Rings of Power S1 E8 | The Work of Sauron

[@SuicV]

Turns out that in the end, the real Sauron was the friend we made along the way!

[@Talpiot8200]

underrated comment

[@electricmayhem8147]

oh no this fits so well...

[@faustoutloud]

Friend and Lover.

[@briankeys5941]

It makes perfect since. To a super EVIL mega corporation, say... the heads of Amazon, -watched- skimmed LotR and said, "hey this Sauron guy, there's just something I like about him." Lol

[@lindonstanton7771]

That's so not what tolkein is about. Lol

[@JayJay5244]

Amazon is the worst thing to happen to Middle Earth since Morgoth himself…

[@mbarrett99]

Sauron was so powerful, he was able to take a $Billion-dollar tv show and turn it into a steaming pile of turd.

[@ilari90]

Hope you get to the phase where I am, just laughing at the nonsense, and buying popcorn for the aftermath.

[@Yesica1993]

And yet everyone continues to give it views.

[@JayJay5244]

@@Yesica1993 yeah I watched so I can enjoy and follow along the takedown reviews like this video, which are far more entertaining than the show

[@metalsadman]

@@Yesica1993 just be glad peeps did gave it a chance, keep on shilling bro.

[@lwzeis]

If mithril is the only thing that makes the rings so powerful then Frodo’s vest should be more powerful than the One itself.

[@jrdube]

There was no power INFUSED into Frodo's mithril mail

[@TomLentz]

Yeah, I kinda feel they're missing some secret ingredient to make them more magical. Like a Maiar should have helped directly.

[@christopherchuauhang4829]

@@TomLentz Sauron’s techniques and tools were supposed to help with the magic because it contains a bit of Sauron’s power in all of them but Sauron did not have a direct hand in the 3 elven rings. But still, when Sauron was defeated and the one ring destroyed, the elven rings also lost their power.

[@JimStanger]

Word. The Mithril-solves-death thing was weak and unnecessary as was the ticking timebomb concept.

[@alexanderromanov1587]

If Mithril is so powerful, what does it make the dwarves then?

[@zsean6788]

The real victory is the Saurons we gained along the way

[@Alexs.2599]

Somewhere I can hear Morgoth cackling with glee at this destruction of Tolkien's creation.

[@nizcoo2492]

Spurgt

[@AlekTrev006]

From the darkest depths of The Void, he feels his ‘work’ was completed…. by very foolish humans… 🥴

[@Alexs.2599]

@@AlekTrev006 Indeed, true words.

[@Count.Saruman]

He has his standards. Even in the Silmarillion, Morgoth could recognise and had a fine eye for beauty. More likely he'd blanch at being reminded most viscerally of Ungoliant.

[@JStoesz09]

@@AlekTrev006 Yeah, by the Tolkien Estate assholes who wouldn't give the materials. How can you make a 5-star meal when all you have in the kitchen is eggs and bread?

[@colinloves]

ROP was created by Morgoth himself. He took the books, and twisted them like he done to the elves, to make orcs. You know this to be true.

[@Eyepatchfilms]

Consider it a gift

[@Count.Saruman]

Give some respect to the former greatest of the Ainur. He's done some horrible things but he has his dignity and standards. This, on the other hand, is the spawn of Ungoliant...

[@artimuos903]

Morgoth has better class. This abomination is clearly written by Ratbag(Shadow of Mordor ork)

[@colinloves]

@@Eyepatchfilms LOL

[@colinloves]

@@Count.Saruman I stand corrected. Ungoliant, it is.

[@diegonatan6301]

Christopher Tolkien: "I'm here to protect my father's legacy" Tolkien Estate post 2017: "the old man and the even older man are both gone (throws confetti), let's make a lot of money before the rights expire! (throws more confetti)"

[@JonasGrumby-OO]

May Simon Tolkien choke on the Bezos Bucks!

[@Count.Saruman]

No, that's not correct. The rights were signed over two years before Christopher Tolkien died. More likely he thought no one would make the error of associating this with his father's work.

[@Lothiril]

@@Count.Saruman My guess is that he was old and too tired to argue with Simon over this...

[@di3486]

@@Lothiril exactly. In fact, they didn’t start production until Christopher died.

[@markgregorygacosta531]

@@Lothiril poor man. How i wish another person from the family fights Simon and defend Christopher and JRR Tolkien's works.

[@Longshanks1690]

“Do you remember the Peter Jackson LOTR trilogy, Mr Yoystan? It’ll be the 20th anniversary soon. And the fanbase will cheer. And we’ll remember seeing those characters created by a visionary genius all those years ago represented as well as they possibly could have been. And the battle scenes that defined a generation of cinema will still stand up to scrutiny and be as impressive now as they were in the early 2000s. And the writing quality of one of the most dramatic and powerful stories in the history of fiction will still be as resonant because of the love and care Jackson put into those films to the best of his ability… and the good, good writing will just shine from every part of the script from the plot to the characters to the overall themes of the story… Do you remember the feeling of good writing, Mr Yoystan?”

[@christianfarren1179]

This. So much.

[@marconeves1979]

Hear hear!!

[@finalgirl640]

So true.

[@julianne480]

And the orchards will be in blossom. And the birds will be nesting in the hazel thicket. And they’ll be sowing the summer barley in the lower fields… and eating the first of the strawberries with cream. Do you remember the taste of strawberries?”

[@ilari90]

@@julianne480 "Oh Yoysten, I don't recall the taste of food... It's... All memberberries now... Not the sound of laughter... Touch of grass... I'm in the darkness... With no veil... Between me and the Rings of Power! I can see him, Bezos, with my waking eyes!"

[@MenoftheWest]

Thank you all so much for watching! I wanted to clear up a comment I made on the Rings, it was poorly stated on my part. The Three Elven Rings were forged after the 16 (Men/Dwarves) but before the One.

[@faustoutloud]

So they Forged those off Screen???

[@rofflestomp684]

Sauron had a part in the making of the sixteen before the three and then the one. I don't have a clue where this show, as far as I am concerned, is going. No way to even guess, because this is not the same story. Imagine the law suits calling Tolkien scholars? The whole thing is rather crazy on so many levels.

[@h.b.hatecraft953]

Thanks for being honest and not shilling for Amazon.

[@Yesica1993]

What does it matter, if people are still giving it views? Amazon doesn't care if you love it or hate watch it, so long as you WATCH IT!

[@sabineb.5616]

@@Yesica1993, I have to disagree. This show was a public relation disaster for Amazon, and I highly doubt that they gained many more permanent Prime members. And they can only start to earn money with the show if they get many more permanent Prime members. I think that many curious people who want to check out the show, will go to one of those illegal streaming websites.

[@lowganc1739]

@@sabineb.5616 if you are in need of coasters for your tasty beverages, I'm sure the BluRays will be all but given away shortly...

[@The_Reality_Filter]

@@lowganc1739 ouch but seriously ouch 😅🤣🙂

[@SW-fn7cl]

@@Yesica1993 nope, the massive negative reaction is definitely what's required at this point. They really, really care about it. Loads of people seem to have stopped watching it as the seasons plodded along as well.

[@kapilsharmaWorld_uncensored]

So what we all were afraid of- *Making Galadriel a warrior princess. * Making Gil Galad bad. * Numenorian are mehh. * A story where she elf ends up saving the actual Dark Lord Sauron. * Rings or power made in few minutes in a montage. Forging of the rings in minutes. I couldn't believe my eyes honestly.

