Rings of Power: A New Thread to Rule them All

[Pecan]

I watched the prologue and found it boring, but also annoying, because I find that kind of storytelling awkward, clunky and just kind of lazy. I would much rather they just put us in the actual story but instead I'm forced to sit through a lecture on the history of the elves so I know why Galadriel is so mad. Just start the story and bring in the backstory as needed. 

[Mr. Chatywin et al.]

12 minutes ago, Rhom said:

No… because WoT was badly written and looked cheap.

So badly written, but looks great is enough?

And to be clear, I will check it out over the weekend, I just think it's a bummer to hear the vibe so far is extremely mixed at best. 

[Rhom]

Just now, Tywin et al. said:

So badly written, but looks great is enough?

And to be clear, I will check it out over the weekend, I just think it's a bummer to hear the vibe so far is extremely mixed at best. 

Enough?  No.

But it’s better than having neither.

[Durckad]

33 minutes ago, Tywin et al. said:

Is this looking like WoT 2.0?

Kind of.

It looks better, that's for sure, the pacing and editing were all much better than the first episode of WoT, but the bones of WoT's failures are still semi-visible beneath the surface. The plotting is kind of dumb and the dialogue is very purple, over-wrought and over-written. A novice's attempt at Deadwood would be more interesting at the very least.

It's also very much Tolkien fanfic, like I had to shut down that useless part of my brain that remembers the Silmarillion and the Appendices.

I've only watched the first episode, but I'm giving it a bit of leeway here. It could certainly get better, but I doubt it will. This will likely be a big, dumb show that leans heavily on the spectacle with breathy elves reciting High School poetry while plot points get ticked off a list. I hope for another Lord of the Rings, but I'm guessing we'll get another Hobbit.

6/10 so far

EDIT: Also, I'm really enjoying Hot D so far and the first episode was far, far, far better than this. Even if it's just misery porn, it's well-written, well-made, and well acted misery porn.

[DMC]

Other than Galadriel apparently thinking she could swim back from Valinor, I thought it was solid, met expectations.  The Hobbits is when I get up and make another drink.  I could do without them but whatcha gonna do.  The southlands story with the elf/woman romance is typically eye-rolling, but the actress who plays the woman..Bronwyn, is my favorite performance thus far.  And what they got going on there is pretty interesting, plus I liked the change of pace with the horror-esque scene with the orc.

Overall, I like the way they're depicting Galadriel other than the aforementioned idiocy.  Elrond is..fine as written.  I still do not like how the actor has the very snobbish and punchable face but..I suppose Elrond is a pretty big snob.  Plus I have a very similar complaint with Matt Smith as Daemon, so I guess I should just stop being bigoted against snobby English faces.

Gotta say I liked the dwarves much more than I thought I would.  Durin guilting Elrond was quite entertaining for me.  And while I don't care much about all the "spectacle" and never have, goddamn do I want to go to there when it comes to Khazad-dum.  I also thought they got Celebrimbor right, or at least the performance, don't really give a shit if the age or hairstyle isn't right.

Then there's meteor man.  We'll see.  If he's Gandalf, I riot, but it really doesn't seem like he's Gandalf.  All signs point to Sauron thus far.

[karaddin]

Khazad-dum was indeed absolutely gorgeous. This was OK, mostly pretty although that fight with the troll was terrible. I'm also enjoying House of the Dragon a lot more. Also was much more positive on WoT than I am on the writing direction for this, but WoT did have some real clunky moments in the first episode so this probably is better on the first ep front even for me.

[Mr. Chatywin et al.]

After seeing the first episode all I can say is that it's okay and better than WoT, which I gave up on very quickly. The cinematography is gorgeous, so at least it has that.

[The hairy bear]

I found it better than I expected, but still not very good. It's to early to tell if the story is going anywhere, but with only six episodes remaining, they'll need to do a lot of heavy lifting to make it worthwile. So far, none of the storylines is particularly engaging.

 

 

 

[ASOIAFrelatedusername]

Well here are my first impressions as I watch:

 

Spoiler

- Galadriel (who really should not be called Galadriel at this point) as a bullied outsider is dumb. There is no other way to put it and I know what that the hack writers want to invoke sympathy here, but their attempt is way to transparent.

- I am suprised that Feanor did not spontaneously teleport himself onto the scene to smack Finrod for his explanation and for his terrible haircut

- Speaking of Feanor: The Oath, the Kinslaying and the Helcaraxe are missing. The former is excusable because it does not directly pertain to Galadriel, but the latter are not. If they want to delve into her backstory, then such defining events need to be included. Not having the rights is no excuse.

- The entirety of Beleriand is missing from the map of Middle-earth in what is supposed to be the First Age

- Generic battle is generic, but this time I am not mad. There is no need to go into the specifics of the War in Beleriand

- No mention of Galadriel's own desires and intention for going to Middle-earth. If she is supposed to be your main character, then this is necessary.

