Rings of Power Season 2 is Not Very Good - Part 1: Elven Kings Under the Sky

[@randomft]

Hey guys, Amazon have demonetised this video. They have however allowed it to stay up, it is just isn’t earning any revenue. I have appealed this but it can take a month. If you did enjoy the video and want to support me, channel memberships are enabled. I wouldn’t usually plug this but as you can imagine it is very irritating for my best performing video that I worked silly hours to finish is not earning anything. Thanks guys, and I’ll keep this post updated when I hear back from the appeal. Fingers crossed this doesn’t happen to the other videos.

[@gingerbaker_toad696]

Their/them evil knows no fckn bounds :(

[@tommax1626]

Unfortunate!

[@wasatchandy1787]

You should post a video on this, to bring awareness . Most people have no clue that Amazon has that kind of well, power

[@AmirDarkOne]

"hello future me " probably gonna make another slander video , calling you grifter for not worshiping this show😂

[@javiercarrasco2977]

Just like it didn’t make sense for the torch to produce no heat, It doesn’t make sense that this video remain demonetised. Evil truly lurks about in these dark lands.

[@jamesdreads7828]

I was so excited that rings of power got a second season. I'd never watch it, but it means RFT gets a second season

[@owenwhitfield491]

@@jamesdreads7828 Me too lmao

[@poissonsumac7922]

Same here! I love hearing more sarcastic jabs at awful writing XD

[@mattpettifer6800]

You can tell they tried to make this season better. They made Galadrial more feminine. The orcs and Sauron speek the black speech. The elven king draws the truth about Sauron out of galadrial. I can't wait to see random tear it apart. They changed so much its going to convolute their already scatter brained plot lines.

[@hekainu1098]

Exactly this

[@stanislavkindiakov6334]

Plus one from me.

[@poissonsumac7922]

When Galadriel yelled "Give me the meat and give it to me raw!" while Hunky Sauron was harvesting grain in slow motion, I stood up and clapped! Truly, a romance on par with Beren and Lúthien.

[@Alpha23TV]

@@poissonsumac7922 epic!

[@americafy9195]

You made my day.

[@poissonsumac7922]

​@@americafy9195 Good to hear!

[@poissonsumac7922]

​@@Alpha23TVThanks!

[@rylanasher4756]

I simply can't watch a show without grain and raw meat euphemisms. 12/10.

[@TheLewisDawg]

The lieutenant of Morgoth, Lord of wolves, The dark sorcerer, Master of manipulation, Singer of dread, The mighty shapeshifter, The Necromancer of Dol Guldur... has to hold a rally to convince the orc union leaders to support him. And they just shiv him instead 😄This has to be Saurón, the Dark Lord's incompetent cousin.

[@DuxRAwesome]

2 things: Lord of Were**wolves, and completely seperately it is actually Thú not Saurón

[@Kaeldo]

And he gets Morgoths name wrong he called im Murgoth...

[@weardcute]

His name is Simon, regional manager of Mordor

[@RoninDave]

@@TheLewisDawg Sup'ron, Sauron's college roommate still stuck in a sophomore phase

[@sydneyslaughter7163]

“Hey, my dark army, this is Saroon, my cousin. He, uhhhh, he’s a bit special and my mom wants me to teach him the ropes on the whole “evil thing”. So be nice to him, okay? He’s trying his best.”

[@yetischwein]

There's an obvious reason, why James Cordon doesn't throw the rings into the sea, after he got splashed: Because the sea is always right!

[@undeadaeon9992]

@@yetischwein the ring held influence on him.

[@Donut-fr7is]

@@undeadaeon9992 None of the Elven rings have the ability to influence their users.

[@allthings2allmen]

The Shipwright wasn't always right?

[@MarkHogan994]

@@allthings2allmen He's a shipwrong now, I guess.

[@allthings2allmen]

@@MarkHogan994 Maybe wrong for all I know, but maybe right. Shipwrong that's silly! But I like it!

[@StevenStorm1]

So at the end of season 1 Sauron’s plan was to leave Eregion, go to Mordor, surrender to Adar, to convince him to let him go back to Eregion. What a clever mastermind he is.

[@aimanefarehan9044]

😂😂😂😂😂 wtf

[@aimanefarehan9044]

He does that to plant his comeback later

[@rosethrawn]

This show makes Sauron seem like a whole 🤡

[@crazyralph6386]

While doing his best Venom symbiote impression 😂

[@opromlie2272]

I think you clearly didnt pay attention but ok 😂

[@nationlessnationalist]

The amount of content i consume about a show I will never watch is ridiculous.

[@wenlisman]

Isnt that really pathetic?

[@Glizzygripes]

Right there with you lol

[@nationlessnationalist]

@@wenlisman pathetic how bad the show is.

[@wenlisman]

@@nationlessnationalist I have loved the show as a fan of LOTR for over 20 years. I also have my own life and hobbies, something you guys seem to be lacking...

[@thefirstofthelast1181]

@@wenlismanpathetic for the writers and investors.

[@jeremiaas15]

Today a certain plumbing-related thing in my batroom, which I don't know the English name of, broke. Deciding to fix the problem as soon as possible, I went to the shop which sells plumbing-related stuff in search of a new one. The 20-minute walk to said shop turned out to be a bit more stressfull than I first assumed, because I realised I don't know the name of the broken thing in my native language either, which would make any interaction with a shopping assistant embarassing. Thankfully, it was a supermarket-type shop and after looking around for some time I found what I was out for. Went home, rested a bit, and then replaced the broken thing with the freshly-bought new equivalent thing. This has nothing to do with the video, but I recon you'll enjoy a story which makes sense and is somewhat more interesting.

[@goblinqueen4991]

And has a main character I can empathize with, unlike RoP.

[@LocustxXxLocust]

Yes. the story made complete sense and I was rotig for the main character all most the whole way thru. But it was a bit of a disappointment that there wasn't more of an ordeal at the retailer. I hoped for an intense scene were our hero, using his wits, tried to find a way to explain to the salesman what he needed and after failing to explain what he needs with words, it hits our hero: He can draw a rough sketch of what he needs and where in the plumbing system this mysterious MacMuffin fits in it. And because the salesman, the white antagonist in our story, is a skilled individual in the field of plumbing he soon understands what the MC needs and speedily fetches the object that has so mystified our distraught hero. Whom then ventures home and successfully fails at mucking up the installation of the MacMuffin.