[@apan990]

very true, i love the amazon incels who gave everyone shit for predicting all this crap before the show even started when it was so blatantly obvious what was gona happen and how bad it was gona be. i wonder where they are now.

[@RoninDave]

And that they would ship Galadriel and Sauron - not only did they do that they gave Galadriel's words in LOTR to Sauron in his bad boy pick up lines. Completely dreadful

[@Shadowhunterbg]

Why can't you believe it? Haven't you seen how they butchered StarTrek and StarWars? How they butcher everything those woke puppets get their hands on? I wasn't surprised at all. In fact many people predicted that this will happen long before the show aired. You cannot expect smart and faithful adaptations from malicious hypocritical activists who call themselves writers.

[@SevenStarsandSevenStones]

One thing that we were worried about in the before times that has not (yet) come to fuition was any GoT-level gratuitous nudity. For all of RoP's many faults, I will credit them that.

[@christianfarren1179]

I never thought I’d quote Saruman and mean it, but “You are a lesser son of greater sires.” -Rings of Power in a nutshell

[@Longshanks1690]

That would be granting ROP the legitimacy of being of the legitimate progeny of LOTR, which I’m not prepared to. ROP is connected to LOTR in the same way Jace and Luke are scions of House Velayron; by name alone.

[@christianfarren1179]

@@Longshanks1690 Fair enough

[@thesfg9510]

I'm starving! We ain't had nothing but maggoty storytelling for eight stinkin' weeks!

[@matthewrascoe8690]

Yeah! Why can’t we have some meaty storytelling *Sees the Silmarillion* What bout them? Their fresh!

[@zeuskhan91]

Galadriel literally gave Sauron everything he wanted lol. He played "the wisest and greatest elf" like no tomorrow.

[@IamdeaththedestroyerofWorlds]

They ruined Galadriel

[@Didymus20X6]

@@IamdeaththedestroyerofWorlds This isn't the real Galadriel. This is an underdeveloped clone, kind of like Thomas Riker. The reason Celeborn isn't in this story is because he and the REAL Galadriel are off doing their own thing, completely oblivious to Guyladriel's exploits.

[@johns1625]

What she did was akin to if she got bit by a zombie and walked straight into the vault with the women and children and didn't tell anyone. Lmao.

[@nikhildeshpande6308]

But, even in the works of Tolkien, Sauron is portrayed as a cunning, fallen angel. He is much more than just an elf.

[@sabineb.5616]

@@IamdeaththedestroyerofWorlds , they ruined Sauron as well! Amazon's Sauron is no longer Tolkien's formidable villain! He has been turned into a rejected incel who could have stayed on the good-guy waggon if Galadriel hadn't denied him a redemption arc! It's all Galadriel's fault btw! If she had handled the situation better, Sauron would have never made his One Ring! In Eregion he honestly wanted to help the elves with their anti-fading project!

[@FreddyRiggo417]

"There is no curse in Elvish, Entish, or the tongues of Men for this treachery."

[@nuclearsimian3281]

A wizard should know better! Come, my business lies with Isengard tonight, with the rock and stone. It may be that we march to our doom...the last march of the Ents.

[@RokujyuuyonShou]

I cannot believe how quickly they breezed through the storyline around Halbrand, the idea of the rings, the crafting of the Elven Rings, Galadriel sussing him out, and Sauron fucking off to Mordor. The entire Harfoot storyline should have been wrapped up within the space of like 3 episodes and it would have been a neat ending with Nori leaving with Gandalf. Sadoc dying has no emotional impact as all because the audience have not been shown reasons to like the other Harfoots. Also, isn't the only reason why he went along to trail-find their way back? He died but Nori and friends went back without a problem???

[@FightCollective]

They have teleportation technology... it's the only logical explanation for all this fast travelle.

[@jrconway3]

The only reason for the Harfoot storyline was the Sauron fakeout. The Ascetics should have stated that the Meteor was caused by Sauron as soon as it showed up to make it work better, but they still couldn't end it until after Halbrand's reveal because the fakeout would be pointless otherwise.

[@Lothiril]

Halbrand surviving the ride from Mordor to Eregion already should have made Galadriel realise that he's Sauron.

[@Senneru13]

The problem is that half the characters in this show have survived something they shouldn’t have survived.

[@harvain731]

More that bad writing saved him. "Shouldn't you be resting?...no no, I have to ensure we make the Rings of Power in the next 5 minutes!".

[@Lothiril]

@@Senneru13 It's because in this show, all characters are Sauron.

[@justinstoll4955]

Such elegant dialogue: "I'm good!"

[@doubleplusdanny]

I really wanted “I’m a disturber of the peace”

[@Blakmagic88]

It was hard not to burst into laughter when he spoke those momentous words😂

[@sweeperboy]

It was almost as good as "I have a tempest inside of me!"

[@hobbes1887]

what he really meant was " I'm GROOOOOT"

[@Blakmagic88]

@@hobbes1887 🤣🤣🤣

[@kamikazeoda9738]

On the bright side, without the Rings of Power, I'd never have discovered this channel. I really enjoyed listening to you guys. Thanks!

[@poneill65]

It's gone! It's done! I can see the Shire. The Brandywine River. Bag End. Gandalf's fireworks, the lights, the party tree. Rosie Cotton dancing....

[@isthatjackson]

-The magic system is wildly OP. -Celebrimbor looks like Mrs. Doubtfire. -Time and distance mean nothing. Almost everything falls to pieces of you actually look at it.

[@johns1625]

-Adding 6 pounds of gold and silver and steel to 6 grams of Mithril to make 3 2 gram rings containing Mithril

[@apan990]

exactly, that alongside countless other flaws the show has both lore and general story telling wise, the shows target audience are people who dont think and just consume products with their minds shut off, the more you think about it the more you realise how bad it is. thats why amazon shills' only argument is "omg just watch the show and enjoy it if not then dont watch it!!!11" just consume, pay up, and be quiet.

[@One.Zero.One101]

That's the problem with the *Mystery Box* obsession. If you want the audience to enjoy the plot, you need to make them follow it. Reveal the character's goal and show the step by step progress towards achieving that goal. The problem is I didn't know they were gonna use the trenches to explode the volcano. So that whole time they spent building the trenches, I wasn't following anything. Same with the ring forging plot. In the finale they revealed they decided they didn't have enough mythril so they'd rather make rings instead and forged the rings in the same episode. That means in all the episodes leading to that plot, I wasn't following anything. Stop the *Mystery Box* obsession. Reveal the character's goal and show the progression of working towards that goal so we have something to follow. Don't hide it off-screen, don't hide it in a Mystery Box.

[@c.w.simpsonproductions1230]

I thought GOT Season 8's time condensing was ridiculous, but cramming the entire Sauron/Celebrimbor storyline AND the forging of the rings into half an episode in a show called Rings of Power is... just... WTF??? I don't think the word insulting even comes close to defining this. More like the Scouring of Tolkein. This should have been played out over ALL of Season 2. All they had to do was show the scene of Halbrand and Celebrimbor and the second he says gift, literally everyone would have known he was Sauron. Honestly a mercy that Christopher Tolkien didn't have to see this desecration of his father's work.

