Rings of Power -- all opinions and spoilers welcome thread.

[Hriston]

I can accept that: Numenor is supposed to be a huge island, more like Ireland than a smallish island, and Reunion island has a 3,000 meters peak despite being around 50 km by 50... Hawaii has 4,000 meters peak with Big Island being 100 by 100.

On the other hand the Meneltarma doesn't seem to have eternal icecap on its top, with people gathering there in white robe and garlands, not heavy boots, furs and winter clothes.

Would that necessarily be the case for a 4,800 m peak at around 37 degrees of latitude surrounded by warm temperate ocean water? If so, the elevation could be somewhat less. I was stating the full height from the abyssal plain to the summit as an upper limit. Of course the plain would be filled with some depth of water and with a deeper sea around Númenor, the height of the Meneltarma could be as little as 3,700 m above sea level if based on the geography of the Josephine Seamount. This would be quite similar in terms of elevation, latitude, and proximity of ocean water to Mount Fuji which is only covered by snow about five months of the year.

 

[FitzTheRuke]

Anyhow, just want to say that I've been enjoying the discussion in this thread. As a non Tolkien reader, much of the discussion has served to illuminate my feelings on the story, which, while I enjoy, I can also understand how some may not, given the changes it has made to the source material.

This is exactly how I feel about both the show itself, and this thread. Well said.

I really get both 'sides' of this discussion.

 

[Jfdlsjfd]

@Hriston Not necessarily, you're right. Note that the pilgrimage on the Meneltarma was occurring on the arrival of Spring.

 

[phuong]

I liked the first and last episode the most. I felt frustrated at Gandalf being unable to communicate for the entire season. The three evil dudes felt like they should have been at a modelling runway, not in the show. I liked the overall plot and execution of the Southlands, Numenor and how Isildur was naturally messing up. Dwarves and Elves relationship was good. There was a lot to like.

 

[Mad_Jack]

I'm hoping it gets a physical release on Blu-ray someday so I can watch it. It sounds like it's been interesting so far, and the few little clips I've seen look good.

 

[Enevhar Aldarion]

Miriel originally intended to send 500 men on 5 ships, before 2 were burned, so 300 would make sense. It's a shame the showrunners didn't exhibit, enormous, breathtaking ships (missing an opportunity for a visual spectacle and emphasizing Numenor's technology); or have a larger number of smaller ships, with some acting as dedicated transports for the horses (missing an opportunity for coherent drama stemming from their possible separation/loss).

I don't know why everyone is saying 3 ships, because those 2 destroyed ships were replaced, so it was still 5 ships that sailed out. I am pretty sure this is in the dialogue of the episode where they depart. Plus, watch that scene again and you see three lead ships being followed out of the harbor by two more. I just watched the first season yesterday and today, so it is still fresh in my mind.

@Mad_Jack There is a free 30-day trial for Prime, if you are in the US. That is how I watched it this week.

 

[Rabulias]

I don't know why everyone is saying 3 ships, because those 2 destroyed ships were replaced, so it was still 5 ships that sailed out. I am pretty sure this is in the dialogue of the episode where they depart. Plus, watch that scene again and you see three lead ships being followed out of the harbor by two more. I just watched the first season yesterday and today, so it is still fresh in my mind.

Uh, you may want to go back and watch episodes 5 and 6 again. There are only three ships sent to Middle Earth.

 

[Muso]

My two cents in two comments:
1) Tolkien was very careful about the time required to carry out a journey. In the series very long journeys take place within a very short time.
2) Numenor's ships that look small but carry dozens and dozens of soldiers/horses.

Although I enjoyed the series in general, I found these inaccuracies very beneath a series with this budget.

 

[Hriston]

@Hriston Not necessarily, you're right. Note that the pilgrimage on the Meneltarma was occurring on the arrival of Spring.

That was the first of the Three Prayers according to Unfinished Tales. The others were made at midsummer and autumn and similarly involved an ascent of the summit by the people of Númenor. There was no such feast at midwinter which might indicate that cold and snow would have made the conditions too dangerous as they are on Mount Fuji at that time of the year.

Other resemblances between the Meneltarma and the Josephine Seamount are a large flat area at the summit, very steep slopes to the south which, in Númenor, fall into Noirinan, the Valley of the Tombs, and proximity of the summit (post Fall) to sea level. In modern times, the summit of the Josephine Seamount is just 170 m below the surface, but in the Third Age, which I would place roughly between 11.5 and 8.5 kya, it would have been within around 95 to 135 m of the surface due to the rise in sea level.

 

[Olgar Shiverstone]

Sauron had tens of thousands of orcs and when Numenor showed up he just surrendered because he knew he had no chance. If you figure 10 or 20 horse on a ship and infantry, they would have needed enough ships to get tens of thousands(at least) of Numenoreans to shore. That many sails would have dotted the sea in white, and certainly would have been more than 5

Now, that was the book and I have no idea if it will be on that scale in the show once the One Ring is created, or if they will even have it happen at all since they've already changed things so much.

Well, this is the Ring that launched a thousand ships and burnt the topless towers of Barad-dur, after all.