Not just writing. The costumes are far better in house of the dragon as well. HOTD has continued GOT designs with more believable and functional armor that looks and has the texture of steel. RoP outfits look like they’re for a cheap stage play.
Agree completely. I can't understand how you can spend nearly a billion on Rings of Power and neglect the writing to this degree. HotD is still not as good as the first seasons of the original Game of Thrones but HBO still seems to be willing to focus on good writing, acting, and directing.
GoT wasn't impresive until end of season 1. The simple fact that everyone liked Ned Stark and he was decapitated activated the interest mode for viewers. GoT was decent in every aspect, but the unexpected made it excellent imo and despite the last 2 seasons being trash still raised the bar for every other show out there. So far HotD just has the same impact as GoT S1 with a faster pace , let's see how well they do with surprises. As for Rings of power I agree, the writers are so so so bad and Amazon is literally paying 1 billion to butcher something that was beautiful. I hardly believe they'll manage to make it up later on. Galadriel is simply a trash character.
@@MandaClaudiuMCM True, early GOT season 1 wasn't that well received by critics or casual viewers. It wasn't until the Red Wedding that it really took off by word of mouth. Season 1 was OK but HOD has at least started stronger.
HotD's characters have depth and presence. The writers took their time to introduce the protagonists, and by the end of Episode 2, we are already invested in some of them, unlike Rings of Power. Amazon has bungled with the writing and I don't know whether I'll be watching Ep 4. The characters are shallow and unlikeable. The story is badly written. Galadriel is unlikable, the orcs are not terrifying, and the dialogue is bad.
@@cubablue602 Completely disagree GOT S1 was fantastic. Jon gives needle to Arya. The Dancing master. The pet wolves. Little Finger and Varys. "Chaos is a ladder". The Lannisters. You fg nuts.
I wonder if the writers for RoP saw the pile of gear that the riders of Rohan collect after the battle in which Merry and Pippin escape, and said cool, look at the pile of gear. In LOTR it makes sense. Stacking bodies and gear then setting fire to it destroys wood, leather and fabric and ruins the temper on metal weapons. The riders couldn't take the gear with them, so make it unusable. Now, look at the renaissance painting by Gozzoli entitled 'Procession of the Magi'. Can you imagine any of the nobles in that painting aimlessly stacking up helmets on a battlefield?
I pretty much feel exactly the same when comparing the 2 pilots but it was very interesting to see those things analysed from a writting stand point. I'm no writer and although I'm familiar with certain concepts like "show don't tell", although I often try to think on why I believe something worked and something didn't, this was very informative, well put together, engaging and a great watch. From a casual viewer perspective and someone that is no hardcore fan of neither Tolkien or Martin, with only a very basic knowledge of their work and lore, when comparing these two shows, I can't help but feel like there is an insane gap in how well crafted they are overall. The main thing I look at when getting into a new show or film, even if it's a spin-off, reboot or sequel, are the universe (especially in fantasy, sci-fi etc.), the story and the characters. Obviously all these aspects are bound to one another but to me, they really make the foundation of the work and no matter how good the other elements (such as dialogue, acting, music, artistic direction, effects, camera work etc.) are, if I'm not invested in the universe, its character, what happens to them and the overall story, it's all quite meaningless. If I were a lore fanatic then of course I woul also be very critical of that aspect and I absolutely understand those who are but since I'm not, I'm very open for the work to be its own thing and win me over by its own merits. The main issue I had after watching the Rings of Power pilot was a that I was left with a deep feeling of...emptiness. Sure, some of the shots and scene looked very impressive, like something I'd never scene on tv before. However, the harsh truth is that after watching episode 1, I couldn't care less about ANY of the characters, what would happen to them, where the story would bring them within the universe and within their own arc. I still tried to give the show a chance and watched up until episode 4, but the feeling of disconnect only grew bigger and this is as far as I could make it. I'm naturally inclined to overlook many things that I would perceive as flaws, as long as I'm invested in the key elements I mentionned before. The characters especially, have that power to make me blind or extremely forgiving, as long as I care about them. House of the Dragon however, definitely succeeded in making me interested very quickly. Not only does it have an excellent framework when considering story/universe/characters where Rings of Power fails quite miserably imo, but HotD also manages to completely crush RoP in pretty much every thing else. Just taking a look at dialogues and acting performance, these two shows are definitely on a whole other level, another dimension. Even visually, if I do admit that Rings of Power has some magificent effects in some scenes, I honestly am much more sensitive to the beauty of HotD that often displays much more subtle and brilliant things with sobriety when RoP feels much more glitz and glam. Sure it shines, glitters and glimmers but at the end of the day, I find that a simple scene like in episode 2 of HotD, when Raehnyra and Alicent share some words in a crypt-like room, lighted by hundreds of candles to be a thousand time more beautiful than anything I've seen in RoP. Not only is the scene really beautiful from a purely visual perspective with all that natural ligthing and the excellent camera work, but it is sublimed by wonderful performances that I found captivating, that conveyed real emotions as well as a well crafted dialogue, that gives more insight into two characters I'm already interested and invested in, making me wonder about how this scene may be telling of what's to come regarding their relationship. There are of course many other things that feel so wrong in RoP, to a point where it is quite shocking. I think that even people who aren't writters or involved in the tv/cinema industry can see how blatantly bad and disserving many of the decisions they made were. From the pilot, as you explained, the fight with the ice troll was really bad. Not only are you making Galadriel way overpowered , which is really not a good thing, especially when she's like that from the get go, but you're also making the other Elves warrior, the ones that were chosen for this endeavour and that are supposedely the best warriors they could pick, completely useless. Is this their idea of how to make a protagonist strong? Make everyone around her feel totally incompetent and worthless? If Galadriel is 10 times stronger than all of them combined, why does she need them in the first place? If they'd make Galadriel struggle, maybe take a few blows, receive a light wound, maybe lead her men to bolster their spirit and help them overcome a terrifying threat by working together, if she'd displayed a bit of fear or sense of danger, if she'd struggled at least a little to eventually be the one to make that win possible, being a strong leader, a superior fighter doing the most decisive part of the battle and landing the final blow, then this could have been a good scene...right? I mean, you still need good execution, choreography etc, but at least you'd be off to a good start? This is not how you make your protagonist heroic, strong and relatable and it's so baffling to me that the writters and showrunners don't seem to understand that, how is that even possible? This is a genuine question I have because to me, it displays a level of incompetence that is not worthy of a quality professional production, let alone a billion dollar adaptation of a hugely popular franchise. When I stopped watching after episode 4, Galadriel still felt like a very unlikable character, to a point where not only do I not care for her to succeed, I would actually enjoy seeing her fail. Not in a sadistic way where I wanna see her suffer or anything like that, I just don't think this character deserves to accomplish the things she aims to achieve in the way she wants to achieve them, especially considering how she interacts with pretty much everyone around her. She is the protagonist so that's already a huge problem but it's not like the other main characters or supporting ones are here to save the day. Well at least now I can stop wondering about the failings of Rings of Power and simply enjoy watching the glorious House of the Dragon.
