@@TheSaltyAdmiral bats are above ground not scared of bats, cuz they don’t hurt you. It’s not like a pack of wolves came out. But they’re dwarves created by a god to be fire resistant and the most hearty resilient folk. Instead we see scared babies and a cry baby durian controlled by his wife
It is almost like the show was written and run by a couple of fags in San Fran /Hollywood whose only brush with the real world was that one time their mom took them to the zoo and they hated it cuz the baboons were being loud.
Yes, he's basically saying "You shouldn't save your friend unless you can kill all bad people". I couldn't believe it when I heard it, had to rewind a few times... Whoever wrote that piece is pure evil not Sauron lol.
clearly whoever/whatever is/are the writers of this comedy/trash show doesn't have any idea about Tolkien's work... maybe they just Googled or CHATGPT some reference or picked some cool ideas from PJ's LOTR ...they really don't know what they're doing 🤦♀️🤦♀️🤦♀️
What pissed me the most about Tom using the quote is they totally twisted it. In the trilogy, it's a quote that praises mercy and restraint on killing others, even if we think they deserve to die. In the show, it's like "there's no reason to help your friends in need, because they may be destined to die". What kind of fucked up, anti-Tolkienian philosophy and statement is that? >:(
It's getting harder and harder to believe the writers are really that ignorant of Tolkien's intents but it's equally hard to credit them with the guts to pull off a massive series long piss take.
Why are a bunch of hardy dwarven miners so afraid of a group of bats? Surely they encounter swarms of bats all the time in their day to day work. I was looking forward to your reaction to Tom stealing Gandalf's line, and was not disappointed. 🙂
You'd think they could handle ordinary bats. Maybe these were supposed to be vampires like Thuringwethil? If so it would be strange for Disa to call them, as they were servants of Sauron long before Morgoth fell.
I bet all my money that Disa will overpower the Balrog by singing and save some of the dwarves. No male heroes are allowed in the Middle Earth anymore.
What upset me about the Gandalf quote even more is that they couldn't even apply it correctly, but instead twisted its meaning. Given the context, Tom actually says the opposite here, and it makes no goddamn sense. Frodo was speaking of killing Gollum, and Gandalf argued against that. But in this show, the Stranger wants to SAVE the Hobbits, and then Tom uses the quote to argue against saving the Hobbits. It's really really dumb, and I hate that scene so so much... It's also kind of funny how Earien is shown as the unreasonable one because she was upset that Queen Miriel based her decisions on a magical Elvish object, but also Disa and Durin IV are the reasonable ones for being upset about King Durin III basing his decisions on a magical Elvish object...
Remember that the showrunners are only following the ideology of Bezos and the Tolkien Estate, which is to "fix" JRRT's reactionary works, to make him politically correct.
Tom Bombadil: “Some that live deserve death. Who are you to give it to them?” ScriptMage: “I wanted to reach into the screen and strangle him!” It’s good to see that you took Tom’s advice to heart so quickly! (I’m kidding!)
I'm the biggest Tolkien fanboy that I know of. I seen where you said you were trying to be kinder.! I tried to look at this thing objectively at first, but as more gets released I can't help but take it as a personal slight. On the Professor, and frankly my intelligence. Amazon will realize before the end, maybe that they failed miserably at literally the 1 job they had!!! And that was to make a faithful adaptation of the greatest IP of all time.
There's a rumour that Tolkien Estate is forcing the changes and doesn't let the writers stick to the source material because of the copyright issues. 🤷♀️
@@ozi618 Still doesn't fly. Why are these idiots too thick to look at their precious map and measure scales? You know, if they won't deal with Tom Shippey, how about ONE SINGLE ROLEPLAY GAMER? I mean, surviving a volcano or mounting an anvil in the ceiling. If the Tolkien estate is forcing that and they're doing it, WE ARE IN THE END TIMES.
@@ozi618 if that be true, it is truly a sad day because the fall of ideals is the first thing you loose upon being destroyed altogether. Lucky for us, we have the completed works and the subsequent letters the professor sent as he predicted this would happen. He cemented his life's labor so it could stay pure band beloved by all
Even if Amazon had full access to the Silmarillion, if these scriptwriters were not woke activists who want to rewrite literally everything, but professionals-perfectionists who care about every singe word from the books, any adaptation of the Second Age seems almost impossible. How to turn that third person narrative into a TV show filled with active characters, including supporting characters, with their lines, dialogues, etc. I can even more or less imagine The Children of Húrin as a mini series fantasy drama, but not these parts of the Second Age, where even time compression is already a problem ( almost 2000 years from the forging of the Rings to the the Siedge of Barad-dûr isn't a TV thing, how to fill all these years? ).
@@ozi618 The Tolkien Estate believe that JRRT was reactionary and hopelessly old-fashioned. That want his work fixed, so it becomes politically correct and woke. They are quite happy to have his stories re-written in this light.
I’m surprised you weren’t more angry with the depiction of the “Valar’s Justice” looking more like an act of human sacrifice than anything that would actually be related to the Valar.
Well, it’s not something decreed by Tolkien’s Valar, but the Valar as presented by the Rings of Power come across more like the Greek gods in Clash of the Titans. The scene with the Leviathan seems very inspired by the scene with the Kraken from the 1980s Clash of the Titans.
Empire Strikes Back. Game of Thrones season 1. Batman Begins. Clash of the Titans. You can list the movies Amazon had the AI “scrape” for scenes. Also, it all feels small bc they cut the CGI budget. This is NOT the most expensive show ever made. It might be the CHEAPEST.
A lot of this show just makes me roll my eyes, but having Gandalf's line be something he's just quoting... actually made me mad. Imagine if the first season had been mainly focused on the Celebrimbor and Annatar stuff rather than the Galadriel nonsense, without the need for the contrivances to keep Celebrimbor from finding out who it is. Miles better at the drop of a hat.
If it was such a sacred ritual you'd think the numenorians would have a temple there or places to stand and sit. Or at least smoothed out the land in front of the water. Nope. It's a whole bunch of jagged stone and gravel.... wtf. These showrunners have no vision or even think about the little things at all.
Bombadil said the quote backwards because its set up as a test. I dont like the Fellowship quotes either tho.Its like theyre trying to get back at Peter Jackson for not including the Old Forest scenes. I think this show didnt need a single hobbit,theyre the wekest part to me. Theyre just unnecessary.I get the feeling Jeff Bezos personally demanded the presence of hobbits. I like a lot about Numenor but it couldve been depicted as more epic.The Numenorians dont feel majestic enough. My favorite part is Sauron and Celebrimbor. I think they do a reasonbly good job of depicting Sauron as a Satanic deceiver.Its good even with the timeline changes and the order of forging.
You’re cute, funny and make good points! Love your take on this episode as well! Totally agree that they ripped of Empire Strikes Back, and must say I laughed to your reaction regarding the Gandalf quote! 😁 I felt the same!! Keep up the good work! 😉👍
"To the valley of hats, you must go next." - Yod--uh--Tom, Tom, totally Tom Bombadil Yeah, hearing Tom use Gandalf's quote that speaks on the value of mercy to justify abandoning innocents to their death is such a screw up of the entire theme behind that line. This episode feels like just a bunch of setup for the last two. Also, they claimed they had a three episode long battle sequence. That was a lie it seems. Ending on catapults doesn't count. And Numenorians flip-flopping every time someone starts chanting something feels like I'm watching a Mel Brooks style parody.
