[SPOILERS] Rings of Power: Ah, Mithril, that's the good stuff!

[Corvinus85]

1 hour ago, Veltigar said:

I wasn't inspired by any of the vistas and I just feel they completely lack the sense of scale that is needed to make this era work. Forget about the books for a moment and just take a look at PJ's first trilogy. Gondor might not make any sense (where does the food come from?), but it looks so grand in comparison with the Nomenorean city.

But.. but... we had a whole tour of New Zealand in this episode, with a nice little tune to boot. 

[The Marquis de Leech]

Episode 5 makes so much more sense if you work with the idea that Gil-galad is Sauron.

(1) He dispatches Galadriel to Valinor. Show-Galadriel is obsessed with hunting Sauron. Getting rid of her makes perfect sense from Sauron’s perspective.

(2) He controls access to the Havens, and him granting passage to Valinor is a great boon. A great gift to recipients. Would that not make him a Lord of Gifts? Or, to use the Quenya, an Annatar?

(3) He sabotages the relationship between Elves and Dwarves by withholding crucial information from Elrond, and being overtly rude to Prince Durin. Sauron does not want his enemies to trust one another.

(4) The conception of Sudden Elvish Fading Syndrome makes perfect sense as a lie spread by Sauron. He wants to have Celebrimbor start his work on the Rings as soon as possible… but why should Celebrimbor believe this nonsense? Simple. Celebrimbor would believe it if the message came directly from the High-King… and this is a message Gil-galad is currently pushing very strongly.

(5) Only two named Elven characters currently know about Celebrimbor’s real plan. Gil-galad and Elrond. Elrond is too damned nice to be Sauron, which leaves Gil-galad as the more dangerous confidante.

(6) Show-Gil-galad is drenched in gold. As per Morgoth’s Ring, the element of gold contains a significant amount of corruptive Melkorian influence. Very appropriate for Melkor’s chief lieutenant then…

(7) Show-Gil-galad is highly manipulative. How very Sauronian…

(8) Show-Gil-galad is shown as an authoritarian control-freak. Another Sauronian trait. Indeed, what would otherwise be blatant character-assassination is really a genius hint at Gil-galad’s real identity.

(9) As Halbrand says, appearances can be deceiving. No-one expects Sauron to be the High-King of the Noldor.

(10) You never see Sauron and Gil-galad in the same room at the same time.

[Corvinus85]

2 minutes ago, The Marquis de Leech said:

Episode 5 makes so much more sense if you work with the idea that Gil-galad is Sauron.

(1) He dispatches Galadriel to Valinor. Show-Galadriel is obsessed with hunting Sauron. Getting rid of her makes perfect sense from Sauron’s perspective.

(2) He controls access to the Havens, and him granting passage to Valinor is a great boon. A great gift to recipients. Would that not make him a Lord of Gifts? Or, to use the Quenya, an Annatar?

(3) He sabotages the relationship between Elves and Dwarves by withholding crucial information from Elrond, and being overtly rude to Prince Durin. Sauron does not want his enemies to trust one another.

(4) The conception of Sudden Elvish Fading Syndrome makes perfect sense as a lie spread by Sauron. He wants to have Celebrimbor start his work on the Rings as soon as possible… but why should Celebrimbor believe this nonsense? Simple. Celebrimbor would believe it if the message came directly from the High-King… and this is a message Gil-galad is currently pushing very strongly.

(5) Only two named Elven characters currently know about Celebrimbor’s real plan. Gil-galad and Elrond. Elrond is too damned nice to be Sauron, which leaves Gil-galad as the more dangerous confidante.

(6) Show-Gil-galad is drenched in gold. As per Morgoth’s Ring, the element of gold contains a significant amount of corruptive Melkorian influence. Very appropriate for Melkor’s chief lieutenant then…

(7) Show-Gil-galad is highly manipulative. How very Sauronian…

(8) Show-Gil-galad is shown as an authoritarian control-freak. Another Sauronian trait. Indeed, what would otherwise be blatant character-assassination is really a genius hint at Gil-galad’s real identity.

(9) As Halbrand says, appearances can be deceiving. No-one expects Sauron to be the High-King of the Noldor.