I love this title so much. It's like someone showed you a pair of pictures, one is of a steak dinner and the other is a pair of scissors and then they ask you, "Which of these is a photo of food?". I'm sure of my emo buddies from highschool might claim that they preferred to eat the scissors but even they wouldn't call them food.
Honestly there is no comparison, the only reason people are comparing the two is because they're airing in the same time frame. HoTD is great, rings of power is awful. simple and factual.
HoTD producers very strategically planned their release around RoP to steal their thunder. They wanted to be compared. They started earlier and finished later.
Tony, I’m honestly shocked that you only have 76 subscribers. My favorite video essayist is “The Closer Look” and I just watched one of his earliest videos today about “How to make a great villain” or something. It was only the second essay he ever uploaded. You can tell when you compare that video to his more recent videos that early on he lacked some degree of confidence in what he was saying. He made good points but his voice didn’t have the authority it now does. The quality of your video here is already on par with TCL’s recent stuff. You have a very obvious grasp on a good deal of this topic and it it comes through loud and clear. Please continue doing what you’re doing.
Galadriel singlehandedly saved and brought Sauron back to dark path. A few months with her antics had him had enough and gave up on humanity. "If this b is a "good guy", then I must be Buddha", he thought.
Historically it wasn't unheard of for them to end up killing each other in tournaments. The rules in these were not the same everywhere. So they could end up dying either by accident or as a result of simply having to incapacitate their opponent and in some cases, such wounds could lead to death. Maybe not as extreme as in HOD. Just some Historical stuff: (Under the entry for 1066 CE there is a reference to the death of one Godfrey de Preuilly, killed in a tournament for which he rather ironically made up the rules himself.) (Indeed, the unnecessary deaths which became all too common were one reason why the church consistently disapproved of tournaments in many countries and warned combatants that hell was awaiting them should they be killed therein.)
You are very correct. The rules of tournaments were made up almost entirely by the lords that put them on, so they varied from place to place. Also, I appreciate your historical references. A few comments are saying that death was more common than I may have suspected, so I'm inclined to change my tune on that.
Yes and everyone knew the particular rules and were willing to participate. It was a shared understanding that the consequences of what happened on the tourney field stayed on the tourney field.
@@tonydeldegan I feel that in a stable kingdom there was less chance of starting war because above all was the king that not many houses were ready to bring anger of upon themselves, and at the same time Targaryens' rule was considered a pretty peaceful time which only made boiling tempers of knights that more ready to snap
Why would they feel the need to change the Lore, especially when it is apparent the show is wanting for a cohesive plot? Tolkeins Lotr truly is a literary masterpiece, and I cannot comprehend with so much richness in the world, peoples, creatures, and entire plot he imagined, why they would buy the rights to some of his work only to reject the very foundation of it. It has to be for modern day ideologies; the misandry and devaluation of men. The irony is they wrote Galadriel with the very same traits they deem toxic when the character is a male, but gaslight us by proclaiming how virtuous these traits are when they inhabit a woman. Do not even get me started on the narcassistic abuse being perpetrated against Tolkein fans or even Peter Jackson Lotr fans. They're already calling people ists, because they dislike the show for its obvious failure. I honestly believe people could have overlooked the diversity hires, if the show was even a decent fantasy show. The entire publicity around the show was about the black people casted or the Puerto Rican elf, which is offensive to me, being a minority myself, because they act like pocs cannot get roles based upon merit; Amazon is the Savior of minorities. The irony of it all is the cultural appropriation they are committing against White English people 🙄 or the misandry against men. Galadriel is a terrible character. She is so obsessed with proving herself right even to the peril of her own men. She is unlikable, arrogant, rebellious, and her attempts at stoicism make her appear masculine. Forget about the plot holes... The Elves used to be wise and powerful, poised and ethereal but now the male elves are cowards, incompetent, and apparently forgot that evil exists, although they never destroyed it. The female elves are no longer graceful, beautiful, or feminine...ugh. Sorry for the rant. Great video breakdown!
@naughtilus Respectfully, what rights do men have that women do not? What laws oppress women? You're correct. Women wanting equal rights is not misandry, but devaluing and abusing men is especially when women have equal rights and are favored in certain aspects of the law.
what the fuck is going on with masculinity in Rings of power? I remember seeing LOTR as a child and never having a single question about the relationship between men as very close friends, men crying and being honorable, men having weak and stupid moments and regretting them, and then I see this and I'm like: WHY?! why would you transform middle earth in this? LOTR always questioned the guy who acted as a prick. Main characters would always try their best, be both vulnerable and strong. I'm so tired of hollywood :C I want masculinity to be redeemed Feels bad man
Start watching 80s action movies. Only place you're going to see masculinity .... of course there is a lot of garbage in there as well. We need to swing the pendulum back in the middle where it belongs.
Every point you said is bang on tbh. All things I either openly or subconsciously thought at the time of watching and is great to have someone so accurately break down all these issues. Well done :)
Completely agree about the writing differences and the horrible writing on ROP. The silly writing kept making me burst out laughing. And a lot of it makes no logical sense as you pointed out. In Peter Jackson's trilogy I believe the writing and take it seriously. On a completely unrelated note, you could absolutely play an elf in Peter Jackson's Middle Earth.
this was no contest, House of the Dragon is vastly superior to any shit Amazon can produce, and I work for Amazon, I am glad that Rings of Power failed, I read the Silmarillion and I have to say I am just shocked that the Rings of Power showrunners are some of the most dimwitted ever, not since Star Trek Discovery and Picard have I seen a show fail to miss the point of the source material, not to mention horrible acting. Big Budget means nothing.
You made a lot of good points, especially about show don’t tell and the dialogue, but one point I have to disagree on in the need for selfless characters. Protagonist =/= hero in the classic sense. A protagonist does not necessarily have to be a good person, at least not entirely, and they certainly don’t have to be selfless. What they have to be is interesting. Relatable is a close second. I also notice that you didn’t contrast the assertion that the problem with Rings of Power was lack of characters who weren’t assholes with an example from House of The Dragon. Because most of those characters are also assholes from what I’ve gathered (correct me if I’m wrong). It’s not necessarily a flaw to have both sides be in the wrong, as is the case in The Southlands arc. But to pull it off, the viewer needs to understand why both sides believe that they are justified in thinking that way. Because then it becomes a tragedy, and the viewer is engaged in the conflict between them. Which requires a certain amount of subtlety of writing that the Rings of Power writers clearly don’t have. Also Gladrial’s character arc is probably set up as something along the lines of “learn to be nicer to her soldiers so they actually listen to her” or even “learn to care about and respect her soldiers”. It’s terribly executed but as a writer, I can see what they were trying to set up. I agree that having her jump off the boat, while emotionally solid and viscerally satisfying just does not work from a plot perspective.
in defense of the tournament: It was sad that most of the knights were young and reckless. They were trained to fight in the time of peace. Also about starting wars, they were probably lesser lords, and their family could have started some blood feuds, but nothing like great houses. it will be local problem at best which will be controlled by their high lord.