- Finrod's circumstances also get changed and again is probably rights related. This was expected, but considering how important Beren & Luthien is, I have no sympathy here. Do it properly or do not do it at all.

- "A symbol whose meaning even the wisest could not discern". Why this line? I expect plenty of this awful writing in the show, empty phrases that are supposed to sound profound.

- Galadriel dedicating herself to hunting Sauron is again something to hack writers pulled out of their ass.

- If Halbarad really turns out to be Sauron, it is going to be hilarious.

- Why does Ron Weasly wait until after huge fucking cliff to tell Galadriel that she might be a bit overzelaous?

- Well Galadriel is kind of a bitch here.

- "This place is so evil, our torches give off no warmth". The abyssmal writing continues I see. If it is so cold, I would expect to see their breath and Galadriel to cover up more.

- I explained before why the scene with Galadriel pouring water on that stone is nonsense. And apparently in context and expanded it is even more nonsensical

- Why the random Quenya?

- I do not like the snowtroll fight. It does have a potentially setup and enviroment, but it is wasted here. The elves just get tossed arround and then Galadriel does her stupid acrobatics and kills it effortlessly. For such a marketed monster this is disappointing

 

So the prologue is kind of shit. If it is supposed to set of the central conflict of the show, then it does it a pretty bad job of it (IF the show is supposed to follow Tolkien). It is essentially wasted time since Morgoth is defeated and the danger of Sauron in the Second Age lies with his manipulations and the temptations he offers to Men and Elves. The only thing of import we get from the prologue is that he is the head honcho of the previous Dark Lord and has disappeared. The rest is filler

If the prologue is supposed to provide Galadriel's backstory, then it does here a horrible disservice. Her own motivations, dreams and desires from Tolkien are basically non-existant and her goals in the show she gets handed down from someone else. One could make the observation that the old fashioned Tolkien had a more "feminist" take on here, whereas the supposedly modern showrunners define her through a man and omit her role in the Rebellion.

Onto the hobbits

Well they still need to justify their existence, but at least what we are getting here is not offensively dumb (yet). I actually quite like the shot of their little camp popping out of the scenery and find their interactions suprisingly pleasant.

Not a fan of the warg (?) design.

Lindon:

Lindon looks suitably pretty, yet why do we need random Quenya? The only that this does for me is making writers come off as pretentious. Galadriel is really unpleasant towards Elrond. He ask about here journey and tells her to relax for a while and somehow that makes him a politician? Apparently going to the West is priviledge one needs to earn? And again Galadriel's actual motivations are supplanted by "muh brother, muh revenge". I just want to vomit at this point.

We also finally get the first actually inkling of a Tolkienian plot here (Yippie) and the whole thing ends unintenionally funny with Galadriel jumping of the ship.

Southlands:

The elves should really have been replaced by the Numenoreans as the occupying force (well the entirety of the show should have been rewritten). It would make so much more sense and you still could have had a forbidden love story. Hell you could have had Isildur and Bronwyn hook up if you wanted to involve a canon character and give Isildur some conflict (and appeal to the casuals). Yeah it would be silly and I would still complain, but better than this. Arondir having been stationed there and presumably having had regular contact with them for long enough to have seen Bronwyn's grandparents grow up, makes their "romance" a bit creepy.

And again additional pointless conflict is being injected. The Elves were apparently content to stay in Not-Mordor far from their actual realm for centuries without a sign of Sauron, but now they decide to leave just as the plot is about to start. Incredibly (in)convenient.

And we get the McGuffin for the season. Apparently the transparently evil sword was kept hidden in a random barn for who knows who long. The racists elves might have had a point.

 

Overall: The only good things about episode 1 are the production values and Harfoots (suprisingly). The Elves are insufferable pricks, with the exception of Elrond, spouting empty aphorisms to mask awful writing. The Southland plot is nothing currently. Galadriel is utterly butchered as a character.

Honestly even if the show did not have the Tolkien name attached to it, I would still be unenthusiastic about it. The Elf plots really drag it down.

 

 

[The Knight of Flours]

It was a bit of a slow start (just like HoTD) to introduce the audience to new characters and storylines and I haven't made my mind up on certain characters (or their actors yet).

But nobody can deny that the visuals are block-buster movie standard.

[Heartofice]

So far, it seems.. fine. If this had no relation to LOTR I would probably view it a lot more positively and at the moment I'm basically watching it whilst completely disconnecting it to the books or movies. 

It might look movie quality, but I'm not sure that is always a compliment. It still has that flat, computer generated look that is more akin to The Hobbit than LOTR, so I'm not entirely going to let it off for visuals. 

The writing in the first episode is certainly workmanlike and unspectacular. 

For the most expensive show ever made it should be better than something I'm going to have on in the background.

[Poobah]

6 hours ago, Tywin et al. said:

Is this looking like WoT 2.0?

I think it's far worse.