[@colinloves]

Hoping for Lightsabers next season 😁

[@AegisRick]

Shadowfax, the horse lord of the Mearas, carried Gandalf and Pippin from Orthanc to Minas Tirith in about 3 days time. This was in land that was very familiar to it and knew best how to traverse it. It rode like the wind or faster and flames came from his feet. You literally don't have a faster horse. Except in RoP. Where some two random horses took them a far further distance in less time.

[@ThomBartley]

Disappointed is how I feel. Also confused, so much talk of the Tolkien estate being super protective of the story, but also apparently had sign off on everything. So they signed off on 2nd age Gandalf, Galadriel the ring smith / creator of Mordor and all the other stuff that breaks lore. It's just weird.

[@johnchavez1815]

Christopher Tolkien retired from managing the Estate in 2017. I’d love to know their names but those managers of the Estate are the ones who wanted a paycheck and sold the rights way. Damn those blasphemous heretics!!!!

[@diegonatan6301]

That is in the past, when Christopher was in charge of Tolien's Estate, now they threw away the "protect Tolkien's legacy" in favor of "the old man and the even older man are both dead, let's make money before the rights expire"

[@FightCollective]

Not weird... it's money and greed.

[@sabineb.5616]

@@diegonatan6301, yes! Simon Tolkien is the new head honcho of the Tolkien estate. And he will emerge from this disaster with a lot of eggs on his face. The Tolkien estate had far reaching veto rights, but they allowed this travesty to run it's course. Besides the two milky-faced inexperienced show-runners Simon Tolkien will be blamed for this disaster. But maybe the younger generation of the Tolkien family may not care. They may have wanted to earn as much money as possible as long as the estate still has the rights. I am still puzzled, though. The Tolkien estate had already got the huge treasure trove of money, and if they had cared a bit more , they could have made sure that the writers won't stray too far from Tolkien's writings.

[@majkus]

Things changed after Christopher Tolkien died, alas. Simon Tolkien seems to be the literary executor now, and he has proven many times that he sees these matters far differently from his father.

[@NicholasRodriguezN7]

Yoystan is the man.

[@SandraOrtmann1976]

I just rewatched the scene from the real LOTR where the beacons of Gondor were lit. Oh my...it brought tears to my eyes. And this was just one moment. I felt nothing like this in this series. One cannot simply replace heartfelt emotions and real acting with fancy CGI and golden costumes.

[@derrickhighley3762]

Well stated...

[@smolpp585]

Please, dont say PJ's films are the "real" LOTR, they butcher so much. nothing will ever be as good as the books.

[@apan990]

@@smolpp585 ofc the books are best but that doesnt mean the movies arent any good, i personally prefer the films simply because im more of a visual person as opposed to a reading one, but even then with the changes that were made, the films are perfection, pure art and something that will never and has never been replicated in movie history, i mean they didnt get all those oscar awards for nothing. besides, if PJ was any more faithful to the books than he was, the movie wouldnt be as good because its hard to fit all that detail from books in a trilogy of films, he needed to balance between fulfilling tolkeins key message and story, and at the same time making a good movie. i still dont understand how people cant seem to fathom this simple fact.

[@quixotiq]

The real LoTR is the book/s....

[@arkarosh7043]

rewatched all 3 movies and inr ROTK as soon as the charge of the rohirim starts im just balling my eyes out xD

[@TheDeluche]

19:05 the show runners are most likely teasing the fact that he’s Gandalf because they’re seeing how the audience will react to him being Gandalf and if it’s highly unpopular they’ll probably pivot to him actually being a Blue. That’s why they’ve left the season with it not yet being 100% confirmed.

[@apan990]

fingers crossed thats the case because i like the character but dont want him being gandalf at all.

[@harvain731]

It's Gandalf, he even states a Gandalf line he uses in the book and movies about "When in doubt always follow your nose".

[@TheDeluche]

@@harvain731 yah but we won’t get 100% confirmation until someone says his name whether it be Mithrandir, Gandalf, or Olorin. Knowing how the show writers are they love throwing red herrings at their audience. A few dialogue indications don’t actually mean anything imo.

[@harvain731]

@@TheDeluche I doubt they'll use Olorin as this wouldn't have any bearing for almost everyone. Mithrandir is just Elvish for Grey Pilgrim. So most likely until the Elves + Stranger meet he won't be called this. Gandalf will likely be the name that Nori decides on and where it originates from.

[@MapEffects]

I think you’re giving the showrunners too much credit. More likely if we don’t like their decision they’ll just get defensive and call us “patently evil” again.

[@Morgan_le_they]

I thought, for a split second during the Galadriel/Sauron mental showdown that we might finally get a hint of her power, but no. Of course not. They kept up with the theme of the elves being basically just pointy eared humans. Which is sadly the least of my problems with my show at this point

[@zacharyhawley1693]

Somehow, they managed to make Galadriel such a profound level of evil that even Morgoth couldn't comprehend. Somehow, Sauron was Galadriel's victim in this. He was trying to redeem himself in whatever smallway he could and then she just tore that redemption ladder down. And here's the thing not once does he lie to her.

[@Mrcaptainmorgan93]

I've seen a few people say this. And I don't think that's the case he is supost to be the great deceiver , he was trying to trick her the whole time.

[@zacharyhawley1693]

@@Mrcaptainmorgan93 Did we watch the same show? There's no way anyone could plan for the most evil elf to ever exist to suddenly swandive and decide to swim in the ocean for no reason. The only mistake he made was saving her life.

[@Mrcaptainmorgan93]

@@zacharyhawley1693 fair point I was more referring too his speech at the end during the reveal. The whole them meeting in the middle of the ocean was dumb and another set of problems. I'm not defending galadrial but I don't think sauron was trying to redeem himself in anyway

[@zacharyhawley1693]

@@Mrcaptainmorgan93 And I will point out he just wanted to forge.This version of sauron left or there wouldn't be a need for the three witches to mistake gandalf and him. Their entire purpose was to bring him back. Their existence proves an attempt was made. The mere fact he departed middle earth also proves it. And then a psychotic elf declared him king after he rebuffed her on the point. He's literally trying to make way to a forge and she wrecks his plans continuously. Until you reach the point where he realizes as long as this crazy broad is nearby he's never going to be allowed to forge in peace and the only way to placate the insanity was to go with her.

[@anarionelendili8961]

My first thoughts after seeing the episode: It is as if the show suddenly realized what its name was. So they crammed what should have been a season into a contrived half-an-episode speed run, and as a consequence, it felt very rushed and contrived. Congratulations, you have managed to retell the story of the Forging of the Rings of Power in a much poorer form than in the canon, and everyone is stupid. Even Sauron gets revealed thanks to him being stupid. Celebrimbor, the greatest elven smith after Feanor, has to be taught how to alloy metals by a 'human'. Also, the strong implication here is that Sauron, not the Elves, will forge the lesser rings of power (7 for the dwarves and 9 for men), since it was clearly stated that no more than those 3 elven rings would be created, and they don't even have mithril for more. Of course, the lesser rings might not need mithril, but why would the elves make them, when the three take care of their fading problem? Also, does the One have mithril in it (presumably, Sauron would have pocketed some when no one was looking; not like the Elves would keep an eye on the very scarce and important resource)?

[@newonlinetheatren.o.t1339]

Or Sauron returns to Celebrimbor and tempts him further once the others are gone. But from a TV story stand point, it does make some more sense that Sauron crafts the lesser rings as a clearer explanation that those rings are more directly under his control.

