Rings of Power S2 E8 | Our Hopes Were Like Celebrimbor... Didn't Stand a Chance

[@Gutgulper]

Arondir is looking good for a guy that just got stabbed twice

[@deanzaZZR]

Galadriel's magic healing ring? Maybe not as Galadriel is conked out too. 🤔

[@Patrick-it8nk]

He got the res in time, so he's back up to like 20% lol

[@juliemarie612]

That's what I said! I saw him fighting and was like, "oh....oh okay damn. We're not gonna even mention who stitched him up and gave him a new pair of non bloody but slightly battle-worn skirmish gear? Well, shit. Moving on...." lmao

[@Didymus20X6]

He slept 8 hours. That works in RPGs, so it must work in real life, right? Kind of like how people can take multiple lightsabers to the guts in Star Wars and just walk it off in the next scene.

[@oliclay1348]

The only armour better than mithril is plot armour

[@Mr.PepeSilvia]

Sauron got called "the Lord of the rings" and then he cried lol true story

[@purefoldnz3070]

next season someone will say "So you really are the Rings of Power! I shall found the ancient kingdom of Bezos in the lands Amazon."

[@AkiTerry]

​@@purefoldnz3070Don't. Give. Them. Ideas. Dammit. 😂

[@ernestcampbell9319]

He very emo.

[@squashedeyeball]

I didn't bother hearing a thing of season 2, up until I read this comment. I question is, "huh"? Really? ... Really? That was in this episode? Have they lost their minds? Is Amazon too insanely rich to care?

[@Mr.PepeSilvia]

@@squashedeyeball yes really really

[@patrickb1303]

The famous spear of Gil-Galad that he sometimes brings and sometimes doesn’t

[@johns1625]

Against the spear Aeglos, none could stand, nor locate, nor remember where it was last placed 😂

[@judgecohen1373]

Aeglos is never later, nor is it early, but arrives precisely when it means to. Dumpster. Fire.

[@NiranjanNanda]

The way Amazon has treated him, it’s sure he’s poor..so might have been renting his spear every now and then to make a living 😂😂

[@JackChurchill101]

Arondir stabbed twice, collapsed on the ground, - totally fine next scene. Gil Galad fighting 1000 Orcs almost single handed, - totally fine next scene. Galadriel impailed and then yeets herself off a half-mile cliff, - totally fine next scene. Even a casual audience is surely meant to say now "why should I care about anything that happens to these characters, they're always Just Fine".?

[@Faktor13]

To be fair, Galadriel survived the 1000 degree hot dust cloud from a volcano and not even her hair gets stinched.

[@Didymus20X6]

He slept 8 hours. That restored all his Hit Points. That's how it works in RPG games, so that must be how it works in real life.

[@fleischer236]

I liked it

[@wintersnoob]

I was "wtf" for the whole episode when everyone is getting stabbed many times and in the next scene they're just fine without any injury. And Adar was stabbed 300x times by the orcs and he's still talking... then the one orc comes for a final stab and he's dead.

[@skillZ141]

Bro it's luck did u forget everyone's so lucky in this show

[@johns1625]

I hate how they just do things that aren't even actually possible. Arondir was assumed mortally wounded and surrounded by enemies. Left for dead. Now he's fine and they are comfortable just doing whatever they want. They think they can have their noble sacrifice death scenes and keep the character afterward.

[@HughWP6683]

It's just a pile of sh!t and a insult to Tolkien story telling

[@VespoLiveGaming]

Arondir? He died, woke up in the Halls of Mandos in Valinor, picked up new armor and gear that looks exactly like his old gear, hopped on a ship, sailed to the grey havens, found a swift horse, and galloped back to Eregion, snuck through Orc battle lines, laid down where he originally fell after disposing of his old dead body and had time to take a short nap between the end of episode 7 and his appearance in episode 8. Totally plausible.

[@cholst1]

Gandalf force pushing an entire mountain in the air to save hobbits, check - Sauron not able to force hold Galadriel from falling - Check.. Whats the power scaling in this show even?

[@Herbert_Eder]

Gandalf had watched the Star Wars movies and learned from Rey how to lift mountains, Sauron didn't watch and therefore didn't know?

[@radagast7200]

I applaud you for entering the land of fires where I dare not tread. Your harrowing tales are more than enough adventure for me.

[@paulbrickler]

Yoystan watches so we don't have to. He fights for us.

[@ZoeMaiteZuazquita]

Qq

[@MrDe4dGuy34]

So the balrog woke up for five minutes, killed Durin III, and did what exactly? Went back to sleep after the tunnel collapsed? Does that mean the dwarves returned to that tunnel to dig after what happened to Durin III? That’s incredibly dumb. The dwarves didn’t even mention the balrog when discussing their upcoming struggles. Apparently Durin’s brother is a more pressing threat than the fire demon wandering the caves.

[@77mpickett]

For real the elves had been hunting sauron your not gonna mention another servant of morgoth still exist in our mountain

[@jennyhacking1289]

It just felt like they wanted to have a cool moment and thought well everyone likes the Balrog without including it in a way that was earned or felt fitting to the story.

[@Faktor13]

They have no more money for the Balrog, so he is no more danger?

[@dinmavric5504]

Let him sleep. Can't even take a breath without some greedy Dwarf dropping rocks on you.

