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

[Maxperson]

Magic (and Galadriel). Magic is very understated in Tolkien's stories, so it is hard to say how it is used beyond relatively minor effects done by Gandalf. For instance, he used a sword in his battle against the Balrog, and so you can say that Gandalf was "magic-infused," but not casting D&D-esque spells.

In the books he cast produce flame(hobbit), lightning bolt(hobbit), knock(lotr), Light(lotr), fireball(lotr), counterspell(lotr), detect thoughts(lotr), and break enchantment(lotr). Perhaps more.

 

[Maxperson]

yeah the three elven rings go to Galadrial (silver) Elrond (blue) and Gil-galad (later Gandalf) (red) they were made first, then 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

The 7 and 9 were created first while Sauron was still helping the elves. Then after Sauron departed the 3 were made in secret. The One Ring was the last one forged.

 

[Maxperson]

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.

Yeah. And in the books Sauron gave the elves secrets of power to allow the forging of the rings. It was those secrets that allowed the One Ring which used the same secrets, to bind the others. In the show all Sauron did was tell the elves to mix mithril with other metals. That's not enough to take control of the rings with the One.

 

[Maxperson]

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.

No. They were made prior to the One and when Sauron put on the One Ring, they felt it and removed their rings before he could take control of them. They have to be worn for him to do so. They didn't put them back on until after the last alliance of elves and men took Sauron down and the One Ring was lost.

 

[Maxperson]

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.

They also dressed him in grey.

 

[Sepulchrave II]

In the books he cast produce flame(hobbit), lightning bolt(hobbit), knock(lotr), Light(lotr), fireball(lotr), counterspell(lotr), detect thoughts(lotr), and break enchantment(lotr). Perhaps more.

Fire seeds against the wargs before the Fellowship attempt the Redhorn pass - albeit with pine cones, rather than acorns. Either searing light, sunbeam or sunburst during the retreat from Osgiliath to drive the Nazgul away, depending on how high you'd like to turn the volume. The are all Sun Domain spells in 3E/PF, which would make sense.

Maybe Pyrotechnics for the amusement of young hobbits.

 

[Maxperson]

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).

She's the most powerful elf to ever live, with the possible exception of Feanor who might have equaled her.

 

[Maxperson]

Fire seeds against the wargs before the Fellowship attempt the Redhorn pass - albeit with pine cones, rather than acorns. Either searing light, sunbeam or sunburst during the retreat from Osgiliath to drive the Nazgul away, depending on how high you'd like to turn the volume. The are all Sun Domain spells in 3E/PF, which would make sense.

Maybe Pyrotechnics for the amusement of young hobbits.

And all the rest I mentioned that are in fact in the books.

 

[Maxperson]

Did I hear correctly that the gems used in the elven rings contained a bit of the essence of the Valar?

If so, could that essence be what protects the elves from the power of the One Ring down the line?

They are never protected. They take off the ring before Sauron can seize control of them and don't put them back on until Sauron is defeated and the One Ring is lost.

 

[Sepulchrave II]

And all the rest I mentioned that are in fact in the books.

Sure. My suggestions were in response to "perhaps more."

General question - do people consider the seven and the nine basically of the same type in the books? It seems to me that were allocated to Men and Dwarves by Sauron after he seized them from Celebrimbor, but I can't seem to find any reference to the notion that they were forged with that explicit purpose in mind. So Celebrimbor and Sauron forged sixteen great rings together, later distributed according to Sauron's whim.

Do you consider that there were qualitative differences between these rings. Did each have its own "character" - so to speak.

Just curious.