@@tonydeldegan I have interested by this scene too and looked it up, in some tournaments it was normal to fight to the death in some instances (it was rare) but most of the time the killing was by accident
This is such a great analysis, you're very eloquent. I hope you make more videos like this one in the future. Perhaps, once the seasons are over on both shows and you give your final thoughts on them from a writing pov.
You articulated everything I was feeling about Rings of Power. My main issues with the show have been god-awful dialog and lack of emoting from Galadriel. In Lord of the Rings, Galadriel smiled and showed warmth towards Frodo, laughed with Gimli, worried over the quest with Elrond, was terrifying when offered the ring, she sagged with relief when she rejected it, showed sorrow at seeing Aragorn for the last time, and was excited when boarding the boat. In Rings of Power, she has shown barely any emotion other than a single fake-looking tear when her brother died. When Galadriel's group mutinied, it's like...why should I care? You haven't shown them being friends and fighting together. I don't know who these people are so why should I care that they've left? People act like if you don't like the show it must be for racist reasons, but it's not. The guy who play Arondir is the best actor on the show. Disa is sweet too. Lack of diversity is one of the very few things Peter Jackson got wrong with Lord of the Rings and I support the diverse casting on RoP, but I probably won't watch the rest of the series, which is a shame as I love Lord of the Rings and was looking forward to getting into that world again. I only scene I liked was the dwarves in ep 2. I liked Disa's story about singing to the stones, and seeing the thriving mine city. That's it. House of the Dragon on the other hand has been fantastic. It's all the things that made Game of Thrones great in the early seasons (subtle politicking, power grabs and uncomfortable but strong scenes) before it lost the plot with zombies, shape shifting assassins and a kid who goes around telling people he's a bird and gets made king. The dialog is better than in RoP. The costumes are better. Sets, use of CGI, plot, characterisation, motivation, etc are all better.
Very interesting. Often, something just feels 'off' yet you don't really understand why. I was getting it almost constantly in ep1 of ROP and not just with the writing. The visuals were pretty but, again, something just felt off with them, like they're not real in the world itself, just flat and lifeless. I listen to other people, much more qualified than me, talk about various aspects of ROP and it's always the same; whether it's costume, acting, editing, armour - something is 'off'. Comparisons to HOD is almost a joke, there's a chasm in quality between them.
Everything is wrong with ROP. The only thing that is good is the visuals. And Who the fuck hired an actor who looks like Dr. Oz's twin for Elrond's part?
You need to remember that in medieval times women died often in or after labor. Postpartum hemorrhage is still high upon the death cause list in 3rd world countries if it is not number one. I think this might have been more of an argument than women not having the time to rule a realm because they needed to focus on parenting, i mean with servants and all.
i really enjoyed the video and the points you made for both of the shows. i thought about watching rings of power, but i've heard from several different sources/people the same things you spoke about and it makes me think i wouldn't make it past the first episode anyway. also, is that a pop of gary oldman's dracula behind you? because i might have made an ungodly noise when i noticed it. 😂 if i'm wrong, ignore me!
Thank you for addressing the absurd violence in the joust of House of the Dragon. I understand they did it to make it more dramatic, but when you think about it is incomprehensible; why would lords and nobles send their children if there was a chance of them getting killed and there would be no punishment to the offender. There is no one enforcing the rules or security, so we have to assume nothing happened to the offender. And like you said the violence and the gravity of competing in a joust gave the message how dangerous it was already, they didn't need to include blatant killing at the end. The director shouldn't always assume that the audience is dumb and can't pick up the subtlety.
I would have hired retired Oxford Dons familiar with Tolkien to filter the script through. I think that would have been the closest I could have gotten to recreating the feel of his text. This show is like Americans using a British accent to sound British. There are nuances to the culture, expressions, slang etc. that create legitimacy. Even though the actors are English, the writers are all American. I mean really?! Having them rephrase the dialogue would have gone a long way toward improving the feel of the show.
your critique is so accurate, I do think one thing you missed was the unrealistic cast about adding diversity to the cast of house of dragon. I think to add black people as a black person to the show was such a beautiful, inclusive, cool yet intelligent touch that not a lot of of ppl talk about. These house of black royalty is so intriguing is quite unexpected led to excitement and also catered to modern day inclusivity.
Close your eyes and hear the tv elves speak and you will immediately notice the big difference in dialogue compared to the movie elves. The problem is that Amazon not only forced the diversity but also wanted to forget JRR Tolkien's established Elvish language. It's cringy every time Galadriel and Elrond talk, they sound human and not ethereal elves.
I'm not sure if the writing is supposed to be comparable. One of a utter fantasy where there are happy endings, no rapes, and it's something the whole family can watch. The other clearly isn't. House of The Dragon depends on a merky narrative and has a fanbase accustomed to terrible things happening almost as a demand. If you're watching House of The Dragon or Game of Thrones it can be downright strange if nothing _bad_ happens and plans work out perfectly. Rings of Power seems to follow in the footsteps of its cinematic predecessors, ramping up danger up a point but also doesn't overwhelm the viewer with utter hopelessness. You feel that hope can win out. Nobility is rewarded. Basically, I'm saying that House of The Dragon will be the better-written show. But that's never been a question. Best analogy I can put together is Tom Cruise is a great movie star, but he's no Al Pacino who's an actor who'd played many different kinds of roles. IT just seems pretty easy to point out which one has the better writing and which one is more spectacle. I do like how the writing of both shows keeps consistent. Lastly, it's a great deal easier to write characters people can relate to within HOTD. Basically all the House of the Dragon people are humans for the most part. You don't have to rack your brain thinking _"How would a 3004 year old elf react to..."_ which removes a few hurdles. But there are also situations that some in the Ring of Power universes characters can't experience simply based on the 14+ rating of the show. Not that mature rated shows have great writing automatically, but it helps if you're trying to paint a complex storyline that's a little more down to earth. Take care (PS. I'm enjoying the hell out of both shows)
Good writing is applicable to every tv show or film. It doesnt matter if one show is darker than the other, PJ's Lord of the Rings had good writing. You know its bad writing when the acting looks bad, e.g. "You have not seen what I have seen" Theyve got the biggest budget ever and cant get good writers?