[@Alixo_Gamerr]

Hay man, didnt you heard Disa how many dept they have. Do you think that some ancient mega monster who live underneath their monuntain and kill the king is more important than this.

[@drewboogie2849]

Grand Elf and Sour man 😂

[@Mnnwer]

😂

[@CommunityFan]

I was saying "Sorry man" like Saruman was gonna have this full KZbin apology and it gets turned into Saruman from Sorry man lmao

[@JT_O4]

Why would the guy who never had seen an elf call a human looking being a Grand Elf? Pure drivel

[@Arnorian3320]

"Grand Elf" is a crime against humanity.

[@77mpickett]

They just know about elves?

[@Faktor13]

Believe me, I watche the show in german and they not even try to make it sense.

[@acrustykrab]

It's like a child learning a name. Why does RoP writers treat viewers like they are regarded babies? Grand Elf = Gandalf Sorry Ron = Sauron

[@redmo11]

Maybe this is nitpicky, but the first A in Gandalf is not pronounced like 'Grand', more like the vowel in 'fun'. As we all know Tolkien as a linguist was super particular about pronounciation.

[@Texx180]

@@acrustykrab Sour man = Saruman!

[@TheJmlew11]

Arondir walking around with no damage after being stabbed in the gut and left for dead on the battlefield: “The story of my death was…. Greatly exaggerated.”

[@Didymus20X6]

He slept 8 hours. That's how it works in RPG games, so that's how it works in real life, right?

[@DonBakke]

Must have been stabbed by a light saber. Nobody dies by those stab wounds anymore.

[@miratodc]

They probably just forgot about that lol. there is so much plots that contractics each other from last season to this one.

[@csnow414]

Maybe he had a mithril coat. :D

[@eaglefangkaratedojo7473]

Remember the Blue Wizards? Neither does Amazon

[@Didymus20X6]

The same with Celeborn and Celebrian.

[@Makkaru112]

@@Didymus20X6they totally scrapped the epic friendship of Narvi and Celebrimbor too. This show is totally bunk. Full of skullduggery and laundering.

[@blaxpoitation8528]

@Makkaru112 Yup, they completely messed up Celebrimbor in this show. Portraying him as this meek, buffoonish, geriatric, fool. Instead of an immortal, powerful elven craftsman. And giving the elven/dwarven friendship by giving it to Elrond & Durin instead of Celebrimbor and Narvi, is just another sign of disrespect from the show runners.

[@deanzaZZR]

Unique opportunity to explore unknown lore avoided. No surprise with these overpaid, lame show runners.

[@pinkace]

Amazon was not allowed to even mention them.

[@bobthebuilder2381]

Correct me if i'm wrong but the stranger's search for his name should've surely ended with him finding out his actual name and not "Gandalf" which is the name the Men of middle earth give him. It should have been his actual original name that was given to him by God, his istari name, not Gandalf which he later gets known by. Thats like Smeagol introducing himself as Gollum when he was still a hobbit....

[@istari0]

You are correct. But they wanted references to names from the movies so Olorin wouldn't fly.

[@acrustykrab]

They seem to be writing for the lowest common denominator viewer here. Like the dumbest of the dumb. They don't expect viewers to be bright or knowledgable of the lore enough to handle Olorin as a name.

[@VespoLiveGaming]

So when he meets the elves does he discover that his real name is now Mithrandir?

[@lucaraiti6780]

The very concept of the search for a name is quite stupid. In Middle Earth everything and everyone has at least 3 or 4

[@theconstitarian]

I thought this was the worst episode of the series. Pretty early on I gave up on this being a LotR show, and just try to enjoy it as a standalone fantasy series. But it failed miserably from that perspective too. The "the door is closed" and "heal yourself" lines were awful, as were Galadiriel's incredibly telegraphed slow-mo cliff jump while Sauron watched on like an idiot. The Balrog (which admittedly looked incredible) and Dark Wizard just popping in for a 10 second show of power before wandering off was bizarre. The dwarves stealthing into Ost-in-Edhil to completely surround the orcs, then apparently it offscreen becoming a pitched battle. The fact that 3 episodes into this battle I have no idea if any of the orcish, elven, or dwarven army have 10s of fighters, 100s, 1000s, or 10000s. The sea trial in Numenor being completely undone by Ar-Pharazôn seemingly just writing "she cheated" on a piece of paper and the entire country believing him. And the Stranger making the bizarre jump from being called Grand Elf to "they're going to call me Gandalf, aren't they?" And perhaps the worse, Arondir just being completely fine after being killed onscreen last episode. At least Galadriel had the decency to look hurt after her stabbing. The show is so inconsistent where in some points it is doing things that make no sense other than to set up things we know about the movies (e.g., Gandalf's name), and in so many other places doing things that are wildly inconsistent with the movies (e.g., Saruman already being evil and revealing himself as evil to Gandalf).

[@parhwy]

The one saving grace of this show is that Tolkein is spinning so fast in his grave that it'll fix global warming by providing limitless clean energy.

[@AkiTerry]

Dude powered the UK after Season 1, & now Europe with season 2 already. 😂

[@stephanl2409]

😂😂😂

[@gandalf8216]

Nah, you're giving them too much credit. You thinking they are ruining Tolkien is what ruins Tolkien, not that they do dumb fan fiction. Fans ultimately decide the canon of things. I watch this show for a good laugh, it's ridiculous what they are doing. The moment you consider it an insult to Tolkien, is the moment you're giving them too much credit.

