The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power

[Anne Summers]

That was proper good. 

 

Spoiler

Are we assuming the wizard is Gandalf because of "follow your nose?" 

 

[scottcr]

6 minutes ago, Anne Summers said:

That was proper good. 

 

  Reveal hidden contents

Are we assuming the wizard is Gandalf because of "follow your nose?" 

 

well yes and

 

Spoiler

Gandalf was always considered as too close to the Hobbits. 
 

to use that quote and for him to not be Gandalf would be a bit cheap. 
 

also, Gandalf being in the second age makes sense when you consider how close he and Galadriel and Elrond were.

 

he also wears the ring of fire and must get it from Old Brimbo.

 

[Indy @ S.E.]

Well, that was an eye opener and no mistake, really good ending to the first season.

 

Favourite parts were

 

Spoiler

- The probably-Gandalf space tramp coming out with follow your nose

- The chat between Sauron and Galadriel where he almost uses word for word the speech she gives when looking in the fortune telling fountain in Fellowship of the Ring

 

Really tied everything together, any dates out there for Season 2?

[Thor]

That was fantastic. What a first season.

[ckny]

Spoiler

Thought Nori would never leave, jeez.

 

[BossSaru]

Yep, that'll do nicely.

[choddo]

7 hours ago, DualSense said:

Meh.  Felt the series only had one really great episode and the finale felt rushed.  It’s an odd feeling of spending too much time with some of characters but with not enough happening in that time.  It did tie things together but not well. Overall a disappointing experience but hopefully a good setup for the next season.

 

and the ending song over the credits…that was chronically bad.

I hope they didn’t pay for that song.

 

Did we already do “wtf was that powerpoint title thing at the end of ep7”? I saw them both today and I wanted the sofa to swallow me up when I saw that.

 

I thought that the ending was pretty weak but still enjoyed bits of ep8.

 

Spoiler

“I’m GOOD!” and that whole plotline of mystery witchards having irrelevant starcharts and getting whupped by pre-hobbits can do one, although I know it was a reference back to something Nori said.

 

Did not need tons of Harfoot goodbyes. Why doesn’t Poppy just go with them? Fuck all for her in the caravan.

 

Well what the fuck can you see captain?!

 

and “Numinor is in sight” was a bit insensitive.

 

[macosx]

That was top LoTR stuff. 

[Bazjam]

Great end to the season. So happy that this has turned out so good.

[makkuwata]

Satisfied with that.

 

The ring-verse set to music over the credits felt very silly.

[Alan Stock]

Mixed feelings on the last episode, here's some long general thoughts:

Spoiler

Went through a rollercoaster with the Sauron reveal. The very first thing they show in the 'Previously on' is with Galadriels brother, so I instantly thought, shit, they've already spoiled that it's him! So then in the pre-credits scene when they said the giant was Sauron I was both surprised and also really deflated - that was such a letdown to reveal it in an episode intro like that. I did hope it might be a ploy but honestly didn't have faith in the writers to do that. So I was happily surprised when we got the real reveals of Gandalf and Sauron.

 

Of course neither was much of a shock considering our theorising on here, some good sleuthing and speculation has been done. We were right about Gandalf arriving around this time and Halbrand had a bunch of red flags, props to whoever pointed to him wanting to kill the orc king as another bit of possible Sauron proof, you were right! I thought the Halbrand reveal was a bit stretched though, it seemed like a giant leap for Galadriel to assume he's Sauron just based on some words he said at the forge and the records. There's barely any other evidence for it aside from him saying he'd done evil in the past. Were those words Halbrand said to the elf guy heard earlier in the series? Regardless I did like his and Galadriel's little dream chats, although it was pretty lame that he just went pure evil when she said no to joining him. I thought a Sauron who geniunely wanted to make amends and heal the world would have been way better, they could have then shown how some conflict with Galadriel or other events pushed him back to evil. It was all pointing in that direction and then he just takes the heel turn, pity.

 

Some good effects in the Gandalf fight scene. I was quite suprised they killed off Lenny Henry simply because Gandalf didn't seem that arsed, I was sure he was going to heal Lenny. If he can control nature and make plants grow from dead, why can't he heal people? Seems a bit weird. The rest of the harfoots weren't that bothered either, but were instead bereft about Nori leaving. I totally agree this goodbye scene was pure torture. It's like the creators watched the 45 minute end of the Return of the King and thought, ooh, that was great watching all those people crying in the longest goodbye ever, lets have some of that! 

 

I'm also a bit confused on a plot point from last episode. Lenny Henry points Gandalf to the woods because he says there's someone like him there, but yet we didn't see any of that, and now him and Nori are off elsewhere. Also I didn't get the follow your nose reference to confirm he was Gandalf although it did sound a bit familiar so I'm guessing its in Fellowship of the Ring? The other evidence was pretty obvious though like the moth magic. 'I'm GOOD!' needs to be relegated to the cheese bin. At least there were no crowd mishaps this episode.

 

Its unfortunate we are continuing to follow the Numerians as I couldn't give two shits about their story or their island. Here's hoping next season they immediately return to Middle Earth to fight orcs. I do like the captain guy, and the queen getting blinded was a nice story beat but I'd much rather follow their exploits helping out the elves than their boring prophecy, architectural studentry and politics. 

 

Can someone give me a reminder on the rings that we are told about in the Hobbit/LOTR? I only really remember the basics from the LOTR film intro with various rings of power being given to men and of course the ring to bind them. Listening to the song at the end which I think is from the book, elves and dwarves also had them? And in LOTR film does it tell us who forged the rings?

