Television The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power

pratyush_utd said:
Galadriel is the definition of what they call in corporate “failing upwards”.

Gandalf reveal was the South Park version of remember berries

Some hope left for Season 3 and onwards. It could go either way but there is still a chance to redeem the show. Get a director who knows how to portray epic moments and you have a good fantasy series.

Click to expand...

They replaced the wrong writers.
 
The Cat said:
I posted a bit earlier there is a clear view of his staff and it doesn't match Saruman's so from that he has to be unless they ignore it.

Can't see them fudging something like that though.
Click to expand...
Oh. Personally, I don’t really find this one compelling. I’m not overly familiar with staff lore but they’re not completely irreplaceable — Gandalf got a new one in the books and in these series that’s basically his seasonal arc.

It wouldn’t make much sense to depict Saruman with his LotR stuff that had its top designed to match Orthanc when it probably wasn’t even built yet (and Saruman had no relation to it). Many thousands of years had past since then — maybe he found a new staff or drastically modified his current one.

Plus it would be (if his staff was the same as in the movies) a concrete proof of this wizard being Saruman from his very first appearance and they, however prone to fan service moments, wanted to milk the supposed mystery for as long as they could — just like they did with Sauron and Gandalf, both of whom ended up being exactly the characters that everyone thought that they were. Put it like that — it doesn’t make sense to create a mysterious character if the reveal doesn’t pay off… and general audience that they target is the one who only watched the movies and maybe read LotR. To reveal this big mystery only for him to end up as someone unknown to the wide population wouldn’t be like them.

Edit: given the tendency of this show to recreate scenes from the LotR movies and books and the importance of staff in Gandalf’s story this season I wouldn’t be surprised if Gandalf destroys Saruman’s current staff in the inevitable showdown next season. Although how he would get back to the good side of Gandalf (in order to turn bad again) is an interesting question, but this wouldn’t be the first time they’ve butchered a great character, would it?
 
harms said:
Oh. Personally, I don’t really find this one compelling. I’m not overly familiar with staff lore but they’re not completely irreplaceable — Gandalf got a new one in the books and in these series that’s basically his seasonal arc.

It wouldn’t make much sense to depict Saruman with his LotR stuff that had its top designed to match Orthanc when it probably wasn’t even built yet (and Saruman had no relation to it). Many thousands of years had past since then — maybe he found a new staff or drastically modified his current one.

Plus it would be (if his staff was the same as in the movies) a concrete proof of this wizard being Saruman from his very first appearance and they, however prone to fan service moments, wanted to milk the supposed mystery for as long as they could — just like they did with Sauron and Gandalf, both of whom ended up being exactly the characters that everyone thought that they were. Put it like that — it doesn’t make sense to create a mysterious character if the reveal doesn’t pay off… and general audience that they target is the one who only watched the movies and maybe read LotR. To reveal this big mystery only for him to end up as someone unknown to the wide population wouldn’t be like them.

Edit: given the tendency of this show to recreate scenes from the LotR movies and books and the importance of staff in Gandalf’s story this season I wouldn’t be surprised if Gandalf destroys Saruman’s current staff in the inevitable showdown next season. Although how he would get back to the good side of Gandalf (in order to turn bad again) is an interesting question, but this wouldn’t be the first time they’ve butchered a great character, would it?
Click to expand...
You are right I was just thinking along the lines of them keeping lore intact. As we know so far that's not certain in this show.
 
The Cat said:
I posted a bit earlier there is a clear view of his staff and it doesn't match Saruman's so from that he has to be unless they ignore it.

Can't see them fudging something like that though.
Click to expand...
They could pull a Marvel and just come up with some alternate universe bullshit. Owen Wilson steps out of a TVA portal:

"Hey, wow, Saruman, right? Big fan of the whole white wizard thing you’ve got going on here. Very nice. Uh, listen, so I don’t want to, you know, disrupt your whole evil overlord vibe or anything, but—yeah—there’s been a bit of a mix-up in the timelines. Turns out, you're not supposed to be this Saruman in this timeline. Yeah, I know, it’s a lot to take in. But don’t worry, we’re just gonna shuffle you over to a different branch of reality. I mean, you're still the same powerful, menacing guy, just... in a different place. How cool is that?"
 
He's not Saruman, he's just playing the exact same role in the story as Saruman does in LotR. Payne and McKay are only particularly interested in recycling tropes (and not even just from LotR) for easy nostalgia and screen-pointing, they were JJ Abrams acolytes for a reason.
 
The Cat said:
Just finished the last one. It could morph into what it should have been. Fingers crossed.
Click to expand...
This is where I am with it. Best episode yet and as good a finale as we could've expected, with some fantastic visuals and suitably epic moments.

Let the two-year wait begin...

At least we have The War of the Rohirrim to look forward to in December.
 
Salt Bailly said:
This is where I am with it. Best episode yet and as good a finale as we could've expected, with some fantastic visuals and suitably epic moments.

