Rings of Power Season 2 is Not Very Good: The Final Autopsy

[@hemmydall]

Fully convinced Random has spent more time thinking about the plot than both writers combined and its not even close.

[@JamesMC04]

The only drawback is that Random has paid ROP far too great a compliment, by thinking about it in such detail & analysing it so thoroughly.

[@professional_cynic98]

I’m not gonna lie, I genuinely forgot the show existed, Random making a video made me remember season 1 which was when I last watched, I think I gave up on episode 5, but this whole recap and comments like your own make me realise. I’m so happy I’ve not watched it, the fanbase is toxic in their message and the show itself has me falling asleep. It befuddles the mind as to why it is still continuing.

[@JamesMC04]

@@professional_cynic98 Maybe Amazon can't withdraw from it without violating legally-binding commitments to those involved. And therefore has no choice but to continue. Or maybe Amazon genuinely thinks the show is good.

[@ost324]

100% accurate statement!

[@bring-out]

I don't know, they might have spent a considerable time but time doesn't make up for incompetence.

[@a.c.r.8296]

The best things about this show: 1. It is very forgettable. 2. The entire internet roasting it alive. 3. God-tier memes & comments.

[@beccaknight5763]

Sadly it has it’s fans and they started to attack people that don’t like it 🤣

[@petriew2018]

@@beccaknight5763 you mean the blatantly obvious bots working off a poorly written script who tend to reuse screen names across multiple youtube channels? because those are the only 'fans' that seem to remember this show exists already

[@beccaknight5763]

@@petriew2018 🤣🤣 you are probably right! The bots are fans and they hate Tolkien and Peter Jackson 🤣

[@petriew2018]

@@beccaknight5763 the current defense in the script is "bad faith criticism".... without ever citing which criticism is bad faith or why, that's just the buzzword they throw out to hopefully make people doubt the criticism. You see that, you know you're dealing with someone in a third world bot farm making a couple of bucks a day because, you know, it's Amazon....

[@beccaknight5763]

@@petriew2018 Yes! I’ve noticed that when you go back and see the criticisms. I don’t really comment but now you mentioned it with bot fans they will always use that argument or attack Tolkien’s work directly. I’ve also noticed they usually don’t reply regularly unless another bot starts up again 🤣.

[@Darkington]

The fact that Waldreg managed to convince the Elves to start calling the Southlands "Mordor" in less than a week since its establishment is just proof of his commitment to his job as the Voice of Adar. He belongs in the Wheelie Boy Tier!

[@qq-wy7zs]

Wheelie boy is best character in wheels of power.

[@05-7-c2c]

Wheelie boy isn't in rings of power. Wheelie Boi doesn't deserve being tainted by such a disastrous character

[@rosssoyka860]

Might as well be wal gilad

[@TheNoonish]

Waldreg must have been allied with Wheelie Boy. There's nobody else who could have spread that information so thoroughly and quickly.

[@aaronrowell6943]

Welcome to Mordor!

[@silverscorpio24]

_Slight_ correction: Frodo screams and clutches his shoulder when the Nazgul are nearby because the Morgul blade he was stabbed with in Fellowship is causing him pain. It's not from the Ring.

[@broiamliterallyjustvibin]

@@silverscorpio24 I thought the same thing, was looking for this comment

[@hippieseven5582]

Nerd

[@VellanShadow]

Exactly. Hence the quick flashback to that exact moment at Weathertop

[@silverscorpio24]

​@@VellanShadow That was to highlight that the Nazgul can still see Frodo even with the Ring on.

[@WandererRTF]

I think in the book it was stated that Frodo was suffering both from the blade and the sting - referring to when he got stung by Shelob in the cave - as he got annually very ill on the anniversaries of these events. That is in the books it took several years before Frodo and Bilbo departed to the undying lands after the events in Shire where Saruman was killed.

[@mafuletrekkie]

Calling my shot now, Theo is the Witch King. It is something the creators will think is edgy, cool, and surprising but is actually profoundly stupid so it is right on brand for this show.

[@hrogarfyrninga3238]

Been thinking the same.

[@Syaniiti]

But the Witch King is much nicer to listen to than Theo can ever hope to be so clearly you must be mistaken.

[@Kanaxe]

That's not fair, Theo has every reason to become the Witch King: - He did magic. Well, the sword did it, but he was holding the sword - He's survived many battles: protected their village (by hiding in the tavern), confronted the guys in the forest and almost died then survived being taken by Ents (no idea why) - He is liked by the people of Pelargir: we saw Isildur's girlfiend's boyfriend had his back when Kevin arrived - And he's now the Lord of Pelargir! (because his mom killed an orc and she decided it was enough for her to lead the village, then died, sure) All he has to do now is rebel against Kevin, get help from the Ents, find another magic sword, declare Pelargir's independance, and he'll have a beautiful wooden crown!

[@grumpypunch3910]

I hate the fact you have said this. Not because I think you are wrong, but because the fact you might be right makes me genuinely sick. I hate this idea so so much

[@Joee003]

Yup, sadly, I've been thinking the same.

[@Avarn388]

This will unironically be more entertaining than the series. Thank you Random for going through this. I tapped out after season one. And folks who think this is good; I really question their taste. Harsh words but seriously? The writing isn’t good. Unless you care only for spectacle.

[@JPG.01]

Even the spectacle of the show is subpar. If I think dumb spectacle, I think of stuff like 300. I was able to get to the "give me the meat and give it to me raw"-scene in season 1. I was just unable to watch anymore my tolerance was reached. But as far as questioning people's taste... Remember that the biggest thing in cinemas was the MCU. And the actually good movies from the entire MCU can be counted on one hand.

[@stickman4131]

@Avarn388 Your first sentence is absolutely true.

[@tubag313]

And it will probably have more viewers

[@daytona-x7b]

people will shit on rings of power but then watch a 15 hours of review for it. Is this mental illness? Roger ebert could review this better in 1000 words. KZbinrs truly are egomaniacs thinking their 10 hour video essays are worth listening to.

[@robingrob9717]

I tryed just because I was curious what they were doing with it despite how trash season 1 was. But fuck me i couldnt go on after episode 2. Its just so ass that you can't even watch it... Its not even funny... Its just bland and lame.

[@JackChurchill101]

I love that it takes 5+ hours to "summarise" why this 8 hours of TV is gash. You're a good egg, sir.

[@funkydiscogod]

It's amazing that their writing was so bad that some people can make a career dissecting it.

[@Mitsoxfan]

Simple way to summarize Galadriel. She is a total B.

[@colbunkmust]

When you take into effect the time per episode of RFT's review, it's more like 20+ hours...

