Rings of Power Couldn't Stick The Landing

My final thoughts on Rings of Power season 1
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[@ManCarryingThing]

Almost all the "big reveals" they kept teasing were reliant on audience expectation, our understanding that SOMEONE has to be Sauron, yet NONE of the actual characters had the expectation that Sauron was in their midst. Same goes for the "wizard." (also your screaming outdid actual Sauron, that was incredible)

[@croatoan-t-g]

def. agree that scream was amazing

[@rosecoloredshades508]

I highly recommend listening to Joanna Robinson's interview with the showrunners on The Ringer. They weren't teasing big reveals, they were creating character stories based on the character knowledge within those timelines. This was a really natural way to approach the entry point into this story, especially in terms of engaging with Tolkien's ideas about the restart arc for Sauron in the 2nd Age.

[@mycaleb8]

@@rosecoloredshades508 Except they were teasing. They literally use lines from the PJ trilogy to foreshadow, they were teasing.

[@Ψυχήμίασμα]

@@rosecoloredshades508 I literally do not understand the sentences you just constructed. Like, I understand every word, but not when they're strung together like that. At any rate, they can say anything they want in an interview. But when you go "looks can be deceiving" the first time your Sauron shows up, it's a tease. Maybe the writers should actually do as they say. That would be a nice change.

[@Anton_Jermakoŭ]

They did jump-started this "hunt for Sauron" quest with all the misdirections present. I still think if they did not, it would have been easier to maintain a mystery if they did not indicate to the audience that someone has to be Sauron. So this meta knowledge from the audience did them dirty

[@andrewengelsma277]

Bro Daniel editing himself into the screaming has me dying 😂😂

[@oldladyhembrew797]

Rings of Power was like being given a gorgeously wrapped gift, opening it up and finding a Dollar Tree party favour.

[@masta_blind7131]

You got a Dollar Tree party favor in yours? Mine was a still warm dog turd.

[@h-deck]

Hahahaha!!!

[@vexusxenos4188]

@@masta_blind7131 mine was the still burning corpse of Tolkien.

[@aDifferentJT]

My overall biggest issue with the ending was the other 16 rings, not to mention the more minor rings that come first. My second, and linked, issue, was that we didn’t see Sauron/Annatar manipulating Celebrimbor for longer, he absolutely should be playing the long game.

[@GuitarJammerJohn]

Well he’s going to have to come back maybe in his Annatar form because they didn’t make all the rings so I’m assuming Sauron will come back to convince him to make the other rings.

[@Manlio.Cipullo]

@@GuitarJammerJohn Celebrimbor is so dumb to fall for it... Yeah, compelling character, being dumb and duped two times by the same person, even in disguise.

[@lizardlegend42]

Oh no this absolutely isn't (or at least, can't for the story to make sense) be the be all end all of Sauron's manipulation of Celebrimbor. He's gonna come back, either as Annatar or just Halbrand again, convince Celebrimbor the 3 rings aren't enough and assist him personally in forging the rest. This tracks too since the whole point of the 3 rings is they're the only ones Celebrimbor made on his own without Sauron's direct aid.

[@scambammer6102]

@@lizardlegend42 None of that is going to happen. G knows he is Sauron. They may not even make the other rings at all. It's not like they are following the books.

[@lizardlegend42]

@@scambammer6102 you're... actually insane if you don't think they're going to make the other rings and Sauron's not going to have a large hand in doing so 😂

[@kronos1794]

The Galadriel and Sauron stuff just felt too YA. A simple fix would be that if Galadriel was actually convinced Morgoth was returning. Then painting Sauron as a victim of Morgoth would explain why Galadriel would feel a kinship with him. Then he could send in the pitch where he wants the power because one day Morgoth will return and he wants the world to be ready. Not great but better than what we got.

[@Dannsenman]

That sounds much better, and unfortunately this show is riddled with simple changes that would drastically improve it, but it seems like they didn't put any thought in or do any editing.

[@hrothgarnogar]

Margot? PUT THESE FOOLISH AMBITIONS TO REST

[@kronos1794]

@@hrothgarnogar Spell check really hates that name.

[@Crys3906]

Isn't YA exactly the audience Tolkien was writing for? I would say "The Hobbit" is a children's book.

[@ad6514]

@@Crys3906 Iirc the Hobbit was literally a bedtime story he made for his kids. The Hobbit is YA at most, the only people that think otherwise are parasocial nerds who need his works to be for a more mature audience so that they don't feel like they're immature for reading them. LoTR is more mature but I'm also not really sure I wouldn't still say its YA but just darker YA than what we normally get.

[@KeytarArgonian]

It took Sauron 4 minutes of screen time to charm Celebrimbor, teach him to make the rings because he doesn’t know what an alloy is 🙃 and then get found out before peaceing out. Galadriel doesn’t let anyone know 😂

[@samreddig8819]

Even though Celebrimbor was the "greatest smith of the second age"

[@craigh5236]

So he doesn't know what brass or bronze is then???

[@jmhaces]

My top 3 moments in the season were that one with Celebrimbor, when Galadriel goes full Karen on Queen Miriel for no reason and the show immediately cuts to Galadriel in jail, and when Galadriel was "I've been on a relentless quest for revenge against Sauron for hundreds of years for the death of my brother and the suffering of my people...oh, and I guess also for my husband Celeborn who went to war and never came back. Uh, I'd forgotten about him. Anyway..." Honorable mention to the fact that apparently now some random Numenorean soldier owns the most badass sword in the world crafted by Sauron himself. I just hope they don't decide to make that sword Narsil or something.

[@jaginaiaelectrizs6341]

Was it that he didn't know what an alloy is, or just that it had never occurred to him that such a thing might actually work for what he was trying to accomplish too? (Because it wasn't just metals, but also magic?) 🤔🙃 🤷 🤷‍♀️ idk.

[@jaginaiaelectrizs6341]

@@jmhaces I'm just wondering if Celeborn is actually not-dead and will return to her in the future? 🤔 Lol

[@f0rth3l0v30fchr15t]

The most expensive show of all time cut a surprising amount of corners. Like while you *could* walk from Ost-in-Edhil to the Hollin gate; there was a road linking the two. But it's not far off the distance between Hobbiton and Bree, so 100 miles or so. But when Elrond and Celebrimbor go, they just walk into frame from behind a rock, in the same costumes they wore the last time they were on screen. I'm not saying they should have shown the journey, but this is - even for Elves - going to be 3 or 4 days, either walking or on horseback, because they're not in a hurry; they should at least have shown a campsite, with the horses and a couple of attendants, to tell you that this isn't just a 10 minute walk.

[@Matkatamiba]

And oftentimes in books, some of the best character moments and great conversations come from regular moments and travels. Like, in this show, many of the best moments with Elrond and Durin just being homies.

