The writers are just using the names. They did not even read the Silmarillion. If you are looking for a visual fantasy movie it might be good. If you are looking for Tolkien you will be disappointed.
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The writers are just using the names. They did not even read the Silmarillion. If you are looking for a visual fantasy movie it might be good. If you are looking for Tolkien you will be disappointed.
Even for a fantasy series this was very disappointing.Quote:
Originally Posted by Urso
I haven't seen it, only read some reviews. and boy, are they brutal. Dang.
My god, I don't even want to look at this purge.
Almost every characters but the main ones are completely made up out from nowhere for absolutely no reasons
If you thought Middle Earth SoM and SoW were slaying Tolkien's writting, don't even bother watching this one, you'll have PTSD.
Having watched the first two episodes... it's absolutely not Tolkien, the tone is entirely wrong for that (they evidently have no real use for his work except as window-dressing) and it's Middle-earth in name only - just generic fantasy dressed up that way. Payne and Mackay are hacks, there are some truly terrible ideas in there such that I can't imagine quite what they thought they were doing, and some clunky dialogue as well (it's fine conversationally but not when it comes to more serious lines). They've completely changed Galadriel to suit their purposes, ruined Gil-galad, and while I think I can see what they're going for with Elrond I think the guy they have playing him is miscast.
No discredit to the cast, I think they're doing their best with what they've been given to work with. The short hair for Elves thing really is distracting, though (they look too much like everybody else - as others have said, I think you need the long hair for a distinctive look and 'air').
I can't say more without going into spoilers but suffice it to say that the devil's in the details, too. (One thing, though - they're so careless with how they name characters, it's inconsistent linguistically and it'd have been so easy to get that right - and that's the sort of detail that Tolkien sweated blood over so why could they not at least try to do justice to that? Damn strange when a game like LOTRO can do that and a hugely expensive TV series can't).
I watched the first two episodes last night and enjoyed them. I agree that some liberties have been taken, and this version of the second age likely won't be exactly what Tolkien fans imagined. Some of the dialogue is a bit awkward and I'm still not sure how much I like RoPs version of Galadriel as the primary protagonist. But the show was visually impressive, it looks like it will cover much of the major 2nd age events and locations, and I felt entertained. Just wanted to add some perspective from someone who liked it.
It's awesome :cool: this is going to be so epic. The production values on this are mind boggling. Before the first season is done Amazon will have spent close to 1 Billion ramping this up.Quote:
Originally Posted by Chizbo
Liberties are ok if they're signed off by MEE.
Matt of Nerd of the Rings enjoyed them even though he admits they are playing with the lore. It was smart of Prime to launch the series with the first 2 episodes so that it would hook those who enjoyed them.
I went in expecting big budget fan fiction. That's pretty much what I got. Could've been better, could've been worse. Meh.
It's a good thing my wife orders so much off Amazon that the free shipping pays for the Prime membership because I haven't been impressed with any of the made-for-Prime shows that even remotely interested me.
I’m in the same boat. My wife also orders a lot of stuff using the Prime benefits so I basically watch Prime Video for free, but I have yet to see any made for Prime stuff to interest me.Quote:
Originally Posted by Theozor
This is obviously not the work of Peter Jackson who set the bar pretty high for Middle earth.
The casting is terrible IMHO. The only believable character to me is Galadriel.
If I was a commander and a soldier laid down his weapon refusing to follow my order, I would take that very big sword and run it through his heart, letting the rest of the group take note of that.
Not sure if I will watch anymore episodes. Too bad I had high hopes for this series.
In the places where Peter Jackson et al departed from Tolkien's dialog, the results were equally cringe-inducing. Aragorn's fake speech before the battle at the Black Gate being the worst example.
I think the actress is doing a good job, but (based on the first two episodes) they've written Galadriel as such a grim, joyless, one-dimensional character. Even in the middle of the War of the Ring, she could show a lighter side. And everything that took place from "the ceremony" onward was ludicrous and painful to sit through.
