We watched the First 3 Episodes...Has it Improved? | The Rings of Power

[@TurinTurambar98]

Symbiote Sauron is arguably the funniest thing I've ever seen. Flopping around like a pancake and getting ran over by a carriage 😂😂😂 the way he got stuck to the wheel 😂😂😂

[@Don9872]

What gets me is none of the elves, maybe with the exception of Cirdan, seem like they’ve lived for over 1000 years. The drama between Gil Galad, Galadriel and Elrond feels so petty for supposedly aged wise beings. They could’ve just sat down and talked it out and saved a good deal of time and silliness.

[@ruigerd]

I didn't notice Adar's actor changed lol, either they did a great job or i wasn't paying attention much

[@Max1990Power]

Personally I liked these episodes. Especially Elrond, this Galadriel, Cirdan and the dynamic between annatar and Celebrimbor. :)

[@johnw1743]

Nori: 'You're not a very jolly fellow.' Tom Bombadil: 'You've not seen what I've seen.'

[@MrRigas]

Adar story about he was chained in a mountain peak reminds me of maedhros

[@walt9234]

Hey, guys, I just got around to watching the first 3 today. The cinematics are so good can't complain at all. But my take on the whole thing is like the amazon team sat down and said right guys were going to do a series on this appendices book. Should we read it first ? Nah, read the summery on the back then just go for it !

[@kylewitt225]

Wow. Freds takes in the chat got progressively worse the more he typed. Very talented, i didnt think it could get worse after he said cate blanchett wasnt right for galadriel

[@fred20097]

@@kylewitt225 that's a bit unfair. No need for personal abuse. And to explain my comment, Blanchett's hair was too thin. She looked quite frankly out of it and if you're one of middle Earth's most powerful elves, why wasn't she at minas tirith, facing the witch king down? Don't get me wrong, I think Cate Blanchett is a great actress, but she'll never be Galadriel.

[@ghostdreamer7272]

Saruman did go to the East. I think the dark wizard is the blue wizard, and because he feel, the stranger is the new/second blue wizard. That or he’s a human sorcerer posing as a wizard, and he becomes the Witch King

[@Mellando1]

How much must the Numenorians hate the Elves and the Gods (Valar) that nobody was alive who could understand what the egal, a known messanger of the hingest god (residing on Arda) said. I mean Balin spoke Raven, Bard spoke Thrush, even Bilbo understood enough Thrush to determine that this one bird had something really imported to say. So why was nobody there to see that this eagle was clearly shouting something like "no not THISONE you idijots the girl!... ahrg frig it"

[@nateorgain2495]

I sort of felt when they were making up names for him it was a nod to the blue wizards name issues lol

[@markbarlow4296]

Missed you guys. I’m up to episode 4 and am a bit worried about the show. Numenor characters are hard to put up with.

[@w0lfguy77]

Your wife can’t sing to the walls anymore” HAHAHAHA 🤣🤣

[@philharwood9971]

"The stubbornness is still suborning" made me actually lol

[@TarnishedWayn3]

I have not watched the show but I had to tune in for your reactions 😂

[@georgihristozov9329]

I don't mind the chnage in story and the changes to the lore, and even the slowness of the whole. What I miss is a depth in the dialogues, references to older "legendery" characters, the whole mystery of the middle earth struggle, I just miss that. And I think they could have given it more depth if they had more knowledge and appreciation for the lore. It is still enjoyable but not grand.

[@archimedes5158]

I actually enjoyed it. I didn’t watch people complain about it before I watched it.

[@joshpogue379]

Agreed, we will never got more Tolkien cause he dead, but this is good enough for me. Just happy to be back in middle Earth.

[@annas.scheele8304]

The thing is, even if completely ignoring everything they have got canonically wrong, this series feel written like a fanfiction/fan movie (and not even a particularly good one). There are some mayor issues with not "making it feel like Tolkien", which is something they could still have achieved, even while going off canon. All characters, regardless of Men/Elves/Dwarfs/Haflings are fundamentally crafted to act, look and feel like contemporary people, which results in the show lacking that strange, fantastical and magical escapism into a world that is different to ours. Men feel like and have concern of contemporary men, which makes feel them completely out of place in Middle-Earth. Elves look and act like Men, which makes them loose their distinctive otherness and the feeling of ancientness. As you have said, all characters are rendered relatable, which simply does not work in the context of Middle-Earth, as in it being a world different to ours, which should feel mysterious and slightly alienating, not relatable and familiar. If the a fantasy world feels familiar you loose the magic of fantasy. There have to be some things that are simply strange to us or that we don't understand for it to work. By trying to make all the characters relatable you furthermore miss out on the opportunity to let the audience slowly create a relationship which is unknown to them and then later, when they get to know it intimately, find parallels and issues that in some form appear in their own real world in it. The first time I read the Silmarillion I was utterly confused about how exactly this whole world works, but somehow I still started to care about these characters that were so completely different from someone I would ever meet in the real world, because of small things we shared or big universal questions we were both trying to find an answer to.