[@TheLizardKing752]

I noticed the same. It made me think of being a kid on a playground and you and your friends just agree to pretend that the cardboard box is actually horse-drawn carriage or whatever. It's like the showrunners are saying, "You see that black box? That black box is actually an Elven forge!" and the audience is just "ummm, okay?......."

[@halesimon4448]

Yeah, this one really bugged me. Elrond and Celebrimbor are also both high ranking members of the elvish royal houses so the idea that they just wander from place to place by themselves in their court clothes is pretty odd.

[@JesusIzAPunkRocker]

This really ended up bugging me. There's no sense that it takes any time at all to get anywhere. Like the scene with Durin's table, there's no indication that these 6 elves plan to do anything other than walk it back to Kazad-Dum, as though it's right next door to Lindon. Be putting it on a carriage, or loading it onto a river boat, so we are aware that it is quite a long way. They gloss over it 5 or 6 times, without an establishing shot. The end result is that the world feels incredibly small

[@mrfreeman2911]

The writers are talentless. That is why none of these things happened.

[@aleksandergolembka8659]

it couldnt stick the landing because there wasnt even any flight to begin with

[@rohit_7777]

The Eagles have spOkUn 🗿

[@charliebrouun6510]

Wow, people being so savage to this show is hilarious LMAO

[@travisspazz1624]

@@charliebrouun6510 they either want it to be tailor made for them, or it's the worst thing ever.

[@brandocalrissian3294]

you took the words right out of my mouth. touche.

[@vexusxenos4188]

@@travisspazz1624 uh no? We wanted it to be faithful to the source material, and that is ABSOLUTELY not what happened. Both of them should be fired and NEVER work in media again. What they did was no less of an insult.

[@craigh5236]

My biggest grip about the show is it was so excruciating drawn out. I kept on saying to myself 'get on with it!'

[@alb0zfinest]

I was genuinely surprised at how they managed to make this worse than The Wheel of Time. 1 billion dollars and they couldn’t spent 2% of it on decent writers?

[@djlowd3259]

I enjoyed the actual reveal where galadrial is connecting the dots and he’s basically like saying I never lied or tricked you you just wanted a puzzle piece to fit, but the rest of it kinda flopped. I feel like they set a lot of stories into play without having any of them resolve in a satisfying way.

[@deriving_drunk]

This season felt like a first draft written from a DND campaign where Sauron had some bad rolls in the last session.

[@yuvalgabay1023]

And the player knowing the dm worked hard on the campaign desided to not blow the villan plan upp so the dm can enjoy the plot he builded

[@th3logician]

And Galadriel getting a bonus roll when fighting men with a special abilities called: “Woman Power” she can also summon and/or make friends with random woman that she had previously been *cough* on rough terms with because in addition to being a saint, genius, and a mega ultra warrior Galadriel is also all forgiving and has the ability to (through her Woman power ability) make other woman forgive her for all the mistakes she makes. (Which she never makes because her rolls get +5 whenever she is against an inferior being)

[@Matkatamiba]

That's one of the best youtube comments I've seen in a minute

[@acendiatmedia8747]

I do literally think this was a first draft in all seriousness.

[@kolrengenify]

@@th3logician - Galadriel in this show, has to, hands down, go down as the worst ever main character for a show of such magnitude. Not only is she unlikeable to the point of almost being vile and a mary-sue beyond imagining, she also comes of as plainly evil in so many scenes.. Truly mind-baffling that someone signed off on this...

[@KeytarArgonian]

This show swings wildly between ‘we need to explain *EVERYTHING * to you’ and ‘you already know/understand this reference from the books’ So the readers are left feeling ‘yes, we know 🙄’ and the non readers are left feeling ‘what the hell are you talking about 🤔’

[@robertblume2951]

No the readers go "and what you said or showed is wrong so f. off show."

[@Matkatamiba]

I'm not even a reader, but it's still chock full of weird "this is what you should know" moments like Gandalf saying "I'm Good!!1!!" or The Southlands changing to Mordor on screen. Feels insulting.

[@RufusROFLpunch]

The really important question is how many convenient ancient scroll will Galadriel stumble across in season 2 to reveal key plot points? I'm guessing 3!

[@hodgepodgesyntaxia2112]

To be fair, that the most Tolkeinesq thing about he show. Coincidence drives the plot of lord of the rings, because he incorporated catholic destiny themes throughout his work.

[@scambammer6102]

@@hodgepodgesyntaxia2112 what rubbish. so any time the number 3 comes up it equals Catholic?

[@aj2563]

The elves are lore masters in Middle-Earth and this fit Tolkien’s style imo.

[@animatorofanimation128]

@@scambammer6102 Tolkien was extremely religious and Christian themes are very present throughout his works, every Tolkien fan knows this

[@hodgepodgesyntaxia2112]

@@scambammer6102 in Tolkien’s writing? Yes. I don’t know how long it’s been since you’ve read Lord of the Rings, but chance meetings and fated coincidences are a hallmark of his writing, he mentions Jesus by all but name, and Christian allegory is spread all throughout his works. The Shire, for example, is supposed to represent Eden, and the ring is the cross that Frodo must bear. It’s not exactly subtle. In fact one of Tolkien’s stated goals for writing the hobbit was to make religious values more accessible to children. That’s why Tolkien and C.S. Lewis are so often compared.

[@michaeldoerge3106]

The added cut Daniel screaming with Sauron and Galadriel had be laughing in my kitchen alone lol

[@goosiesmoosies]

I wanted to like the characterization of Galadriel but I just don't think it feels right. It's really hard to connect her to who she's supposed to become in a thousand years or so and it sucks because I do think there are other ways to depict female characters who are active agents within the story. I was thinking about it and I do think that part of the issue is that like, you have a 'strong girl' character like Buffy the Vampire Slayer and she makes sense, she's a teenager. Galadriel reminds me too much of a Buffy type character for what she is. She's just not acting like a several thousand years old elf to me and since she's the protagonist it's kind of hard not to notice and feel disconnected from the story. Cause I really like Galadriel, I love Cate Blanchett's performance in the trilogy and I think she's a cool character who could've been so much better.

[@MustafaAlmosawi]

Ah, there’s the mistake, assuming the person they named Galadriel has anything to do with the Galadriel you know and love. She might as well be called [insert annoying ‘strong female’ with neither good masculine or feminine qualities here]

[@free22]

I could see where they were going with Galadriel. I can definitely see that they tried to give us the beginning of a character arc that would extend over 5 seasons. They just didn’t do it convincingly. Her scenes were haphazard. The problem becomes more obvious if you fast forward through to view her scenes back to back.

[@kimhannan4892]

Yes, that has been one of the most disappointing parts of ROP. I feel they (writers, character developers, whatever) did such a disservice to the character of Galadriel. Cate Blanchett was able to convey just how fierce and formidable Galadriel was without out running around like a lunatic, foaming at the mouth (almost), and coming close to temper tantrums at times. In LOTR, the writers used quiet, confident and intelligent lines, character presence, and great story development that let you know in no uncertain terms that Galadriel could take you out if she were so inclined. I'm praying they spend some of their "millions" on some actual writers for the next season.

