Television The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power
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I think, as others have said, it was purely a distraction. You see him place the lockpick thingy in her hand as he pulls away. I've convinced myself there's nothing more to it than that, Celebrimbor-style.You are the last person I expected to be okay with Elrond kissing Galadriel
I finally figured out who made this show all along, it was Sauron the deceiver himself
Do I think every part of this show is bad? Not by any stretch. They got the Sauron in Eregion part right undoubtedly. It was a feasible explanation for how Celebrimbor was fooled (combination of his own ambition and Sauron’s cunning) that Tolkien didn’t do a clear job of explaining himself. The dwarves have been good. I think they have done the Numenor politics stuff well too outside the Eagle Ar-Pharazon part that was utterly ridiculous (Eagles only represent the Valar, doubt they will send one to the man
). I also think Adar has been fine for the most part and his origin story is compatible with Tolkien lore in my opinion. There are a lot of gaps in the second age story that had to be filled and I think some of the hate from the fans has been over the top. I’m convinced a lot of them would have done a crappy job were it up to them (maybe more faithful to their idea of Tolkien lore but would have made for much worse TV).who’s gonna try to invade Aman
Ultimately though, these show runners really struck out on the characters that still have a role to play in the third age and that’s what kills this show. Galadriel and Elrond (apart from his scenes with Durin, although the one in this episode had some bizarre dialogue), total disaster. I do think they will go down the “Stranger is Gandalf” road the more I see unfortunately and that will totally ruin the point. One of the beautiful concepts of the Wizards in the East in the Tolkien story is
. For what it’s worth, I thought Halbrand becoming Sauron was incredibly stupid too. He would have been a way better Witch King and would have been the anti-Aragorn this show deserved.they succeed in the second age in defeating Sauron’s influence there but become corrupted to evil like Saruman in the third age, ultimately only Gandalf stays true to the mission and only arrives in the third age after the events of the show. Obviously the already evil Eastern Dark Wizard in the show clashes with this point also (not too mention this dude comes across comically, can’t imagine Sauron dealing with a yahoo like this guy). They could do the Stranger is Saruman angle (he is known to have gone East) but the same criticism of chronology (Saruman only goes in the 3rd age) and a new criticism of personality (Saruman was an asshole even before becoming evil, no way he would befriend the Harfoots) would come to the fore.
I'm pretty certain, though I would have to check, in HoME Volume VII it specifically mentions that nobody knows what happened to the blue wizards, only they did their job and then disappeared. Tolkien hints that they actually did their job because he renamed Pallando as Romestamo which means, "Helper of the East".
There's no indication they turned evil.
Also, Radagast still exists, he didn't turn evil just turned into a pothead. Which isn't a surprise given that he was the Maia for Yavanna.
It is a distraction, but a distraction that breaks the lore of all things Elvish.
I assume you've read LaCE which explicitly details that for Elves, even things like kissing on the lips were ultimately reserved for their most beloved.
Heck, Luthien and Beren / Aragorn and Arwen don't even kiss until they're married.
I read HoME over two decades ago now, so sadly I can't recall much of it. One of the many reasons I enjoy reading your Tolkien posts. Nice refreshers.
I admire your dedication to the lore but it's not something I'm overly concerned about when it comes to this show. If they end up having a genuine relationship then I'd consider binning the whole thing off, as it would be a huge feck you to fans of the books.
Plus, Elrond may have kissed her for just that reason, knowing that Adar, who would be aware of this custom, would be successfully distracted enough not to spot the fairly obvious handover.
Amazing how lame I thought Charlie Vickers was as Halbrand... Maybe it was just the invention of Halbrand... but what a brilliant Annatar.
I know Rings of Power plays fast and loose with lore, particularly time and geography, but this is such a harder task than turning three books into three films. Throw in the rights issues and the game is unbelievably rigged against this show.
Some of the fictions it creates don't sit well with me, but believe it or not, those of us familiar with the books had much to get over to enjoy the Peter Jackson films twenty years ago.
It is by no means perfect, but Rings of Power is incredible fantasy television. Especially considering the challenges around it. People lost their shit at an extended scene of Galadriel riding a horse. Imagine the reaction to the feathered heads when Elrond heals Frodo or Jackson's liberal use of slow motion and fragmented frame rate.
For me to actually really like this show, they should have just dumped the Hobbits. I want to skip every scene they are in, and if The Stranger turns out to be Gandalf, I think I might be ready to overlook all the praise and throw this series in the toilet. Such an unnecessary story thread. Please let the stranger be a blue wizard.