[@TurinTurambar98]

Rings of Power turned the Dwarves into a complete joke. They've seemingly based the entire mythical race on Gimli from the movies, the Disney goober interpretation of Dwarves, and not the chimerical, intellectual engineers and battle-hardened warriors that traditional fairy-tales, and in particular, Middle-Earth has presented them as being. This show is insulting on prodigious levels at this point.

[@jontastic]

It’s almost like they want to pretend middle earth actually is part of our earth. A natural progression between ancient civilizations and today. Which may explain why they wish the characters act like modern humans despite the various species and magical abilities. The point of fantasy is that the cast does not act like average humans. By comparison, even characters from history like Joan of Arc acts unlike average humans. So rings of power characters remove many of the unique characteristics of the species, making them less interesting to try to make them more human and relatable. But this fails spectacularly.

[@darrylclarkson1799]

One of the best things of the show (adar) a completely invented character who never existed in the books!!!!! Says it all really!!!!!!

[@Power_Prawnstar]

The original actor did a runner, which says a lot as well

[@thekaremiekiancleric140]

Sorry lads missed the livestream, fair play great vid as always.

[@RobKlarmann]

The whole Venom-like substance and Sauron taking over a body just gave me Voldemort vibes. It made no sense how he needed a body to transform into Halbrand, but then turned from Halbrand into Annatar without needing another body (unless he sneakily absorbed some helpless elve hiding behind the furnace...). The prologue was also a painful reminder of how Season 1 was wasted on a completely useless narrative. They could have set up the entire show in Season 1, Episode 1, by making a 30min prologue about everything presceding this age... The only word that comes to mind after watching these 3 episode: Discombobulated!

[@Ted_Gritty]

How did souron get killed by 20 orcs, then come back with the power level to stare down a kiju???

[@SaintFort]

Psychic abilities have nothing to do with the durability of a physical body.

[@Ted_Gritty]

Can you elaborate im not sure what you mean?​@@SaintFort

[@michaelnextdoor8726]

makes perfect sense when you are physically mortal. Sauron was killed numbers of times in the history.

[@oviekpolugbo4227]

Yeah... I think what they're going for is that Sauron needs to forge the rings to control the orcs, yet, as you alluded to, he has power over evil creatures: the fish-dragon, the warg. At this point, however, the orcs are already fully orcified. According to some versions of the legendarium Sauron even played a part in the creation/corruption of the orcs, so he should be able to control them. When Morgoth was imprisoned by the Valar, (for thousands of years I believe) Sauron was in command of all the orcs.

Sauron would have never been in that position. He didn't need to make speeches to orcs or have them crown him. Orcs were MADE to be his slaves.

[@darthtraderygo9395]

I feel that they depict the elves as more naivete then they should and I could never put my finger on it until the scene when celabrimbor mentions the wine and i made me realise that they are making them very much like the wood elves should be they like wine and very much a lesser race in comparison to the high elves from the movies. I also feel that if that was the route they wished to go they could have no used Galadriel and created a woodelve as the “xena warrior princess” which would give u the freedom to even use Legolas mother as the character she is not spoke about nor written (to my knowledge) and in the final hobbit movie they referenced her this could have been the back story to build on. Which would have left the high elves to just Be political characters until the time of the war. Just my thoughts and would like to know what you guys think? Apologies for the typing errors

[@lukeluke333lukeluke]

I know there's people that like this show but I find it frustrating madding. It just does so many things wrong. So many reference to somethings better just makes the show worse. Just can't stand the show and lore changes. Thanks for your video on talking through things. It helps me cope.

[@Itsjessamyn]

1:40:18 one of the first patreon members of HOTA and I couldn’t for the life of me remember the original channel name 😂 thank you for the reminder

[@TheBrokenSword]

You are an absolute legend then!!

[@keagancollins3243]

Gonna wait until more episodes are out before I spend my limited time on this show, waiting to see where the season goes. Thank you for the in depth breakdowns, love the channel!