[@georgiosFreeman]

It's amazing to me how the show apologists will say stuff like there is no credible criticism or the showrunners themselves that called every criticism a troll. Then you go on and analyze everything like in this video and they completely shut their ears off. This is the era we live in I guess.

[@The_Laughing_Cavalier]

Leaked episode from Season 3: "Galadriellleellll, what is that?" "Oh no... he has somehow returned!" *cut to shot of Waldreg the White shoving a sword into the latest Rube Goldberg machine, which starts a massive tidal wave that floods Numenorrrrrrr*

[@freddykingofturtles]

We've had one yes, what about second Mordor?

[@Eemi_Seppala]

@@freddykingofturtles Waldreg needs to outsource his welcoming business, unless the writers bend time and space in a way that Waldreg can be at both sites simultaneously.

[@TNT-King-of-Men]

BRING WALDREG BACK!!!

[@COI-O3]

Walgreg the even-whiter, ya'qub's finest albinoid

[@JonasDerkum]

Correction, it would be Waldreg the black as he is evil!

[@frankvandorp9732]

I like how elven spies are so good that they can spot Sauron sneaking into Mordor presumably before they even know who Halbrand even is, but they fail to detect an entire orc army marching for Eregion until they've already arrived.

[@markopusic8258]

Something that really irks me about Rings of Power is that the writers don't understand at all what working with elves entails, and even less so Middle Earth elves. Even putting aside the insane crunching of the original timeline, we are still dealing with beings who have at the very least hundreds of years of lived experience and for most of them it would be thousands. Sure, you could argue that they learn at a slower pace because of their prolonged life but then we have to deal with the fact that they came from Valinor where they spent a good chunk of their lives under the tutelage of the Valar, literal gods of that universe. In short, we are dealing with beings that by all accounts should be immensely knowledgeable and wise. They rarely ever fuck up, and when they do, the consequences are catastrophic with Feanor leading the charge as one of the most dangerous characters to ever exist in Arda. The elves in RoP are regular humans with pointy ears, they have all the smug but none of the knowledge, it's so sad to witness. Then again, it takes a competent writer to understand that kind of concept and our 2 chuckleheads have very much proved that they aren't.

[@Don9872]

I think there’s a reason that in none of Tolkien’s more fleshed out narrative stories set in middle earth is the main character an elf. They are usually wise mentor figures or side character companions. Writing beings that comprehend time and existence so differently to mortals is a very tricky thing to do well, also mortal characters are more relatable.

[@exantiuse497]

I don't agree that elves "rarely ever" make mistakes. If you read the Silmarillion that is basically a collection of elves acting like total screwups - see everything done by Thingol and sons of Feanor, Maeglin betraying his city because he was horny etc. Galadriel at the end of the 1st age was prideful and unrepentant enough that she was barred from Valinor, which was lifted only in the 3rd age when she refused the Ring. And of course Celebrimbor falls head over heels for Sauron's promises of glory and power - canon's Celebrimbor is arguably much more arrogant and foolish because he doesn't have any sort of pressing urgency to make the rings like in the show. Gil-Galad is completely butchered in the show, I agree, and the elves are idiots in general but so is everyone in this show

[@Don9872]

@@exantiuse497 You just gave a very short list of elves who’s major fuck ups cause catastrophic events, which is exactly what the comment your responding to’s point is. After the first age I’d imagine the remaining elves in middle earth have learned plenty of lessons on what not to do, likely the reason there’s no more kin slayings and I can’t think of any events in the 2nd/3rd ages where they fight against other ‘free peoples’. I wouldn’t count that Galadriel one as a fuck up either, shows she has flaws maybe but just deciding to stay in middle earth is hardly a fuck up. Also Thingol did nothing wrong!

[@j3i2i2yl7]

Galadriel is the worst example of what is wrong with the ROP elves. She is supposed to have the wisdom gained from being far older than the sun and moon and having hung out with Valar, but is portrayed as impulsive, haughty and foolish. A short Karen with pointy ears.

[@markopusic8258]

@@exantiuse497 Well yes but keep in mind that the Silmarillion does take place over thousands of years. A decent chunk of it is spent on just how terrible elves can get but it does remain a small fraction of everything they've accomplished. Though if I had to list my personal favorite elf treachery, it would be Feanor taking the Teleri ships by force after murdering his brethren, leaving half his forces behind and burning said Teleri ships when he arrived in Middle Earth. Now that is arguably one of the worst things ever done by Elves during the first age.

[@The_shady_puffer]

I have found the answer to the Waldreg - Glug character assasination problem. Basicly Waldreg's and Glug's souls got switched so that Wladreg became loyal to Adar and forgot sauron and Glug became loyal to sauron and killed Adar. IT'S ALL COMING TOGETHER

[@ComradeCommissarYuri]

Random orc: “Adar.. Sauron tried to corrupt glug against you!!” Adar: “there’s still time!!” Me: “the feck you telling him there’s still time to betray you for?!!?”

[@rosssoyka860]

Wait? That’s what glug meant

[@Metal_Leopard]

I have spent all day watching this video, my phone died, and I charged it so I could continue. I got so much more than nearly 6 hours of enjoyment. Certainly more than spending a like amount of time watching tik toks or shorts. I can only guess at how many hours you put into this video so that I could enjoy your whit and honesty for free. I have never watched the show. I have never seen you before. Yet after a few minutes, I knew I was going to see it through. I am currently running a fever of one hundred and two, so please forgive my appalling sentence structure. Thank you for providing an incredible piece of long form content so that I may watch it and slap my hands together like a seal when you said something I recognized. I am adding you to my very short list of subscribed channels and will proceed to binge watch everything you have ever made. Happy Friday.

[@Baalur]

Get well soon. Random Film Talk has many hours of high quality content for you to enjoy. If you want to hear him talk about something he likes I recommend the comparision of the theatrical cut and the special extended edition of The Fellowship of the Ring.

[@randomft]

@@Metal_Leopard thank you, and get well soon!

[@rosssoyka860]

I watched the show. Omg

[@samlerf]

@@randomft Have you seen Rick worley's youtube videos about Star Wars? His special edition video especially talks lotr, too.

[@Tim_the_Enchanter]

I have watched zero minutes of _Rangs of Powah_ . I have watched long hours of detailed, savage critique.

[@jesperburns]

I pirated both seasons but quit watching halfway through season 2.

[@ost324]

YES.

[@nachtschatten8710]

Same here. Our dear Random spared me because he suffered through it. And his reviews and analysis videos are far better then the series could ever be. I think, I also enjoyed his take on "The Hobbit" more then the movie itself. 😅 Random, just as amazing as Kronk is. 👍🏻💫

[@qq-wy7zs]

​@jesperburns Man, you lasted longer than I did. I was hoping to make fun of it but it was so boring I quit after 3 episodes.

