You're totally right about the scale of the show being so small. The Northern Armies are like 10 elves. The Southrons are a village or two. Numenorean mobs are a few dozen. The orcs are a gang. The Numerean expeditionary force fills 3 ships. Lindon feels almost deserted. The scale should be in the tens of thousands. Instead, it is in the dozens.
Yeah that's what I can't get over is how small everything feels. There are creative ways to create the illusions of places being populated and armies being big but they just aren't doing it in this show, this huge expensive show. We have a run down Helm's Deep with a random assortment of dirty racist villagers who are expected to fight? Against them is several dozen orcs with skin allergy to the sun led by a crazy elf. Bearing down on them is a 3 ship armada of Numenorean men and women who don't know how to fight. This is beyond parody.
I wouldn't be able to read if not for Tolkien.... Up until the age of 10 I couldn't read past Jack and Jill. Multiple specialists that I would never be able to read competently or even on an eighth grade level..... I saw the first film I got the book from the library and it took me three weeks of using every second I had to read it and asking people what words meant . I now read more than anybody I know..... I will tell the day I die be grateful to token for writing his book and Peter Jackson for the movies which made me literate
@@markmathisen3908 Amazon would have had Galadrial the last person on Arda. Where she is fighting Morgoth to the death. Taking him out with a fully automatic nerf gun loaded with bloodied tampons! Tipped with the light of the Silmarills she took from Morgoths crown! It would be epic!
I mean, there's a couple of great fan-edits of The Hobbit movies, reducing them to one tight 4 hour movie and cutting out all the extraneous bullshit, and they're pretty good that way! I don't think there's any fancy editing that can save this, though.
I agree. Tauriel teaching peasants how to fight would be more believable since she was Captain of the Guard. It would be a bit like the "Magnificent 7". But Bronwyn is supposed to be a doctor. She has no combat or military knowledge.🤣
Lo, yeah they are trying to make Halbrand look like Aragorn which is hilarious since you know two of Aragorns male ancestor are like 10 feet away.. If you are going to make someone's costume call back to Aragon, wouldn't it make more sense that it was Elendil or Islidur, you known his God danned ancestors.
Remember Bizarro-world from the comics? Where everyone you know has the same name, but they all look and behave like illogical freaky weirdos that bear no resemblance to the people you actually know? That's this show.
Wait let me get this straight, In the show, Galadriel spends hundreds (thousands) of years hunting Sauron and tries to convince everyone he has returned. Gil-galad has a magic tree that is fading away, which he blames Galadriel for, meaning he knew about the tree rotting, AT THE SAME TIME as Galadriel warning him about Sauron and instead of thinking "oh she's right" he blames her instead. And when she leaves and the tree is still dying, he still doesn't think "oh she's right"? Setting aside the fact that Gil-galad, Elrond and Galadriel, all knew who Sauron was immediately?
The fact that the show is making Gil-Galad out to be a weak, useless ruler who needs speeches written for him is just shameful. This is Gil-Galad. He was one of the greatest of the elves. Not only is his casting poor (he should be a powerful, youthful looking man, not a jowly 40-something guy with wrinkles), but they're just making him out to be an idiot.
It's so awesome that the writers of this series were able to see into the mind and heart of John Tolkien. Filling in the gaps that would have impressed John Tolkien to the core. Just the thought of it brings tears of joy to my eyes! Shakespeare would have been proud!
The training scene boiled down to Galadriel showing off how much better she was than everyone else there. "Fight with your feet" she says as she barely moves around. I'm not sure why she spent so long trying to get a non-existent army to fight for her, especially in a nation that's harbouring feelsing of elves taking their jobs, but here we are I guess. As for Gil Galad seeing Galadriel as the evil, it's not that she is evil, the writers don't know any other way of building up to the Sauron reveal
It's Gandalf. They're totally telegraphing it. Gandalf is the only Wizard who ever showed any interest in hobbits. This is supposed to be the reason why - they found him and helped him. Dumb and not lore-accurate, but that's their idea.
Although this show doesn't take away from my 40+ years of being a Tolkien fan: the lore is still there in written form and no matter what this show does, it can't take away the written published lore.... what my main concern about this "show" is casual fans or people who really don't know Tolkien lore outside of movies they saw 20 years ago will look at this train wreck and say "this sucks. Tolkien wasn't that special." Not realizing this has nothing to do with Tolkien's written works outside of names. It's sad that people are going to think this is Tolkien's story.
Yes, the risk is there, because for example when I hear the name "Gandalf", I see Ian McKellan's face, and I have to struggle to remember that Frodo wasn't a youngster with enormous blue eyes in LOTR but a mature 51 year old gentlehobbit (and I read the books years before the PJ films came out) and so on. Extrapolating that, this could become the "truth" to many people. Although I will say I don't think as many people will watch this as watched the PJ films.
@@sweeperboy I agree. The thing that drew so many non-Tolkien people to the movies were the rave reviews and Oscars they were stacking up. People who didn't like "fantasy movies" liked the LOTR trilogy because of the high level of quality and care taken by WETA and the screenwriters. The Rings of Power doesn't have the rave reviews or care to detail... they have name recognition. And after a couple of episodes, I think casual fans are turned off, but I fear they blame Tolkien rather than the abuse of the property.
They would have to do something novel like completely scrap the show and start it again following the lore much closer and making the characters more likeable and interesting
@@mrs.sherry Sorry it can't be judged on its own alone...it literally has "The Lords of the Rings" in its title name and the showrunners have claimed multiple times that they always referred to the books and the lore. Even on its own it's a hot mess of a series with simplistic and mundane dialogue driven by illogical plot and childish mystery boxes. Its mediocre on its own at best.
You're too kind about this nouveau mithril. It's not just crystallized Silmaril light, it's crystallized Silmaril/evil/good/lightning from a tree. It was clumsy. It was bizarre.
The myth bugs me so badly. Why would Gil-Galad believe a legend that would have happened in his lifetime and he has no idea who the Elf was or what a Balrog was doing out in the open in the Misty Mountains presumably after the War of Wrath. I'm worried there's going to be a stupid reveal where the unnamed elven warrior is Galadriel and the Balrog becomes Durin's Bane whom she of course defeats and drives into hiding. Then to add insult to injury, it'll be that Gil-Galad covered up the story for some reason (misogyny) to keep it secret. At this point it wouldn't surprise me.
I cannot believe how badly they've broken the lore with this nonsense. We know all about the Sillmarils and what happened to them. The Eldar are not energy vampires who need the light of the Sillmarils to survive. It's diabolically bad.
Diabolically bad, is correct - emphasis on diabolical. For Gil-galad to bring duality (“as pure and light as Good, and as strong and unyielding as Evil” ) into the canon is not only antithetical to the the story, but is completely foreign and polar opposite to what Tolkien believed and wrote and said. Evil can only corrupt. It cannot create - only Good can create. So, for the balrog to equally counter the good is jarringly bad. It’s like the writers have never actually read Tolkien, even at a cursory level. If they had, they wouldn’t come up with this duality nonsense!
I think essential reading right about now is Letter #210 in “The Letters of JRR Tolkien” where the good professor lays into the storyline for a planned animated adaptation of LOTR back in the late 1950s. Much that he says could be applied to “Rings of Power.” To wit -- “the failure of poor films is often precisely in exaggeration, and in the intrusion of unwarranted matter owing to not perceiving where the core of the original lies.” And the even more pointed, “please play my text some respect.”
5:33 - One of Galadriel's two facial expressions, . The other one is . Meanwhile, the Garbage Bagginses - "Our hearts are bigger than our feet." Also Hobo Bagginses, "Take their wheels." And leave anyone who falls behind to die. I'm rooting for the bad guys..
"[the rules of literature] require that the author shall make the reader feel a deep interest in the personages of his tale and in their fate; and that he shall make the reader love the good people in the tale and hate the bad ones. But the reader of the Deerslayer tale dislikes the good people in it, is indifferent to the others, and wishes they would all get drowned together." - Mark Twain, on James Fenimore Cooper's literary offenses. This evisceration of Cooper's work is too close for comfort to the problems with TRoP.
I'm not watching RoP, but I'm grateful that you guys are, and I appreciate your insights. We need people with a holistic understanding of Tolkien's life and writings to call out how incredibly wrong this is! Going in, I was worried about what they would do to Gil-galad's character, and it's just so sad because he's wonderful in the books.
This show is a horrendous mess where they have bastardised existing characters and lore, changing it to fit the narrative that the showrunners wish to tell. It has no love or respect of tolkiens work and only wanted the popularity of the IP… please continue reviewing these episodes for people to understand how badly they have represented the 2nd age and middle earth
Heresy eventually perishes after it's lies are made naked and clear upon the sight of those it hopes to blind! We must stop watching this even for negative publicity because it feeds the amazon rating system. Take heart and join us for our EXSURGE TOLKIEN counter rings of power heresy series on our channel. It will be a happy thought in these dark times.
How do you not have an issue? First, what were the show runners thinking about making statements such as "back to the books, back to the books" when it is blatantly obvious that is not the case? Second, the lack of care in their storytelling is horrific. One of many examples is Halbrand somehow becoming a member of guild this episode when he just robbed (because of the impossibility of him being accepted) and beat up a member in the previous episode. That writer for this large of a project cannot even hold (or are even willing to abandoned) their stories own reality is concerning, to say the least.
RoP's Numenor are not a country of grand or noble people - no glory represented there at all. they kinda blow off how special Eärendil was to both Numenoreans and elves - reading Tolkien he was elevated to such demi-god status that even when Frodo fights Shelob using the vial of Galadriel the mention of his name was a weapon more powerful than the light itself.