[@mjw1978]

I Betsy, myself as a JRRT loyalist; I really wished prior to the beginning of season one that the show runners here would have stuck to the lore rather than make things up on the fly and condense two different ages into one, which appears to be what is going on. As you guys said in the video, Jackson’s Lord of the rings trilogy films also took liberties, but they remained within the universe of JRRT. P has stepped outside the universe on a few things, if everything we are seeing now to this point is what it actually appears to be, including Gandalf and Saruman possibly being in this series in the second age. All that said, and aside, while I didn’t really care for season one too much, aspects of season one make a little more sense to me seeing the first three episodes of season two. Not happy with everything I’m seeing, so far, but I see season two as quite an improvement over season one. As a fellow JRRT loyalist and huge fanatic of his writing and novels, I get frustration and disappointment on liberties done so far, but I also do kind of appreciate to a point, the show runners here kind of making this series as their own. Going forward through this season and the next three seasons thereafter, I would love to see them get closer to lore with regard to presentation, character, development, and character, history and interactions, but I do look forward to seeing what comes of this. I get the hate on some levels, but I also get the love on others. So that being said, I’m excited for this season and I’m excited for what’s to come, as long as they don’t mess it up

[@tonyhowell3805]

Really enjoy your channel as love lord of the rings in all mediums I get the issues with this TV show and them taking many liberties can b little frustrating but do think Ur a bit harsh on this show

[@biashacker]

They should let HBO take a stab at Lord of the Rings.

[@danielbanbury378]

HBO of course wanted it and had a plan, which was the War of the Ring.

[@NicoleStevensHays11x]

You should do it. Band the raging nerds together. Channel their obsessive hatred of ROP. And get them to actually create something their damn selves. Their whining all over KZbin is so pathetic & endless….they need lives, or at least something to do. And they tear down ROP like they could do better…so let’s see what they’ve got (other than pissing and moaning). Can’t any of them get off their dead asses and CHANGE THE CHANNEL?! Like, who watches shows they hate?! Srsly the bottom of the barrel in society

[@yesus9980]

I was waiting for this video 🤣

[@nicksherman5702]

Hey you guys ‘member when Sauron was a Maia and a dark lord, not some punk to get taken out by 20 orcs? Cause I ‘member

[@andystevens2772]

Saruman got shanked by Grima. Physical bodies can still get destroyed. Morgoth, one of if not the most powerful of the Valar, was perma-hobbled by Fingolfin. I realise Saruman had a lot of power stripped from him but at that point Sauron's master had been toppled and cast into the void. He's no longer got a Valar behind him, which is an important thing, or else it wouldn't be mentioned along with pretty much every named Maia who they served.

[@Don9872]

@@andystevens2772The problem is that now Sauron has been defeated by one elf and some orcs it’ll make his defeat by Elendil and Gil Galad no way near as impressive as it should be.

[@andystevens2772]

Worth remembering at that point he is juiced up by the one ring​@@Don9872

[@InsideTheProduct]

Maybe a suggestion for something to review that I have not seen any channel do: check out Blind Guardian's "Nightfall in Middle Earth", whole album about the Silmarillion with an epic intro and song about the battle between Morgoth and Fingolfin. Would love to hear your thoughts!

[@teebird0531]

Whoever made fallout needs to take over maybe but I still will watch

[@asapterrence95]

I, for one, enjoyed it. Sure most bits are non canon, but I enjoyed it nonetheless. The only downplay is I have to wait a week for the next episode!!

[@goodputin4324]

You're one of them 😂😂😂

[@Power_Prawnstar]

You miss the point, the show on its own, is probably not too bad. But it's already been written, and written exquisitely. By a professor in linguistics and celtish history no less. So in comparison, this is rubbish in the same way my finger paintings are rubbish when compared to a Van Gough. They are just using Tolkien to make money

[@Natedogg12345]

@@asapterrence95 NPC 😂

[@Don9872]

There’s nothing wrong with enjoying something that’s terrible. I love the Michael bay transformers films and they are mostly trash.

[@goodputin4324]

@@Don9872 People like you are infuriating.

[@Power_Prawnstar]

Question: Who is the hero in this show? LOTR: All the hobbits, Gandalph, Boromir, Aragorn, Eoweyn, Galadrial, Faramir, Tom Bomb, Shadowfax, Treebeard, Theoden etc, etc, etc. All hero's. Why?

[@RobKlarmann]

Guys, it's so obvious: Cirdan shaves the beard, cos he got the new bling now, and probably feels younger again...

[@FormerlyAVM]

I don’t understand why the guys keep saying “well it can’t be this because of” how it is supposed to be, the show is simply hey this was in Lord of the Rings so it’s here now. He is Gandalf, there is Sauromon, and the Balrog will show up.

[@matheusmterra]

Imho, it improved. The plotline with Annatar and Celebrimbor and the elves was legit good! If only the rest of the show didn't take a nosedive plunge.

[@paulbrickler]

I like how you guys and the other Tolkien channels I watch all seem to be friends, instead of adversaries or competitors.