[@free22]

@@kimhannan4892 Well, she was never supposed to be exactly like Cate Blanchett’s character. Technically Cate Blanchett’s character would be who she becomes a few millennia into the future.

[@jorgedasilva7665]

@@kimhannan4892 Correction, in Lord of the Rings, the Author used quiet, confident, and intelligent lines. ;)

[@SkidMcmarxx]

You gotta admit goblin, “I’ve been awake since before the breaking of the first silence” is a bad ass line.

[@jeffeliassen]

Since the breaking of the first wind

[@Kwigs_kun]

The delivery of that line was perfect. Gave me chills

[@SkidMcmarxx]

@@jeffeliassen no? I think you’re mistaken.

[@loreleimonn3220]

@@SkidMcmarxx he was making a fart joke

[@scambammer6102]

@@loreleimonn3220 this show is a fart joke

[@stonelane1827]

Visually every shot was amazing, costume, makeup all bloody awesome but I honestly would have rather watched nine episodes explaining how The Dark Lord ended up on a raft in the middle of nowhere.

[@scambammer6102]

or why the elves in the tower didn't see the orcs digging tunnels. everything after that was just ridiculous

[@omsaxena116]

Imagine showing his master and his defeat. It would be amazing to see THAT conflict.

[@manmythlegend3084]

The costumes were dissapointing in my opinion as well

[@jmhaces]

I know, right? I mean, I had hoped that Halbrand was actually the Witch King of Angmar and throughout the show we'd get to see him ulitmately fall to Sauron despite his best intentions. But now that his identity is revealed and there's no "Sauron in fair form as Annatar the Lord of Gifts," at least so far, I was kind of intrigued about what Sauron's life as Halbrand actually was like before he met Galadriel becasue.

[@Jesperc888]

Or the reason why a key was made in the form of a sword hilt to apparently release a dam. Which would've just released the water everywhere if the tunnel wasn't dug. As if they couldn't have just broke the dam themselves. Like, why does this thing exist? Or Galadriel jumping off a boat in the middle of the ocean, swimming for miles and randomly encountering Sauron on a raft and coincidentally picked up by a Numenorean ship. Or everyone surviving the pyroclastic flow of a super vulcano, while everything else is on fire, except for the people. Or the Numenoreans somehow knowing exactly where the Southlanders are, charging at full speed and knowing they are in need of rescue. Or apparently transporting an army that size, including horses on three damn ships. Or destroying a tower only by targeting the metal scaffolding around it, despite the tower being made of stone and standing there for such a long time. Or somehow getting a wounded Halbrand all the way from Mordor to Eregion. I could go on and on and on. This show is full of plot holes. If it at least made sense maybe I would've liked it a bit more. There is no logic and it's necessary to switch off your brain while watching it. I just can't do it.

[@NathanTRousseau]

It was kind of crazy to me that the new Star Wars show on Disney+ got me so much more invested than something based on LOTR. Andor has actually had stellar writing, and superb characters with in depth and believable motivations. It felt like it had a thesis through which the story was filtered; I don’t know what the ROP these was but... didn’t seem too deep if you ask me. It didn’t feel like it had purpose beneath it. With LOTR coming directly from Tolkien’s war experience, the deaths of his close friends, his relationship with his wife, it feels weird to have an adaptation that feels so bereft of relatability and human emotion. To me it felt like a glossy CGI heavy history film you’d watch at a museum on a school field trip.

[@Bamazon1990]

I agree Andor has been really good. Boba Fett and Obi-Wan I thought were terrible. And RoP. But Andor and House of the Dragon are well done

[@jimbob8543]

stick the landing....it didn't even take off!!

[@thelispyopinion9772]

Like it or hate it, Halbrand's line ,"I have been awake since before the breaking of the first silence." was epic. The saddest thing is how people who don't know the lore, don't realize how much that means.

[@salarahmadi4719]

yess, totally agree. i think he was referring to the song of ainur with the breaking of the first silence.

[@lizrohrig1724]

Hear hear!

[@ninisilver]

Agree, it was the high of this season for me, that line was cool af and Mairon-related.

[@rosecoloredshades508]

Great moment.

[@etienne8110]

That doesn't make any sense. Who is he then? He can only either be a maiar (We can eliminate him being a valar) or Eru himself. Both seem non plausible. Saddly the most plausible explanation is that they made him spout some cool looking nonsens without considering the lore.

[@orcanimal]

Couldn't stick the landing? It blew up upon ignition. Too busy thinking about everyone but the actual LOTR fans.

[@kalshal4ever987]

bruh, I spit out my coffee all over my keyboard from laughing too hard when you edited yourself into screaming between Sauron and Galadriel. hahaha

[@shaunmullen6197]

Spoiler comment: Halbrand being revealed as Sauron was upsetting only because of editing in earlier episodes shows us, just us the audience, Halbrands struggle with choices to become the king etc.... There was no one else around.... Did Halbrand fourth wall break and do that to convince us or did the writers just give its audience a big middle finger.

[@Deadflower20xx]

I can only assume they want us to think Sauron was considering forsaking the plan to just live a life of normalcy.

[@armag3ddon]

Sauron's Smithy in the heart of Númenor. I can already see the 90s style sitcom intro in my mind. Give us that show.

[@anishintre]

I really had huge expectations from the Rings of Power. But alas...dreams shattered. Really didn't expect that the world's costliest series would be this bad. Hope S2 redeems the series.

[@Shane24597]

Most of the presentation was on point. It looked great. If amazon diverted some of that cash into making a good screenplay or hiring a director who understood the appeal of Tolkien, it could've been an amazing show.

[@scambammer6102]

@@Shane24597 the armor looked great? lol

[@ravador]

Stop coping.

[@84tand]

I had an issue with those albino wizard things. There’s no explanation on who or what they are until right before they die (and even then they only give you that they are looking for Sauron)

[@gehtdichnichtsan2418]

To quote The Nerd Crew: "Don't ask questions, just consume product and then get excited for next product."

[@f0rth3l0v30fchr15t]

Theyre given labels in the Amazon x-ray thing, but aero explanation of why they are "The Nomad", "The Dweller" (the Eminem looking one) and "The Ascetic".

[@dominicaudy8479]

That was really badly handled, but like almost everything else it’s supposed to be for season 2, i.e. we know these three priestesses of Morgoth are from the land of Rhûn, where Nori and the wizard are heading to find the answers they’re looking for, like who these sorcerers were. They basically wasted the whole season on “this guy you think is a wizard is… a wizard”.

[@bluemoondm8629]

Pretty sure they aren't dead, just 'banished' and will reform later. We are left wondering so many things; are they 'undead' or corrupted like Nazgul? Because that's what their 'wraith forms' indicate. Or are they lesser Maiar servants of Sauron? Terrible writing that relies completely on "mystery box" to fill in the blanks of how bad it is.