[@TheLewisDawg]

Well, there was a sense of mystery to it, and around the halfway point, I was at the edge of my seat, guessing where it might go. So I think I was decently entertained with something that didn't cost a billion to make...

[@OroHoneyLemon]

You have succeeded at what RoP has failed at in so many episodes in a mere couple of paragraphs. Congratulations 👏👏👏

[@Skitdora2010]

I used to work at home Depot, inventory manager of plumbing. If you drew a picture people could figure it out or said where it was in your bathroom, its function. Most common repair part are rubber gaskets.

[@dark_side_cookies]

Looks like tearing apart Rings of Power is back on the menu, boys!

[@JesterquestYT]

@@dark_side_cookies YOU ARE TEARING ME APART, ELROND!

[@adampatino5372]

​​@@JesterquestYT O hai, Mark :3

[@cockyrustler]

So Sauron can polymorph into black blob, but his brilliant disguise to fool the elves is a ..blond wig?

[@Br4dSp34d]

it's so stupid that it's GENIUS! 🤣🤣🤣

[@tunguskalumberjack9987]

And makeup- don’t forget the makeup.

[@scottski02]

"That's why it's so brilliant, because it's so pathetically dim-witted."

[@Ktmfan450]

@@cockyrustler He isn't hiding though The elves know him as Halbrand and as Annatar

[@Charizardlison]

do you wear wigs?

[@chunky19942004]

I am actually SHOCKED at how rational Elrond was in episode 1

[@Mnnwer]

Really? I mean, his riding skills were clearly pretty good considering he could beat THE COMMANDER OF THE NORTHEN ARMIES.

[@josuelopes-k8r]

Don't you make fun of strong independant women! ​@@Mnnwer

[@chrismeandyou]

He is the only one in the entire show I am rooting for now

[@donaldjgumpofficial5754]

@@chrismeandyou Keep him and Durin separate and he can be salvaged.

[@Valyrisss]

@@Mnnwer for judt a lousy politician amarite

[@ethanhunstiger4868]

The scene of Sauron failing to take control of the orcs could have been so cool. First, he tries to use his standard “fair form” tricks and fails utterly. The orcs mock him for not only his appearance but also his seeming weakness. Sauron, who would be enraged by this, pulls a Gandalf. Seeming to grow in stature, scary voice, eyes like fire, weird shadow stuff, the whole dark lord package. The orcs are immediately cowed by his display and start kneeling. This is when Adar would stab him in the back, probably shouting something like “my children will not be slaves”. Sauron would respond by hurling Adar across the room, almost killing him. The orcs would dogpile Sauron, attempting to protect their father. As Sauron lays dying, Adar limps toward him, making the whole “we will make a new home” speech, to which Sauron responds with “not here” and explodes in frost making the area uninhabitable.

[@Klickor]

Would still be a bad scene but at least your version has some good and cool bits to it and turns it from a 1/10 to a 3 or 4 out of ten. For people who don't know who Sauron is it would be rated as very good. But now they made him a bitch and not threatening to everyone. They can't even break the lore in a good or cool way. So useless they are. They have the money and opportunity to at least make it look good but can't even do that

[@billjacobs521]

And in the very first episode, they showed Sauron in seemingly that same room, or a very similar one, in his full armor, being all imposing and evil--that's been replaced with some fop, for some reason, despite already having a visual to work with. They can't even follow the rule of cool.

[@Dionysus_333]

Wow. If only you had wealthy, connected parents, who were owed favors and laundered money, you’d make a great writer!

[@RoninDave]

the whole idea of a Dark Lord who came into existence before the world having to cajole orcs into fighting for him is just ridiculous and takes away from the menace and mystery of Sauron.

[@dodojesus4529]

@@RoninDave it also makes the orcs more evil since it shows they can refuse him. In lore theyre magically driven to obey him here they just want ti do it

[@lupolinar]

Who needs good writers on a half a billion dollar show?

[@emhu2594]

We all know that money was embezzled.

[@khanhnguyen-tt3ff]

they needed a good editor instead cause good editor needed a good editor to called them on their bullshit logic in story, like time skip, relationship link .since these is a tv show where are the producers that support to keep the director in check. i trully believe you needed editor and producers to keep writers and director in check.

[@Blibers]

The writers making a "mystery puzzle with one piece, and passing the piece back and forth" is brilliant!😂

[@Folker46590]

Episode one, directed and written by a woman. The only part that made sense was 'Cordon' was going to drop the rings into the ocean and the 'sea' stopped him. "The Sea is always right!" So, it makes sense that Cordon would see that as a sign from the Valar, that it's ok to for the Elves to use the rings.

[@silverscorpio24]

"Hey Celebrimbor, don't talk to Halbrand." "Why?" "Just don't." "Elrond, what is she talking about?" "No time to talk. Gimme those rings." *_Later, in Lindon_* "Gil-Galad, Halbrand is Sauron." "What?!" "He tricked us into making these rings." "Oh well. These look cool. Does Celebrimbor know?" "No." "Oh okay. I'll send a letter via one rider on the main road to Eregion. Hope nothing bad happens." I've missed this show in the most sadistic way.

[@flabbergast_se]

And then they show two dead messengers...

[@plebisMaximus]

I've genuinely been really, really excited for this season. There's very few things I've watched that are this entertainingly awful. I hope it never gets better.

[@stephenschroeder2141]

You must mean masochistic way… unless you’re living in the comments section watching RFT lose his mind?

[@DasBrotBernd]

Galadriel even meets celebrimbor in between and doesn't tell him!!!

[@silverscorpio24]

@@stephenschroeder2141 I have fun watching KZbinrs tear this billion dollar vanity project vandalization of one of those most beloved movie trilogy and book saga to absolute shreds.