[@Whiskey0880]

There is no warming lol!

[@Dsil25]

You are as woke as the directors with your climate change bs

[@jeremiahjudeestaniel5917]

Really disappointed with what they did with Morgoth's Crown, basically making it a McGuffin 😑

[@theemissary1313]

I won't watch after the abomination of the first season, but Morgoth's crown? As in the crown of Morgoth? Morgoth who was reckoned as a tower compared to Fingolfin? That guy? And the crown from that head was held in one hand by a human sized mortal?

[@wintersnoob]

@@theemissary1313 To be fair, even to the travesty that is this show, they explained that Sauron repurposed Morgoth's crown to fit his size. But then again, why does Sauron need Morgoth's crown?

[@lucaraiti6780]

​@@theemissary1313yeah the very crown that should be now a collar holding Morgoth beyond the Gate of the Night. They broke canon to bring inti the story and did nothing with it.

[@jennyhacking1289]

All that glitters is not gold, and ROP is the epitome of this, its visually beautiful, but is still weak when it comes to writing, developing characters, or completing story arcs with moments that are earned. They also relied on too many callbacks and references, that felt shoe horned in rather than inserted them because it makes sense to the overall story.

[@danielandersen9644]

The supposed "beauty" is not even skin deep. If you look at a scene with even a slightly critical eye, all the sets and costumes start looking cheaper and cheaper. There is no depth to anything, it's all just cheap crap with a thin coat of paint.

[@CatastrophicDisease]

It's not even that visually beautiful.

[@gree4776]

Fun fact: Sauron's name when Morgoth was still around is actually Ron. Morgoth caught him sneaking cookies one night, and said, "Saw you Ron". Then Ron went, "Saw you Ron, saw u Ron, sau Ron, SAURON!!"

[@Faktor13]

True story!

[@acrustykrab]

Wow that's very deep origin story! Amazing! - RoP writers

[@willard39]

I thought it was just "sour moron" shortened to Sauron.

[@SpiritKitten]

Where was Celeborn in this whole series?

[@zarthur2752]

Ronald McDonald

[@ringbearer1420]

The amazing thing is; Amazon paid for the rights to adapt material that they didn’t even bother to adapt.

[@lotuschamp7796]

The fools at Amazon appears to believe that rolling the R's will make anything high art

[@Mystic_Christopher]

Galadriels line "Heal Yourself" to Sauron as she fell made me 😅

[@Lothiril]

Right?? That was such a bad comeback, and it doesn't really mean anything.

[@stevie-con67]

Surf’s up!

[@Mystic_Christopher]

@@teapavic4832 😂😂

[@acrustykrab]

This episode was funny as hell

[@rileycord1248]

RIP Adar, you were the best character in this absolute travesty of a show, Namárië.

[@purefoldnz3070]

Yes! The only interesting character and actor.

[@sandy-jn5rd]

yeah, glad they showed his pretty elf face, even if he looked badass handsome as is

[@sandy-jn5rd]

I also liked s1 Adar, his eyes glinted correctly. s2 Adar his voice.

[@AkiTerry]

He was one of the very few I rooted for. 😢 Now I'm stuck with Durin (minus Disa obviously), & Isildur's horse. So in the finale Durin better rides into the sunset on Berek 😂

[@creatrixZBD]

@@AkiTerrythis please this

[@jakeager2955]

I loved when Gandalf used the force. As my brother said “the crossover we knew we didn’t need”🤣

[@AkiTerry]

And didn't deserve 😂

[@acrustykrab]

It really was the most unimaginative use of magic I've seen, way too similar to cheesy and redone Star Wars force scenes. Sorta like the force pushing between Saruman and Gandalf in Two Towers, but that was more lenient bc it was a direct Istari duel. How else would they fight in a tower. Middle Earth magic, at its best, is not supposed to be like the force, nor is it like Harry Potter. It's more about speaking to and convincing the natural environment around you to do some bidding. The best example is probably the Saruman and Gandalf duel of words of power when the Fellowship tries to cross the Pass of Caradhras, that snow mountain.

[@qcop4921]

Alot of casualties among the 15 elves defending the city could have been remedied had Elrond remembered what the ring he carried could do...

[@sandy-jn5rd]

and for all his drama not wanting the rings, he wore it so long! she’d recover faster if she had it on. The makers just wanted that icky scene where he slips the ring on her like it’s their goddam wedding day 🥴

[@comicfan8713]

I am just pretending this is a different universe like the multiverse of the mcu to make you feel better Yoystan lol

[@JackChurchill101]

Maybe they'll drop a line at the end of season 5 about how Nori is going to write it all down for the Hobbiton library, but she's distracted and then will make lots of mistakes and continuity errors... It's Bilbo and Frodo's version of the history that was wrong, you see!

[@sparkycjs]

It fails even on its own merits

[@Faktor13]

A universe, where consistency and logic does not exist...sadly

[@Emanon...]

The absolute worst of the worst for me was Arondir. He got the "slow-mo angelic music" death scene, was at the very least heavily wounded by Adar, but we're emotionally driven to think he's dead... And in the next episode, not even a goddamn acknowledgement that he's completely and utterly fine. Did they even watch their own episodes?