Some stray observations: 1. Why is Celebrimbor an old man? 2. If Galadriel's life is so empty why doesn't she do something about it. Like, I don't know, get married and have a child. 3. The show is no closer to the making of rings. You know, the Rings of Power.
4. Why are Numenorians not all tall, strong of stature, longish hair, have colonies on Middle Earth, enormous fleets of ships, massive grand cities, etc. 5. Why are the elves not all tall and long hair. 6. Why does Numenorian armour look so ridiculous.
@@JohnnyZenith Numenor, at the times just before the Great Armament, probably had an army numbering HUNDREDS of THOUSANDS. They humbled Sauron and his armies so much, that his forces simply ABANDONED HIM the moment they saw them. But no, 3 ships, there you f*****g go.
#2 I need to paraphrase Daemon Targaryen of the HoD here "nothing would grow in such hostile environment" ;) I would be sorry for Celeborn and especially Celebrian having to cope with such wife and mother, so it is better they are seasons away (probably).
Elves can be old too. "As they came to the gates Círdan the Shipwright came forth to greet them. Very tall he was, and his beard was long, and he was grey and old, save that his eyes were keen as stars; and he looked at them and bowed, and said 'All is now ready.'" ― The Return of the King, "The Grey Havens"
I hear you! That just got to me on so many levels. The myth is ridiculous. How would immortal elves have a creation story in a time when they were all alive? Myths don't work like that. I fear several things with that myth. 1) it'll just be treated as real despite the glaring logical plotholes in the story; 2) it'll be a clever ruse by Sauron but even then no Elf should believe such a legend; or 3) it was Galadriel who was the unnamed elf and the Balrog will be Durin's Bane after she of course defeats him then it will be explained that Gil-Galad told her to remain silent to keep the secret of the ore (and to make him further look bad as he's keeping a woman's accomplishments secret)
Bad script writing Bad character development Bad acting Bad CGI Bad costumes Bad pacing/timing Bad story telling Beautiful New Zealand landscapes. That sums up Amazon’s ROP.
OK, I have cracked the code. The Stranger isn't Gandalf, Radagast, or Sauron. He's actually Doc Brown from Back to the Future. Hear me out: A lightning bolt can cause time travel in BTTF. In RoP, a lightning bolt can also somehow cause a Silmaril and a tree to get jiggy and create an offspring: Mithril. In fact . . . it was the SAME lightning bolt, which has very wide-ranging time-travel and new-alloy-creating magical powers. By now, you're all amazed, I'm sure, and wondering just how I solved this puzzle. I'll tell you: if you go back and watch Ep. 1 carefully, you'll see that the meteor is traveling exactly 88 miles per hour, because it's actually a DeLorean that got very hot from the friction of traveling through so much time back to Middle-Earth times.
I completely agree What makes Tolkien the standard other authors claim to be inspired by and try to rise to is he was excellent. Other than the Bible Tolkien is the body of literature where I have actually memorized whole passages, many of which have application in real life. There is nothing I desire to remember about this series. It stands as a clear warning on how NOT to do Tolkien ever, ever, ever again.
So why continue to watch? If it's such an abomination, why boast Amazon's streaming and viewing figures. It honestly seems like you and many who despise or hate the show continue to watch and talk about it every week. Hate-watching is still watching. Which is ultimately all that matters for Amazon to keep producing the show for the next 5 years.
@@isaacm2374 Media giants should realize they cannot or should not destroy beloved IPs and think they can get away w/ it or rage at honest fans who've revered and enjoyed works like Tolkien's and then are lambasted for calling them out for their shoddy job. There is a difference between hate-watching and providing honest constructive criticism.
Ignore it? When a company hijacks such a beloved IP and then lies to the fanbase about honouring it then damn right it should not be 'ignored'. We won't rest until this thing is six feet under or Amazon cleans house completely for a second season.
Having a main character who is 'unlikeable' - as a person isn't necessarily a problem.....however, making them tedious and repetitive, and not showing the audience a satisfactory explanation as to why they're such an unlikeable character - that is a big problem.
Yes! I think Ahsoka in Clone Wars started as a not likable character. She learned and became one the most favourite (female) characters in Star Wars. There needs to be a development. Galadriel has none and she also isn't a teenager or something like that. How did she get to be a commander with that attitude?
@@MaxxMcGeePrivate In her defense you can tell a lot of Noldors where complete as*holes. So she isn't the first bad elf. The main issue is that she wasn't writen like that by Tolkien. She was supposed to be an old, noble elf, with strange psychic powers (even before her ring of power).
@@MaxxMcGeePrivate I haven't seen Clone Wars but I have seen other characters that has been unlikable that later became likable. But I don't know if Galadriel can be rescued. Maybe if she goes on a "get humble"-tour for an entire season and then get a redemption arc or something. At least it will take lots for me to like her in any way. Anyway I think a show can survive or even be good with unlikable character if the story is good. But the show overall has a uphill battle to become even remotely good and this is not even considering Galadriels or other unlikable characters which is just the icing on the cake for this bad show.
I’ve become disgusted with this show. It is an abomination. Not only that they used the color of peoples skin as a scapegoat to hide behind the rape of Tolkien’s world. That’s should not be forgotten. If they cared about racial diversity they would write them beautiful material to work with and they didn’t. They handed them dog shit and hid behind their skin tone.
I think they may have done that deliberately in order to be able to accuse any critics of the show of being "racist"...regardless of what the criticism is.
- So, oath-breaking is no big deal in middle earth now?,.. the army of the dead will be feeling very silly right now! - The Numenorean army apparently doesn't even have barracks as they train in alleyways. - There's nowhere near enough room on those three dinky ships for even the 500 warriors Galadriel claimed, never mind hundreds of horses. - So, there are only 3 ships because one was burnt (...reasons), but there were 8 in harbor at the start of the show. I want S2 to be cancelled with extreme prejudice soooo badly! Fire the staff, burn the sets, salt the earth.
Great stuff you're saying about how Tolkiens writing 'touched your heart'. I always describe it that way: There are feelings I never knew I could have, that only find a home in Tolkien's works. He evokes this sweet blend of longing and fullfillment. I'm reading his early drafts of several parts of the SILMARILLION in the LOST TALES right now, and you can sense that even as a young writer with less pronounced writing skills and more messy world building (Tevildo), he was already tapping from that well of profound emotion. It's a feeling of coming home after a long journey, or like how Beren felt when he escaped the Nan Dungortheb alive and set eyes on Luthien for the first time right afterwards.
There's a saying, and I can't remember who siad it, but, "If there are no tears in the writer, then there are no tears in the reader [or watcher]." Tolkien wrote what was deep in his heart. You can feel it. The rings of power authors are not writing from their heart.
The four top elite soldiers they had got inexplicably locked in Guyladriel's cell. Unless we can figure out which way the door opens they will be trapped until the waves sink the island.
I think they've created Galadriel to be evil on purpose. She will only become good after she single-handedly helps Sauron found Mordor. This will humble her and force her to "hang up her sword" forever. That might be her TV arc.
The writers genuinely thought people would like "girl boss" Guyladriel. Once the reviews came out, and she was universally hated, I bet they change her character arc next season. This will be played off as a plan made by the writers long ago. Either way the show is utter shit and it won't matter in the end.
@@shadyrebob5999 I don't know.. Star Wars only barely pulled Rey's character out of her cold and lifeless personality for the kiss at the end of 9. Then put her back for the very final scene in that film. I'm not sure that RoP intends to fix it's personality problem.
I still can't get over the prison break scene. Damn, how in the world can a 100 pound petite woman beat up and imprison 5 6feet tall covered in amour men 200 pound men? Who in their right kind thought that prison break scene was a good idea? lol Now we have the dumb training scene in episode 5.. Damn this series is a joke.
Maybe they said "Galadriel is 6'2" in every version before now" and expected the audience to ignore their lying eyes (that tell them Morbyyd whatever is a short, unathletic British woman.)
If Galadriel were like described in the books, the tallest of Noldor women with 1.9m and the most powerful Eldar after Feanor, there would be a believable way for her to neutralize 5 mortal men opponents with a combination of her physical skills and Eldar power. However, if Galadriel were like in the books she would never be an ignorant bitch imprisoned for insulting a Numenorean ruler and she wouldn't be in Numenor in the first place.
Surprised at the lack of discussion concerning the horses that were shown being loaded into the ships, then to have a ship blown up that night. Given that it was said the ships hold 100 people, I am going to also assume that 100 horses were murdered when that ship exploded as well. Lovely show.
You have all the right to have something against a show that has proven to be against not only its brilliant source material but also the basic requirements of good storytelling
"[the rules of literature] require that the episodes of a tale shall be necessary parts of the tale, and shall help to develop it. But as the Deerslayer tale is not a tale, and accomplishes nothing and arrives nowhere, the episodes have no rightful place in the work, since there was nothing for them to develop. " - Mark Twain, on James Fenimore Cooper's literary offenses.
Something that's not mentioned. Where is everyone? The world feels empty like the characters and token few extras are the entirety of middle earth. No animals hardly either no birds no rabbits foxes. I'd like a cut scene of two rabbits eating grass then scattering as it moves to a harfoot entering the frame. Some birds tweeting maybe. Some views of civilisation in middle earth doing menial things. Just something to make this world feel alive.
@@JohnnyZenith totally agree. It should be a massive hive of activity. There should be hundreds of boats. A massive barracks. Ship construction yards fishing fleets. Huge stables. It looks like a Greek all inclusive hotel
@@paladin1254 Ar-Pharazon's ship was called Al Carondas, "Castle of the Sea". It was freaking enormous. Nothing in this show tells me this version of Numenor could build such a thing.
