Rings of Power

[BeBMan]

Here we go

Watched the whole season meanwhile. Overall, it's veeery uneven IMO. A mixed bag of really great scenes and some which are reaaallly bad TV. Worst comment I read on another website went kinda: "hate it, I'm rooting for the Orcs" Personally I would not go that far Few points:


1. Started nice, but slow. Veeeeryyyy slooooooow. Does not have to be bad, but created a certain "what the hell is this actually about" feeling. To be fair, the 1st season of GoT was not exactly fast paced, or full of action, but the characters/dialogue etc made up for it easily. Here these were the weaker parts during the early season.

2. Speaking of characters: still somewhwat disappointed here - Galadriel as action heroine is IMO less interesting. Improves towards the later season, but still lacking IMO. Elrond/Durin friendship works for me, as do Harfoots (which everyone, esp. in the Anglosphere seems to dislike tho ). The Stranger works fine for me. Arondir/Bronwyn work for me, but I could do without the kid. Adar did great. Some characters feel miscasted (Isildur and his gang look like they're taken directly from some US Highschool).

3. Story: related to 1 - early on no idea what the story actually is, lots of time wasted on rather un-interesting side-plots (intrigue in Numernor). Improves as well in the 2nd half of the season.

4. Grand visuals. Sometimes CGI overkill (Numernor, putting giant statues everywhere is not much of an imporvement at some point anymore, rather creates an artificial feeling, less is sometimes more).

Early CGI monsters felt generic, just to have something to show in between. Skip the slomo horse-riding next time pls. But overall well-looking, with some really grand things occasionally (Moria entry scene, Mordor), both in action-parts as well as in slower parts.

*****
As said, things get way more interesting towards the later season. Still lots of room to improve. As a new fantasy show I'd probably be less critical, but as something based on Tolkien, and with so much money to spend, it should be much better IMO.

[Proteus_MST]

...

3. Story: related to 1 - early on no idea what the story actually is, lots of time wasted on rather un-interesting side-plots (intrigue in Numernor). Improves as well in the 2nd half of the season.
...

I actually like this, because it is related to the downfall of Númenor in which the whole island vanishes below the waves, similar to Atlantis.
And so leads to some important events in the history before the Lord of the rings.

...
4. Grand visuals. Sometimes CGI overkill (Numernor, putting giant statues everywhere is not much of an imporvement at some point anymore, rather creates an artificial feeling, less is sometimes more).
...

Actuallly fits to the architectonic style of those people.
Remember the Argonath ... the 2 giant statues of Isildur and Anarion guarding the Anduin, which were erected by the direct descendants of the Númenorans whi went to middle earth.

https://lotr.fandom.com/wiki/Argonath

It also fits to the Gigantism you find in Lord of the Rings Online


What I definitely dislike is, that some things from the LotR-Mythology cannot be used due to Amazon only having the rights to the Lord of the Rings-Books and their Appendix (and not, for example, to the Silmarillion).

One of the things, for example, is the name of Annatar (the lord of gifts).

According to the Silmarillion, Sauron came to the Elves in the shape of Annatar, the lord of gifts ... and he persuaded Celebrimbor, to first forge the 16 Rings (for the Dwarves and the Mortal Men) with him. Before the elves/Celebrimbor looked through his disguise and, in secret, forged the 3 elven rings for themselves (and kept them hiddden from Annatar/Sauron).

Seems like in he series, aside from Sauron being the human Halbrand, also the order of the forging of the rings is different ...
seems like the 3 Elven Rings have been forged at a time, when the other 17 Rings haven't even been planned yet ...
and that Sauron will forge the 16+1 rings alone, in Mordor, without direct help from Celebrimbor (aside from the research into alloys they did together)

Aside from this I like the series

[EPW]

The Hobbit movies were the worst thing I've ever seen so I just can't bring myself to watch this. God speed to the rest of you.

[BeBMan]

Damn I got Númenor wrong two times in the OP.

Overall, I kinda (still) like it too, despite all the neg. points up there. But I hope they do better more consistently in the next seasons, provided those materialize (IIRC five announced).

[BeBMan]

Seems like in he series, aside from Sauron being the human Halbrand, also the order of the forging of the rings is different ...
seems like the 3 Elven Rings have been forged at a time, when the other 17 Rings haven't even been planned yet ...
and that Sauron will forge the 16+1 rings alone, in Mordor, without direct help from Celebrimbor (aside from the research into alloys they did together)
:

I thought the Halbrand guy would be one of the humans falling to the dark side later (so one of the Nine finally), but got that wrong. I was pretty sure the Stranger is either Gandalf himself (thothat would not be canon afaik) or someone comparable.

But yes, I'm also wondering how they sort it out with the other rings.

[Proteus_MST]

I thought the Halbrand guy would be one of the humans falling to the dark side later (so one of the Nine finally), but got that wrong. I was pretty sure the Stranger is either Gandalf himself (thothat would not be canon afaik) or someone comparable.
...

It seems like the stranger is comparable ...
he seems to be one of the 5 blue wizards who came to Middle Earth in the 2nd age.

Not Gandalf, but an Istar like Gandalf himself ... much to the chargrin of the 3 witches, who mistook him for Sauron

[Bereta_Eder]

I gave up watching

it's dissapointing.

they didn't get the whole copyrights and they can't even call hobbit a hobbit. What is this?


