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

[The Marquis de Leech]

First viewing thoughts:

• Miriel's sudden enthusiasm for imperialism makes no bloody sense (she's also taken to referring to Tar-Palantir as Ar-Inziladun). If I were in Elendil's shoes, I'd be looking at backing Pharazon.
• Yes, we know Isildur and Celeborn aren't dead. It's dramatic irony, not tragedy.
• So pleased Adar and Waldreg made it.
• The Harfoot self-image is a bit... off, considering episode three.
• The evidence that mithril heals the leaf really bugged me - it's not entirely a lie.
• Durin's Bane can wait, damn it. I realise they're trying to make Durin III into less of an arsehole, but this is only season one.
• Overall, a dip from episode 6, but not an episode 5-level disaster. 

[The Marquis de Leech]

3 minutes ago, Scott_N said:

The showrunners clearly intended it. From that THP article:

"Fans have eagerly speculated certain characters might be Sauron in disguise, which is precisely the sort of engagement the writers hoped to see."

They're writing for two levels of viewer. The Nerds (i.e. us) and Everyone Else (who at most have seen the Jackson movies). Mordor on the Orient Express is trying to engage the former. The Southlands becoming Mordor is trying to engage the latter.

[Darzin]

I do think I would like this more if it wasn't Lord of the RIngs, I have a pretty high tolerance for cheesy fantasy but knowing it's Lord of the Rings and knowing the money spent it leaves a bad taste in my mouth. But I dunno if that's it, the Durin and Elrond parts are a bit cheesy but I could watch that all day and Disa is a great edition. But the whole Galadriel, Numenor, Southlands plot is just not working for me minus Adar who is great, but the rest just feels like stuff happening to happen, and I don't trust the writers at all.

 I don't trust them to reward any deeper analysis or even see what they've written, I'm ok with a little handwavium in fantasy but you have to keep what you do lay out consistent. Galadriel's vengeance speeches last episode and this episode were completely at odds and the harfoots wholesomeness this episode was at odds with their harsh honor code in episode three. Now one could say that Galadriel doesn't want a young boy to be consumed by vengeance and the harfoots don't realize how harsh they really are, but I don't think such inferences will be rewarded. 

The same with Halbrand if he is not Sauron, he's hardly Aragon either considering he's a puppet ruler whose power rests upon foreign spears another thing that will never be acknowledged or even played with. If he is Sauron, his actions make no sense, it's telling that there is such reluctance to rule him out because he should be ruled out but people don't have enough faith that the writers will stick to what they wrote. But seeing as he is going to be healed by the elves and seeing as Elrond is coming back with a little mithril in his pocket, it seems very logical that the series will end with Halbrand proposing to forge the rings of power. Never mind how illogical that is for his prior actions. 

[RhaenysBee]

Wait… I completely fell off this bandwagon but I just saw an article on Facebook according to which Celeborn is… dead? Lost? What is he exactly? And  isn’t the whole plot of this godforsaken series centered around Galadriel’s looking for Sauron? Why the hell is this elf looking for Sauron and not her husband when her husband is missing? If this the context for Celeborn (that he’s already her husband) by what twisted sense is Galadriel not looking for him? I…  I just… I’m so glad I’m watching Lost instead. 

[Corvinus85]

5 hours ago, The Bard of Banefort said:

I’m a pretty firm believer that Stranger=Gandalf, if for no other reason than that he looks like him. (I also think he looks like Hugh Jackman, but that might just be me).

At this point 99% Stranger=Gandalf simply due to Gandalf's popularity and connection to Hobbits. But if we tried to use some lore here, it ought to be Radagast. The thing he did here with reviving the trees is the power of Yavanna, the Valar who created the flora across Middle-earth. And Radagast was a Maia who served Yavanna.