[@CM87NUFC]

I liked the introduction of Tom Bombadil. However I lost it at his “the wand chooses the wizard” moment. Also hilarious how we all knew that was Gandalf since he arrived in the show yet Amazon really went “surprise!!!! He’s Gandalf!!!”

[@AmsterdamHeavy]

Grand Elf! 🤮

[@sandy-jn5rd]

ofc they had to rip something from Harry Potter, not just Venom

[@Faktor13]

Tom Bombadill citing Harry Potter is really strange

[@acrustykrab]

They really have no understanding of Middle Earth magic, it just has to be like Harry Potter or Star Wars to them. LMAO

[@TheBrotherdarkness9]

Bombadil is the ancestor of the Ollivanders. Didnt you know, you pleb?

[@Faktor13]

Glad that King Durin killed the Balrog off screen, so that all dwarves can live safe in their mountain. Glas that the Balrog is dead, so dead no one has to look. Also love that Eregion has the size of manhatten but Galadriel managed to save 6 elfs through a tunnel none of the immortal 1000 year old elfs in Eregion knows. ARGHHH

[@sandy-jn5rd]

THEN the orcs knew exactly where the secret tunnel ends

[@wintersnoob]

@@sandy-jn5rd Better, if the orcs knew this tunnel, why a whole episode to breach the walls? lol, it's so dumb.

[@sandy-jn5rd]

@@wintersnoob 😆

[@Alixo_Gamerr]

Adar and Sauron left the battle below and also went there for... Clean air I think.

[@sandy-jn5rd]

@@Alixo_Gamerr 😂

[@cmosser144]

Maybe the collapsed tunnel acted like a weighted blanket for the Balrog and that’s why he went back to sleep for thousands of years?

[@myinnerhobbit]

😂

[@mervzillan7070]

😂😂

[@shadowofchaos8932]

My condolences for having to watch this season. Thanks for the torture and honesty!

[@redrobin8544]

The more I look at the reviews, comments and different angles of criticism about the show I am starting to believe that the writers were first introduced to Tolkien's world via video game. Characters in this show have all features of RPG tunes where you can just eat to full health, get dispelled by a healer and get magical items by looting some random chest or by flipping a corpse.

[@maxwell_j_R]

I think Grand ALF was the showrunners or Amazon execs wanting a "Hold the door"/Hodor moment. But of course they didn't earn it. They don't even understand what it means to "earn" a moment like that.

[@JackChurchill101]

How did he get "Gandalf" from "Grand Elf"? Wouldn't he say "Grandelf, that's what they call me"? Or has he read the script?

[@MDK384]

@@JackChurchill101 yea that didn't really make sense

[@myinnerhobbit]

I groaned so hard when I realized what they were doing with the “Grand Elf.” 🫣

[@troyelam8978]

I thought they would at least show a beautiful scene of the dwarf army marching in. Nothing! All we got was a horn blowing, and two or three dwarves running around!😢

[@chriskoschik391]

Film production has a lot more to do with lining the pockets of the very few these days, rather than actual production value.

[@sandy-jn5rd]

47:58 he didn’t need mind control, could’ve pried it off her fingers when she fainted on the ground. BUT he waited for her to recover and ask politely. 😂 ok then

[@muRDoch56]

My biggest issue with the show is the Gandalf storyline, which obviously shouldn’t have been Gandalf They really nailed Sauron though. The actor who plays him does an amazing job. Could’ve cut the whole hobbit plot and just dedicated more time to him/Celebrimbor

[@dinmavric5504]

Yes... they really nailed Sauron. He fights in his fair form for some reason. Cause they have no money, they spent it all on the bullshit sidequests like the Balrog scene.

[@skrskr9000]

Bruh the whole hobbit story sucks

[@smashbash123]

Grandelf will never be Gandalf.

[@Makkaru112]

Indeed. But Gandalf means Staff Elf in Èothèod language. ❤

[@APultz]

Absolute garbage. Tolkien would be rolling in his grave…

[@jakubmateju3092]

I've said the absolute same thing mid season 1

[@warheit13]

Nah. He would be rolling in cash. Lol

[@blazer2123]

Have you been reading the seismometers as of late. At this point Wolvercote is a veritable atomic dynamo. If anyone opens that grave, the release of all that energy will have Tolkien reenacting the scene at Messines on old Oxford town.

[@limitless1919]

Spinning

[@APultz]

An utterly soulless storyline, pathetic portrayals of the wonderful middle-earth peoples Tolkien spent his life creating, cast felt like it consisted of 25 actors, cheap costumes/ sets and second rate CGI - need I go on?

[@pbfamous07]

Your reviews are perfect balance of lore, but also warranted criticism of ridiculous logic. fast tracking every plot line. destroying our beautiful tolkien world. and other shit. nerdoftherings also epic lore. but doesn't tear enough shreds of this shamozzle.

[@Makkaru112]

Remember. He flopped back and forth with that term used by bribed folks. “Cautiously optimistic”

[@kapilsharmaWorld_uncensored]

Nerd is directly paid by Amazon to remain passive.

[@hugomouro5909]

great wok guys. Your knowledge and love of Tolkien gave you a unique perspective in the mountain of hate reviews nad made your reviews so much better than most. See you Sunday!

[@Vader31100]

Did anyone else notice , the elves and orcs were dying after being shot in the shoulder and no were else..