@@alzer6467 Hmm, _good writing_ depends sorta on what you're looking for in a show. For example--> *Top Gun: Maverick* doesn't do anything new, keeps to the storyline, and gives a slight personality to the characters but the writing in that movie is all about the entertainment factor and keeping your eyes glued to the screen. Good writing is often knowing what kind of project you're working on and what the expectations are. Rings of Power at no point in time has given me the expectation that it's going to be an overserious family drama that's going to reflect the horrors of the real world. _It's all about hope, escapism, and just sorta turning your brain off and diving into the world that's presented therein._ So in terms of writing, it's good to me because it's doing exactly what it set out to do. It reflects the movies that have come before. House of The Dragon focuses more on the dramatics. Yes yes, the dragons are cool but the scenes that stick with me have no creatures in them, just actors chewing up the scenery. Now if once you understand how different both of the shows are, there's clearly a preference you're going to go for. However, since both shows are so vastly different it's very difficult to determine which one has the better writing. If you like classic fantasy then you're going to think of Rings of Power or very differently if you tend to like realism, politics, sex, and blood.
@@Unworshipediety Yes LOTR is a classic fantasy but we never hear the tv elves speak in Elvish tongue, unlike the movie elves. Plus, the dialogue is just abysmal. The funny thing is that Daemon and Rhaenyra can speak high Valyrian well that they play better at being classic than Galadriel, Elrond and co. 🤣
Im really confused about your criticism of the rock v boat analogy. His point doesn't switch, it always remains "rock = sink, boat = float". The reason it comes back in a flashback is because of Galadriel's question of which light to trust (reflection v direct from the source), and Feanor (i think its Feanor) says to trust her gut. So acting on gut instinct she jumps ship
Yeah, my mistake. I caught that after it was uploaded. I do still think it’s confusing as an analogy anyway, since he reframes it multiple times in his little monologue. But yes, that part was consistent.
They definitely are using vaguely-deep sounding lines to make people THINK that their writing is top notch when really, it’s fairly simple at best and completely nonsensical at worst, when you actually look at some of the lines on paper
I think it’s fairly obvious that Glad was piling up the helmets as a tribute to her fallen friends. It’s not much of a stretch and it was pretty clear that she wasn’t stacking them for any functional reason. That said, I think HOTD is better. Work on your pacing and inflection brother, you can be monotone at times.
Also- the reason he climbed the mountain THEN suggested to turn around is very simple… they were expecting a massive payoff at the top, finding the enemy or direct signs of his recently being in the stronghold. When they got there and found nothing at first, it broke him… then he even held on until they got inside and found it had been centuries since the orcs were there. That was the end of their patience. The mountain was anticipated by all as the final hurdle before vanquishing the enemy and they were heartbroken to get there and find nothing
Here's your problem. How can you be " heavy-handed " with something that is TRUE??? Rhaenyra not being Queen cause she's a woman is the entire conflict and story arc. You can't be this dense.
Then you'd still be better off watching a kids' movie instead. I can't see anyone who is too young to handle the GoT universe sit through RoP. Certainly, kids will get bored and ask if they can just go play something while some adults might want to sit through it for the pretty visuals and the hope that something awesome happens eventually. I am not one of those adults. I don't even remember how far I made it. I only remember that scene at the grove that dragged on and on, trying to establish a sense of dread. And the scene on the boat that also dragged on and on, until Galadriel finally made the jump into the water (and to speak entirely openly... the show couldn't keep my attention; it couldn't latch onto me, so I got distracted by reading the news and stuff like that)... Then it was late and I switched off the PC for the day, and never continued watching it. Which is a shame. I had been looking forward to the show becoming available and clicked on it when it premiered on Amazon. I didn't like it, and then I learnt that what seemed to be the majority of viewers felt much the same. A couple of weeks later, I bought HotD because people were saying it was awesome. It cost me money while RoP was free. And I was worried that I'd be disappointed after having spent a nice chunk of money for it. But... HotD was captivating from the first second. I will not pick up RoP again and give it another try. Even though it costs nothing but time to watch it. I already rewatched HotD - twice. When watching the first parts of either series, I got the feeling that characters in RoP are just characters. Characters in HotD feel like people. This is not about suitability for a certain age group. It's about story-telling. Give me a day filled with LotR Extended Versions and I will be glued to the screen for the entire 10+ hours. But don't make me watch RoP, even if it's supposedly suitablle for kids (I wouldn't know. For all I can tell, you might get big battle scenes with blood splattering everywhere at some point, looting, pillaging and murdering and close-ups of everything that the GoT universe will give you... but that would still not be an incentive to sit through RoP, because gratuitous violence isn't what's making a good show or a bad show).
Not just writing. The costumes are far better in house of the dragon as well. HOTD has continued GOT designs with more believable and functional armor that looks and has the texture of steel.
RoP outfits look like they’re for a cheap stage play.
Yes,hotd have better costumes than RoP but not better than GOT.Daemon Armour look made up of cheap plastic.
Agree completely. I can't understand how you can spend nearly a billion on Rings of Power and neglect the writing to this degree. HotD is still not as good as the first seasons of the original Game of Thrones but HBO still seems to be willing to focus on good writing, acting, and directing.
Yeah, exactly. I was hesitant with HotD at first, but it’s really impressing me so far.
GoT wasn't impresive until end of season 1. The simple fact that everyone liked Ned Stark and he was decapitated activated the interest mode for viewers. GoT was decent in every aspect, but the unexpected made it excellent imo and despite the last 2 seasons being trash still raised the bar for every other show out there. So far HotD just has the same impact as GoT S1 with a faster pace , let's see how well they do with surprises. As for Rings of power I agree, the writers are so so so bad and Amazon is literally paying 1 billion to butcher something that was beautiful. I hardly believe they'll manage to make it up later on. Galadriel is simply a trash character.
@@MandaClaudiuMCM True, early GOT season 1 wasn't that well received by critics or casual viewers. It wasn't until the Red Wedding that it really took off by word of mouth. Season 1 was OK but HOD has at least started stronger.
HotD's characters have depth and presence. The writers took their time to introduce the protagonists, and by the end of Episode 2, we are already invested in some of them, unlike Rings of Power. Amazon has bungled with the writing and I don't know whether I'll be watching Ep 4. The characters are shallow and unlikeable. The story is badly written. Galadriel is unlikable, the orcs are not terrifying, and the dialogue is bad.
@@cubablue602 Completely disagree GOT S1 was fantastic. Jon gives needle to Arya. The Dancing master. The pet wolves. Little Finger and Varys. "Chaos is a ladder". The Lannisters. You fg nuts.