 

Its a bit sad we don't get any Durin or elf badass (Arondir) continuation in this episode. Presumably in series 2 Durin will start rebelling against the king and start digging too deep, and elf badass and allies vs orc king will be one of the plot threads. I wonder if Sauron will return to the Southlanders and rally them back to his evil cause or if he's just going into the heart of Mordor to tackle the orc king.

 

So overall this episode was a bit of a letdown but nothing will beat the Mount Doom reveal episode. The reveals were decently done and satisfying enough, and enough threads have been nicely tied up for a season finale. As usual it looked great. I do hope they tone down the cheese in the next series, hopefully they will take some of the critical reception to heart.

 

It's been quite a good series, not without its faults but the show has a great world, visuals and sound. We have some good actors and characters in a plot which managed to create some fun mysteries. What's also nice is that although its a prequel, most casual Tolkien fans like me don't know much about what happens before the Hobbit or can't remember. And its set ages before so we don't know much about the characters and the fates of those outside the LOTR canon. Definitely think this has been worth the watch even if it does have problems.

[scottcr]

On the departure of 

 

Spoiler

Lenny Henry…

 

Gandalf has the power, but LH had decided it was time to go and Gandalf respected his wishes

 

[Sarlaccfood]

4 hours ago, Bazjam said:

Great end to the season. So happy that this has turned out so good.

Yeah same what a relief! It had some slower moments but that’s Tolkien all over really (It literally takes years for Frodo to leave the Shire in the books after all) and some clumsy lines but overall I really enjoyed it and loved that last Ep.

 

I even liked the song at the end!

 

 

[SpagMasterSwift]

It did start to get a bit silly with everything Galadriel 

Spoiler

does is actually helping her enemy, they went so hard into that I’m amazed she wasn’t suicidal after the reveal. But then I guess that gave her the motivation to get her own ring of power. Loved the way the rings corrupting influence is shown right out the gate with Elrond letting the scroll slip from his grasp. 

Couple of really good episodes this season, looking forward to the next.

[Padster]

Anyone else notice this?

 

[Unofficial Who]

From such a slow start this turned out to be brilliant. On finishing and finding out who Sauron was (wife and I picked it out maybe minutes before the reveal but by then the clues were there) we went back and checked out some parts from the earlier episodes where in retrospect they pretty much brazenly state who Sauron is. I suspect a re-watch is going to be pretty rewarding.

 

Spoilers obv. Don't read unless you've finished the last ep.

 

Spoiler

The end of episode 6 is full of hints.

 

Adar says when questioned by Galadriel that he killed Sauron.

 

Minutes earlier during the horse chase when Halbrand almost runs Adar through with his spear he's hissing at Adar "Remember me?"

 

When Halbrand pauses while leaving the barn Adar asks "Who are you?"

 

[Unofficial Who]

The only plot hole that really bothered myself and my partner.

 

[scottcr]

Spoiler

The wee talk that Gandalf and Nori  had about adventures was 100% pure Tolkein. Wonderful. 

 

[Darren]

We’ll that was about as good as we could have hoped. The eventual reveal of you know who was masterfully done. Both of them, in fact.

 

When’s the next series on?

[scottcr]

I read Smith of Wooton Major on a flight this weekend and Tolkein’s essay on it.  I’m absolutely consumed by how this season ended up.

 

I’ve got precisely zero time for lore gate keepers, they completely fucking nailed it

[Stanley]

That was pretty marvellous, absolutely flew by for me that episode and totally came through. 

[Benny]

I just started watching this, despite myself.

 

Spoiler

Wasn't really feeling it with the prescription "badass" bit with Galadriel and the Snow Troll, but as soon as I saw the filthy, grizzled old hunters grouching up the landscape in their furs and giant moose antler backpacks I was sold

 

[scottcr]

2 minutes ago, Benny said:

I just started watching this, despite myself.

 

  Hide contents

Wasn't really feeling it with the prescription "badass" bit with Galadriel and the Snow Troll, but as soon as I saw the filthy, grizzled old hunters grouching up the landscape in their furs and giant moose antler backpacks I was sold

 

I’m actually envious you can binge this now 

[Thor]

5 minutes ago, scottcr said:

I’m actually envious you can binge this now 

Snap, I'm already considering a re-watch. It's so good!

[Benny]

I'm digging this. It's fucking gorgeous. They've got the cadence of the dialogue down well so it "feels" right. And the lands of men are fucking disgusting with grotty taverns with meat hanging up everywhere and horrible looking patrons. Excellent.

[Benny]

Okay I'm in. I don't really remember much about The Silmarillion, so it's probably going to help that I don't have much of a frame of reference for whatever mystery it's going to introduce, but I enjoyed that.

[Benny]

Wow that opening sequence in the second episode with what I'm going to assume is a

 

Spoiler

Wizard. Well, or whatever they're called. Ainur? I forget. Anyway, it gave me goosebumps. The terror on both of their faces and the power being manipulated in the crater was a really impressive and emotional sequence.

 

[Benny]

Spoiler

The Harfoot girl's speech about helping the stranger just because it's the right thing to do has really got me emotionally for some reason. Something about her delivery I dunno. Sorry I've been chopping onions today, shut up.

 

[Stanley]

Glad you are enjoying it @Benny 

[Benny]

Spoiler

Seeing Elrond getting on with Durin's family and their friendship is obviously tinged with a lot of sadness when you know Durin's future. There's an undercurrent of sadness in all of it of course, but it's definitely playing with that well in being a hopeful story anyway.