[@dudasbence5978]

About the dragon, sorry to spoil it, but I watched with subtitles, since I'm not native english speaker and it said [stone door opening] or something like that.... And about shooting fast, it can be done... I mean it's not a common thing but actually one can shoot arrows very very fast, it's just mostly not represented :(

[@mypeeps1965]

I think half the people involved with ROP were given ADDERALL and the other half were given ACID or SPEED before production. Thats the only thing that makes sense at this point..... Everyone's performance was underbaked or overcooked and the director only yells cut in between bottles of VODKA!

[@JordanR]

That sounds like fun, NGL.

[@sabinehaider6921]

Three words: Everyone is dumb.

[@chrism2964]

Common on modern TV and movies. Every character is dumb, geniuses have IQs of 90 and everyone is scaled accordingly.

[@jrs8031]

The smartest character can only be as smart a the writer. So if the writer is just average it forces them to scale down the world so smart character looks smart. Instead it just makes everyone look dumb.

[@fred20097]

​@@jrs8031lol I thought you meant all the critics making comments against series 2 😂

[@Power_Prawnstar]

@@sabinehaider6921 that's 8 words in middle earth 😆

@@jrs8031 Most writers are smart and intentionally dumb down their screenplays for dumb viewers.

[@JohnnygeeUk]

What if the guy we think could be Saruman turns out to be the Witch King

[@Euthyphro]

I think that’s neat. I personally think he’s one of the blue wizards. In the legendarium Tolkien states that the blue wizards went to the east and started weird mystical cults, and in a later iteration he writes that they were Pivotal in stopping Sauron in the war of the ring. My guess is that the show is doing both. The evil wizard might be one of the blue wizards turned evil, and the stranger might be the other blue wizard, and him being Gandalf is just a red herring.

[@joshuasingleton9373]

Just a note how are the orcs going to cross all the way to eregion from mordor?? I'm not hugely clued up on the lore this deep but I'm assuming in the lore they came from somewhere else with sauron?

[@carl_oak]

Since there is no Rohan or Isengard, they could go through there.

[@joshuasingleton9373]

@@carl_oak I'm thinking time wise... it would take what a year to March?

[@carl_oak]

@@joshuasingleton9373 not that long but half of it (with an army). Maybe a year with an army that big, yes. The timeline is extremely compressed and out of order.

[@SmoothBlack108]

Amazon has a lotr show?? Hmmm... no I don't care. You guys are great though!!

[@Emixam9090]

It’s just the whole plots are so cheap and don’t make sense. It’s just always so convenient so the rest of the story can go on. For example, sending a party of two to deliver the most important message of the age to Celebrimbor. There are also a lot of scenes trying to recreate moments from LOTR movies like a mix of the Nazgul scene in the shire smelling the hobbits hidding under the road and the elven cloak in front of the black gate. Also a lot of childish scenes, like Galadriel chasing Elrond like please Elrond give me the rings (which is a bit like the Nazgul-Arwen chase btw), and Gil Galad basically scolding them when they are thousand of years old.

[@graemehutton2433]

The reason she doesn't tell everyone it's Sauron is because she wants the elves to use the rings and knows that (if they know he helped make them) they may not. Saron knows this cos he "knows her" and so knows she won't tell anyone until she has to. Not defending the show generally but that plot hole isn't a hole.

[@6666Imperator]

sounds like it is not a hole but a canyon :D

[@andrewrice9362]

The plot hole is that she doesnt tell Celebrimbor even after shes told the Gil-Galad etc

[@graemehutton2433]

@@andrewrice9362 they try but the messengers are killed, she's not telepathic. When they don't hear back they send a squad to investigate. I don't see how this situation could handled differently (given that Galadriel felt she had to lie initially, which is consistent with this crappy version of the character)

[@andrewrice9362]

@@graemehutton2433 Honestly I must have dosed off at that point. I really cant remember it. But fair enough

[@bryanmatthews2370]

I don't think they fixed it, but i think they took a baby step in the right direction Lore changes that bug me is them mentioning morgoth destroying the two trees but not mentioning that he needed ungoliant to do it, dont mention half of something because it supports the story you're trying to tell. That and making sauron "not a bad guy, he's just misunderstood" I did like sauron killing that orc, made me think he just got done playing shadow of war and he hit brutalize and i liked the troll. The nods to the peter Jackson fellowship seem forced Id like disa's singing and it affecting the mountain if it was like the balrogs noisy upstairs neighbor, she sang and he'd bang on the walls which would cause the mountain to shift, or her singing all the time woke him up Some of the constumes look wonky. I was looking at Elendil's armor and it looks like a print on a sweater.

[@Euthyphro]

I think the show is saying Sauron is misunderstood, but he still a bad guy doing bad things. I don’t think they are trying to portray Sauron as a good guy, since the show show is him being manipulative.

