Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power, TV series on Amazon Prime TV, Sept 2,2022

[azrael]

56 minutes ago, levzloi said:

Bits and pieces of the Silmarillion is what I've heard, which will require a bunch of TV writers to come up with almost all of the scenes and dialogue on their own, very little except the setting will come from Tolkien.  If there is anything that the last few years have demonstrated, it's that TV writers are generally not up to the task of wholesale creation in fantasy worlds.  The last few seasons of GOT, and the first season of WOT, etc.  Of course with the amount of money they are throwing at this, maybe they actually came up with decent writers.  I have my doubts. 

It will pull references from the Silmarilion and the Appendices but will otherwise have very little to do with those works.

Here's the description:

Quote

About "The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power" Amazon Studios’ forthcoming series brings to screens for the very first time the heroic legends of the fabled Second Age of Middle-earth's history. This epic drama is set thousands of years before the events of J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings, and will take viewers back to an era in which great powers were forged, kingdoms rose to glory and fell to ruin, unlikely heroes were tested, hope hung by the finest of threads, and the greatest villain that ever flowed from Tolkien’s pen threatened to cover all the world in darkness. Beginning in a time of relative peace, the series follows an ensemble cast of characters, both familiar and new, as they confront the long-feared re-emergence of evil to Middle-earth. From the darkest depths of the Misty Mountains, to the majestic forests of the elf-capital of Lindon, to the breathtaking island kingdom of Númenor, to the furthest reaches of the map, these kingdoms and characters will carve out legacies that live on long after they are gone.

As the title suggest, this show is about the creation of the Great Rings (Rings of Power); as the rhyme goes...

Quote

Three Rings for the Elven-kings under the sky,
  Seven for the Dwarf-lords in their halls of stone,
Nine for Mortal Men doomed to die,
  One for the Dark Lord on his dark throne,
In the Land of Mordor where the Shadows lie,
  One Ring to rule them all, one Ring to find them,
  One Ring to bring them all and in the darkness bind them
In the Land of Mordor where the Shadows lie

 

[sqidd]

9 hours ago, TangledThorns said:

I'll watch it but only because there isn't much else to watch on Prime, is there?

Reacher

The Boys

Goliath

Bosch

Hannah

The Grand Tour

The Expanse

The Tick

Invincible

Clarksons Farm

Good Omens

The Man In The High Castle

Jack Ryan

Carnival Row

 

 

 

[Shadow]

Really lost interest in the Hollywood rendition of Tolkien after Jackson stretched the Hobbit out. After what's been shown, I'll be passing on this too.

[Dynaman]

14 hours ago, Thom said:

It's all about balance, and using your pointy stick to prop yourself up.

To misquote Monty Python "It's not a case of where he grips it"  Horns weigh a LOT.  No normal human, or even the strongest bodybuilder, could carry those horns if they were anything like normal weight for the size.

[sqidd]

43 minutes ago, Dynaman said:

 No normal human, or even the strongest bodybuilder, could carry those horns if they were anything like normal weight for the size.

A Moose rack is only 40lb. Even at 4x the size most 200lb men could carry that. Not forever of course. But carry it without issue.

A big powerlifter/strongman would laugh at that much weight. I've got a powerlifter buddy who runs stairs with 120lb log on his shoulders.

[Thom]

And who knows what animal it is, real or imagined. Those 'horns' might be mostly porous.

Not that it matters much, those two may be seen walking along the ridge just that once and never again.

[sh9000]

 

[levzloi]

On 2/13/2022 at 10:10 PM, azrael said:

It will pull references from the Silmarilion and the Appendices but will otherwise have very little to do with those works.

Here's the description:

As the title suggest, this show is about the creation of the Great Rings (Rings of Power); as the rhyme goes...

 

So as I understand it (after watching a few youtube videos which makes me an expert, haha), they don't even actually have rights to the Silmarilion, only the Hobbit, The Lord of the Rings, and the Appendices.  This is so much worse than I thought.  They have to piece together the story from the 2nd age using only the references in the Appendices, So a bunch of TV writers are going to be writing and creating Tolkien story and dialogue from a very rough outline.  This is going to be SOOOOOOOOOOO bad. 

[sh9000]

 

[TangledThorns]

Looks like they're trying to out Jackson the Jackson, lol.

[Scyla]

16 minutes ago, TangledThorns said:

Looks like they're trying to out Jackson the Jackson, lol.

No one  OutPeters The Jackson!

[Big s]

2 hours ago, Scyla said:

No one  OutPeters The Jackson!

You said “outpeters”

[jvmacross]

All I have is a fool's hope this will be good....and a yearly prime membership anyway, so I'll watch it...

[derex3592]

13 hours ago, jvmacross said:

All I have is a fool's hope this will be good....and a yearly prime membership anyway, so I'll watch it...

Same!

[Thom]

14 hours ago, jvmacross said:

All I have is a fool's hope this will be good....and a yearly prime membership anyway, so I'll watch it...