(10) You never see Sauron and Gil-galad in the same room at the same time.

I like it!!!

To add to your 2nd point, if the best Elven warriors keep being granted the boon of going to Valinor because of some deed they performed, that's a good way to sap the Elves' military strength.

[Le Cygne]

I'm really enjoying it. Yes, I've been singing the wandering song ever since Friday morning. The score is great, as are the costumes, sets, and scenery/effects. Enjoying visiting middle earth again.

I've really warmed up to the characters. The first episode, I was a bit lost, but ever since then, it's been great in this respect. The actors are all hitting it out of the park, adding lots of dimension.

I guess my favorite part has been Nori and the Stranger, as well as Durin and Elrond. Galadriel was a bit annoying at first, but I like they way she and Halbrand play off each other. Elendil and Miriel are good, too.

Anyway, I'm kind of content to let everything play out, I like that there's some mystery to it all (even though we know where it's heading). I don't mind the compression of time, I think it works to draw you in.

I was a little hmmmm over the mithril, maybe there's more to it. I had my own concept of mithril going in, so it seems to not mesh (pun intended). But I'll withhold my objection, to see where they go with it.

[Deadlines? What Deadlines?]

3 hours ago, Veltigar said:

I wasn't inspired by any of the vistas and I just feel they completely lack the sense of scale that is needed to make this era work.

I'm digging the vistas. 

Quote

Gondor might not make any sense (where does the food come from?), but it looks so grand in comparison with the Nomenorean city.

From the kitchen. Better question is, "Where does the poop go?" 

Gondor isn't just the castle. It's what scientists like to call, "really, really big".

[The Marquis de Leech]

51 minutes ago, Deadlines? What Deadlines? said:

I'm digging the vistas. 

From the kitchen. Better question is, "Where does the poop go?" 

Gondor isn't just the castle. It's what scientists like to call, "really, really big".

Tolkien's Minas Tirith has rich farmlands around the city. Jackson just sticks the city in the middle of nowhere.

[Veltigar]

6 hours ago, Corvinus85 said:

But.. but... we had a whole tour of New Zealand in this episode, with a nice little tune to boot. 

I zoned out during that song. I frankly thought it was annoying. I still can't get over how sociopathic the proto-hobbits are to buy into them singing sweet little tunes. It's all a trap before they kill you and eat your flesh.

4 hours ago, Deadlines? What Deadlines? said:

I'm digging the vistas. 

From the kitchen. Better question is, "Where does the poop go?" 

Gondor isn't just the castle. It's what scientists like to call, "really, really big".

The poop goes into the pyre Denethor had prepared for himself and Faramir  

And the nonsensical aspect of Minas Tirith is indeed what @The Marquis de Leech makes explicit, the lack of farms and other supporting infrastructure needed to support such a large city dwelling population. 

That being said and to reiterate my initial point, PJ's Minas Tirith might be unrealistic but it looks epic, textured and really lived in. I don't feel nearly the same (or even any) sense of awe with anything we see in Numénor despite the fact that this should feel like their cultural zenith. 

[slant]

Hey just saw the cast answering questions about Rings of Power on the Wired channel. 

The actor who plays GG, Benjamin Walker, really knows his stuff. 

[Isis]

49 minutes ago, slant said:

Hey just saw the cast answering questions about Rings of Power on the Wired channel. 

The actor who plays GG, Benjamin Walker, really knows his stuff. 

They all do. They've been doing it for two years now. But some are more nerdy than others (Elendil, Elrond, Gil-galad).

Re. episode 5, the only way the mithril story works for me is if it came from Annatar --> Brimby --> GG -> Elrond, i.e. we learn that Annatar has been in Eregion the whole time before the end of this season. I still hope they do get permission to use the name 'Annatar' but they could probably still sell it using another name. 

[fionwe1987]

17 hours ago, The Marquis de Leech said:

She's speaking to Kemen because he's the son of the mighty Chancellor. Her own Dad has very little clout - and seems overly dutiful.

But that wouldn't stop her from trying to stop him personally, or at least mention her dissatisfaction with his going. 

