Why did The Rings of Power fail? | The unbearable protagonist

What can I say? It's an obvious flaw of the show and it has to be said: Galadriel is unbearable.

[@maf7742]

I thought at first that her unpleasant personality would be part of a character arc, but it feels as though the story never really explores this and it's supposed to be a gaslight gatekeep girlboss kind of thing. Sometimes you can tell when a flaw is treated as such and when the author isn't aware it exists, and this feels like the latter. It's something I see pretty often... in stories penned by middle schoolers and not billion-dollar productions, but I digress. You can excuse a teenager for poor writing given their lack of experience, but alleged professionals? It's like they pick the most sheltered, complacent people possible and then wonder why their stories fail to connect to the rest of the world. From one-dimensional puppets supposed to be characters to dialogue so immersion-breaking it can get unbearable to nonsensical plot point after nonsensical plot point, it feels more like a different species trying to emulate human behavior. It honestly wouldn't surprise me if this were written by an AI borrowing from other poorly-made gaslight gatekeep girlboss stories, because it sure feels as such.

[@KororaPenguin]

With apologies to Mark Twain, the rules of narrative fiction require: That a tale shall accomplish something and arrive somewhere. But the "Rings of Power" tale accomplishes nothing and arrives in air. They require that the episodes in a tale shall be necessary parts of the tale, and shall help to develop it. But as the "Rings of Power" tale is not a tale, and accomplishes nothing and arrives nowhere, the episodes have no rightful place in the work, since there was nothing for them to develop. They require that the personages in a tale, both dead and alive, shall exhibit a sufficient excuse for being there. But this detail also has been overlooked in the "Rings of Power" tale. They require that when the author describes the character of a personage in the tale, the conduct and conversation of that personage shall justify said description. But this law gets little or no attention in the "Rings of Power" tale, as the Hobbits' cases will amply prove. They require that the author shall make the reader/listener/viewer feel a deep interest in the personages of his tale and in their fate; and that he shall make the reader love the good people in the tale and hate the bad ones. But the viewer of the "Rings of Power" tale dislikes the good people in it, is indifferent to the others, and wishes they would all get drowned together. They require that the characters in a tale shall be so clearly defined that the reader/listener/viewer can tell beforehand what each will do in a given emergency. But in the "Rings of Power" tale, this rule is stabbed with a Morgul blade.

[@weareharbinger914]

Technically they are people with no experience. They tried to get scripts used for a decade and came up with zero. They're delusional failures. A teenager would make mistakes but as long as they liked the lord of the rings books and movies, they'd do better than what we got by a looooooot. "THE SEA IS ALWAYS RIGHT!" No teenager would think that is good idalogue.

[@pacificoslim]

It blows my mind that there are people out there defending the actresses acting on the show. Morfyyd was horrible as galadriel IMHO. She had like 2 expressions in the whole show. Her face twitching pissed me off too.

[@dant7677]

Initially I agreed with you, that the show's changes to Galadriel's character do not make the story better. But then I thought, "Hang on. Maybe she *did* improve the story, by serving as a distraction from all those other problems with the storytelling." Which makes it all the more tragic.

[@Makkaru112]

A funny thing I heard was “If we base the third age from Mehta we know of amazons Guyladriel. She’d have taken that One Rang for the sake of GurlPowah revenge. “ oh and one of my main favourites is “when Legolas seen that mithril shirt, he leapt onto Frodo. Ripping it off of his body to claim it for himself and said ‘gimme that elf crack right now. Only I can live forever, DiamondsAreForEvah’ “

[@RickAucoin]

The Murder And Defilement Of Tolkien's Galadriel - J.D. Payne & Patrick McKay hacked off just about everything that made Tolkien's Galadriel. Her personality, her demeanor, her skill sets, her mystical connection to the Light of Valinor. What Payne & McKay were left with was this ugly, roughly formed, amateurish shape of a "strong female character" that was made of nothing but idiotic clichés and tired tropes. They ended up with a rude, unlikable, arrogant, selfish, entitled, blunt and poorly spoken, anti-diplomatic, scowling asshole of a "badass" character who is overflowing with amateur-hour MarySue red-flag warnings. She’s some unholy chimera of Generic Strong Female Character and Charles Bronson.

