Television The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power

Apparently Sauron did actually repent and wanted to atone for his sins. It's freaky watching the baddest bad guy in fantasyland showing shades of grey. But that's knowing who Halbrand became..otherwise you'd be seeing the rise and fall of the bad bloke had you not seen LOTR and it's black and white bollocks.
 
I actually kinda like the general plot of this first season. Falling in love with your biggest enemy is really kinda poetic. Galadriel would have been a badass evil queen, don't you all think?!


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I knew he was gandalf, fecking knew it

Don't get why the Elves decided to carry on making the rings when Sauron was telling them to

Yeah well that's because they completely rushed one of the most interesting stories of the whole LotR universe. The manipulation of the Elves by Sauron and tricking them into forging the rings. Shame. Could have spared us from some of the bullshit Galadriel and Harfoot's dialogues and concentrated more on that aspect.
 
I don't understand how Amazon can spend the money they have and end up with this writing team.

Do you have a writing team in mind that Amazon should have hired?

Pretty much every fantasy show gets criticized for bad writing. Movies too, for that matter. Who are these good writers that Amazon couldn't afford?
 
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Do you have a writing team in mind that Amazon should have hired?

No, I don't have the insight into who was available, but based on their output in this show the writing team or editing or both need to significantly improve. McKay and Payne taking on writing responsibilities along with show running with little experience in either field can not have helped here.
 
Do you have a writing team in mind that Amazon should have hired?

Pretty much every fantasy show gets criticized for bad writing. Movies too, for that matter. Who are these good writers that Amazon couldn't afford?

The creators are credited as uncredited writers in Star Trek Beyond. That's it.

Pretty much anyone in the industy with one good writing credit to their name would in theory be more qualified than these two. It's completely bland nonsense. Whoever I'd rather even suffer through someone like Damon Lindelofs take on it. Anything with a bit of personality would be more engaging than this.
 
The creators are credited as uncredited writers in Star Trek Beyond. That's it.

Pretty much anyone in the industy with one good writing credit to their name would in theory be more qualified than these two. It's completely bland nonsense. Whoever I'd rather even suffer through someone like Damon Lindelofs take on it. Anything with a bit of personality would be more engaging than this.
I like the show overall it's better than them not making it but how come they don't employ some people who are real lore nerds or industry critics to watch it and point out the poor stuff before it gets screened?
 
The creators are credited as uncredited writers in Star Trek Beyond. That's it.

Pretty much anyone in the industy with one good writing credit to their name would in theory be more qualified than these two. It's completely bland nonsense. Whoever I'd rather even suffer through someone like Damon Lindelofs take on it.

So that's a no, then.
 
So that's a no, then.

I mean, what is this? Some sort of Gotcha?

On the same level as people on here asking those frustrated with Utds signing over the years who they would have signed when the scouting is criticized.The most expensive TV show of all time doesn't get excuses.
 
On the same level as people on here asking those frustrated with Utds signing over the years who they would have signed when the scouting is criticized.

It is on the same level as someone saying they don't understand how United have ended up with such bad managers and then, when asked to name a manager who could have done a good job for United, failed to come up with a name.
 
It is on the same level as someone saying they don't understand how United have ended up with such bad managers and then, when asked to name a manager who could have done a good job for United, failed to come up with a name.

Total nonsense, and effectively suggesting that we should just accept mediocre to poor writing because clearly they couldn't have done better.

Not up to watchers or fans to suggest names, the highly paid show-runners or club head are there to make those decisions, and the quality of their choices will show in the product produced.
 
I have no problem with anyone criticizing the outcome of a show. What I don't like are sweeping and wrong statements about the making of shows.

You said in an earlier post that shows you rated highly were The Sopranos, Breaking Bad, Game of Thrones.

Jason Cahill wrote for The Sopranos and for this show. Gennifer Hutchison wrote for Breaking Bad and Better Call Saul and wrote for this show. And Bryan Cogman wrote for Game of Thrones and wrote for this show.
 
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Love how Nori's parents almost convinced her to feck off. The Amercians really have no clue how to write heartfelt moments anymore.
 