I wonder if the writers for RoP saw the pile of gear that the riders of Rohan collect after the battle in which Merry and Pippin escape, and said cool, look at the pile of gear. In LOTR it makes sense. Stacking bodies and gear then setting fire to it destroys wood, leather and fabric and ruins the temper on metal weapons. The riders couldn't take the gear with them, so make it unusable. Now, look at the renaissance painting by Gozzoli entitled 'Procession of the Magi'. Can you imagine any of the nobles in that painting aimlessly stacking up helmets on a battlefield?
The difference in quality is so stark, it's honestly not even a matter of opinion which is better.
I pretty much feel exactly the same when comparing the 2 pilots but it was very interesting to see those things analysed from a writting stand point. I'm no writer and although I'm familiar with certain concepts like "show don't tell", although I often try to think on why I believe something worked and something didn't, this was very informative, well put together, engaging and a great watch.
From a casual viewer perspective and someone that is no hardcore fan of neither Tolkien or Martin, with only a very basic knowledge of their work and lore, when comparing these two shows, I can't help but feel like there is an insane gap in how well crafted they are overall. The main thing I look at when getting into a new show or film, even if it's a spin-off, reboot or sequel, are the universe (especially in fantasy, sci-fi etc.), the story and the characters. Obviously all these aspects are bound to one another but to me, they really make the foundation of the work and no matter how good the other elements (such as dialogue, acting, music, artistic direction, effects, camera work etc.) are, if I'm not invested in the universe, its character, what happens to them and the overall story, it's all quite meaningless. If I were a lore fanatic then of course I woul also be very critical of that aspect and I absolutely understand those who are but since I'm not, I'm very open for the work to be its own thing and win me over by its own merits.
The main issue I had after watching the Rings of Power pilot was a that I was left with a deep feeling of...emptiness. Sure, some of the shots and scene looked very impressive, like something I'd never scene on tv before. However, the harsh truth is that after watching episode 1, I couldn't care less about ANY of the characters, what would happen to them, where the story would bring them within the universe and within their own arc. I still tried to give the show a chance and watched up until episode 4, but the feeling of disconnect only grew bigger and this is as far as I could make it.
I'm naturally inclined to overlook many things that I would perceive as flaws, as long as I'm invested in the key elements I mentionned before. The characters especially, have that power to make me blind or extremely forgiving, as long as I care about them.
House of the Dragon however, definitely succeeded in making me interested very quickly. Not only does it have an excellent framework when considering story/universe/characters where Rings of Power fails quite miserably imo, but HotD also manages to completely crush RoP in pretty much every thing else. Just taking a look at dialogues and acting performance, these two shows are definitely on a whole other level, another dimension. Even visually, if I do admit that Rings of Power has some magificent effects in some scenes, I honestly am much more sensitive to the beauty of HotD that often displays much more subtle and brilliant things with sobriety when RoP feels much more glitz and glam. Sure it shines, glitters and glimmers but at the end of the day, I find that a simple scene like in episode 2 of HotD, when Raehnyra and Alicent share some words in a crypt-like room, lighted by hundreds of candles to be a thousand time more beautiful than anything I've seen in RoP. Not only is the scene really beautiful from a purely visual perspective with all that natural ligthing and the excellent camera work, but it is sublimed by wonderful performances that I found captivating, that conveyed real emotions as well as a well crafted dialogue, that gives more insight into two characters I'm already interested and invested in, making me wonder about how this scene may be telling of what's to come regarding their relationship.
There are of course many other things that feel so wrong in RoP, to a point where it is quite shocking. I think that even people who aren't writters or involved in the tv/cinema industry can see how blatantly bad and disserving many of the decisions they made were. From the pilot, as you explained, the fight with the ice troll was really bad. Not only are you making Galadriel way overpowered , which is really not a good thing, especially when she's like that from the get go, but you're also making the other Elves warrior, the ones that were chosen for this endeavour and that are supposedely the best warriors they could pick, completely useless. Is this their idea of how to make a protagonist strong? Make everyone around her feel totally incompetent and worthless? If Galadriel is 10 times stronger than all of them combined, why does she need them in the first place? If they'd make Galadriel struggle, maybe take a few blows, receive a light wound, maybe lead her men to bolster their spirit and help them overcome a terrifying threat by working together, if she'd displayed a bit of fear or sense of danger, if she'd struggled at least a little to eventually be the one to make that win possible, being a strong leader, a superior fighter doing the most decisive part of the battle and landing the final blow, then this could have been a good scene...right? I mean, you still need good execution, choreography etc, but at least you'd be off to a good start?
This is not how you make your protagonist heroic, strong and relatable and it's so baffling to me that the writters and showrunners don't seem to understand that, how is that even possible? This is a genuine question I have because to me, it displays a level of incompetence that is not worthy of a quality professional production, let alone a billion dollar adaptation of a hugely popular franchise.
When I stopped watching after episode 4, Galadriel still felt like a very unlikable character, to a point where not only do I not care for her to succeed, I would actually enjoy seeing her fail. Not in a sadistic way where I wanna see her suffer or anything like that, I just don't think this character deserves to accomplish the things she aims to achieve in the way she wants to achieve them, especially considering how she interacts with pretty much everyone around her. She is the protagonist so that's already a huge problem but it's not like the other main characters or supporting ones are here to save the day.
Well at least now I can stop wondering about the failings of Rings of Power and simply enjoy watching the glorious House of the Dragon.
I always feel like if you don't have to climb a mountain, don't climb a mountain, but that's just me.
I love this title so much.
It's like someone showed you a pair of pictures, one is of a steak dinner and the other is a pair of scissors and then they ask you, "Which of these is a photo of food?". I'm sure of my emo buddies from highschool might claim that they preferred to eat the scissors but even they wouldn't call them food.
Fellowship of Galadriel..
"You have my Sword"...proceeds to give her his sword and walks away...
You deserve a free sub for this. I especially like how you focus entirely on the writing and leave the lore to other people.
Thanks. I appreciate that!
Honestly there is no comparison, the only reason people are comparing the two is because they're airing in the same time frame. HoTD is great, rings of power is awful. simple and factual.
HoTD producers very strategically planned their release around RoP to steal their thunder. They wanted to be compared. They started earlier and finished later.
@@HNCS2006 well it wasn’t hard for them to steal their thunder the difference in quality is enormous
Tony, I’m honestly shocked that you only have 76 subscribers.
My favorite video essayist is “The Closer Look” and I just watched one of his earliest videos today about “How to make a great villain” or something. It was only the second essay he ever uploaded.
You can tell when you compare that video to his more recent videos that early on he lacked some degree of confidence in what he was saying. He made good points but his voice didn’t have the authority it now does.
The quality of your video here is already on par with TCL’s recent stuff. You have a very obvious grasp on a good deal of this topic and it it comes through loud and clear.
Please continue doing what you’re doing.