I know this board has always enjoyed hating all things Wheel of Time so was unsurprised with the hyperbolic derision the TV show received for being by and large mediocre, and rather scuffed at the end thanks to Covid. From what I've seen so far Rings of Power is basically the same (mediocre in many ways) but on 10x the budget, all the while committing far far greater sins against the source material, and as much as I love Wheel of Time I hold Tolkien's body of work in far greater literary esteem. Yes the money shows in the CGI but beyond that? So far there feels to be even less substance. 

[Ser Drewy]

I watched episode 1. 

Spoiler

It's... kinda eh. I didn't see much point in the First Age prologue - seems an expensive way to do something that could have been explained in two minutes. Not at all a fan of the way they present Finrod's death. Or the weird way they chose to borrow iconic FA scenes for rather indistinct moments (Oath of Feanor, Hill of Slain). Music was nice, though. It certainly looks expensive in many places. 

Galadriel's hunt for Sauron is kinda weak, her actual motivation and interests in Arda feel lacking. Elrond was fine, I guess. The troll fight felt too cartoony for me (can we let the Legolas style stunts die please?). But also, somebody proclaiming Sauron is back and others going, "eh, nah" feels very been-here-before. Harfoots didn't bother me as much as I expected although the ground, again, feels well-trodden: adventure curious Hobbit wants to explore the open world, is told by other hobbits to get some hobbit sense and mind their own affairs. 

A lot of scenes felt aiming for some kind of pseudo-profundity. The Finrod/Galadriel chat that frames the episode is... weak. Such a standard Hollywood insight, I felt, and that's without his weird stone/light/water distinction. Other lines confused me a bit: "Even stone cannot hide one whose touch is flame!" because, I mean, isn't stone known for... preserving stuff rather than hiding it? Like if somebody put a mark in stone, like a carving, I'd expect it to last awhile?

Not sure what to make of the Southlands stuff. The boy seems like a Nazgul-to-be. The elf-man relationship feels very... standard forbidden romance, though guess we'll see if it goes anywhere interesting. Galadriel leaping off a ship intending to swim back to Middle-Earth is bizarre and stupid unless she's secretly Ulmo. In fact, it's the sort of nonsense I'd expect in an Abrams movie... the guy who recommended these showrunners. 

Elves using fireworks felt odd to me. I remember no such thing in the books. Plus fireworks are so associated with Gandalf. Maybe that's why it felt off. Seems an awkward way to get some LOTR resonance. 

And here's the Meteor Man... guess we'll see where this goes.

 

[Heartofice]

I know it’s been talked about before but I’m really not a fan of some of the Elven haircuts. Just give me the standard boring long hair and braids and stuff. There was something very unelven in general, from the way they talked moved and even stood at times. That’s the one thing that really bothered me.

[sifth]

So against my better judgment, I watched the first two episodes last night and..............I didn't hate it. I'm not the hugest fan of this universe, like a lot of people here are. I saw all the movies and read most of the books, when I was in school, but that's about it, as far as my background with the series goes. I don't really know any of the characters names, but I enjoyed the dwarfs the most. To be honest, I'm more interested in the background information on this show. I heard the budget was around a 1 billion dollars, which is just insane, for a tv show.

[Mithras]

This was excellent. Much better than HotD could ever be. Looking forward to the next episode. Can't say the same thing for HotD.

[IFR]

17 minutes ago, Mithras said:

This was excellent. Much better than HotD could ever be. Looking forward to the next episode. Can't say the same thing for HotD.

I'm glad you're liking it! I say with all sincerity that I wish I enjoyed this show more. If it had what I consider a good story to accompany those visuals, then it would be something else.

Amazon has committed to 5 seasons of this, so you lucked out on liking this series.

[Mr. Chatywin et al.]

2 minutes ago, IFR said:

Amazon has committed to 5 seasons of this, so you lucked out on liking this series.

Wait what? So they're sinking a few billion more into this guaranteed? 

[Heartofice]

1 minute ago, IFR said:

Amazon has committed to 5 seasons of this, so you lucked out on liking this series.

What happens if nobody watches it? It's unlikely and I guess it will perform about as well as their other popular shows. Having a quick look it seems that Wheel of Time actually did ok for viewing figures, about the same as The Boys. Amazon's most popular show appears to be Jack Reacher. I don't know how well these are doing against something like Stranger Things, but it feels like there is a ceiling for Prime shows, which I guess Rings aims to smash. 

I do wonder what effect this show will actually have, will people who don't currently subscribe to Prime suddenly want to pay up for a service which is barebones to say the least? Outside of a handful of decent shows the platform is full of garbage, even more so than Netflix. I use the video service as an added extra to free deliveries. 

[IFR]

2 minutes ago, Tywin et al. said:

Wait what? So they're sinking a few billion more into this guaranteed? 

That's my understanding of this show. A committed 5 seasons and a billion dollars. Someone can correct me if I'm wrong.