I know Rings of Power plays fast and loose with lore, particularly time and geography, but this is such a harder task than turning three books into three films. Throw in the rights issues and the game is unbelievably rigged against this show.
Some of the fictions it creates don't sit well with me, but believe it or not, those of us familiar with the books had much to get over to enjoy the Peter Jackson films twenty years ago.
It is by no means perfect, but Rings of Power is incredible fantasy television. Especially considering the challenges around it. People lost their shit at an extended scene of Galadriel riding a horse. Imagine the reaction to the feathered heads when Elrond heals Frodo or Jackson's liberal use of slow motion and fragmented frame rate.
For me to actually really like this show, they should have just dumped the Hobbits. I want to skip every scene they are in, and if The Stranger turns out to be Gandalf, I think I might be ready to overlook all the praise and throw this series in the toilet. Such an unnecessary story thread. Please let the stranger be a blue wizard.
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Watching it right now and gotta say the undoing of Celebrimbor is brilliantly done IMHO. The despair and how much you feel for the guy. Ended up being great casting. Kinda dreading to see the rest of his fate come to screen now.
I just rewatched the episode.
another peeve is how weak they make the Noldor.
The Noldor are literally the uber-elves, honed in war for tens of thousands of year in Aman, the first to discover and wield weaponry and the art of warfare.
In the Silmarillion it's constant tales of pockets of Noldorians being surrounded by tens of thousands of orcs but butchering their way through. How Noldorian warriors solo'd Balrog's and how Morgoths Armies fled into Angband due to the might of the Noldor.
Here, they get clapped by some orcs.
another peeve is how weak they make the Noldor.
The Noldor are literally the uber-elves, honed in war for tens of thousands of year in Aman, the first to discover and wield weaponry and the art of warfare.
In the Silmarillion it's constant tales of pockets of Noldorians being surrounded by tens of thousands of orcs but butchering their way through. How Noldorian warriors solo'd Balrog's and how Morgoths Armies fled into Angband due to the might of the Noldor.
Here, they get clapped by some orcs.
To be fair, even in the PJ movies they weren't that powerful (referring to the battle to defeat Sauron in the prologue), and honestly - that would be a bit boring. You could argue they did Saruman and Gandalf even dirtier in the movies than they did the Noldor in this.
At the same time considering how powerful Sauron is in this they should have made the likes of Galadriel a bit stronger than average. Who knows though - we may still get glimpses of that. Neither her nor Elrond are wearing their rings in this battle right? If anything it's the lack of Gil Glad so far being a big badass that hasn't come thru yet. But he clearly was expected to stand on the sideline based on Elrond's response.
Tldr; only the Witch King, Sauron and Smaug across the different shows and movies have shown some sense of invulnerability and supreme power.
Does the Witch King show immense power in the films?
1) Get's wrecked by Aragorn on Amon Sul
2) Get's wrecked by Arwen's Water horses
3) Get's wrecked by Eowyn and Merry.
4) (Oh yeah, get repeatedly wrecked by Elrond, Saruman and Galadriel in Hobbit films. As in fight, lose, resurrect, fight, lose, like 4 times).
His only "immense power" was he can't permanently die (until he did).
The Noldor being weaker in the 1 minute cameo they make doesn't really contribute much though, because LoTR was set in a time where the Noldor have pretty much packed their bags and left.
In this TV series, it's entirely about the Noldor.
Yeah absolutely hated the frame rates and extended slow motion sequences. Ruined the movies for me.
I don’t know how much I agree with the Noldor being THAT powerful. Compared to first and second age orcs ya it should be a huge differential but Sauron, the Stranger, and the dark wizard should still be order of magnitude more powerful. Some of the Noldor were basically as powerful as Balrogs and Dragons too but none of those characters are really present in second and third age apart from Glorfindel. And imo, Numenoreans should be similar to the second age Noldor from a power standpoint given they are enhanced men after being extremely disadvantaged in the first age.
The battles sequences were passable, the highlight was Annatar and Celebrimbor's scenes, particularly the latter. Well acted and more of the same could've led to an overall better season rather than the cloak and dagger nonsense in Numenor (the most idiotic race of men, obviously), and whatever the hell is going on with the little twats and not-Gandalf.
I think there’s been so much focus on Eregion this episode, they now have to go back to the Harfoots and Numenor, which are slower paced. Leaves too little time for the rest so i suspect an underwhelming finale.
Both are going to be 'action packed' so they'll end on a bit of a high I reckon.
Is Sauron supposed to be going to Numenor next or retreat to Mordor to make the One Ring?
No the latter. The former should only happen in the penultimate season or the first part of the last season of the show.