The stupidest part is the dialogue between Galadriel and Adar: It cuts to Galadriel saying/confirming that Halbrand is Sauron Adar replies that it is "as he suspected". But... he himself released Halbrand from his captivity to go to the Elves to go find Sauron. Why would Adar release the very person he "suspected" of being Sauron to go after Sauron? And what has even occurred in between him capturing Galadriel to make him think that? You would think that Adar's reaction would be something along the lines of "darn I let my moral enemy get away". But it is not. Galadriel seems very unperturbed upon learning that indeed Halbrand/Sauron has gone back to Eregion, despite her explicitly telling Celebrimbor not to trust him, he let him back in anyway. You would think she would be dismayed to hear this but her character gives no such reaction. THEN..., just as we have established that Sauron is likely in Eregion, as well as establishing that both Adar and Galadriel want to get Sauron, and even Galadriel is released from her shackles, you would expect the sensible decision that she just go to Eregion and turn him in. However Adar doesn't want to do this. Adar himself seems to be "motivated" in part by the fact that, after defeating Sauron, he may have to contend with Elves not allowing orcs to exist in Mordor. So his idea is somehow to just indiscriminately attack the city, not even guaranteeing destroying Sauron, and attacking the people you state you want to peacefully coexist with. The whole show is so hopelessly confused that the actors don't even seem to understand how and what their characters ought to be feeling, and they are just haphazardly reading lines of dialogue, unaware that from a narrative point of view, what they are saying doesn't actually make sense.
@@AlaniTheScriptMage How is it constructive to consistently make misleading statements like 'billion dollar production" when you know a large portion of that was used acquiring the rights to even use this material. And alongside that, that number you guys keep throwing out was the one used in the headlines for season 1. Is it a 2 billion dollar production now or was I 1 billion for seasons 1 and 2? Which is it? I'll give you a hint, it's neither of those.
@@deathswitch2404 > to consistently make misleading statements like 'billion dollar production" Had you taken this up with Amazon's marketing and journalism outreach when the first season was coming out?
@@deathswitch2404 That is a fair point! Although, I think my original criticism stands even with that figure stripped away. How am I positively comparing a show of this caliber to a show so unsupported, ten of its episodes were slashed before it even started filming?
I have caught up and I have now watched all of your Rings of Power videos. I feel your pain and I agree with most of your observations. I feel like copying Star Wars is the last straw for me. I won't be watching this season for sure, now. The scene with Muriel and the Sea monster reminded me of Delenn's scene with the star fire in Bablylon 5, too. On the surface, the scenes are comparable but when you think about it, there's no comparison!!!
Many series that get renewed deserve cancellation. Some that aren't renewed deserve six seasons and a movie. Can you give it to them, Frodo? Do not be too eager to deal out cancellation in judgment. Even the very wise cannot see all ends. My heart tells me that Amazons "Rings of Power" has some part to play in it, for good or -evil- content for media journalism, before this is over. The folly of Bezos may rule the fate of many. Nah, jk, this show needs to be cast into the fires of Mount Doom.🌋
Oh wow I didn’t even realize that they did not show any smithing at all.. that’s such a bizarre choice of production considering that its really all about forging the rings…?? So odd and bizarre that they failed this hard
What’s strange to me is that Galadriel seems less concerned about the safety of her people, and more concerned about not being fooled by Sauron. I know at the end of the day it’s the same result but the contextualization of what she cares about should matter.
> What’s strange to me is that Galadriel seems less concerned about the safety of her people, and more concerned about not being fooled by Sauron Prime Galadriel? This is a hundred percent on-brand for Prime Galadriel.
@@troffleI guess so. That said the show wants to frame her as though she is right and correct about almost everything. And even if it is on brand it’s such a bastardization of the character.
As far as Sauron in Moria: I viewed it entirely as manipulation. From the start. He of course knows Prince Durin doesn’t like him, why would he summon him? Obviously he had other means of attaining mithril. The whole meeting felt like a ploy to deepen the greed of King Durin, and deepens the tear between father and son.
Since you brought up the Sauron illusion scene, I posted this earlier to the Angry Joe Show: A couple of things about the Sauron Vision scene that bugged me... 1.) It was night when the orcs attacked, but the vision was full daytime with sunshine. Sure, it made for a nice visual contrast, but it also implies that Celebrimbor was so wrapped up in his work and his forge not having any openings to the outside world at all that he would miss that. Mind control handwavey, still, bothered me. 2.) Celebrimbor is standing there, out in the open, talking to Annatar, without a care in the world. Not one of the elves running around thought to maybe seek some help or solace from the two leaders of the city?
Did you see that the shot of Annatar dropping the illusion was done with practical effects? That was actually impressive. Wish the rest of the transitions were nice lol
At the sea monster event. There seems to be a a crowd of people atop the hill way in the background, which feels like they understood the problem and tried to fix it I post with CGI. The problem is they are too far away to notice.
I wonder if the scale of people is so low because last season there was all the copy/pasting of people and viewers noticed it so the show runners decided to just use real people that they could afford.
That scene with Anathar and Celbrimbor was not smart at all. I mean. You can clearly see when Celebrimbor departs and everything is turning back to normal that they were outside. What’s going on with all the elves running about in the same space but without noticing their king sleepwalking or something?!!!
One of the few things that I liked about this episode was the "Hey, let's just slap 2 powerful things together and see if it works" bit, reminded me of the Nauglamir being used to hold a silmaril. Though, Morgoth's crown feels like almost odd... I do not understand how he could've possibly gotten his hands on it. Would've made the meme fellas happy if he just brought out a piece of the hammer grond.
If Annatar had arrived in Eregion in episode 1 of the first season and the writers made it feel like he was spending years working with Celebrimbor and gaining his confidence, then i could definitely believe that by ep6 of season 2 the story could have arrived where it is now. But according to the RoP timeline, Annatar has been in Eregion for what, around 2 or 3 weeks? And he already is affecting Celebrimbor to the point where he is hallucinating and about to have a mental breakdown?! The worst crime being it makes Celebrimbor out to be a weak, easily-manipulated, dothery old fool. I keep expecting him to say to Annatar "listen pal, who the hell do you think you are to be trying to tell me how to run my forge?! You've barely been here for a wet week. I dont know who you are and we have no relationship or rapport so back the f-off or get your bindle and get back on the road"
I'm going to be so pissed if they try to show Gold Berry. I loved her description in the book. She was as beautiful as the elves, but her beauty seemed like it belonged in Middle Earth, unlike the elves, who were more aloof.
Have you thought they are saving the smithing sequence for the forging of 'the one', because it would get repetitive showing the technique several times before, and then show the ultimate. It's like showing a load of love scenes between two people then showing their wedding night.
I’m only two minutes in so I’ll probably come back and edit this to add more when I’m done but HECK YEAH WORD OF HONOR (which, despite having a budget of literal walnut money, still has better costumes than Sauron looool) Wen Kexing could eat this Sauron for breakfast. Petition for Gong Jun as Annatar.
Nice! I assumed that no one would know what the hell I was talking about. It's nice the know there is at least someone else with me at the center of the Tolkien and Word of Honor fan Venn Diagram.
@@AlaniTheScriptMageI AM HERE WITH YOU 🤝 (also have you seen the untamed and sleuth of ming dynasty? The vibes are immaculate) I do want to add that I actually like Sauron’s costume change here, and agree the scene with Sauron being actually powerful and scary at the end, and the illusion, is fantastic. Again just like. Glimmers of the better show that’s hiding inside the show we got
@@Oakleaf012 Oh, I agree. The costume change was appreciated. And I have seen The Untamed! I haven't seen Sleuth of Ming Dynasty though, I'll have to check that one out. I always love a good mystery. Have you seen Heaven's Official Blessing?
@@AlaniTheScriptMage YESS although I’ve only seen season one, I enjoyed it a lot. CQL and WoH are the ones that really got my by the throat (though I pretend the end of woh doesn’t exist 😂). My ao3 account didn’t know what hit it XD
The funny thing is, is that Sauron can't be "killed". You can only destroy the vessel/body he inhabits, which just kicks the can down the road, until he pours the majority of his essence into the one ring, and even then he's not "dead" he just can't return to Middle Earth, I think
What really made me mad about this Gandalf quite by Tom Bombadil here about death and life was that they completely changed the meaning of it! When Gandalf says it to Frodo, it's about mercy, about sparing a life. Here, it's Tom Bombadil basically telling the stranger to not give a flying monkeys about Nori and whether she lives or dies. Complete opposite.