Let the two-year wait begin...

At least we have The War of the Rohirrim to look forward to in December.
Click to expand...
Also - don't forget that PJ and his folks are working on a script for a series of two prequel movies. Ian McKellen said he would have a script in hand in the new year. I hope Ian makes it - he still looks pretty good for his age and is still very peppy - but last I saw him being interviewed he also looked like he suddenly aged another 10 years. Guess they could do it like Christopher Lee and have him film some scenes remotely with the use of SFX.
 
Redplane said:
Also - don't forget that PJ and his folks are working on a script for a series of two prequel movies. Ian McKellen said he would have a script in hand in the new year. I hope Ian makes it - he still looks pretty good for his age and is still very peppy - but last I saw him being interviewed he also looked like he suddenly aged another 10 years. Guess they could do it like Christopher Lee and have him film some scenes remotely with the use of SFX.
Click to expand...
I keep forgetting about the prequel movies. Using Sir Ian in his late 80s feels like a major stretch. There's probably more chance of them using the RoP actor.
 
Dark wizard will most likely be Alatar or his mate. Ar Pharazon will probably become the Witch King after getting stuffed approaching Valinor - he's already well on his way.

Other than the massive disappointment of Galadriel I've quite enjoyed the series so far. Don't really care about its fidelity to lore and it's fun enough. Few too many Padmes and platitudes but I enjoyed Adar and Sauron.

Bombadil as a wizard trainer pissed me off a bit. Lacked the unimpeachable wonder of the guy in my imagination. I did like the duet though. Aslo, Entwife!
 
Last edited:
Ekkie Thump said:
Dark wizard will most likely be Alatar or his mate. Ar Pharazon will probably become the Witch King after getting stuffed approaching Valinor - he's already well on his way.

Other than the massive disappointment of Galadriel I've quite enjoyed the series so far. Don't really care about its fidelity to lore and it's fun enough. Few too many Padmes and platitudes but I enjoyed Adar and Sauron.
Click to expand...

No way. Ar Pharazon was still alive at the end of the Silmarillion even by the forth age, he was kept alive along with his entire army by Eru, buried, undisturbed under the mountain so that when the time comes for the final battle with Morgoth, they will be there, ready.

Staff's are also not important in lore.

"Wizards" don't exist. The 5 Istar are Maiar, the only reason they carry staffs is symbolism for the men and elves they are guiding. Only men perceive them to be "Wizards" and the Istar kinda just rolled with it.
 
AfonsoAlves said:
No way. Ar Pharazon was still alive at the end of the Silmarillion even by the forth age, he was kept alive along with his entire army by Eru, buried, undisturbed under the mountain so that when the time comes for the final battle with Morgoth, they will be there, ready.

Staff's are also not important in lore.

"Wizards" don't exist. The 5 Istar are Maiar, the only reason they carry staffs is symbolism for the men and elves they are guiding. Only men perceive them to be "Wizards" and the Istar kinda just rolled with it.
Click to expand...

So far long beardy staff man is known as "dark wizard". He's living in Rhun. Seems a small enough leap to guess he's one of the Istar that Tolkien sent east. Doesn't have to be, but seems reasonable.

I don't really care that the lore says Eru buried Ar and his mates till the Dagor whotsit. The folk writing the show are playing fast and loose with the books and trying to squeeze everything into (they hope) five seasons. Sauron's got 9 rings to flog and there's a dearth of evil men sufficiently set up to receive them. He's already corrupted Numenor via palantir so I guess they're skipping the invasion of Mordor and going straight to him attacking the Valar (if they even decide to include that). From the perspective of the show it makes sense to give him a ring.
 
Salt Bailly said:
I keep forgetting about the prequel movies. Using Sir Ian in his late 80s feels like a major stretch. There's probably more chance of them using the RoP actor.
Click to expand...
He actually said he wants to do it and that they ve already spoken with him. Perhaps a good blend though would be to use the RoP actor for most and Sir Ian for scenes when the timeline jumps ahead.
 
roseguy64 said:
Editing a video now and he says that there were 5 of us. And they're in the east. Pretty much confirmed it for me.
Click to expand...
How so? There were always five of them and Saruman says that in LotR too (in fact, I don’t remember the exact wording but it wouldn’t surprise me if they had stolen it too). And Saruman spent a lot of time in Rhûn alongside the Blue Wizards, the difference is that he returned to the West afterwards and smurfs didn’t.
 
TheGame said:
I’ve been meaning to start this but the reviews have been mixed. Is this worth watching? I’ve seen all of the LOTR films.
Click to expand...

If you are like me who has never read the books and only seen the films AND wants to see how Sauron actually was, definitely 100% yes.
 
Slevs said:
If you are like me who has never read the books and only seen the films AND wants to see how Sauron actually was, definitely 100% yes.
Click to expand...
Agree with that, they’ve really given meat to who Sauron was, not just some flaming eye on top of a building.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.