It’s astounding how much of Numenor’s history and political landscape is thrown aside and abandoned, considering how simple it is to cover and the fact that they chose to break the timeline in order to include it.
I'm hoping that the season ends with guyladriel as a child waking from the nightmare that is season 1. They can then get on with the real rings of power starting fresh with season 2. I won't hold my breath
The wolves looked more like wargs, while the wargs looked like mutated dogs/wolves. What the heck was that stuff on the ship EXPLODING? It also made the ship next to it explode. WHAT?? And not a single guard on these ships? And what about the horses? Did this guy kill all the horses? God, this episode made me mad and I'm so happy every reviewer points out the same things.
I hear ya. Gondor which is at best a Shadow of Numenor at least has ARMIES! In other words The Realm of Gondor which (by the end of the 3rd Age) has ARMIES. Gondor are the DECENDANTS of Numenor. But, a Watered Down Version. Gondor does not have the Ancient Tech that Numenor had and you are correct... Numenor has NO ARMIES by this point in their civilization? It is So Painful to view. The sad thing is that [people (young people) will 'Think' that this is Tolkien 10 to 20 years down the road.... 😠
This show is not salvageable. Its too far gone, and honestly I don’t know how they can fix everything in the 2nd season. Even if they brought in new writers, they’d basically have to start over from scratch and rewrite all the botched story lines that we are currently experiencing
Am I the only one that thinks that Elrond already broke his oath telling Calabrimbor?! And that the latter said he tested it already like they had some already that I didn’t see any of with them.. Dam a mid school student could write a essay better than that
What bothered me the most about this episode is that we’re supposed to believe that the pathetic group of towns people led by an herbalist are going to take on an army of orcs.
Another striking example of just how freaking long it takes to get anything done in this series is that after 5 hours of plot and exposition, we finally see 3 ships sailing out of Numenor harbor ... from the season TRAILER. The fact that they look like inshore trawlers rather than corvettes carrying 100 soldiers and 100 horses for an expeditionary force landing is perhaps beside the point.
There's something really weird going on with the shows timeline. The meteor in episode 1 synced all the four storylines to the same point in the timeline. The Elrond/Durin/Mithril storyline in the previous episode, where we were shown the elven/dwarven building project being quite far in construction, there was no time jump scene that explained the passing of time. The Harfoots scene in this episode, where Poppy sings her mother's song and it becomes a montage scene showing the pass of time. This time jump explains how Hallbrand has become a blacksmith in Numeron. But this time jump didn't affect the events in the Southlands with Arondir and the orcs, nor did it seem to affect the scenes with Elrond/Durin/Gil-Galad. Any theories?
Somehow we're to believe the Numenor "navy" will cross to ME then ride to the tower in time to save them in hours or days? Time or distance is completely meaningless.
@@FlyfishermanMike The showrunners are from Bad Robot, so it's quite possible they have the same mentality about time and distance as J.J. Abrams, they just don't care about it. I do hope there is some explanation but I doubt it.
Really digging this channel, I had to bail on Corey Olsen and Nerd of the Rings after the trailers and other promotional material that came off. Your channel and cohosts are well balanced on Tolkiens writings and storytelling, pacing, dialogue, and the overall craft
I’m really upset about Nerd of the Rings. He knows his Tolkien, but is really ok with this shitshow? I left a comment on his channel about rop being crap and told him this was his chance to show his mettle. He hearted my comment wtf.
Now, now, let's be fair, GuyLADriel had a second emotion: horse riding happy witch with matching creepy smile. ;) #NotMyGaladriel. Keep the commentary coming; when people tell you to shut up because you have "something against" a topic, you can safely bet they actually agree with you. They just can't bring themselves to admit it. Else, they'd have a rebuttal, but since they don't, they just ask you to stop. Remember, even access media are now voicing their criticisms of the show. If it's bad, it's bad; no counter PR attacking the fans or trying to hide legitimate criticisms can fix that.
They will not gonna remove the writers because amazon don't make mistake, they think they are always right and there were no problem in their staff. For them the problem is the audience.
For me tolkien was always about dealing with decay in a virtuous way. To know when is time for been humble even with a lot of power and knowlegde. Resisting the temptation of power os what make people noble, sacrifice and loyalty to your friends is what bonds the races. And in 5 hours of the show, those themes are still missing for me
As I understand it the series had a huge amount spent on it but is beginning to have a low-budget feel...just three ships to defeat Sauron with shock and awe? Surely CGI could transform that into 500 ships? No Numenorian army..not even one who knows how to use a sword? When they land in Middle Earth and meet Sauron's orcs they are doomed. Perhaps their defeat will be for the best. I wonder if Adar will turn out to be the elf who sank Galadriel's boat in episode one...then she can have her revenge!
I wonder who the hell thought that the mithril reveal was this really cool and interesting WOW moment? That’s what this whole show is, just presenting the audience with some bland thing and going: “Ahhh ehhh? Pretty cool huh?” And the audience goes: “uhh, nah, not really mate”
LOL Never stop! You known what the talk louder line reminded me of? If I'm not back in 5 minutes.....Just wait longer! And give it to me Raw! Classic Tolkien. This show was already a joke but changing the Lore around mithril, unforgivable.
this is whole show isn't Tolkien at all... the creators (with little experience or qualifications i might add) explain that they're trying to deviate from Tolkien's work
I still don't understand that design of Celebrimbor. Like, he is an old man, but he is the grandson in age of Galadriel, and basically he was described as the mirror image of Feanor, so long dark hair and AMAZING beauty. So WTF is this shit
Should anyone desire a masterclass on how to make an unsymathetic, unlikeable lead character dramatically interesting and ambivalently relatable - rewatch Daniel Plainview in “There Will Be Blood”.
I agree with everything you've said and I love your videos. I have so many things I want to tirade about, but I will limit myself to the one thing that so far no review has brought up (that I've seen) regarding the mithril retcon: According to the show, Gil-galad, high king of ALL the elves, believes that the elves are dying because the light from the two trees of Valinor is fading from them...etc... made up stuff. What about the dark elves? The ones who never went to Valinor and never saw the trees yet presumably still exist (unless Amazon is just completely ignoring entire races of eves now, which, yeah, they might)? So elves who never saw the light of the two trees are going to die because they've lost the light of the two trees? Even if this is a huge red herring and will later turn out to be a lie told by Annatar, 1. Gil-galad never trusted Annatar to begin with and 2. Even if this version of Gil-galad trusts him, he's so stupid he doesn't even think about the reality of the dark elves???? I love Tolkien. I hate this show.
I like how all of a sudden the women that killed the orc thinks she can lead a huge group of people to defend a little watchtower against thousands... nEEd StRoNg WAMAN! Without doing a damn thing...
My first introduction to LOTR was the Rankin/Bash version of The Hobbit. Once I saw this movie as an 11-year-old on TV, I was hooked. I had seen the book "The Hobbit" in my dad's collection of books as he was a teacher in school. I read "The Hobbit" in a day (IN A DAY!) and I was hooked. This show is an abomination and a slap in the face of Tolkien and all of his works. It's sad how this is using Tolkien's name to garner clout but it appears to be backfiring on them. If the writing of the story and characters, as well as the editing and acting were much better, then maybe it would be a much more accepted vision of Tolkien. But the problem is, the story is going nowhere, the pacing is slow and plodding, and the acting and writing is on the levels of a CW show and we all know how well those do (with Smallville and Super Natural, the early seasons. being the exceptions). Such a waste of a billion dollars. Sad.
I think is a ploy by sneaky Al Pharazon to get rid of Galadriel. -“Here Galadriel, go to war with our best soldiers”. -“Pharazon, you are giving control of our army to that elf you just met?” -“Don’t worry, we gave her all the flunked applicants. Literally the worst of the worst. They are also taking that hobo they brought.” -“But won’t they be able to tell there are no soldiers among them?, That little elf just wiped the floor with an entire company” -“Nah, they call her The scourge of the Orcs. They actually think she is that good after we let her escape and my guards pretended to be bested by her. They don’t know just how incompetent they actually are. They will be slaughtered to the last man.” -“You mean man and women” -“Oh yes, we sent all the Karens as well.” -“The sea is always right”
Keep doing these Reviews! I whole heartedly enjoy your insights. And it provides wisdom and information that I can pass along to my father. Who is both interested in Tolkien and the truth that Tolkien conveys through his messaging
If you removed all the names of characters and places in this show you wouldn't even recognize this as Tolkien. Reminiscent of Xena and Hercules mixed with Days of Our Lives. Complete and utter shit everywhere you look in this "show".
I didn't get how Gil-Galad found about the discovery of Mithril, Elrond was sent to get work force for building of the forge and just happen to find the dwarves discovery, and suddenly it is all about Mithril, which Elrond made an oath of nothing telling anyone. This Mithril shit was just brought into the story in the most non-sense possible, and how the elves are thinking in using a metal to "survive"? use mithril as suppository?
The Elves will fade if they overstay their welcome in Middle-earth. But not until the Age of Man. Their hröa (bodies) are flawed due to Morgoth pouring his essence into Arda. Everything they interact with in M-e is part of Arda Corrupted. This “weakens” their bodies. Eru did intend their Hröa to last as long as their Fëa (souls), but they will now have to return to the hallowed lands and the Valar in order to prevent this. Otherwise their souls will slowly consume their bodies, turning them into houseless spirits.