I feel the same way about this show, but I have felt it since day one. I thought those scenes with Tom and Stranger were weird but never saw the Empire Ripoff at the time. Definitely do now. The portrayal of Celebrimbor, Galadriel, Elrond and Sauron/Halbrand/Anatar, is so far off it's annoying. The game Shadows of Mordor did an excellent adaptation of Celebrimbor and Galadriel. As an Irish native, not a fan of the accents on the Harfoots. Irish accent would suit an Elf or a Dúnedane.
Active forge: My bet is that someone saw an actor trying to hold a tool and thought it would be more believable if they just stood around doing nothing. Never trust an actor around tools. They were the theatre kids in highschool and failed their shop classes. Plus, forges tend to have hot metal, and you don't want untrained people wearing robes and long hair hanging around red hot metal.
Let’s not Forget that PJ actually had his actual blacksmiths dress up as orcs and made orc weapons and filmed it and then put it into the movie to show the audience how the orcs were preparing for war. This damned show can’t even bother to show something similar with the rings.
@@ChrisGrahamkedzuel If that weren't enough, how about getting some of the actors to sit and watch something other than their PR/activism videos, like, what's that show called, "Forged In Fire"? I mean, one or two episodes of that surely would've given them an idea. What happened to the days when actors would study people who were examples of the roles they're supposed to be playing? > They were the theatre kids in highschool and failed their shop classes. Oh, is THAT where the good actors weren't. > and you don't want untrained people wearing robes and long hair hanging around red hot metal. Even with absolutely no experience in forging myself, I'm going to take a stab in the dark and mention that even in a damned McDonalds PEOPLE WEAR HAIR NETS.
I'm curious; you said a woman you work with watches and enjoys this show, and you enjoy talking about the show, or Tolkien, with her. How do you go about talking about the show without getting negative and potentially ruining the show for her?
What I really, really despise about them feeding Gandalf his future lines is that it massively undercuts the wisdom of the character. He did not say something profound and deep of his own volition in Lord of The Rings, he just plucked some suitable phrase from his distant memory that seemed fitting.
Did Disa even tell them about the thing roaring at her in the cave near the market? Did nobody in the market hear a monster roar in an adjacent room? If not it’s kind of similar to the bs with Galadriel not clearly warning anyone about Sauron, instead using vague warnings that end up being ignored. And if she does warn them, then why are they less concerned with the very real “there be beasties” and instead focused on the fuzzy “mining”s bad, mmkay” mentality, just because they have questions about the king’s mental state?
I think Tom is testing Gandalf, like how Eru tested Aule by telling him to destroy his newly created Dwarves because they weren't the children of IIvatar. He was about to kill them and Eru told him to stop. It's very biblical.
I really like your observation about the lack of smithing going on. And that fact just further contributes to it not feeling like a real world. The forge doesnt feel like a real forge where work is happening. I've never been in a blacksmiths forge but imagine its noisy and messy and those working there look amd dress like the work in a working forge. Celebrimbors smiths are always dressed in lovely flowing robes and with clean faces and hair. Amazon are obviously very proud of how the show looks but id love to tell them its OK to dirty things and people up sometimes, not just the orcs
I’m giving 5 to 1 odds that the “test” B is referring - in spite of his apparent support for the other choice - is if proto-Gandalf is Good enough to go save his friends rather than pursue his own power. And you didn’t even mention the WORST part about B’s quote about life and death is that the real Gandalf used it about not KILLING people, not in reference to not SAVING your friends - a distinction about as subtle as the difference between Morgoth and Elbereth. The real Gandalf I feel sure would never have used that aphorism in the latter sense! Gandalf - who chose to go save Faramir from his father because a friend (Pippin) begged him, and in spite of the others that might die in his absence. But basically that the writers would even put that quote in there in that context, much less in Bombadil’s mouth, is as good an example of how they don’t get it as we have had so far. Add it to the giant pile. Also, this episode gives the most weighty evidence yet that what the show-runners are calling a “plot” in fact emerged from a handful of ideas thrown around in a late night spitballing session and then tenuously stitched together. With the Sauron cat almost out of the bag and only its tail and a rear leg left to emerge its hard to understand how the map found by our wood elf friend can justify the one scene his is in. I hope it turns out to be a major macguffin, because if not this is proof positive they will insert meaningless badassery space filler in a show with many a glaring plot hole.
The Crown of Morgoth was forged by the Valar into a collar for Morgoth before he was condemned to the Void. I just read in the Lord of the Ring where Faramir recounted to Frodo that Gandalf told him his various names and Gandalf told him that they have no name for him in the East as he NEVER went there. So this guy can’t be Gandalf.
And the funny thing is that they all are "elf-woman-blacksmith´s" that doesn't even lift a hammer! by Eru this show is a spat on the face, insults my intelligence on every line
thank you for doing this. I know I could not take this show. this crap would cause a stroke out of frustrated incredulity... "no smithing"- the sound design guys going "nooooo", and the production crew not willing to learn anything about smithing...
4:09 In reference to the fallow forge of Celebrimbor: Listening along with me, my wife just said, “Like your busy village from Conan.” See, I’ve repeatedly contrasted the beehive-level activity in Conan’s opening village scene to the ghost towns of some fantasy and “medieval” depictions of settlements.
This show wasn't made for Tolkien fanboys and fangirls who can recount the events of all Three Ages in Elven. It was made for a general audience that does not care that the events are not chronological. They're making a soap opera for a casual audience.
By messing up with Annatar/Celebrimbor/Guyladriel, they really have had to gut the destruction of Eregion. The whole region was destroyed. They're just making it seem like a city is getting sieged. They're really shooting themselves in the foot. I'd start over completely with different stories at this point next season if I were Amazon.
I truly wonder why the writers thought their view of this show would be better then just an actual adaptation of the source material (or as close to I guess like PJ's trilogy)
@@Frankje01 Yeah, I've had this conversation with people quite a few times. Imagine thinking you can do better at writing Middle Earth content than Tolkien. Imagine thinking you're a better writer for the Song of Ice and Fire than G RR Martin. Imagine thinking you're going to do Star Wars better than Lucas. The Wizarding World better than Rowling. Then realize not one of the people doing this in Hollywood has had any success writing fantasy novels whatsoever. It'd be like a four year old thinking they could win the strongest man competitions at the age of four. It's insane levels of narcissism.
@@AlaniTheScriptMage Oh, it's palpable. I can't imagine Hollywood will keep at it like this for very many more years. Really hoping the upcoming HP show on Max is saved by Rowling.
Hey, at least the ghost of Sadoc Burrows didn't show up to help convince the Stranger to complete the training. Concerning Sauron's powers of illusion, I have an exciting theory after watching this episode. I think it will turn out that Halbrand/Annatar has been an illusion throughout Season 2 -- that when Sauron headed into Mordor at the end of Season 1, he actually went all the way to Orodruin to prepare the Crack of Doom for his purposes and has been projecting the illusion of himself into Adar's camp and Eregion all along. Then, at the end of Episode 8, after the Nine Rings are completed, Sauron will be ready to forge the One Ring in Orodruin. I also thought of an even darker possibility. What if Sauron makes Adar and Galadriel perceive Celebrimbor as Sauron, and they use the Iron Crown and Nenya to kill Celebrimbor??!!
There were never two Durins alive at any time. A Durin was believe to be a reincarnation of the Original made by Aule himself. They totally screwed up the timeline Al Pharazon was only king at the End of Numenor not the middle. So Numenoreans were average neither of 6’4”. Many were 7 feet and taller, taller than elves. and the were more numerous than Elves. They enthralled the lesser “Middle Men” of Middle Earth the descendants of the Forefathers. It would have helped if they had explained The Edain, Elros, their learning from Eonwe. It was Numenoreans that save the elves not the Elves that Saved Men. While the Elves are the Firstborn, Men are hidden from them even until after Melkor discovers them. Men were wakened in the east.