[@spacejunk2186]

Quick! Cram something Middle Earthy in there before the execs ask where the 250 million went!

[@WayneBraack]

Why did you watch it? Maybe not a Tolkien fan but love fantasy so decided to?

[@99albino]

is there a clear time that elven smiths learn about alloys? that's one thing i wasnt sure about

[@anarionelendili8961]

@@99albino Noldor smiths learned their craft originally from Aule himself, so I'd say before the First Age. Just as a reminder, in our recorded history, humans figured out Bronze (an alloy of tin (usually) and copper) back in ~3000 BC and it took additional 2000 years to figure out how to get the crucibles hot enough to refine higher melting point iron. Alloying is OLD tech. As a jewel smith in particular, Celebrimbor ought to be very familiar with alloys of gold, silver and copper.

[@kreestuh4367]

Just deeply sad we didn't get the version of events from the Council of Elrond in Fellowship of the Ring: "Then all listened while Elrond in his clear voice spoke of Sauron and the Rings of Power, and their forging in the Second Age of the world long ago. A part of his tale was known to some there, but the full tale to none, and many eyes were turned to Elrond in fear and wonder as he told of the Elven-smiths of Eregion and their friendship with Moria, and their eagerness for knowledge, by which Sauron ensnared them. For in that time he was not yet evil to behold, and they received his aid and grew mighty in craft, whereas he learned all their secrets, and betrayed them, and forged secretly in the Mountain of Fire the One Ring to be their master. But Celebrimbor was aware of him, and hid the Three which he had made; and there was war, and the land was laid waste, and the gate of Moria was shut." They had the rights to this text along with the appendices. They chose to ignore it to create.. whatever this show is trying to be. It's certainly not related to anything Tolkien. A real bummer.

[@neildaly2635]

Absolutely. It is so bad it needs to be mocked, but mainly I feel regret over how good it could have been. I too don’t have a clue what they were trying to do, but if they just wanted to pervert a glorious tale they succeeded

[@waylander9265]

To quote the show runners “back to the books, back to the books, back to the books.”

[@newonlinetheatren.o.t1339]

So a lot of this did happen. It just happened swiftly.

[@JonNogo]

Now that this is over, i'm going to watch the Peter Jackson LotR and cleanse my palate

[@atelerspeaks3257]

It's funny how so many (including myself) are saying this, or re-reading the books.

[@JonNogo]

@@atelerspeaks3257 if anything, we can say this series reconnected us with something good 🤣

[@atelerspeaks3257]

@@JonNogo Indeed!

[@nijfitzgibbon8081]

At least we know where Littlefinger's jet pack ended up

[@Lucie.Greening]

*distant Glidus laughter*

[@karlpoppins]

16:11 it is actually the story of Theseus, who returned from Crete, where he encountered the Minotaur. Jason was the leader of the Argonauts - that's a different story.

[@blasphemous1989]

Was just about to comment the same- nice catch! Btw, I would recommend to everyone reading upon either Theseus' or Jason's story instead of watching this show...

[@karlpoppins]

@@blasphemous1989 As a kid I still remember vividly how Medea murdered and chopped her brother Absyrtus into pieces to give Jason and his Argonauts time to escape from Colchis - pretty harrowing stuff!

[@hskqour]

and so it was his father Aegeus who jumped into the sea because he saw the sails, giving it his name.

[@blasphemous1989]

@@karlpoppins I think it is very interesting in general how fallible and imperfect the Argonauts are in general, not to mention the more shady characters like Medea 😅

[@karlpoppins]

@@blasphemous1989 I reckon the lack of ideal characters is the norm in Greek mythology; I can't think of a single ideal hero like, say, Tolkien's Aragorn.

[@davidcoleman757]

Really like the fact you guys were open-minded, gave the show a chance, and then carefully picked apart its innumerable flaws. I've done the five stages of grief with RoP. I intend spending this winter cleansing my soul with genuine Tolkien stories and letters, reading a bit of Tom Shippey and having a few runs through the extended Jacksons. I'll be right as rain by spring.

[@atelerspeaks3257]

I know exactly how you feel, mellon. I have been doing much the same. After viewing (not on Amazon) the entire ROP season, I needed a cleansing bath. I pulled out my collection of Tolkien books, and I even gave PJ's The Hobbit another chance by researching and finding a good fan-edit version. I only ever watched the theatre release once and said, "Never again!" But I managed to find a surprisingly good, well-produced, fan edit that is remarkably faithful to the book, especially once you pull out all the non-sense and the Tauriel love triangle. It is what it should have been in the theatre release, in my opinion. I'd say this fan-edit is on par with the LOTR trilogy. It was liking seeing The Hobbit for the first time. After all these years renouncing it, I will take this fanedit, burn it to DVD, and put it beside my LOTR movies. ... Then I shall spend the rest of the winter re-reading the books.

[@chrisfraser5088]

Really appreciate that you guys have been honest the whole time with your reviews and opinions. Been a fan of Tolkien’s work since I was a kid…and I just can’t deal with this show. I wanted to give it a fair chance, so I watched the first season. But I won’t be watching anymore in the future. The Professor would be appalled by this. Shame…because it could have been so much better, they just needed better writers on the project.

[@antonyli8017]

What breaks my heart is hearing from people who have never read the lore come out of this and say that Gil-Galad is a terrible king, selfish, cowardly and is the reason why their people are failing...no oh god, he is the High King of the Noldor, he is valiant, brave and selfless and extremely intelligent, he's the one who made an alliance with Numenor, got to be friends with Elendil, perceived that evil was rising in the east and was the one who was constantly preparing his people for war, all of these deeds were his, NOT Galadriel's, she has her stuff going on during the second age, not only is this show disregarding any lore but also corrupting the views of beloved characters like Gil-Galad making people see him as some cowardly and terrible king is honestly the biggest insult they could've done, it's one of the many terrible repercussions that come out of changing the lore.

[@Alexs.2599]

Yep that's pretty frustrating. They have no clue it's a distortion of Gil Galad's character.

[@stegura83]

Most modern movies with reboots in particular seek to masculinize women and feminize men.

[@Didymus20X6]

@@stegura83 It's because they only see validity in women if they display traditionally masculine traits. But when they see men display those same traits, they label it at "toxic masculinity." They can't make up their minds.

[@randonolso]

I’m so proud of this channel for staying true to Tolkien and not becoming a shill. To call this show trash is an insult to trash.

[@williamconway1287]

I am a HUGE LOTR fan . Dragged the wife to the movies to see The Fellowship . I was mesmerized ! It was GREAT ! Read all of the first 6 books as a teen . Have all 6 movies in regular and extended versions . You get the picture , I just can’t get into the show . To me it’s boring !

[@AlexEvett55]

@WoodPileDenmark lotr is technically split into 6 books, commonly published in 3 or 1 volumes

[@atelerspeaks3257]

@WoodPileDenmark I sort of thought he meant , 'The Hobbit,' 'The Fellowship of the Ring', 'The Two Towers', 'The Return of the King', 'The Silmarillion' and 'Unfinished Tales'... which also count as 6 books.

[@Hopeswilldie]

I think the main problem I have with the finale is it's all rushed. They created three most powerful items in Middle-earth after the Silmarils in a few cut scenes. They could've milk it for much longer. Where are the nine? Where are the seven? They are supposed to be forged before the three. Also Halbrand as Annatar could've been much longer, he's supposed to be much more seductive than that pitty attempt shown on Galadriel.