Did Sauron even know about rings before he arrived at Lindon? It appears he was simply chasing Galadriel's ass and the whole ring thing was a huge coincidence since he knew nothing about any of it before he arrived. The're pretty much plot mcguffins. Tolkien's more profound meditations on the nature of entropy and mortality are somewhat sidelined so far.
He didn't know about mythril but I think the "chasing ass" interpretation is off the mark. His plan looked like: 1. gain Galadriel's trust 2. get to the elven city and, ideally, to Celebrimbor 3. get them to help him (unknowingly) in his experiments with the unseen world.

The show kinda speedrunned the entire process which made it look weird though.
 
Can't believe Galadriel found out who he is but they still decided to proceed in what he had in mind for them. These writers are so poor. Beautiful show to watch but incredibly poor plot for the time they had.
 
Apparently Sauron did actually repent and wanted to atone for his sins. It's freaky watching the baddest bad guy in fantasyland showing shades of grey. But that's knowing who Halbrand became..otherwise you'd be seeing the rise and fall of the bad bloke had you not seen LOTR and it's black and white bollocks.

I'm not sure he was ever truly repentant. A bit like how Melkor never was. I think its just a theme they played with.
 
He didn't know about mythril but I think the "chasing ass" interpretation is off the mark. His plan looked like: 1. gain Galadriel's trust 2. get to the elven city and, ideally, to Celebrimbor 3. get them to help him (unknowingly) in his experiments with the unseen world.

The show kinda speedrunned the entire process which made it look weird though.

Well the book version makes little sense either but then it was never meant to be more than a legend. The show version piles coincidence upon coincidence till it makes no sense at all.

One thing that sits especially badly is the idea that a Maiar as powerful and ancient as Sauron could pose as a thirty year old human undetected in Lindon by a large number of thousand year old elves. At least in the books he posed as a Maiar. Even if you assume he's able to hide his power, if I was trying to build a nuclear fusion reactor and a random 5 year old popped up in my workshop with inspired advice. I would definitely notice that and think that's very odd.
 
Can't believe Galadriel found out who he is but they still decided to proceed in what he had in mind for them. These writers are so poor. Beautiful show to watch but incredibly poor plot for the time they had.
They literally have days left to come up with something else by the time Galadriel finds out. Plus the plan was in action before then by Celebrimbor and Elrond without Sauron involved. They're just trusting in their own will and powers at that point.
 
They literally have days left to come up with something else by the time Galadriel finds out. Plus the plan was in action before then by Celebrimbor and Elrond without Sauron involved. They're just trusting in their own will and powers at that point.

There was just no need to let the elves know. Made them look proper dumb. They could have just used the last scene with him going back to Mordor.

It's just the same as with the Hobbit. Everything not actually written by Tolkien is pretty stupid. He wrote that some distrusted him as he came from outside. Fair enough. But for one to actually know it was Sauron himself but still forge the rings... Can't convince me of that
 
It's just the same as with the Hobbit. Everything not actually written by Tolkien is pretty stupid.

In some ways they are trying to make sense of a plot Tolkien jotted down and never road tested in the way that a writer of an actual book would have done, and in the way he did for years with Lord of the Rings. I would cut them some slack even if it's all a bit contrived. Tolkien created these tales as world building back story, not as coherent stories in their own right.

That said I think they can do better.
 
Enjoy it, but it doesnt pull me in. The farewell scene where Nori leaves tries so hard to make you care with the swelling music and tears, but I just don't. The whole manipulation by Sauron is also hilariously on the nose. I mean come on, how are they not on to it.
 
Finally finished the last episode. I think this is probably the best episode in the season. Mind you, dialogue is still crap and a lot of the story still doesn't make sense and pacing is crap so the key scenes are rushed. But some characters are starting to mature.

Disappointed to be wrong about Halbrand. Felt that Sauron was too easy a target for him. He was supposed to be called Annatar, The Lord of Gifts, an emmisary of the Valar, in the lore. He came to Gilgalad and Elrond first who sensed something wrong and turned him away before he went to Celebrimbor. The elves only realised they had been betrayed after they had forged the rings of power and after Sauron put on the One Ring for the first time. Else why would you still forge the bloody thing the enemy guided you to forge? Should've known better this series doesn't care about lore or common sense. Also that Galadriel x Sauron love affair feels so unnecessary.