Yeah, it was very tiring to watch through each episode. I think in a play, you will see more action than this series cause each scene, all they do is sit and talk or stand and talk, without actually doing anything, and the action was happening off screen so make this seem like a soap opera instead of a fantasy show.
making mistakes like that points to much larger flaws in the understanding of the trilogy. Gandalf also eludes to that a larger force guides beings in Middle Earth to the best outcome and that is supposed to counter act the sheer raw strength of Sauron. Gandalf is never under any illusion that he can face Sauron in a duel or something like that, the Valar restricts him from using the power that way. Now I personally believe Tom Bombadil is one of those creations and isn't technically "real" it's more like it's happening in his mind kind of a religious experience if you will. For him to say something like that is very very dark. By just that simple statement they undo the entire lore of the Saga which is quite impressive to be honest.
Matt Smith could have been a great Annatar, but he might have looked a bit too much like his role in House of Dragons. Also, Annatar should have been more Noldor-like with darker hair... I get the screenwriter wanted to make Annatar looks like inoffensive so he could trick the elves more easily or something...
This is the episode that totally lost me. I'll finish the season (and enough time will pass that I'll probably watch the start of season 3) but it's not really doing anything for me now.
"What I will give this episodes is that it went by fast." ... anything to end the suffering sooner? 😆 > how am I positively comparing a show with so little budget that it had to run nut ads in the middle of its runtime, how am I comparing it favorably to a billion dollar production Because as we've known since the days of 1960s "Doctor Who" or "Star Trek" - heck, as we've known since the day of STAGE PRODUCTIONS, good writing can make up for any effects or costumes or set production. There's an English impressionist Charlie Hopkinson (a new sub channel called "Not Gandalf"?) doing RoP/LOTR review videos. He does the voices of Gandalf, Saruman, Elrond, Boromir, Aragorn, Samwise... and he has *CRAPPY* CGI overlaying mouth/face-synchronised versions of the movie faces. I mean, the face of "Elrond" is superimposed on a CHILD'S DOLL depicting "young baby Elrond" in a cradle. And better written, it's STILL more engaging than RoP has ever been. > staff-focused Surely, if you know you're capable of some kind of magical effect, why wouldn't anybody even TRY to train that ability without a staff? I mean, if they've got lots of wide empty space out there to practice, what's the problem...? > I wanted to reach into the screen and strangle him STRIKE HIM DOWN WITH ALL OF YOUR VENGEANCE AND OUR JOURNEY TOWARDS THE LIGHT WILL BE COMPLETE!
Amazon knows that once they reveal the simple fact that this is in fact Gandalf, most will be done watching. The long awaited reveal is mainly the only reason some are still watching. The annoying part is Amazon thinking they’ve been so sneaky this entire time. Most watchers came to this conclusion immediately within the first scene, but had hoped for a different path. Who are they to take that from us.
Wouldn't Amazon know once they reveal that this isn't Gandalf, we might be lucky enough to see riots in the streets of Seattle? ... can I take a moment to express how depressing this is; I wanted to verify where Amazon's headquarters was before I wrote that. I searched Wikipedia for "Amazon". ... it's not the Greek mythology, or the river, or the rainforest that came first. Oh no, it was the company. The second hit was the disambiguation. The third was the Greek. The fourth was "Prime Video".
The show is complete garbage. Waited my whole life to see the 2nd age on film and they don't follow the lore at all and basically destroy Tolkiens vision. This isn't Tolkien it's modern agenda bs. It's just bad on all levels, acting, writing, everything about it. Every character including sauron make the dumbest decisions one after another. Nothing ever happens. 90 percent of the show is characters standing around arguing about things and not ever doing anything about it. Or the things they actually do are off screen. No sense of time. Can't tell it takes weeks for something to happen. It's like it's just a day when it actually took months. Or the opposite. What takes a day seems like a week. Elrond getting back to Lindon before the orc army getting to eregion is ridiculous. Durin goes back and forth from kazad dum to eregion multiple times but it seems like he's doing it so fast he's teleworking. Just horrible time management. Talking and talking and talking. It's so boring and again... it's a complete blasphemy of Tolkiens writing and lore. It deserves to be canceled. Period. If you're a true fan of lotr and Tolkiens works you'd feel the same. Horrible show in every way. Even the sets are small and unimpressive looking. Costumes look literally like cosplay. Every single thing is awful. I'm glad it's failing. Hopefully Amazon sells the rights to a platform that'll do it properly.
Read the first ten chapters of Bonesong for free! www.amazon.com/kindle-vella/story/B0DC3J555G
I liked the part where celebrimbor forgot that girl’s name and so did I
So dwarves that live underground are scared of bats? Ok
Are you afraid of anything above ground?
@@TheSaltyAdmiral bats are above ground not scared of bats, cuz they don’t hurt you. It’s not like a pack of wolves came out. But they’re dwarves created by a god to be fire resistant and the most hearty resilient folk. Instead we see scared babies and a cry baby durian controlled by his wife
Also,the bats were gone within 20-30 secs... Why didn't they just come right back and be like... ok that was cute, but now we're coming in. lol.🤷
@@Matthias333 haha right? And they prob see them so often it would be like running from a bunch of birds for us 😂😂
It is almost like the show was written and run by a couple of fags in San Fran /Hollywood whose only brush with the real world was that one time their mom took them to the zoo and they hated it cuz the baboons were being loud.
Not to mention, Gandalf’s wise comment is about the importance of mercy. And Tom is using the same quote for the opposite reason??
Yes! The meaning and wisdom of the quote in Fellowship seems to have been ignored or misunderstood by the RoP writers.
Agreed.
Yes, he's basically saying "You shouldn't save your friend unless you can kill all bad people". I couldn't believe it when I heard it, had to rewind a few times... Whoever wrote that piece is pure evil not Sauron lol.
clearly whoever/whatever is/are the writers of this comedy/trash show doesn't have any idea about Tolkien's work... maybe they just Googled or CHATGPT some reference or picked some cool ideas from PJ's LOTR ...they really don't know what they're doing 🤦♀️🤦♀️🤦♀️
Yeah. It felt like "C'mon, bro. People die everyday. Why does it matter that your friends would die?" 😂
The forge looked like those fake fireplaces in a condominium.
could it be because its also fake?
What pissed me the most about Tom using the quote is they totally twisted it. In the trilogy, it's a quote that praises mercy and restraint on killing others, even if we think they deserve to die. In the show, it's like "there's no reason to help your friends in need, because they may be destined to die". What kind of fucked up, anti-Tolkienian philosophy and statement is that? >:(
Completely agree. It's the exact opposite!
It's getting harder and harder to believe the writers are really that ignorant of Tolkien's intents but it's equally hard to credit them with the guts to pull off a massive series long piss take.
@@dlxmarks A billion dollar piss take!
That actively pissed me off, too.
Actually, it's Gandalf twisting Tom's words ;)
There is not a single actor portraying an elf in this show that actually looks like an elf. Just humans with pointy ears.
@@jaime8318 looks like they all went to the same store and bought the same fabric and made the same clothes especially the Numenorians lmmfao
almost as if elves are mythical creatures and not real.
@@retrorevival1 and let's don't forget that elves are immortal so they can jump off ships and waterfalls and live through it lol.
Arondir is the only one anywhere close to acting elf-like. And yet they make him all dirty and have to sense of dignity
@@retrorevival1 The show is mythical and not real. But unlike the source material, its badly written and deserves only to be mocked.
Why are a bunch of hardy dwarven miners so afraid of a group of bats? Surely they encounter swarms of bats all the time in their day to day work. I was looking forward to your reaction to Tom stealing Gandalf's line, and was not disappointed. 🙂
Yeah, I could see them getting startled, but running all the way back seems like an oddly extreme reaction.
Rabies maybe lol
You'd think they could handle ordinary bats. Maybe these were supposed to be vampires like Thuringwethil? If so it would be strange for Disa to call them, as they were servants of Sauron long before Morgoth fell.
I bet all my money that Disa will overpower the Balrog by singing and save some of the dwarves.