[@KimmoKM]

Ah, a fellow man of culture.

[@Yorkshan222]

Small criticism: when the Nazgul/Witch King screams, Frodo's pain is not from the ring's corruption or power but from the Morgul Blade wound. He clutches over his heart, not the ring.

[@jackdrakaris8583]

the ring has corrupten everthing! Even the minds of the whole RoP crew and mostly the 2 "ringleaders"... O__O

[@triplebog]

I don't think you quite nailed the real reason that the gandalf v sarumon fight ending is also a "good cliffhanger". It isn't just because we are more motivated to find out what happened, but because the absence of gandalf is also a core part of the hobbit's journey. The whole point of everything from the arrival at Bree until rivendell is the fact that gandalf isnt there, and the hobbits are pushed into teaming with aragorn, and forced to battle with forces far above their paygrade with the nazgul. It's not just a cliffhanger that keeps us, the viewers, in suspense. It is a cliffhanger for the characters in the story: "where is gandalf? why didn't he show up?" And the answers to those questions are still actively being resolved while we are following the hobbit plotline.

[@MArmsrtong]

As always RFT, take all the time you need with your next project. I think I speak for the majority when I say we’ll wait patiently for “when it’s ready.”

[@xenophon5354]

After watching this show only one thing came to mind: “I feel sort of stretched, like bread scraped over too much butter” - Bilius Bungleton III

The Don approves this message.

[@CodenameBolts]

It's the opposite really, it's hundreds of years of history squashed into a few months of show, resulting in all the problems discussed in this analysis series

[@xenophon5354]

@ Yes that’s very nice and all, but it leaves me feeling stretched. “I feel sort of stretch”.

[@Bruh-lq7ev]

@@xenophon5354 Unironically a better line than anything "comedic" in the show proper

[@VVEGA2940]

"I've been looking foreward to this" - Dooku of Many Colours

[@TheRealJabbergeist]

My jaw dropped around 2:43:00 when Payne (or McKay, can't be arsed to tell them apart) said they were really mindful about travel time and distance. Like... How? How can you seriously say that? Some of the biggest problems of the show are a direct result of your obvious disregard for that very thing!

[@JamesMC04]

340 minutes ? That promises to be amazing. Thank you very much for all your hard work in getting this autopsy video ready.

[@matthewcollins4773]

Amazon leaving corpses on our doorstep with "where is the quality?" carved into them.

[@ostatnifajek128]

But instead of on corpses, it will be written on the back sides of the screenplay pages 😅

[@robertb7293]

​@@ostatnifajek128 knowing this shows budget, they might maybe afford tattooing the script onto the back of orphans who could have become batman, but instead became sad. It's the sadness that costs extra.

[@Lux0Xie1]

Definitely getting a tempest in me with this.

[@theplexis2515]

😂😂😂

[@esharp86]

The writers sound like they write by accident. “Oh wow are we making this character Gandalf? Geez I guess we are!”

[@TheNoonish]

Two options: 1) They're bone-breakingly stupid. They made him but didn't bother thinking about him until it was time to give him lines. Their only idea for how to make him sound like a wizard was to give him Gandalf lines because they have zero imagination. After they wrote that and then saw it play out, they realized if he's speaking Gandalf lines, it's communicating to the audience that he's Gandalf, so they just had to run with it. 2) They're just lying and I don't know why. Maybe they want to make it seem like their writing process is organic, growing off of what's built before, but that's a bad lie because it makes them seem very, very stupid. They knew this was that character and it was the plan all along.

[@eugene8498]

@@TheNoonish Maybe a little of both.

[@j3i2i2yl7]

The writers have no idea how to write a character who is wise or noble, or crafty or cunning for that matter. They actually have to have characters say things like "I am good" and "You are wise".

[@pyromanic8]

Holy crap, I thought this would drop at the end of January. This has already made my day, looking forward to it!

[@petriew2018]

Just a few of my own thoughts : Damrod is totally the mascot of this show. Hyped up for months with strange comparisons to shows that are totally incompatible with Tolkien, that in retrospect don't even make sense, plays absolutely no role whatsoever in the plot, dies a pathetic death, and his lasting legacy is a completely weirdly out of place death metal theme song that, and this is not even a joke if you can believe it, gets more screen time than he did. If that's not the walking embodiment of Rings of Power, i don't know what is. Estrid got the scraps of what they planned for Branwen. I can't prove it, but i'm convinced the whole love triangle waste of time was going to be the arc for her, Black Legolas and Isildur. The complete waste of time that was everything to do with the pelargir plots was obviously rewritten on the fly because none of what happens to these characters means anything, is based on previous events, or involves any other established characters. I'm well aware the people writing this would not pass a 6th grade creative writing class, but even this stands out for it's sheer incompetence. Trash as the show is overall, it's generally trash because the ambition far outstrips the talent, so i'm pretty sure there was some convoluted CW-level plot line that got torpedoed when Branwen's actress realized she had to run for the good of her career, and when you put it between Black Legolas and Isuldur you get just the perfect kind of trashy time filler this show's target audience fawns over. Instead they invented a couple of new characters and sent Black Legolas half way across the world to temporarily die because he has no purpose existing anymore.... then forgot they did that, because these writers wouldn't pass a 6th grade creative writing class... i'm actually kind of shocked Random didn't mention this, btw. Black Legolas DIED. On Screen. As the 'emotional low point' of supposedly the big important battle.... and the showrunners fucking FORGOT the next episode, which THEY wrote. They couldn't even manage the lamest trope of resurrection or a fake out death, he's just somehow fine the very next episode. How does make it out of the writing room without someone seemingly even noticing? much less all the through the editing process? This is just how abysmally low the quality control on this show is. Not Saruman is Saurman. I don't care what the showrunners say, they've lied before about this shit and they're not creative enough for him to be anything else. They're JJ Abrams from Wish (yeah, let that sink in), they'll blow as much smoke up any hole they have to to make you think there's drama instead of, you know, writing the drama. Just like we knew Halbrand was Sauron from his first scene and The Hobo was Gandalf from his first scene, these chucklefucks simply don't have the creativity for anything but the most painfully obvious answer to always be the correct one. They can't function without a mystery box, Sauron's 'big reveal' is the one for next season. And before anyone says it, no, forget the Blue Wizards. I'm sure they'll make a cameo eventually, but they'll do it as a pair because otherwise you wouldn't know from the moment you see them that "oh man! it's the Blue Wizards. I member the Blue Wizards!'.... because that's the thought process driving this show. Tom Bomdadil is proof these showrunners have never actually read Tolkien. That's basically it. They knew the name but there's nothing of the actual character there, just what you'd get from a quick glance at wikipedia about the character. This remains, really beyond argument, the worst show currently airing in pretty much any medium. It has no redeeming qualities, the production values only highlight what an absolute waste of money this show remains, because even that is completely misused and abused by showrunners who have no business working in hollywood at really any level, because they simply do no understand even the most fundamental aspects of storytelling.