[@Stargaze79]

"We're going in circles. We're lost!" - show accurately describes its own plot... 😂

[@ArdaUnhail]

Year 1942, a guy called Adolf from Germany gets backstabbed by his staff. He makes friends with a danish fisherman and sets sails to France. In the English channel their boat is sunk by a whale and they start to drift on the flotsam. Then, they find another surviver, behold, the daughter of King George, princess Elizabeth. Elizabeth tells him whatever he had done in the past, doesn't matter and encourage hm to go back to Germany and claim his inheritance. They travel to France, convince the parliament to give them an army and they charge into Germany together to save Austria from Anschluss. But in the turn of events, an old farmer from Tirol finds an mp38 that can fit to a hole in the Alpines, and puts it into the socket. With that move, a nuke splashes and eradicates Poland and now Soviets and Allies at war. Elizabeth begins to think that this charming Adolf might actually be a bad guy... Hey, what do you think for my new WW2 historical drama idea?

[@automatedrussianbot8043]

nice chatgtp story

[@Seomus]

And where is Princess Elizabeth's husband in all this? In the source material, they had a very close relationship and their children are important for later chapters of the story. I mean, who is Princess Diana supposed to marry with this change to the backstory.

[@ArdaUnhail]

@@Seomus he was captured during a Viking raid some time ago. See, he isn't really necessary for my plotline.

[@ArdaUnhail]

@@automatedrussianbot8043 I don't think chatgpt can gather the letters a, d, o, l and f into a word, particularly a name.

[@Seomus]

@@ArdaUnhail LOL

[@robertjordan7280]

The idea of stabbing a king with his own crown is cool, to be fair. Now if only the scene or characters earned it… :(

[@billjacobs521]

Except that in order to make that work, the crown has to be ridiculous.

[@matijasostojic4288]

​@@billjacobs521 Have you seen that guys armour in the future?! I don't think he cares about stuff like that.

[@allthings2allmen]

That 'flippin' thing was lethal!

[@Nr4747]

The writers probably saw season 1 of GoT and wanted to have a scene that emulated the molten crown-moment.

Adar: "You say that Sauron is alive? How do you know that? Halbrand: "Well, because actually I am Sauron" Adar. "I see. OK, off you go".

[@DragdeadMedia]

Guys, I think Galadriel may or may not have a tempest in her.

[@whyukraine]

Chipotle?

[@elizabethtaylor8428]

​@@whyukraineTaco Bell

[@DjangoAccelerando]

Waldreg's "Welcome to Mordor, don't ever fuck around" is my new jam.

[@jackbrennan1125]

Notice how she said "He deceived me" rather than "I was deceived." That may sound like those are both the same thing essentially but not actually. "He deceived me" puts the emphasis on Sauron, meaning she's blaming predominantly Sauron, taking the blame off herself. "I was deceived" keeps the focus solely on her and has the connotation of admitting it was her fault she was deceived rather than Sauron's fault for deceiving her.

[@ZytazZyta]

Oh! That's actually a very good observation... ... but since it's RoP I doubt the writers realized -_-'

[@robfromjersey7899]

I still don't understand why Sauron is even bothering to negotiate with orcs. He's Sauron. He's the chief lieutenant of the source of all evil. He doesn't negotiate with anyone. He commands, and orcs obey, end of story.

[@thehoneybunempress1664]

Bc needs to be ReLaTaBle. In all seriousness, this is why it's a mistake to try to humanize sauron, who's meant to represent the satanic archetype. He's not misunderstood, he's evil. That's literally the point of the dark lord archetype. Trying to make him a traditional character will inevitably diminish his gravitas and terror, hence why the books nor movies ever showed him up close in person. It's also the reason why good horror movies don't show the monster until the very end.

[@whitegoose2017]

​@@thehoneybunempress1664 They wanted to make the Orcs relatable too or look as if misunderstood. They just don't understand the source material. Orcs are monstrous. That is their Nature. They are Cruel and Wicked. Corrupted by Evil. These are not Orcs from Warcraft. These are Orcs from Arda. Introducing Sauron was a mistake in the first place. He should never have been a character who the story follows. At most he should have been a side character who is seen interacting with the main characters, e.g. Annatar being involved with the creation of the rings, manipulating the Numenorians, and so on. It's as if someone thought we should see Grima Wormtongue as a main character.

[@Dionysus_333]

But that’s not gay.

[@whitegoose2017]

@@Dionysus_333 L-Rond needs some raw Meat from Durex

[@TheTrueBobDole]

I still don't understand why a group of elves are talking in english, among themselves, then yell the elvish words for frost troll?

[@GILGAMESH069]

There's no orc in existence that can give sauron no for an answer let alone call him a liar to his face or have the means or will to harm him, this thing is too fundamental to this universe, I don't care if they're doing their own thing they don't get to choose with this one Also I'm sorry but the actors don't got it, they have neither the stature or acting ability a supernaturally charismatic being like sauron needs

[@guerreiroazul3230]

@@GILGAMESH069 the orcs are basically mind controlled, even the shadow of war games got that right.

[@MajorSmurf]

Okay so tbf from the books, there was a tribe of orcs that laughed at him when he introduced himself in his fair form and he was forced to leave... key difference there being that Sauron didn't want to go full power on their ass because that would reveal his presence to the elves. But I can't expect these writers to understand such nuance. I bet afterwards when he revealed his true self those orcs were used for spear throwing practice or tortured with a slight hint of fire.

[@GILGAMESH069]

@@MajorSmurf excuse me?

[@MajorSmurf]

@@GILGAMESH069 It's true here's the passage. “But not until Mordor and the Barad-dûr were ready could he allow them to come out of hiding, while the Eastern Orcs, who had not experienced the power and terror of the Eldar, or the valour of the Edain, were not subservient to Sauron-while he was obliged for the cozening of Western Men and Elves to wear as fair a form and countenance as he could, they despised him and laughed at him.” While in his fair form, he was too worried about unleashing his full power to make them serve is what I believe is happening during this time. That's the basic idea I get from this, the elves would notice him if he used his full might to make these eastern orcs serve him fully. He might not have been forced to leave but I'm sure he meets with them or at least I read that in a comment somewhere but to sum up these eastern orcs wouldn't serve him probably while he was in disguise as his fair form or Annatar but I'm sure some Tolkien lore wizard knows more than I do.

[@GILGAMESH069]

@@MajorSmurf where is this from

[@mwallrabenstein5215]

I cant get over the fact that sauron / annatar is just a rando, and that he is mugged by a couple dozen orcs.