No male heroes are allowed in the Middle Earth anymore.
Much more miners who dont know how to mine
What upset me about the Gandalf quote even more is that they couldn't even apply it correctly, but instead twisted its meaning.
Given the context, Tom actually says the opposite here, and it makes no goddamn sense. Frodo was speaking of killing Gollum, and Gandalf argued against that. But in this show, the Stranger wants to SAVE the Hobbits, and then Tom uses the quote to argue against saving the Hobbits. It's really really dumb, and I hate that scene so so much...
It's also kind of funny how Earien is shown as the unreasonable one because she was upset that Queen Miriel based her decisions on a magical Elvish object, but also Disa and Durin IV are the reasonable ones for being upset about King Durin III basing his decisions on a magical Elvish object...
Remember that the showrunners are only following the ideology of Bezos and the Tolkien Estate, which is to "fix" JRRT's reactionary works, to make him politically correct.
Tom Bombadil: “Some that live deserve death. Who are you to give it to them?” ScriptMage: “I wanted to reach into the screen and strangle him!”
It’s good to see that you took Tom’s advice to heart so quickly! (I’m kidding!)
I'm the biggest Tolkien fanboy that I know of. I seen where you said you were trying to be kinder.! I tried to look at this thing objectively at first, but as more gets released I can't help but take it as a personal slight. On the Professor, and frankly my intelligence. Amazon will realize before the end, maybe that they failed miserably at literally the 1 job they had!!! And that was to make a faithful adaptation of the greatest IP of all time.
There's a rumour that Tolkien Estate is forcing the changes and doesn't let the writers stick to the source material because of the copyright issues. 🤷♀️
@@ozi618 Still doesn't fly. Why are these idiots too thick to look at their precious map and measure scales? You know, if they won't deal with Tom Shippey, how about ONE SINGLE ROLEPLAY GAMER?
I mean, surviving a volcano or mounting an anvil in the ceiling. If the Tolkien estate is forcing that and they're doing it, WE ARE IN THE END TIMES.
@@ozi618 if that be true, it is truly a sad day because the fall of ideals is the first thing you loose upon being destroyed altogether. Lucky for us, we have the completed works and the subsequent letters the professor sent as he predicted this would happen. He cemented his life's labor so it could stay pure band beloved by all
Even if Amazon had full access to the Silmarillion, if these scriptwriters were not woke activists who want to rewrite literally everything, but professionals-perfectionists who care about every singe word from the books, any adaptation of the Second Age seems almost impossible. How to turn that third person narrative into a TV show filled with active characters, including supporting characters, with their lines, dialogues, etc. I can even more or less imagine The Children of Húrin as a mini series fantasy drama, but not these parts of the Second Age, where even time compression is already a problem ( almost 2000 years from the forging of the Rings to the the Siedge of Barad-dûr isn't a TV thing, how to fill all these years? ).
@@ozi618 The Tolkien Estate believe that JRRT was reactionary and hopelessly old-fashioned. That want his work fixed, so it becomes politically correct and woke. They are quite happy to have his stories re-written in this light.
So he's supposed to make 9 rings faster than the city gets destroyed? Makes absolutely no sense at all...
I’m surprised you weren’t more angry with the depiction of the “Valar’s Justice” looking more like an act of human sacrifice than anything that would actually be related to the Valar.
I interpreted it as men twisting something to suit their own ends, not something actually decreed by the Valar, but that is a good point.
Well, it’s not something decreed by Tolkien’s Valar, but the Valar as presented by the Rings of Power come across more like the Greek gods in Clash of the Titans. The scene with the Leviathan seems very inspired by the scene with the Kraken from the 1980s Clash of the Titans.
@@AlaniTheScriptMage > I interpreted it as men twisting something to suit their own ends
... Payne and McKay?
Empire Strikes Back. Game of Thrones season 1. Batman Begins. Clash of the Titans. You can list the movies Amazon had the AI “scrape” for scenes. Also, it all feels small bc they cut the CGI budget. This is NOT the most expensive show ever made. It might be the CHEAPEST.
What was the "Batman Begins" plagiarism?
@@BrianD0313 the bats in the police station.
go woke go broke....remember the change in staffing for season 2
There is no way this show cost 1 billion dollars. The producers must be investigated for stealing money.
@@Christo_Trismegistus something going on, simple marketing BS is the most optimistic theory.
A lot of this show just makes me roll my eyes, but having Gandalf's line be something he's just quoting... actually made me mad.
Imagine if the first season had been mainly focused on the Celebrimbor and Annatar stuff rather than the Galadriel nonsense, without the need for the contrivances to keep Celebrimbor from finding out who it is. Miles better at the drop of a hat.
Exactly! Why wasn't this whole show about Celebrimbor befriending dwarves and Annatar deceiving him into making the rings?
@@AlaniTheScriptMage I still don't understand why the Dwarves would be okay with an elf having the backdoor password to the doors. What am I missing?
If it was such a sacred ritual you'd think the numenorians would have a temple there or places to stand and sit. Or at least smoothed out the land in front of the water. Nope. It's a whole bunch of jagged stone and gravel.... wtf. These showrunners have no vision or even think about the little things at all.
Bombadil said the quote backwards because its set up as a test. I dont like the Fellowship quotes either tho.Its like theyre trying to get back at Peter Jackson for not including the Old Forest scenes. I think this show didnt need a single hobbit,theyre the wekest part to me. Theyre just unnecessary.I get the feeling Jeff Bezos personally demanded the presence of hobbits. I like a lot about Numenor but it couldve been depicted as more epic.The Numenorians dont feel majestic enough. My favorite part is Sauron and Celebrimbor. I think they do a reasonbly good job of depicting Sauron as a Satanic deceiver.Its good even with the timeline changes and the order of forging.
thank you for the video! I never read the books so I like the show tbh! its good to see the point of view from someone who actually knows the story
You’re cute, funny and make good points! Love your take on this episode as well! Totally agree that they ripped of Empire Strikes Back, and must say I laughed to your reaction regarding the Gandalf quote! 😁 I felt the same!! Keep up the good work! 😉👍
Nothing about this episode or any of this shows episodes are remotely good. The bastardization of Tolkien is completely unacceptable. Period.
I love that the first thing is a BIG "Ahhhhh" ^^
Nice content. Amidst countless homogenous reviews, your unique perspective perspective is refreshing.
"To the valley of hats, you must go next." - Yod--uh--Tom, Tom, totally Tom Bombadil
Yeah, hearing Tom use Gandalf's quote that speaks on the value of mercy to justify abandoning innocents to their death is such a screw up of the entire theme behind that line.
This episode feels like just a bunch of setup for the last two.
Also, they claimed they had a three episode long battle sequence. That was a lie it seems. Ending on catapults doesn't count.
And Numenorians flip-flopping every time someone starts chanting something feels like I'm watching a Mel Brooks style parody.
Now I'm looking forward to seeing your reaction to ep7
I thought I would enjoy hate watching this show…but instead it just makes me sad
The stupidest part is the dialogue between Galadriel and Adar:
It cuts to Galadriel saying/confirming that Halbrand is Sauron
Adar replies that it is "as he suspected". But... he himself released Halbrand from his captivity to go to the Elves to go find Sauron. Why would Adar release the very person he "suspected" of being Sauron to go after Sauron? And what has even occurred in between him capturing Galadriel to make him think that? You would think that Adar's reaction would be something along the lines of "darn I let my moral enemy get away". But it is not.
Galadriel seems very unperturbed upon learning that indeed Halbrand/Sauron has gone back to Eregion, despite her explicitly telling Celebrimbor not to trust him, he let him back in anyway. You would think she would be dismayed to hear this but her character gives no such reaction.
THEN..., just as we have established that Sauron is likely in Eregion, as well as establishing that both Adar and Galadriel want to get Sauron, and even Galadriel is released from her shackles, you would expect the sensible decision that she just go to Eregion and turn him in.
