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

[Zardnaar]

to me it was the non-Tolkien characters - Nori and Lenny Henry, Bronwyn, Arondir, Adar who were the most interesting and there stories most compelling.
The Elrond-Durin Mithril story seemed a little superfluous in the end.

I think Galadriel being both a POV character and very competent from the start may have had her coming across as Mary-sue or DMPC. She was there to drive the high level plot while the other characters had smaller stories where they could just focus on their space.
Galadriels flaws made her interesting but the mystery was tied up on who is Halbrand and where is Sauron rather than ‘whats next from Galadriel’

Galadriel isn't a Mary Sue. Her skills make sense in world, and she's an elf they're just better in world. 5000 year old veteren.

Her skills do make her kinda boring as she can pretty much defeat anything not named Sauron fairly easily (cf cave troll vs troll in movies with Fellowship).

And year the not hobbits, Stranger, Adar etc were more interesting imho.

 

[Parmandur]

to me it was the non-Tolkien characters - Nori and Lenny Henry, Bronwyn, Arondir, Adar who were the most interesting and there stories most compelling.
The Elrond-Durin Mithril story seemed a little superfluous in the end.

I think Galadriel being both a POV character and very competent from the start may have had her coming across as Mary-sue or DMPC. She was there to drive the high level plot while the other characters had smaller stories where they could just focus on their space.
Galadriels flaws made her interesting but the mystery was tied up on who is Halbrand and where is Sauron rather than ‘whats next from Galadriel’

So, what the writers were going for with the Elrond-Durin plot line and Galadriel's badassery (per the official podcast) was setting up thst the Elves were in a situation that neither diplomatic charm, technical skill, friendship, or military badassery could save them, and going ahead with the "Magic Ring" plan that Galadriel knows is the literal work of Satan seems to be their "only option." Now that's some classic Noldor tragic error right there.

 

[Zardnaar]

So, what the writers were going for with the Elrond-Durin plot line and Galadriel's badassery (per the official podcast) was setting up thst the Elves were in a situation that neither diplomatic charm, technical skill, friendship, or military badassery could save them, and going ahead with the "Magic Ring" plan that Galadriel knows is the literal work of Satan seems to be their "only option." Now that's some classic Noldor tragic error right there.

Is that your take or interview with writers? I assume the later podcast and all.

 

[Paul Farquhar]

The Elrond-Durin Mithril story seemed a little superfluous in the end.

Sauron goes off and forges the One Ring in Mt Doom - which I assume is where Halbrand is going off to do in season 2. Not sure when the Dwarf rings get made

We have established a McGuffin: rings require mithril, and all the currently available supply has been used up. So next season Sauron is going to have to go cap-in-hand to the dwarves to get more. How will he pay for it? With seven rings. Oh yeah, and a balrog. It's quite clever really.

I have an idea they have planned this seasonal structure for the show:

Sesson One: Three Rings
Sesson Two: Seven Rings
Sesson Three: Nine Rings
Sesson Four: One Ring
Sesson Five: The Land of Mordor


Also: LotR: good protagonist on a quest to destroy the Ring, RoP: evil protagonist on a quest to forge the Ring. It's just the sort of mirroring these writers seem to like. They are not going to make the forging of the One Ring easy for Sauron.

 

[Rabulias]

We also have Earien (Isildur's sister) who looks to be getting ready to try out the palantir. Looks like that will be resolved next season.

Spoiler: House of the Dragon spoilers

Again, the dying words of a mentally compromised king cause trouble...

 

[Paul Farquhar]

Oh did anyone else notice the close-up shots of the extremely distinctive ring designs and think "merchendising opportunity, ka-ching!"

 

[Paul Farquhar]

Galadriel knows is the literal work of Satan seems to be their "only option."

Technically Sauron's Plan A was foiled. He had intended two rings, alloyed with his own essence (which would have been signified by his blood). One for him, one for Galadriel. Three rings, free of his essence, was not his design.

But Sauron always has a Plan B.

And, by giving him a personality, rather than just a simple embodiment of evil, I think Lucifer is a better comparison than Satan.

 

[MarkB]

I knew the Stranger was Gandalf the moment one of the Harfoots sang "not all who wonder or wander are lost." Instant giveaway.

Really? I didn't make the connection on that one. It's a line written by Bilbo about Aragorn, and the idea of it originating from a Harfoot song passed down through generations seemed connection enough. How does it tie to Gandalf?

 

[Zardnaar]

Not to bad article more or less agree with it.

'The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power' Finale: Did We Get Everything Amazon Paid For?

Epic battles aside, the underwhelming conclusion of the prequel series' first season proves TV's most expensive show could be doing more with all that money, says TV critic Alan Sepinwall.

www.rollingstone.com

Ssuron reveal was fine/predictable alng with "Gandalf".

 

[Morrus]

I loed that finale. I did have one quetion though -- I'm no Tolkien expert, but didn't Suaron call himself something else (Annatar or something?) when tricking the elves? Or am I misremembering some half forgotten discussion? Not that it matters, and I suppose that would have given the game away.