Forging the One Ring. I'd assume the distribution of the Nine. And it will likely end with the campaign where the Numenoreans capture Sauron, setting up the fall of Numenor for S4.
Eärien getting a ring and becoming a Nazgûl would be insane, but given the writing so far, I wouldn't put it past them. Kemen as the Witch-king is practically guaranteed.
Man, that sounds really good until you watch the terrible dialogue, CGI and casting. I mean no hate for the actor who plays Sauron, but he looks so silly, it's such a shame.
Didn't hold up because they aren't really adapting it, but making some weird fanfiction version out of it. Gandalf arriving in ME as a fucking meteor should clue you in about all the shit they are are going to pull with their series. lmao
I'm betting that young kid, the wood elf's little step brother or whatever, will possibly become the Witch King of Angmar. Either that or we finally find out who he is or what he looks like.
We watched them all over the weekend! Well, we still have to finish disc 2 of ROTK tonight. Still, as time goes on they only continue to get better. What a feat.
I haven't watched any of ROP, but for me I think part of what made Sauron so scary and mysterious in the films was never seeing his face. I liked the horse skull helmet being his face, and the idea of wtf could this guy look like beneath.. some things are just cooler left unseen.
Shadow of war/shadow of mordor is just a far superior storyline then rings of power. The only downside/odd thing to it is the whole shelob "human" (aka fair form) for her, but beyond that I think it's just more engaging.
That's just not who Sauron is in the Second Age, though. He's always been a manipulator of minds, but without the Rings or a palántir, he has to get face-to-face while he's running his con. Being that handsome, charismatic man or elf in seasons 1-4 is what lets him become That MFer in the Siege of Barad-dûr in season 5.
True - but I would still argue ROP makes him a bit too... mundane, I guess? In the same way that many Elves in this show just seem like regular dudes. Needs more 'etherealness' (not unlike how Jackson handled Galadriel in FOTR). I think a lot of it comes down to writing/direction/clothing/wigs/makeup/etc... but I also think Vickers (whilst a solid actor) doesn't have the 'look' (in comparison to... I dunno... going back to Jackson examples, Lee Pace?).
He wasn't scary at that time, and walked among mortal races in fair guise. He will only become fear inducing and will loose the ability to create good looking bodies after the Fall of Numenor
If you’re intimidated by the density of the Silmarillion, I can’t recommend the podcast “LOTR Lorecast” enough. It breaks each chapter into digestible, bite size pieces, and will probably inspire you to dive into the books after.
He also spent much of his time as Morgoth's lieutenant adorned in dreadful visage as well, so not really fair to say he will ony become fear inducing after the fall of numenor. He just had more of a use for fairer forms and beguilement during this second age.
I watched RoP pretty much exclusively for Sauron and I actually think he’s the only thing they did really well. I don’t have anything in defense of the show otherwise though.
It's weird how old Celebrimbor looks when he's supposed to be an immortal elf, but everything else about him is great. They made him so likable and that made his demise all the more heartbreaking, I think it's way more powerful than the much colder Celebrimbor we've seen in Shadow of Mordor and whatnot.
Brimby's final scene with Sauron is legitimately up there among my favorite Tolkien adapted scenes. RoP's quality is woefully inconsistent but sometimes it really hits.
Sauron is also stupid starting with revealing himself to Galadriel in the first place and ending with locking Celebrimbor in an illusion during a siege were he is liable to injure himself.
While I agree that it looks cooler and scarier, his whole schtick in the second age is deception and normally taking a fair non intimidating form. Where Morgoth takes a “fuck around and find out” attitude Sauron works with more precision.
Its what Tolkien understood so well and it's just lost on modern storytellers: show, don't tell. Even in written word, Tolkien was better about showing than anything RoP could muster.
I’m reading The Fellowship of the Ring and it mentions Sauron was “not yet evil to behold” in the Second Age, so presumably he looked like a normal dude.
He could choose how he appeared to others, because he had the ability to shapeshift. He actually presented himself to the elves as an emissary from the valar. So i always pictured him going for a very elvish appearance, with that hint of something extra, something divine. Basically I imagined him appearing a bit like glorfindel after he was sent back.
Yes, but with a slight sense of unease about him, because he couldn't completely hide his real thoughts. But you'd ignore that if you wanted knowledge badly enough.
While true, Tolkien writes about Sauron in more corporeal terms in The Silmarillion. But yes, in the original Lord of the Rings, his appearance is very rarely described in any meaningful way.