[@flabbergast_se]

The mighty Maia, the deceiver, mind controller, that can destroy dozens of the mightiest warriors in battle at the same time get's shanked like a Temu Julius Caesar except before he did most of his feats. Why did the Elves and Men actually fear Sauron? Could have just airdropped Aragorn next to Sauron and have him stab him and collect him in a bucket.

[@Badclamz83GaMinG]

Yea its insane! Literally taken out by an Orc with a Crown

[@christianpoulsen4164]

@@flabbergast_se Its mind-boggling, also as far as I understand the only reason Sauron didn't die when Isildur cut of the ring, was because his essence was in the ring so he could reform, but if he was killed before having made the ring he would be dead?

[@jakeplayzrandomstuff4738]

@@flabbergast_se I actually think it makes sense. Sauron was not killed, just his physical form. Plus, it took an unexpected surprise attack from many foes and overwhelming force to do it, and he picked himself back up afterwards pretty easily. If Aragorn was dropped beside him, Aragorn would get killed.

[@nostalji93]

​@@christianpoulsen4164 Yeah true. Saurons blood shapeshifted into some marvel like creature (Venom) upon death. Death caused by rebellous orcs?! If he dead he should be dead. Idk what happens to his kind though upon death if they can even die, but it shouldnt be like what they showed in Rop. Well at least vampire Sauron isn't fully against the lore.

[@picivyvortac2641]

Funny story, Gilgalad is Galadriel's great nephew.

[@ipot399]

And Celebrimbor is her cousin's son, and Elrond is her son-in-law. She's older than all three of them, but you wouldn't know that from Rings of Power's baffling casting choices.

[@dodojesus4529]

​@@ipot399shes a ruler not a general

[@whitegoose2017]

@@ipot399 Funny that. Can't have all these lore tidbits ruining our show.. No we can't have that. Let's make GaladRiel a stupid girl boss instead.

[@dodojesus4529]

@@whitegoose2017 way weaker and stupider too

[@dodojesus4529]

@@ipot399 seriously though galadriel is like the second or third oldest elf on middle earth. And should have a massive amount of pomitical power. Getting told to go back to valinor is not in the cards for someone of her power

[@Blizzardfire]

Elrond: Why did you come back with the rings?! Cirdan: The sea is always right!

[@Lothiril]

Can I just point out that Sauron just assumes that Galadriel would be far too self-centred to tell Celebrimbor that Halbrand was Sauron (in order to warn him of Middle-earth's biggest threat) and that's why he can casually ride into Eregion without having to fear that he's greeted with weapons? Also, why the hell is Adar trusting Halbrand by letting him go when he knows that Halbrand has some bone to pick with him, given how he chased him through the woods and almost stabbed him in S1E6? Like, did he forget that, die the writers forget that? He didn't even try to find out more about that, and you'd think that would be important if he wants to establish work relationship here.

[@Wishdreamerx]

Excellent points, missed both of those!

[@Klickor]

They did change the actor for Adar and with how stupid the writers are they might have thought if you change the actor the character itself changes too.

[@bintube5269]

@@Lothiril I actually did forget that scene in the woods lol

[@mishlenlinden]

There is too much common sense in your mind. You must get rid of it.

[@mishlenlinden]

@@Klickor I think he quit. I wonder why.

[@alden2085]

Sauron: I don't know what to be... Tell me what to be. John Goodman: I dunno, just don't be a dick.

[@vardamir0397]

peter mckay saw antman and went: ''Peak.''

[@nighthawk7485]

I find it sad that the fact that Elrond had a personal conviction, took actions consistent with that personal conviction, and argued his points in favor of his convictions might be the best thing this show has ever done. This should be just a basic bar of quality, and it is tragic that Rings of Power just barely clears that bar in one aspect and it is probably the peak of this show.

[@brendancoulter5761]

Why would Souron give a speech to a group of orcs, telling them hes going to sacrifice many of them. What was he trying to inspire? If he wanted them to fight for him, why tell them many will die? Why not lie to them and inspire them or directly scare them with threats? My best guess, the writers wrote the speech to the audience, not to the characters who are hearing the speech. More clunky broken exposition directly explaining what Saurons plan is.

[@cdev2117]

Why would Sauron give a speech to a group of orcs at all? He is Sauron a Maiar, that's like Satan (or Belphegor or Beelzebub) would give pep talks to his minions.

that's not a guess it's what happened

[@alexndrtrash]

@@brendancoulter5761 i think people are purposefully ignoring that sauron told them they wouldnt be outcasts anymore and that theyd be worshipped in a world they help enslave.

[@flabbergast_se]

He needs to end up lost at sea and also look like a victim.

[@raf952]

Assuming Poppy did not know where Nori and Not-Gandalf were heading, she couldn't have known which maps to steal from the Horror-Foots. She must have taken _all_ their maps and charts. Perhaps, somewhere off-screen, all of the Horror-Foots are wandering, hopelessly lost, doomed to perish since now all of them are "off-trail"...

[@nicodemous52]

The most messed up part. The three elven rings are the only three Sauron had no hand in helping create. He helped created all the others, but those three were made in secret without his knowledge. He only has power over them, because they used the techniques he taught the elves, to make them. He became aware of them, but he had no had in their creation. In this show it looks like they were the only ones he helped created.

[@naytdug]

I know right? The other rings were made with the One Ring's backdoor firewall protocol built in to where he could influence the users and they were never wholly safe to use. The elven rings were made using the same code, but with no built-in vulnerability. I guess the show couldn't bother to follow the lore they had no rights over.

[@HateshWarkio]

Considering how much the leaders of the Elvenkind are tearing each other apart, Sauron should've just made a bunch of jewelry and let the whole Middle-earth solve it, battle royale style

[@DamienBlade]

Why does the original Sauron look like he's played by the nerd in every high school comedy movie?

[@bintube5269]

Before I realised it was a flashback I genuinely thought that guy was just an imposter Adar had organised to trick the orcs Sauron has returned 😅

[@scottski02]

Adar gave Halbrand swirlies in the boy's locker room

[@venomsnake4042]

Shadow of War and Shadow of Mordor took humongous liberties with LOTR lore but even that was more respectful to Tolkien than Rings of Power

[@guerreiroazul3230]

It was also fun

[@vespenegas261]

Sexy Shelob lessgo!

