[SPOILERS] Rings of Power: "I am Sauron" "I'm Sauron" "I'm Sauron!"

[Le Cygne]

5 minutes ago, The Bard of Banefort said:

Looking online, 95% of ROP discourse is about Saurbrand, so it would appear that the show made a smart move here.

Yep, they are going nuts over it, among the fans, it's a big hit (and it was filmed that way). Which means there will be more, maybe not with Galadriel, but they'll give Sauron a girlfriend.

[Farerb]

6 minutes ago, The Bard of Banefort said:

Personally, Beren and Luthien sounds like it could make for a good miniseries/movie.

It would have been ideal if some company (not Disney or Amazon) could have made an anthology series of The Silmarillion. If not that, then Beren and Luthien, Children of Hurin and The Fall of Gondolin could have been really great films, if they were adapted by Denise Villeneuve.

[teej6]

2 hours ago, Cas Stark said:

The problem with the elves is that there is no sense they are any different from humans, no sense that these are people who are thousands of years old.  Elrond's one speech about time doesn't cut it.   There isn't any sense even that the Numenorians are a slightly different type of human.  Galadriel comes off as a brash 25 year old, and that is a bad choice according to me.

Although I did not like Peter Jackson’s LOTR movies with the exception of Fellowship of the Ring, I must admit, the Elves were portrayed as ethereal and other worldly. 

[Secretary of Eumenes]

This thread is Isildur's Bane

 

(I'll rough myself up a bit and throw myself out, thanks)

[Farerb]

2 minutes ago, Le Cygne said:

Yep, they are going nuts over it, among the fans, it's a big hit (and it was filmed that way). Which means there will be more, maybe not with Galadriel, but they'll give Sauron a girlfriend.

Shelob. They'll do her origin story by making her his girlfriend, and then she cheats on him with an orc or something, maybe even Gollum (lore and timeline be damned, it's fanservice that counts) and he turns her into a big spider.

[Ser Drewy]

12 minutes ago, farerb said:

Shelob. They'll do her origin story by making her his girlfriend, and then she cheats on him with an orc or something, maybe even Gollum (lore and timeline be damned, it's fanservice that counts) and he turns her into a big spider.

Didn't the Shadow of Mordor game turn her into a big tiddy goth girlfriend?.- 

[ASOIAFrelatedusername]

34 minutes ago, Ser Drewy said:

Didn't the Shadow of Mordor game turn her into a big tiddy goth girlfriend?.- 

Yes

 

[Matrim Fox Cauthon]

On 10/15/2022 at 4:51 PM, DMC said:

Yeah I know it's blasphemy to some, but I've always had a hard time re-reading LOTR because it's so cheesy.

Same. I have no problem re-reading The Hobbit or even The Silmarillion, but there is something about LotR that feels like a slog for me. 

[SeanF]

1 hour ago, farerb said:

Shelob. They'll do her origin story by making her his girlfriend, and then she cheats on him with an orc or something, maybe even Gollum (lore and timeline be damned, it's fanservice that counts) and he turns her into a big spider.

@The Marquis de Leechdid write a rather splendid Gollum/Dobby/Yoda love triangle.

[The Bard of Banefort]

13 hours ago, SeanF said:

There’s quite a lot of fanfic that makes the love triangle Galadriel -Eowyn - Faramir.

I still like my idea of Sauron being the real father of Celebrian. “Yes, poppet, your father is the Dark Lord.”

“We were on a BREAK, Celeborn!”

[Farerb]

5 minutes ago, Matrim Fox Cauthon said:

Same. I have no problem re-reading The Hobbit or even The Silmarillion, but there is something about LotR that feels like a slog for me. 

I think it's much easier after the first half of FotR and I think the most important thing with LotR is to have patience and immerse yourself with the scenes. That's at least what I try to do when I reread it.

[SeanF]

12 minutes ago, SeanF said:

@The Marquis de Leechdid write a rather splendid Gollum/Dobby/Yoda love triangle.

“And horny I am feeling.”  I understand students try to read it out loud, without bursting into laughter.

None succeed.

[mormont]

There's always a temptation, when we didn't like a series or film, to imagine that most right thinking folk would agree with the way we personally would prefer it had been written/shot/cast/acted/directed/otherwise put on screen. This is a temptation that should usually be avoided. There are usually a hundred factors we don't know about that would make our opinions look foolish if we did know them. Acting, writing, show-running, these are crafts, processes, and we see on screen only an impression of those.

For me, I think the first series was overall a bit uneven and so I'm not completely happy with it, I'm not desperate to watch season 2, but I will watch it when it comes out. I've seen far worse than this series out there. I can't think of a genuinely bad performance in the show: maybe Gil-Galad, who seemed distracted more than anything else? But the criticism some of the actors here are getting is plainly hyperbolic.

