[+] The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power - SPOILERS ALLOWED

[Ryujin]

In canon the 3 elven rings were actually made last, except for the One Ring.
The 16 others (along with other, "lesser" rings) were crafted before that by the Gwaith-i-Mírdain (Celebrimbor&Co) and Annatar together.

Then, Annatar left Eregion (presumably to craft the One) and the elves, having "learned" the craft from him, forged the Three alone, without his involvement.

So this is actually a non-trivial change.

I thought that I remembered that the three Elven rings were made in secret, after The One, so that they wouldn't fall under Sauron's sway. Weird that they would change that bit, that seems fairly central to the theme. Like I said up-thread, hopefully everything else has already been made an distributed before he went to the Elven forges.

 

[Parmandur]

I am a major Tolkien superfanread all of the HoME stuff when I was a teenager, learned Elvish (hence using my Elf name for this forum), the whole deal. Have mixed feelings about JacksonLotR movies, though I think they are a bit of a triumph, hate the Jackson Hobvit "trilogy."

I have no binged Rings of Power through the Finale this week, and can render my informed judgement: this is excellent, every bit of the production is exquisite and the writers actually get Tolkien's themes on a fundamental level. The things they add fit in well and are very smart, and for the purposes of these artists telling their story, I don't really care about the creative licenses they took, because they work in themselves as part of a coherent narrative. Tolkien wrote multiple deeply contradictory versions of all his stories, so as long as the work is good, "canon" is irrelevant.

 

[damiller]

I am a major Tolkien superfanread all of the HoME stuff when I was a teenager, learned Elvish (hence using my Elf name for this forum), the whole deal. Have mixed feelings about JacksonLotR movies, though I think they are a bit of a triumph, hate the Jackson Hobvit "trilogy."

I have no binged Rings of Power through the Finale this week, and can render my informed judgement: this is excellent, every bit of the production is exquisite and the writers actually get Tolkien's themes on a fundamental level. The things they add fit in well and are very smart, and for the purposes of these artists telling their story, I don't really care about the creative licenses they took, because they work in themselves as part of a coherent narrative. Tolkien wrote multiple deeply contradictory versions of all his stories, so as long as the work is good, "canon" is irrelevant.

And the interesting thing about real world mythology is just that: its contradictory.

In some ways, thats what makes it true.

Cause life is contradictory.

 

[Zardnaar]

I am a major Tolkien superfanread all of the HoME stuff when I was a teenager, learned Elvish (hence using my Elf name for this forum), the whole deal. Have mixed feelings about JacksonLotR movies, though I think they are a bit of a triumph, hate the Jackson Hobvit "trilogy."

I have no binged Rings of Power through the Finale this week, and can render my informed judgement: this is excellent, every bit of the production is exquisite and the writers actually get Tolkien's themes on a fundamental level. The things they add fit in well and are very smart, and for the purposes of these artists telling their story, I don't really care about the creative licenses they took, because they work in themselves as part of a coherent narrative. Tolkien wrote multiple deeply contradictory versions of all his stories, so as long as the work is good, "canon" is irrelevant.

Show just has to be coherent with itself. A few shows fail that standard RoP isn't one of them.

Probably do a rewatch, polish off some Bond movies and cancel Amazon Prime until some new shows/seasons land.

 

[Enevhar Aldarion]

Pretty visuals, pretty sets, pretty people. But there is so much messed up or moved around from the original story/timeline that this would be more enjoyable if the Lord of the Rings name were removed from it and all the character and location names changed.

 

[Parmandur]

Pretty visuals, pretty sets, pretty people. But there is so much messed up or moved around from the original story/timeline that this would be more enjoyable if the Lord of the Rings name were removed from it and all the character and location names changed.

To be honest, you have to be a gigantic lore afficiando to know that they changed, and how. Most people who even read the books wouldn't know the difference. The important part is internal cohesion to the shows own lore, which is pulled off very, very well while maintaining respect for the original canon. Which, again, was all in Flux throughout Tolkien's lifetime: final "canon" is a creation of Guy Gavriel Kay and Christopher Tolkien making editorial decisions, not Holy Writ delivered on stone tablets by lighting on Mt. Sinai.

I knew every change they made, and I didn't mind because they were smart changes for the story at hand.

 

[Vael]

I think that my main concern with the season was that they were playing the "Who's Sauron" game for too long. It made the earlier episodes drag out, though I will confess that the finale did pay back the investment. Overall, I'm in for a second season. Surprised we didn't get any Isildur or anything from the Southlanders.

 

[Hriston]

So, the guy who seemed like a wizard turned out to be... a wizard.

And the rough looking scoundrel's story about really being a king? Fake. Who'd have thunk it?

And the subtle hints and not so subtle plot devices turned out to be so much misdirection to get you to think the obvious wasn't going to happen. But then it did.

I wanted to like this show, but the recent episode has brought home the fact that this type of storytelling is not for me.

 

[Zardnaar]

The stranger as Sauron was to obvious. Second last episode hinted it wasn't him.

Halfand was the only other character that was viable based on screentime. Maybe that sea xaorain who rescued Galadriel so it wasn't a big suspects list and essentially 50/50.

 

[Parmandur]

The stranger as Sauron was to obvious. Second last episode hinted it wasn't him.

Halfand was the only other character that was viable based on screentime. Maybe that sea xaorain who rescued Galadriel so it wasn't a big suspects list and essentially 50/50.

I knew the Stranger was Gandalf the moment one of the Harfoots sang "not all who wonder or wander are lost." Instant giveaway. Halbrand, I thought they were building up to be Witch King of Angmar, but now I think that's probably Theo, we'll see.

The moment when "Halbrand" let's his mask drop at last was...very chilling. Charlie Vickers was talking in an interview about how he views Sauron as a supreme cosmoc method actor who wasn't just being deceitful, but climbed into his role "like Daniel Day-Lewis or something" and lived his chosen role with absolute conviction. And Halbrand never, ever, not once, actually lies in the season. He always tells the truth...but uses the truth as a weapon.