However Adar doesn't want to do this. Adar himself seems to be "motivated" in part by the fact that, after defeating Sauron, he may have to contend with Elves not allowing orcs to exist in Mordor. So his idea is somehow to just indiscriminately attack the city, not even guaranteeing destroying Sauron, and attacking the people you state you want to peacefully coexist with.
The whole show is so hopelessly confused that the actors don't even seem to understand how and what their characters ought to be feeling, and they are just haphazardly reading lines of dialogue, unaware that from a narrative point of view, what they are saying doesn't actually make sense.
When the dwarves were dumping the gold at Durin’s feet I had a stray thought about Thorin’s father under the mountain before Smaug came
I like how youre trying soo hard to be polite about it. I can tell theres some extreme opinions youre trying to hold in tho
I believe in constructive criticism, and I intend to *cling* to that belief.
@@AlaniTheScriptMage Sadly I don't think they're listening
@@AlaniTheScriptMage How is it constructive to consistently make misleading statements like 'billion dollar production" when you know a large portion of that was used acquiring the rights to even use this material. And alongside that, that number you guys keep throwing out was the one used in the headlines for season 1. Is it a 2 billion dollar production now or was I 1 billion for seasons 1 and 2? Which is it? I'll give you a hint, it's neither of those.
@@deathswitch2404 > to consistently make misleading statements like 'billion dollar production"
Had you taken this up with Amazon's marketing and journalism outreach when the first season was coming out?
@@deathswitch2404 That is a fair point! Although, I think my original criticism stands even with that figure stripped away. How am I positively comparing a show of this caliber to a show so unsupported, ten of its episodes were slashed before it even started filming?
I have caught up and I have now watched all of your Rings of Power videos. I feel your pain and I agree with most of your observations. I feel like copying Star Wars is the last straw for me. I won't be watching this season for sure, now. The scene with Muriel and the Sea monster reminded me of Delenn's scene with the star fire in Bablylon 5, too. On the surface, the scenes are comparable but when you think about it, there's no comparison!!!
I am praying there is no season 3.
Many series that get renewed deserve cancellation. Some that aren't renewed deserve six seasons and a movie. Can you give it to them, Frodo? Do not be too eager to deal out cancellation in judgment. Even the very wise cannot see all ends. My heart tells me that Amazons "Rings of Power" has some part to play in it, for good or -evil- content for media journalism, before this is over. The folly of Bezos may rule the fate of many.
Nah, jk, this show needs to be cast into the fires of Mount Doom.🌋
**Totally Not Gandalf causes Nori and friend to get yeeted by a tornado**
Many days later,
TNG: Nori might be in trouble!
Ya don't say... 🙄
Oh wow I didn’t even realize that they did not show any smithing at all.. that’s such a bizarre choice of production considering that its really all about forging the rings…?? So odd and bizarre that they failed this hard
What’s strange to me is that Galadriel seems less concerned about the safety of her people, and more concerned about not being fooled by Sauron. I know at the end of the day it’s the same result but the contextualization of what she cares about should matter.
> What’s strange to me is that Galadriel seems less concerned about the safety of her people, and more concerned about not being fooled by Sauron
Prime Galadriel? This is a hundred percent on-brand for Prime Galadriel.
@@troffleI guess so. That said the show wants to frame her as though she is right and correct about almost everything. And even if it is on brand it’s such a bastardization of the character.
I like your analysis, thank you and subscribed 👍
Thank you!
The sigh in the beginning is all the review I needed, lol.
As far as Sauron in Moria:
I viewed it entirely as manipulation. From the start. He of course knows Prince Durin doesn’t like him, why would he summon him? Obviously he had other means of attaining mithril.
The whole meeting felt like a ploy to deepen the greed of King Durin, and deepens the tear between father and son.
Since you brought up the Sauron illusion scene, I posted this earlier to the Angry Joe Show:
A couple of things about the Sauron Vision scene that bugged me...
1.) It was night when the orcs attacked, but the vision was full daytime with sunshine. Sure, it made for a nice visual contrast, but it also implies that Celebrimbor was so wrapped up in his work and his forge not having any openings to the outside world at all that he would miss that. Mind control handwavey, still, bothered me.
2.) Celebrimbor is standing there, out in the open, talking to Annatar, without a care in the world. Not one of the elves running around thought to maybe seek some help or solace from the two leaders of the city?
Did you see that the shot of Annatar dropping the illusion was done with practical effects? That was actually impressive. Wish the rest of the transitions were nice lol
13:24
Never did I resonate so deeply with someone on the internet.
At the sea monster event. There seems to be a a crowd of people atop the hill way in the background, which feels like they understood the problem and tried to fix it I post with CGI. The problem is they are too far away to notice.
Sorry. I posted this before I got to the part where it was pointed out.
hehe. I know! I only noticed on repeat and it's much too minor to solve the problem
I wonder if the scale of people is so low because last season there was all the copy/pasting of people and viewers noticed it so the show runners decided to just use real people that they could afford.
That scene with Anathar and Celbrimbor was not smart at all. I mean. You can clearly see when Celebrimbor departs and everything is turning back to normal that they were outside. What’s going on with all the elves running about in the same space but without noticing their king sleepwalking or something?!!!
One of the few things that I liked about this episode was the "Hey, let's just slap 2 powerful things together and see if it works" bit, reminded me of the Nauglamir being used to hold a silmaril.
Though, Morgoth's crown feels like almost odd... I do not understand how he could've possibly gotten his hands on it.
Would've made the meme fellas happy if he just brought out a piece of the hammer grond.
If Annatar had arrived in Eregion in episode 1 of the first season and the writers made it feel like he was spending years working with Celebrimbor and gaining his confidence, then i could definitely believe that by ep6 of season 2 the story could have arrived where it is now. But according to the RoP timeline, Annatar has been in Eregion for what, around 2 or 3 weeks? And he already is affecting Celebrimbor to the point where he is hallucinating and about to have a mental breakdown?! The worst crime being it makes Celebrimbor out to be a weak, easily-manipulated, dothery old fool. I keep expecting him to say to Annatar "listen pal, who the hell do you think you are to be trying to tell me how to run my forge?! You've barely been here for a wet week. I dont know who you are and we have no relationship or rapport so back the f-off or get your bindle and get back on the road"
I'm going to be so pissed if they try to show Gold Berry. I loved her description in the book. She was as beautiful as the elves, but her beauty seemed like it belonged in Middle Earth, unlike the elves, who were more aloof.
Have you thought they are saving the smithing sequence for the forging of 'the one', because it would get repetitive showing the technique several times before, and then show the ultimate. It's like showing a load of love scenes between two people then showing their wedding night.
What Chinese drama is ScriptMage referencing and has anyone else seen it?
Ah Rings of Power- 7 episodes of nothing happening climaxing in 1 episode of disappointment...
I’m only two minutes in so I’ll probably come back and edit this to add more when I’m done but HECK YEAH WORD OF HONOR (which, despite having a budget of literal walnut money, still has better costumes than Sauron looool) Wen Kexing could eat this Sauron for breakfast. Petition for Gong Jun as Annatar.
Nice! I assumed that no one would know what the hell I was talking about. It's nice the know there is at least someone else with me at the center of the Tolkien and Word of Honor fan Venn Diagram.
@@AlaniTheScriptMageI AM HERE WITH YOU 🤝 (also have you seen the untamed and sleuth of ming dynasty? The vibes are immaculate)
I do want to add that I actually like Sauron’s costume change here, and agree the scene with Sauron being actually powerful and scary at the end, and the illusion, is fantastic. Again just like. Glimmers of the better show that’s hiding inside the show we got
@@Oakleaf012 Oh, I agree. The costume change was appreciated.
And I have seen The Untamed! I haven't seen Sleuth of Ming Dynasty though, I'll have to check that one out. I always love a good mystery.
Have you seen Heaven's Official Blessing?