 

6 minutes ago, derex3592 said:

Same!

Same, times two.

[sh9000]

 

 

[no3Ljm]

 

[Bolt]

I'll definitely be checking it out. They're not really trying to out do PJ. Just keep his quality and feel for the franchise. As they see his renditions were hugely successful. As far as rights to anything. Even LOTR is based on the Silmarillion , and the ROP is the second age, so..

Honestly, i can only hope this is good. But there will be no breath holding.lol. 
we already know there are going to be liberties taken.

[Thom]

The trailers are making this look really good. Really hope it holds together.

[Big s]

I’m interested to see how it goes. 

[Thom]

Reviews on the first two episodes are coming back really good.

[azrael]

2 episodes in...It's OK but this is gonna be a S...L...O...W burner. Really slow...

Also, this map might help those who haven't kept up with LotR. Yep we'll be mainly be hanging out in the north west.

And for reference, here's the map from the 3rd Age:

[Thom]

Nice maps! Just a shame they are in WEBP format. Whatever happened to just using JPEG? So simple. So easy. Not a complaint against you @azrael it's just needing to find a conversion program to see them on my comp after downloading.

As to the series, I think that was a great start! Yes, it was a little slow getting started, but it picked up halfway through episode 1. And overall I was really liking the interactions, so being a little slow at times was alright, as long as that part keeps my interest. Really looking forward to episode 3 now!

[Big s]

I only watched the first episode. It definitely slow. It also feels very hateful. I kinda thought people were just exaggerating like with what they thought Prey was gonna be like, but this show is a bit too heavy handed so far. Hopefully it lightens up on the hate in the next episode. I’ll probably try watching it a bit later

[Hikaru Ichijo SL]

As a fan of the books, I think I will skip this show.  What they did to Galadriel really turned me off. 

[Big s]

I talked to a few people that were excited about this show and they all said not to bother with episode 2. They basically said to hold out and see if things get better before wasting my time.

[Thom]

1 hour ago, Hikaru Ichijo SL said:

As a fan of the books, I think I will skip this show.  What they did to Galadriel really turned me off. 

How is she different in the books?

[Big s]

21 minutes ago, Thom said:

How is she different in the books?

If I remember she wasn’t a soldier and lightly mentioned. It’s been a long while for me, so I’m sure others probably have a better recollection 

[treatment]

1 hour ago, Hikaru Ichijo SL said:

As a fan of the books, I think I will skip this show.  What they did to Galadriel really turned me off. 

 

27 minutes ago, Thom said:

How is she different in the books?

 

5 minutes ago, Big s said:

If I remember she wasn’t a soldier and lightly mentioned. It’s been a long while for me, so I’m sure others probably have a better recollection 

 

Hmm. Arwen was not a warrior and never battled the Nazgul in the books, either.

I think it's a bit better stretch to re-imagine Galadriel as a warrior princess than Arwen.

[505thAirborne]

 

[Big s]

I got bored and tried out the second episode. It’s not perfect, but definitely better than the first by a lot. It’s got some good moments. The Harfoot stuff feels like filler and Galadriel just comes of as an annoyance, but the other stuff going on was actually interesting to me. I’m probably gonna give the show a watch weekly and hope it keeps improving.

The first episode was so bad, I almost didn’t bother with it, but kinda glad I gave it a chance. Hope this show doesn’t let me down any more than it already has

[Dobber]

So I watched it. It wasn’t horrible. I rather like Elrond and the new Elf guy (I can’t remember his name) but Galadriel is just not likable at all. The scene between her and Elrond….I don’t know if it is the actress herself or just her acting choice, but did she ever have “crazy eyes” in that scene. If it was a deliberate choice then I don’t see how we are to support her. They are playing her as a fanatic and not a real leader. Not the Galadriel I have pictured. There are many types of strength all PEOPLE can have but only the warrior type is ever shown as valid. It’s tiresome and unfortunate that her character isn’t being used in a more unique and uplifting way. As it is I will still watch and hope for growth. Also the snow troll scene was ridiculous IMO. Another example of the leadership/warrior/fanatic trope I was talking about.

Chris

[Big s]

53 minutes ago, Dobber said:

So I watched it. It wasn’t horrible. I rather like Elrond and the new Elf guy (I can’t remember his name) but Galadriel is just not likable at all. The scene between her and Elrond….I don’t know if it is the actress herself or just her acting choice, but did she ever have “crazy eyes” in that scene. If it was a deliberate choice then I don’t see how we are to support her. They are playing her as a fanatic and not a real leader. Not the Galadriel I have pictured. There are many types of strength all PEOPLE can have but only the warrior type is ever shown as valid. It’s tiresome and unfortunate that her character isn’t being used in a more unique and uplifting way. As it is I will still watch and hope for growth. Also the snow troll scene was ridiculous IMO. Another example of the leadership/warrior/fanatic trope I was talking about.

