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

[newparisian]

Loved the show and the finale. The thematic richness, the visuals, the acting, it's all great! Halbrand was written as such in that if you go back and rewatch the show everything he says works for both him (if he'd turned out to not be Sauron) and Sauron. In the books, Sauron was once penitent and could've maybe turned towards the light before falling further, so I can totally believe that this is his soul-searching period and he was attracted to the light in Galadriel, as she was attracted to the darkness in him. He always planned to rule but this was perhaps the time where he could've been tempered if Galadriel had stood by his side (though I'm glad she didn't).

Nitpick 1: I really wish they'd spent at least 1 more episode of Halbrand in Eregion, corrupting Calebrimbor and arousing Galadriel's suspicion. I feel everything moved too fast, there. One assumes Calebrimbor will not heed anyone's warnings and will stay in communication with Sauron since he's meant to also have forged all the other rings. So lesson not learned.

Nitpick 2: Galadriel keeping the Sauron thing a secret. I just don't think she'd care about telling people and taking a brow-beating, and would rather work to unite everyone and hunt him down.

Nitpick 3: Within the context of the show, they really need to make clear exactly how forging 3 rings helps elves. Like, sure, the mithril can reverse the damage to the tree, but how does it help the entire elven race beat mortality if three people are wearing new jewelry? Also it would have helped to actually show the elves suffering somehow, not just the tree leaves turning colors. Make us believe they're in REAL need. It would give urgency to the Khazad-Dun scenes, for one.

Observation: I really don't think that's Gandalf. Although the show is massively compressing the books' timeline (wherein Gandalf arrives much later), I still think this is one of the blue Wizards who, in the books, went east to Rhun and failed in their task to subvert Easterlings away from Sauron.

Looking forward to Season 2. Of the three fantasy shows this year (WoT, HotD, RoP), this is definitely the most well done and my favorite.

[Godlike13]

I guess it counts as a success if people don’t notice that the sets and most of the landscapes are not real.

A billion on sets seems excessive.

[Frobisher]

Nitpick 3: Within the context of the show, they really need to make clear exactly how forging 3 rings helps elves. Like, sure, the mithril can reverse the damage to the tree, but how does it help the entire elven race beat mortality if three people are wearing new jewelry? Also it would have helped to actually show the elves suffering somehow, not just the tree leaves turning colors. Make us believe they're in REAL need. It would give urgency to the Khazad-Dun scenes, for one.

What I don't get about this is that if that tiny nugget of mithril forged into three rings can be that powerful, then the mithril mail Frodo wears must be like a hydrogen bomb by comparison. How do they account for the power of the Elven Rings when mithril-forged items are clearly commonplace later on?

[Aahz]

A billion on sets seems excessive.

Appart from the sets I also don't really see where it went.

The actors are all unknowns.

The Costumes look kind of cheap (at least in comparison to the Peter Jackson movies), apart from maybe the Orcs.

The battles where all pretty small scale, and the fight choreography was really crappy.

And appart from the background there wasn't even much CGI. The Wargs, the Troll, Ballrog, all were barely on screen.

[thwhtGuardian]

What I don't get about this is that if that tiny nugget of mithril forged into three rings can be that powerful, then the mithril mail Frodo wears must be like a hydrogen bomb by comparison. How do they account for the power of the Elven Rings when mithril-forged items are clearly commonplace later on?

They aren't commonplace latter though.

"Its worth was ten times that of gold, and now it is beyond price; for little is left above ground, and even the Orcs dare not delve here for it."

"I never told him, but its worth was greater than the value of the whole Shire and everything in it."

[newparisian]

What I don't get about this is that if that tiny nugget of mithril forged into three rings can be that powerful, then the mithril mail Frodo wears must be like a hydrogen bomb by comparison. How do they account for the power of the Elven Rings when mithril-forged items are clearly commonplace later on?

I believe the elven rings contained the silmarils too, though (?).

[choptop]

I believe the elven rings contained the silmarils too, though (?).

It had the magic stones too not just mithril.

[Jared]

The One Ring's poem really doesn't work as a song.
Also, with only thr three rings made so far I don't think we should hear it yet.

Thai was very oddly structured. We got nothing of the dwarves, Adar and his orcs, or the Southlanders.

Halbraand house have just claimed to descend from a royal bastard who went unrecorded in the official history. Is the world so secrets that nobody could imagine that?

There did need to be more time with Halbrand among the elves and only gradually arousing suspicion. There haoudl have been more romantic tension between agalafriel and Halbrand before thr turn. Yet, the season as a whole feels like there was a lot of padding in the wrong places.

I have no idea what those witches from Rhun were (are) supposed to be. Lesser evil Maiar? Living humans? Wraiths?

I did like the seen where Sauron tempts Galadriel. But her keeping quiet about why she wanted Halbrand kept away makes noxreal sense, it's thr kind of "friends have to keep vital secret from each other just for melodrama" writing that plagued every CW superhero show going back to Smallville.

I find it amusing that this show and House of the Dragon both had the plot point of a king on his deathbed mistaking another woman for his daughter and giving her secret information.

[Celgress]

I give season one a 2 out of 5 a bit below average for a fantasy story. My main issue was the slow pacing. Only two episodes were exciting, IMHO, There was a lot of filler they could have cut to compress things and move the narrative along.

Also, Sauron's talk with Galadriel should have been more seductive and manipulative. He should have pushed harder that Melkor was responsible for everything bad including the brother's death and that he only wants to repair the damage Melkor did. He should have also played the victim card more claiming he wanted to overthrow Melkor but he was afraid Melkor would survive his plot. He should have emphasized he picked Galadriel because only he recognizes her greatness and that together they could make a better world a just world free of the evil taint of Melkor.

[DanMad1977]

When I think about Amazon planning for 5 seasons, this will be exhausting. I don't know if I can withstand another season that boring.

[Jared]

There's probably enough worthwhile material here for a good 3 hour+ movie. We know that can work with this franchise.

But as season, it was thin, like butter scraped over too much bread.

[ChrisIII]

Maybe it's possible that the stranger might be Saurman in his "grey" phase perhaps? After all, at least in the movies, Gandalf got a Sauramon-style haircut when he became "The white" and was mistaken for Saruman initially.


....and maybe the Palantir from Numenor winds up being his....

[Nathaniel Gray]

When I think about Amazon planning for 5 seasons, this will be exhausting. I don't know if I can withstand another season that boring.

Agreed. I barely got through it. They did a lot of world building so I trust that next season will be much better now that all of that is out of the way.

[Jackalope89]

Maybe it's possible that the stranger might be Saurman in his "grey" phase perhaps? After all, at least in the movies, Gandalf got a Sauramon-style haircut when he became "The white" and was mistaken for Saruman initially.


....and maybe the Palantir from Numenor winds up being his....

Except Saruman barely acknowledged Hobbits in general. Gandalf is the only wizard known to like them. So him being found and bonding with proto-Hobbits does make sense to his love for the people by the time of Bilbo and Frodo.

[Scott Taylor]

The One Ring's poem really doesn't work as a song.

Yah I wasn't a fan of the song. Sort of a whiny, drunken Adele version that sucked the life out of the very notion of the poem.

I'm thinking more and more that the Istar is a Blue Wizard. It just fits.