[@mercianthane2503]

Sauron and Celebrimbor: Damn, our backs kinda hurt because we carried this whole bloody show!

[@BaoNguyen-bh2rk]

31:35 Of the Numenoreans had no love for the Elves. They were there to take their jerbs.

[@nyr14]

I just don’t understand how, even with their twisted view of Tolkien, they can’t properly plan out a billion dollar tv show. The countless plot holes I don’t care to name, inconsistent powers and hierarchy of characters, and a theme to the story I commission literally anybody to find for me. This show isn’t worth the pretty pictures it boasts about.

[@Didymus20X6]

The impression I'm getting is: 1. The writers (the Jar-Jar Twins) neither know the lore, nor care about it. and 2. Even apart from the lore, the writing, direction, structure, are just incompetent. Glad I'm no longer doing any business with Amazon.

[@shotgunsandstakes]

exactly! i tried watching past episode FOUR of season 1 just pretending it had nothing to do with lotr, pretending it was a random fantasy show, and it STILL didn't make sense

[@saabjorn6582]

They had one shot to make both wizards blue. Now they have written themselves into a corner to explain why gandalf considers saruman to be a friend.

[@istari0]

You were right last year when you called RoP a corruption of Tolkien and that has continued into this season and will undoubtedly continue into the remaining seasons. I wonder how bad the ratings would have to get for Amazon to cancel the show. But watching this review brought a smile to my face quite often and even a few chuckles. Thanks! Hope I can make it on Sunday.

[@Venya-ws2re]

On top of the awful writing ... everything is overexplained. The ridiculous attempts to perfectly parallel LOTR (Poppy/Nori vs. Sam/Frodo, Old Man Willow vs. Old Man ... Desert Tree). Origin story of Gandalf, origin story of mithril, origin story of the Shire, origin story of Mordor, etc., etc. At this point, I'm expecting the "dark wizard" to be the origin story of Saruman, and Arondir to be the origin story of the Mirkwood Elves.

[@Makkaru112]

The reveal of halbrand being Sauron when everyone knew since episode one of season one… was so weird 😅😂

[@AkiTerry]

​@@Makkaru112it was wild 😂

[@JackChurchill101]

"I've been driven mad with greed, all I see is the veins of mythril, oh no, a 50ft fire monster, I better fight it single handed. Here son, I'm definitely doomed to lose this fight, so you take my ring. Hopefully this fight will cause a cave in and save you"... Did anyone else have trouble following King Durin's logic?

[@anarionelendili8961]

Well, I think it was established that the rings do corrupt their wearers pretty quick, and they become very eager to 'save' the rings. So it could be more of the same as with Galadriel. However, that cuts Durin III's redemption arc, when it is not his choice. And if it is his choice, why would he saddle his son with it? Maybe to keep its power from Balrog, which does make some sort of sense. However, are dwarves made of explosives now, given how Durin III detonated when hit?

[@JackChurchill101]

So he takes off the ring, because he wants to save it for his son, - but then, why not just get up and run. It's only five meters to safety?

[@anarionelendili8961]

@@JackChurchill101 Because then the Balrog would follow. But since Durin III knows he is made of explodium, he sacrifices himself to cause the explosion to seal the shaft. It is still stupid, I admit. :)

[@Faktor13]

Random, a youtuber said, there is a difference between mentally ill end batshit bonkers. Durin the thirs falls under the bonkers category

[@dinmavric5504]

@@anarionelendili8961 Rings do not corrupt Dwarves as much as they make them more greedy and powerful.

[@euskuplu]

Hi Yoystan, i think I finally get the showrunners' point of view in the moments like Narsil scene after I listened their recent interview. There were no caption in the video, so I'll try my best to quote their saying: "We benefit from this incredible man life's work. It is unbelievable active imagination in creating a universe. We feel like we have a bag of Santa next to us with no bottom, and we think like 'Oo Miriel and elendil are talking, he's going to west, he's supposed to be a king, and he's about to find who really is, everything else is gone. What in this scene should change things and put him on that, and we're like "we have Narsil in the bag" and it makes perfect sense because it's the moment Miriel really trusts Elendil and he proved his values that both believe..." And they also mentioned, as a fun info (!), about the similarity between Narsil and aNARion and iSILdur. And I've checked this and there is no such intended connection between Elendil's sons' names and Narsil. So this interview was enough for me to understand that they used Tolkien only as a decorative tool while writing the story and that their writing was very shallow.

[@TheGuyCalledX]

Exactly. They don't have the rights to the source material beyond the appendices and some stuff the Estate let them use from the Silmarillion. They only have plot points they need to move in between, and rather than develop the stakes through writing and character development, they just go, hey, let's recycle this idea/ prop/ important thing from LOTR and use that to advance the plot instead. It's why everything is so incredibly contrived

[@euskuplu]

@@TheGuyCalledX Yes, but it seems they have partially the rights from Silmarillion, especially the names, e.g. Annatar, in this season. And this explains something similar, they don't need Tolkien's story. They are not motivated to tell Tolkien's story, as long as they can use the names, places, and points that work for them.

[@sandy-jn5rd]

50:10 exactly. She jumps off like nothing, and the camera pans to Sauron who looks down with DREAD. Seriously??? 😂 for a moment he looked like Joey in Friends thinking, nah-uh not jumping even if I want that ring.