The writing for Elrond seems better, and while he lacks gravitas, remember he is but a boy, in Elven terms (albeit one with an illustrious heritage), at the start of the 2A. The wiser, elder Elrond of LotR knows better than to trust fat, stinky, sneaky, greedy Dorfs.
The idea of showing how Mordor went from being a place where people lived to a land of shadow is interesting, but the execution (an orc tunnel under the floors of two villages, what?) is laughably bad.
We know. But that's not a blanket explanation for why RoP is the way it is :pQuote:
Originally Posted by fourleaf
The Show Actually Sucks., If Your Here For Visuals And Cannot Spot CG Or Visual Effects Then This May Look Wondrous To You., But For Anyone With Any Type Of Sense For Good Cinema., This Is Not It., All The Very Worst Scenes From PJ’s Adaptations Are Better Than All Moments So Far In This Show.. The Characters Are Insufferable.
People Have Been Saying It’s Great Etc Etc., I Firmly Believe Those People Are ####ed In The Head., Like Really Bad
Saw the first two episodes and quite liked it, to me Elrond was best cast in my opinion but they were all good casting, however there were a few little things I didn't quite get, but overall to me was well done.
Hmm, I don't think it's at all equal there (not in the LOTR movies, anyway) because I'm damn sure I never cringed there like I did earlier today when I was watching RoP. The Hobbit movies were often cringe but that was on account of the ton of freshly-invented extra stuff and bad CGI. And RoP is effectively 100% written from scratch and has the same bad CGI or worse... oh dear. Not seeing the point here, you're comparing the odd bit of something that was otherwise really good with something that'll probably be the other way around, mostly pretty bad with the odd good bit.Quote:
Originally Posted by LagunaD2
Yes, Morfydd Clark can certainly act (she was good in Saint Maud) so it's more the material here that's off. The problem is that this isn't Galadriel. At all. This is the messed-up latterday Hollywood 'strong female' stereotype that's cursed other franchises, all the more galling here because Galadriel was already such a strong character but they didn't want to write that; they wanted to make everything their own. Well, they have, it's bad and they can damn well own it.Quote:
I think the actress is doing a good job, but (based on the first two episodes) they've written Galadriel as such a grim, joyless, one-dimensional character. Even in the middle of the War of the Ring, she could show a lighter side. And everything that took place from "the ceremony" onward was ludicrous and painful to sit through.
True enough, the problem is how he speaks to Galadriel who's so much his senior that it's not funny. RoP distorts everything by having Gil-galad appearing older than her and understating her own social clout. Really she was the grande dame of High Elf society,Quote:
The writing for Elrond seems better, and while he lacks gravitas, remember he is but a boy, in Elven terms (albeit one with an illustrious heritage), at the start of the 2A.
Wait for it, I think you'll find they up the ante a lot as things go on. This is just how it starts. Remember the scene with Galadriel covered in ash, in the trailer? Take a look at the ruined buildings and I think you'll find they look familiar. Now ask yourself what might be happening there.Quote:
The idea of showing how Mordor went from being a place where people lived to a land of shadow is interesting, but the execution (an orc tunnel under the floors of two villages, what?) is laughably bad.
I agree that Galadriel has been turned into your stereotypical Hollywood "strong woman" which apparently means generally acting like a jerk and beating up everything in sight. :(Quote:
Originally Posted by Radhruin_EU
The way you mention that Gil-Galad and Elrond speak to Galadriel like she's a kid when she's so much older than them had me thinking. If you ignore the actress' age for a moment, they're actually talking to her like she's a senile grandmother who's causing problems for the household due to her insane obsessions and they want her to hurry off to the retirement home (aka Valinor). So once you look at it that way, they do speak to Galadriel as appropriate to her age. :P
Elrond was speaking for his boss, Gil-galad, who, regardless of his age, is the High King of the Noldor in Exile. Elrond later mentioned something to the effect of it being uncomfortable to have to deal with a friend in his official duties.Quote:
Originally Posted by Radhruin_EU
Elves don't age in the sense we normally understand aging, so how old or young an adult elf looks isn't very relevant. Tolkien often described people's appearances in a way that corresponded to their station. As the High King, we shouldn't be surprised if Gil-galad looks like ... a High King.
