The Rings Of Power. Wait, come back! It has the Tolkien seal of approval!

[Sacred Knight]

Was Galadriel a warrior in the sword bearing sense in her past in the books? For the record I have not read everything. I'm not an expert, but a reader of the Hobbit/main trilogy and delved into only what could be considered cliffs notes of the past and his other works.

Edit: I see this is already a can of worms, lol.

[Brian B]

At first, I thought that had to be Sauron. But now I'm thinking it's a wizard. Maybe Gandalf.

I have read some folks saying it can’t be Gandalf, according to various Tolkien works mostly edited by his son Christopher, because only a couple Blue Wizards are mentioned as arriving in Middle-earth during the Second Age. Most of the wizards supposedly didn’t arrive until the Third Age. Also, breaking Nori’s dad’s ankle and killing fireflies isn’t very Gandalf like. I’m thinking it’s Sauron or another servant of Morgoth.

[Brian B]

I’m no expert but pretty sure Tolkien’s authorial intent was that Galadriel would DPS down orcs from the back rank while Boromir tanks damage with Aragorn casting “healing hands”.

Greatest post in all of these pages! I’m pretty sure you are 110% correct on Tolkien’s intent, LOL!!

[Celgress]

Was Galadriel a warrior in the sword bearing sense in her past in the books? For the record I have not read everything. I'm not an expert, but a reader of the Hobbit/main trilogy and delved into only what could be considered cliffs notes of the past and his other works.

Edit: I see this is already a can of worms, lol.

No, she wasn't. Any evidence for her being a traditional warrior in her youth is vague at best. Now, as for her being an extremely powerful magic user of that, there is no doubt strong clear evidence abounds throughout the books. I was appalled she did not use one spell (or try to use a spell) in Rings of Power even when her party was on the brink of freezing to death in the dark; not so much as a spark of flame to warm them or a twinge of light to illuminate their path, what bs.

[Celgress]

I particularly enjoyed the dwarf and elf relations on display, from a time which was indirectly referred to by the inscription to the door to Moria. It makes sense that, even if they were friends, there would be lots of tension. Wait until you see how dwarves treat their enemies!

The magic door seen in the Fellowship actually hasn't been created (or perhaps modified) yet. We are basically seeing the story of how some Dwarves and some Elves did become true friends, well, until the Balrog and Sauron ruined everything....

[Sutekh]

No, she wasn't. Any evidence for her being a traditional warrior in her youth is vague at best. Now, as for her being an extremely powerful magic user of that, there is no doubt strong clear evidence abounds throughout the books. I was appalled she did not use one spell (or try to use a spell) in Rings of Power even when her party was on the brink of freezing to death in the dark; not so much as a spark of flame to warm them or a twinge of light to illuminate their path, what bs.

Tolkein's elves didn't typically waggle their fingers and 'cast spells' like a D&D character. Their magic seemed more innate and mysterious and subtle than lightning bolts and magic missiles (like Legolas being able to run on top of snow that others have to trudge through), and Gandalf and Galadriel both drew on the power of their rings quite a bit (which she didn't have, at this time). I don't recall if Galadriel had the ring of Air or Water (Gandalf had the ring Fire), but I think it was Air (and Elrond, Water), so even if she *did* have the ring to enhance her own inner power (which most likely developed over ages, and she wasn't born with as a baby, so she'd logically be *less* powerful back in this story than she was in the Lord of the Rings era, even discounting the magic bling), it would be less likely to be D&D fireballs (more of a Gandalf and his ring of Fire thing, and even he used spells more in line with produce flame and pyrotechnics than fireball!), and more likely to be hurricane winds or rushing floodwaters or whatever.

[Wandering_Wand]

Does that really matter? The whole point of a show like this is to add value to Prime so that more people subscribe or stay subscribed. I would think the show has already added value just by making more people aware of Prime and getting them to use it.

If it matters enough to brag about… ah never mind.


So, I fell asleep halfway through ep. 2. I cannot tell you the last movie or show I fell asleep during because I simply don’t do that. The Harfoots are driving me nuts and they’ve made Nori annoyingly curious to where I do not like the character at all.

I’m hoping the guy who fell is a Blue Wizard, but I’m not sure if that’d be canon or even fit the timeline (seems they’re playing fast and loose anyway so I doubt that will matter much).

I’ll finish ep. 2 but I’m in no rush. I’ll do my best to stick with the entire season but at this rate, it’s going to be a slog for me.