And on top of that how did Gil-Galad know that Elrond would suggest to Celebrimbor that the Elves team up with the Dwarves? I mean Gil- Galad just sent him to help Celebrimbor, going to the Dwarves was supposedly Elrond's idea and he supposedly hadn't visited them in 20 years. Clearly Diza was selling secrets to Gil-Galad to overthrow the Dwarf patriarchy.
glad to see some of these videos. Not really a Tolkien fan per se, and i was thinking that the poor story was due to him not really being that good of a writer. glad that isn't the case
I've just rewatched the Peter Jackson trilogy. Oh wow, I'd forgatton how utterly fantastic that trilogy is. My lord in heaven, comparing the Lord of the Rings to the Rings of Power is like comparing Mozart in the hands of the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra to a 6ry old playing with a rusty organ grinder. No Joke.
When Peter Jackson directed LOTR, they had a mission statement to stick with Tolkien's vision and not insert any of their own personal opinions or agenda. It worked! A tremendous success because Tolkien is the expert and many people loved it as it felt true to being in middle earth. This show's writers started by inserting their own personal and social agenda in the characters. Now changing fundamental lore... it feels less and less like Tolkien's world.
Well AFAIK it would seem likely that for Season 2 would involve; Sauron founding Mordor, and the making of the rings, with likely the war to claim them at the end of it, Season 3 will be the Elf and Númenorean counter attack that drives Sauron back and ending up him getting captured by Pharazôn (who likely at some point between seasons 2 and 3 removes Míriel from power), also it would likely start with the Elves being driven back before Númenor comes to their aid... Season 4 would be the corruption and downfall of Númenor, with Season 5 being the formation of Gondor and Arnor as well as the Last Alliance. Though this would entail them going by what the lore says.... It dose seem likely at this point Galadriel will be the one who puts Sauron on his throne only to go, "awe crap what have I done!" when she finds out who he really is... This being the turn to who she becomes later...
Nonsense on Mithril, this material exist in 2 continent long long ago...and Amazon say it appear when a elf, a tree and a balrog with lightning? wow i think my mind is exploding.
I am utterly convinced that these writers have not read a single Middle-Earth-related book other than The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings. I'm guessing they only focused on the books that they do have the rights to, most specifically the Appendices of LOTR and then just chose the more well-known characters and made them the protagonists in this series. They made up characters to check that diversity box, turned Miriel into a queen when she didn't even ascend to the throne so they can have another strong female character for their check list. They even created a sister for Isildur because they feel they need another female character when they should've featured Anarion instead as he is the direct ancestor of Aragorn and the Dunedain. They are making things up as they go since they don't have a lot to go on. This is one series that should never have happened as there is no material left for them to adapt! They cannot touch The Silmarillion or any of the books, the Tolkien estate has refused to sell the rights to them and for good reason. I would hate those books to be butchered by these writers and producers' need to inject modern ideas and politics in every show or movie they create.
“Tell me, have the dwarves found anything out of the ordinary, and by ‘out of the ordinary’, I refer to Mithril?” “Um, you make it hard for me; I gave my sacred oath not to divulge what they found-or might not have found. Or in fact found.” “Sacred oath? Pah! Just tell me, have they found Mithril?” “As much as I’d like to obey you, I cannot tell you what they might have found, if they found anything, because I swore not to name what they might have found. Hint, hint.” “Well, if you won’t tell me, you uninformative bastard, I’ll just go ask someone else! By the way, your pocket is glowing, and I always feel stronger and much healthier whenever I stand immediately to your right. Odd. Well, I’m off.” “I swore an oath!”
Galadriel is Sauron in disguise. The real Galadriel is hidden somewhere, or perhaps does her own thing. That is why she is so unlovely. Gil Galad senses this subconciously and sends her to Valinor, but in the last moment Sauron jumps over board, because he knows the sea cannot kill him. I know this hypothesis is far off the mark, but it has a certain ..... charm.
They could just get mithril from Valinor or Númenor if the dwarves won't give it to them. Eärendil's boat was made of mithril and glass in the first age befor Morgoth fell.
Is it possible the show is going to do something incredibly convoluted with the Halbrand = Sauron thing? It isn't set up well, but I can imagine that this would be how an inept writer would set something up. Smacks of Daenerys in season 8 of GoT. Sauron (somehow) knew that Galadriel would lose herself in vengeance and search for him if he killed Finrod, and he left the mark knowing (somehow) she'd come and find him (conveniently) on that raft. Galadriel does tell Halbrand that some might argue that he used her to return to the Southlands and become king. I don't think anyone would win that argument, based on the show, but she did say it, and the show might just end up with some expository dialogue later where Halbrand is like "I did use you! And now I am returned!" Which would be in keeping with the style of this show, which is not to show you how Sauron is a manipulative mastermind, but rather tell you afterwards instead for a very forced reveal. This would create a huge narrative problem where Sauron now has to interact with the Elven and Dwarven smiths, then be REcaptured by Numenor, then convince them to attack Valinor. Although I think it possible, that the show will completely cut that part out, and simply sink Numenor for NO REASON and the 3 ships that Elendil and Isildur and Galadriel are on ARE what become the Dunedain.
When I heard about the stupid mithril thing I knew this show was doomed. The writers ovisouly played World of Warcraft and stole the whole Elves immortality thing from the World Tree. I just don't see anything that even remotely reminds me of Tolkien.
![Seungmin "그렇게, 천천히, 우리(As we are)" | [Stray Kids : SKZ-PLAYER]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/kAzmhLHePqU/mqdefault.jpg)
You're totally right about the scale of the show being so small. The Northern Armies are like 10 elves. The Southrons are a village or two. Numenorean mobs are a few dozen. The orcs are a gang. The Numerean expeditionary force fills 3 ships. Lindon feels almost deserted. The scale should be in the tens of thousands. Instead, it is in the dozens.
Yeah that's what I can't get over is how small everything feels. There are creative ways to create the illusions of places being populated and armies being big but they just aren't doing it in this show, this huge expensive show. We have a run down Helm's Deep with a random assortment of dirty racist villagers who are expected to fight? Against them is several dozen orcs with skin allergy to the sun led by a crazy elf. Bearing down on them is a 3 ship armada of Numenorean men and women who don't know how to fight. This is beyond parody.
Yeah...like, who LIVES in that great big city on Numenor? Everybody has their own building?
it is only episode 5 so far and the scale is huge
@@mrs.sherry sure. If you mean the amount of side characters. Don’t know if that’s a plus though.
There isn’t even a road between Lindon & Moria. This is Moria at its height… would there not be a ton of trade and business coming through its gates?
I wouldn't be able to read if not for Tolkien.... Up until the age of 10 I couldn't read past Jack and Jill. Multiple specialists that I would never be able to read competently or even on an eighth grade level..... I saw the first film I got the book from the library and it took me three weeks of using every second I had to read it and asking people what words meant . I now read more than anybody I know.....
I will tell the day I die be grateful to token for writing his book and Peter Jackson for the movies which made me literate
Thats very heartwarming
When Galadriel said, "No job is too big; no elf is too small. Elf patrol is on a roll," I gasped with the sublime beauty of the writing.
Golden.
😂 my 3yo will love this
@@hovawartfreunde4599 well no but to be fair the paw patrol writers are a lot better
🤣🤣🤣👌🏼
@@SubiKinubi 🤣🤣🤣
This alternate universe has made me think that maybe Morgoth had a point. Maybe destroying Arda wasn't such a bad idea.
It would be SO worth seeing him destroy all of Middle Earth, just as long as kills Galadriel with the world. 😒
I agree! Morgoth was right all along. What were the other Valar thinking?
@@markmathisen3908 Amazon would have had Galadrial the last person on Arda. Where she is fighting Morgoth to the death. Taking him out with a fully automatic nerf gun loaded with bloodied tampons! Tipped with the light of the Silmarills she took from Morgoths crown! It would be epic!
I'd rather he focus his attentions on Amazon & Hollywood. Just - send in the orcs. Let them have it all.
And the Not!Hobbit!
I knew one day we would (almost) all start to appreciate Jackson’s The Hobbit much more than we did till the beginning of this show… 😅
😂😂😂😂
I mean, there's a couple of great fan-edits of The Hobbit movies, reducing them to one tight 4 hour movie and cutting out all the extraneous bullshit, and they're pretty good that way! I don't think there's any fancy editing that can save this, though.
@@gwenivercall it’s funny I stumbled on the 4 hour cut dedicated video here on YT just minutes ago…lol
Jackson's Hobbit movies are like making out with an Asian girl. It's got a lot of padding stuffed into it but it's still fun.
I agree. Tauriel teaching peasants how to fight would be more believable since she was Captain of the Guard. It would be a bit like the "Magnificent 7".
But Bronwyn is supposed to be a doctor. She has no combat or military knowledge.🤣
Lo, yeah they are trying to make Halbrand look like Aragorn which is hilarious since you know two of Aragorns male ancestor are like 10 feet away.. If you are going to make someone's costume call back to Aragon, wouldn't it make more sense that it was Elendil or Islidur, you known his God danned ancestors.
"Gil-Galad was an elven king
of him the harpers sadly sing..."
Ah, because he was a horrible person, now I understand.
Remember Bizarro-world from the comics? Where everyone you know has the same name, but they all look and behave like illogical freaky weirdos that bear no resemblance to the people you actually know? That's this show.
Wait let me get this straight, In the show, Galadriel spends hundreds (thousands) of years hunting Sauron and tries to convince everyone he has returned. Gil-galad has a magic tree that is fading away, which he blames Galadriel for, meaning he knew about the tree rotting, AT THE SAME TIME as Galadriel warning him about Sauron and instead of thinking "oh she's right" he blames her instead. And when she leaves and the tree is still dying, he still doesn't think "oh she's right"? Setting aside the fact that Gil-galad, Elrond and Galadriel, all knew who Sauron was immediately?
those pesky men shutting up the women again!