[@dominicaudy8479]

@@bluemoondm8629 yeah, anything is pretty much possible. It’s a pity they rely so much on the mystery box device, it stands a great deal in the way of good character development. Even with the choices they made, they could have done so much more if the audience for e.g. had known from the start who Halbrand was, etc. This doesn’t strike me as a story well suited to the mystery box technique. It’s fun when the source material is written that way and it’s taken into account in the arcs, but here it clearly was an obstacle that stood in the way all season.

[@John73John]

Overall, my only real issue with the show overall was that the Gandalf/Harfoot story didn't feel connected enough with the rest of it. Galadriel, Elrond, Durin, Celebrimbor, all that felt like one show. But then we interrupt your regularly scheduled program to bring you Meteor Man and the Not-Hobbits. It felt like they were working on 2 separate shows, and the writers bumped into each other in the hall and pages of their scripts got mixed up. Then rather than taking the time to sort them out, they just put it all into one show.

[@rachelfallonauthor]

The Sauron/Galadriel stuff was the stuff I liked the best. I like the idea that Sauron had given up, and Galadriel inadvertently got him back into it. The idea of their past together is intriguing, and how that echos to the future when Galadriel was tested by the one ring. I found it interesting!🤷🏻‍♀️

[@pilotg2075]

Same, I love this angle, it makes what's to come with Sauron more personal.

[@whatevs53665]

His characterization is honestly stunning. So much nuance played in a very charming way, and in the end you're still left wondering how much of his personality was genuine.

[@spendsshanks6050]

@@whatevs53665 What? Lol

[@whatevs53665]

@@spendsshanks6050 What?

[@TheMutantCreeper]

That bit where Galadriel and Sauron are yelling at each other and then you started screaming was so funny.

[@Anton_Jermakoŭ]

For me it felt like one of the two (judging without evaluation of lore broken on its own merit): - a list of bulletpoint of stuff the writers were adamant about keeping and they were willing to bend everything around it with absolute disregard for causality and continuity -> as a result it comes across as a recitation of events "this happened and this happened and this happened and this happened" as opposed to "this happened and because of it this happened and then this parallel thing happened and because of those two things this forth thing is now an issue to be resolved" - somewhat interesting premise that falls flat in execution; I like how Tim formulated it, "death by a thousand minute errors", and to that I would add that because of those thousand minor errors feed into each other creating things that are a lot worse than just minor mistakes.

[@scambammer6102]

it wasn't just minor errors. there were gaping plot holes all the way through

[@Anton_Jermakoŭ]

@@scambammer6102 some of them appear as a result of compounding effect of mi or errors

[@rosecoloredshades508]

There was plenty of causality and continuity in the show. Really look through the storylines and nearly every plot beat and character motivation feed into each other. These "minute errors" aren't so much errors as people not fully engaging with the text as it is presented in all its dense detail.

[@Anton_Jermakoŭ]

@@rosecoloredshades508 I rarely like to point negative things but do you want me to show how it was abysmal from standpoint of continuity or causality?

[@dumbdumb3328]

Finally getting back to the Daniel I've subscribed to years ago. Your recent content is more honest

[@barrylucas8679]

Stick the landing? They couldn't find the stadium.

[@KBx53]

The invincible comic books were fantastic…

[@davidmeza993]

Both Wheel of Time and Rings of Power relied heavily on the plot/character reveals which is a weird route to go for really old books with an established fan demographic and cuts down on rewatch ability for old and new fans alike. Daniel's Multiple Sauron also parallels raising the idea of the Dragon's soul splitting in the third age - teasing what would have been bold adaption moves but ending up going safe

[@juanpabueno]

It was the worst media experience of anything I've ever had.

[@davidconnelly1362]

I tried the "ignoring the lore" approach. It might have worked if the show was better. I just couldn't. And I am not obliged to. There was absolutely no attempt to have anywhere near a faithful adaptation of Tolkien's work. It seems that all they were interested in doing was to spend a ton money to flesh out things that were not explicitly stated by Tolkien. Both what was left out and that which was maybe kind of implied. The written histories of all of the characters were all but ignored. Lame. I had high hopes before the first episode. My one great wish was that meteor man did not turn out to be Gandalf. The Hobbits were bad enough. But Gandalf too? To top the cake, we have the three eleven rings being forged first? Double lame. I will not be watching season two.

[@davidconnelly1362]

@@TimothyCHenderson I am aware of all this. There is plenty of material from the second age in the LotR books and appendices that they ignored. That being the case, they should not have made a second age show. They could have gone in any direction and chose to do a second age story with nothing but the names of characters for authenticity. Not to mention timeline augmentation, new characters. This is very disappointing for me. I had great expectations for this and was genuinely excited. Now, I will not be watching season 2.

[@michaelandrews117]

The contrast in quality between Rings of Power and House of the Dragon is stark and startling. Yes, Rings of Power has gorgeous sets and effects, but I just don't *care* about anything going on. House of the Dragon makes me terrified of Aegon, distrusting of Larys, sympathetic to King Viserys... Because they feel like fleshed out people. Episode 8 of House of the Dragon was better, on its own, than any of the Rings of Power episodes.

[@rosecoloredshades508]

I liked Episode 8 of HotD a lot but liked Episodes 6 and 8 of RoP better. Gee, opinions! Kinda funny because I thought both episodes 9 of HotD and 7 of RoP were disappointments after the peak episodes prior to them.

[@JaxKordela]

I just hope amazon doesn't get the rights to adapt anything from the cosmere.

[@dookieshoe2905]

When did it take off though?

[@jeffturner2975]

The Sauron that is revealed to us is not actually Sauron, but rather Galadriel's manifestation of him in her mind, as manipulated by Sauron

[@kaspermoss8198]

I think it is the "we try to disguise conveniences as good writing" part that annoys me the most. Sauron just happens upon and elf and just happens to have kept a royal lineage mark on him for a thousand years. We are shown 3 gems in the beginning of the episode and then suddenly 3 becomes the magically right number of rings to produce, with some line about "3 is balance", which is very lucky when we have 3 gems...

[@hodgepodgesyntaxia2112]

Ironically, that’s the most Tolkeinesq thing about the show. Chance and convenience drive the plot of Lord of the Rings because he leaned so heavily into themes of Catholic predetermination.

[@LightsOnTrees]

Agree with what Tim and a lot of people have said that boring is worse than bad, also kind of feel for them going toe 2 toe with HOTD, which looking back has been a bit of a surprise hit.

[@marocat4749]

Tims idea that the stranger is sauron and is actually trying to be good would be way more intresting before returning to becoming evil again. Like why the hell would that be sauron, sauron sucumbing to corruption an powerlist again due experiences would be , like you can make sauroninteresting as person.