[@newonlinetheatren.o.t1339]

But but but the books did it differently! Clearly the other rings will be crafted in season two. Instead of going, "oooh, I wonder what this will mean, how will they be done? Why did the writers change this for the series?" It's like an immediate rejection of the possibility this works. They have a whole season to go over tempting dwarves and humans, and possibly tempting Celebrimbor into crafting more rings.

[@Count.Saruman]

@@newonlinetheatren.o.t1339 Oh, god this is so stupid. Leaving aside the stupidity of Celebrimbor just accepting some random stranger's advice when he just walks into the forge- and even if it proved correct, not trying to investigate or detain said stranger afterwards- there's the essential anticlimax of the rings apparently having been forged so easily. That takes away from their spectacle and gravity. One wonders why they didn't just forge more. There's also the fact that the three are the greatest of Celebrimbor's rings, and it's funny to think about why he'd later forge less potent ones when he could make the best ones on the first try without any practice whatsoever. The immediate rejection of the possibility that this works is because there is *no possibility that this works* .

[@DrCorndog1]

@New Online Theatre N.O.T Don't try to reduce a legitimate complaint to a tired meme. And don't assume the writers have some great depth of storytelling ability they've kept hidden for all of season 1.

[@Lothiril]

@@newonlinetheatren.o.t1339 So you're saying the story can't be criticised until we have seen all 5 seasons in ~10 years? No, Amazon decides to set up the show like this, so this is what's going to be judged. Given how bad the writing was in this season, there is zero reason to trust them that next season will be better in any way. From my pov, the rejection happens because any question I had in this first season so far was given a stupid answer. The possibilities I see is that it just gets worse.

[@majkus]

And let us not forget the lesser rings, 'essays in the craft'. Crafting the greater Rings was a long learning experience for Celebrimbor and the mirdain; and I am sure not everyone in Eregion trusted Sauron to the same degree, which could make for some good story material. In other words, they could actually have followed Tolkien's imagined history and still created the sort of story lines they want. As usual, The Rings of Power has nothing at all to do with Tolkien's writings, except in the most general way ("In Eregion, Celebrimbor forged Rings of Power(tm)"). But the reasons for forging the rings, the manner in which Sauron persuaded Celebrimbor, the attitudes of Gil-galad, Elrond, and Galadriel towards Sauron (and their presence in Eregion, for that matter), the relationship between the Noldor of Eriador and the Dwarves of Khazad-dûm… not even a single story beat has even the slightest congruence to JRRT's work. If Payne and McKay handle the foundering of Númenor in the same way, Sauron will tell Ar-Pharazon, "The Valar are going to invade! You _have_ to make the first strike!" (probably with some advanced technology taught by Sauron) instead of giving us the theme of mortality and immortality that suffuses all of Tolkien's work and especially the tale of the Second Age. And at this point, I would not put it past them to do just that, which is sad indeed.

[@TolkienLorePodcast]

That title 😂. One quibble I had is that I don’t think the One Ring needs to exist for the others to be effective, it’s more the reverse that the One, once forged, binds the others so after that their power depends on it, but yeah the whole plot of the Rings was just so lame in this episode. We all were so looking forward to Annatar deceiving the elves and being clever and got this rushed, half-baked story instead. Just goes to show that almost no one can improve on The Professor.

[@MenoftheWest]

Ah that makes sense! You’re totally right, nothing will be better than the story the Professor gave us.

[@JonasGrumby-OO]

Ah. Honest. Not shills. Subbed. Btw: the 3 elfin rings looked like celebrimbor bought them out of a bubblegum machine

[@di3486]

😂😂😂

[@shadowofchaos8932]

A true twist would make meteor man... Tom Bombadil.

[@jimpoop]

yeah.. but bombadil has been there since the very creation of Arda.. and has no reason to really interact with any characters or give a shit about anything going on.. so i dont know how they would write him in

[@SuicV]

@@jimpoop It's not like that sort of thing has stopped them before

[@Makkaru112]

He’d have to possess an infectiously good mood to he good Ol Tom!!!!

[@DemonOfMirkwood]

According to showrunners you guys are "patently evil", to me you are one of the best if I want to learn more about or entertain myself with the Tolkien universe. Episode commentaries was awesome for the last weeks, thanks a lot.

[@benjaminjane93]

What I found even crazier with the 'Gandalf' is that Daniel Weyman once he is talking like a regular person does seem to do a bit of a Ian Mckellen Gandalf impression. Just like the way he speaks reminded me a lot of Gandalf. And what's weird is that they have said that they want to distance themselves from the PJ movies yet they keep going back to the movies for direct callbacks.

[@specialk8888]

I feel like the crafting of the rings of power should have been an entire season all on it's own with it ending being the realisation that "Halbrand/Annatar" is Sauron and then the next season focusing on the War Of Sauron And The Elves, all while having small snippets of Numenor starting faithful and slowly descending into depravity and chaos. Then the season after that can show a massive time jump and have Sauron remerge and the entire season be Sauron causing havoc in Numenor, eventually ending with the Downfall of Numenor and then the next season being the construction of Gondor and Sauron remerging again which leads to the War Of The Last Alliance. If they took their time and didn't try to tell their own lackluster story, this show could have been amazing

[@sakataginko9092]

Another Tolkien-dedicated channel, Tolkien Untangled, made really good videos on what the Rings of Power should have been. I highly recommend everyone here to go check him out as well. I hope he collabs with Yoystan one of these days as well.

[@dougroberts4535]

Amazon should have hired you to write this lol that would have worked really well in my opinion!

[@specialk8888]

@@dougroberts4535 yeah it would have been so much better if the show runners took their time! They’ve blasted through so much of Middle-Earths history and for no really good reason

[@yasuke1280]

That closing shot of chad-Sauron in wack Mordor cracked me up.

[@ImNoctica]

that man was almost dead and 10 minutes later he's in Mordor lmao

[@blaxpoitation8528]

@@ImNoctica Everyone teleports in ROP. I swear, I won't be surprised if Amazon says that this version of LotR is part of the MCU. They have mutants. They have Nightcrawler powers of long distance teleportation.

[@spacejunk2186]

With good writing, that shot even might have worked.

[@thehoneybunempress1664]

That ending song was terrible

[@muRDoch56]

Almost spit out my drink at Chad-Sauron. 10\10

[@sirwilliam4128]

I guess Annatar’s surname was Halbrand… or: Hellbrand 😜😂🤣

[@atelerspeaks3257]

Hellbent on being Sauron. 😁😉

[@nws13]

The whole forge of rings would deserve, I don't know, a whole two episodes (?). And it was done crumpled in just 15min. And this is one of the most important moments of the entire legendarium. And that was it, a few minutes and that's it.

[@85mcarnold]

But if they spent more time on the forging of the rings we wouldn’t have enough time for the Harfoots!

[@Mystic_Christopher]

The dude looks more like a Sauron than a Gandalf. And the end when Noris friend just said bye then ran off. Later to come back and say bye the right way, awkward..

[@freydycat1416]

plot twist: Halbrand isn’t actually Sauron, the infection just scrambled his mind into thinking he was

[@markurban7086]

The end cracked me up. “I literally had nothing else to do so I guess it was worth watching? But if I could do anything else I probably would have done that.”

