asking Adar if he remembered him. I also think that if he was Sauron, there would have been some recognition by Adar even though he obviously wouldn’t be in Sauron form.

As for the other two possibilities, both are good bets. Halbrand has made it clear that he’s not above doing shady and awful things, so while he’s on the side of the angels now, I could see him ultimately falling to the power of the ring after being gifted one of the nine.

Conversely, he’s proven to be reluctant to get involved in this conflict. If Halbrand ultimately becomes a compassionate king who is concerned about the lives of his people, while also having a falling out with Numenor (and particularly Isildur himself), I could see him ultimately being like, “Eff this guy… we’re not going to fight with him.” I think this is a distinct possibility, especially since we know what ultimately happens to Numenor. Halbrand might eventually consider all Numenoreans to be untrustworthy (even the good ones like Elendil and Isildur).

I'm genuinely curious why a lot of people are enjoying that show more than this. It's good, dont me wrong, but people are acting like it's on the level of GOT in it's prime when it's not. Both ROP and HOTD are very solid, in my mind. This show is scratching that fantasy itch a little more.

Yeah, I’m not really getting it either. HOTD is… fine but it’s not really grabbing me. I keep watching because I’m hoping it picks up (and as I understand it, some crazy stuff does happen later) but I’m not really caring about any of the characters and the plot is kind of rudimentary with little intrigue. Part of what’s really grabbing me with TROP is that even though I know how everything ends up, there are still quite a lot of gray areas that they can play with because aspects of the story are vague. We don’t know who the Nine Kings were before they fell to the ring. We know bits and pieces of how Sauron deceived everyone but it’s not fully fleshed out. We don’t fully know how Mordor became Mordor. So watching them provide us with an interpretation of how these things could have happened is really cool. Yes, they’ve changed some things and upped the stakes in some respects (the Elves losing their immortality for example isn’t necessarily something they needed IMO), but all in all, I’m very satisfied as a Tolkien nerd. I will concede though that I’m not the BIGGEST Tolkien nerd out there; it’s been a long time since I read the books and so I can respect people who are much more immersed in this world than I am to have some issues with things.

 

[Iceman]

I only saw the first 15 mins or so before work started. Can't wait to finish - have heard lots of good things.

 

[Deck Rickard]

I only saw the first 15 mins or so before work started. Can't wait to finish - have heard lots of good things.

Call off work and finish it! Lol. Seriously though, I think you’ll really dig this episode.

 

[Kane52630]

 

[Sithborg]

I'm genuinely curious why a lot of people are enjoying that show more than this. It's good, dont me wrong, but people are acting like it's on the level of GOT in it's prime when it's not. Both ROP and HOTD are very solid, in my mind. This show is scratching that fantasy itch a little more.

I mean, I understand it. The two have always been very different breeds of fantasy. And HOTD is very well acted. I have my issues with it, but it doesn't make it a bad show. I loved the first two episodes.

 

[Iceman]

I mean, I understand it. The two have always been very different breeds of fantasy. And HOTD is very well acted. I have my issues with it, but it doesn't make it a bad show. I loved the first two episodes.

I'm enjoying them both for very different reasons. It's a great plus for fantasy to have 2 shows of that significance out at the same time.

 

[squeekness]

I'm enjoying them both for very different reasons. It's a great plus for fantasy to have 2 shows of that significance out at the same time.

This is me, each one is different enough from the other I don't really compare them competitively. Both are good. I will say that I've been big battled to death, it doesn't feel as epic as it used to.