[@LorienWitch]

I laughed out loud and scared my cat at the scream clip 😂 Saurons intro was so rushed. Could have set it up 2 or 3 episodes but I find pacing to be an issue in most adaptations

[@anishintre]

Me too. I LMFAOed when I saw that screaming scene.

[@jolabrese]

I am not sure if anyone else has mentioned this, but the movies seem to be where the lore of the show is rooted, more so than books. Also, your summation of the magic trick is perfection.

[@YuriSteiner04]

I guess they did not went "back to the books"

[@chriswashere12]

Daniel's scream at 4:06 was incredible

[@Major98]

Hey! The Invincible Comic is not mid! How dare you, I'm outraged and upset. As for Rings of Power I agree with everything. I wonder if House of the Dragon's being really good highlighted the poor quality of RoP

[@julimayor]

Exactly, it's highly regarded as one of the best superhero comics of all time

[@jackmesrel4933]

Definetly, having such a direct rival made it so that every flaw RoP had stick out like a sore thump. Specially since HoD is pretty fucking good while RoP is... Well... You know

[@rvantong]

He's only read the first volume, I think

[@ISeeOldPeople3]

Scream cut coming in to make me spit my drink, thanks for that! 😂

[@stephenspradley1086]

The yell after the Sauron and Galadriel yell 😂😂😂

[@fictionmyth]

The Angry Sauron comment might be explained by the ways we've seen him in media prior to now. In the voice over at the beginning of Fellowship we hear that Sauron "Poured into the ring all his malice and spite". So, it might be that the ring took with it a bit of his own personality, making him more cold and detached. Currently, since the ring isn't in existence, we see him whole and as he was. That's me trying to figure out a reason for what is probably just a poor writing choice but, in my opinion, it's at least possible.

[@FuturisticFlapper]

I just wasn't crazy on how the major reveals worked out at the end of the season. The distorted close-ups on Sauron and Galadriel felt like a really weird choice for a show that spent the majority of it's first season playing it safe. (Not to mention that I very much wanted to feel deceived/seduced by Sauron/Annatar when he comes to the elves, and I barely felt that with how the show handled Halbrand.) The Southlands to Mordor name switch is eye-roll worthy as are the Gandalf quotes. It feeos like altogether we got the climaxes for what should be like 4 different seasons smushed into a single episode, which jars pacing-wise with what had otherwise been a slowly unraveling show. That said, I enjoy the performances and think that putting the forging of the rings of power at the end of the first season was a good choice organizationally. I can't help but wonder if it might have been more compelling/interesting if they had just picked one storyline/group of people for each season and only bring them together at the end. For example, the first season would focus on the forging of the rings and relations between the elves and dwarves. Season 2 might be the Southlands turning into Mordor (and you could bring in the elves again at the end as they start fighting Sauron/death of Celebrimbor). Season 3 could follow the harfoots, and Season 4 could capture the fall of Numenor, leaving Season 5 to capture the Last Alliance. You'd be able to get more in depth character work, you could likely have a much tighter release schedule (what with the minimal overlap in actors between the first 4 seasons) and the editing between storylines wouldn't jar so much with the pacing of individual scenes/storylines. You might have to do some extra work for the characters traveling between groups & to choose the right characters to focus on to keep the spotlight on diversity, but if done right it could also be a great source of suspense to have characters like Galadriel to disappear for multiple episodes or even a season at a time. I also love the idea of giving the audience a bit of a timeline puzzle. (Like what if we didn't see Numenor until they are riding into the Southlands to defeat the orcs as an almost faceless, fully-armored, glorified deus-ex-machina legion, only to discover later that they are on the brink of collapse as a civilization when this happens?)

[@alex626ification]

I really enjoyed it. It brought back the magic of watching lord of the rings for the first time. Differently not the same caliber as the movies but it differently filled the nieche I was looking for.

[@MichaelGoldfrad]

Your "very upsetting magic trick" line was very amusing!

[@Vristatos789]

Apparently HBO and Netflix tried to pitch their own LOTR series too with HBO wanting to remake the trilogy pretty much and Netflix wanting to turn it into MCU lite. So for good or for ill, ROP is the lesser evil we could face.

[@richardburke8566]

It was very meh. For me a lot of the disappointment comes from the lack of ambition. They could have done an epic sweap from the foundation of Numanor to the taking of the ring in the last alliance battle. They could have had each season set 100s of years appart and used the long lived elves to tie it together. I think people would have got it and it would have been epic.

[@Gavrahil]

Bring back Old-Timey-Radio-Daniel more often. That had me ROTFL!

[@slothomatic]

Rings of Power: A very upsetting magic trick. - Daniel Greene

[@travonarmstrong6093]

"Stick the landing"? The show couldn't even get up on it's damn feet.

[@Moridin69]

Daniel what if sauron was pulling a Morgoth by trying to corrupt galadriel just to fuck with the elves.

[@FrshChees91]

Not a lotr lore person and the Celebrimbor needing to be told to try an alloy part threw me. Forgetting the fact that they already set him up as a legendary craftsman in previous episodes, they reinforced that five seconds before by having Halbrand know who he is and say he's a legend. I keep getting hung up on how terrible that scene was.

[@davidfowler7064]

Pretty spot on review, could have been even more ruthless, but overall i whole heartedly agree.

[@cadengeer7961]

It seems like the biggest requirement to like this show is to not care about Lord of the Rings lore, which is easily the biggest damning of this show for me. I've seen alot of reviewers excuse some of the bad beats by saying that you just have to enjoy the show as a separate entity, but I disagree. When you take on the job of adapting the show, you are given a set of guidelines. With the guidelines comes the necessary fact that some things will have to change in order for the story to work on TV, but you should still follow the guidelines as best you can. If the end product is so wildly different from the source material that the only commonalities are names and locations (I'm making an oversimplification, but still, I'm mostly right) then either the writing wasn't competent enough to adapt the story, or the story never should have been adapted to begin with, and in this case I'm partial to believing the former.

[@maluse227]

really good point, the "you just have to not care about the lore and then its fine" argument has always been wild to me because like, that's the whole reason we all watch the show, for the extended world we already know about and want to see fleshed out more.

[@scambammer6102]

the biggest requirement is to ignore the gaping plot holes

[@ryancruz1876]

Can we all just agree not to use the word “lore” when talking about Tolkien’s legendarium? Tolkien’s legendarium isn’t a video game.

[@Truffle_Pup]

Although it was indeed very pretty to look at, I think only children and the stoned would actually say it is "Great". The whole story felt like it was written by 3 sleep deprived students over the 10 days before deadline day.

[@Blizzhobbs]

What about all the other rings? They only showed the three elven rings being made Did they just imply the others were made off screen? Maybe sauron will reappear as anatar and fool the elves a second time??