Not like that he doesn't, not with Elves like them and you should know that. She's not only meant to be older than Gil-galad (and by a fair few Years of the Trees at that) but she's high nobility herself as she's also from the Royal House of the Noldor and runs a close second to him in that; she's a princess. Not that you'd know it from the nonsense in this series, despite it all being in the book. They're too busy having Gil-galad and Elrond being 'political' (and all "nothing to see here, evil all gone" - it reminds me of the mayor from Jaws who was more worried about tourism than people getting eaten by a shark) to worry about little details like that, it seems. Can you really imagine the High King of the Noldor hiding behind his herald, as if he can't look one of his own kin in the eye and tell her to simmer down? Doesn't seem very kingly put like that, does it? So yeah, making Gil-galad look weak just so they've got an excuse for the patriarchy to oppress their Strong Female Lead, great writing boys :rolleyes:Quote:
Originally Posted by LagunaD2
You can see how all over the place the casting is by who they've got playing Celebrimbor, who if anything should be younger than Galadriel is because as Feanor's grandson he's from a later generation. (Something else you might have noticed for yourself, if you'd thought to look). All of them are related.
Yes, I know all that, and Gil-galad even has two conflicting lineages to choose from.
Regardless, he is from the senior (remaining) branch of the Noldorin royalty, and Galadriel is from the junior branch. Descent through the senior branch is vitally important in Tolkien's writing, from the point of view of legitimacy.
Using the British royals as an analogy, Gil-galad is the equivalent of Prince George of Cambridge (William's eldest son) after he inherits the throne. He will be the unquestioned head of the royal family when that happens. Galadriel is the equivalent Princess Beatrice, who (despite being considerably older) will be a minor footnote in the royal pecking order.
Galadriel's seniority is not an unalloyed virtue, either. She rebelled against the Valar, and also against her father, who repented after the Kinslaying.
Gil-galad was born in exile, after the Doom of Mandos, and had no culpability in regard to it.
Not the best analogy, since with Gil-galad being unmarried Galadriel was 'the' Lady of the Noldor. Bit more than a minor footnote. As Lady she'd got a powerful spiritual and quasi-religious role. Or at least she ought to have, if the show-runners weren't such twerps.Quote:
Originally Posted by LagunaD2
It was more insufferable than it was funny, to be honest (though it has potential to get significantly more funny once we get to good parts or later seasons). Even if we throw everything Tolkien into the trash, forget the intrusion of unwarranted matter (irl intersectional and race politics) and then approach it with "open mind"... this is still such a boring show with weak premises, cheap shots and no good direction.
You could write an entire essay titled "how NOT to write a show!" based on this but let me just tell you: anyone who says it is "fine" as regular fantasy entertainment must be lying to themselves or their standards are already so low and pathetic they might as well go and watch 'whatever' and everything will feel "fine." Like seriously, I liked one of the latest One Ring Net articles about it - it literally says it is "good" because dude wasn't constantly checking his phone or leaving for food without pause on. LOL. You kidding me? What freaking world do I live in? That's a standard for "good" now?
Oh, not to mention people who think it was fine as Tolkien adaptation of any kind, no idea what these people smoke - I guess it's mostly due the fact Amazon was at least smart enough to place all these "lore mentions" everywhere even if there is no real depth behind them, because apparently that's enough for legions of Tolkien fans to theorize about sh*t and subject themselves to meaningless geeky mast*rbation that the creators behind this show clearly don't care about in any serious way because they're not that geeky, what they're doing is clear perversion, not geekiness and nothing that's true to Tolkien. Any "lore nods" will be superficial at best and repurposed in gruesome ways at worst. I haven't checked what he said about it but I can easily imagine someone like the "Tolkien Professor" be all geeky about silly little things like Celebrimbor's speech, mentions of Aule or the silly little dwarf contest and what the inspirations there might have been... and suddenly that's enough for all these people to consider it a "good" show, even if nothing else makes it good? But guess what - all these "lore bits and nods" have no meaning at all if they're completely disjointed and irrelevant to larger themes behind the narrative and all the rest of it is cra*p set in the world that isn't even consistent enough with itself.