On a side note, Gandalf was as predicted.

All I can hope for right now, is that they do a better job in the second season on the dialogue, story and pacing.
 
Enjoy it, but it doesnt pull me in. The farewell scene where Nori leaves tries so hard to make you care with the swelling music and tears, but I just don't. The whole manipulation by Sauron is also hilariously on the nose. I mean come on, how are they not on to it.

Doesn't help that her parents already waited for her with the bags packed and were like 'yeah you go now'
 
In some ways they are trying to make sense of a plot Tolkien jotted down and never road tested in the way that a writer of an actual book would have done, and in the way he did for years with Lord of the Rings. I would cut them some slack even if it's all a bit contrived. Tolkien created these tales as world building back story, not as coherent stories in their own right.

That said I think they can do better.

Yeah I can see that and I guess they deserve some slack for it.
The pictures were beautiful to look at too. They also did well with the customes. But the writing and the dialogoues need improving
 
I thought that was bang average at best. Laughed at a few plots in all honesty. Didn't care for any character.
 
Can't believe Galadriel found out who he is but they still decided to proceed in what he had in mind for them. These writers are so poor. Beautiful show to watch but incredibly poor plot for the time they had.
It's because it was the only way to save the Elves.
 
It’s better than the hobbit though…
No it's not. Early on I thought it was but this has gone to hell in a hand basket over the past few episodes.

To tell the truth It's like the Hobbit where the first film was ok but the further they went with the story the more I was wait a minute WTF.
 
Finally finished the last episode. I think this is probably the best episode in the season. Mind you, dialogue is still crap and a lot of the story still doesn't make sense and pacing is crap so the key scenes are rushed. But some characters are starting to mature.

Disappointed to be wrong about Halbrand. Felt that Sauron was too easy a target for him. He was supposed to be called Annatar, The Lord of Gifts, an emmisary of the Valar, in the lore. He came to Gilgalad and Elrond first who sensed something wrong and turned him away before he went to Celebrimbor. The elves only realised they had been betrayed after they had forged the rings of power and after Sauron put on the One Ring for the first time. Else why would you still forge the bloody thing the enemy guided you to forge? Should've known better this series doesn't care about lore or common sense. Also that Galadriel x Sauron love affair feels so unnecessary.

On a side note, Gandalf was as predicted.

All I can hope for right now, is that they do a better job in the second season on the dialogue, story and pacing.
Will you make an apperance next season? Please?
 
Can't believe Galadriel found out who he is but they still decided to proceed in what he had in mind for them. These writers are so poor. Beautiful show to watch but incredibly poor plot for the time they had.

I don't want to spoil it for you, but the rings form a somewhat central and important part of the plot.
 
Yeah well that's because they completely rushed one of the most interesting stories of the whole LotR universe. The manipulation of the Elves by Sauron and tricking them into forging the rings. Shame. Could have spared us from some of the bullshit Galadriel and Harfoot's dialogues and concentrated more on that aspect.
The whole Sauron plot was a clusterfeck. Why was he on a raft in the middle of the ocean in the first place. Fighting the smith on Nonminor, his I stole the crest from a dead man, getting injured and riding for 6 days while bleeding out, the fact that his disciples mistook Gandalf for him, one of the greatest smiths of elvenkind not knowing how to make an alloy, the slip ups he made when talking to said smith that made Galadriel suspicious when she was so sure for the whole series he was a good guy, the disciples finally realising that Sauron isn't Sauron but an Ishtar, Galadriel when chasing Sauron all over middle earth deciding not to tell anybody when she finally realises that the man that she's been crushing on is actually Sauron.
Total mindless pap.
 
The whole Sauron plot was a clusterfeck. Why was he on a raft in the middle of the ocean in the first place. Fighting the smith on Nonminor, his I stole the crest from a dead man, getting injured and riding for 6 days while bleeding out, the fact that his disciples mistook Gandalf for him, one of the greatest smiths of elvenkind not knowing how to make an alloy, the slip ups he made when talking to said smith that made Galadriel suspicious when she was so sure for the whole series he was a good guy, the disciples finally realising that Sauron isn't Sauron but an Ishtar, Galadriel when chasing Sauron all over middle earth deciding not to tell anybody when she finally realises that the man that she's been crushing on is actually Sauron.
Total mindless pap.