[@ManishHBelani]

Remember the dwarves showed up to save the elves? Did you see any dwarf army at all?!?

[@ryankwon8785]

I only watched Season 2 because of Charlie Vickers as Sauron. His dedication to the role of playing Sauron (Annatar) is astonishing.

[@TheGuyCalledX]

Vickers is a great actor. He made the show somewhat watchable. This script though. The plot literally makes no sense. I would say I've never seen this much contrived BS before, but I did watch GoT S8, so it would be a lie

[@jdraze9321]

Thank you for not selling out like Nerd of the Rings did, that guy has gone full Grima Wormtongue

[@AkiTerry]

😂

[@dinmavric5504]

But my master, there is no such army... you would need thousands.

[@MDK384]

he was criticizing the show pretty strongly during his watch party last night for mostly the same reasons as yoystan. i had the same impression, but he was pretty honest with his assessments

[@acrustykrab]

Trust me NoTR criticizes the show all the time lmao. He even hearts comments making fun of the show and the dumb things that happen in it. He's been level-headed about it.

[@jdraze9321]

I’m sorry but whoever is defending Nerd of the Weenies has not seen his last review of S2 E8, please go do that and then tell me where exactly he’s being critical. I’ll wait. Because any true Tolkien fan should be beside themselves with wroth upon such a desecration of the lore of the Silmarillion as well as even thinking it remotely okay to apply such bad story telling to such a legendary work.

[@captaindc3889]

Imagine if Rings of Power had separate seasons dedicated to the different races in anthology stories: S1: Elves S2: Dwarves S3: Numenor/Men S4: Sauron/East S5: Last Alliance

[@derrickhighley3762]

That would have made more sense. But... its amazon

[@glennross85]

Its easy if you try.

[@Max1990Power]

Yes that was what I thought as well.

[@dinmavric5504]

Why would you make a whole season about Dwarves? That's just stupid. You can wrap it up with two seasons. It's called Rings of Power.

[@Dilmahkana]

Totally agree! Have characters pop in and out of storylines as appropriate. This would make it feel like a interconnected world. Each story line (Numenor, Elves Dwarves) theoretically have enough for a season but the pacing between the story lines aren't in parallel so it doesn't work when combined.

[@anarionelendili8961]

Costuming: Well, if you take armor into account, it is pretty bad. You can see it is made from plastic or something, like Narvi's helmet, bending as people move. Some of the horse armor was pretending to look like plates, but moved like cloth. And there is the infamous Elendil's bendy knife.

[@klas-666]

In the words of great Ryan George from two years back, "Obviously being Gandalf is TIGHT!" That's all I could think of when I heard "Grand-elf". When not gagging, I mean.

[@deanzaZZR]

To think you guys thought so highly of episode 5. You boys obviously fell into the Anatar/Sauron mind deception mode for a week. 😆

[@kreestuh4367]

Costumes are a massive weak point in this series imo- Season 2 has been an improvement in some cases (LESS polyester! Yay!) but they really seem to struggle with fit, imo. I'm not sure if every tailor died in the drowning of Beleriand in the show's continuity, but the weird obsession with shapeless sacks belted at the waist is SO overdone at this point. Give me another silhouette, please! And maybe grab a couple new costumes for poor Durin and Disa too- where are the jeweled belts , silver tassels and colorful dyed hoods we hear about in the Hobbit? And as a final insult: no yellow boots either for old Tom either?! D:

[@nickbangr]

100% believe they were implying that Adar was Mhaedros. The missing hand, the burned face (from falling into the fire with Silmaril), the Feanor-esque appearance.

[@Andy__A]

Like Of Elves & Droids channel has pointed out, "a world a mile wide and an inch deep". Also mostly populated with a handful of creatures at any given territory, with seemingly alternative logic, jedi wizards and Darth Sauron controlling elves and orcs even without the Ring. Would be called badly written even if it were a standalone show, and that is not even mentioning corruption of the original ideas

[@Hoenir]

How did Durin save the Dwarf Ring if the ring was near the edge where the Balrog was ?

[@wintersnoob]

He didn't. At the end, you can see only 6 rings in the altar.

[@Hoenir]

@@wintersnoob The big one with the blue stone was in the middle

[@charliedulin]

His wife grabbed it before dragging him away from the Balrog. She clearly covets their social and political status/power more than he does

[@anarionelendili8961]

Re: Galadriel's fall. I distinctly recall her hitting one of those tall trees coming down, so I imagined that she ping-ponged down the branches, slowing her fall. Given that Elves are supposed to be quite tough, I could accept that she survived it, but she should be bruised all the hell and likely a bunch of broken bones, too.

[@dinmavric5504]

Where in the world do you think falling from a cliff, on branches breaks the fall? You'd be impaled going at that speed... "Elves are quite tough" no they aren't.

[@Didymus20X6]

She could do like Orandir and just sleep 8 hours and get all her HP back.

[@anarionelendili8961]

@@Didymus20X6 long rest for the win.

[@briefcandle]

Here's what people who hate on the haters of this show don't understand: I so badly wanted to love it. We're all here because we love this world Tolkien created, but it's just so, so bad. It's no fault of the actors, set designers, set dressers, etc. The writers are the one's to blame. Even if they only had the appendices to go on, it's MORE than enough to have given us a really marvelous experience. Instead, we got "Grand-elf". I quite literally just rubbed my temples and shook my head at that moment. Regardless of whether or not there's a third season, my "journey" with this show ends here. I just can't.