Let's just name a few of "my eyeballs roll to the back of my head" moments...
- Prologue is weak and makes it feel like Beleriand never existed (or maybe it didn't in their version of things, idk). Also, it perverted the entire Feanor issue and kinslaying and all that, and made it look as if ALL elves just hopped on their fleet to give Morgoth a lesson and fight evil in Middle-earth under righteous orders from the Valars or something (doesn't mention the Silmarils either even though Celebrimbor refers to them later! - utter inconsistency and a joke). Galadriel is on a vengeance kick, doesn't want to rule a kingdom of her own, was bullied by some creepy elven children as a child, oh and her brother's secret advice was that touching the darkness might be a good idea to get to the bottom of things, so very elven of him
- The "cruel and cunning sorcerer, they called him Sauron" scene was pretty neat, I liked it, even though it looks like a computer game (like many other things in this, tbh). Oh but this was also the most ridiculous contradiction that they've included from the get go! Look at that giant, cruel Sorcerer with legions of orcs and cool, giant staff of power (who they conveniently don't even frame as a Maya or anything but still...). You wanna find this dude? What will you even do to him, once he is found? What can you do? Oh, also your brother went it solo? WHAT A MORON! I'm surprised there was even a body left of him to be honest...
- Galadriel of course, eye roll from first minute to the last, but I wouldn't even say it's just the fault of the bad writing... because 99% of the time Guy-ladriel comes across like someone who needs immediate help from a psychotherapist, completely insufferable and mentally unstable. If you go and read some of the recently released interviews, Morfydd Clark reveled she was completely unprepared for this kind of role, was never good at most of activities this role required her to do and she needed "mental adjustments" at every step of the way, to the point where "trainers" had her stand her ground against a crowd of imposing dudes with swords advancing at her and screaming loudly, where the goal was that she doesn't even flinch! F***d up much? Because that sounds like freaking abuse or something, tbh. My guess is they picked her only for her looks (gotta make that young Cate Blanchett connection...) and then needed to mold her into that perfect "independent warrior woman, I can do all of this without flinching, not even a stunt double needed" kind of trope/statement they so desperately wanted to forge here. They're freaking disgusting and it's possible the actress suffered some kind of mental brainwash and trauma, idk. But yeah, the result is pretty much the insufferable, completely unsympathetic, nonsense-talking Guy-ladriel, who needs an immediate mental help and sword detox! It's funny, or it would have been... if it wasn't THAT insufferable and blunt.
- Characters are boring or blunt at best, but there is more... because not only Galadriel seems mentally unstable here. Theo? What is the deal with that kid? He is creepy, racist (like all men are) and his angry faces are cringe inducing, like he has some issues, he needs professional help. Bronwyn? First she leaves her kid alone even though she knows something dangerous is at work (ah yes, the badass single mom), then finds him hidden from the orc, they talk like for a long time and he tells her to go get help, she finally decides to move towards the door (oh and no idea why the mentally unstable kid haven't used all that time to move towards the door with her) but she hesitates, decides to stay and... hides in a cupboard? Ugh? What a great plan! Eh... but you both could have escaped that house long ago!
- Elves don't really have any real grace beside being a bit majestic or younger looking, though not even all of them. The only real difference between elves and men here is that ALL men are... dirty, drunkard, ugly bearded fools and old men, without any interesting cultural distinctions! UGHHHH
- Elven Oppressive Empire of Middle-earth makes you roll your eyes several times, even though I knew that already. Funny thing is I don't really see many people pointing this out... and it's a hilarious lore break!