[@whitegoose2017]

The show mixes up timelines and it's wildly inconsistent with the established world Tolkien created. The Istari are not supposed to be in the Middle Earth during the Second Age yet they are. Eregion's fall is like three thousand years before the Istari arrive. There is no mention of Hobbitses during the 2nd age either. It's just an incredibly bad soap opera with a near unlimited budget. The franchise they bought for name recognition.

[@SpecterVonBaren]

Oh wow, your explanation for the love triangle "plot" just fits perfectly. Props to Branwen's actress for getting out while the getting was good.

[@Don9872]

You’re far too kind on the show.

[@nathynorthy6916]

So, did you like the show or not?

[@petriew2018]

@@nathynorthy6916 I give it a solid 7/10 on the IGN scale, obviously

[@batteredthem]

This is exactly what I needed after a painful dentist appointment today. Thank you!

[@Poisyndart77]

Feel better!

[@shogunofpie8303]

That bit about Astrid sounds like as if someone tried to make Patches from Dark Souls into a romance-able NPC without having it be a comedic bit.

[@OffisianO]

real

[@mrminecraftcubeable]

At least everyone is an undead in dark souls

[@swyjix]

Patches the Hyena Patches the Spider Patches the Unbreakable Patches the Beloved

[@pyro380]

Kind of forgot that this show existed.

[@recapnerd2657]

And no one will blame you😂

[@keegan4854]

Yeah it is that forgettable

[@pyro380]

I'm so bored of this show that I don't even want to watch the review.😂Sorry Random.

[@marlonbascombe3427]

😂😂😂 can't forget the evil of the world and the return of the shadow

[@petriew2018]

That's okay, this is also true of literally everyone who claims to be a fan of it as well

[@rafexrafexowski4754]

The writers definitely did not plan that Adar was the one who killed Finrod. In the source material, Finrod was killed during the First Age by Sauron.

[@swyjix]

Source material? In this show? Pfft!

[@rafexrafexowski4754]

​@@swyjix I mean, they clearly wanted Finrod to be fan service, and the entire season 1 prologue, while incredibly inaccurate, was still definitely meant to show Sauron as the one who killed Finrod, as this is the motivation for Galadriel. If the writers really planned that this was Adar, they would have needed to subtly set it up in the first episode of season 2 and forget to pay it off by the last one. I would definitely accept that they forgot about it, but the setup is way too well done to actually exist in this show. The writers just forgot the original prologue and made a contradictory one in season 2.

[@qq-wy7zs]

What's a plan? - The writers.

[@sirsuntar8717]

Galadriel doesn't break the show - the show breaks itself to accomodate Galadriel

[@taliesinhalliday]

the best comedy lays in truth.

[@ost324]

I screamed out loud when I saw the notification! I live for people tearing apart this garbage!

[@andrews5544]

Same!

[@billjacobs521]

Too bad Little Platoon tapped out.

[@ost324]

@ Did he actually, for season 2 stuff? Arg!

[@calumlittle9828]

Sweet hyperbole.

[@GreatGreebo]

Unlike Season 3 of Rings of Power, I’m really looking forward to this.

[@christophertheriault3308]

I'm totally looking forward to season 3, due to videoes like this

[@jackdrakaris8583]

I like how Amazon helps the crazy people from the asylum who think they are great writers and actors to fulfill their dreams. We should respect and support them. Cause one does not simply walk into mo... hate the disabled!

[@Fre3linx]

The bit styling Lotr scenes with Rop cliffhangers is hilarious😂😂😂Well done sir

[@GILGAMESG069]

"There was once a dream that was the shire, you could only whisper it. Anything more than a whisper and it would vanish" -bilbo baggins probably

[@triplebog]

It would have been so cool if rather than the nonsense we got with the "sauron is actually hiding as this man" twist, if (hadir or whatever his name was) was instead actually just a king and then he eventually becomes one of the nazgul. And the tragedy we see in the story is that slow decay of power and corruption of a hero into a villain. Would have grounded the story, and actually provided a way better source of answers of all of the questions that the guy brought up that should be answered by the show

[@GeraltofRivia22]

It also would've made Galadriel 10x less morally reprehensible.

[@easternwesterner]

@@GeraltofRivia22 Would make it a cool and tragic backstory for two characters from LotR, actually, yeah.

[@TheNoonish]

Okay, I have another timeline issue. It's the Isildur/Arondir thread. Isildur is a mortal man and requires food to eat. Berek is a mortal horse and also needs food. It is illogical to assume that he's able to successfully scrounge food for days and weeks after escaping Shelob in an area controlled by Orcs and Wild men, both of which are hostile enough to attack on sight. So we have to assume he makes it to Pelargir at most 10 days after the explosion of Mount Doom, when he was buried in a pile of rubble then kidnapped by Shelob. Once Isildur gets to Pelargir, he and Theo decide that same day to leave and go find his horse. This may take some time, so we'll call it 5 days, even though it is portrayed as if Theo is walking into the Wild Men's camp later that day. Isildur rescues his horse, and returns to Pelargir as quickly as possible to organize a rescue for Theo. We can't assume that Theo is held captive for weeks, so let's assume it takes Isildur a day to get to Pelargir, and another two or three days for Arondir and Isildur to find the Ents and rescue Theo. Arondir then is leaving to track the Orc army. We know that the Orc army is on its way to or at Eregion by the time he finds it, because he finds deserters. However, this is at most about 20 days after Mount Doom erupts. Sauron spends, presumably, MONTHS helping craft the 3 rings. Plus you have to include the six days he took riding to Eregion and at least six days getting him back to Mordor. Arondir decides to track an Orc army that hasn't left Mordor yet, but despite that, the first evidence he finds of the army is that it's going to Eregion. This is broken. There's basically no off-screen contrivances I can accept to make this plot thread line up. Isildur wasn't foraging for food in orcish territory for weeks. Isildur and Theo didn't sit around for weeks before deciding to rescue his horse. Isildur and Theo didn't take weeks to find the wild men who took Isildur's horse. Arondir and Isildur didn't spend weeks trying to rescue Theo. There's no way there are enough days between Mt. Doom's eruption and Arondir's efforts to track an orc army on the march that isn't marching yet.

[@billjacobs521]

So, same as the first season, basically.