[@Nobile-Cavaliere]

I love how nori and gandalf are worried about food when nori has a bunch of olives in her hair.

[@matthewcollins4773]

Sauron is a floppy pancake you can run over in your wagon. I think Sauron might be a dead hedgehog.

[@lordofthepizzapie9319]

Sauron the Hedgehog "Sauron's the name, rings are my game!"

[@balazsvarga1823]

Sauronchu.

[@vespenegas261]

​@1nvisibleAcropolis my guess was Alex Mercer from Prototype

[@MannyNamiro]

Roadkill is more appealing that this show.

[@feelthepony]

That may be the most lore accurate part of the show, in the books Sauron is a nerd, and loses every fight he gets in.

[@sassenspeyghel4155]

Behold Annatar, Lord of GIFs

[@Scottdg93]

The best part of the show was when Galadriel said "It's tempest time" and then started tempesting all over the place.

[@whyukraine]

It was bad Chinese food

[@Power_Prawnstar]

When she yelled Cowabunga, I knew this was the show for me 😂

[@americafy9195]

On Sauron's Backstory : this is ludicrous. Sauron, or rather Annatar at these times, is called the Deceiver. Manipulation, temptation, flattery, this guy's all about that kinda shenanigans. This type of very self-important and arrogant speeches without any regard given to caution is more Melkor's style. Anyways, we did know they didn't care about the lore but it is indeed a bit idiotic in itself, the lore question is only bringing it to a greater level of idiocy. The very idea that orcs would have the guts to challenge Sauron, Morgoth's ex right hand, is ridiculous. Actually, in the lore, IT IS relevant that Sauron did not touch the three elven rings even though the knowledge of ring-making did came from him. It's the sole reason the elven rings' powers are bound to the One but not subjected to its domination, unlike the other 16, those given to men and dwarves. RFT seems to be taking 'touch' in a very litteral sense, when it's more like he didn't directly craft them. In Tolkien's world, crafting is kind of a mystical activity, 'cause it's a sort of creation. When one crafts something, it's self-expression alright, but with Tolkien it's more 'they pour something of their vital essence' into it than 'the object was shaped according to their experiences'. So, the One ring, crafted solely by Sauron, and the 16 rings given to mean and dwarves, crafted by Celebrimbor and Sauron in duo, on one hand, and the three elven rings, crafted by Celebrimbor alone, when Sauron was away and without him knowing, on the other hand, are two quite different things. Sauron put a lot of himself in the One and very consciously corrupted the 16, but never even touched the 3, let alone participated in their creation on any practical ground. If he had been able to touch them and miss with them, he might have been able to corrupt them, but the elves made great sacrifices to make sure that never happened. Well, that's the story Tolkien wrote, obviously in the show, because Sauron directly participated in their making, the whole thing doesn't make any sense. 'bout the sea monster, I just think he sensed that Sauron was the real deal. That would be the explanation if Tolkien wrote the show at any rate. This happens quite a lot in the legendarium, and that's why no orc ever thought of betraying Sauron or Morgoth, they just feel how much they're outmatched. In the LOTR, when Frodo puts the ring on at Amon Hen, his consciousness sort of enters in contact with Sauron's and he immediately gets that Sauron's power over minds is a huge fucking deal. Sam does too, when he wears the ring in the Ered Lithri. I think that everything I've written here goes a long way to show the writers are constantly invoking parts of the legendarium in their story but only the parts they want and in a disorderly, incoherent fashion. Well, this has a name : we call it fanfiction. When you get that and add the errrrr, let's say 'financial interest', to stay polite, of Amazon, you just understand that this ain't going to get any better. Like, let's just collectively admit that highschoolers are doing very expensive fanfiction nowadays and kinda forget about it. PS : The water stuff with Cirdan should be Ulmo's (Vala of sea and all the watery stuff) doing. One more coin in the I-will-use-the-lore-but-not-talk-about-it-so-that-only-nerds-know-what-the-fuck-is-going-on machine I guess.

that wasn't sauron it was river cartwright from slow horses, horribly miscast

[@americafy9195]

I'm not sure I'm getting your meaning.

@@americafy9195 the actor that played sauron for a whopping 30 seconds is a star in slow horses which is a MUCH better show.

[@vermis8344]

Well said! Random orc trying to stab _Sauron_ is one of the bits in this episode that made my mind blank out. It's like the writers think Sauron is just some especially talented human magician.

[@americafy9195]

@@vermis8344 It's like they understand the formal mechanics of Tolkien's world but not the underlying structure that allows the engine to work smoothly.

[@AnarchHive]

Nori: Poppy why did you follow us? Poppy: Because I am your Sam, Mr Frodo!

[@Ackalan]

Why THE HELL is Sauron bowing to be crowed anyway? He's the most powerful being in the world at that point, excluding everyone in Valinor. Kings might have bowed before the priest in deference of God, but Sauron have no master or equal, Morgoth is gone.

[@saar144]

Give us the review and give it to us raw!

[@IronKore]

I love the meat, I eat is raw.... Wait!

[@saemg.6698]

I just. I just- Even when I actively ignore my prior knowledge on Middle-earth, i just cannot comprehend any premeses or character motivations in this goddamn show

[@alexp3462]

Galadriel getting the ring because Gil-galad dropped it was so stupidly funny.

[@Unstableo]

You see, pausing the video not even a min in just to read these glorious comments completely out of context is exactly the witty chaos I needed this evening, cheers everyone!

[@Norbert_Sattler]

Wait... So Galadriel only has a ring, because it literally dropped in front of her, after a random wave knocked them into the boat, when Cirdan wanted to drop them into the water? Not because she's a worthy leader or anything, but by sheer random chance? And Gil Galad, who wanted to take two of the rings, just lets her keep one, because it dropped from his hand and she picked it up? I... where they on drugs, when they wrote that?

[@moopara7991]

My favourite trivia thing in this, is that Elrond knows how deranged and insane Galadriel is, yet he's like "Yup, I want her as my mother in law"

[@Power_Prawnstar]

I'm trying to figure out how the whole dynamic works, given Celebor went for a packet of smokes and never came back?!? What, so Elrond knew the daughter from birth?