[@MrDe4dGuy34]

I think we’re supposed to view Galadriel sacrificing her brother’s dagger to forge the Rings of Power as her first step in becoming the figure we know in the Third Age, but she deliberately withholds the true identity of Halbrand and doesn’t properly warn anyone why he shouldn’t be trusted. Is she not going to tell the people of the Southlands that Sauron is not their true king and is an imposter? This better not be the reason the Witch King is created, all because Galadriel didn’t warn Bronwyn who Halbrand is and he corrupts Theo into a Ringwraith or some nonsense. Galadriel is ever further from who she’s supposed to become.

[@rosecoloredshades508]

Why would anyone believe her? She thinks she can outsmart Sauron so proceeds in a way that allows the forging to continue. A lot of bad stuff is gonna happen between now and the Third Age, but ultimately she made the right move.

[@Bamazon1990]

we've already seen the witch king it's a woman lol. the theory is those wraiths who dispersed into moths (especially the one with the SAME crown the witch king wore in the PJ movies) will find men to host them so they can live again, and one will become the Witch King of Angmar, so he will be trans. basically lol

[@DoctorWingIt]

I LOVED Rings of Power!!! Super excited for season 2!

[@atharvadeshpande4749]

Understatement of the Century!

[@johnnytyler1]

WHY THIS HAPPENS: So if you don't work in the industry, there's some things that dont make sense about how ROP came together. But if you do, they make total sense. For example, things like Invincible and The Boys, both Seth Rogen productions, were brought to amazon. Meaning the projects are built around the passion of the creators and the producers. Where as ROP wasn't brought to them, it was business decision. We are Amazon, we want our own GOT. And the thing is, when people at the top of the business pyramid make creative choices, despite not being creative, you get very strange results. Rogen was trying to figure out how to preserve the IP that inspired Invincible, while making it successful. Amazon was just trying to make a hit fantasy show -- and were willing to change or adjust anything they thought might to do that, from a business perspective. And when you look at the viewership numbers, not the critics or youtube commenters, Amazon was at least partly right. It's one of the most viewed streaming shows off all time. They built their show around metrics -- not product quality. It seems like those things would be interlinked, but often they aren't. They didnt hire JJ Abhams to write Star Wars because he's a great writer, they hired him based on internal tracking of projected gross based on previous work. And you might go -- then why hire no name showrunners for ROP? Why not hire a big name, even if they are trash? Welllll, because streaming is changing. It used to be creative takes the lead, now its marketing and analytics that take the lead. And again, you might think the marketing sucks on ROP, but the viewing numbers don't lie. Their plan worked.

[@f0rth3l0v30fchr15t]

8:25 About the Dwarves. Whoever made the decision to sign off on some of the Dwarf costume design (the boots with *sculpted toes* and the guards shoulder/head/face/beard armour that is as easy to move your head and neck in as a Tim Burton/Joel Schumacher Batman suit), I mean, they just need to lay off the nose candy. Also, why does Disa only have one dress? And who the hell decided on all the thigh slits? It's not a fantasy look.

[@fredwardandthebear3192]

Ok yeah pretty sure it's not Gandalf. Pretty sure the Gandalf quote was merely just a reference to get fans to go "oh snap... he's an istar". Him traveling to Rhun in the second age just screams blue wizard.

[@pandagod8465]

Hey Daniel, Great video! But it looks like you accidentally put the invincible comic on the “mid” side of the screen instead of the “sensational” side lol.

[@xderyck41]

Honestly, as someone that doesn't enjoy LOTR and the Hobit that much, but do enjoy the lore books, I did quite enjoy Rings of Power, I knew from the start that it needed to be vastly different, as just a TV show, as part of the movie franchise, it does work a bit, it has several problems, but it was enjoyable

[@dominicaudy8479]

It feels to me like they started this around the idea of the meeting of Sauron and Galadriel while they were both answering a call to Valinor that neither of them really desired to answer and both ended up refusing. Neat idea, which is a riff on the first few paragraphs of "Of the Rings of Power", adding Galadriel to the mix and a visit to Númenor to cover the line about Sauron discovering their power and becoming jealous of it. But alas that's matter for an episode or two, not for 8. It's not a bad start point for the show, but add to it the idea that Galadriel and the audience wouldn't find out about Sauron until the middle of the final episode, and that's where everything went wrong. To move what is arguably the "main plot" or at least a major component of the story, the seduction of Celebrimbor, they needed Sauron at his side, but that conflicted with their idea of a journey with Galadriel. The whole season spun wheels in the air going nowhere because of that, because they had this major character who was supposed to drive the story forward in the wrong place to do it. This also forced them to engineer a "big moment" for the finale, and they painted themselves into a corner by creating the three Elven Rings, the masterpieces of Celebrimbor, the solo work he was able to accomplish after the teachings of Annatar. Now unless they make a big series of flashbacks that will show us Sauron in another guise being instrumental in Celebrimbor's whole project, why would Celebrimbor still need Sauron to make the lesser rings, when the pinnacle of his craft has already been reached? Meanwhile Sauron has also saved the lives of two of his greatest foes. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ . And again a whole season was spent merely to go from "guy falling from the sky with no knowledge of who he is and who is on a journey to find out" (which is part of the essay on the Istari) to the reveal that "he is one of the Istari". Duh.... That's a whole lot of screen time wasted to spin wheels and delay the real start of his arc, when 2-3 episodes with him and Nori before they set out on their journey East would have been plenty. Overall it's really not atrocious, and it's a splendid show technically, but the writers feel like they lacked confidence and gave themselves a whole season as a practice lap before they could really start that race. Which is fine, but usually writers know this practice lap material has to be thrown away once you're ready to actually tell the story. In comparison and despite some ups and downs too, I think Wheel of Time has done better with its first season (especially with some of the things transpiring from s2 that explains some of the choices they've made in s1).

[@scambammer6102]

that was way more effort than the writers put into the show

[@KaraokeBanshee]

5:13 Hi, I’m Daniel Greene, and I’ll be your freestyle dance teacher. (Couldn’t resist. Great video and great review, as always.

[@aDifferentJT]

I think that Sauron was manipulating Galadriel in a similar way to how he manipulated Saruman

[@scambammer6102]

no he didn't. You can make that up if you want. It wasn't in the show.