- Since the elves are oppressors, everyone here (apparently) hates them and is racist towards them more than in the Witcher. Good job, great Tolkien! The white elves in this are basically what colonialist Numenoreans should have been but most likely won't be (on account of their vast ethnic diversity they've been except from being corrupted with colonialist tendencies).
- Actor who played Crassus in Spartacus S3 popped up for a moment... to remind Arondir that humans are evil livestock not worthy of compassion because they might start a slave rebellion soon... or something. You can't get more cringe and perhaps even self-aware than that...
- Sauron a Moriarty Type to Galadriel's Holmes (well, not really) leaving his "mark" everywhere for thousand of years for others to find, even on his old sword or something, is this The Maze from Westworld, should they question the nature of their own reality? (well, maybe they should!). Who needs that stuff? What does it contribute to the plot?
- Celebrimbor's "drama" that I don't buy and for all the lore-inspired rants from the actor... comes off meh. We have elven oppression/supervision in this "adaptation", stretching far East... and the dude is like "Morgoth was powerfully enchanted by Feanor's work... what has mine ever accomplished, need something with real power!" and utterly ignores Elrond's "it moves our hearts" as insignificant trifles, like it's not something that matters in his work at all. If anything it hardly hits the "vanity for beauty and art's sake" buttons and pretty much plays nicely with "oppressive elven empire could use a powerful magical artifact that would transform the land itself and make our domain more beautiful because we showcase such imperialistic vanity, hence rings of power!" from the get go, especially since the High King seems to be so involved in this project of his from the very beginning. That's kinda... duh? It was especially funny because Celebrimbor's bearing and gestures in this (plus his age) reminded me of some imperial officer dudes from Star Wars xD
- The entire Gil-Galad, Elrond, Galadriel & her men is a contrived, needless mess, don't even need to talk about it. Also, that random "blackened" leaf that appeared out of nowhere in Lindon itself was a bit too random and weird. The cow with black milk? Pretty silly too. These things are good in Tolkien but you gotta include them in a way that would matter and isn't completely random, as if some sort of parasite/dna altering blight started to spread in seemingly random spots of Middle-earth... you know, without the usual necromancy involved or terrifying Sauron's presence corrupting a specific piece of land bit by bit throughout the ages which was usually in relevant locations, his stronghold and places of power, and then spreading out from there, not just some... black goo and nullified leaves shoehorned in random places to make a "statement" ? Oh no, look, it's black goo in this cow, evil is returning! (orcs aren't supposed to do any necromancy so.. it's hilarious, what's this supposed to be even?)
- I don't even know whether it's bad or hilarious or neutral, but they've clearly turned some orcs of this into an animal crossbreed between an orc and LOTRO's caveclaw, with some kind of super strength at that... hmm well, ok, I'm going to call them cave-clorcs.
- The female Frodo is insufferable and female Sam is even more boring and insufferable. Harfoots are just plain boring, hardly make sense, if you're a casual non-Tolkien viewer who didn't read all these self-pretentious interviews about them being "hobbit ancestors but not hobbits" you won't even notice they're supposed to be hobbits... like, you know, Lord of the Rings hobbits that someone might be familiar with from PJ movies... because there is nothing about them that immediately screams hobbit aside from their feet and size (size that isn't that obvious in most scenes). Oh, and yeah, the splendid rich Bildo's birthday party from PJ was like... just one of the many, one in the line of long tradition of festivities of Harfoot-ancestor beggars because The Harfoots did it first! The references here are so silly and highly unlikely, up to silly details such as a pole and how the entire construction looks, that your head starts to spin!