[@TheNoonish]

What's funny is that even the most reasonable estimates don't line up, but when you're more realistic with what's shown on screen, it gets so substantially worse. Isildur doesn't look like a man who was half-starved by the time he meets up with Arondir, and yet the writers didn't bother to throw in a single scene of him scrounging food or water on his way to Pelargir. And Arondir isn't days away from Pelargir since he's gathering wood for a funeral pyre for Bronwyn. When I say 10 days since the eruption, we're probably talking more like 4 or 5. Meanwhile, we know from dialogue that Halbrand worked in Eregion with Celebrimbor for "weeks," that comes from Elrond. And other dialogue about how long Halbrand was imprisoned in Mordor ("Adar doesn't even remember you're here") tells us that he spent substantial time in Mordor, and the orc army certainly didn't start marching until he left. By any reason, the orc army wouldn't have begun marching until Halbrand had entered Eregion and the orc scout who followed him made it all the way back to Mordor to tell Adar where Halbrand went, since if Adar believed Halbrand was Sauron, he'd have tried to kill him in Mordor when he was alone instead of being defended by a city full of elves. So really, it's more likely that the Ents tell Arondir that there's an orc army on the march something like 12-15 days after Mount Doom erupts, and the orc army doesn't start marching for another 90+ days. It's so bonkers, and it's a self-inflicted wound since it all arises from their idiotic decision to bait Isildur's death and then contrive insane nonsense to have him not be dead.

[@rosssoyka860]

Sauron got killed and finrod died

[@matroska_5625]

Well if you didn't eat at all for two weeks, and were pretty physically active, like walking a lot each day, you'd lose about a 14 pounds. It's not that bad. You can go months without food. A really fat guy in Scotland didn't eat for over a year and just lost a load of weight. You'll die without drinking water after about 3-5 days, though. Not to defend RoP, but people can go a good while without food and I don't know if showing him drinking out of a river a few times would really make a massive difference, especially with the endless and much worse other problems.

[@brettboudreau8563]

No hyperbole. i am more excited for this video than i have been for any piece of media last year.

[@acov]

5 hours and 40 minutes??? I'm here for it!!!! Thanks, Random.

[@AgathaThrifty]

I'm one of those people (thanks, ADHD!) who will watch something I enjoy upwards of a hundred times or more. So this is like 500 hours of content for me!

[@vc1396]

And 8 seconds

[@phpwutz]

Stopped watching the show after 2 episodes, now i just binge yt content tearing it apart. Crazy world 😅

[@ost324]

I made it to 4 episodes, but after that, SAME. Not quite the hours of entertainment the show makers had in mind lol

[@aubriannasaxton8723]

I just realized something about Kemen. The off hand comment of him being one of the only probable men that could get a ring of power put it into my mind. That and his new combat prowess. His dad was dangling the ‘prophecy’ about his death as a way to taunt him, and what notable character in the Lord of the Rings had a notable prophecy about his death?… if these hack writers are trying to set up this wet sandwich as the Witch King I wouldn’t even be surprised.

[@davibrelazdealbuquerque5766]

Oh no... I hate how this sounds plausible

[@TheNoonish]

Kemen the Incel gets killed by a woman? That’s hilarious.

[@annaa3772]

@@aubriannasaxton8723 Kemen is certainly going to be the Witchking. We know that three of the Nazgul were Numenorian lords and that the Witchking is most likely a Numenorian. Pharazon does not have a son in Tolkien's lore. Now why would the writers invent a son for him? Because a king's son is the most high-ranking person after the king and would be THE ideal person for Sauron to corrupt. On paper the Witchking being a Numenorian prince makes a lot of sense, it's just that Kemen isn't special enough to be the Witchking.

[@annaa3772]

​@@davibrelazdealbuquerque5766 He's going to be the Witchking. Why would the writers invent a son for Pharazon? To have the Witchking be an ultra-high ranking noble in his former life.

[@liliesaregoodfortheliver2954]

He and Theo seem to be the top candidates for being the Witch-King in the future of the show, at least according to the Mariana's-trench-depth level of the audience's expectations.

[@ostatnifajek128]

The rings don't make you invisible, they transport you to the Unseen. So yeah, the result in the visible world is your invisibility, but to the creatures present in the Unseen you are very much visible... 26:02 Wasn't this pain caused by the Morgul wound upon the screeches of the Nazgûl?

[@OffisianO]

i always thought the one ring making u invisible was a side effect of sauron creating the ring to give him a physical form in the real world the ring helps sauron transport from the unseen into the physical its makes no sense for it work that way if sauron already has a physical form

[@humblescribe8522]

@OffisianO I suspect it's a factor of Tolkien writing The Hobbit years before LOTR and just originally having it be a ring of invisibility before retconning it into the Big Bad later.

[@ferrishthefish]

I can explain why Waldreg ditched Sauron for Adar in 5 seconds. You see, that's about how long it took his ancestors to ditch Morgoth in favor of Sauron. Its like poetry, it rhymes.

[@Klickor]

So true. They probably heard of Morgoth getting killed and then decided to take an oath to Sauron at once when they got the news and just as they were all done with this swearing, Adar kills Sauron and the new of him missing reaches them and they are all "what the fuck. So we swore this blood oath for nothing and now my left hand is all fucked up after I cut all the tendons in my palm. Cant wait for someone better than Sauron to appear so I can do this shit again"

[@professional_cynic98]

@@ferrishthefish bro killed me with the George Lucas quote 😂😂😂😂

[@Gorbz]

The funny thing about Payne and McKay going off on that "Who were the Elves, who were the Dwarves...?" thing, is that if they did what they said they did back during the Season 1 convention interviews and went "Back to the book", the would probably know the answers to all those questions. Just because they are only allowed to adapt a small amount of data, should not stop them researching things outside of that, and then using it to write a better (and more canonical) story.

[@keegan4854]

I've been looking forward to this

[@andrews5544]

Same!

[@poissonsumac7922]

Rings of Power: My length has doubled since last we fought Random. Random: Good. Twice the runtime, double the plotholes!

[@TheNoonish]

Rings of Power: I don't even know who you are. RandomFilmTalk: You will.

[@petriew2018]

@@TheNoonish Rings of Power: I don't even know who you are. Random : What a strange compliment, That puts me at roughly the same level as J.R.R. Tolkien....

[@pyro380]

Twice the pride, double the fall.

[@COI-O3]

Waiting for glug-wife's girlboss arc in season 3 where she seeks revenge on i-can't-believe-it's-not-sauron

[@mspotato138]

When they confirmed season 2, I was sad, because they still did not seem to have gotten the message. When they announced season 3 I was happy, because that means more Random Film talk content ❤

[@janeenschultz8502]

They've said from the beginning that they've planned for 5 seasons. It's a bold strategy. Let's see if it pays off for them. lol

[@jgremeng]

I literally just noticed this video had been published and seeing how long it is, I just want to say: thank you! Recovering from the most horrifying flu I've ever had (started 3 weeks ago), I rewatched your videos, and now starting with this, still coughing, I shall recover, though this series probably won't.