[@One.Zero.One101]

This is the most trope-filled movie/show I've seen in a long time. Of course all movies/shows use tropes but in Rings of Power, it seems every scene is set up to to use an overused trope, whether it's the Miscommunication Trope, Death Fakeout Trope, Bait and Switch Trope, Mystery Box Trope, etc. That's why this show is so predictable, I recognize the trope immediately, and I watch it play out very slowly already knowing how the trope is going to end.

[@FightCollective]

Yup, 100% agree. You know immediately what is going to happen and you sit their squirming in your seat shouting "Just get on with it!"

[@newonlinetheatren.o.t1339]

Lmfao, heaven forbid that writers use the tricks of their trade. I am sure your screenplay would have been so very eloquent.

[@ViscountAlexOfTheHorsePeople]

The whole season 1 is a bombardment of mystery boxes, at one point having a literal mystery box that the dwarves have. So there's no narrative understanding, little to no payoff and the withheld information just becomes annoying. If 'The Stranger' was Gandalf from the beginning, it would have given more of a hook. By the time the characters know, the audience is practically screaming it at their screen.

[@GreatGreebo]

His sigh at 20:49 sums it up perfectly when it come to this series 🤦🏻‍♀️

[@kevinfelix2543]

im right there with you, man rolling my eyes wishing amazon would stop this madness of stupidity.

[@kaidorade1317]

Evil can’t create, only corrupt what has already been made.

[@RoninDave]

Season 1 in a nutshell - It was Galadriel all along! I was expecting bad but this was horrendous in every possible way! The show is absolutely broken and irreparable without a complete reboot. But I love that they made their Gurl Galadriel responsible for nearly single-handedly ruining all of Middle Earth! No one else made the kind of bad decisions like she did (though Bronwyn comes close chosing to fight rather than running which would have kept Adar from the Macguffin to turn on Mt Doom) where almost everything she did ultimately failed. She was the real villain and she didn't even realize it. She got the Numenoreans to inadvertently help Sauron with an expedition that failed because Adar got to turn on his volcano. She just got some Numenoreans fried and their Queen blinded which is likely going to be used by Ar-Pharazon to seize power and lead to Numenor's downfall. Great job, Galadriel!

[@anarionelendili8961]

Keeping the Three a secret: No, not really. Sauron was helping in their creation. Sure, he figured that they'd make two, not three (Galadriel's commandment), but he certainly knows of their creation. No other Rings of Power were even in the plans. Whereas in canon, Celebrimbor makes the Three on his own, after Sauron is gone. Sauron knows about them thanks to the One Ring, but he had no connection other than that (and the Ring Lore that allowed Celembrimbor to make them). Whereas here he was involved explicitly in finding a way to make them. I guess you can squint and say that he was gone before they actually started to make them with the melted dagger (with all the impurities from the steel and the hilt, sigh).

[@oliclay1348]

I like how the guy who was abandoned by his people for having a sprained ankle is giving a speech about how they all stick together

[@SirSpoon]

I figured the moth imagery was pretty significant to the strangers identity

[@sabineb.5616]

Kenneth Brown, I agree, and meteor man is definitely Gandalf - although he will probably never be called Gandalf. He will be called by his maia name Olorin. And since Tolkien never wrote explicitly that Olorin never traveled on a meteor to Middle Earth, the show-runners must have thought that it's totally okay to insert our favorite wizard into their horrible show.

[@Andytlp]

He said the follow your nose thing thats 100% supposedly gandalf in one of his hundreds of lifetimes

[@SirSpoon]

I would also look at how he used manipulated the same things as gandalf like shadows and smoke in particular as well like he did in the movies. This is one of those moments I wish the show would deviate and make a new istari than bring the canon wizards into this timeline

[@sabineb.5616]

@@SirSpoon , you are right, and the writers borrowed so many Gandalf-moments from the movies, that it's impossible that the meteor man is not our all-time favorite wizard. I love Gandalf - but so far they have not done anything remotely interesting with his character and the harfoots. I don't even know why they have been included in the first season. You could remove this narrative strand about Gandalf and the harfoots without hurting the overall plot. And there is only one legitimate Gandalf anyway - Sir Ian McKellen's Gandalf. I cannot accept another Gandalf 😉

[@michaelbowen2343]

I think with all the Gandalf specific clues they want us to BELIEVE the stranger is Gandalf when in fact he is actually more likely one of the blue wizards and all the clues are just red herrings to throw us off the scent. One of the biggest clues we have is that in the Unfinished Tales, Tolkien wrote that the five Istari came to Middle-earth together in TA 1000. However, in The Peoples of Middle-earth, they are said to have arrived in the Second Age, around the year SA 1600, the time of the forging of the One Ring. So its entirely possibly they did in fact come to Middle-Earth during the Second age but then left and came again across the sea with the other three Istari.

[@slicerneons3300]

This show has fallen into shadow. Don't let your hearts be troubled fans of Tolkien; go now and rest. For you were made weary and with much toil. I sincerely.hope they realize how bad they did and just give up. A season 2 would only make things worse.

[@ExtraVictory]

Lmfaoooo I shouldn't have to tell you this, but even hoping for that is a bad idea. But who am i to say, I'm one of millions who loved the show

[@BerserkerX]

Poor Celebrimbor, second greatest smith of them all. This show deserves no mercy but I hope the later seasons are good. Not just better but actually of good quality.

[@01_N01]

Don't get your hopes up.

[@FightCollective]

I'm not prepared to invest anymore time in this kind of garbage. Season 2 is an instant no from me... won't be touching it. I just cannot believe how dumb and insulting Season 1 is.

[@AlekTrev006]

🎶 “Oh no, oh jeez … I gotta grab my sword… cause I suddenly just discovered that-my-boyfriend’s-a-Dark Lord !!” 🎶 - 😂

[@01_N01]

Lmao 🤣

[@neildaly2635]

Drop your socks and grab your Harfoot we’re going to a party!

[@justinstoll4955]

The real twist was that Galadrial wasn't revealed as Sauron. It's also pretty unique when you think about it, the writers know how to write villains: Sauron, Adar, Galadrial . . .

[@PaulJohn01]

At this stage i think Sauron would be considered the lesser of the 2 Evils !

[@johnchavez1815]

GET-FUCKING-REAL. The writers are undergrad creative writing students from Arizona State University Online with a GPA of 2.0.

[@DrCorndog1]

Hey, don't put down ASU like that.

[@TheLyricalCleric]

Gil Galad: “we don’t have time to come up with a way to save our species, some tree is dying too fast!” Elrond: “I thought we had until springtime, can’t you give it a few months?” Gil Galad: “No, I need to artificially inflate the tension!” Elrond: “That’s okay, we’ll make the rings in like a day or two.” Gil Galad: “We’re all DOOMED!”

[@Chases67]

True, def made no sense

[@captainkidd8755]

As bad as the show is in some places I feel like we don’t talk about the music enough, Bear McCreary created a really good soundtrack that complements the characters and locations extremely well.

[@DirtWizard33]

In a Hollywood reporter interview the show runners said recently they want Sauron to be a Tony Soprano/Walter White type bad guy next season. Ugh. Hopefully season 2 gets canceled and I can forget this weird show ever happened lol. Great video as usual guys. Thanks for sharing. 😃👍

[@mrtony1985]

I for one think it would improve the show massively if Sauron starts distributing meth to all of middle earth. I want to see some crack head hobbits and tweaking trolls.