[@thehoneybunempress1664]

And to think i was willing to give this show a 2nd chance to see improvements. Oh, what a fool I was.

[@matthewmalagari2465]

I’m convinced there is a special circle of hell reserved for some of the writers of Rings of Power. Episode 7 and 8 were by far the worst episodes of this season for me

[@pipocaacida5310]

Can anyone explain to me why so many orcs died to invade the city if they knew of the same secret passage that Galadriel used to enter, since they were waiting for her at the exit?

[@qswaefrdthzg]

The Grand > Gand just breaks every linguists heart...

[@sandy-jn5rd]

38:37 😂 also weird that Hagan suddenly besties with Theo, calling him “the son of Bronwyn” like he knew her. Remember that Hagan stole Berek and called Theo “the well fed one”

[@Venture1977]

These have been so hilarious lol I’ve gotten more enjoyment out of these reviews than anything that was in both seasons of the actual show haha the only reason I wish there was a few more episodes is so that y’all would have a few more to review lol

[@maxwell_j_R]

57:30 maybe they'll exit for one or two seasons, but you know the Harfoots will be back to establish Hobbiton. Everything's backstory needs to be explained.

[@brendonmartin246]

I joined Prime just to watch the first. But I had more drama getting unsubscribed than the show. Glad to hear I didn't miss a thing.

[@sandy-jn5rd]

42:45 😂 the comedy really and it looks to me Sauron wasn’t crying for Celebrimbor. He was flattered silly when he called him Lord of the Rings.

[@ericgibbs7692]

Seems like they are going Marvel with the lore. Gandalf can throw stones and rip trees with his mind I guess. And Elrond and Galadriel both jump off cliffs and survive.?! They went all in on the Elves are immortal. Morgoth's crown would be cool except we all know what happened. the show missed the symbolism of taking his crown and beating it into a collar to hold him. Unless they are going to say one day that Adar is Morgoth!! Which is of course Ridiculous.

[@thefrozenone417]

That final scene with the marvel music….. Elves……ASSEMBLE!

[@jasonmagistro1053]

Wow, I’m here within the first minute. I’m fully convinced the show runners made this show as an F you to Amazon…. That has to be the only explanation

[@uncleiroh80]

Nobody is really mentioning that this show had the full Tolkien estate support. Christopher Tolkien did not like LOTR. They kept Peter Jackson away from rings of power. I believe they (Tolkien estate) look at rings of power and think, “yeah, we nailed it”. The show suffered from their involvement and the result is pure unadulterated trash.

[@skuripandaburns3489]

Simon Tolkien, Tolkien's grandson, is hell bent on destroying his grandfather's legacy. He practically said as much in interviews, he really resents his grandfather and the fame of Tolkien name and feels he lived his entire life in his grandfather's shadow. This is not an attempt of "nailing it", it's a deliberate push to ruin Middle Earth as much as possible. Simon Tolkien is an evil spoiled brat. RoP is merely the beginning.

[@BDawg-hy7pl]

Chris ain’t his dad. We don’t know what the professor would have liked. I like to imagine he would like parts of the lotr movies

[@bencribbin7744]

So there's a balrog on the loose down in Khazad-dum, and the dwarves aren't freaking out? Shouldn't they be like, "guys, maybe we should evacuate pretty sharpish?"

[@nacolucas]

I don't bother watching it anymore. I consume it by watching your videos, thank you for enduring this show on my behalf.

[@anarionelendili8961]

Re: Sauron & Feanor's Hammer: Given that in the show-lore, Celebrimbor taught Ring Craft to Sauron, not the other way around (as in the books), I took Sauron with the Hammer to be a reference to that. And that Sauron would make the One Ring given what he had learned from Celebrimbor. And yes, I hate it. :P

[@AncestorEmpire1]

Star Wars fans: First time?

[@sandy-jn5rd]

Star Trek fans: Janeway?

[@AncestorEmpire1]

@@sandy-jn5rd *Takes Away Janeway’s coffee* Now this is where the fun begins

[@sandy-jn5rd]

@@AncestorEmpire1 somebody mentioned it and now i cannot unsee it. When Double Galadriel fighting. Even the voice so uncanny

[@AncestorEmpire1]

@@sandy-jn5rd my brain shut off at that point. Too many concussions from watching this shit show

[@Didymus20X6]

@@AncestorEmpire1 I love how SF Debris likes to make Janeway the villain in his reviews.

[@R92-q4b]

Happy the season is done but sad I have to wait 2 more years to hear my boys roast season 3 😂 thanks for making this watchable, I hang in so I can hear your chats. Peace lads ✌🏼

[@faustoutloud]

He should've been a blue wizard these Showrunners have absolutely no idea what their doing we just have to hope this show gets canceled so we have hope of someone that actually loves and admires Tolkien lore and get a great 1st age stories maybe a trilogy or a real 2nd age story maybe a trilogy because shows dont work unless they hire people that know what there doing like game of thrones or house of the dragon lol

[@CarlWheatley-wi2cl]

Why the hell would Not-Gandalf have been a Blue Wizard? We've been pointing out this shit for two years and been ridiculed for it. What possible role could those Istari have in the events of the Second Age when they only arrived in Middle-Earth towards the very end of it? What possible role would Gandalf have while we're at it? You CANNOT retcon something like Tolkien, it's NOT going to end well.