@@AlaniTheScriptMage YESS although I’ve only seen season one, I enjoyed it a lot. CQL and WoH are the ones that really got my by the throat (though I pretend the end of woh doesn’t exist 😂). My ao3 account didn’t know what hit it XD
haha. I know the feeling:)
The funny thing is, is that Sauron can't be "killed". You can only destroy the vessel/body he inhabits, which just kicks the can down the road, until he pours the majority of his essence into the one ring, and even then he's not "dead" he just can't return to Middle Earth, I think
Sauron is dressed up like a evening wear model in a Donatella Versace fashion show 😂
What really made me mad about this Gandalf quite by Tom Bombadil here about death and life was that they completely changed the meaning of it! When Gandalf says it to Frodo, it's about mercy, about sparing a life. Here, it's Tom Bombadil basically telling the stranger to not give a flying monkeys about Nori and whether she lives or dies. Complete opposite.
I feel the same way about this show, but I have felt it since day one. I thought those scenes with Tom and Stranger were weird but never saw the Empire Ripoff at the time. Definitely do now. The portrayal of Celebrimbor, Galadriel, Elrond and Sauron/Halbrand/Anatar, is so far off it's annoying. The game Shadows of Mordor did an excellent adaptation of Celebrimbor and Galadriel. As an Irish native, not a fan of the accents on the Harfoots. Irish accent would suit an Elf or a Dúnedane.
Active forge:
My bet is that someone saw an actor trying to hold a tool and thought it would be more believable if they just stood around doing nothing.
Never trust an actor around tools. They were the theatre kids in highschool and failed their shop classes. Plus, forges tend to have hot metal, and you don't want untrained people wearing robes and long hair hanging around red hot metal.
Let’s not Forget that PJ actually had his actual blacksmiths dress up as orcs and made orc weapons and filmed it and then put it into the movie to show the audience how the orcs were preparing for war. This damned show can’t even bother to show something similar with the rings.
@@ChrisGrahamkedzuel If that weren't enough, how about getting some of the actors to sit and watch something other than their PR/activism videos, like, what's that show called, "Forged In Fire"? I mean, one or two episodes of that surely would've given them an idea.
What happened to the days when actors would study people who were examples of the roles they're supposed to be playing?
> They were the theatre kids in highschool and failed their shop classes.
Oh, is THAT where the good actors weren't.
> and you don't want untrained people wearing robes and long hair hanging around red hot metal.
Even with absolutely no experience in forging myself, I'm going to take a stab in the dark and mention that even in a damned McDonalds PEOPLE WEAR HAIR NETS.
I'm curious; you said a woman you work with watches and enjoys this show, and you enjoy talking about the show, or Tolkien, with her. How do you go about talking about the show without getting negative and potentially ruining the show for her?
What I really, really despise about them feeding Gandalf his future lines is that it massively undercuts the wisdom of the character. He did not say something profound and deep of his own volition in Lord of The Rings, he just plucked some suitable phrase from his distant memory that seemed fitting.
Did Disa even tell them about the thing roaring at her in the cave near the market? Did nobody in the market hear a monster roar in an adjacent room? If not it’s kind of similar to the bs with Galadriel not clearly warning anyone about Sauron, instead using vague warnings that end up being ignored.
And if she does warn them, then why are they less concerned with the very real “there be beasties” and instead focused on the fuzzy “mining”s bad, mmkay” mentality, just because they have questions about the king’s mental state?
You're gonna LOVE episode 7... 🤭🤭🤭
I think Tom is testing Gandalf, like how Eru tested Aule by telling him to destroy his newly created Dwarves because they weren't the children of IIvatar. He was about to kill them and Eru told him to stop. It's very biblical.
18:33 ...and then she says "I love you", and he responds "I know".
I really like your observation about the lack of smithing going on. And that fact just further contributes to it not feeling like a real world. The forge doesnt feel like a real forge where work is happening. I've never been in a blacksmiths forge but imagine its noisy and messy and those working there look amd dress like the work in a working forge. Celebrimbors smiths are always dressed in lovely flowing robes and with clean faces and hair.
Amazon are obviously very proud of how the show looks but id love to tell them its OK to dirty things and people up sometimes, not just the orcs
Completely agree!
Hang in there, only two to go
I’m giving 5 to 1 odds that the “test” B is referring - in spite of his apparent support for the other choice - is if proto-Gandalf is Good enough to go save his friends rather than pursue his own power. And you didn’t even mention the WORST part about B’s quote about life and death is that the real Gandalf used it about not KILLING people, not in reference to not SAVING your friends - a distinction about as subtle as the difference between Morgoth and Elbereth. The real Gandalf I feel sure would never have used that aphorism in the latter sense! Gandalf - who chose to go save Faramir from his father because a friend (Pippin) begged him, and in spite of the others that might die in his absence. But basically that the writers would even put that quote in there in that context, much less in Bombadil’s mouth, is as good an example of how they don’t get it as we have had so far. Add it to the giant pile.
Also, this episode gives the most weighty evidence yet that what the show-runners are calling a “plot” in fact emerged from a handful of ideas thrown around in a late night spitballing session and then tenuously stitched together. With the Sauron cat almost out of the bag and only its tail and a rear leg left to emerge its hard to understand how the map found by our wood elf friend can justify the one scene his is in. I hope it turns out to be a major macguffin, because if not this is proof positive they will insert meaningless badassery space filler in a show with many a glaring plot hole.
You never ask a woman her age, a man how much he earns, or a maiar what he had to do to get a chunk of mithril.
I feel bad for the actors (most of them) who seem to be trying to do the best with what they are given
The Crown of Morgoth was forged by the Valar into a collar for Morgoth before he was condemned to the Void. I just read in the Lord of the Ring where Faramir recounted to Frodo that Gandalf told him his various names and Gandalf told him that they have no name for him in the East as he NEVER went there. So this guy can’t be Gandalf.
If they were following canon that would be true, but I unfortunately don't think they are in the gandalf matter.
@@AlaniTheScriptMage it’s in the Two Towers, Book Four, The Window on the West, “ to the East I go not.”.
And the funny thing is that they all are "elf-woman-blacksmith´s" that doesn't even lift a hammer! by Eru this show is a spat on the face, insults my intelligence on every line
Note that in the book, Gandalf's hat is also blue, not grey like his robes.
Good point! Now, I'm hoping they don't try to make it seem like he got the hat from Tom even more
@@AlaniTheScriptMage There would have to be something very special about a hat for it not to wear out from being worn for thousands of years.
Let's pretend the writers are trying to make us think its Gandalf only to surprise us later that it is a blue wizard. It's a long shot but we can hope
thank you for doing this. I know I could not take this show. this crap would cause a stroke out of frustrated incredulity... "no smithing"- the sound design guys going "nooooo", and the production crew not willing to learn anything about smithing...
I heard a theory that Adar is long lost husband of Galadriel.. I cringed but would not put it past creators to do something like this..
4:09 In reference to the fallow forge of Celebrimbor:
Listening along with me, my wife just said, “Like your busy village from Conan.” See, I’ve repeatedly contrasted the beehive-level activity in Conan’s opening village scene to the ghost towns of some fantasy and “medieval” depictions of settlements.
Greetings from Spain!
Pharazon looks like Jack Black. That by itself just totally kills the scene.
This show wasn't made for Tolkien fanboys and fangirls who can recount the events of all Three Ages in Elven. It was made for a general audience that does not care that the events are not chronological. They're making a soap opera for a casual audience.
And the casual audience is not watching this crap.
By messing up with Annatar/Celebrimbor/Guyladriel, they really have had to gut the destruction of Eregion. The whole region was destroyed. They're just making it seem like a city is getting sieged. They're really shooting themselves in the foot. I'd start over completely with different stories at this point next season if I were Amazon.
I truly wonder why the writers thought their view of this show would be better then just an actual adaptation of the source material (or as close to I guess like PJ's trilogy)
@@Frankje01 Yeah, I've had this conversation with people quite a few times.
Imagine thinking you can do better at writing Middle Earth content than Tolkien.
Imagine thinking you're a better writer for the Song of Ice and Fire than G RR Martin.