[@notthatnick5546]

I totally agree that we were not given enough time with the characters to care about them. When Sadoc died, I didn't care at all. The scene was pretty, but that's about it. Also, the farewell scene with the Harfoots at the end was too long. It was so forced and boring that I just wanted it to end. 😅 I think the only characters I cared about were Elrond and Durin. They were portrayed very well, and their bromance was quite refreshing in this mess of a series. I'm also having a tough time with the accelerated timeline. It's honestly frustrating to see events happen millennia in advance. Finally, the unkillable characters have to go. Of course, we know Galadriel can't die, so we never fear for her safety, and it's a bit normal. But Bronwyn? Little-normal-human-lady-Bronwyn? Apparently, she can't be killed either, so even when she took a massive arrow to the chest, I was like, "Oh well, she's gonna fit as a fiddle the next time we see her." And she was. 😑 I did, however, like Charlie Vickers' performance as Halbrand/Sauron, even though it's not canonical. Even after reading the LOTR trilogy and watching Peter Jackson's movies, Sauron has never felt like a calculative, reasonable villain to me. I always perceived him as vengeful, impatient, and rash, and to be honest, if he had been a little wiser and more careful, the events of the LOTR wouldn't even have happened. (Of course, that's my subjective take on it.) Also, I thought Ismael Cruz Cordova (playing Arondir) really looked "elvish". I know Tolkien never created elves with dark skin, but that man was probably the most elvish-looking guy of the whole bunch. Most of the other elves looked like your average human with pointy ears. (Yes, High King Gil-galad, I'm talking about you.) 😂

[@kyannayk]

I live in NZ, lots of my friends worked on it and then had 5 year contracts broken when it inexplicably left NZ. So I'd only heard terrible things for years. Their NDA's were so strong my friend only refered to it as "the show that shall not be named". So my expectations were rock bottom. I was honestly pleasantly surprised. For me the razzle dazzle won me over. If any IP was gonna get by on wowing you with a wedding cake of spectacle it's LOTR (I have become a bit disillusioned with how dated some of its writing is). So yeah... The only thing that was wrong about the show for me was the writing. It fluctuated between exactly what I wanted, stilted and horrible elf droning, and season storyling that just put some events in particular episodes because "that's what you do in a finale right" so chunks just draaaaaaaged. Worst thing they did was release at the same time as house of the dragon and Andor which are both top notch writing... Oh and piss you off. Amazon's clearly burned a nerd bridge!

[@rosecoloredshades508]

HotD had pretty solid writing, imo, up until that last episode which made no sense. Andor is decent but, like both HotD and RoP, has some pretty wonky structural stuff going on with it. For me RoP has the most ambitious approach, which sometimes has a lot of negative effects on how well it works dramatically, but I do find it to be the most conceptually interesting, thematically rich, and tonally varied of any of the current sci-fi/fantasy shows.

[@kyannayk]

@@rosecoloredshades508 I think Andor is awesome, esp for Star Wars as a franchise. Such fun seeing the little guys, all the characters are great. They give ZERO shits about pacing / endings of episodes though. For me it's a botched release. If they put out the first 6 as a "Part one" like stranger things and then wait a month, I think it would be way more successful

[@L.J.McEachern]

To be honest, I think the treatment of the show is pretty much like a lot of Amazon's ventures. I think with RoP and WoT, they desperately wanted something like GoT. They probably spent way too much time trying to mimic and manufacture the success of GoT than actually trying to make a good story. Kind of like how they tried to manufacture success of video games and ended with both not doing too well. One shut down and New World for some odd reason still exists. If you want to watch something with a better ending, watch Pantheon. That is a show I desperately needed for a very long time.

[@TheSilverOrn]

They made Galadriel the reason Sauron turned evil... He constantly was reluctant to do anything and seemed to honestly not want to be anything more than a smith. There were multiple times where we had his PoV and he was alone and acting conflicted. Either they went too deep on trying to make H=S a secret or Sauron, similarly to how he was in the books right after the fall of Morgoth, was actually really repentant. In the books Sauron ends up going evil again because "the fetters of Morgoth were too heavily on him" and he couldn't do anything else and also there was a pride element because he didn't want to be shamed publicly. In the show Galadriel is responsible for Sauron coming back and not just staying a smith in Numenor...

[@tobyreads]

I honestly expected the show runners to make halbrand teaching celebrimbor to be a whole season Arc tbh

[@jimsonw]

I guess I enjoyed the show because it made me FEEL like I was in Middle Earth again. I was blown away by the CGI, and the practical effects, and the awesome action. The Sauron reveal was shoehorned into the final episode, so it felt rushed, but I wasn't pissed about it. The writing left a lot to be expected, but I have hopes for season 2. It was definitely spectacle over substance, but I was okay with it because of how much I love the world. I hope they can expand the production next season.

[@Lou45833]

This show is as fun to watch as slamming your hand inside a car door

[@anska7475]

I liked the dwarves and Elrond. I'd have been perfectly happy with just that storyline or at least this storyline being the focus. Oh and I did like the music quite a bit - though I think releasing 9 soundtracks (a general one and one for each episode) is a tad bit excessive.

[@ElrohirGuitar]

I went into the show so bombarded by negativity from so many content producers that it made it harder to just stay open to enjoying the show. When you are surrounded by so many who actively strive to convince you that you are a fool (of a Took) if you enjoy the show, it makes it more difficult to ignore them. I did enjoy the show. It was not everything I had hoped for and certainly had some moments I did not enjoy. I want, so much, to enjoy exploring Middle Earth and still remain hopeful that the show will improve and delight me.

[@peterstedman6140]

That's about where I'm at. Some of the scenes (Elrond & Durin mostly) were 9.5/10 for me, really great, others were pretty weak, even bad probably 2.5/10. Overall mostly positive and I hope it improves from here.

[@bretts5346]

Amazon is really setting themselves up by delivering some of the worst shows. How many ip’s can they destroy? They’re almost (I said almost) giving Disney a run for their money.

[@lennysmileyface]

They are doing Fallout.

[@aurora_skies_]

I really liked the show and halbrand being Sauron, I haven't read the Tolkien books (only the Hobbit). I like how charming he is, and how he's likable as a 'normal human'. Also I burst out laughing at Daniel's screaming in that clip, the zoomed in face shots 😂😂

[@Yeti_Boop]

I think if you do read the books, which I highly recommend, it'll make you not like the show as much, simply because the writing, story and overall mood is in a whole other league than the show. There's a reason those books are so revered to this day. But it's subjective of course.

[@lordvalandil1672]

I’m glad you were able to enjoy it, but for myself as someone who has read the books I’m happy I didn’t waste 8-10 hours of my life with this. The only part I’ve seen was a 3 minute clip that my brother said was close to the books, and that was in the prologue. From “we had no word for death” to “Sauron”. As soon as she mentions her brother vowing to find him and destroy him I’m out.