[@otaku-sempai2197]

Minastir's fleet was changed to Miriel's fleet, with a different mission in Middle-earth: To aid the Southlanders. I expect we will still get Ar-Pharazon's fleet, sent to oppose Sauron (disguised as Halbrand?) as "King of the World". I half-expect the Southlanders to resettle in Dunharrow where Theo can become the King of the Oathbreakers.

[@brodinism]

Oh god, that Theo = King of the Oathbreakers thing sounds exactly like something those muppets would write.

[@dinmavric5504]

Dude, just stop. You're talking about something the writers never even heard of.

[@otaku-sempai2197]

@@dinmavric5504Do you mean Minastir's fleet or the Oathbreakers? I'm sure that some of the crew are aware of one or both.

[@AllanBeam]

Isildur (The Numenorian): “I can bring you in warm, or I can bring you in cold.”

[@Don9872]

When Miriel tells Elendil to reclaim his lordship is she referring to him being a sea captain or was he actually an important lord at some point in the past? Maybe an ancestor of his was? Has there been any previous mention in the show of him having a claim to some lordship?

[@dinmavric5504]

No, it means nothing. He is a lord of Andúnië, a noble, a descendant of the previous kings and queens of Numenor.

[@Don9872]

@@dinmavric5504 I know he is in the actual lore, but has there been any reference to this in the show?

[@sandy-jn5rd]

@@Don9872Pharazon said he’s a petty lord, and Q Miriel joked he’s a runic emperor, and Elendil said no, just a minor lord or something

[@Don9872]

@@sandy-jn5rd Ah I think I remember that now, from about halfway through the first season. Still not a lot to go on.

[@Video456325]

The switch from Adar to Sauron would have worked better if it was like this: Adar wants the orcs to be free and live in peace with the rest of Middle Earth. The orcs themselves can't overcome their nature and actively WANT to conquer Middle Earth. That is what makes them switch to Sauron. Makes it tragic for Adar because he actually tried to save his children and they never cared for his intentions. Instead in the show its: both Adar and the orcs want to live in peace. Adar makes it his mission to kill Sauron because he sees Sauron as a threat to the orcs. The orcs somehow don't understand that killing Sauron keeps them free from his slavery and think that Adar is throwing away lives casually for some reason? They switch sides to Sauron who they KNOW doesn't care for orc lives. Makes no sense

[@rupertbath2748]

Now I keep hearing the line from Hitchhikers adapted for Tom Bombadil. "Bombadill, he's just this guy y'know!'

[@freman007]

Fun fact. The Elves did not make 9 rings for Men and 7 for Dwarves. They made 16 rings for themselves, and Sauron took them and gave them to Men and Dwarves.

[@frankvandorp2059]

My hopes were dashed on the rocks, just like Galadriel should have been when she jumped from the cliff.

[@syntychiahintsin-tee-shaks2256]

This last episode made me sad, the disrespect is so blatant. Arondir is my guy, but homey was dead on the battlefield. Did Gil-Galad heal him off screen? He was back in full effect. Kudos to you Yoystan and friend for staying true and doing your best to critique this horror honestly.

[@Ka_T_ya]

It was a pure comedy imo, especially this ep . I couldn’t stop laughing . It was just so bad it got good as a parody . Imo it was the worst ep from both seasons thus far .

[@Alixo_Gamerr]

How Sauron convinced orcs to betray Adar and obey him? In which episode they showed this? How he did this? By magic? By speach? or he offer the father orc that they won t fight anymore?

[@sandy-jn5rd]

1. no idea 2. nowhere 3. no idea 4. no idea 5. no idea 6. no idea it just happened. brilliant writing.

[@TweedTones]

Asking COMMANDER Galadriel what the next move is while the HIGH KING is there completely ignored lol. What is this show. The timeline is extremely compressed into days and weeks.

[@theemissary1313]

You guys are right in that the show creators might have read the source material, but only to pick up lines that sound good. The whole thing feels like someone tore all the pages out of the silmarillion, cut them up into pieces and someone tried to stick them back together after only ever watching daytime soap operas.

[@cholst1]

During Durin jumping slowmo. They managed two memberberries in just a minute or so there. First the whip around the ankle (gandalf) then the slowmo charge (aragon in RoT at the gates of mordor)

[@Tyranidus7]

The fact that seemingly the people of Kazad-Dum know that the Balrog is down there it makes no sense that they stay there. There is nothing they can do and the Balrog is a Sauron level threat, why would you stay there? I would abandon the city immediately. And its a real shame as the dwarves were the best part of the show (granted there were still many problems) and it just fell flat on its face this season.

[@holymackenaw]

The start with the Dwarves was decent and gave me hope for a good last episode. And then it got even worse. Crying Sauron, immortal Gladriel, ...

[@leonsantiago8860]

"gandalf is so interesting because all the things he knows, I dont understand why he isnt like that in this story thats showing him learning the things"

[@WolfdanTheWanderer]

The best thing that this show is contributing to Lord Of The Rings, is that it’s so bad it makes me rewatch Peter Jackson’s trilogy almost every weekend to wash the taste out of my mouth. This whole show is like a slap in the face to a Tolkien fan.