Imagine thinking you're going to do Star Wars better than Lucas.
The Wizarding World better than Rowling.
Then realize not one of the people doing this in Hollywood has had any success writing fantasy novels whatsoever. It'd be like a four year old thinking they could win the strongest man competitions at the age of four.
It's insane levels of narcissism.
Indeed. You can feel the arrogance through the screen.
@@AlaniTheScriptMage Oh, it's palpable. I can't imagine Hollywood will keep at it like this for very many more years. Really hoping the upcoming HP show on Max is saved by Rowling.
@@AlaniTheScriptMage after watching these RoP videos, it's a wonder how you don't see the irony in how frustrating arrogance on screen is.
Hey, at least the ghost of Sadoc Burrows didn't show up to help convince the Stranger to complete the training.
Concerning Sauron's powers of illusion, I have an exciting theory after watching this episode. I think it will turn out that Halbrand/Annatar has been an illusion throughout Season 2 -- that when Sauron headed into Mordor at the end of Season 1, he actually went all the way to Orodruin to prepare the Crack of Doom for his purposes and has been projecting the illusion of himself into Adar's camp and Eregion all along. Then, at the end of Episode 8, after the Nine Rings are completed, Sauron will be ready to forge the One Ring in Orodruin.
I also thought of an even darker possibility. What if Sauron makes Adar and Galadriel perceive Celebrimbor as Sauron, and they use the Iron Crown and Nenya to kill Celebrimbor??!!
Really hoped poppy would drop the snake while kissing...
Its sagety rule nr1. Dont kiss while extracting venom of a snake...
There were never two Durins alive at any time. A Durin was believe to be a reincarnation of the Original made by Aule himself. They totally screwed up the timeline Al Pharazon was only king at the End of Numenor not the middle. So Numenoreans were average neither of 6’4”. Many were 7 feet and taller, taller than elves. and the were more numerous than Elves. They enthralled the lesser “Middle Men” of Middle Earth the descendants of the Forefathers. It would have helped if they had explained The Edain, Elros, their learning from Eonwe. It was Numenoreans that save the elves not the Elves that Saved Men. While the Elves are the Firstborn, Men are hidden from them even until after Melkor discovers them. Men were wakened in the east.
Yeah, it was very tiring to watch through each episode. I think in a play, you will see more action than this series cause each scene, all they do is sit and talk or stand and talk, without actually doing anything, and the action was happening off screen so make this seem like a soap opera instead of a fantasy show.
making mistakes like that points to much larger flaws in the understanding of the trilogy. Gandalf also eludes to that a larger force guides beings in Middle Earth to the best outcome and that is supposed to counter act the sheer raw strength of Sauron. Gandalf is never under any illusion that he can face Sauron in a duel or something like that, the Valar restricts him from using the power that way. Now I personally believe Tom Bombadil is one of those creations and isn't technically "real" it's more like it's happening in his mind kind of a religious experience if you will. For him to say something like that is very very dark.
By just that simple statement they undo the entire lore of the Saga which is quite impressive to be honest.
I hate the finding the staff BS.
Girl, stop harming yourself.
The rest have jumped off the trainwrek like a season and a half ago... ;)
Matt Smith could have been a great Annatar, but he might have looked a bit too much like his role in House of Dragons.
Also, Annatar should have been more Noldor-like with darker hair... I get the screenwriter wanted to make Annatar looks like inoffensive so he could trick the elves more easily or something...
Dwarf wife just comes across as insufferable as a character AND an actress
Actually her name is Mirdania. "Jewel Smith Chasm"
Very true. Good catch!
SPOILER ALERT: The blacksmith girl Mirdaniel is going to be Galadriels daughter (Celebrian)
Called it. I guess Elrond is getting sloppy seconds.
This is the episode that totally lost me. I'll finish the season (and enough time will pass that I'll probably watch the start of season 3) but it's not really doing anything for me now.
Don't bother dude. Not worth it. Episode 6 sealed it as one of the worst shows out there.
"What I will give this episodes is that it went by fast."
... anything to end the suffering sooner? 😆
> how am I positively comparing a show with so little budget that it had to run nut ads in the middle of its runtime, how
am I comparing it favorably to a billion dollar production
Because as we've known since the days of 1960s "Doctor Who" or "Star Trek" - heck, as we've known since the day of STAGE PRODUCTIONS, good writing can make up for any effects or costumes or set production.
There's an English impressionist Charlie Hopkinson (a new sub channel called "Not Gandalf"?) doing RoP/LOTR review videos. He does the voices of Gandalf, Saruman, Elrond, Boromir, Aragorn, Samwise... and he has *CRAPPY* CGI overlaying mouth/face-synchronised versions of the movie faces. I mean, the face of "Elrond" is superimposed on a CHILD'S DOLL depicting "young baby Elrond" in a cradle.
And better written, it's STILL more engaging than RoP has ever been.
> staff-focused
Surely, if you know you're capable of some kind of magical effect, why wouldn't anybody even TRY to train that ability without a staff? I mean, if they've got lots of wide empty space out there to practice, what's the problem...?
> I wanted to reach into the screen and strangle him
STRIKE HIM DOWN WITH ALL OF YOUR VENGEANCE AND OUR JOURNEY TOWARDS THE LIGHT WILL BE COMPLETE!
It's like the silmeral is Peter Jackson's LOTR movies and this show is desperate attempt to recreate the old magic like Kalebrimbor in this show.
Amazon knows that once they reveal the simple fact that this is in fact Gandalf, most will be done watching. The long awaited reveal is mainly the only reason some are still watching. The annoying part is Amazon thinking they’ve been so sneaky this entire time. Most watchers came to this conclusion immediately within the first scene, but had hoped for a different path. Who are they to take that from us.
Wouldn't Amazon know once they reveal that this isn't Gandalf, we might be lucky enough to see riots in the streets of Seattle?
... can I take a moment to express how depressing this is; I wanted to verify where Amazon's headquarters was before I wrote that. I searched Wikipedia for "Amazon".
... it's not the Greek mythology, or the river, or the rainforest that came first. Oh no, it was the company.
The second hit was the disambiguation. The third was the Greek. The fourth was "Prime Video".
I really hope…. 😂 Hope is not a strategy. 🙏
i dont think its mithril more likely Saurons blood
does eledil even try to pursuade his daughter of doing any of this? feels so weird idk
Imagine giving a billion dollars to a bunch of DEI amateurs.
Tom Yodadil...
The show is complete garbage. Waited my whole life to see the 2nd age on film and they don't follow the lore at all and basically destroy Tolkiens vision. This isn't Tolkien it's modern agenda bs.
It's just bad on all levels, acting, writing, everything about it. Every character including sauron make the dumbest decisions one after another. Nothing ever happens. 90 percent of the show is characters standing around arguing about things and not ever doing anything about it. Or the things they actually do are off screen. No sense of time. Can't tell it takes weeks for something to happen. It's like it's just a day when it actually took months. Or the opposite. What takes a day seems like a week. Elrond getting back to Lindon before the orc army getting to eregion is ridiculous. Durin goes back and forth from kazad dum to eregion multiple times but it seems like he's doing it so fast he's teleworking. Just horrible time management. Talking and talking and talking. It's so boring and again... it's a complete blasphemy of Tolkiens writing and lore. It deserves to be canceled. Period. If you're a true fan of lotr and Tolkiens works you'd feel the same. Horrible show in every way. Even the sets are small and unimpressive looking. Costumes look literally like cosplay. Every single thing is awful. I'm glad it's failing. Hopefully Amazon sells the rights to a platform that'll do it properly.
This isn't Tolkien so why are you trying? Tolkien had nothing to do with this. It is fan fiction at best and very bad and disrespectful fanfic.
wasnt gandalf as wise as that dudes wife from way back when
Wow, you came fast!
@@AlaniTheScriptMage TWSS :3
@@AlaniTheScriptMage your videos are the only reason i still watch this show ♡
I find this series is so bad I couldn’t watch a minute and a half of you talking about it :(