[@Uhtred-the-bold]

Well said sir! 👏👏

[@gailf1617]

I became worried in the first episode, when Elrond was introduced as some sort of junior secretary: An officious elf came to him and told him he couldn't go to Gil-Galad's important meeting since Elrond wasn't a "lord". What? Do the Elves of Lindon know who Elrond is? Do the Amazon scriptwriters know Elrond's lineage? (they should, he mentions it in The Fellowship of the Ring - the book). 1. Elrond is the only living great-grandson of Turgon, King of Gondolin. 2. Elendil is the brother of Elros Tar-Minyatur, first King of Numenor, which should demand some courtesy at least. Elrond is the great-grandson of Luthien Tinuviel, closest thing to a saint that the Elves have; they sing songs about her and Elrond's great-grandfather Beren - he is the child of legends. 3. Probably every Elf in Lindon owes their existence to Elrond's great-grandparents Beren and Luthien for snagging that Silmaril from Morgoth's crown and passing along to their grand-daughter Elwing - Elrond's mother - who literally flew in bird-form to carry the jewel to her husband Earendil (Elrond's dad) during his voyage to Valinor. Earendil, wearing the jewel, was able to enter Valinor to gain the aid of the Valar to defeat Morgoth and save Middle-earth. Elves, dwarves, Men, everyone who suffered and would have eventually would have been enslaved or killed owes a huge debt of gratitude to Elrond's parents and great-grandparents and they would scarcely treat Elrond as a junior flunky. And why would Galadriel be so stupid as to jump into the Sundering Sea rather than go to Valinor? The Noldor are powerful Elves, but swimming hundreds to thousands of miles without drowning is probably beyond even their strength. Not to mention Galadriel standing still as the pyroclastic flow comes barreling towards her and the village from the new Mount Doom - and then surviving it. She and almost all of the villagers should have been incinerated, or some kind of weird sorcery should have been shown. Finally, Galadriel in the movies often was shown to have the light of the Two Trees in her eyes, as well as some extra luminous glow, nice special effects to make her seem more Elvish and 'Other'. This Rings of Power looked like a pretty young woman with pointed ears, nothing particularly unusual about her.

[@hoffy1955]

TROP is the kind of show you expect to get from first time showrunners, who continue to say they respect the lore but don't. When Peter Jackson decided to make the Lord of the Rings everyone in a high level position on the film crew had read the books over and over and loved and respected Tolkien's work. They were always mindful of the thematic content and didn't put any of their baggage into the movies because they loved the mythology as Tolkien wrote it. Kathleen Kennedy, Lindsey Weber, J.D. Payne and Patrick McKay are NOT fans of Tolkien's work and it shows everywhere throughout this billion dollar dumpster fire. Their intent was to do the exact opposite of what Jackson did. No one in a high level position on this show is a dedicated fan of Middle Earth. The few true experts they hired like Tom Shippey were fired for disagreeing with Payne and McKay and what they were doing to the mythology. They have not respected the thematic material, canon or lore in fact, they have completely disrespected it. The unmitigated gaul of these two amateurs believing THEY know better than Tolkien how to write the second age of Middle Earth have produced a show that is bad across the board. Bad directing, editing, pacing, storytelling, acting, dialogue and generally all aspects of cinema except the CGI, and a billion dollars worth of that SHOULD be decent. If this story had nothing to do with Tolkien it would still SUCK! That they, in their infinite lack of wisdom, decided to dump ALL their PC and Woke baggage into the singularly greatest work of fantasy fiction of all time shows just how clueless they are. They wanted their story to reflect the world we live in today. Just one problem with that boys and girls, no one reads or watches fantasy fiction to be reminded of the world they live in. In fact, it is loved because it provides an ESCAPE from the world we live in today! Middle Earth is a fictional account of an English/Northern European pre-history. There were no black elves, black dwarf women without beards, black Harfoots/Hobbits or black or Asian humans because Tolkien wrote that those races lived in the southernmost area of Middle Earth not the northlands! They would have lived in other geographical locations, ones that would have made sense. Diversity has to make sense within the story parameters. You can’t just arbitrarily drop ethnicities in places they would not live! That’s storytelling 101! The directors, producers and showrunners are total "Bad Reboot" untalented, uninspired and unsuccessful Hollywood hacks! The season ending "big reveals” were laughable. Everyone knew Meteor Man was Gandalf even though he wasn't due to appear in Middle Earth for another two thousand years or so. Everyone knew Halbrand was Sauron from the moment he appeared on screen. Warrior "Guyladriel" did not exist.....ever. Tolkien's Galadriel was so much more powerful than TROP's Guyladriel because she used her intellect and sorceress powers of persuasion to get what she needed. What she didn't need was to be a sword wielding, "Mary Sue/Karen", Zena warrior princess! Bezos must certainly be feeling buyers remorse for having hired Jar Jar Abrams incompetent production team. A billion dollars for a show that could have been great but for the clown-car of talentless hacks that were put in charge of it. I hope the other 4 seasons get cancelled before the next 2 years pass. Let this abomination pass into history with all the fanfare accorded an unmarked grave. That's all it deserves. RIP TROP....you suck!