[@Alpha23TV]

Thank you Rings Of Power! Your existence is the manure from which great KZbin content grows! 🌹

[@justinbrush126]

Yeah, Cirdan changing his mind about the rings due to a wave is supposed to be a reference to how Ulmo of the Valar (who is kinda sorta Poseidon) would influence events in the Silmarillion. But only people who have read the Silmarillion would get that because they don’t explain it in the episode, which goes back to your argument from Season 1 about how the show could potentially have been made for fans of the books due to oblique references that only book fans would understand, except for all of the details in there that would royally piss off book fans.

[@bintube5269]

In my case I didn’t know he’s supposed to have a beard which I’ve seen multiple complaints about, and so I also didn’t know what the wave thing was about 😅

[@kealunleday3948]

Precisely

[@christopherbarker1048]

The best thing about Rings of Power Season 2 is watching this guy rip it to shreds.

[@mnschoen]

It's like the writers saw the criticism of season one and out of spite decided to double down on all the stuff the audience hated. RoP2: 32 of the first 40 minutes is explicit shots of stabbing, gutting, throat-slitting, blood pooling under dead bodies, a weird goo monster WHAT IN THE F*CK ARE THEY DOING? The Elven Rings still look like the pieces from my 1992 Pretty Pretty Princess game. Like...that's your design? I'm done now. This is just embarrassing.

[@thehoneybunempress1664]

Oh no, they already had the script for season 2 written before 1 aired.

[@antonjones4299]

"John Goodman" telling Sauron to decide to be good everyday has been done before in a much better show: Bojack Horseman. The jogger tells Bojack, "[Being good] gets easier, but you have to do it everyday. But it does get easier." The show uses a jogger deciding to run everyday as the metaphor for self-improvement. The thing is, this moment has a lot of build-up to it to make that quote hit like a truck. There is no build-up in Rings of Power for Sauron's potential self-improvement journey.

[@vermis8344]

Sauron, essentially a fallen angel; existed before the world and had a hand in it's creation; is orders of power higher than, and has a vastly deeper understanding of the cosmogony than any other being in Middle-Earth in the second age*, asks a dung-eating peasant 'how do I be good?' AaaaAAAAaaargh 🤦‍♂️ This show really comes across as not just written by stupid people, but written for stupid people too. The guy playing Cordo... dah, Cirdan is pretty good, pity he's only a bit part. Girl playing Galadriel continues to remind me of a gerbil demanding to speak to my manager. *With the possible exception of the balrog under Moria, but I guess it's still lower in Morgoth's original pecking order.

[@billjacobs521]

There were many Balrogs. I don't think any of them are particularly wise and understanding, though--they are more like fire demons. And I know at least one was taken out by an elf in a 1v1.

[@OUKIKO]

Unless I am mistaken - the Balrogs are also effectively fallen angels and on par with the likes of Gandalf and Sauron. Hence why when Gandalf faced the Balrog in Khazad-dûm they both die and Gandalf is returned to middle earth as the White. Elves have fought and bested many foes and even fought Morgoth 1v1. @@billjacobs521

[@kunsagigyula8091]

“Sauron did not yet take physical form but his spirit has lost none of it’t potency” Saruman in the Fellowship of the ring Apparently Sauron didn’t find an old wonan before and during The Lord of the Rings

Also Aragorn's body was busy being Aragorn

[@MajorSmurf]

Hold on something that just hit me about S1 but why is Sauron even on a boat? Well the one thing in Tolkien's legends is that evil hates water. Evil could not dwell or exist within waters especially of great importance for it was the opposite of evil and would destroy it, Melkor could not corrupt the Waters and Sauron held no dominion over them. Why the fuck would Sauron ever get on a boat? Him being drowned is what ultimately makes him lose his body after the flood of Numenor. Shouldn't he know this? Also where the fck was he travelling to anyway? Valinor? On a human ship? Hell nah. You need special permission from the gods to go there, unless you're an elf.

[@lexnight8345]

It's OK at some point in S1 we got confirmation that this is fan fiction of LOTR ... the rules don't matter

[@boneman-calciumenjoyer8290]

Because no one involved in the shows creation has ever held a middle earth adjusted book, they also don't know what a Tolkien is.

[@TallisKeeton]

Ulmo protects all rivers and oceans so its not place for Sauron :D

[@raf952]

Why didn't Galdreiel or Gil-Galadriel consider that Elrond might have sought refuge with the Dwarves? Or perhaps dozens of other friends or connections that a respected long-lived elf might have accumulated over his long life? Was this not at all a possibility? Is this world so small?

[@joelpenley9791]

Because you have a brain and can use logic. A better explanation (rather than seeking out someone older and wiser) would be that the water flows to where James Cordon makes ships, so lets see if Elrond ended up there. But they need Galadriel to be the best, so she just pulls Elrond's location out of her ass.

[@thelastbrickbender2139]

We’re so back

[@douglaslamar1530]

Imagine if we got an entire season of Sauron with amnesia while travelling with the Southlanders. Since he evil by nature, we get to see him at least try to do good things until he eventually remembers who he is and who betrayed him, leading to him to ultimately leave John Goodman for dead by the end of the season. Unfortunately, it appears that the writers are more concerned with fast-tracking to certain payoffs, rather than taking the time to build up towards it with anything of substance.

[@zzevonplant]

Almost anything would have been better than what we got.

[@Xenophon1]

Season 3 should be a musical. They have nothing else to lose.

[@Kaleiddmode]

Rings of Power musical and on ice 😂

[@Xenophon1]

@@Kaleiddmode 🤣

[@taylorlinyard3533]

But like…….WHY did Sauron decide to carve a map of the South-lands into the corpse of Galadriel’s brother, causing her to go on a genocide while he sat in the bottom of a cave as a venom puddle? Also why didn’t the bland elf or his doctor gf notice that town Sauron went to bursting into flames and belching smoke up into the air that you could see for miles? I assume that’s the town the elf gets kidnapped in when the orcs dug their tunnels under the town to get slaves to dig more tunnels, so why didn’t anyone notice this massive Orc attack that would easily draw the attention the elves.

[@TheSeniorCornholio]

Episode 2 was far shittier than episode 1 and episode 3 was far shittier than episode 2, cant wait for those reviews!!

[@bintube5269]

Yep!

