The Rings of Power Season 1 Episode 8 "Alloyed"

[KaijuDude1992]

Halbrand being Sauron all along was something a lot of people predicted, and I was hoping they were going to throw somekind of curve ball at us with that reveal, but nope it is what it is I guess.

I am interested in seeing how his dynamic with Galadriel plays out in future seasons because I feel like they could definitely do some interesting stuff with those two, but the writing needs to be up to par as well.

This was a fine finale overall but considering how long it took to get here and all the build-up I was expecting a bit more and I was kind of disappointed to see that Balrog tease at the end of the last episode was pretty much just a tease for Season 2 which means we got no payoff with the Durin/Dwarf stuff this season.

Now, I'm cool with them saving stuff for future seasons, but I can't help but feel frustrated when the next season of this show isn't coming anytime soon, and I just hope I don't lose interest by then.

 

[Primal Slayer]

I enjoyed it. Strongest episode of the season? No. Could they have done 1 more for better pacing? Yes.

But overall it was a enjoyable season and im looking forward to s2.

Of course im not a die hard fan so any changes from source material is lost on me but i know how limited they were apparently with what they had access to which never helps.

 

[Iceman]

Halbrand being Sauron all along was something a lot of people predicted, and I was hoping they were going to throw somekind of curve ball at us with that reveal, but nope it is what it is I guess.

I am interested in seeing how his dynamic with Galadriel plays out in future seasons because I feel like they could definitely do some interesting stuff with those two, but the writing needs to be up to par as well.

This was a fine finale overall but considering how long it took to get here and all the build-up I was expecting a bit more and I was kind of disappointed to see that Balrog tease at the end of the last episode was pretty much just a tease for Season 2 which means we got no payoff with the Durin/Dwarf stuff this season.

Now, I'm cool with them saving stuff for future seasons, but I can't help but feel frustrated when the next season of this show isn't coming anytime soon, and I just hope I don't lose interest by then.

Made no sense to tease the balrog now and unnecessarily raise expectations. Also having good stuff with Durin and co to not revisit them properly just seems a waste and pushing some needed resolutions too far into the future.

 

[misjuevos]

Well we finally got some forging of some rings, so..... whatever.

 

[Persona]

I guess I'm in disagreement, I am more than fine with them not doing more with the Balrog yet and I thought they ended in a really good place last episode with the Dwarves, Durin and Durin rift but then that last scene with Durin and Disa where they affirm their strength together and their plans for the future. Plus, I thought this episode benefitted immensely from being able to focus mostly on two storylines (with just a few choice Numenor nuggets thrown in).

 

[Iceman]

I guess I'm in disagreement, I am more than fine with them not doing more with the Balrog yet and I thought they ended in a really good place last episode with the Dwarves, Durin and Durin rift but then that last scene with Durin and Disa where they affirm their strength together and their plans for the future. Plus, I thought this episode benefitted immensely from being able to focus mostly on two storylines (with just a few choice Numenor nuggets thrown in).

Yeah this episode benefited from that. It’s the other episodes that suffered from being split on so many fronts and not having time to get far on any. Btw I wasn’t saying we needed the balrog in season 1, just saying teasing it was unnecessary if it wasn’t going to be in.

 

[Persona]

Oh, gotcha. Yeah, I don't think we needed the tease. It's almost like they did that shot so they could stick it in a trailer.

 

[Iceman]

Oh, gotcha. Yeah, I don't think we needed the tease. It's almost like they did that shot so they could stick it in a trailer.

It will certainly be a good thing to get people back when the season 2 trailer eventually gets released at least.

I’m really glad that people like yourself have enjoyed the show. I so badly want it to be a success, for its own sake, for the wider LotR media potential and further shows/films, and for fantasy media in general. A shame that many purists seem to have been lost already as they would have been potentially mega-fans if they could have been catered to as well.

It feels like with another episode or 2 the creators could have delivered on a lot more as the show only really moved forward with any intensity in 2 episodes.

I happen to love slow builds but a new show needs to deliver a fair amount in its first season (while keeping other things for later seasons) to retain the fans on the fence IMO. I’ll be back regardless, just want everyone else to be too.

 

[squeekness]

Just finished. It was...okay. This season did drag more than it should. The Lord of the Rings extended cuts were long but never dragged for me. Not like this season did.

 

[Deck Rickard]

Great finale. It was probably my favorite episode of the season, even though we didn’t get any Arondir and Bronwyn. While I was hoping for Halbrand to be the Witch King, I suppose the Sauron reveal made the most sense. And to the show’s credit, they managed to make Sauron/Halbrand a three-dimensional villain who is doing what he does because he believes (in his twisted way) that he’s doing the right thing. And even so, he still managed to feel like an evil bastard in the end. Loved that mind battle between Sauron and Galadriel and I hope we get more moments like that in the future.

People can hate it, say it sucks, say the characters are unlikable, and that’s fine. They damn near ruined my enjoyment of the show simply because some of the vitriol has been difficult to avoid. I had to just step away from it for a little while so I could watch this finale and try to enjoy it. I’m sorry that it wasn’t whatever some of you wanted it to be and there are some things I would have done differently but for me, this was a really awesome season and a great start. I wish season 2 was coming a lot sooner but nothing we can do there but wait.

 

[Iceman]

Oh, forgot all about Arondir and Bronwyn.