[@MasticinaAkicta]

Oh yes from the early point it became obvious that THIS is not galadriel. And that the writers know absolutely nothing about the Lore. So short, Hollywood in 2022!

[@RoninDave]

The show wanted to build Galadriel up so much they brought everyone else down in the process. Gil-galad becomes a narrowminded middle manager type king to make him an obstacle to Galadriel's greatness. Elven soldiers become weak and useless getting their butts handed to them by a snow troll until Galadriel easily dispatches it by herself in 5 seconds. Numenor in the book at both the time of the forging of the Rings and the reign of Tar-Miriel/Ar-Pharazon had the strongest armies in Middle Earth but they were reduced to untrained inexperienced sailors to give Galadriel a cliche badass training scene. Even Sauron becomes a simp who wants Galadriel to be his Queen. And all this downgrading is for nought because Galadriel is such an unlikable character. She's not proud or wise. She's arrogant and pretty damn dumb in general. She was constantly making mistakes. She wanted to go further north in the beginning which would have led her nowhere. Her getting Numenor to send a military force to Southlands was ultimately a failure as the bad guy got what he wanted while several Numenoreans got fried and their Queen blinded. Then she rides off to take Sauron to the elves so he can muck around with their rings (despite the fact that in the lore he never touched or sullied the 3 which were made last). Had she stayed on the damn boat Middle Earth would have been a happy place.

[@leeebryn]

Lmao i cracked up from the start when you talked about how she became a spoiled brat.... so fucking true man its so sad to see Amazon has lost their minds

[@KororaPenguin]

THIS is Artanis Nerwen? More like Artanis Únaitë ("Not-True Artanis").

[@susandiana4172]

Susandiana 0 seconds ago I agree with your assessment of the elves. I think Tolkien's elves are amazing. Up until Tolkien, elves in myth and folk love were always little and cute, especially in Disney and Santa's helper elves. But Tolkien turned this image on its head and created beautiful, wise, immortal, ethereal, magical elves, who without exception are tall with long hair. The elves in this series look and act like humans. As soon as I saw the male elves in this, with their short, modern, hair styles, I was totally turned off. And the harfoots, who are related to hobbits, not to hobbit ancestors, are the antithesis of Tolkien's hobbits; the harfoots are depicted as nomadic, stupid, and grubby. It's difficult to believe that the harfoots are literate, (they have a book and apparently can read and write). If they are going to be presented as nomads, they would have an oral, not literate, culture. And both races, elves and hobbits, are homogenous. This series pastes in a black elf and a black hobbit???? It would've made more sense to make ALL the harfoots black, since they are invented by the showrunners anyway.Also they should not have screwed around with the beloved Tolkien elves. One more point: what's with all those elf children? If they are breeding so fast, being immortal, they'd be overpopulated very fast. I don't think Tolkien ever mentions elf children.

[@josepnebotrius872]

Worst than the hair style. As most modern elf representation is derived from Tolkien's elves description. Was the wiseness, experience and ethereality were a 404 error. Celebrimbor with thousands years of experience as smith, being suddenly unable to make an alloy. Elrond being totally passive. Karen being Karen and behaving as a 14yo brat and being rewarded to be such.

[@josepnebotrius872]

I remembered I rode that elves became adults at 50 so for an immortal this is a very small age period.

[@randomstranger9306]

I'm pretty sure the universal long hair is just something the Peter Jackson movies made up. Earlier illustrators drew a variety of hair lengths, and I don't recall any source for the idea. If you have one, please tell me.

[@randomstranger9306]

50 is physical maturity, 100 is proper maturity by the standards of their society, and when they're super old they can grow beards. Also, the continual decrease in Elven population in Middle Earth is somewhat of a theme, so a large number of Elven children doesn't really make sense. When it comes to Elven children actually appearing in the stories, the only ones I can think of off the top of my head are young Fëanor, young Maeglin, Dior's children, young Eärendil, and young Elrond and Elros.

[@robertbryant4669]

You are partially correct about the Harfoots being an invention of the show. Prior to the formation of the Shire, there were three strains of proto-hobbits: Harfoots, Stoors, and Fallohides. Of the three, the Fallohides were by far the most bold and adventurous, becoming the most influential families in the Shire. By the time of LotR, the three strains were so intermingled that they ceased to be separate tribes and had become the Hobbits we know and love. While we have no information on what the Harfoots were like before arriving in the Shire, I can tell you that no nomadic tribe on Earth is as ethnically diverse, or as callous about the treatment of their own kin, as these little psychopaths are depicted in RoP. Even the Fremen in Dune show more compassion for their wounded!