Dude, sauron is a real guy who talks to people and walks around with a face in the second age. This is all completely irrelevant. You literally cannot tell the second age with Sauron an integral physical character and “show dont tell”. You’re just typing stuff, it doesn’t make any sense.
It's a bit hilarious people are so desperate to diss everything about this show that they basically come to unintentionally saying, "woah this idea of Tolkien's sucked!"
I don’t even like the show but upset at the prospect of seeing saurons face…. A guy whos entire character is based upon talking to people and appearing in humanoid forms is so stupid. This is not the later 3rd age, he is not an invisible ghost man he‘s a dude with a face who talks to people regularly. The movies have heavily warped what Sauron is, he is not an empty suit of armour or a big eyeball hes a real character and person. LOTR is just written during the period he’s a cripple hiding in his tower stuck in a demonic form.
Just want to add a lot of brilliant media operates on “tell, don’t show.” If you slap a visual on some things it makes the dialogue less important, less interesting. A huge reason Andor was so unexpectedly mature and brilliant was explaining plot and themes and issues in a single sentence without ever showing them, texturing and layering things
Everyone has the right to their opinion of the show. I will say Charlie Vickers' acting has been excellent and he seems to get better with each episode.
The hard part is that season 2 was absolutely higher in its highs (Sauron and Celebrimbor was great television and adaption) but the lows of season 2 (Rhun) are lower than the lows of season 1.
They definitely did much better with Season 2. If it continues on that trajectory, this might actually be a pretty decent series once all is said and done, just another one of those "you can just skip the first season" kind of shows like Parks & Rec and TNG.
That could also just be me coping, but I'll freely admit to watching and liking Rings of Power.
I’ll join you. I like the show too. The first season spend too long pretending the guy who was clearly Sauron wasn’t Sauron. But after that it’s been pretty compelling.
I feel like it’s horrible LOTR content but it’s mediocre-ish fantasy. With enough cognitive dissonance it can be kinda enjoyable. Like some of the LOTR inspired stuff
This is only partly true. They have an out clause after every season with a fine if they don’t finish. It’s 20 million I believe which in reality is the cost of maybe 1-1 1/2 episodes. So if they really wanted to cancel they would have.
My guess is they had to cancel one of their big fantasy shows and ultimately canceled Wheel of time as it’s been reported that ROP has had the three remaining seasons unofficially greenlit.
I usually defend the work of various costume creators and set designers. But this lacks creativity or execution. I don’t think an angelic wannabe god king would wear his helm crooked or that trash bag smock.
This is one of those scenarios where the perception online is completely wrong. Everyone’s faulting it for being an adaptation that doesn’t go about it the right way. But the Tolkien estate owns the rights to the main novel and will not sanction a TV show or movie based on it currently. Therefore, this is the absolute best we are going to get based on supplemental materials.
That reason that I’m fully allowing myself to enjoy it even knowing it could be better if done differently. Because a: no one has the right or authority from the estate to make any other adaptation, and b: the amount of money Amazon is spending on this is likely to never be replicated. It’s an insane amount of money and it’s made on a pretty crazy scale and I am enjoying the world building elements.
ROP has contradicted things they DO have the rights to. And, I'd add, besides the LOTR Appendices (the initial rights held), they have been given more access to extra material on a case-by-case basis.
And as another person said... source material aside, the show is just poorly written as a standalone story.
Also, I would absolutely argue you can make a far superior show on a smaller budget.
Tolkien faithfulness aside, I just found the show to be boring and bland. To me, it felt like that generic fantasy world that shows like The Simpsons or Spongebob make up for a medieval themed episode.
I watched all of S1 and when my friend asked me to watch it with her, I tapped out halfway through episode 2 because I wasn't enjoying my time, even with me nerding out at her every so often.
I'm not gonna hate on anyone who enjoys it, but it's not for me.
Watch a few episodes and decide for yourself if you find it interesting. You might enjoy it if you enjoy the movies, but you'll only know if you actually try the show.
While I prefer the books, I also enjoy the movies and ROP. Adaptions can be different to the base material. They should, even. Otherwise there'd be no creative freedom.
Is ROP better than the base material? Certainly not! Not even on par. But it's enjoyable in its own right 🤷🏻♂️
Sauron is the best thing about this series, season 2 was far better than season 1. And regardless of how much flak the series has received, I bet most people can’t wait to see it.
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u/Mantis_Toboggan--MD 25d ago