I really appreciate that. Thank you for taking the time to watch this and comment.
Galadriel singlehandedly saved and brought Sauron back to dark path. A few months with her antics had him had enough and gave up on humanity. "If this b is a "good guy", then I must be Buddha", he thought.
House of the Dragons is Superior! Both Male and female characters,Get to Shine but Also show their flaws of each.
House of the Dragon is wayyyyy better than The Rings of Power
Maybe "the rings of power", but not "the lord of the rings".
@@hectorhevia3566 thats what i meant sorry
@@hectorhevia3566 maybe "The Rings of Galadriel"
Rings of power has clear cut of whose good and whose evil . The visuals, world building and music are great.
Yup this coming from one who lik lotr way more than got
Historically it wasn't unheard of for them to end up killing each other in tournaments. The rules in these were not the same everywhere. So they could end up dying either by accident or as a result of simply having to incapacitate their opponent and in some cases, such wounds could lead to death. Maybe not as extreme as in HOD.
Just some Historical stuff:
(Under the entry for 1066 CE there is a reference to the death of one Godfrey de Preuilly, killed in a tournament for which he rather ironically made up the rules himself.)
(Indeed, the unnecessary deaths which became all too common were one reason why the church consistently disapproved of tournaments in many countries and warned combatants that hell was awaiting them should they be killed therein.)
You are very correct. The rules of tournaments were made up almost entirely by the lords that put them on, so they varied from place to place. Also, I appreciate your historical references. A few comments are saying that death was more common than I may have suspected, so I'm inclined to change my tune on that.
@@tonydeldegan I do think that you have made one of the best objective videos about these shows. So keep up the good work :)
Yes and everyone knew the particular rules and were willing to participate. It was a shared understanding that the consequences of what happened on the tourney field stayed on the tourney field.
@@mobster5626 I appreciate that. Thank you very much!
@@tonydeldegan I feel that in a stable kingdom there was less chance of starting war because above all was the king that not many houses were ready to bring anger of upon themselves, and at the same time Targaryens' rule was considered a pretty peaceful time which only made boiling tempers of knights that more ready to snap
Why would they feel the need to change the Lore, especially when it is apparent the show is wanting for a cohesive plot?
Tolkeins Lotr truly is a literary masterpiece, and I cannot comprehend with so much richness in the world, peoples, creatures, and entire plot he imagined, why they would buy the rights to some of his work only to reject the very foundation of it.
It has to be for modern day ideologies; the misandry and devaluation of men. The irony is they wrote Galadriel with the very same traits they deem toxic when the character is a male, but gaslight us by proclaiming how virtuous these traits are when they inhabit a woman.
Do not even get me started on the narcassistic abuse being perpetrated against Tolkein fans or even Peter Jackson Lotr fans.
They're already calling people ists, because they dislike the show for its obvious failure.
I honestly believe people could have overlooked the diversity hires, if the show was even a decent fantasy show. The entire publicity around the show was about the black people casted or the Puerto Rican elf, which is offensive to me, being a minority myself, because they act like pocs cannot get roles based upon merit; Amazon is the Savior of minorities. The irony of it all is the cultural appropriation they are committing against White English people 🙄 or the misandry against men.
Galadriel is a terrible character. She is so obsessed with proving herself right even to the peril of her own men. She is unlikable, arrogant, rebellious, and her attempts at stoicism make her appear masculine.
Forget about the plot holes... The Elves used to be wise and powerful, poised and ethereal but now the male elves are cowards, incompetent, and apparently forgot that evil exists, although they never destroyed it. The female elves are no longer graceful, beautiful, or feminine...ugh.
Sorry for the rant.
Great video breakdown!
Go watch the LOTR trilogy again. :)
@naughtilus Respectfully, what rights do men have that women do not? What laws oppress women?
You're correct. Women wanting equal rights is not misandry, but devaluing and abusing men is especially when women have equal rights and are favored in certain aspects of the law.
what the fuck is going on with masculinity in Rings of power? I remember seeing LOTR as a child and never having a single question about the relationship between men as very close friends, men crying and being honorable, men having weak and stupid moments and regretting them, and then I see this and I'm like: WHY?! why would you transform middle earth in this? LOTR always questioned the guy who acted as a prick. Main characters would always try their best, be both vulnerable and strong. I'm so tired of hollywood :C I want masculinity to be redeemed
Feels bad man
Isn’t it ridiculous? Young boys don’t have idols to look up to in media anymore. It’s quite a shame.
Start watching 80s action movies. Only place you're going to see masculinity .... of course there is a lot of garbage in there as well. We need to swing the pendulum back in the middle where it belongs.
Galadriel jumping off the boat into the ocean was absolutely ludicrous! 🤦🏽♂️
Go look up the excuses people are making for it on the Reddit threads. It’s really funny.
Every point you said is bang on tbh. All things I either openly or subconsciously thought at the time of watching and is great to have someone so accurately break down all these issues. Well done :)
Thank you!
Story and characters, are in my opinion always superior to pretty visuals.
Completely agree about the writing differences and the horrible writing on ROP. The silly writing kept making me burst out laughing. And a lot of it makes no logical sense as you pointed out. In Peter Jackson's trilogy I believe the writing and take it seriously. On a completely unrelated note, you could absolutely play an elf in Peter Jackson's Middle Earth.
this was no contest, House of the Dragon is vastly superior to any shit Amazon can produce, and I work for Amazon, I am glad that Rings of Power failed, I read the Silmarillion and I have to say I am just shocked that the Rings of Power showrunners are some of the most dimwitted ever, not since Star Trek Discovery and Picard have I seen a show fail to miss the point of the source material, not to mention horrible acting. Big Budget means nothing.
You made a lot of good points, especially about show don’t tell and the dialogue, but one point I have to disagree on in the need for selfless characters. Protagonist =/= hero in the classic sense. A protagonist does not necessarily have to be a good person, at least not entirely, and they certainly don’t have to be selfless. What they have to be is interesting. Relatable is a close second. I also notice that you didn’t contrast the assertion that the problem with Rings of Power was lack of characters who weren’t assholes with an example from House of The Dragon. Because most of those characters are also assholes from what I’ve gathered (correct me if I’m wrong).
It’s not necessarily a flaw to have both sides be in the wrong, as is the case in The Southlands arc. But to pull it off, the viewer needs to understand why both sides believe that they are justified in thinking that way. Because then it becomes a tragedy, and the viewer is engaged in the conflict between them. Which requires a certain amount of subtlety of writing that the Rings of Power writers clearly don’t have.
Also Gladrial’s character arc is probably set up as something along the lines of “learn to be nicer to her soldiers so they actually listen to her” or even “learn to care about and respect her soldiers”. It’s terribly executed but as a writer, I can see what they were trying to set up.