[@tiffanyl4829]

Poor writing? Second questioning of a genius writer like Tolkien? Bad plot? Wokeism?

[@michelecastellotti9172]

she was a flawed character that had learned from her past, she was beautiful but kind, powerful but emphatic, she was the difinition of a real strong woman, this GUYladriel thing is a mirror of tbe twisted view the showrunners have of the term and nothing more

[@queenberuthiel5469]

Right. Shills always ignore that she's only a FLAWED character (like every other characters) and not the psychopathic character that amazon made.

[@rufusmcgee4383]

RoP removed the best parts of Galadriel and replaced them with the worst parts of Feanor.

[@josepnebotrius872]

Because of that disaster of show I rewatched the films and reread the Books. ROP simply is a horrible show, that looks like a B series I don't were money went. CGI is worst than PJ films the warg PE, there huge writing and direction flaws. Lore destruction and world building failed (ironically because they wanted to be creators "real fantasy world"). about characters they were fan liked or long expected characters hateable not only Galadriel. Elrond is totally passive He does nothing and others do things for him, hobo Hobbits ( that were not mean to be in the 2nd age) are a psycho cult, not Gandalf had toddler brains, Most male Characters were idiots at best. I disliked a lot elves cast they were humans with pointy ears.

[@Makkaru112]

Heck. Guyladriel could be a good second wife to the new and improved Murderous Fëanor.

[@Makkaru112]

I mean look at the way she threatened bloodshed in the court of Numenor

[@josepnebotrius872]

It would be a incestuous relation very lannister.

[@barryon8706]

I think they took much of what they would hate in a male character, put it into a woman, and called others bigots for not liking it.

[@jcrhodes6863]

Also, the Noldor were a loose confederation of squabbling princes so why does ROP have them in the same armour?

[@josepnebotrius872]

They made printed armor underarmour shirts for the numenoreans. While in PJ movies they made armour look real. How a billion show looks so B series? Is as the money flew away.

[@Crash103179]

Here's the problem: Tolkien wrote his stories to convey Christian themes. The makers of RoP are not just non-, but anti-Christian. Their central dictum is "will to power." In the books, all power rests, subtly, with Iluvatar.

[@crownstacker6659]

It's like putting discussions over global warming in a movie about ancient Rome 😂

[@xhagast]

She was paid peanuts so lets be more forgiving. Still, the series had one scene right; when she introduced herself to the Numenoreans they looked ready to toss her and her arrogance in a cell and forget her.

[@Makkaru112]

Guyladriel would be a good wife for Ëol

[@dalephillips7576]

My take… forget it based on ANYTHING Tolkien wrote and just view it as a Fantasy world made up out of thin air…..causes let headaches

[@under-dog5390]

There is only one outcome acceptable for RoP's Galadriel... Being banished with Melkor so Sauron can live in peace xD

[@weareharbinger914]

They took a powerful woman and changed her to generic 'strong woman' that is only a trend in the current hollywood environment. The original Galadrial was idealized and admirable, this one is supposed to be, but stripped of her femininity, her story and even her personality. The little we see of her in charge of people...she'd be fired. Shes callous, dismissive, willing to sacrifice her comrades and she doesn't actually command them at all. She is the worst kind of commander, because she doesn't do her job, even slightly and seems to have no regard for...well, almost anybody. Theres a reason she has a whole ONE friend.

[@v1e1r1g1e1]

Guyladdirel would be a good wife for... no-one! But she could teach Melkor a trick or two, I'm sure.

[@mr.s2005]

well, besides it being a horrible adaption, but unlike say like the game Shadow of War, while being a horrible adaptation still was entertaining to play....Rings of Power was just horrible as a series in its own right. Who wants the good guys to act far more evil than the bad guys. The orcs showed more compassion for each other than the Hobbits. Adair and even Sauron never acted like evil or power hungry. Just seemed they were both working to survive the best they could. While the elves showed contempt for the descendants of those fought for Morgoth even though the war had been over for over a thousand years. Galadriel is a selfish whiny sociopath who has no issue with killing unarmed prisoners and threatening genocide.... now may be it off on this theory, but heard this elsewhere and it does make sense; the writers of this show, like most leftists are fans of such female politicians like hilary, aoc, and pelsoi. All of which are arrogant and condescending one moment but then start whining a lot when things don't go their way. So it does make sense they would write their characters based on those politicians characteristics and trying passing them off good qualities

[@DdHenley307]

They took all the qualities I dislike and put them into one person. Just need her to trip a disabled person in season 2

[@Blassreiter78]

This Version of the Lady of Light is like a Villain

[@seriousmaran9414]

She is supposed to be an army commander? WTF is she going off on patrol? She has thousands of troops to look after.