[@bryanmatthews2370]

@@Euthyphro I'm more ok with that, as long as they aren't trying to make him like a Disney villain

[@joshuasingleton9373]

I agree with all of what you say and it helps me feel better that its not just me struggling with the show. Also the actress playing galadriel really takes me out of the show when she rolls certain letters like Rs. Drives me mad 😂😂

[@graemehutton2433]

So second post- is noone else thinking that we are being "tricked" into thinking we are following Gandalf or a Blue Wizard, but actually it's Saruman and he's gonna kill this other guy and steal his staff and robes, Terminator style?

[@ariesstorm9577]

“Give me your robes, your staff and your motorcycle.” 😎

[@graemehutton2433]

@@ariesstorm9577 haha I nearly typed this at the end of my comment 🤣🤣

[@ariesstorm9577]

@@graemehutton2433😂

[@Euthyphro]

I think they are expanding on the two different blue wizard lores. One aspect says they went easy and started mystical cults and failed their mission, and the other lore says they were pivotal in stopping Sauron. So my guess is they have one blue wizard who failed and became a mystical cult leader, and the other wizard (the stranger) has been to stop him and will be pivotal in stopping Sauron.

[@JJMegatron]

Didnt think it was bad

[@MrsMacLover]

What is this new devilry?

[@Whyred100]

Great reaction vid guys - honest and fair opinions, and don't change just to please some people/affiliates/companies 👍! Keep them coming 💪!

[@MysteriaLentine]

Compared to the first season, there’s been improvement. They dug themselves into an impossible hole in the first season but it’s been alright. The worst plot lines for me are the Earien/Harfoots storylines rn. So so annoying.

[@Power_Prawnstar]

Im sure if this show was named "Dragons and dwarves" or something different, something unrelated to Tolkien, it would probably be ok. But, its not, and some will say its ok, take it for what it is. But what it is, is a parasitic device attached on the back of a masterpiece. Thats the problem. What sort of people think they can do better than Tolkien? To re-write things that have already been written??

[@poneill65]

Perhaps Galadriel is having a mid-life crisis,.. acting immature and chasing bad boys. Perhaps her husband a daughter returning will remind her that she's one of the oldest and wisest beings in the world.

[@zentzisz]

Holy crapp, guys, it been so long!

[@mypeeps1965]

I want you guys to do a ROP drinking/comment stream with audience participation/encouragement, and let the shit fly....lol

[@TheBrokenSword]

That could be deadly 😂😂

[@mypeeps1965]

@@TheBrokenSword Like everything else now a days...probably safer...lol

[@tarcobs2635]

There’s been a huge improvement! I hated the first season with a passion, but the second one so far is almost perfect. It would be perfect if it wasn’t for Numenor. Everything in Numenor is bad and poorly done. Other than that, I’m blown away by the show. The quality really jumped

[@wolfen888]

TLDR: *No*

[@metalheadami123]

Although it’s a big improvement it’s still little more than a fan fiction. Btw did you see that female or and baby???

[@alexkats30]

You watched 3 episodes and you still believe the easterling wizard is Saruman? Why would he refer to the others as "the Istar" then? I think they are going for either the Witch-King or Khamul, I'd be surprised if he's the 2nd blue wizard, but I won't rule it out entirely yet

[@TheBrokenSword]

No. He's bound to be a wizard. The witch King or Khamul are men. They wouldn't have a staff. He also knows too much about the other wizard and his memory. Like he's been through it himself

[@alexkats30]

@@TheBrokenSword I hear you. If they haven't been working and taught these things by Sauron (as that was the one they were expecting), then it is a case of being the 2 blue wizards. It makes no sense that it's Gandalf and Saruman and that Gandalf would serve under Saruman if his first act would be to attack him and kill his only friends when he arrived. However, I do realize that the way they portrayed Sauron s return leaves no time for him influencing anyone and setting up stuff in the East, or even spreading the Orcs and setting up the whole "sigil" of Mordor of the 1st season, which just looks stupid to me, so I can't really be sure about anything with this show

[@davect01]

What is with craming 5-6 story lines into every episode with random flashbacks and flashforwards. I mostly just don't care about any of these characters except perhaps the Dwarves.

[@What.in.a.name.of.Tolkien]

Great analysis! For me personaly i dont have anything to say about people who look this series and thats fine. But THEY are not sticking to the cannon... When they change the canon it stops being Tolkien simple as that. Sorry if ANYONE fail to understand that.. and thats why people who love Tolkiens work and lore dont like this Show and yeah somebody even go really crazy! People need to understand...canon refers to "the truth" - what Tolkien actually wrote in all of his work. The more you deviate from that the less Tolkien it is. This show is just made by a mega corporation trying to make a quick buck on Tolkien's good name. They have no talent and use it for their propaganda. If there's any love for something Tolkien actually wrote then it's hidden deep within the show, and does not show itself in anyway. In fact it feels more like they feel superior to Tolkien and want to "correct him". They are the Sarumans of this world and what Tolkien despised. I will watch also ROP when all episodes will be relised because i am intrested in everthing of Tolkiens work. But yeah, really bad show for me personally! bdw Great video Guys!💯 Cheers!