As for the writing, I think we have to accept this show is its own thing, a take on Tolkien's works rather than a definitive adaptation. That was the case from the start, and we knew that: the condensed timeline, the scanty textual basis for some of the story beats, and the usual demands of an adaptation. That's fine by me. The original works aren't hurt by this in the slightest. They're right there, as Alan Moore used to observe, on the shelf, if you ever want to reread them. Enjoy the show on its own terms.

Or if you can't... do what I did with GoT after season 3, or Foundation after episode 4, or numerous other shows. Accept that it isn't for you, and that's OK. That's my advice, anyway.

[Heartofice]

Are casual viewers really that into the show? I find that really hard to contemplate and understand. Mainly because the show requires so much patience and willpower to get through each episode. I don't know how anyone who is only mildly interested in LOTR can carry on watching such over long episodes where almost nothing seems to happen. My assumption is the show would just see a massive drop off, so i'm very surprised that didn't happen.

[Farerb]

2 minutes ago, Heartofice said:

Are casual viewers really that into the show? I find that really hard to contemplate and understand. Mainly because the show requires so much patience and willpower to get through each episode. I don't know how anyone who is only mildly interested in LOTR can carry on watching such over long episodes where almost nothing seems to happen. My assumption is the show would just see a massive drop off, so i'm very surprised that didn't happen.

We only heard about the ratings to the first three episodes. It'll be interesting to learn about the rest of them.

 

I don't think this is really an example, but IRL the only people I know who watch Rings of Power are my sister and me (and episode 7 broke her, she probably won't watch season 2). However, most people I know, either colleagues or friends or family, watch House of the Dragon.

[Ser Drewy]

8 minutes ago, Heartofice said:

Are casual viewers really that into the show? I find that really hard to contemplate and understand. Mainly because the show requires so much patience and willpower to get through each episode. I don't know how anyone who is only mildly interested in LOTR can carry on watching such over long episodes where almost nothing seems to happen. My assumption is the show would just see a massive drop off, so i'm very surprised that didn't happen.

From what I've seen, most casual viewers seem to think it's fine. But that's just my anecdata. 

Edited October 16, 2022 by Ser Drewy

[Heartofice]

3 minutes ago, Ser Drewy said:

From what I've seen, most casual viewers seem to think it's fine. But that's just my anecdata. 

I mostly think it’s fine too, but is that enough to keep high viewer figures? Are we all just mindless drones eating whatever shit we are fed?

[IFR]

45 minutes ago, mormont said:

Or if you can't... do what I did with GoT after season 3, or Foundation after episode 4, or numerous other shows. Accept that it isn't for you, and that's OK. That's my advice, anyway.

I fully agree. There can be enjoyment and some catharsis in poking fun at a work of art that disappointed you, but when it comes to being personally derogatory to those who enjoy it, or to those who work hard in trying to produce something for others to enjoy, then that's excessive.

There's nothing wrong with being disappointed with this show and expressing that sentiment. But then, there's nothing wrong with enjoying this show and expressing that sentiment either.

It's just a piece of entertainment (or "entertainment", as I like to snidely point out). It's not political policy.

[DMC]

46 minutes ago, farerb said:

We only heard about the ratings to the first three episodes.

First four episodes.

[Lord Varys]

The point about this thing is that it shamelessly leeches off the Tolkien/Middle-earth IP/brand without even trying adapt of faithfully depict this world, the characters, or the themes the author wrote about.

Decontextualizing this just doesn't make any sense.

But if you insist doing that, then the only thing that remains is badly written generic fantasy shit. I daresay that this particular show wouldn't be a success if it wasn't leeching off the Tolkien name/brand. Folks wouldn't give shit about that if it wasn't pretending to be a prequel to LotR.

I mean, how bad this stuff is you can easily illustrate - the dying king tells his daughter there is only 'darkness' for her in Middle-earth and then she goes LITERALLY BLIND! I guys that was their attempt at subtlety/a surprising twist. And speaking about that - what about magical Elven medicine and/or Sauron magical healing skills (which he should have)? Why didn't anyone suggest trying that? Why didn't Sauron ingratiate himself with the Númenóreans by restoring Míriel's eyesight, trying to pass it off as him having special knowledge about a super weed (athelas, ahm). I mean, if the guy can advise Celebrimbor in the metallurgy department, why shouldn't he be able to convince folks that he is also a great natural healer.

But Galadriel could just as well have invited Míriel to Lindon so she the healers there could restore her sight.

Also - why the hell did the Sadoc guy have to die? Wasn't a literal wizard next to him? Why did nobody consider asking 'Gandalf' to heal him? They could have established it wasn't possible for reason X, but having Magic Guy just sit there, doing nothing, while a character beloved by the other characters died is just silly.