Elrond counted on Adar not being a Redditor, who all are so outraged by the narrative violation of The Lore. He’d have immediately suspected something if he had been a bit more aware.
Maybe my expectations are high but the last episode was underwhelming. Battle scenes have no sense of epic that i expect a LOTR world battle should have. I see someone was comparing it GOT battles but honestly it’s not even close. Maybe they need to hire good directors who has experience for such large scale battle scene.
Galadriel portrayal is incredibly annoying.
These annoying callbacks to LOTR films with Galadriel moving in disguise inside Orcs camp or look to the north needs to stop. The quality is nowhere near close and they should make this show more independent instead of constantly banking on nostalgia.
Sauron portrayal is impressive. Durin is pretty good. This show has so much potential which is being squandered away by poor decisions by writers and some incredibly bad performances.
Galadriel portrayal is incredibly annoying.
These annoying callbacks to LOTR films with Galadriel moving in disguise inside Orcs camp or look to the north needs to stop. The quality is nowhere near close and they should make this show more independent instead of constantly banking on nostalgia.
Sauron portrayal is impressive. Durin is pretty good. This show has so much potential which is being squandered away by poor decisions by writers and some incredibly bad performances.
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Seeing a video from a YouTuber totally losing it over Galadriel and Elrond kissing and talking about the showrunners not caring about Tolkien. TBH, I thought that scene was fine. It didn't even hint at a romance between the characters.
Weird.
Weird.
He's been the best part of the season to me
This season has had a lot of good, some average and then some questionable decisions. The first 3 episodes could have been better but since then it's been mostly positive even with episode 6 being a slight downer.
Elrond and the ring in this episode is what almost ruined the episode for me along with Galadriel and the rings. Enjoyed it up to those parts.
Elrond and the ring in this episode is what almost ruined the episode for me along with Galadriel and the rings. Enjoyed it up to those parts.
Yeah Adar one of the first orcs toying with the most powerful elves left in middle earth seems a bit lame. Orcs are being created from twisted elves and Adar obviously is supposed to be among the first. But Elves like Galadriel are more or less the strongest beings for good left in middle earth. They can take on maiar and i think tolkien said that if Galadriel had the one ring she could overthrow Sauron.
So erm why didnt Sauron use his ability read and control minds on the orcs who Julius Caesared him in episode 1 which made him turn into goo and then a little pathetic parasite
Fair enough, I was completely unaware of Isildur not actually being the twat he was portrayed as in the movies! Shame he's one of the weaker actors in this really.
Lore wise, Galadriel is Elrond’s Mother in Law.
Yeah like that's not a kink.
Yes that was in the title of the video as well.
It's far from perfect or even very good but it is getting better.
The Celebrimbor story got much better (in that it actually became competent), but I don't really think any of the others improved, and a few got worse (including the Dwarves, who had been one of the standouts prior). Feels like a wash overall.
As shite as the storyline of the dwarves has largely been this season, I do have a soft spot for KHAZAD...DÛÛÛM!
The Dwarves story is more disappointing in a sense that it clearly isn't as cool as expecting a bunch of Dwarves to appear on the battlefield. BUT- their absence is hugely critical for the development for the story that ends up unfolding later in the Lord of the Rings timeline as well.
Someone on Reddit posted a screen cap of the jaded version of Elrond in the movies commenting how Dwarves care not for anything other than riches and hide in their mountains. Clearly up until now Elrond put a lot of faith in them and the reason for them recalling their army then in some ways fits right in with the chess pieces Sauron is moving to create complete chaos and weaken the resistance. It will be interesting to see then how Elrond's optimism continues to make way for the increased cynicism he already put on display since the rings were forged.
Tbh this is one of the things that makes it so disappointing, because that's all movie guff and the show seems more intent on being a listless prequel to that rather than its own thing. Do we really think this Elrond is going to hold a 3000 year grudge after the Dwarves got fecked because of rings HIS OWN PEOPLE helped make?! It's absurd.
Brilliant episode. feck knows what people are expecting if they think that isn't epic for a TV show
I mean - he is over 6500 years old around the time of the movies so holding onto a grudge for 3000 years is akin to us holding a grudge for about 40 years.
And @Bert_ fully agree. That was movie level stuff.
GOT prime comparisons are way off but fair game to be compared to season 7 or 8.
easily the best episode so far and probably the only truly good episode in these 3 years.
It is kind of ironic this episode of all gets praised the most when it had arguably the least diversity displayed of all them so far and the only two diverse characters got killed. Or at least one of them for sure. Not trying to start a riot but ...
No chance Arondir dies, he'll get healed by the ringy doodad. Does the other archer elf count as a character? Was essentially an extra with lines.