I agree that having her jump off the boat, while emotionally solid and viscerally satisfying just does not work from a plot perspective.
in defense of the tournament: It was sad that most of the knights were young and reckless. They were trained to fight in the time of peace. Also about starting wars, they were probably lesser lords, and their family could have started some blood feuds, but nothing like great houses. it will be local problem at best which will be controlled by their high lord.
That sounds right. I’d love to see what a historian would think of it.
@@tonydeldegan I have interested by this scene too and looked it up, in some tournaments it was normal to fight to the death in some instances (it was rare) but most of the time the killing was by accident
@@hordynighthawk325 Oh, okay. Yeah, I knew they were brutal and had accidental death, but it’s interesting to hear they had fatal melees.
This is such a great analysis, you're very eloquent. I hope you make more videos like this one in the future. Perhaps, once the seasons are over on both shows and you give your final thoughts on them from a writing pov.
Thank you! That's a very good idea. I think I'll do that.
You articulated everything I was feeling about Rings of Power.
My main issues with the show have been god-awful dialog and lack of emoting from Galadriel. In Lord of the Rings, Galadriel smiled and showed warmth towards Frodo, laughed with Gimli, worried over the quest with Elrond, was terrifying when offered the ring, she sagged with relief when she rejected it, showed sorrow at seeing Aragorn for the last time, and was excited when boarding the boat. In Rings of Power, she has shown barely any emotion other than a single fake-looking tear when her brother died.
When Galadriel's group mutinied, it's like...why should I care? You haven't shown them being friends and fighting together. I don't know who these people are so why should I care that they've left?
People act like if you don't like the show it must be for racist reasons, but it's not. The guy who play Arondir is the best actor on the show. Disa is sweet too. Lack of diversity is one of the very few things Peter Jackson got wrong with Lord of the Rings and I support the diverse casting on RoP, but I probably won't watch the rest of the series, which is a shame as I love Lord of the Rings and was looking forward to getting into that world again. I only scene I liked was the dwarves in ep 2. I liked Disa's story about singing to the stones, and seeing the thriving mine city. That's it.
House of the Dragon on the other hand has been fantastic. It's all the things that made Game of Thrones great in the early seasons (subtle politicking, power grabs and uncomfortable but strong scenes) before it lost the plot with zombies, shape shifting assassins and a kid who goes around telling people he's a bird and gets made king. The dialog is better than in RoP. The costumes are better. Sets, use of CGI, plot, characterisation, motivation, etc are all better.
Peter got everything right. He followed the source material. Probably one of the best adaptations ever made.
@@gameaccount2401 If he followed the source material, explain why there were elves at Helms Deep?
Galadriel has two emotions: Angry and Angry.
Very interesting. Often, something just feels 'off' yet you don't really understand why. I was getting it almost constantly in ep1 of ROP and not just with the writing. The visuals were pretty but, again, something just felt off with them, like they're not real in the world itself, just flat and lifeless. I listen to other people, much more qualified than me, talk about various aspects of ROP and it's always the same; whether it's costume, acting, editing, armour - something is 'off'. Comparisons to HOD is almost a joke, there's a chasm in quality between them.
editing. the scene cuts and transitions are off. Again part of it is bad writing. Where do you cut when everything is blah
A diamond and an old fossilized piece of human poop one of these things is better than the other
Everything is wrong with ROP. The only thing that is good is the visuals. And Who the fuck hired an actor who looks like Dr. Oz's twin for Elrond's part?
He was young Ned Stark in GOT. Not sure why they made him look like this.
You need to remember that in medieval times women died often in or after labor. Postpartum hemorrhage is still high upon the death cause list in 3rd world countries if it is not number one. I think this might have been more of an argument than women not having the time to rule a realm because they needed to focus on parenting, i mean with servants and all.
I believe I mentioned something about death during labor, or perhaps I'm misremembering. You are very correct, though.
Excellent video. Thank you. I agree about everything you said.
I appreciate that!
A snail is miles ahead of Rings of Power, both in progress and writing.
You make great videos I really hope you get lots more subscribers!
I appreciate that! Thank you!
Loved this!
i really enjoyed the video and the points you made for both of the shows. i thought about watching rings of power, but i've heard from several different sources/people the same things you spoke about and it makes me think i wouldn't make it past the first episode anyway. also, is that a pop of gary oldman's dracula behind you? because i might have made an ungodly noise when i noticed it. 😂 if i'm wrong, ignore me!
Thank you! And yes, that is indeed. One of my favorite movies.
House of the Dragon makes Rings of Power look like 1990s daytime television.
Ricki Lake is better than Rings of power
Thank you for addressing the absurd violence in the joust of House of the Dragon. I understand they did it to make it more dramatic, but when you think about it is incomprehensible; why would lords and nobles send their children if there was a chance of them getting killed and there would be no punishment to the offender. There is no one enforcing the rules or security, so we have to assume nothing happened to the offender. And like you said the violence and the gravity of competing in a joust gave the message how dangerous it was already, they didn't need to include blatant killing at the end. The director shouldn't always assume that the audience is dumb and can't pick up the subtlety.
Lol One does not simply swim across an ocean alone into Mordor
I would have hired retired Oxford Dons familiar with Tolkien to filter the script through. I think that would have been the closest I could have gotten to recreating the feel of his text.
This show is like Americans using a British accent to sound British. There are nuances to the culture, expressions, slang etc. that create legitimacy. Even though the actors are English, the writers are all American. I mean really?!
Having them rephrase the dialogue would have gone a long way toward improving the feel of the show.
Interesting choice of words for someone that understands subtext.
your critique is so accurate, I do think one thing you missed was the unrealistic cast about adding diversity to the cast of house of dragon. I think to add black people as a black person to the show was such a beautiful, inclusive, cool yet intelligent touch that not a lot of of ppl talk about. These house of black royalty is so intriguing is quite unexpected led to excitement and also catered to modern day inclusivity.
It's not even close.
"I bite my thumb at thee" is a lot less impactful as the rudeness of actual making the gesture itself.
Close your eyes and hear the tv elves speak and you will immediately notice the big difference in dialogue compared to the movie elves. The problem is that Amazon not only forced the diversity but also wanted to forget JRR Tolkien's established Elvish language. It's cringy every time Galadriel and Elrond talk, they sound human and not ethereal elves.
Amazon elves are just pointy eared humans they aren’t distinct or otherworldly at all
I'm not sure if the writing is supposed to be comparable. One of a utter fantasy where there are happy endings, no rapes, and it's something the whole family can watch. The other clearly isn't. House of The Dragon depends on a merky narrative and has a fanbase accustomed to terrible things happening almost as a demand. If you're watching House of The Dragon or Game of Thrones it can be downright strange if nothing _bad_ happens and plans work out perfectly.