- Apparently they have fireworks in Lindon Empire... A LOT of fireworks... never saw fireworks as particularly elven (too noisy and not graceful enough?) but ok, not a big deal. But remember, they're more imperialistic here, so I guess it fits more... the festivities and ruckus of empires and all that. Also, Arondir says elven wounds are taking care of themselves so they don't need healers, they're self-regenerating Septarians, but you know what they have instead? Dungeons and Dragons *artificers* or something... I laughed out loud when he said it but outright dismissed "healing" stuff (Elrond the Healer anyone?). I dunno, maybe they use magical contructs and alchemy in warfare, that's how Lindon became an empire - makes sense! Elven Watchtowers and garrisons everywhere, to keep the losers in check
- Cinematically amazing? Non-appealing short prologue, some leafy vistas in Lindon, one shot of Eregion, so far not really impressive Khazad-dum and a lot of.. ugly villages filled with ugly old men and awkward, ugly, beggar looking Harfoots. Khazad-dum in particular I expected they at least would try to capture that feeling of what it would look like, based on the passages from the books/how it was portrayed in PJ's movies, with chamber/tunnel progression etc. But it was just... enter, show a few vistas of some dwarven landscape that can hardly compete with Erebor from Hobbit movies and then... we're in some small interiors, very crude and unimpressive. Ugh. And the chambers of the prince were... poor? Lacked splendor? It was something like regular small house from Ered Luin homesteads + the tree spot. Seriously. I live like a King in my Erebor housing compared to mighty Prince Durin of Khazad-dum! There will be nothing for this Balrog that they'll shoehorn here to wreck, it makes me sad
- Oh, yes, Bronwyn leaves with Arondir, her kid is super pis*ed because I HATE ELVES, then cut and... he is in some random barn that belongs to who knows who, with some random friend character who will probably never appear again, looking for something that is poorly explained - why and what they're even talking about - then he tells said friend to leave because "he" is coming or something, but he himself stays - such a weird psycho - and steals the thing. Ah, yes, it's THAT sword or whatever. End scene! *sight* and this entire series is like this apparently, weird cuts, weird pacing, no context, no nothing, no flavor, throwaway characters and situations that aren't even needed in the first place
- Speaking of which, people of Tirharad are like "Our King will return! You'll see you elven sc*m!" but... but... is that a ridiculously cheap reference to Return of the King? Or something? Or setting up Sauron as their king, or Witch-king, or Elendil? Either way, it's stupid and why emphasis on "return" if they're like people of the South? So what do they have to do with any kings we might possibly have here? Which again I don't have any idea what's this supposed to mean in this universe (with there being a huge blank in place of Harad on the map... sight) and I hardly care. It's just badly written fanfiction
- The Stranger was fine, mostly because he can't speak and it's just this "yaba dum flame of annihilation, sonic cry of destruction, fire flies dead now, buga buga can't speak need to learn food first, my magic denied gravity and broke your foot s*ck it" mystery box nonsense that you just can't help but enjoy because it feels like a parody of the real Lord of the Rings, with annoying female Frodo/Sam in tow! (I wish the Stranger annihilated all the Harfoots at some point but probably not happening)
- Many people said they liked dwarves, I don't think so... the Erebor flashbacks from PJ were like depth evoking compared to this poor (so far) visage of Khazad-dum and loud, angry, screaming dorfs "with accent" but hardly any real cultural depth to them, and every other interior in it looked... very poor. And the flavor was weak. You can put some mithril in there and act super fancy 'oh geez it's mithril!" dwarves gotta guard their treasure and all that, but beyond that... not much to see here, no metallurgy, no feeling of dwarven splendor. The only flavor that I liked was the kids in helmets scene, although makes me wonder... hmmmm why didn't they show how they look and their skin color...
- Durin being an angry child because we're not like elves I lived an entire live! Also Durin - never thought to visit you in Eregion or sent a letter, probably. Also Durin - actually, I live longer than any man! This little drama doesn't work particularly well...