Not only is he stupid, but he also has fat ears.
The fact that the show is making Gil-Galad out to be a weak, useless ruler who needs speeches written for him is just shameful. This is Gil-Galad. He was one of the greatest of the elves. Not only is his casting poor (he should be a powerful, youthful looking man, not a jowly 40-something guy with wrinkles), but they're just making him out to be an idiot.
@@wumpusrat have you seen the elf gramps they made as Celebrimbor?
@@wumpusrat cus he's a big stupid man duuuhhh
"It can't get any worse" - TOR.
"Hold my beer!" - RoP Ep. 6
“Hold my mithril” should sound better. 😂
it was so bad that i couldnt watch it till the end despite having my phone!
When Isildur said, "I don't want to sail, I want.. to SING!" and Elendil says, "Stop that! No singing!" It really felt like Tolkien was in the room.
It's so awesome that the writers of this series were able to see into the mind and heart of John Tolkien. Filling in the gaps that would have impressed John Tolkien to the core. Just the thought of it brings tears of joy to my eyes! Shakespeare would have been proud!
Elendil : "one day my lad, ALL THIS will be yours".
Isuldur : "what? The curtains?".
@@KingBarnaDuke "don't like her? What's wrong with her? Shes got HUUUUUGE....tempests within her!"
The training scene boiled down to Galadriel showing off how much better she was than everyone else there. "Fight with your feet" she says as she barely moves around. I'm not sure why she spent so long trying to get a non-existent army to fight for her, especially in a nation that's harbouring feelsing of elves taking their jobs, but here we are I guess.
As for Gil Galad seeing Galadriel as the evil, it's not that she is evil, the writers don't know any other way of building up to the Sauron reveal
Gandalf hurt his hand hitting the ground but was unharmed totally by crashing into the ground hard enough to leave a crater :(
I guess some harfoot accidentally flicked off his crash test dummy setting.
Is he supposed to be Gandalf?
@@REKLESSWOLVES1 I mean … he could be an easrly Radagast xD
It could also be Sauruman.
It's Gandalf. They're totally telegraphing it. Gandalf is the only Wizard who ever showed any interest in hobbits. This is supposed to be the reason why - they found him and helped him. Dumb and not lore-accurate, but that's their idea.
Although this show doesn't take away from my 40+ years of being a Tolkien fan: the lore is still there in written form and no matter what this show does, it can't take away the written published lore.... what my main concern about this "show" is casual fans or people who really don't know Tolkien lore outside of movies they saw 20 years ago will look at this train wreck and say "this sucks. Tolkien wasn't that special." Not realizing this has nothing to do with Tolkien's written works outside of names. It's sad that people are going to think this is Tolkien's story.
Yes, the risk is there, because for example when I hear the name "Gandalf", I see Ian McKellan's face, and I have to struggle to remember that Frodo wasn't a youngster with enormous blue eyes in LOTR but a mature 51 year old gentlehobbit (and I read the books years before the PJ films came out) and so on. Extrapolating that, this could become the "truth" to many people. Although I will say I don't think as many people will watch this as watched the PJ films.
@@sweeperboy I agree. The thing that drew so many non-Tolkien people to the movies were the rave reviews and Oscars they were stacking up. People who didn't like "fantasy movies" liked the LOTR trilogy because of the high level of quality and care taken by WETA and the screenwriters. The Rings of Power doesn't have the rave reviews or care to detail... they have name recognition. And after a couple of episodes, I think casual fans are turned off, but I fear they blame Tolkien rather than the abuse of the property.
I tell people the second law of thermodynamics applies to all aspects of human society and most scoff at me. I still think it’s true.
I 100% believe there's no way the show can be repaired; they've deviated from Tolkien in such ways I don't think there's any way it can be repaired.
They would have to do something novel like completely scrap the show and start it again following the lore much closer and making the characters more likeable and interesting
Yes, the only way out is for it to end. Just withdraw support, stop watching (through legit channels) etc.
Stop comparing it ...stand alone it is a great new story. Different writer and director. Guess you prefer 3 stooges and i love lucy.
@@mrs.sherry Sorry it can't be judged on its own alone...it literally has "The Lords of the Rings" in its title name and the showrunners have claimed multiple times that they always referred to the books and the lore. Even on its own it's a hot mess of a series with simplistic and mundane dialogue driven by illogical plot and childish mystery boxes. Its mediocre on its own at best.
@@skyintatters unfortunately I am curious to see where this will end lol
You're too kind about this nouveau mithril. It's not just crystallized Silmaril light, it's crystallized Silmaril/evil/good/lightning from a tree. It was clumsy. It was bizarre.
Its was an abomination.
The myth bugs me so badly. Why would Gil-Galad believe a legend that would have happened in his lifetime and he has no idea who the Elf was or what a Balrog was doing out in the open in the Misty Mountains presumably after the War of Wrath. I'm worried there's going to be a stupid reveal where the unnamed elven warrior is Galadriel and the Balrog becomes Durin's Bane whom she of course defeats and drives into hiding. Then to add insult to injury, it'll be that Gil-Galad covered up the story for some reason (misogyny) to keep it secret. At this point it wouldn't surprise me.
I cannot believe how badly they've broken the lore with this nonsense. We know all about the Sillmarils and what happened to them. The Eldar are not energy vampires who need the light of the Sillmarils to survive. It's diabolically bad.
Diabolically bad, is correct - emphasis on diabolical.
For Gil-galad to bring duality (“as pure and light as Good, and as strong and unyielding as Evil” ) into the canon is not only antithetical to the the story, but is completely foreign and polar opposite to what Tolkien believed and wrote and said.
Evil can only corrupt. It cannot create - only Good can create.
So, for the balrog to equally counter the good is jarringly bad.
It’s like the writers have never actually read Tolkien, even at a cursory level.
If they had, they wouldn’t come up with this duality nonsense!
@@24flyingcats84 And orcs are literal vampires who get 3rd degree burns from a small ray of sunlight
I think essential reading right about now is Letter #210 in “The Letters of JRR Tolkien” where the good professor lays into the storyline for a planned animated adaptation of LOTR back in the late 1950s. Much that he says could be applied to “Rings of Power.” To wit -- “the failure of poor films is often precisely in exaggeration, and in the intrusion of unwarranted matter owing to not perceiving where the core of the original lies.” And the even more pointed, “please play my text some respect.”
5:33 - One of Galadriel's two facial expressions, . The other one is .
Meanwhile, the Garbage Bagginses - "Our hearts are bigger than our feet." Also Hobo Bagginses, "Take their wheels." And leave anyone who falls behind to die. I'm rooting for the bad guys..
She has a third face. Her horse riding ‘O’ face.
"[the rules of literature] require that the author shall make the reader feel a deep interest in the personages of his tale and in their fate; and that he shall make the reader love the good people in the tale and hate the bad ones. But the reader of the Deerslayer tale dislikes the good people in it, is indifferent to the others, and wishes they would all get drowned together." - Mark Twain, on James Fenimore Cooper's literary offenses. This evisceration of Cooper's work is too close for comfort to the problems with TRoP.
I'm literally rooting for Halbrand and Adar to entertain myself.
And just one tone of voice....oh her voice! God
@@ggcmod THERE IS A TAMPAX IN ME!!! 😂😂😂😂 shes been on her period the whole 1st season, someone giver he some Pamprin please!
I'm not watching RoP, but I'm grateful that you guys are, and I appreciate your insights. We need people with a holistic understanding of Tolkien's life and writings to call out how incredibly wrong this is! Going in, I was worried about what they would do to Gil-galad's character, and it's just so sad because he's wonderful in the books.
This show is a horrendous mess where they have bastardised existing characters and lore, changing it to fit the narrative that the showrunners wish to tell. It has no love or respect of tolkiens work and only wanted the popularity of the IP… please continue reviewing these episodes for people to understand how badly they have represented the 2nd age and middle earth
Don't worry; next week we find mithril also contains Midi-chlorians. 🤣🤣🤣
@@dw620, all Mithril was bought by Emperor Palpatine because he wants ULTIMATE POWERRR
Heresy eventually perishes after it's lies are made naked and clear upon the sight of those it hopes to blind! We must stop watching this even for negative publicity because it feeds the amazon rating system. Take heart and join us for our EXSURGE TOLKIEN counter rings of power heresy series on our channel. It will be a happy thought in these dark times.
How do you not have an issue? First, what were the show runners thinking about making statements such as "back to the books, back to the books" when it is blatantly obvious that is not the case? Second, the lack of care in their storytelling is horrific. One of many examples is Halbrand somehow becoming a member of guild this episode when he just robbed (because of the impossibility of him being accepted) and beat up a member in the previous episode. That writer for this large of a project cannot even hold (or are even willing to abandoned) their stories own reality is concerning, to say the least.
I'm sure Amazon would be delighted if you stopped reviewing the Rings of Power....which is the main reason you should keep going.
RoP's Numenor are not a country of grand or noble people - no glory represented there at all. they kinda blow off how special Eärendil was to both Numenoreans and elves - reading Tolkien he was elevated to such demi-god status that even when Frodo fights Shelob using the vial of Galadriel the mention of his name was a weapon more powerful than the light itself.
Some stray observations:
1. Why is Celebrimbor an old man?
2. If Galadriel's life is so empty why doesn't she do something about it. Like, I don't know, get married and have a child.
3. The show is no closer to the making of rings. You know, the Rings of Power.
4. Why are Numenorians not all tall, strong of stature, longish hair, have colonies on Middle Earth, enormous fleets of ships, massive grand cities, etc.