 

[The Marquis de Leech]

25 minutes ago, RhaenysBee said:

Wait… I completely fell off this bandwagon but I just saw an article on Facebook according to which Celeborn is… dead? Lost? What is he exactly? And  isn’t the whole plot of this godforsaken series centered around Galadriel’s looking for Sauron? Why the hell is this elf looking for Sauron and not her husband when her husband is missing? If this the context for Celeborn (that he’s already her husband) by what twisted sense is Galadriel not looking for him? I…  I just… I’m so glad I’m watching Lost instead. 

She assumes Celeborn is dead. Just as Elendil currently thinks Isildur is dead. In actuality, neither of them are.

[The Marquis de Leech]

46 minutes ago, Darzin said:

What I mean when is that I  don't trust the writers is I don't trust them to reward and deeper analysis or even see what they've written, I'm ok with a little handwavium in Fantasy but you have to keep what you do lay out consistent. Galadriel's vengeance speeches last episode and this episode were completely at odds and the harfoots wholesomeness this episode was at odds with their harsh honor code in episode three. Now one could say that Galadriel doesn't want a young boy to be consumed by vengeance and the harfoots don't realize how harsh they really are, but I don't think such inferences will be rewarded. 

I'll tolerate Galadriel here. She has a temper, knows what it means to fall to the temptations of temper, and is basically telling Theo "do as I say, not do as I do." 

The Harfoots are a bit weirder, since I wasn't actually sure what Largo was actually arguing for (and, yes, the 180-degree turn of the evil lady only makes sense if you think she's secretly plotting to get rid of Sadoc). Insofar as he was arguing for Harfoot solidarity, he's been on the receiving end of that himself. It comes across as Largo being a bit deluded. 

[Ser Scot A Ellison]

23 hours ago, fionwe1987 said:

At this point, the only thing that will satisfy as a plot twist is the entire cast joining hands and saying "We are Sauron". 

Sauron was the friends we made while filming and then watching the show…

[The Bard of Banefort]

I’m seeing a lot of anger online about Celeborn being dead when. . . we’ve seen the original trilogy and know that he’s not. Galadriel essentially says that he disappeared, which is a giant blinking sign for the audience indicating that he’s still alive somewhere. The question now is when he’ll show up.

[The Marquis de Leech]

1 minute ago, The Bard of Banefort said:

I’m seeing a lot of anger online about Celeborn being dead when. . . we’ve seen the original trilogy and know that he’s not. Galadriel essentially says that he disappeared, which is a giant blinking sign for the audience indicating that he’s still alive somewhere. The question now is when he’ll show up.

Not just that, but there's a direct in-story parallel with Isildur. The show was broadcasting "Celeborn's alive!" in neon lights.

[LynnS]

I was curious to see if the Stranger would manifest any more powers along with fire, water and air.  It seems he has power to cause things to grow; echoing the words of Arondir and Adar - life in defiance of death.  He causes a small yellow flower to grow from the dead apple tree.  Destroyed by ejecta from Mount Doom.

His words in Quenya:

- A keuta/kuita - live

- envenyata - heal/renew

- lote na - flower/to be

I'm leaning toward blue wizard now that he is a Wanderer.  If it wasn't for the beard; I'd say there was imagery suggesting Glorfindel.  The yellow flower looks like celandine which is associated with The House of the Golden Flower, Glorfindel's sigil which is either a golden flower or rayed sun.  The crater where Nori finds him looks something like a rayed sun or golden flower.

https://comicbookmovie.com/fantasy/lord_of_the_rings/the-lord-of-the-rings-the-rings-of-power-premiere-leaves-fans-wondering-who-the-meteor-man-is-spoilers-a196611#gs.evhv5t

I also wonder if it's mithril that removes the poison from the leaf or if this is coincidental with the Stranger laying his hands on a dead tree and telling it ti live/heal/renew/flower.

[Scott_N]

10 minutes ago, The Marquis de Leech said:

Not just that, but there's a direct in-story parallel with Isildur. The show was broadcasting "Celeborn's alive!" in neon lights.

Agreed and it was hardly subtle and difficult to miss. Of all the things to be upset about this is not one of them.