[@data_surge1014]

You know it's incredibly ironic that the Shadow of Mordor/War video game has orcs in it that are portrayed as flesh eating, sadistic, cruel, inclined to the action of rape and other morally depraved things yet one can find more emotion in them than any Rings of Power orc. Their is no general culture like the tribes or the comradery that you can see in the forts or just of random orcs sitting around. Not even blood brothers, a staple of the second game of making your day worse as even they can have family in their own horrific way. Rings of Power could never have a real character like Ratbag, who is an excellent yet morally compromised friend

[@MassiveiusBiggus]

"Imagine my shock!" -probably not Bilbo Baggins

[@Mitsoxfan]

In defense of the writers, they were told NOT to use any source material from the Silmarillion, etc. They took this as "DO NOT READ THESE BOOKS", or any books. In fact, make it so impossible to understand that nobody could sue you for using any LoTR material.

[@GeraltofRivia22]

The awfulness of the writing goes so far beyond simply not adhering to the source material.

[@jorgedeanoperez2997]

One of my biggest issues with the show's dwarves is that their weapons and tools look ridiculously oversized. It's like they're weapons made for human sized dwarves and put in the hands of dwarf sized dwarves, like fucking plastic props (which they are, but they don't need to look like it)

[@mattgohlke8216]

Didnt help that it was obvious that the first time the actors handled the prop weapons was literally during the shoot. They looked like 5 year old right handed girls swinging a sledgehammer with their left hand. It was embarrassing to watch.

[@jorgedeanoperez2997]

@mattgohlke8216 for me the worst thing was watching Durin Senior holding a pickaxe and an axe clearly too big for his hands, so much so his fingers couldn't wrap around the handles. It shows whoever designed them has never had to use a tool in their life, lol

[@mattgohlke8216]

I was embarrassed for the actor and the character, and I didn't even care about the character, it was that ridiculous.

[@angamaitesangahyando685]

One of the main sins for me as a book purist has been that the show runners have kinda forgot that the Rings of Power's whole point is about preserving beauty paused in time (see Lothlórien). So much missed potential regarding Celebrimbor in that regard. - Adûnâi

[@JackChurchill101]

Yes, they read that "the rings were made to halt the decline of the world" and took it to 11. Morgoth poisoned the world with his evil and therefore all beauty will forever slowly decline as a force of nature. The rings halt that for a local area, allowing elves to exist without that slow torment. - OR there's a literal evil rot that literally rots a tree and the rings literally reverse that.

[@angamaitesangahyando685]

​@@JackChurchill101It's indeed so childish and comic-book-tier. Not everything has to be miniaturised into absurdity. Sure, you can't depict thousands of years on screen, but then go for a slice of life style, show us all those kingdoms and problems, like maybe Gil-Galad's realm in all its glory still having Elves who prefer to sail West, and that would be a great point to illustrate how Middle-earth would forever play second fiddle to Valinor... But no, let's go with go, and more goo, and methril! - Adûnâi

[@roushannah]

yes, the list of unforgivable sins in regard to source material treatment would require another 5 hours video (at least)

[@freddykingofturtles]

@52:52 Based purely on how the writers of RoP made Galadriel thirst for Halfbrad I'm convinced they would've added an Ent sex dungeon if they could get away with it.

[@ledanoir1239]

I hate KZbin update. Its the third time I click on the comments, only for yours to materialice and force me back to 52:52

[@qq-wy7zs]

She has a tempest in her... when she meets Sauron at the ent brothel.

[@scottmolaison1905]

Really enjoyed your thoughts and criticisms of the show. You have a very non-biased method and approach. I would very much like to hear you talk about GOT. GOT is one of my favorite TV shows and what they did in season 8 was criminal.

[@matthewcollins4773]

The writers' comments are really telling; how typical of modern establishment society, that they know that what matters is performance and not substance; it's about saying the right thing, not doing. So long as they natter on about what's important they've fulfilled their function even if nothing of what they're saying about storytelling, attention to detail etc. actually shows up in the show. Just say the right thing and it's all good. It's not communication, it's obfuscation. It's throwing up a verbal smokescreen as camouflage, not one being actually trying to connect with another. It's like a more sophisticated duckspeak.

[@goosegas2087]

The writing equivalent of trying to get your call time down.

[@DannyBenson04]

5:00:50 Oh thank christ, it's not just me. I only just got around to binging season 2 last week and felt like I was losing my mind. Everywhere I looked people have been calling it a masterpiece, yet I couldn't help but feel dissappointed with it as a whole despite loving some parts of it, mainly the visuals and soundtrack. An analysis of the writing by yours truly will help put into words what I feel about the shortcomings of season two, of that I have no doubt. Can't wait for the video/videos, I really hope people start to realise that underneath the incredible visuals and music are characters and a narrative that have been damaged beyond repair.

[@liliesaregoodfortheliver2954]

When this video dropped I swept all my plans like salt from a table to watch it. The length of the video washed over the remnants of my commitment to said plans like a spring rain Yada Yada yada.....

[@NickiRusin]

you could say this video was a tempest within you(r phone)

[@Soul93Taker]

The sauron and adar "deal" isn't a plot hole, it's a plot chasm at this point

[@queenofporridge]

Thank you for dropping this on my birthday 🎂

[@MrRPS2012]

happy birthday!

[@tubag313]

Congratz

[@Wishdreamerx]

Happy birthday!

[@randomft]

Happy birthday!

[@beccaknight5763]

Happy birthday! 🎂

[@originalzearoh-0013]

You cover so much detail man. Great job.

[@kdc3065]

The Numenorians are a special long lived race of men, with lifespans of around 400 years. The Bronwyn actress left the show anyway. It would have been really cool to recast Bronwyn and her son with much older actors, to show the passage of time. Honestly it would have added a lot of romance to the elf-human love story. The only other characters they would have had to recast would be the hobbits, but they could have just shown their scenes as Gandalf's memories if they didn't want to do that.

[@cmcapps1963]

Good idea. Actually, I seem to remember reading in the prologue to LOTR that Hobbits have longer lifespans than people and reach 100 pretty frequently. Bilbo is pushing the upper limit of hobbit old age at 111 but not unheard of. So maybe they could get by with the not-hobbits keeping their roles.

[@petriew2018]

or, if you really want to put any brain cells into it from a financial standpoint, not tried to tell the entire story of the second age in a single show and instead devoted 5 seasons to any of the myriad of individual events that is the 1700 years of the second age with your elven characters being able to drop in and out of multiple shows as a unifying element this is really where a lot of the creative decisions of this show fall apart entirely. The idea that you just had to condense it all to fit in the entire story is just idiotic when you consider that telling a single story that's not a garbled, rushed, incoherent clusterfuck just means you can tell more stories later on. The show sabotaged itself through incompetence and the people responsible don't even seem to grasp that they could have done literally anything else and not run into this problem

[@cmcapps1963]

@@petriew2018 Also true! Or first age! I mourn for what a 2001 era Peter Jackson could have done with Beren or Turin, for example! But yeah, get woke...