You forgot "I am good"
 
By all accounts, the two guys running this show have very little experience beyond partly writing the Star Trek beyond film from a few years ago. It's very strange to give 2 random writers from Hollywood control over a multi-billion dollar show.

A show with great writing and a 10 million dollar budget will beat a show with crap writing and a billion dollar budget. We're basically the football equivalent of Rings of Power. :lol: Lots of heritage, fans and money but ran by guys who have little relevant experience.

Seeing as he almost quoted himself from the Hobbit, it's hard to imagine him being anyone else:

That's the weird thing. In the lore, there's 5 "Ishtari" or wizards that get sent down to deal with Sauron. 3 of them are named and show up in the movies but 2 aren't and are barely discussed at all. Why not just say he's one of the 2? That means they'd have almost complete freedom to do what they want without contradicting the lore.
 
Finale was good, season was a bit slow I felt and feel like they could have done a lot more with it, but given the hype and all, I'd say they played it safe and it's not bad by any means. Slow burner.

I thought the last scene, the whole making of the rings, was a fantastic scene and probably the best of the show so far. Just great cinematography and audio.
 
By all accounts, the two guys running this show have very little experience beyond partly writing the Star Trek beyond film from a few years ago. It's very strange to give 2 random writers from Hollywood control over a multi-billion dollar show.
They gave the best "pitch", allegedly. Probably to Lord Bezos.
 
I have no problem with anyone criticizing the outcome of a show. What I don't like are sweeping and wrong statements about the making of shows.

You said in an earlier post that shows you rated highly were The Sopranos, Breaking Bad, Game of Thrones.

Jason Cahill wrote for The Sopranos and for this show. Gennifer Hutchison wrote for Breaking Bad and Better Call Saul and wrote for this show. And Bryan Cogman wrote for Game of Thrones and wrote for this show.
Past works dont mean anything as they obviously put more effort into those shows than the verbal diaorihea of the script of this one.
 
Do you have a writing team in mind that Amazon should have hired?

Pretty much every fantasy show gets criticized for bad writing. Movies too, for that matter. Who are these good writers that Amazon couldn't afford?
Amazon did produce three seasons of The Expanse which is a fantastic scifi show. So it can be done.
 
The whole Sauron plot was a clusterfeck. Why was he on a raft in the middle of the ocean in the first place. Fighting the smith on Nonminor, his I stole the crest from a dead man, getting injured and riding for 6 days while bleeding out, the fact that his disciples mistook Gandalf for him, one of the greatest smiths of elvenkind not knowing how to make an alloy, the slip ups he made when talking to said smith that made Galadriel suspicious when she was so sure for the whole series he was a good guy, the disciples finally realising that Sauron isn't Sauron but an Ishtar, Galadriel when chasing Sauron all over middle earth deciding not to tell anybody when she finally realises that the man that she's been crushing on is actually Sauron.
Total mindless pap.
I agree with all that - EXCEPT his disciples mistaking Gandalf for him.

Doesn't that make a kinda of sense? Both Gandalf and Sauron are Maiar.
 
Finally finished the last episode. I think this is probably the best episode in the season. Mind you, dialogue is still crap and a lot of the story still doesn't make sense and pacing is crap so the key scenes are rushed. But some characters are starting to mature.

Disappointed to be wrong about Halbrand. Felt that Sauron was too easy a target for him. He was supposed to be called Annatar, The Lord of Gifts, an emmisary of the Valar, in the lore. He came to Gilgalad and Elrond first who sensed something wrong and turned him away before he went to Celebrimbor. The elves only realised they had been betrayed after they had forged the rings of power and after Sauron put on the One Ring for the first time. Else why would you still forge the bloody thing the enemy guided you to forge? Should've known better this series doesn't care about lore or common sense. Also that Galadriel x Sauron love affair feels so unnecessary.

On a side note, Gandalf was as predicted.

All I can hope for right now, is that they do a better job in the second season on the dialogue, story and pacing.
As your name is Tom Bombadil, I feel like I can ask you this question.

Isn't this too early for Gandalf to come to Middle Earth? I thought the wizards came in the third age?