Take away “Lord of the Rings” from the title, and we have a passing fantasy-epic, but only just passing, in my opinion.

And I think Amazon completey erasing negative reviews is extremely dishonest (as dishonest as the people doing it for no reason other than raging at their favorite properties changing). I understand not all of them were genuine, but to wholly erase all of them as being reported is just crappy. Take it on the chin and do better or come up with a craftier (and more honest) way of dealing with some of the negative reviews.

Edit:
Galadriel… one of my favorite characters in all of LotR mythos. I want so badly to enjoy this take on the character but I’m having a tough time cheering for her right now. I expect that will also change, at least, I hope.

[thwhtGuardian]

No, she wasn't. Any evidence for her being a traditional warrior in her youth is vague at best. Now, as for her being an extremely powerful magic user of that, there is no doubt strong clear evidence abounds throughout the books. I was appalled she did not use one spell (or try to use a spell) in Rings of Power even when her party was on the brink of freezing to death in the dark; not so much as a spark of flame to warm them or a twinge of light to illuminate their path, what bs.

Except they don't really do spells in the traditional sense like that.

[Brian B]

The Harfoots are driving me nuts and they’ve made Nori annoyingly curious to where I do not like the character at all.

It seems difficult to disagree with that, but then, haven’t the hobbits always been the absolute weakest part of LotR? Nori is no more annoying than Frodo. No one ever goes on about what great heroes Bilbo, Frodo and the rest are. It’s the characters around them — the elves, the dwarves, the humans, wizards, orcs, ghost armies, ents, a dragon and the Nazgul — which make the story.

[thwhtGuardian]

It seems difficult to disagree with that, but then, haven’t the hobbits always been the absolute weakest part of LotR? Nori is no more annoying than Frodo. No one ever goes on about what great heroes Bilbo, Frodo and the rest are. It’s the characters around them — the elves, the dwarves, the humans, wizards, orcs, ghost armies, ents, a dragon and the Nazgul — which make the story.

Eh, for me I've always loved the Hobbits, and it's no different here their part of the story is the most fun so far.

[skyvolt2000]

https://bleedingcool.com/tv/lord-of-...racist-trolls/

Well, that's just a small part of a bigger problem that the trolls have been unleashing upon the series, with cast members going public with their experiences of being abused online by supposed "fans" who apparently can accept anything and everything that goes on in a fantasy series except the idea of a woman or an actor of color actually starring in one. Now, the cast of the streaming series is letting everyone know that they're done putting up with it, they won't stand for it, and that they are in "absolute solidarity" when it comes to pushing back on racist, narrow-minded trolling wherever it rears its ugly head. Following that, the statement set the record straight when it comes to the world Tolkien created and how it was intended to reflect the world around us. And then it wraps with a pledge of love and support to the fans, who've made the series successful, despite the abuse they've also had to endure on social media simply for appreciating being represented.

[Celgress]

Except they don't really do spells in the traditional sense like that.

ah, splitting hairs

[Scott Taylor]

https://bleedingcool.com/tv/lord-of-...racist-trolls/

This is an important concept, that is sometimes lost in the complaints about content. Representation truly matters. Its really very easy to think it doesn't matter. But the fact is that it does matter that what you see in fantasy and stories in general are characters who look like you and your kin.

Having a black elf or dwarf, while having them still be elf-y and dwarf-y, is nothing but a change in the very superficial.

[godisawesome]

This is an important concept, that is sometimes lost in the complaints about content. Representation truly matters. Its really very easy to think it doesn't matter. But the fact is that it does matter that what you see in fantasy and stories in general are characters who look like you and your kin.

Having a black elf or dwarf, while having them still be elf-y and dwarf-y, is nothing but a change in the very superficial.

Plus, it *is* fantasy - so there really aren’t any of the rules some claim about this and HotD.

[CTTT]

Well, here we go again
https://www.cbr.com/lotr-stars-suppo...acist-attacks/

Second time this happened first with Obi-Won Kenobi "IT'S NOT THE PISS POOR WRITING AND CHARACTERIZATION IT'S BECUZ THEY R RACIST" crap going on.

I tell ya, creatives should just acknowledge when their product is bad instead of using racism as the weak excuse for poor reception of a show.

Also, gotta Lol at Jeff Bezos: "This is not a cash grab people." Really Jeff, what is it then? A donation to your favorite charity?

And then gotta lol at Elijiah Wood and the other hobbits doing their kumbaya welcome everyone complete with t-shirt solidarity to further cover up the show's shortcomings.