Rings of Power is Back [+] Appreciation

[Micah Sweet]

I don't think the Dark Wizard is Saruman, but he will probably mirror the same adversarial role and be defeated by the end of season 3.

I hope you're right. Having him be Saruman is too big a break from lore for me. He ought to be a Blue. Of course, that's just makes me more irritated with the show doing such an obvious and deliberate mislead, since the character is so Saruman-coded. I don't think it's good storytelling.

 

[ART!]

Yeah, it doesn't make sense to me otherwise. But this whole show is very alternate from the books (why are Gandalf and his dark buddy even here before the Third Age?), so all bets are off and we have to just go for a ride I guess.

My understanding is that later in his writing Tolkien toyed with the idea of the Istari - or some of them - arriving in the 2nd Age.

Thought they really stuck the landing with episode 8, the Galadrial, Sauron, Celebrimbor, Adar and Durin plot lines were all A+. Elrond, Numenier, the Hobbits and Gandolph I'd give a solid B.

I feel the same about most of that. I was really taken with Elrond in this episode. I thought Robert Aramayo really sold the weight and history behind his decision to put on a ring and use it, and then when giving it back to Galadriel. That all felt really potent.

I love the Numenor stuff and want about twice as much of it.

I really would have preferred ending with Gandalf and Tom singing, but I get why they wold want something more ominous.

I don't think the Dark Wizard is Saruman, but he will probably mirror the same adversarial role and be defeated by the end of season 3.

I'm really curious to see when in the next 3 seasons they drop some of the big events and turning points.

Will nine humans get rings next season, or will they find their owners over 2 or even 3 seasons? I kind of want there to be enough human characters to keep us wondering who will turn, but this doesn't seem to be that kind of show.

When will Numenor be destroyed? At the end of of the 3rd season? Later? Will next season be about Annatar in Numenor?

Will the whole 5th season be the siege of Mordor?

 

[OB1]

I would give your Bs a lower grade (at least Gandalf's IMO), but otherwise I agree. Generally quite a strong offering.

Gandalph get's a B from me only because of the decision not to drag out the 'mystery' of who he was for another season. That 'reveal' didn't work nearly as good as the Sauron reveal last season, but I thought they at least were able to tie it to the arc of his character (even if it was a bit messy).

 

[OB1]

Oh, and I lost track of the 3rd Elven ring this season. The Elven king and Galadrial have 2, who has the other?

 

[Zaukrie]

Oh, and I lost track of the 3rd Elven ring this season. The Elven king and Galadrial have 2, who has the other?

Sauron? Didn't the ring maker have it? Ha, I can't recall either!

Overall I like this show. But it's like 5e, good enough for me to enjoy my time, but not perfect. I'm amused that someone above like Numenor, as I really want to see zero of that story going forward. Entertainment is definitely not objective!

 

[Micah Sweet]

Gandalph get's a B from me only because of the decision not to drag out the 'mystery' of who he was for another season. That 'reveal' didn't work nearly as good as the Sauron reveal last season, but I thought they at least were able to tie it to the arc of his character (even if it was a bit messy).

Fair enough. That Saruman/Datk Wizard non-reveal though...

 

[Micah Sweet]

Oh, and I lost track of the 3rd Elven ring this season. The Elven king and Galadrial have 2, who has the other?

Cirdan of the Grey Havens. For some reason they stopped showing him after Episode 2. A shame IMO.

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

I thought it was a strong finale overall.

• I confess to being disappointed that the Stranger isn't a Blue Wizard. When the Dark Wizard started monologuing (and those poor raiders got gaslighted to their face, which was rough), I figured the reveal was that they were the two Blue Wizards of Rhun, who otherwise are a footnote of a footnote in The Lord of the Rings.
• I like angry proud Galadriel. I'm glad to see her back. Just because she wears nice dresses and hangs out in a cool tree house in the Third Age, that doesn't have to mean she's a passive figure. Casually mentioning that she's killed more orcs than anyone in history was suitably epic.
• Although I look forward to seeing some of these jerks get turned into ringwraiths, I'm sick of the humans. Numenor feels claustrophobic, but not in an artistic way, but in a "this is where we're going to save on our budget" kind of way. And everyone but Isildur is insufferable.
• This whole season has been too eager to cleverly drop in big lines from the movies or the books. Sauron being called "the Lord ... of the Rings" didn't even make much sense narratively with what had come before in that speech, and is a bit too much like latter-day The Walking Dead, where characters kept announcing that the living humans were, in fact, the walking dead, just in case anyone at home hadn't figured that out in the first season.
• All the dwarf stuff was awesome and I liked that, even as that storyline wrapped up, we suddenly had a whole bunch of new plot lines dropped on us there. Some quality DMing there.
• I hope next season we hear a little more about what Sauron said to convince the orcs to turn so definitively on Adar, whom I'm sorry to see go. At least Glug had a half-second of realization before the end of what a mistake he'd made.
• Finally, I'm glad to see that our hero characters who all know how dangerous the rings are have rational reasons to use them, even if they're scared of their effects. The rings should be seductive: "oh, yes, it's dangerous, but you're strong and wise and can resist me, and look at all the good you can do with my power ..."
• It's going to be quite a tonal shift to scatalogical humor with Vox Machina on Thursday nights.

 

[Zardnaar]

Thought they really stuck the landing with episode 8, the Galadrial, Sauron, Celebrimbor, Adar and Durin plot lines were all A+. Elrond, Numenier, the Hobbits and Gandolph I'd give a solid B.

Hobbits more a C or B- the rest more or less agree. Gandalf reveal wasn't much of a reveal. It was the highlight of that side story though.

 

[Tutara]

Really enjoyed this season! I felt the focus on Sauron’s bastardary was well played - Charles Edwards was gloriously stoic as Celembrimbor and gave the doomed role some decent gravitas.

Everyone else got a chance to shine and it managed to bring all the disparate threads together relatively well. Looking forward to the next season.