5. Why are the elves not all tall and long hair.
6. Why does Numenorian armour look so ridiculous.
@@JohnnyZenith why answer that when I can just call you racist (meme)
@@JohnnyZenith Numenor, at the times just before the Great Armament, probably had an army numbering HUNDREDS of THOUSANDS. They humbled Sauron and his armies so much, that his forces simply ABANDONED HIM the moment they saw them. But no, 3 ships, there you f*****g go.
#2 I need to paraphrase Daemon Targaryen of the HoD here "nothing would grow in such hostile environment" ;) I would be sorry for Celeborn and especially Celebrian having to cope with such wife and mother, so it is better they are seasons away (probably).
Elves can be old too. "As they came to the gates Círdan the Shipwright came forth to greet them. Very tall he was, and his beard was long, and he was grey and old, save that his eyes were keen as stars; and he looked at them and bowed, and said 'All is now ready.'"
― The Return of the King, "The Grey Havens"
This Mithril “backstory” is the straw for me. I’m done. I’ll watch review vids but I can’t watch RoP anymore. I just can’t.
I hear you! That just got to me on so many levels. The myth is ridiculous. How would immortal elves have a creation story in a time when they were all alive? Myths don't work like that. I fear several things with that myth. 1) it'll just be treated as real despite the glaring logical plotholes in the story; 2) it'll be a clever ruse by Sauron but even then no Elf should believe such a legend; or 3) it was Galadriel who was the unnamed elf and the Balrog will be Durin's Bane after she of course defeats him then it will be explained that Gil-Galad told her to remain silent to keep the secret of the ore (and to make him further look bad as he's keeping a woman's accomplishments secret)
Bad script writing
Bad character development
Bad acting
Bad CGI
Bad costumes
Bad pacing/timing
Bad story telling
Beautiful New Zealand landscapes.
That sums up Amazon’s ROP.
This.
OK, I have cracked the code. The Stranger isn't Gandalf, Radagast, or Sauron. He's actually Doc Brown from Back to the Future. Hear me out: A lightning bolt can cause time travel in BTTF. In RoP, a lightning bolt can also somehow cause a Silmaril and a tree to get jiggy and create an offspring: Mithril. In fact . . . it was the SAME lightning bolt, which has very wide-ranging time-travel and new-alloy-creating magical powers.
By now, you're all amazed, I'm sure, and wondering just how I solved this puzzle. I'll tell you: if you go back and watch Ep. 1 carefully, you'll see that the meteor is traveling exactly 88 miles per hour, because it's actually a DeLorean that got very hot from the friction of traveling through so much time back to Middle-Earth times.
Or he is a Sayan warrior from planet Vegeta to wipe out all earthlings.
I've got him down as Catweazle lol
Great Scott!
I completely agree What makes Tolkien the standard other authors claim to be inspired by and try to rise to is he was excellent. Other than the Bible Tolkien is the body of literature where I have actually memorized whole passages, many of which have application in real life. There is nothing I desire to remember about this series. It stands as a clear warning on how NOT to do Tolkien ever, ever, ever again.
I'll second that.
Tolkien's use of language was so excellent that I remember entire passages by heart without ever trying to actually memorize them.
So why continue to watch? If it's such an abomination, why boast Amazon's streaming and viewing figures. It honestly seems like you and many who despise or hate the show continue to watch and talk about it every week. Hate-watching is still watching. Which is ultimately all that matters for Amazon to keep producing the show for the next 5 years.
@@isaacm2374 Media giants should realize they cannot or should not destroy beloved IPs and think they can get away w/ it or rage at honest fans who've revered and enjoyed works like Tolkien's and then are lambasted for calling them out for their shoddy job. There is a difference between hate-watching and providing honest constructive criticism.
The guy who plays the dwarf is really likeable in his role. He should be put in charge next season.
Obviously after Galadriel stuffed five guards into a cell single-handedly, Numenor sacked its entire military.
🤣🤣
🤣🤣🤣🤣
And then let the elf take their job (at least the drill sergeant job), lending credibility to the unwashed masses.
Ignore it? When a company hijacks such a beloved IP and then lies to the fanbase about honouring it then damn right it should not be 'ignored'. We won't rest until this thing is six feet under or Amazon cleans house completely for a second season.
Having a main character who is 'unlikeable' - as a person isn't necessarily a problem.....however, making them tedious and repetitive, and not showing the audience a satisfactory explanation as to why they're such an unlikeable character - that is a big problem.
Yes! I think Ahsoka in Clone Wars started as a not likable character. She learned and became one the most favourite (female) characters in Star Wars.
There needs to be a development. Galadriel has none and she also isn't a teenager or something like that. How did she get to be a commander with that attitude?
That which is dramatically interesting is dramatically engaging. Milenniel is not interesting, and annoying on top.
@@MaxxMcGeePrivate In her defense you can tell a lot of Noldors where complete as*holes. So she isn't the first bad elf.
The main issue is that she wasn't writen like that by Tolkien. She was supposed to be an old, noble elf, with strange psychic powers (even before her ring of power).
Uhh being unlikeable is a problem. What?
@@MaxxMcGeePrivate I haven't seen Clone Wars but I have seen other characters that has been unlikable that later became likable. But I don't know if Galadriel can be rescued. Maybe if she goes on a "get humble"-tour for an entire season and then get a redemption arc or something. At least it will take lots for me to like her in any way. Anyway I think a show can survive or even be good with unlikable character if the story is good. But the show overall has a uphill battle to become even remotely good and this is not even considering Galadriels or other unlikable characters which is just the icing on the cake for this bad show.
I’ve become disgusted with this show. It is an abomination.
Not only that they used the color of peoples skin as a scapegoat to hide behind the rape of Tolkien’s world. That’s should not be forgotten. If they cared about racial diversity they would write them beautiful material to work with and they didn’t. They handed them dog shit and hid behind their skin tone.
100% this
I think they may have done that deliberately in order to be able to accuse any critics of the show of being "racist"...regardless of what the criticism is.
- So, oath-breaking is no big deal in middle earth now?,.. the army of the dead will be feeling very silly right now!
- The Numenorean army apparently doesn't even have barracks as they train in alleyways.
- There's nowhere near enough room on those three dinky ships for even the 500 warriors Galadriel claimed, never mind hundreds of horses.
- So, there are only 3 ships because one was burnt (...reasons), but there were 8 in harbor at the start of the show.
I want S2 to be cancelled with extreme prejudice soooo badly! Fire the staff, burn the sets, salt the earth.
1 horse is enough for like 20 warriors, why do you need hundreds of horses?
Keep reviewing it. I DEMAND it!!!
Great stuff you're saying about how Tolkiens writing 'touched your heart'. I always describe it that way: There are feelings I never knew I could have, that only find a home in Tolkien's works.
He evokes this sweet blend of longing and fullfillment. I'm reading his early drafts of several parts of the SILMARILLION in the LOST TALES right now, and you can sense that even as a young writer with less pronounced writing skills and more messy world building (Tevildo), he was already tapping from that well of profound emotion. It's a feeling of coming home after a long journey, or like how Beren felt when he escaped the Nan Dungortheb alive and set eyes on Luthien for the first time right afterwards.
There's a saying, and I can't remember who siad it, but, "If there are no tears in the writer, then there are no tears in the reader [or watcher]." Tolkien wrote what was deep in his heart. You can feel it. The rings of power authors are not writing from their heart.
Numenor's grand fleet: the Niña, the Pinta and the Santa María.
"There's no Tolkien Here" a very apt title to describe this Amazon tripe
The four top elite soldiers they had got inexplicably locked in Guyladriel's cell. Unless we can figure out which way the door opens they will be trapped until the waves sink the island.
I think they've created Galadriel to be evil on purpose. She will only become good after she single-handedly helps Sauron found Mordor. This will humble her and force her to "hang up her sword" forever. That might be her TV arc.
The writers genuinely thought people would like "girl boss" Guyladriel. Once the reviews came out, and she was universally hated, I bet they change her character arc next season.
This will be played off as a plan made by the writers long ago.
Either way the show is utter shit and it won't matter in the end.
she'll fight a Balrog, die then come back wiser
🤢🤮
@@shadyrebob5999 I don't know.. Star Wars only barely pulled Rey's character out of her cold and lifeless personality for the kiss at the end of 9. Then put her back for the very final scene in that film. I'm not sure that RoP intends to fix it's personality problem.
I hate that everyone in this show looks like they are eagerly waiting for puberty to finally hit them.
Eric Kain (Forbes) said that Numenor reminded him of The Venetian Casino in Las Vegas - all glitter and plastic. That’s spot on 🎯
I still can't get over the prison break scene. Damn, how in the world can a 100 pound petite woman beat up and imprison 5 6feet tall covered in amour men 200 pound men? Who in their right kind thought that prison break scene was a good idea? lol Now we have the dumb training scene in episode 5.. Damn this series is a joke.
Maybe they said "Galadriel is 6'2" in every version before now" and expected the audience to ignore their lying eyes (that tell them Morbyyd whatever is a short, unathletic British woman.)
If Galadriel were like described in the books, the tallest of Noldor women with 1.9m and the most powerful Eldar after Feanor, there would be a believable way for her to neutralize 5 mortal men opponents with a combination of her physical skills and Eldar power.
However, if Galadriel were like in the books she would never be an ignorant bitch imprisoned for insulting a Numenorean ruler and she wouldn't be in Numenor in the first place.
Surprised at the lack of discussion concerning the horses that were shown being loaded into the ships, then to have a ship blown up that night. Given that it was said the ships hold 100 people, I am going to also assume that 100 horses were murdered when that ship exploded as well. Lovely show.