- I won't mention the cringe dialogue between psycho Galadriel and Troll Halbrand but the raft scene... dang, it was interesting. Forget about the racism and intersectional choices for the moment. Because the entire scene was like... you're in Pirates of the Caribbean, you come across a ship wrecked by the Kraken and there are these lamenting people, do you fear death? Ups, wrong movie! But hey, there is some sea monster (that was hardly visible), some raft action and at some point they are like "careful, corsairs roam these waters, maybe that's Jack Sparrow, gotta see the sail first before you scream for help." Funny and left me so dang confused too... what would ANY corsairs be doing anywhere near Numenor, so far West off the coast? But okay, these hacks have no idea either, Galadriel just took a swim from Valinor, what do I expect.......
- Since Halbrand is like "orcs killed people in my homeland or something" then Galadriel is like "you've seen orcs? you'll take me there right now" and he is like "whatever maybe, we're at sea" and she is like "ok, amazing, we go slay orcs together, you lead" I can easily imagine the talk with Miriel goes like "there are orcs in Middle Earth... somewhere, fight with me" and Miriel is like "Great, I've seen some in the Palantir too, but where exactly?" and then it's like "Halbrand knows where, he will show us" and the hilarious result will be "Ok, we gather the cavalry and set sail! We don't know where and how far from the shore but it's a good idea!" No wonder Ar-Pharazon gonna be piss*ed, will be rooting for that guy here, even if he forces that stupid b*tch into a marriage upon her return. Imagine this: they probably made a show that will make me root for Ar-Pharazon. The thought is surreal!
Oh well, wrote a bit much, but there is just so much weird going on (but at the same time sooo boring) that you could write essays...
Anyway, the most important of all, it was cr*p because there weren't any real orcs in it yet. Such a shame. Where are our real, sympathetic heroes of Middle-earth?
Well 'they' (the High Elves) did, but the fun part is that lore-wise Sauron doesn't call himself Sauron, but Mairon (hie 'real' name as a Maia), not that they could use that as it's one of those obscure bits of lore. But once he's made, err, 'friends' with the Numenoreans I imagine he'd want them to call them by his real name, so if they were doing it properly (lol, who am I kidding) they'd have to make something up. In case you were wondering, he gave up on that after the Downfall and simply didn't allow his name to be spelled or spoken, like Aragorn says in LOTR.Quote:
Originally Posted by TesalionLortus
He does kind of look like he should be designing the Death Star, because of course the baddies are always English ;)Quote:
- Celebrimbor's "drama" that I don't buy and for all the lore-inspired rants from the actor... comes off meh. We have elven oppression/supervision in this "adaptation", stretching far East... and the dude is like "Morgoth was powerfully enchanted by Feanor's work... what has mine ever accomplished, need something with real power!" and utterly ignores Elrond's "it moves our hearts" as insignificant trifles, like it's not something that matters in his work at all. If anything it hardly hits the "vanity for beauty and art's sake" buttons and pretty much plays nicely with "oppressive elven empire could use a powerful magical artifact that would transform the land itself and make our domain more beautiful because we showcase such imperialistic vanity, hence rings of power!" from the get go, especially since the High King seems to be so involved in this project of his from the very beginning. That's kinda... duh? It was especially funny because Celebrimbor's bearing and gestures in this (plus his age) reminded me of some imperial officer dudes from Star Wars xD
The interesting thing is that the huge forge would represent industrialisation, which was of course a no-no for Tolkien (only baddies industrialise!) and so foreshadowing that what Celebrimbor wants to do is really pushing things and won't end well. That, for once, is a good idea. If only they had more of those...
Random lore snippet: Ost-in-Edhil (has to be, although they don't name it) as shown is much too big and fancy, the rivers there weren't really meant to be that size. The Gwathlo was only navigable as far as Tharbad and this of course is quite some way up-river from there.