[@sabineb.5616]

It won't get canceled. They already started to film the second season.

[@DirtWizard33]

@@sabineb.5616 ya I know. It’s just a fools hope lol.

[@amandag5072]

@@sabineb.5616 Shows can be and are canceled after they start shooting.

[@newonlinetheatren.o.t1339]

Sauron's backstory is written far more three dimensionally in the Silmarillion than it is in the PJ movies. This version is more thematically similar because Sauron believed what he was doing would "order" Middle Earth. It's why he wants to dominate their minds and rule them, he thinks he knows better how to make Middle Earth run properly. The dialog in this episode between Halbrand and Galadriel shows this when he says that he doesn't know the difference between ruling and healing Middle earth.

[@Texastentialist-ls9kz]

The best review of this mess has been from those that love the lore. Thank you for your candor .

[@deagor4578]

It should be ignored, not reviewed.

[@Nealikus]

It’s over. It’s done.

[@wavetactics13]

Riding for 6 days straight would have killed their horses. May be a minor thing in light of the overall fast travel problem this show has, but it still bothers me.

[@FightCollective]

The show is riddle with nonsense like that, far too many to list, and every time it takes me out of the show and into a state of WTF?!?

[@Eric-rr3zd]

Pharazon wasn't crying for Tar-Palantir personally, he was crying over the idea that even a King of Numenor could not escape death.

[@wojta610cz5]

Yeah, i thought that was obvious.

[@spacejunk2186]

Too bad mortality was never a serious plot point in this show, so this moment is confusing if you don't know the lore.

[@Count.Saruman]

He was actually crying because he realised he's trapped within this stupid plot.

[@aesir1ases64]

@@spacejunk2186 exactly, mortality was more of a side note in the whole season 1 of numenor, this should be the main plot point from the start!

[@johns1625]

Guys we need to make three rings out of Mithril. We have a three rings sized chunk of milthril, and a gold and silver dagger with a steel blade weighing many pounds. So we will melt them all together, steel included, pour them into three tiny bars that all look different, and then work those into 3 rings and then the 99.98% of it we wasted can just be thrown away. Lmao.

[@Count.Saruman]

It's worse. Should we treat it for impurities? No, absolutely not. Shape the mould? Eh, no need. Use a song of power? What are those? Make a good lattiecwork for the gemstone? Nah, let it be a fat blob.

[@johns1625]

@@Count.Saruman When I was in high school we learned to make a wax model of a ring and then make a mould with it and pour the silver in and shape it further until done. These guys just used a file and a billet apparently. Lmao

[@mythic_snake]

My favorite part of episode 8 was when they held on a spinning shot of the rings for 2 straight minutes, and then cut away to people staring blankly for a full minute, and then cut back to another 2-minute spinning shot of the rings.

[@amolb7952]

I thought it was just me! I actually fast forwarded the multiple parts of the show and thought there was something wrong with the button

[@teresad7102]

I left for that time and when I got back I was wondering what I missed…not much 😆

[@mrtony1985]

then the harfoot goodbye scene that went on forrrrrrrevvvvvurrrrrrrrrr

[@gander4872]

It's like the story was concocted in a drunk parlour game

[@neildaly2635]

Really drunk!

[@brushylake4606]

This show demonstrates the breadth and depth of The Professor's genius. One dude with a library and a typewriter produced a work that has changed culture and withstood the decades and judgment of History. Amazon had a limitless budget, access to their choice of the best and the brightest who all chomped at the bit to participate in this show, and access to the absolute best technology that humanity has produced. What do they give us with all of these benefits? A load of hot, boiling garbage. I briefly watched a bit of the first episode before I gave up in anger and frustration.

[@garystaud5022]

Comment of this thread, imho. Spot on!

[@GreatGreebo]

My feelings on what Amazon has done to Tolkien’s beautiful stories is summed up best by Treebeard: “There is no curse in Elvish, Entish, or the tongues of Men for this treachery.”

[@Longshanks1690]

“It’s gone… it’s done.”

[@francescbonetlluch4971]

"I'm good!" 😂😂 Superb writing indeed. Mamma mia!

[@timlayman1455]

Sauron told Galadriel "what do you think the elves will do when they find you allied with me" (or something like that) spoken during the dream sequence on the raft she was too embarrassed to admit she was used by Sauron to reveal Halbrand's secret to the elves

[@markolukic7824]

To me it looked as if Pharazon was sad over the mortality of men represented by the death of his king and uncle.

[@bethmarriott9292]

Re the Jason ship: Jason sailed thr Argo for the golden fleece, Theseus sailed to the Labyrinth on Crete and slew the Minotaur and promised his father King of Athens Aegeus he would sail with white sails if returning alive, forgot to change the sails from black on his return, and Aegeus threw himself into the sea, thus naming it the Aegean

[@bethmarriott9292]

But also the most emotion I've felt towards a character in this show is the previous episode for that poor terrified horse. I felt more for that horse than any other character in this show

[@Alexs.2599]

How did the sorceress' confuse Faux Gandalf with Sauron? Come on now lol.

[@nathanmorgan3647]

Poor Celebrian. No wonder she ran away to Elrond once she found out the truth about her mother.

[@istari0]

The whole point of the Eärien scene is so that the Palantir will be discovered by others and no longer be a secret. It was very clumsily done. I noticed that the size of the Númenorean fleet tripled in the scene with the black banners. The stranger has to be Gandalf. The writers aren't clever enough to do anything like misdirection. Sadoc should have just died when first hit. Frankly, I was hoping the Stranger would be Sauron and that would be the end of the Harfoots. Only a Maia could have survived the journey from Mordor to Eregion with an injury like that (if it was actually real). I guess Galadriel was too embarrassed at being duped to tell everyone she found Sauron after chasing after him for 1000 years. Sauron, who makes plans expected to take centuries to implement, is just randomly bouncing around Middle-Earth. I don't have a problem with the actor but Sauron is supposed to be one of the most powerful and arrogant being in Middle-Earth and that never came across. Going farther, the characters in the show do not come across as being among the greatest of their respective races. With this show running basically concurrently with House of the Dragon, comparing the two is obvious and House of the Dragon is in every way superior. The 2nd season is planned to air in about 2 years so hopefully we will have a respite from this.

[@newonlinetheatren.o.t1339]

Hmmm, Sauron's plans seem to have worked out miraculously well. Did he perhaps work a little smoother than some audience members have so far detected? Yes. There were people arguing, in earnest, that the Stranger was Sauron and Halbrand was Witch King or King of the Dead. This IS misdirection. Now granted the payoff was that they *were* what they seemed in many ways. "Looks can be deceiving" Halbrand, and "this guy seems like Gandalf..." both were true. But shrouded in supposition.

[@istari0]

@@newonlinetheatren.o.t1339 That's the point. His success was not earned. Nothing in the show makes me think that Sauron/Halbrand was the clever, manipulative, highly intelligent being he was supposed to be. As far as what people were arguing goes, it's the internet. Almost any idea will attract adherents.

[@newonlinetheatren.o.t1339]

@@istari0 that seems like pretty willfully wrong ahahaha

[@KDthunder2009]

Can't believe that Celebrimbor was not at least a little bit weary about Halbrand lol

[@BakuranTV]

Amazon only put the characters but didn't follow the lore.