[@NicoleStevensHays11x]

@@What.in.a.name.of.Tolkien dude, nobody cares! It doesn’t HAVE to. It never CLAIMED to be some fkn Tolkien Bible, produced by Tolkein himself, who has raised from death to pacify this little group of toxic whiners that WATCH SHOWS THAT THEY DISLIKE!!! Dude, don’t u have a TV remote? Why can’t u ppl change channels?! Never did anyone show up at ur door telling you to hand over ur books by order of law and accept this show as the holy, unimpeachable, perfected version, written by the very finger of God! The books are STILL THERE! This didn’t take them away. It didn’t tell u to choose. It didn’t make u renounce ur freaking books. It didn’t show up whipping you anytime you said some lore from the books. If we printed all the comments of ppl flipping out over the freaking lore, the freaking Tolkien gatekeepers and phD’s, we’d clear a small area of woods. Ur complaining for the sake of it, trying to make ppl stop watching it (while none of us have told u to, hell, we tell you to STOP watching already!). Nothing of urs is under threat. It is a fkn tv show and dude I know most the lore and love the show, too! How retarded would it be if I had a freaking conniption that a show and book had a difference? I appreciate the show for the show! I enjoy the books for the books! None of u heard of CREATIVE LIBERTY? None of you noticed the myriad of differences between the PRECIOUSSSSSSS freaking books and the PJ Trilogy? How the hell did u ppl become so neurotic, tightly wound, on edge….? This IS a perfect example of WHEN TO PRESCRIBE VALIUM. Now leave us be as we sit back, enjoy the FREAKING ADAPTATION of a period that has VERY LIMITED SOURCE MATERIAL and CONFLICTS between a letter and book, book and book, letter and letter, or whatever other freaking type exists. I’m wondering how in the hell you guys aren’t having a massive stroke, rupturing an artery in ur brain over the fact that CHRIS TOLKEIN committed the unforgivable sin and blasphemed the writings of your God when editing, sorting, omitting, fixing, clarifying etc the works of his father, the sacred and holy fkn Eru who dwells in light unapproachable!!!!! My mom used to joke abt how some groupie would drink a star’s bath water …. The Tolkien’s coulda made BANK selling freaking cups of theirs; some of u worship him as freaking Jesus incarnate!

[@jermsmason2082]

I haven't seen film this bad since my grandma's cataract surgery.

[@tatisehn]

I thought they were pretty respectful, they just didnt like it.

[@iampetewyse]

Here's the thing... I am a HUGE Tolkien fan. Always have been, ever since my Dad read me the Hobbit as a kid. But the latest projects are killing my passion for anything Middle-earth. Rings of Power is... terrible. Absolutely terrible. The latest news out of GW (model pricing for example) killed my decision to take MESBG back up. I was working for Southampton GW when TLOTR SBG was launched. It was an amazing time, but I stopped supporting GW years ago. New edition of MESBG made me think "should I jump back in?" but seeing the pricing... nah. That's insane. And War of the Rohirrim might be cool, but I just can't get excited about it. Or Hunt for Gollum as a result. We peaked with The Lord of the Rings... The Hobbit trilogy was okay. The One Ring RPG is cool but I have issues. THE biggest fantasy license in the world is being destroyed.

[@sunfaestardust8548]

Tolkien True is the only WaY ⚔️🐦

[@fenzor5503]

I don't see how Galadriel not revealing the fact about Sauron right away is such a great issue. One of the defining characteristics of Galadriel is pride. Being prideful it is difficult to admit being ensnared by your archnemesis. It also show the corrupting power of Sauron, how dangerous he is. Telling her that he want to rule Middle Earth only to heal it. Which is very much inspired from the source material.

[@Power_Prawnstar]

Because she's a beloved character, and she's being ruined. She may have been prideful, but she was never stupid. This one, the stupidity is strong with her.

[@davidrojas6457]

Sincerely, thank you guys for being honest and highlighting what Tolkien fans are all thinking.

[@TravelsTTG]

Don’t speak for everyone.

[@TheBrokenSword]

Always! We can only say what we truly think :)

[@Mike_TheGrim0ne]

I’ve been a Tolkien fan for almost 30 years, Don’t speak for me.

[@anni.68]

I love the books and I love the show. Don't speak for other Tolkien fans.