You have all the right to have something against a show that has proven to be against not only its brilliant source material but also the basic requirements of good storytelling
"[the rules of literature] require that the episodes of a tale shall be necessary parts of the tale, and shall help to develop it. But as the Deerslayer tale is not a tale, and accomplishes nothing and arrives nowhere, the episodes have no rightful place in the work, since there was nothing for them to develop. " - Mark Twain, on James Fenimore Cooper's literary offenses.
Something that's not mentioned. Where is everyone? The world feels empty like the characters and token few extras are the entirety of middle earth. No animals hardly either no birds no rabbits foxes. I'd like a cut scene of two rabbits eating grass then scattering as it moves to a harfoot entering the frame. Some birds tweeting maybe. Some views of civilisation in middle earth doing menial things. Just something to make this world feel alive.
"It's almost as if the studio could only afford 2 X-Men"
Where did the bloody money go. Numenor is tiny in scale, the armour looks awful.
@@JohnnyZenith totally agree. It should be a massive hive of activity. There should be hundreds of boats. A massive barracks. Ship construction yards fishing fleets. Huge stables. It looks like a Greek all inclusive hotel
@@paladin1254 Ar-Pharazon's ship was called Al Carondas, "Castle of the Sea". It was freaking enormous. Nothing in this show tells me this version of Numenor could build such a thing.
What was in that wine to blow up two ships? NOmenor's wine must be quite strong, now I understand many things🤣
It’s astounding how much of Numenor’s history and political landscape is thrown aside and abandoned, considering how simple it is to cover and the fact that they chose to break the timeline in order to include it.
I love this logic that you're not allowed to have an opinion on am adaptation if you know too much about the source material. Lmao
Or the sister argument that if you haven't watched a show then you can't have an opinion on it.. why have Rotten Tomatoes at all, then?
An elf stops for a piss by a tree during a storm and mithril was created
I'm hoping that the season ends with guyladriel as a child waking from the nightmare that is season 1. They can then get on with the real rings of power starting fresh with season 2. I won't hold my breath
The wolves looked more like wargs, while the wargs looked like mutated dogs/wolves.
What the heck was that stuff on the ship EXPLODING? It also made the ship next to it explode. WHAT?? And not a single guard on these ships? And what about the horses? Did this guy kill all the horses?
God, this episode made me mad and I'm so happy every reviewer points out the same things.
Elendil did make one joke.
He is one of two actors that are vaguely tall enough to be somewhat believable as numenorian
I hear ya.
Gondor which is at best a Shadow of Numenor at least has ARMIES!
In other words The Realm of Gondor which (by the end of the 3rd Age) has ARMIES.
Gondor are the DECENDANTS of Numenor. But, a Watered Down Version.
Gondor does not have the Ancient Tech that Numenor had and you are correct...
Numenor has NO ARMIES by this point in their civilization?
It is So Painful to view.
The sad thing is that [people (young people) will 'Think' that this is Tolkien 10 to 20 years down the road.... 😠
This show is not salvageable. Its too far gone, and honestly I don’t know how they can fix everything in the 2nd season. Even if they brought in new writers, they’d basically have to start over from scratch and rewrite all the botched story lines that we are currently experiencing
Am I the only one that thinks that Elrond already broke his oath telling Calabrimbor?! And that the latter said he tested it already like they had some already that I didn’t see any of with them.. Dam a mid school student could write a essay better than that
What bothered me the most about this episode is that we’re supposed to believe that the pathetic group of towns people led by an herbalist are going to take on an army of orcs.
Or the army of 500 will somehow cross thousands of miles to save them in a matter of days.
@@FlyfishermanMike
It’s not even 500 anymore is it? It was 5 ships and 500 Numenorians and they are down to 3 ships.
Is Galadriel Sauron in disguise?
That's the only plot twist I'll accept at this point
Another striking example of just how freaking long it takes to get anything done in this series is that after 5 hours of plot and exposition, we finally see 3 ships sailing out of Numenor harbor ... from the season TRAILER. The fact that they look like inshore trawlers rather than corvettes carrying 100 soldiers and 100 horses for an expeditionary force landing is perhaps beside the point.
There's something really weird going on with the shows timeline. The meteor in episode 1 synced all the four storylines to the same point in the timeline.
The Elrond/Durin/Mithril storyline in the previous episode, where we were shown the elven/dwarven building project being quite far in construction, there was no time jump scene that explained the passing of time.
The Harfoots scene in this episode, where Poppy sings her mother's song and it becomes a montage scene showing the pass of time. This time jump explains how Hallbrand has become a blacksmith in Numeron. But this time jump didn't affect the events in the Southlands with Arondir and the orcs, nor did it seem to affect the scenes with Elrond/Durin/Gil-Galad.
Any theories?
I have a theory.
The writers are terrible.
@@luthasunspell8365 They are and that was my first thought as well. But I feel this is something else.
Somehow we're to believe the Numenor "navy" will cross to ME then ride to the tower in time to save them in hours or days? Time or distance is completely meaningless.
@@FlyfishermanMike The showrunners are from Bad Robot, so it's quite possible they have the same mentality about time and distance as J.J. Abrams, they just don't care about it. I do hope there is some explanation but I doubt it.
The Rings of Power is not worth reviewing and certainly not worth watching in lore perspective, however it's a gem for parodying.
Not worth watching at all
It's self parodying!
The greed of Amazon explains the snail pace of this awful show. They stated they wanted 5 seasons. I don’t think they’re going to get it
I’d guess they’ll do 1 more season then cancel. This show is trash
Really digging this channel, I had to bail on Corey Olsen and Nerd of the Rings after the trailers and other promotional material that came off.
Your channel and cohosts are well balanced on Tolkiens writings and storytelling, pacing, dialogue, and the overall craft
I’m really upset about Nerd of the Rings. He knows his Tolkien, but is really ok with this shitshow? I left a comment on his channel about rop being crap and told him this was his chance to show his mettle. He hearted my comment wtf.
@@Halfwit_The_Brave He probably knows full well how shit the show is, but won't actually say so, as he's already sold out.
@@Halfwit_The_Brave He's only it for the money. I clicked on "Don't recommend channel" weeks ago. The guy's a weasel.
And that makes me sad
Coward of the rings was desperately selling the bs of "cautiously optimistic" before the show and now he doesn't have to pretend that he cares.
Now, now, let's be fair, GuyLADriel had a second emotion: horse riding happy witch with matching creepy smile. ;) #NotMyGaladriel. Keep the commentary coming; when people tell you to shut up because you have "something against" a topic, you can safely bet they actually agree with you. They just can't bring themselves to admit it. Else, they'd have a rebuttal, but since they don't, they just ask you to stop. Remember, even access media are now voicing their criticisms of the show. If it's bad, it's bad; no counter PR attacking the fans or trying to hide legitimate criticisms can fix that.
The biggest teaser the mainstream would have us ponder is...who is Sauron? Well, wonder no more...it's Galadriel. She wants the world to burn.
Love the Inigo Montpya reference! 👍
I felt sad for Neo when Morpheus looked straight past him at Galadriel and said “YOU are the one”
It's like Monty Python without the humour.
The wolf design kinda looks like spray painted sheep skulls. Kinda brings me back to "Black Sheep".
They will not gonna remove the writers because amazon don't make mistake, they think they are always right and there were no problem in their staff. For them the problem is the audience.
For me tolkien was always about dealing with decay in a virtuous way. To know when is time for been humble even with a lot of power and knowlegde. Resisting the temptation of power os what make people noble, sacrifice and loyalty to your friends is what bonds the races. And in 5 hours of the show, those themes are still missing for me
Who needs loyalty, honor, sacrifice, and humbleness when we have badass Galadriel. Yass 👸Queen
@@AS-fu1kd Slayyyyyy GuyLathRRRRIEL!! 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣
As I understand it the series had a huge amount spent on it but is beginning to have a low-budget feel...just three ships to defeat Sauron with shock and awe? Surely CGI could transform that into 500 ships? No Numenorian army..not even one who knows how to use a sword? When they land in Middle Earth and meet Sauron's orcs they are doomed. Perhaps their defeat will be for the best. I wonder if Adar will turn out to be the elf who sank Galadriel's boat in episode one...then she can have her revenge!
It's kinda funny, the Numenorians and the Elves, think that getting rid of, Guyladriel, will fix their problems. Lol.
Who can blame them 😅
Even if it doesn't solve the issue, everyone's day will be easier once she leaves
I wonder who the hell thought that the mithril reveal was this really cool and interesting WOW moment? That’s what this whole show is, just presenting the audience with some bland thing and going: “Ahhh ehhh? Pretty cool huh?” And the audience goes: “uhh, nah, not really mate”
LOL Never stop!
You known what the talk louder line reminded me of?
If I'm not back in 5 minutes.....Just wait longer!
And give it to me Raw! Classic Tolkien.
This show was already a joke but changing the Lore around mithril, unforgivable.
this is whole show isn't Tolkien at all... the creators (with little experience or qualifications i might add) explain that they're trying to deviate from Tolkien's work
I still don't understand that design of Celebrimbor. Like, he is an old man, but he is the grandson in age of Galadriel, and basically he was described as the mirror image of Feanor, so long dark hair and AMAZING beauty.
So WTF is this shit
Not to mention the _only_ Elf that was ever described as being "old" was - right at the start of the 4th Age (so much, much later) - Cirdan.
@@sweeperboy exactly, thats why he even have the start of a beard, because he was VERY OLD
The most impressive achievement of the series is how they took Tolkien's genius and churned out mediocre trash. That's something.
Should anyone desire a masterclass on how to make an unsymathetic, unlikeable lead character dramatically interesting and ambivalently relatable - rewatch Daniel Plainview in “There Will Be Blood”.