[@nebby9751]

I've only made it one episode so far, since the friends I'm watching this with can only handle so much RoP in one sitting. But thus far we've had the following take aways: 1. The elves are consistently making themselves out as the least wise race in middle earth. 2. I know the wave on the boat scene is meant to be the influence of the rings themselves.Especially since the Ring Ciudan wears is presumably the ring of water. But in this show, I can genuinely only read it that the writers are taking "The sea is always right" literally, and they think that it works like the ocean in Moana. 3. Nori's plot is still really boring, but away from the murder cult she's no longer just brave kind and caring. She's now occassionally talking like a Brash, sassy, slightly drunk Irish barmaid. Which while I don't like it for middle earth, it is mildly amusing. 4. Who are these fucking idiot Southlanders who hung around in the sunless, post volcanic hellscape long enough to be captured by orcs? The literal embodiment "This is fine" as they sit in the smouldering wreckage. 5. So... until the show sees fit to elaborate on Saurons plan. I can only notice that he pointlessly revealed his identity and fled Eregion. To the southlands. Where he willingly let himself be captured, collared, paraded around, locked in a dungeon, humiliated, tortured, made to grovel at someone's feet and talked down to... only for his grand plan to be: going back to the place where he came from. So until the significance of him going to bargain with Adar is revealed I'm left with little choice but to assume he's just... into that. And 'Sauron's potential submissive tendencies' were not a plot point I thought I'd be taking away from the season two premiere. Seriously, what the fuck is this show?

[@billjacobs521]

Eh, I don't have a problem with some Southlanders being captured. The Southlands is a large place, and as soon as the volcano went off, we're shown the orcs out in force, looking for survivors. I can believe that all of these peasants didn't manage to pack up their clothes and food and supplies and then hoof it all the way out of the land overnight. However, what I DO have a problem with is more the Southlands existing at all. Like, the first season seemed to indicate that all, or at least most, of them went to the elven fortress and had the big fight, but now it seems like, nah. Of course, that was ridiculous, to think that was the entire Southlands, but that's how it was framed. So she show can't even be consistent. It's also possible some of those people are the people who went ot join Adar in the first season; many of them were killed but maybe many were kept as slaves.

[@jhzh]

Hobbit is saying that there is no food while having what looks like a string of olive in her hair

[@charlestonjew7587]

I am thankful that this show in no way damages or spoils Peter Jackson's masterful "Lord of the Rings" trilogy. I can also say I'd suffer a dozen 'Rings of Power' and 'Rebel Moons' if we can get a once-in-a-blue-moon transcendent piece of art like 'Arcane', a diamond in the manure.

[@jeremychau2322]

"I HAVE A TEMPEST IN ME!"

[@ComradeCommissarYuri]

Turns out it was Saurons tempest

[@whyukraine]

Taco Bell again?

[@whyukraine]

@@ComradeCommissarYuri Ya Sauron likes chalupas too.

[@Hepheat75]

Kinky ;)

[@NarcissistAU]

Switch to pads.

[@bleedingberryjuice]

I'm so invested in breaking down why something I have no personal attachment to is bad and why long term fans are upset--no, seriously, as a writer Rings of Power has been one helluva case study!

[@haus3603]

Sooo, did Sauron's flashback confirm that he wanted to be good but became evil again because Galadriel pissed him off so much?

at no point did sauron want to be good

[@ffelegal]

My favorite phrase was Gil Galad saying to Galadriel "Are you having trouble... seeing things that haven't yet come to pass?" I swear if he blank to the camera and laughter started, I wouldn't feel strange at this point.

Slow Horses guy is going back to a real show. Sauron turned into a blob, ate a lady and turned back into Aragorn. Gandlaf made tasty bugs but no water. Adar didn't think to ask "king of the southlands" how he knows what sauron is doing. Everyone in the show is a moron. Why did Sauron go visit Adar? "he deceived me". That's it? The guy you were hunting for 1000 years for killing your brother was right next to you for months and all you have is a lame excuse and a shoulder shrug? Cerdan changes his mind about keeping the rings for no apparent reason. If the rings resisted being discarded, wouldn't that support the idea they are evil? Everyone in this show is a moron.

[@DarkSide_Gaming21338]

I still find it funny that they are trying to rework scenes and make new scenes to try and paint it as Sauron never wanted to be good from the start. That or that he was on the fence about it and decided to turn back to evil and use Galadriel for his plans the whole time. Nice try ROP but you still painted it as Sauron wanted to do good and Galadriel ultimately turned him back by guilt tripping him when he didn’t want to go back to middle earth.

[@aavavertu229]

When Galádríel unveiled her new look the "Magnum", I teared up and thought to myself: "She's so hot right now.".

[@lukew6725]

The reason why all the orcs fled the Black Gate after Frodo destroyed the ring is because Sauron's will is literally the only thing the makes them fight for him, and with the ring destroyed he's lost too much power to maintain his sway over them. The orcs were literally slaves to Sauron.

[@TheJudge1933]

"A dog may bark at the moon, but it can never bring it down"

[@billjacobs521]

"Have you ever even SEEN a dog, Durin?" "Er, no, but I've heard about them." "Then why do you have an idiom about them?" "This meat is too raw, stop!"

[@straightjacket308]

"Hey, have you watched Rings of Power yet?" "Indeed I have!" *Proceeds to gesture Disparu, RFT, Nerdeotic and Knights Watch.*

[@gorlack2231]

For your review of the second episode, Poppy and Nori mention that Totally-Not-Gandalf has been having dreams about a "gand", which is an old germanic word for "staff". Gandalf, it should be known, translates roughly to "Staff-wise" or "Wand-wise" i.e. Wizard. So Totally-Not-Gandalf is searching for a Gand, which after obtaining will make him Gandalf. Or they are absolutely chumming the water in the hopes of pulling off the mother of all misdirects by signposting the ever loving shit out of him being Gandalf only for him to be..... Saruman or Polondo.

[@billjacobs521]

So without a Gand, he's just...Alf? I knew he was an alien!

[@matroska_5625]

They also have weird forced bit of dialogue where a character refers to him as a "grand elf" which obviously sounds a lot like Gandalf.

[@bogdanafilonich33]

The real evil in this TV show is Galadriel, she is more Sauron then Sauron himself for real....