[@KDthunder2009]

@@BakuranTV 100%

[@lilguyy72]

Amazon's Celebrimbor is an idiot apparently. He didn't even consider mixing alloys until Saurbrand suggested it.

[@newonlinetheatren.o.t1339]

Wary of what exactly?

[@KDthunder2009]

@@newonlinetheatren.o.t1339 i guess you didn't see the Finale lol but you're right. I guess it's not a little weird at all that Halbrand knows more crafting than one of the greatest Craftsmen of the Age.

[@marc-antoinecusson3119]

A travesty. A parody of tolkien. A bad joke.... oh and the rings!!!! I am a jewel crafter , un joaillier, and thoses.... nope i just cant. This is my last ring of power épisode. They took à shit on Tolkien works. Sorry i just finish watching and i am piss. They lost me

[@thehoneybunempress1664]

I did like the sauron/galadriel confrontation in her mind, esp when he tries to seduce her as Finrod with "touch the darkness once more" (the weird screaming at each other was pure cringe tho). But that's pretty much all I liked about this episode. Also the part when Gandalf stood up to the cultists and said, "I am not evil. I am Groot" had me in tears

[@slicerneons3300]

Did you just say Sauron tried to 'seduce!' Galadriel while disguised as her brother? Well they certainly were trying to give Bezos a game of thrones in that case.

[@johns1625]

Here is something to look forward to Yoystan. We still may get some really cool scenes of Sauron, Lord of the Earth, in his cool black armor just wrecking the shlt out of Elves and Men, once and for all! 😆😆

[@seakayak4425]

As a Tolkien fan and someone who likes well written stories in general I selected 'didn't watch don't care' as the lowest possible option

[@itsmapes]

If Amazon only had rights to the Appendices and some of the Silmarillian -but only as needed and approved for the story-, does the Tolkien Estate need held accountable for approving this disaster? Why wouldn't the Alkabeth and Of The Rings of Power be used and followed?

[@Talpiot8200]

No, imo they knew Amazon would end up w this result, even if they gave them access to everything save Tolkien's brain in a vat. Now the estate has enough money to survive another generation to hopefully give to someone who they feel will try to honor the lore, and we will always consider the amazon product the most expensive fan fiction ever made.

[@DousedInPiss]

I don't think so. Even if were were to say they weren't given enough rights to aspects of Tolkein's work. Well Look at how closely they've followed the rights that they do have? It's like they've completely disregarded everything Tolkein wrote and just wanted the name and inbuilt fan base. Hell Fellowship of the ring, the first book of the trilogy which they have the rights to, page 3 into the prologue, Concerning Hobbits. We haven't even got to chapter 1 and the entire Harfoot way of being is directly the OPPOSITE of what Tolkein wrote.

[@robertopeguero6370]

What bothered me a lot was how Quenya was used by people who should not be speaking it or probably even know it? Like the three strange followers from Rhun spoke it to the stranger thinking he was Sauron, and Adar who was one of the first orcs spoke it with a Silvan elf.

[@newonlinetheatren.o.t1339]

You mean the DEMONS? When the stranger banished them, they were clearly evil spirits.

[@mhay9960]

Me to Jeff Bezos begging for no season two: CAST IT INTO THE FIRE! DESTROY IT

[@joemurdock7233]

For the scene with AL PHARAZON being tearily eyed is because of his concern of the mortality of man, which he fears immensely. At least that’s what I think.

[@JayJay5244]

What bothers me the most is I feel very sympathetic towards Sauron now… He clearly wanted to leave his old ways behind, didn’t even want to leave Numenor and wanted to heal whatever damage he’d caused. He was literally manipulated by Galadriel and yet the show makes it seem like as though he was the mastermind all along… like, have they even watched their own show…? Of all the “What ifs…” that could be asked and fantasized about, I doubt anyone had “What if Galadriel and Sauron ended up together” on the list but now that it’s out there, I do wonder what would’ve happened. This show is utter garbage and I hope it gets cancelled! Thank you for your amazing reviews! Watching alongside you has been something I looked forward to every week!

[@KDthunder2009]

Jay, that was all deception lol even the thought of him being with Galadriel. He did plot the whole thing, The only thing that may have been truthful was his desire to stay in Numenor since Sauron has always wanted to corrupt Numenor

[@JayJay5244]

@@KDthunder2009 Well what exactly did he plot? The rings? Corrupting the Numenoreans? This writing is just godawful. It honestly felt like he wasn’t plotting anything at all until Galadriel came along and wanted to make him King (without even a background check lol…)

[@car9melo]

Are you serious 😂😂

[@bubblehulk7647]

I can’t wait to see the fan edit of LOTR where they all just teleport around everywhere. Then every conflict is just face close ups.

[@KDthunder2009]

Adar says to Galadriel "sauron seeked a power not of flesh, but over flesh" some like that. Celebrimbor repeats the same line to Galadriel to tell her what Halbrand said to him. That & Celebrimbor not acting like himself is what triggered Galadriel to get suspicious. It's not a ton to go on, but it's not "nothing" like your guest implied.

[@AlekTrev006]

I heard another reviewer suggest that Sauron seemed to have some kind of mind-dulling / confusing power he was putting over Celembrimbor, so that when Cel was like “I …I guess one of my Smiths said it to me, I think ?” - regarding Saurbrand’s saying “Power Over flesh…”, he genuinely didn’t remember who said it ? 🤔

[@MisterEnsayne]

I'm over it. At least we have War of the Rohirrim to look forward to.

[@tomassalinas3331]

They could've done amazing work having the second age at their disposal. Instead they did a horrible job! I'm so dissatisfied and angry!

[@neildaly2635]

I could have forgiven the butchering of the lore, if they created an entertaining show, but they made this implausible soap opera with obvious rip off of the LOTR films getting more and more blatant.

[@supson7]

Yes. Decisions made during this finale finalized my disappointment. Watching this show is like going to a shelter to get a specific dog with excitement, only to show up and learn it died when you were en route 😢

[@ElDanMan86]

i will say that its well known that by the end, numenoreans were obsessed with death and would design tombs greater than the houses of the living. the idea that the kings tomb would be designed while he was still alive is actually canon.

[@Mary.R.]

But in order for that to happen, the kings had to be well and in the right state of mind to put in their word and their ideas about their tombs and funerals; their design and their structure. If we wanna go with the idea of the Kings ordering magestic and beautiful tombs for themselves, they need to be shown doing it way before becoming fragile and weak, and not while being literally on their death bed! Just few seconds before meeting the grim reaper!

[@ElDanMan86]

@@Mary.R. the only thing about it they got wrong was the king would have been planning his tomb for most of his reign like ancient Egypt pharaohs used to, Not leaving it until the last minute.

[@Mary.R.]

@@ElDanMan86 Yes that's exactly what I said!!! So, the series did get that part wrong and Yoysten's scorn and criticism is valid. Even though it is "canon" that the kings cared about their tombs, the way ROP wrote and executed this part was quite laughable and juvenile! My previous comment was in response to you saying it was canon, and I'm saying that being in the grip of imminent death is not when a king decides the design of a majestic elegant tomb better his house of living; if he really was obsessed with it his whole life!

[@ElDanMan86]

@@Mary.R. nope it's not valid. He thinks them designing his tomb while still alive is outrageous and funny. When not only is it canon but there's multiple examples of real historical cultures doing it