[Farerb]

A lot of Galadriel - Halbrand/Sauron shippers are upset that Celeborn was mentioned and that he might be alive.

[The Bard of Banefort]

1 minute ago, farerb said:

A lot of Galadriel - Halbrand/Sauron shippers are upset that Celeborn was mentioned and that he might be alive.

My headcanon was that he hadn’t been born yet haha. I really like Halbrand as a character and his relationship with Galadriel, so it’s disappointing that that they’ll be doing away with both by revealing him to be Sauron. 

Assuming that Galadriel figures out the truth in the finale, and that Sauron helps in the forging of the rings (and secretly forging THE ring), I’m not sure how the timeline will work out. I doubt the forging will happen in the span of one episode, especially with how slow paced this show is. So I guess he’ll just have to take a new form and Galadriel. . . just won’t notice? Feels a bit far-fetched.

[Farerb]

I'm guessing it'll be revealed to the audience that he is Sauron but not to the characters, I have no idea how it'll be done but maybe another title card that removes "Halbrand" and turns to "Sauron" instead like they did this episode with "Mordor".

As for the timeline, I'm guessing it'll be this:

Season 2 - forging of the rings.

Season 3 - war in Eregion.

Season 4 - Númenor's downfall.

Season 5 - final war.

Not sure that I'll bother with it though.

[Ser Drewy]

Celeborn is pretty obviously alive. Isildur is too. The dwarves remain the best part of this show. Mithril myth seems true, or at least partially true, which is eh... The Harfoots were okay, although their wholesome speech before going on the Quest for Meteor Man is a bit off considering they were happy to leave one another to die a few episodes back. Not sure what the Mystics are about. Halbrand heading to Eregion? Guess that's another heavy point in the Sauron book. Not really a fan of him being Sauron. And how long exactly would a mortal man be expected to survive with such a wound? 

I know everybody loves Durin's Bane, but isn't it a bit early for our shadowy sleepyhead to be waking up? I don't mean in the Second Age, I mean in the show itself... shouldn't he have been saved for a later season?

Structurally... Rings of Power kinda feels like A Feast for Crows to me: some interesting scenes, some interesting set-ups, and a story that seems to drag its heels to get to stuff.

[Heartofice]

I'm trying to work out why I find every single episode such an absolutely monumental task to get through. I thought 'cool I'll watch this now while I have time' this morning, and I've shut it off 3 times already. 

So far the only thing I found even reasonably compelling was the idea that I'm seeing the birth of Mordor. Everything else falls completely flat. 

[Consigliere]

2 minutes ago, Heartofice said:

I'm trying to work out why I find every single episode such an absolutely monumental task to get through. I thought 'cool I'll watch this now while I have time' this morning, and I've shut it off 3 times already. 

So far the only thing I found even reasonably compelling was the idea that I'm seeing the birth of Mordor. Everything else falls completely flat. 

Same here. The show isn't even at the level of dumb fun; it's just tedious. Haven't been able to finish a single episode in one sitting and when I finally do, I'm left wondering why these episodes are even >1 hour in length.

[Ser Drewy]

9 minutes ago, Heartofice said:

I'm trying to work out why I find every single episode such an absolutely monumental task to get through. I thought 'cool I'll watch this now while I have time' this morning, and I've shut it off 3 times already. 

So far the only thing I found even reasonably compelling was the idea that I'm seeing the birth of Mordor. Everything else falls completely flat. 

At times, it does feel like 3-4 episodes worth of story have been dragged out to 7. The Harfoots in particular. 

[Heartofice]

5 minutes ago, Ser Drewy said:

At times, it does feel like 3-4 episodes worth of story have been dragged out to 7. The Harfoots in particular. 

It's true. Even after so many episodes I feel like almost nothing has actually happened. This despite there actually being quite a lot of 'events'. Outside of the volcano and fight last episode I can recall almost nothing of note from the entire series.