[@dontpokethekenny]

But the real issue with them is that Elf and Man romance is so very limited and special in Tolkien's works, it's only happened three times in his entire world and it's always been a human man and elf woman. This is just more non Tolkien fanfiction.

[@kdc3065]

@@dontpokethekenny Sure, but the writers of this show are limited in what stories they are allowed to tell and basically have to create new characters. The show is going to be some fanfiction. A lot of problems would be solved by expanding time. Recasting (or aging) the few shorter lifespan characters would help. These are just the hobbits and the non-Numenorian men. It would add a lot of gravitas to the woman-elf relationship to show Bronwyn as an older lady, maybe dying. To an elf, dating someone from when they were 20-80 would be like a fling. Maybe Theo watching his step dad elf stay the same while his mom succumbed to her age would build some bitterness. Maybe it would cause the elf step dad to detach from mayfly men. If Bronwyn became a symbol or legend in Numenor, since they gave a lot of lives for her sake, it could build some bitterness there too. Mortality should be a big theme in this story.

[@MichuV5]

43:08 While not told in the story, it could also go like that: Morgoth is a bid bad. Sauron is his strong minion. Morgoth goes and does big baddie things, fucks around etc while Sauron corrupts humans for him, to strenghten him. So it would make bit of sense that some humans would be following Sauron more or less, as someone who is directly tied to corrupting them.

[@Kanaxe]

Everytime I think about this show, I end up coming back to your videos, they're honestly the best thing that happened thank to this show. I love your takes on what works and what doesn't, and the way your justify these things. I can't wait to watch this video, thank you for all your hard work!

[@aitchisondaniel]

It is amazing how much a token family man, Glug, can wreck the whole world-building.

[@DIEGhostfish]

One of the worst bits is calling Evil "Unyielding" when Tolkien is very clear that evil is cowardly. It always comes back, Middle Earth is a Fallen world, (fallen from Valinor and Eden alike even), but it is not unyielding. It cuts and runs.

[@NoveI_Tea]

I can't beleive how dirty they did Tom Bombadil. It is an tragity of mischaracterization and an actor who doesn't understand the role.

[@ostatnifajek128]

Adapting Tom Bombadil is, in my opinion, one of the most difficult tasks a filmmaker can take upon themselves. There are very few characters like Tom, that feel almost childish and yet somewhat otherworldly; seemingly all-powerful, yet knowing better not to meddle, for the reasons no one else can comprehend. There's just a laundry list of the things that can go wrong when dealing with such character.

[@billjacobs521]

@@ostatnifajek128 I think he's unadaptable, frankly. Not everything in a book can translate to film. Even Tolkien wasn't really sure who or what he was.

[@darthdestoryah]

@@billjacobs521I think Bombadil is the last vestiges of the original more child friendly sequel to the hobbit, before Tolkien decided to fully commit to making the Lord of the Rings what it is.

[@frankvandorp2059]

I would argue the actor is the absolute last person you can blame for this. He just has to work with a terribly written, terribly adapted character that was unsalvageable from the get go.

[@NoveI_Tea]

@frankvandorp2059 yeah, he looks great and seems to be able to act alright. You’re right; he doesn't understand because he was given the wrong advice and direction from incompetent show runners.

[@davidleblanc7563]

RFT, you're the damn king for putting this together man. For all your vids, I know it couldn't have been easy.

[@AgathaThrifty]

RoP could just deal with its abrupt scene transitions by replacing them with Star Wars style screen wipes, the way Battlefield Earth did (to unintentionally hilarious effect). I'm coming to believe that RoP is, in fact, a stealth remake of BE, whose blond hero was named "Jonnie Goodboy" and whose main villain spent the entire movie doing things he would not do. BE opened with a text crawl stolen from Star Wars, introduced the bad guys in a scene stolen from Blade Runner, and ended with a scene stolen from Raiders of the Lost Ark. The main villain takes the hero on a road trip for no reason to a library to examine inspiring documents in order to drive the hero's subsequent actions, and straps him down in a machine designed to literally beam information into the subject's mind, so the hero can efficiently know things he shouldn't have any way to know. The human encampment in BE could be swapped out for the Stoor's village in RoP with no interruption to either story. BE also features muddled religious beliefs, dubious science, ignorance of basic economic theory (and the villain goes down for the love of gold, natch), and an egregious disregard for distance and time. It's staggering to realize that BE was in production at essentially the same time as The Fellowship of the Ring.

[@Joee003]

Perfection lies in the details, so I shall point out the "Annatar" disguise you used during the plot break down. Made me smile.

[@GODofEverythin9_]

3:01:00 Isildur literally got stabbed in a major artery and walked around in a forest for like 3 weeks without any real medical help. Idildur is invulnerable!

[@alpharius2omegaboogaloo384]

Those numenorian genetics man

[@HypK799]

I am a bit surprised that nobody that I watch has referenced the Sonic OVA when talking about Galadriel claiming to be the only one to understand Sauron's actions.

[@marinescu0511]

*MOM THE WEIRD KRONK GUY HAS A NEW VIDEO!!!!*

[@austinish]

That RoP cliffhanger montage is insane. Half of those dont even feel like the ending of a scene; Random's been saying the entire time conversations get cut halfway, but there's no exaggeration here. No musical touches to indicate end of scene, not much of a dramatic pause. Just someone talking, and instead of the camera cutting to the next line in the conversation, it cuts to Numenor for some reason.

[@jorgedeanoperez2997]

43:15, minor correction. Sauron corrupted Adar with the promise of children back before the First Age began, when he helped corrupt him as part of the hosts of Morgoth. Morgoth captured Adar and the other elves that would become Uruks, left him chained somewhere, and eventually sent Sauron as the "good cop" to offer him wine and ask what he desired most, which was children. This was all hundreds of years before Morgoth's defeat

[@AlihaydarAcikelli]

When you spoke about the orcs marching without any resting to Eregion at 3:30, we have to remember that orcs can't stand the sun. So we also have to discard this in order to make it happen. Keep up your great work. I like it. Ps: How did the dwarves get Durin's corpse when he died inside the cave???

[@nathanlee7330]

Sorry boss, completely booked in meetings and corporate trainings tomorrow. Won't be able to take any calls on my headset.