Rings of Power seems to follow in the footsteps of its cinematic predecessors, ramping up danger up a point but also doesn't overwhelm the viewer with utter hopelessness. You feel that hope can win out. Nobility is rewarded. Basically, I'm saying that House of The Dragon will be the better-written show. But that's never been a question.
Best analogy I can put together is Tom Cruise is a great movie star, but he's no Al Pacino who's an actor who'd played many different kinds of roles.
IT just seems pretty easy to point out which one has the better writing and which one is more spectacle. I do like how the writing of both shows keeps consistent. Lastly, it's a great deal easier to write characters people can relate to within HOTD. Basically all the House of the Dragon people are humans for the most part. You don't have to rack your brain thinking _"How would a 3004 year old elf react to..."_ which removes a few hurdles.
But there are also situations that some in the Ring of Power universes characters can't experience simply based on the 14+ rating of the show. Not that mature rated shows have great writing automatically, but it helps if you're trying to paint a complex storyline that's a little more down to earth.
Take care
(PS. I'm enjoying the hell out of both shows)
Good writing is applicable to every tv show or film. It doesnt matter if one show is darker than the other, PJ's Lord of the Rings had good writing.
You know its bad writing when the acting looks bad, e.g. "You have not seen what I have seen"
Theyve got the biggest budget ever and cant get good writers?
@@alzer6467 Hmm, _good writing_ depends sorta on what you're looking for in a show. For example--> *Top Gun: Maverick* doesn't do anything new, keeps to the storyline, and gives a slight personality to the characters but the writing in that movie is all about the entertainment factor and keeping your eyes glued to the screen. Good writing is often knowing what kind of project you're working on and what the expectations are. Rings of Power at no point in time has given me the expectation that it's going to be an overserious family drama that's going to reflect the horrors of the real world.
_It's all about hope, escapism, and just sorta turning your brain off and diving into the world that's presented therein._ So in terms of writing, it's good to me because it's doing exactly what it set out to do. It reflects the movies that have come before.
House of The Dragon focuses more on the dramatics. Yes yes, the dragons are cool but the scenes that stick with me have no creatures in them, just actors chewing up the scenery. Now if once you understand how different both of the shows are, there's clearly a preference you're going to go for.
However, since both shows are so vastly different it's very difficult to determine which one has the better writing. If you like classic fantasy then you're going to think of Rings of Power or very differently if you tend to like realism, politics, sex, and blood.
Tldr, you're reaching and making excuses. Lotr has never been top gun, a 2 hour movie.
@@Unworshipediety Yes LOTR is a classic fantasy but we never hear the tv elves speak in Elvish tongue, unlike the movie elves. Plus, the dialogue is just abysmal. The funny thing is that Daemon and Rhaenyra can speak high Valyrian well that they play better at being classic than Galadriel, Elrond and co. 🤣
I don't relate to a dragon riding Prince any more than I relate to an Elf King.
W
They changed everything in ROP ( character, element, timeline, storyline, etc...). The whole things are wrong ! 🤮
Im really confused about your criticism of the rock v boat analogy.
His point doesn't switch, it always remains "rock = sink, boat = float". The reason it comes back in a flashback is because of Galadriel's question of which light to trust (reflection v direct from the source), and Feanor (i think its Feanor) says to trust her gut.
So acting on gut instinct she jumps ship
Yeah, my mistake. I caught that after it was uploaded. I do still think it’s confusing as an analogy anyway, since he reframes it multiple times in his little monologue. But yes, that part was consistent.
They definitely are using vaguely-deep sounding lines to make people THINK that their writing is top notch when really, it’s fairly simple at best and completely nonsensical at worst, when you actually look at some of the lines on paper
issokay dude you can talk a bit faster.
I think it’s fairly obvious that Glad was piling up the helmets as a tribute to her fallen friends. It’s not much of a stretch and it was pretty clear that she wasn’t stacking them for any functional reason. That said, I think HOTD is better. Work on your pacing and inflection brother, you can be monotone at times.
Also- the reason he climbed the mountain THEN suggested to turn around is very simple… they were expecting a massive payoff at the top, finding the enemy or direct signs of his recently being in the stronghold. When they got there and found nothing at first, it broke him… then he even held on until they got inside and found it had been centuries since the orcs were there. That was the end of their patience. The mountain was anticipated by all as the final hurdle before vanquishing the enemy and they were heartbroken to get there and find nothing
@@davidwindell I see your point. Yeah, it can certainly be viewed in that way. Thanks for your tips and insights.
House of the Dragon Vs. Rings of Power they are both boring rubish
Here's your problem. How can you be " heavy-handed " with something that is TRUE??? Rhaenyra not being Queen cause she's a woman is the entire conflict and story arc. You can't be this dense.
ANDOR blows both of these shoes out of the water. Of the two you are comparing, I would have to say HOTD is better than Rings of Power.
Haven't taken a look at Andor, but I've heard some good things about it.
Rings of power was rubbish.
Rings you can watch with your family. On other hand house you can not.
Then you'd still be better off watching a kids' movie instead. I can't see anyone who is too young to handle the GoT universe sit through RoP. Certainly, kids will get bored and ask if they can just go play something while some adults might want to sit through it for the pretty visuals and the hope that something awesome happens eventually. I am not one of those adults. I don't even remember how far I made it. I only remember that scene at the grove that dragged on and on, trying to establish a sense of dread. And the scene on the boat that also dragged on and on, until Galadriel finally made the jump into the water (and to speak entirely openly... the show couldn't keep my attention; it couldn't latch onto me, so I got distracted by reading the news and stuff like that)... Then it was late and I switched off the PC for the day, and never continued watching it. Which is a shame. I had been looking forward to the show becoming available and clicked on it when it premiered on Amazon. I didn't like it, and then I learnt that what seemed to be the majority of viewers felt much the same.
A couple of weeks later, I bought HotD because people were saying it was awesome. It cost me money while RoP was free. And I was worried that I'd be disappointed after having spent a nice chunk of money for it. But... HotD was captivating from the first second. I will not pick up RoP again and give it another try. Even though it costs nothing but time to watch it. I already rewatched HotD - twice.
When watching the first parts of either series, I got the feeling that characters in RoP are just characters. Characters in HotD feel like people.
This is not about suitability for a certain age group. It's about story-telling.
Give me a day filled with LotR Extended Versions and I will be glued to the screen for the entire 10+ hours. But don't make me watch RoP, even if it's supposedly suitablle for kids (I wouldn't know. For all I can tell, you might get big battle scenes with blood splattering everywhere at some point, looting, pillaging and murdering and close-ups of everything that the GoT universe will give you... but that would still not be an incentive to sit through RoP, because gratuitous violence isn't what's making a good show or a bad show).
Galadrial is not pretty imo not anything like Mysarya and Alicant