If they were a bit more enterprising they could have had those nasty flies appearing:Quote:
- The entire Gil-Galad, Elrond, Galadriel & her men is a contrived, needless mess, don't even need to talk about it. Also, that random "blackened" leaf that appeared out of nowhere in Lindon itself was a bit too random and weird. The cow with black milk? Pretty silly too. These things are good in Tolkien but you gotta include them in a way that would matter and isn't completely random, as if some sort of parasite/dna altering blight started to spread in seemingly random spots of Middle-earth... you know, without the usual necromancy involved or terrifying Sauron's presence corrupting a specific piece of land bit by bit throughout the ages which was usually in relevant locations, his stronghold and places of power, and then spreading out from there, not just some... black goo and nullified leaves shoehorned in random places to make a "statement" ? Oh no, look, it's black goo in this cow, evil is returning! (orcs aren't supposed to do any necromancy so.. it's hilarious, what's this supposed to be even?)
"Flies, dun or grey, or black, marked like ores with a red eye-shaped blotch,
buzzed and stung; and above the briar-thickets clouds of hungry midges danced and reeled."
And being bitten by them could have put a murrain on the cattle. Like the place is getting unhealthy but not in a way you could pin down. Then the well-water starts to taste 'off' and people who drink it get sick. That sort of thing, a bit more slow and menacing. This isn't some random place, the Southlands are what will become Mordor although there's the question of why Sauron picked there in particular (good place for a great big volcano, maybe?).
You'd think they'd at least paint the walls...Quote:
And the chambers of the prince were... poor? Lacked splendor?
He'd found a loose floorboard and there was interesting stuff hidden under it, which he wanted to show to his friend. The "he" would be the guy who owns the barn and wouldn't want kids poking around in it. Theo stays because the sword puts the whammy on him and makes him take it with him. This is presumably why the Orcs come up through the floor of their house later, they're probably looking for it or are drawn to it as it's Obviously Evil.Quote:
looking for something that is poorly explained
Subversion of expectations, most likely: they'll get their king, but it'll end up being the Witch-king, I'd imagine. And I'm going to call it now: it'll be Halbrand, he's like this anti-heroic Aragorn figure with a shadowy past (he's got something in a pouch, like an heirloom or something) and the ideal sort of guy for Sauron to give one of the Nine Rings to, Plus we know those Men round there used to be on Team Morgoth.Quote:
Speaking of which, people of Tirharad are like "Our King will return! You'll see you elven sc*m!" but... but... is that a ridiculously cheap reference to Return of the King? Or something?
Nori is growing on me (Markella Kavanagh is good in the role - the "Aieee!" look of wide-eyed shock and fear on her face when the Stranger started using his power was priceless. (Her dad, "Hobo Baggins" as he's been dubbed, is super annoying though and I hope a Warg eats him).Quote:
- The Stranger was fine, mostly because he can't speak and it's just this "yaba dum flame of annihilation, sonic cry of destruction, fire flies dead now, buga buga can't speak need to learn food first, my magic denied gravity and broke your foot s*ck it" mystery box nonsense that you just can't help but enjoy because it feels like a parody of the real Lord of the Rings, with annoying female Frodo/Sam in tow! (I wish the Stranger annihilated all the Harfoots at some point but probably not happening)
They're super generic.Quote:
- Many people said they liked dwarves,
So there's an excuse for Disa to mollify him later, because men are all big babies (apparently).Quote:
- Durin being an angry child because we're not like elves I lived an entire live!
This of course means that the Rings of Power will be all Disa's fault ;)
It reminds me of Gericault's Raft of the Medusa (if not quite so crowded). The sea-monster is a sea-serpent, a.k.a. a fish-dragon (like the sort of thing that people used to draw on old charts) and it's a proper bit of lore. The throwaway reference to corsairs will be a callback, although there's nothing stopping there being piratical Haradrim. (Except not anywhere near Numenor, of course).Quote:
Because the entire scene was like... you're in Pirates of the Caribbean, you come across a ship wrecked by the Kraken and there are these lamenting people,
You should see all the notes I made on just the first episode... I was going to do an "Everything Wrong With..." but it ended up way too big to post here :)Quote:
Oh well, wrote a bit much
They're fat and stinky.Quote:
Originally Posted by Radhruin_EU
Say what you want about the rest of the show, but they pretty much nailed the foul repulsiveness of the Dorfs.