Also, what is her objection? To violence? War? Leaving Numenor? Helping Elves (she seems to be in violent disagreement with her dad's views, if so)?

This is all especially annoying since there's a readymade family story with emotional stakes, straight from Tolkien, mapped on to the question of "should we sail to Middle Earth to help the Eldar or not", so even if they couldn't quite let it be Eldarion and Erendis as the main characters, at least keep the story intact? But no. We will get ciphers who have no given reasons for their actions, instead. 

[Ser Drewy]

10 hours ago, The Marquis de Leech said:

Tolkien's Minas Tirith has rich farmlands around the city. Jackson just sticks the city in the middle of nowhere.

There's a tremendous effort when it comes to geography and logistics and such things in the LOTR that Jackson just does away with. 

[fionwe1987]

2 hours ago, Ser Drewy said:

There's a tremendous effort when it comes to geography and logistics and such things in the LOTR that Jackson just does away with. 

This is why no amount of amazing acting and set design will convince me that there's a visual medium better than animation to explore secondary world fantasy. 

[VigoTheCarpathian]

Finally watched ep 5 with my partner, and I think it’s solidly put this show into a “hm, I guess we’ll watch this” bracket.  We’d caught it Friday every time up until this point.  Nothing new/exciting , and there were some alright set pieces to watch.  It’s definitely not destination tv for us anymore.
 

Partner didn’t care about the mithril anti-aging vaccine silliness as much as I did.  I probably would have been really into the origin story of mithril, if it was part of the Tolkien cannon, but seems like it’s being used here to manufacture simple dramatic turns that can be spelled out to the audience.  It feels kind of WoT-ish in how it seems like they are taking shortcuts/simplifying things.

[Calibandar]

On 9/25/2022 at 11:43 PM, Spockydog said:

Aye. We've not yet met

  Hide contents

Anson Boon's

character, who is allegedly in the show without appearing in any official cast listings.

 

Saw this when I researched the 3 new Sauron priests.

https://www.newsweek.com/lord-rings-rings-power-white-cloaks-identity-revealed-dweller-ascetic-nomad-bridie-sisson-1745630

Show producer says the character of the Dweller is from the far East, so probably Easterlings.

They are tracking the Stranger, but of course this could mean they think he might be Sauron, or because he is a danger to Sauron or their plans.

As pointed out by Nerd of the Rings in his episode breakdown ( everybody should be watching these, he picks up tons of details), The Ascetic charater is carrying a shield which has a constellation on the back of it, the same as the Stranger was highlighting in earlier episodes.

Another little nugget is the Stranger speaking Quenya. He says " Cala"  when his arm is in the water freezing up, from Calaquendi. He also seems to say " healing"  in Quenya. So its interesting that he would speak Quenya but does not recognize the tongue of Middle Earth. All stuff in support of an Istari that has just been embodied. But, we dont know yet.

 

[slant]

^Yeah, I really like his pronunciations, but I just cannot imitate them lol. 

For the latest episode, I think the Hobbits went further east, into the uncharted territories near Rhun. The forest has to be Fangorn, even I thought the area south of Rauros was 'The Braids', but further east towards the Sea of Rhun makes more sense, considering the trajectory. 

 

[Ser Drewy]

New clip from the upcoming episode 

 

[ASOIAFrelatedusername]

11 hours ago, Ser Drewy said:

New clip from the upcoming episode 

 

Arondir is very lucky that the last orc did not just stab him while his back was turned or that the other orc got into position first instead of going for the kill after they fell from the roof. These orcs are really curteous.

[Ran]

Elven propaganda has obscured the culture of chivalric, honorable combat among orc societies.

[Luzifer's right hand]

I catched up and I'm enjoying this far more than I expected and it looks awesome. 

Looking forward to the rest.

[Lord Varys]

On 9/26/2022 at 2:12 AM, The Marquis de Leech said:

Episode 5 makes so much more sense if you work with the idea that Gil-galad is Sauron.

Great call back to the good old days when the best thing in the internet was the totally convincing and absolutely true essays outlying that Tom Bombadil and the Witch-king of Angmar are, in fact and quite obviously, one and the same person.