[@sandiehenderson-boncore6211]

I believe that The Stranger is Gandalf and have no problem with that. If you've read the background material / history. Gandalf was a gardener who was sent to Middle Earth because of his incorruptible spirit / nature not his wizard powers. So many others that were given physical bodies and sent to Middle Earth were corrupted especially Melakar, Sauron and the 2 Blue Wizards. Therefore, Once in Middle Earth Gandalf had to learn a completely new skill set as a Wizard, language and being physical. That should bring him into the next century.

[@bubblehulk7647]

I can just imagine Galadriel pouting on the slopes of Doom because Gil Galad and Elendil got to be the ones to fight Sauron…

[@NicoleStevensHays11x]

I could just imagine you pouting cuz the show you dislike yet can’t stop watching isn’t catering to ur nerd rage and career as Tolkein gatekeeper

[@natek9956]

I'm only watching to see the fall of Eregion and Numenor atp🤷‍♂️🤷‍♂️

[@pentegarn1]

You can't spoil what we aren't going to watch! lol I just tuned in just in case you said "Hay...its a lot better!!!" For years I've been demanding Tom Bombadil.....until I got one. lol

[@mypeeps1965]

TRUTH!

[@kanejenkins9580]

It's somewhere in the middle for me I watched there review of season 1 and thought oh it must be unwatchable trash it wasn't its just very okay I love this channel to bits but I know they are very very rigid in what they want from this IP I respect that but it's really not as bad as they are making out its iust middle of the road I'd rather that than nothing at all

[@Ted_Gritty]

Furthermore how did souron get killed by 20 orcs

[@johnthompson9232]

I like the founder of Mordor and tell my kids welcome to "Northern city" and would you like a stab in the belly or swear allegiance to "headmasters name"

[@EdoDoe613]

I was waiting for this video. Like you both, I SO wanted to love this show but it is so shockingly, horribly written. I wanted to hear your thoughts before I attempted to watch it. Won’t bother to now.

[@fred20097]

Ok, so for everyone who doesn't know Tolkien, the orcs attacking Sauron under Ardar makes perfect sense. Orcs are Sauron's slaves. Deep in their hearts, they hate him. The first scenes show this. This addresses the paradox - the problem of orcs just being cannon fodder, as per the ordinary soldier in WW1 - Tolkien fought in it - but them having souls and the moral question of whether it's right to slaughter them wholesale seeing as they have souls and are living beings

[@joshuasingleton9373]

Yeah but them doing it immediately without him actually being in charge was an odd decision

[@Armadillopants92]

No, the show is completely missing the point of orcs. They were bred to be mindless obedient creatures with no will of their own. They follow morgoth and Sauron blindly because that’s simply what they are. Tolkien was very keen on being explicit that these creatures were just plain evil. No grey area. It makes no sense why they would turn on Sauron. It’s not like he was a stranger to them he’s been around since the first age. The show made it seem like he just showed up like a new boss at your job and wants to change everything lol.

[@JohnPopcorn06]

They have no souls

[@MrSimonNay]

If they have no souls they werent elves. Morgoth didnt have the power to take that away. Tolkien said they actually werent elves once in a redaction because of this problem. As they were elves in this show they have souls.

[@JohnPopcorn06]

@@MrSimonNay, the corrupted elves, yeah.

[@LycaonsMemories]

im a minority, im enjoying the show. is it good, no. are there lots of issues, yes. but i find that to be how most of movies are today anyways. is it bearable yes, will i watch them again.. no, then again i think ive only watched the trilogy maybe 2 times so im not a rewatcher anyways

[@jimghee6021]

So it's terrible but you're trying to be as kind as you can. I get that. They could have taken the basic stories found in the appendices and expanded on them but instead they chose to just make up stuff that had nothing to do with anything Tolkeinish. They seem to go out of their way to ignore how Tolkein imagined his imaginary world. So, Sauron, the Dark Lord assembles his orcs and explains his plans to these minions who are bound to his will with no free will of their own who then kill him. Then he turns into Venom instead of becoming a spirit as he did every other time he was "killed." They spent a lot of money to have well dressed characters deliver nonsense dialogue. Why would they take an IP with millions of followers and create something that is a fantasy unrelated to the IP?

[@YeahItsJhon]

Two things; got pissed? Stop watching f*cking show. Enjoyed it? Go on… I’m also a Tolkien fan and got bored with the series, so It’s not something that I look forward to watching but people should just stop the constant whining. Move on!

[@sylviaponce1864]

NO IT HASNT I GOT BORED I WAS HOPING TO SEE THE VILLIANS AND MORE CREATURES INVOLVING WAR I WANT TO SEE SAURONS POWER SINCE HES IMMORTAL BUT I GUESS NOT YET IT NEEDS MORE BUT PETER JACKSON IS STILL THE BEST

[@Ted_Gritty]

Should we start a movement? Cancle rings of power season 3!