[@GODofEverythin9_]

3:00:08 I find it super funny to think that Isildur just chilledin the woods for almost 8 weeks

[@cmcapps1963]

The most expensive show on television...is only entertaining when it gets the MST3K treatment usually reserved for low budget horror from decades past. Thanks, RFT, for turning this dross to gold!

[@alexandertkachenko1432]

The highlight of this show is that it caused Random to make this video, and include a clip of Ron Perlman in Pacific Rim saying "You Goddamn Moron."

[@angerissues69626]

It is insane to me how these videos are more entertaining than the actual show

[@JamesHuggett_]

I found this channel shortly after the first Hobbit video you released and I said it then and it means even more now cuz you've gotten even so much better. This channel is criminally under subscribed.

[@marcuscomstock6473]

I've been waiting since the last episode recap for this and cannot wait to watch this! Thanks Random

[@totallynuts7595]

4:07:00 for the sympathetic orcs bit: the irony here is that while Tolkien wrote the orcs as unambigously evil, he gave some of them names and personalities. RoP writers aren't able to write simple evil characters, such as Tolkien's orcs, let alone write a deconstruction of the race that was previously an embodiment of evil.

[@liliesaregoodfortheliver2954]

Ikr, there's an individual orc plotting to ditch Mordor and live with his pal in the hills in Return of the King (book).

[@qq-wy7zs]

Honestly, Tolkien orcs are more sympathetic. They were instilled with a biological fear of morgoth so strong that they couldn't oppose him even if it was in their best interest. They were evil and needed to be stopped, but it was forced upon them by the magic of an evil God. They just chose to be evil in RoP.

[@Joanna_smith]

Almost 6 hours! The wait was soo worth it

[@frankvandorp9732]

Can I find that chronological overview you made somewhere? I wish you had separated the discussion of the chronological constraints from the discussion of the plot holes/contrivances of each scene, because it becomes really hard to follow now why a certain events needs to have happened before another event in a different plotline. For example, Galadriel's meeting with Adar in the forest happens much more early than I expected in your chronology, before the dwarven rings were even forged, and I don't understand why.

[@DIEGhostfish]

7:58 Wait, the Elf Rings were made LAST with the least direct Sauron influence I thought.

[@christianjacinto7042]

They were, and it's a very crucial plot point that they were. Boils my blood they made them first, probably going off the PJ movies that list the Three first.

[@NickiRusin]

holy crap that's an extremely important detail what the fuck

[@RudolfaSong]

I would absolutely love to see your thoughts on game of thrones, i feel like your style of analysis would be perfect for that show

[@jasongarcia2140]

How is this guy so unimaginably thorough and Just Jeez dude

[@bim41337]

Ooooh yeah, I've been so looking forward to this one. It's really amazing work you do here. It's educational, entertaining and sufficiently nerdy at the same time. And a video about Game of Thrones? YES SIR!!

[@kylefrank638]

"Dark Wizard" feels like it has to end up being an Arkham Knight situation. Where they swear up and down it's not the obvious reveal, and then, it just was, because there's literally no other narratively satisfying candidate that you've set up/have in lore to be this mysterious newcomer. OR. idk. The writers were butthurt that everyone immediately knew Meteor Man was Gandalf, and so they wrote the new wizard to be unmistakably Saruman, and then they'll dress him in brown in S3 and act like they pulled off a twist.

[@mrminecraftcubeable]

They really fucked up with the arkham knight

[@oddbizarious224]

To go into more detail about the "Cliffhangers" in the Two Towers... 4:36:44 - The cutaway from Pippin puts the audience in a position to experience what Aragorn, Legolas, and Gimli experience as they arrive on the scene of the orc massacre and have to deduce what happened from tracking. We also still get to see exactly what happened to Merry & Pippin because while Aragorn is discovering their tracks, we see what the camera cut away from -- Merry & Pippin's escape is not hidden forever from the audience, it was just delayed so that we experience it as other characters experience it. This bonds the audience more to the main characters of Aragorn & Co. because we feel what they feel. It is also not a hiding of information -- it's giving the audience all the information available, just in a certain order _along with_ certain characters so you can experience what they do. The movie is giving you what Aragorn is experiencing - that is the ultimate goal. 4:37:30 - The cutaway here means we again get to experience the reveal with Aragorn & Co, and we don't have to watch a repeat of information -- we don't see Gandalf reunite with Merry & Pippin, only for it to happen again with Aragorn & Co a few minutes later. The conversation Gandalf has with Aragorn and Co is also setup for what they will be doing for the rest of the movie, making it a more important conversation for the audience to see, rather than the conversation with Merry & Pippin where Gandalf just says "yeah, go hang out with Treebeard for a bit". It's efficient and aware of what the audience needs. These are all a far cry from the cutaways in Rings of Power, as RoP _does not_ show what happened after the camera cut away -- they never do the work. They purposefully _skip_ the work, and skip the experience the characters are having.

[@VivTheMage]

Time to binge your previous episodes 🥳

[@antonakesson]

If I remember correctly in the Tolkien world, the dwarven rings was not meant to turn their users insane. They where meant to give Sauron control over them but he underestimated how resistant the dwarven kind was. So insanity and greed was an unaccounted for side effect since the main effect didn't work. At the very least that is how I remember it. I could be wrong though.

[@Tieflingbardtrash]

1:58:05 he breaks the show because it’s a perfect example of how this show demystifies every aspect of Tolkien’s world in the worst way possible. Just take a look at how Peter Jackson portrays the elves in the trilogy. They are ethereal, wise, and have medicine and tools far outside those of men. The intro literally calls them the fairest and wisest of all beings. I understand adding nuance, as the elves are obviously not infallible, but in this show they are inept and boring. As a fan of the source material and the films, this show is unwatchable so I thank you for your service🫡🫡🫡

[@taylorlinyard3533]

Waldrig is the absolute lynchpin for the Middle Earth Universe

[@rickoshea9351]

I guess that's why they turned down Peter Jackson's offer to consult: they didn't want him to find out they were about to pillage his movies.

[@sirquaffler542]

Watching the two showrunners behind the scenes, I alternate between pity at what seems to be genuine passion for their show marred by incomprehensible incompetence, and rage at the cynical manipulation of the source material for their own historical revisionism.

[@XraynPR]

I have been awaiting this like the hedgehogs await the falling of the leaves

[@alexteague9075]

The writing does remind me of childhood playground behaviour, that one kid constantly saying "yeah then this happens -- then that happens -- then I win/ I'm right don't question it"

[@captainhurricane5705]

The Elves didn't make any rings for Dwarves, or for Men either; why would they? When Sauron took over the city, he took all of the rings and then dished them out to those whom he wanted to corrupt. These clowns are so inept they can't even read the original work properly.

[@christophertheriault3308]

Yep it constantly bugs me hearing characters in the show constantly referring to 'the seven' and 'the nine'