[@acendiatmedia8747]

I recalled one of your old reviews of Netflix's Cursed and since i had never watched it and it appears to be your standard budget fantasy tv. My goal was to try and evaluate what Rings of Power might look like without the budget and the quality of the actual script. So if we take into account that a better budget means you can afford a more experienced crew directors,actors and all. So essentially i am presuming that the acting, directing, cgi, choreography, costumes and editing would be greatly improved by the budget, but the inverse would be true of ROP. I have only watched the first 2 episodes but my evaluation as of now is that with budget accounted for Cursed is far better. The characters are sufficiently characterized, and their motivations make sense. The internal logic of the world's seams to make sense and the plot so far is rarely contrived, though occasionally the characters seam to make decisions that make very little sense it is still fairly small things. All in all i think that if Cursed's was in the hands of the talent that the largest budget for any religion could buy them i think it would actually be solid a 6 or 7 instead of the 4 that it is while i would rate ROP as it is a 3 out 10. Yes as they are I consider what I have watched from Cursed as better than rings of power. For one the writing is just far better not that it is great but ROPs writing is horrendous nearly every plot point is contrived and the characters speak past eachother in a game of pseudo Tolkienesk one-upmanship. While many of the costumes are pretty most of the armor is awful and most costumes look like they where made with modern techniques, Cursed on the other hand does pretty well i can't think of anything that looked out of place though some where overly simplistic and just unimpressive. Both shows take similar liberties in casting and alter the material as they please (Cursed is a based on a illustrated novel by Frank Miller and inspired by Authurian legend which has no hard canon) notably in recentering the story around a girl boss warrior who may or may not be tempted by evil. So really the question is what would ROP be with out the expensive CGI, New Zealand landscape shots, sets and musical score? I think it would just be boring and nonsensical.

[@thac0twenty377]

The multiple chatacter Sauron would have been pretty damn cool

[@CufflinksAndChuckles]

I actually really like Halbrand's performance. It's so cool how the audience doesn't really know if he was being truthful about giving up his plans until Galadriel convinced him to "be the king." He's manipulating everyone and the audience (except for those who sniffed him out right away). My only grievance is that I thought that his manipulations would have more... gravitas and charisma? Like, I thought he would be more clever and likeable.

[@BirdPeopleArentReal]

I originally really liked the harfoots, but there’s only so many times I could watch where the main protagonist trusted the Gandalf guy, and then he did something and everyone distrusted him, and then he did something good so everyone liked him and the mp trusts him again, and then he did something bad which makes everyone distrust him again, and again and again before they get very very boring and predictable

[@rafael502]

Couldn't stick the landing? Hell, it never even took off the ground!

[@Flyinshoe]

Hardcore Tolkien fan here. Read all of the background stories and have a whole bookshelf dedicated to obscure works for the history of middle earth. I really enjoyed the show quite a bit. Canon for the 2nd age is a disputed topic and Tolkien himself was constantly adjusting the canon for that age and Galadriel's character up until his death. There is plenty of evidence to show that the Tolkien Estate is giving the showrunners access to obscure works that haven't been made public either. I went in with the mindset knowing that there were going to be some deviations from the stories that I know and love, and that likely the timeline would have to be massively squished as a tale spread over 2500-3000 years would be impossible to have a good narrative. Guess this was a good strategy as I was skeptical for the first couple episodes but quickly got on board as the show progressed. In my opinion, the show hasn't really altered things with the universe any further than Peter Jackson did with the LOTR and Hobbit trilogy movies, and we still have several seasons to see how things unfold. Folks need to calm the f down. As a side note, putting the atrocity that was Wheel of Time anywhere close to this show is pretty ridiculous as that show is based on completed works and this show is based on sporadic calendar entries more or less. The only show I've seen do an adaptation worse than Wheel of Time was Legend of the Seeker. *barf*

[@desmondmyers]

It’s funny I simultaneously agree with basically all of your critiques and have several more of my own, but I still just find this show really impressive and would definitely describe myself as a fan. Looking forward to next season!

[@francesccampos1343]

The show is indeed impressive, i wouldn't have ever imagined Galadriel swimming across the Belegaer (the ocean) for no reason at all, nor that 300 men and horses fit in 3 small ships (because Numenor doesn't have more ships somehow...), or that water can run uphill into a volcano and cause a massive eruption, or that elves and men are now fireproof somehow... I'd like to know what did you find impressive, i'm quite intrigued.

[@thomasley4006]

No, Sauron never struck me as very cool and composed. He was a Maia consumed by ambition and vanity, but also a shape-shifting trickster (as the vampire from Tol Sirion), and thirdly he had this god-complex to „heal the world“, to order it anew. So, yes, actually Halbrands charming and yet unstable demeanor is quite fitting, I have to say. (And I still think the Istar is a Blue Wizard; he goes east, after all, and the Gandalf quotes could be false clues as with all his Sauron clues that turned out wrong.)

[@maranr]

Spot on. I wanted to give this show a shot. While some things were decent, and even at times good, there were too many instances where the acting, the lines, characterization and plot caused me to visibly squirm in my seat and shake my head. The bad Annie Lennox impersonation at the closing credits sealed the deal. There is now a tempest in me preventing me from watching Season 2 at the risk of infecting my memory of the books and the films.

[@DragonHeart613]

Not sticking the landing is an understatement. Rings of Power is easily one of the if not THE worst show of 2022 & one of the worst written shows period. A massive disappointment unworthy of Tolkien & an absolute billion dollar waste from Amazon. Except for the awesome music from the always brilliant Bear McCreary (Black Sails, God of War 4, Outlander, The Walking Dead), Rings of Power was a total trainwreck & dumpster fire from start to finish. The way that show butchered the lore of the most beloved, most influential & most sacred of Fantasy sagas ever was downright unforgivable and the countless plot holes & inconsistencies was enough to drive even the most forgiving & patient of fans totally insane. Rings of Power does not deserve a second season. Thank God we still have the Peter Jackson movies, those did justice to Tolkien unlike Amazon's expensive disaster. At least The Wheel of Time show is entertaining. It's not perfect, it does have some glaring flaws here & there but it also has great performances from the cast, the action sequences are top notch, there's plenty of memorable moments, overall just a fun entertaining show with plenty of room for improvement which hopefully will happen in Season #2. The same however cannot be said for Rings of Power which was just simply dead on arrival.

[@ryancruz1876]

Peter Jackson butchered Tolkien’s novel.

[@DragonHeart613]

@@ryancruz1876 How exactly did he do that??? Jackson crafted one of the most acclaimed adaptations & one of the greatest series of movies in film history universally beloved by both fans & critics worldwide. Can Amazon's show make the same claim???

[@illyrusemperor9278]

"the elves want to steal our jobs" is probably the worst thing in history of television

[@samtmh7240]

I can't stop watching and cackling at 3:58 😂😂😂 That's just comedic GOLD

[@JM-tr2mx]

It feeling like a "corporate product" EXACTLY sums up my feelings.

[@barrybob85]

Durin and his wife are awesome. The rest of the show is enjoyable. I cared about most of the characters quickly. Nori and her friend are ok, but the rest of the Harfoots delivery left something to be desired. It's an interesting take on the content they had licenses for.

[@lukebatchelor717]

I really hoped it was Saruman. I wanted to see him in a sympathetic light, before what we know him as. Seeing it as Gandalf was just so obvious. And they totally gave him a bunch of Gandalfiness, and I think it was super shallow.

[@bretts8070]

ROP never even got off the ground. It's still taxiing on the tarmac.