I agree with everything you've said and I love your videos. I have so many things I want to tirade about, but I will limit myself to the one thing that so far no review has brought up (that I've seen) regarding the mithril retcon: According to the show, Gil-galad, high king of ALL the elves, believes that the elves are dying because the light from the two trees of Valinor is fading from them...etc... made up stuff. What about the dark elves? The ones who never went to Valinor and never saw the trees yet presumably still exist (unless Amazon is just completely ignoring entire races of eves now, which, yeah, they might)? So elves who never saw the light of the two trees are going to die because they've lost the light of the two trees? Even if this is a huge red herring and will later turn out to be a lie told by Annatar, 1. Gil-galad never trusted Annatar to begin with and 2. Even if this version of Gil-galad trusts him, he's so stupid he doesn't even think about the reality of the dark elves???? I love Tolkien. I hate this show.
sending guyladriel away makes the tree live a better life because her toxic is gonna kill the tree. So gil-galad sends her away
I like how all of a sudden the women that killed the orc thinks she can lead a huge group of people to defend a little watchtower against thousands...
nEEd StRoNg WAMAN!
Without doing a damn thing...
My first introduction to LOTR was the Rankin/Bash version of The Hobbit. Once I saw this movie as an 11-year-old on TV, I was hooked. I had seen the book "The Hobbit" in my dad's collection of books as he was a teacher in school. I read "The Hobbit" in a day (IN A DAY!) and I was hooked. This show is an abomination and a slap in the face of Tolkien and all of his works. It's sad how this is using Tolkien's name to garner clout but it appears to be backfiring on them. If the writing of the story and characters, as well as the editing and acting were much better, then maybe it would be a much more accepted vision of Tolkien. But the problem is, the story is going nowhere, the pacing is slow and plodding, and the acting and writing is on the levels of a CW show and we all know how well those do (with Smallville and Super Natural, the early seasons. being the exceptions). Such a waste of a billion dollars. Sad.
10:30 That's 100% a Hobbit, even more than the fake Hobbits in this show. There is nothing about him that's elven.
I think is a ploy by sneaky Al Pharazon to get rid of Galadriel.
-“Here Galadriel, go to war with our best soldiers”.
-“Pharazon, you are giving control of our army to that elf you just met?”
-“Don’t worry, we gave her all the flunked applicants. Literally the worst of the worst. They are also taking that hobo they brought.”
-“But won’t they be able to tell there are no soldiers among them?, That little elf just wiped the floor with an entire company”
-“Nah, they call her The scourge of the Orcs. They actually think she is that good after we let her escape and my guards pretended to be bested by her. They don’t know just how incompetent they actually are. They will be slaughtered to the last man.”
-“You mean man and women”
-“Oh yes, we sent all the Karens as well.”
-“The sea is always right”
Keep doing these Reviews!
I whole heartedly enjoy your insights. And it provides wisdom and information that I can pass along to my father. Who is both interested in Tolkien and the truth that Tolkien conveys through his messaging
If you removed all the names of characters and places in this show you wouldn't even recognize this as Tolkien. Reminiscent of Xena and Hercules mixed with Days of Our Lives.
Complete and utter shit everywhere you look in this "show".
I didn't get how Gil-Galad found about the discovery of Mithril, Elrond was sent to get work force for building of the forge and just happen to find the dwarves discovery, and suddenly it is all about Mithril, which Elrond made an oath of nothing telling anyone. This Mithril shit was just brought into the story in the most non-sense possible, and how the elves are thinking in using a metal to "survive"? use mithril as suppository?
The Elves will fade if they overstay their welcome in Middle-earth. But not until the Age of Man. Their hröa (bodies) are flawed due to Morgoth pouring his essence into Arda. Everything they interact with in M-e is part of Arda Corrupted. This “weakens” their bodies. Eru did intend their Hröa to last as long as their Fëa (souls), but they will now have to return to the hallowed lands and the Valar in order to prevent this. Otherwise their souls will slowly consume their bodies, turning them into houseless spirits.
And on top of that how did Gil-Galad know that Elrond would suggest to Celebrimbor that the Elves team up with the Dwarves? I mean Gil- Galad just sent him to help Celebrimbor, going to the Dwarves was supposedly Elrond's idea and he supposedly hadn't visited them in 20 years.
Clearly Diza was selling secrets to Gil-Galad to overthrow the Dwarf patriarchy.
don't they see a silmaril everytime they look up at night ?
Shhh this show will not have you pointing out logic.
glad to see some of these videos. Not really a Tolkien fan per se, and i was thinking that the poor story was due to him not really being that good of a writer. glad that isn't the case
I've just rewatched the Peter Jackson trilogy. Oh wow, I'd forgatton how utterly fantastic that trilogy is. My lord in heaven, comparing the Lord of the Rings to the Rings of Power is like comparing Mozart in the hands of the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra to a 6ry old playing with a rusty organ grinder. No Joke.
They WISH they had the writers from Star Trek Beyond. At least Simon Pegg deeply loves TOS.
The showrunners are uncredited writers for ST beyond.
When Peter Jackson directed LOTR, they had a mission statement to stick with Tolkien's vision and not insert any of their own personal opinions or agenda. It worked! A tremendous success because Tolkien is the expert and many people loved it as it felt true to being in middle earth. This show's writers started by inserting their own personal and social agenda in the characters. Now changing fundamental lore... it feels less and less like Tolkien's world.
Well AFAIK it would seem likely that for Season 2 would involve; Sauron founding Mordor, and the making of the rings, with likely the war to claim them at the end of it, Season 3 will be the Elf and Númenorean counter attack that drives Sauron back and ending up him getting captured by Pharazôn (who likely at some point between seasons 2 and 3 removes Míriel from power), also it would likely start with the Elves being driven back before Númenor comes to their aid...
Season 4 would be the corruption and downfall of Númenor, with Season 5 being the formation of Gondor and Arnor as well as the Last Alliance.
Though this would entail them going by what the lore says....
It dose seem likely at this point Galadriel will be the one who puts Sauron on his throne only to go, "awe crap what have I done!" when she finds out who he really is... This being the turn to who she becomes later...
well, infact i am happy that you are standing for us all, THANKS as a non-english person whose life has been changed by tolkien s stories!
Nonsense on Mithril, this material exist in 2 continent long long ago...and Amazon say it appear when a elf, a tree and a balrog with lightning? wow i think my mind is exploding.
I am utterly convinced that these writers have not read a single Middle-Earth-related book other than The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings. I'm guessing they only focused on the books that they do have the rights to, most specifically the Appendices of LOTR and then just chose the more well-known characters and made them the protagonists in this series. They made up characters to check that diversity box, turned Miriel into a queen when she didn't even ascend to the throne so they can have another strong female character for their check list. They even created a sister for Isildur because they feel they need another female character when they should've featured Anarion instead as he is the direct ancestor of Aragorn and the Dunedain. They are making things up as they go since they don't have a lot to go on. This is one series that should never have happened as there is no material left for them to adapt! They cannot touch The Silmarillion or any of the books, the Tolkien estate has refused to sell the rights to them and for good reason. I would hate those books to be butchered by these writers and producers' need to inject modern ideas and politics in every show or movie they create.
Your soundbites are the best, Dude. Stumbled across your page and am so glad I did.
“Tell me, have the dwarves found anything out of the ordinary, and by ‘out of the ordinary’, I refer to Mithril?”
“Um, you make it hard for me; I gave my sacred oath not to divulge what they found-or might not have found. Or in fact found.”
“Sacred oath? Pah! Just tell me, have they found Mithril?”
“As much as I’d like to obey you, I cannot tell you what they might have found, if they found anything, because I swore not to name what they might have found. Hint, hint.”
“Well, if you won’t tell me, you uninformative bastard, I’ll just go ask someone else! By the way, your pocket is glowing, and I always feel stronger and much healthier whenever I stand immediately to your right. Odd. Well, I’m off.”
“I swore an oath!”
Galadriel is Sauron in disguise. The real Galadriel is hidden somewhere, or perhaps does her own thing. That is why she is so unlovely. Gil Galad senses this subconciously and sends her to Valinor, but in the last moment Sauron jumps over board, because he knows the sea cannot kill him. I know this hypothesis is far off the mark, but it has a certain ..... charm.
They could just get mithril from Valinor or Númenor if the dwarves won't give it to them. Eärendil's boat was made of mithril and glass in the first age befor Morgoth fell.
Is it possible the show is going to do something incredibly convoluted with the Halbrand = Sauron thing? It isn't set up well, but I can imagine that this would be how an inept writer would set something up. Smacks of Daenerys in season 8 of GoT. Sauron (somehow) knew that Galadriel would lose herself in vengeance and search for him if he killed Finrod, and he left the mark knowing (somehow) she'd come and find him (conveniently) on that raft. Galadriel does tell Halbrand that some might argue that he used her to return to the Southlands and become king. I don't think anyone would win that argument, based on the show, but she did say it, and the show might just end up with some expository dialogue later where Halbrand is like "I did use you! And now I am returned!" Which would be in keeping with the style of this show, which is not to show you how Sauron is a manipulative mastermind, but rather tell you afterwards instead for a very forced reveal. This would create a huge narrative problem where Sauron now has to interact with the Elven and Dwarven smiths, then be REcaptured by Numenor, then convince them to attack Valinor. Although I think it possible, that the show will completely cut that part out, and simply sink Numenor for NO REASON and the 3 ships that Elendil and Isildur and Galadriel are on ARE what become the Dunedain.
When I heard about the stupid mithril thing I knew this show was doomed. The writers ovisouly played World of Warcraft and stole the whole Elves immortality thing from the World Tree. I just don't see anything that even remotely reminds me of Tolkien.