[@billjacobs521]

A problem worth noting; we were told in episode 1 of the show that Sauron had spent time at Forodwaith conducting research, and we even see the remains of some orcs he was testing on. But now, we see that Sauron PROPOSED such research after Morgoth was defeated, and was immediately struck down for it. So what the hell killed those orcs in the walls in the first episode?

[@picivyvortac2641]

Im still convinced this show was written by AI. Why give two nobodies the most expensive film project in history? So you can tell your shareholders that any success was your super cool new ai. No one would have any doubts (if the show had been good) that the ai had been the reason. Can you imagine the rise in amazon stock if they'd been able to use an ai to make a show on par with the OT?

[@funkydiscogod]

No, this story is too awful to be made by anything other than a committee.

[@picivyvortac2641]

@@funkydiscogod isn't that effectively what generative ai is? A committee puts in what they want and ai spits it out.

[@FormerlyAVM]

Adar, the singular character I have any interest in had his story revealed and it was horrible. There was no need for it to happen they just wanted to do something. Where the hell is Galadriel’s husband and daughter? In the years since the finale how has word not been passed before that hey Sauron isn’t dead , he is the guy that nobody knew a few years ago? How did Poppy survive alone while Noriwise and Ganddaft almost died? There could be months worth of questions that have no answer. How do these people keep getting work?

Poppy was hiding in a tree watching them walk in circles.

[@witch9380]

No, I can't, please, I'm not ready for the pain.

[@InereIronheart]

Literally, you can argue that from Adar killing Sauron to the "present day" of the show is 3 weeks... this show is terrible with times and distances.

[@JosephNieto-o8r]

Bro the orcs are literally his slaves why the fuck would he ever have to explain shit to them 😭

[@jassijoanna3466]

I have never watched a single episode of rings of power but I’ve been looking forward for this every since the first season came out 😂

[@feiyyin2516]

My favourite part of this show was this post mortem of each episodes. I had been missing this!

[@EmberAwoken]

This existing is offensive. Gil-gilad is literally Galadriel’s nephew. Cirdan is only a couple hundred years older than her. Elrond is a literal infant to all 3. Galadriel (and the other exiled Noldor) is banned from returning to Valinor by decree of the Valar, not because maybe she’s darkness. I hate this show more than any show I’ve ever watched. If they wanted to create awful fanfic, don’t market as a lord of the rings product.

[@jamez6398]

"Have you ever considered not being evil?" "Now that you come to mention it, actually, the thought has never corssed my mind before, believe it or not. What a totally groundbreaking and revolutionary concept. Not being evil you say? Sure, I could try to give that a whirl I suppose, why not?"

[@kotorishiba1722]

Something I always found wierd (in a funny way) is that Elrond is not only one of Galadriels closest friends, but also her first cousins thrice removed and later her son-in-law. She's hundrets if not thousends of years older than him, how do I have to imagen that? was it like: "Hi, I am Galadriel, I was alredy an adult when you were just born but let us be friends." "Hello old friend, this is my newborn daugther. Isn't she perfect?" "You want to marry my daughter? Say no more, Elrond. You have my blessing." I mean, yes, elfes live longer, but its stil wierd.

[@Lumberjack_Linnie]

My day was really stressful. My evening will be amazing. I'm hyped!

[@marianat4677]

Your avatar with the blond wig!!!! HAHAHAHA

[@eljcd]

I´m impressed, the plot and writing IS even more ridículos than the season one!

[@eljcd]

Hallelujah, Random, I don´t want to see any review before yours, but It was getting really hard to wait!

[@Kaleiddmode]

Reviews are mostly like a summary of the worst parts unlike RFT he analyses every detail

[@sharksbreath7]

Sauron would have went full Napolean and crowned himself, if even bothered with it.

[@shj2783]

@sharksbreath7 Yeah, it seems like they don't understand the basic idea behind coronation. It is one power (higher, ie the church) conferring authority onto you

[@petriew2018]

@@shj2783 or that Sauron doesn't care about being king of the orcs, because orcs will serve him no matter what. Because war and strife is in their nature, so that's pretty much a no-brainer for them. They fear him but they also can't help but get drawn into his wars because that's just what an orc is. It's Men Sauron wants to lead, and corrupt, because unlike orcs they have potential to be greater than even the elves, where as orcs are just a twisted mockery of them.

[@asorlokirunarsson9864]

Nori also has FOOD IN HER HAIR!!!

[@rylanasher4756]

You have really grown into your craft. The commentary is brilliant, scathing, and accurate; and the editing and graphics are spot on. Excellent work, my guy.

[@emptystring4530]

What is with the writers fascination with black goo these days? The Alien first didnt have it, then it was added in Prometheus. Of course its in Venom and I assume several few movies/series

[@Notsogoodguitarguy]

Holy shit, I think I know what Sauron's plan is (or at least I think what could be the logical inference for a plan). Sauron wanted to make the orcs take Mordor and then the world, right? But the orcs didn't wanna follow him. So he let Adar "kill" him, then he leads the orcs as an empathetic leader, makes them care for Mordor, and then he's gonna return and tell them that "Oh, now you have Mordor, but look, the NumenorrRghRghRRrRRians are a threat to your home that you love so much and your wives and children that you love so much, so let's yolo them first", and that's how he's gonna convince them to go to war outside Mordor. Also, as to why Adar might believe Sauron's dead - the crown might be made of some magical BS metal like the Morghul blades. Cause when Sauron is shown after the stab, you can see his veins on his forehead/sides of his face blacken. Idk if it's explained in the show, i'm not gonna watch it. I'm just gonna watch your breakdowns and speculate on that xD

[@billjacobs521]

No, Sauron didn't want to conquer the world outright, not in season 1. His plan was to find a power that let him control basically all life, or at least all people, and he was using the orcs as test subjects. He seemed to actually reject the notion of war, and not just because he'd lose--I think he's supposed to actually believe he's doing good by removing free will, thus ending war and strife.

[@basementsnaxx]

Why didn't they get good actors? Or writers? Or directors? Where did the money go?

[@rebel_diamonds]

14:38 boy, as far as bizarre morality goes, Acolyte is the new head honcho. The sheer fuckedupness of that thing is fascinating.

[@zzevonplant]

@@rebel_diamonds I'm so glad that s***show (literally) got cancelled.