Chris

I really hate her character. I don’t know why she even was picked to lead. It seems  almost every one hates her. Ever since her little boat sank, she’s just been angry. In elf years that seems like a long time to torture her teammates.

Spoiler

What the hell. At the end of the first episode she gets all the way to another continent and then decided she would just swim back. She gets rescued in the next episode and is just mean to everyone. She’s just terrible to everyone. 
The other elf character is definitely more likable, although I think he should have got backup before jumping in the hole. But I do like his story line better so far. I think if the show was just about him and his lady friend and didn’t have the other stuff, this might have been a greater show. 
I did also like the dwarves, but don’t really care much for the hobo Jesus thing with the harfoots.

 

[technoblue]

Tolkien’s writing about the second age is mostly referential, limited to notes, appendices, and the short stories that were compiled into the Unfinished Tales.

But Tolkien also said that Galadriel was one of the mightiest and fairest of all elves left in middle earth at the end of the third age, so take that as you will.

I expected Amazon to take liberties with her second age characterization in their show. That said, for now my comments are nitpicks with one curious absense.

Spoiler

In the first episode, it is implied that she is well familiar with kinslaying (when the elves fought each other—there are three instances in Tolkien’s notes from the first age). However, she took no part in those battles. I’m not sure what her flashback memories are supposed to show us. Are these childhood memories?

She is also on her own. This is more accurate to her younger first age self. By the second age, she had already met Celeborn and had a fiefdom with him under the leadership of the high elf leader Gil-Galad whom we do meet. Later, Galadriel and Celeborn form a new elf region to the east. The two would later make contact with another elvish settlement in the valley of the Anduin that would become known as Lothlorien. So it is interesting that Celeborn isn’t with her at the start since this delays the timeline of Gil-Galad’s elf migrations.

Galadriel is invited to go back to the Grey Havens. But this creates another nitpick. The act of returning wasn’t a big deal in the second age. Ships were running from Middle Earth to Valinor and back again daily. Galadriel was offered a chance to go home to Valinor but declined because she wanted to stay, so that much is accurate. I’m not sure Tolkien would have made it as dramatic, though. I am curious to see how the writers will get these plot points to match up again.

Seeing Galadriel fight was fun but I also hope that we get to see growth in her character as she develops her other leadership skills. As this is early days, I’m not going to pan the show for giving us the warrior elf archetype in the beginning…yet…

 

Edited September 3, 2022 by technoblue

[Dobber]

4 hours ago, technoblue said:

Tolkien’s writing about the second age is mostly referential, limited to notes, appendices, and the short stories that were compiled into the Unfinished Tales.

But Tolkien also said that Galadriel was one of the mightiest and fairest of all elves left in middle earth at the end of the third age, so take that as you will.

I expected Amazon to take liberties with her second age characterization in their show. That said, for now my comments are nitpicks with one curious absense.

  Hide contents

In the first episode, it is implied that she is well familiar with kinslaying (when the elves fought each other—there are three instances in Tolkien’s notes from the first age). However, she took no part in those battles. I’m not sure what her flashback memories are supposed to show us. Are these childhood memories?

She is also on her own. This is more accurate to her younger first age self. By the second age, she had already met Celeborn and had a fiefdom with him under the leadership of the high elf leader Gil-Galad whom we do meet. Later, Galadriel and Celeborn form a new elf region to the east. The two would later make contact with another elvish settlement in the valley of the Anduin that would become known as Lothlorien. So it is interesting that Celeborn isn’t with her at the start since this delays the timeline of Gil-Galad’s elf migrations.

Galadriel is invited to go back to the Grey Havens. But this creates another nitpick. The act of returning wasn’t a big deal in the second age. Ships were running from Middle Earth to Valinor and back again daily. Galadriel was offered a chance to go home to Valinor but declined because she wanted to stay, so that much is accurate. I’m not sure Tolkien would have made it as dramatic, though. I am curious to see how the writers will get these plot points to match up again.

Seeing Galadriel fight was fun but I also hope that we get to see growth in her character as she develops her other leadership skills. As this is early days, I’m not going to pan the show for giving us the warrior elf archetype in the beginning…yet…

 

A fair assessment, though they are kind of showing her to be acting…I don’t know….like a hot headed youth when at this point shoe’s likely thousands of years old. She did refuse to go back to Valinor, like you said, but in “canon” it always seemed, to me, to be more out of ambition. That was one of the things about some of the high elves of the first and second ages…they weren’t exactly “Noble” and Galadriel was no exception. I know this is a different telling but that’s kind of the “crux” of the matter for many isn’t it. Seems like they could’ve told unknown stories in this time  period using what we DID/DO know of the characters instead of making up trope like motivations. Not bashing this or anything just an opinion. I’m still going to watch but I just hope it moves away from the Warrior Princess crap and can give us something different. 🤷🏻‍♂️
 

Chris

 

Edited September 3, 2022 by Dobber