[@Makkaru112]

I hope this video gets more views and earns you a ton of subscribers. I’ll definitely share it around!!

[@TheTolkienShirt]

Thank you, I greatly appreciate your support.

[@Tallacus]

dont forget how Amazon mistreats us in the warehouses

[@joemummerth8340]

why did it fail ? easy question to answer ! first , it was not based on the silmarillion , it was based on a few pages in the appendices of the lord of the rings , second , political correctness , there are no black elves or dwarves in the source material , they fcked up the early history of hobbits , galadriel was not a warrior , the series should never have been attempted , switching races, and genders , adding gay characters was the dumbest thing they did ! and elrond , who was an important character in the silmarillion , is basically a minor character ! the list goes on forever ! the worst thing done was how over the top everything had to be , sometimes less is more ! the directors , and the idiots who chose the cast should be euthanized for their crimes against literature ,and humanity !

[@Lilolindiriel]

GOOD VIDEO. TOTALLY AGREE WITH YOU🇩🇰

[@richardschafer7858]

The Rings of Power was total woke garbage.

[@roelven1282]

i am just glad that i didnt even see the rings of power... woke culture in hollywood since 2016 learned me NOT to see anything ..... ANYTHING made by hollywood or any big streaming service... I rather wait till this woke hate for lore dies out... or until at least 4 people i respect tell me a movie is worthwhile (top gun mav. is a clear example)... One person i respect highly told me "the show is so bad that it makes the Hobbit look like a masterpiece. so i am one of the few that is not tainted by the darkness of lore backstabbing by the rings of power...

[@jailbreak852]

More petulant than arrogant

[@anto64kennedy]

Fauxladriel, meme it on.

[@nosfonader8792]

Galadriel always sounded like a Mary Sue. Being the nicest, most well loved, most powerful elf. That would be labeled a Mary Sue if this happened today. This is a PREQUEL SHOW. We all know what happens after Halberd goes to Mordor.

[@tyr3759]

Why did The Rings of Power fail?: Bad writing and wokeness

[@Val-uj3nr]

The writing is terrible and thus no foundation for a good story.

[@jcrhodes6863]

Humility is missing.

[@dougantelope5013]

Honestly I thought rings of power was a good show. But I am LOTR fan boy, and will like anything they make. It’s only through watching breakdowns I’ve learned that this show isn’t considered good 🤣. Anyway, your video was decent, but you need to up your production values. Stills gotta move as they say. If it’s just listening to you talk, how is this better than a podcast?

[@TheTolkienShirt]

Hey, thanks a lot for sharing your thoughts. I am still figuring out how to do a lot of things. I hope that what I'm saying is what people come here for, so I focus mainly on that. But of course there are many other elements that play a role. I'm working on them as well: if you are interested, check out my Ant-man review - it took a lot of time, but I am quite proud of it. My goal is to make all videos in a similar style and to constantly improve their quality.

[@thatguyinelnorte]

Well done. Great analysis.

[@shawnredmond8402]

Rings of power was very entertaining when you start watching it as a comedy. Tolkien is just boring overbearing trash.

[@SeanRCope]

It didn’t fail. Just because purists don’t like it does not mean it failed. If you want to blame anyone for the result, look no further than the Tolkien family.

[@coffeemug3009]

Your accent is weird. Where are you from?

[@TheTolkienShirt]

English is not my first language, I'm from Poland.

[@coffeemug3009]

@@TheTolkienShirt Cool. Anyway, love your videos!

[@TheTolkienShirt]

Thanks a lot!

[@Laurelluin]

I love your accent 💓

[@happylicker4310]

I think they did such a bad job some evil characters are more likeable then she is! And people relate more to them then her as you said such a waste of a story and characters and one billion dollars 🥴

[@HeWhoHasRisen3500]

Is that FPS Russia?

[@aerialballet1990]

isnt it hard for them to add her daughter and husband due to teh Tolkien estate not allowing them to not use the books? Was Galadriel already ruler of Lothlorian by this time? I really wanna know because want to learn. Would like to say I enjoyed teh Dwarven parts the best, thoguht they did an excellent hob with them.

[@robertbryant4669]

Not that hard; both are mentioned by name at various points in the Appendices. More important though, Celeborn and Galadriel are Arwen's maternal grandparents -- as in, their daughter, Celebrian, is Arwen's mother. By writing Celeborn and Celebrian out of the show, Amazon has effectively written Arwen out of existence.