Also the beggining was spectacular because of the special effects that were amazing.

but it is disjointed, there is no plot, it is BORING and they writers are medicore and have to jump through loops because of all the copyright restrictions.

It's like trying to play an old RPG on today's technology and time.

a man never enters a river twice because it is not the same man and it is not the same river

Make a house of the dragon and it iws fresh.

reheat old stuff and do it ina convoluted way and it won't fly.

[Dauphin]

What I definitely dislike is, that some things from the LotR-Mythology cannot be used due to Amazon only having the rights to the Lord of the Rings-Books and their Appendix (and not, for example, to the Silmarillion).

Expect a remake in 20 years when the 70 year statute on copyright ends then (based on when Tolkien died). I haven't looked up the law, so i may be quoting the wrong one or an outdate one, or one that doesn't apply, etc.....

ALthought it may then not be broadcasted in some locations, as copyright time is different by jurisdiction.

[Proteus_MST]

Expect a remake in 20 years when the 70 year statute on copyright ends then (based on when Tolkien died). I haven't looked up the law, so i may be quoting the wrong one or an outdate one, or one that doesn't apply, etc.....

ALthought it may then not be broadcasted in some locations, as copyright time is different by jurisdiction.

It seems to be quite complicated, see the discussion here:
https://scifi.stackexchange.com/ques...tolkiens-works

According to the discussion, hypothetically, the copyrights to the Silmarillion might, in the best case, already expire around 2028.

For this the court would have to decide, that the Silmarillion (being largely unedited notes by Tolkien himself) was actually an unpublished work by J.R.R. Tolkien (and that Christopher was just its publisher and not its author).
In that case the copyright laws from 1956 would apply, which actually have the copyrights expire after only 50 years after the first posthumous publication of the authors works

[Jon Miller]

Seems like in he series, aside from Sauron being the human Halbrand, also the order of the forging of the rings is different ...
seems like the 3 Elven Rings have been forged at a time, when the other 17 Rings haven't even been planned yet ...
and that Sauron will forge the 16+1 rings alone, in Mordor, without direct help from Celebrimbor (aside from the research into alloys they did together)

Aside from this I like the series

Definitely Sauron being Halbrand and not Annatar is a change, and the order of the forging.

But a lot of people are mistaken about alloys. Celebrimbor knew, I think, about alloys. What he was missing was the connection between using an alloy and the unseen (as the series has put it).

It is possible that Elrond and Galadriel leave, and Halbrand comes back to forge rings with Celebrimbor... who he then betrays. I don't see Celebrimbor forging excess rings otherwise.

I thought that some choices I would not like, when I heard they might be the case (Sauron being in the form of Halbrand). But I ended up buying it, and thinking it well done. I intend to rewatch and we will see if I continue to buy it on rewatch.

JM
(I don't watch a lot of TV, that isn't something I catch part of while my wife or daughters are watching. My daughters are not allowed to watch Rings of Power.)

[Jon Miller]

The Hobbit movies were the worst thing I've ever seen so I just can't bring myself to watch this. God speed to the rest of you.

I think it is better than the Hobbit movies, so far, but I agree it is not as even or polished as the Lord of the Rings movies.

It might even consider more interesting themes than the Lord of the Rings movies though.

The Hobbit movies even had some good parts though.

JM

[Jon Miller]

I thought the Halbrand guy would be one of the humans falling to the dark side later (so one of the Nine finally), but got that wrong. I was pretty sure the Stranger is either Gandalf himself (thothat would not be canon afaik) or someone comparable.

But yes, I'm also wondering how they sort it out with the other rings.

I also thought that Halbrand would be one of the 9 or the King of the Dead.

Even though I read the rumor he was Sauron, I didn't buy it.

I am going to rewatch.

JM
(There was one letter from Tolkien that Olorin may have come to Middle Earth before he came as Gandalf. I would prefer if the Stranger was a blue wizard though. Clearly he must go east, where Tolkien wrote almost nothing about.)

[Jon Miller]

Expect a remake in 20 years when the 70 year statute on copyright ends then (based on when Tolkien died). I haven't looked up the law, so i may be quoting the wrong one or an outdate one, or one that doesn't apply, etc.....

ALthought it may then not be broadcasted in some locations, as copyright time is different by jurisdiction.

For the Silmarillion the countdown started with the death of Christopher a couple of years ago.

That might be true of the Lord of the Rings and the Hobbit too.

JM

[Jon Miller]

Also the beggining was spectacular because of the special effects that were amazing.

but it is disjointed, there is no plot, it is BORING and they writers are medicore and have to jump through loops because of all the copyright restrictions.

Harfoots are one of the ancestors of Hobbits according to the books. So that part is correct. I think they were still Harfoots at the beginning of the 3rd age.

I agree that there is some poorness in the writing. But then I remember that the best of the writing in Lord of the Rings came straight from Tolkien and Tolkien didn't write the 2nd age stories.

They did have some issues with copyright restrictions, it is pretty obvious with lack of Beleriand and some of the very incomplete sketch of the first age.

JM

[BeBMan]

Does anybody know who or what the three hmmm "beings" were that did show up late in the season, burned the settlement of them Harfoots using magic, and then battled the Stranger in the end, who they mistook for Sauron?