[@6666Imperator]

Best thing to do that? Don't watch season 2. If enough do it you can be assured they will cut their losses.

[@riseofatlas7969]

People didn’t watched season 1 and? We have season 2

[@marieroberts5664]

​@@riseofatlas7969 people did watch Season 1...sunk cost fallacy. The fans watched to see what it was about, and then kept watching just to see if it got better. Amazon needs a franchise to make more money and create a new source of revenue...and they sunk a lot of money into it. It's a prestige project, but they forgot to make sure they had a solid story to back it up. My son in law says it best ... They made a show designed to piss off the fans. As to who the Stranger is...what about Radagast?? It makes the most sense, as Radagast is the most in tune with Gandalf, and would be most likely to dispense folksy wisdom.

[@TravelsTTG]

Why ruin shit for everyone else? Who cares if you don’t like it. Just don’t watch it.

[@riseofatlas7969]

@@TravelsTTG no one normal will watch this only DEI generations and lost souls

[@eduleal]

On the topic of PJ’s movies having more acceptable lore changes because “it feels like Tolkien”, I think this comes solely from the fact that your watched those films before diving deep into the writings. Having read the books first, I remenber some of the PJ changes really annoying me when I first watched them, and I learned to appreciate them over time. Based on the above, and the fact that you’re constantly comparing the show to the films you watched as a teenager, ROP never stood a chance with both of you. As a result, this isn’t analysis, it’s nitpicking.

[@Don9872]

If you leave the lore adherence out of it, the films are great examples of quality story telling and the Rings of Power is a great example of poor story telling. Then when you include lore considerations, Lotr films cut/changed/added/swapped around a few things whereas Rings if Power puts the source material through a blender then discarded most of it.

[@markbarlow4296]

Uurrghhh, you’re so right. the daughter is so annoying. I can’t even remember her name. Her and the son of Ar-Pharazon are nearly unwatchable. Some of the writing and casting decisions have been very poor for such a big budget production.

[@HomerSimpson-gr1uj]

It was awful. They somehow made Cirdan an evil conspirator with Sauron....

[@joshpogue379]

Haha okay, I feel like the plot is moving too fast!

[@DeepGnomeDruid]

Just dropped by to say 'I don't care,' and I'm hiding every video you do about this abomination. Still love the vids on actual Tolkien subjects.

[@faustoutloud]

I Absolutely Applaud you guys for giving your honest opinion I know some other Tolkien channels are going to wait to give there overall thoughts on the season which is kind of a joke if uts this bad so far it's not going to get better. You guys are great love you both keep up the great work and real Tolkien lore vids that you guys knock out each and everytime. 😊

[@NicoleStevensHays11x]

What kind of weird ass person watches 12 episodes of a show that they hate LMFAO … time to get a job

[@InspoDesigno]

There are 2-3 cool scenes of max. 10min in a sh*t show of hours, horrible pacing, eat ze bugz

[@JoPrair]

2:53 you lie, there are not worse things out there

[@NeedSomeNuance]

Made it 35 min through ep 1. Couldn’t finish. Was so bored.

[@KDthunder2009]

Whoa.I rock with you guys, but you got so much wrong that it's hard for me to begin at a certain time of the video. My friends, just watch Nerd Of The Rings' breakdown of the first 3 episodes, which does a good job explaining much of what these guys didnt understand and also to things they said made no sense. So check those out and thank me later.

[@trebm]

I just enjoy seeing middle earth and the world building, I'd rather have something to watch than nothing.

lol worst world building ever. none of it makes any sense

[@poneill65]

Isildur getting his horse back from half a dozen filth-covered human bandits was one of the highlights of the second age. To this day the Elves sing songs of the genius plan of "I'll sneak in while you're getting captured". I'm glad Payne & McKay found time for it in their epic series! Everything in this show is so small, and so grubby (except the girl bosses)

[@liberTvalance]

Not watching but am laughing at the complete easte of $1billion.

[@Fallenhalo88]

Show sux so much people are just retiring 😂

[@drguldan3668]

i'm sauron i'm Venom

[@godders991]

I think i am of a similar age to you and i think the reason people love the peter jackson films more than this series is because they watched the films before reading the books meaning the films were their first entry into middle earth. If you watch this series with an open mind and dont worry too much about the lore it is a good series and entertaining to watch. You just have to accept that it isnt trying to be cannon.

[@nicksherman5702]

Hey you guys ‘member when girl Sam just camped out on her own a few yard behind girl Frodo and not gandolf the whole way to ruhn? Cause I ‘member

[@gandalf4751]

😍😍😍✅✅✅