I'd rather all the characters had their last scenes of the season in the finale.

 

[Iceman]

Just finished. It was...okay. This season did drag more than it should. The Lord of the Rings extended cuts were long but never dragged for me. Not like this season did.

The LotR Extended editions do the opposite of drag for me. They are the ultimate fantasy story for me treated as one whole. The cinematic versions feel like popcorn fluff in comparison.

 

[Albright]

Great finale.
I have a feeling, that they’re doing already the war of Numenor-Harad in the next season and Pharazon bringing Halbrand back to Numenor

 

[squeekness]

The LotR Extended editions do the opposite of drag for me. They are the ultimate fantasy story for me treated as one whole. The cinematic versions feel like popcorn fluff in comparison.

I never watch the theatrical releases anymore.

 

[Albright]

The ring poem in the end was a better James Bond song, then the last 2 James Bond songs were

 

[Persona]

Fiona Apple rules. The end movie LotR vibes were heavy with that closer, couldn't help but love it.

 

[DKDetective]

Fiona Apple rules. The end movie LotR vibes were heavy with that closer, couldn't help but love it.

I'm not a hater for the sake of hating, as much as I dislike the show's writing, acting, and direction, that Fiona Apple song was truly excellent. Bear knocked the composition out of the park. It reminded me a lot of Gollum's Song from the end of Two Towers.

 

[squeekness]

The ring poem in the end was a better James Bond song, then the last 2 James Bond songs were

It was very good,

 

[Persona]

Great finale.
I have a feeling, that they’re doing already the war of Numenor-Harad in the next season and Pharazon bringing Halbrand back to Numenor

Possibly. I think the 2nd season might be taken up mostly with Sauron's War with the Elves (and possibly some Annatar stuff leading up to that).

 

[Albright]

The Annatar-stuff already happened. I heared in the Prancing Pony Podcast, that they couldn’t use the name, because it’s in the Silmarilion. So Halbrand was his “fair form”.

I’d really like to see Sourbrand to build up the alliance between Rhun, Harad and Mordor.
One thing I disliked in the movies was that you only see glimpses of the dark fortresses. Barad Dur only while Gollum is tortured and Minas Morgul while the Witchking was dressed for war

 

[Persona]

The Annatar-stuff already happened. I heared in the Prancing Pony Podcast, that they couldn’t use the name, because it’s in the Silmarilion. So Halbrand was his “fair form”.

I’d really like to see Sourbrand to build up the alliance between Rhun, Harad and Mordor.
One thing I disliked in the movies was that you only see glimpses of the dark fortresses. Barad Dur only while Gollum is tortured and Minas Morgul while the Witchking was dressed for war

I'd be inclined to agree with you but Vickers mentioned in a post-finale interview that he's excited to explore some of what Sauron does in his Annatar disguise (and says he has read some S2 scripts). So maybe we won't necessarily get Annatar but I do get the feeling we are going to get some more tricking of the Elves when it comes to creating more rings of power.

 

[SomeOldGuy]

Alright. Alright…fine. If I have any real complaint (and this is more full season versus this episode) it’s just that everything was just sort of obvious and I was hoping for some twists but they just went where it all seemed to be going from day one. Which is fine, I just might have gone in a different direction. That said at least we have all the preliminaries out of way. On to season two!

 

[Boom]

For better or worse I'm just glad we're done with the mystery box ****. Let's get on with the show now.

 

[Persona]

Was anything really a "mystery box" other than maybe The Stranger (and that mystery already mostly lifted)? To me it was more just mystery elements set up so that the audience doesn't know what the characters don't, but the whole season was pretty methodical in developing those things towards revealing the truth about them and how they fit into the bigger picture, as opposed to the "mystery boxes" of a show like Lost which were nigh random intrigue shots that they kept pumping into viewers for six seasons and that ultimately didn't add up, at all.

I dunno, I get why they went with the more mystery-heavy approach they did to start, especially when it comes to Sauron. Bear in mind the show itself never asked "Who is Sauron?" but only "Where is Sauron?" Tolkien nerd fan-theorizing is what drove that into seeming more like a mystery box than it was. The direction the show went made a lot of sense given that it wanted to show this idea that Tolkien had about Sauron in the 2nd Age, a possibly repentant Sauron but what really motivates him and why that is his undoing. How do you do that without audiences rejecting that immediately, since this is a prequel and all they know of Sauron is a flaming eyeball of evil in the movies? You give them a possibly repentant, complex Sauron they don't know is Sauron.

All that said, I do agree with your sentiment. I am eager to get into the real entree of the story. Or, as Durin said, "Give me the meat and give it to me raw."

 

[henzINNIT]

I object to the term 'mystery box' a little in this case because that is a JJ meme that really requires there to be absolutely no thought put into what is inside. For my issues with the show, I don't think that is the case here.

That said, Rings has leaned on mysteries quite a bit throughout the season. Who is the Stranger? Who is Halbrand? What is happening to the tree? What are the dwarves hiding from the elves? What are the elves hiding from the dwarves? What is that weird evil sword? What/why are the orcs tunneling? Who is Adar? What is calling to Isildur? What are Miriel's motives? Who are these cultists? etc etc

You can question the writers' reliance on secrets, but I think it's safe to say they have at least thought through what the answers are, and pretty regularly provide them.