SPOILER LotR - The Rings of Power

I am not following your reasoning here. How are those 2 being on Numenor a putting us off the time-line?

 

Rings haven't been forged yet. That means it's like 1,600 years before the fall of Sauron. At least.

These two were old, but they weren't that old at the point Isildur cut the ring (more like 250ish, if I remember right).

And again, I don't see that as an issue- I think that condensing the timeline a bit allows for an easier story to follow. Just saying that I don't think we can rely on the timeline to translate totally accurately.

 

We're just 3 episodes in, but anyone here who is expecting Tolkien's version of the Second Age should probably quit watching now if changes the series makes to the Legendarium bothers you. There is literally No Way Amazon could make an engaging adaptation that was faithful. My suggestion to serious Tolkienphiles is to revel in the film's stunning scenery and enjoy the bits and pieces of the story that fit for you.

I would consider myself a big Tolkien fan but not one who believes a TV adaptation that doesn't follow Tolkien's narrative to the letter is blasphemy. Personally, I went into the series with quite a bit of trepidation but have been delighted with what we've gotten thus far. I particularly love the Harfoots and the dwarves. And for what its worth, my guess after 3 episodes is that The Stranger represents Gandalf's arrival on Middle Earth (and poetically enough, discovered by the ancient ancestors of Hobbits) and Halbrand is Sauron (ironically enough, aided by the elf sworn to hunt him down and kill him, Galadriel.)

 

I'm with ya bud, I think we're very much on the same page.

 

Are we sure the rings haven't been forged yet? They're moving so much around I wonder if it's already happened and that's a factor in Numenor already being weird. Sauron should still be able to take pysical form, but again... I don't know how much they've changed things.

 

I wonder if they have to break the timeline, because they don't have the rights for the silmarillion and some other publishings and they can't use things that are only available from there.

 

BINGO!!!

 

I suppose that's possible.

I figured that's what Celebrimbor's working on, but maybe that's a red herring. I'm kinda skeptical that's the case, though.

 

Given that the series is entitled The Rings of Power, I'm pretty sure they haven't been forged yet.

It could well be the Witch King. But my money is on him being Sauron. Let's review what we know so far and compare it with what we know about Sauron from Tolkien's appendixes about the Second Age:
Sauron was fair in appearance. CHECK.
Sauron went to Numenor. CHECK.
Sauron took in interest in forging. CHECK
Sauron was imprisoned there. CHECK.

 

I was thinking this as well, but it seemed odd to me that Sauron would be caught stealing. He's far too cunning to pull something as stupid as that and get caught.

 

I like that idea a lot. I could see that making Galadriel and Halbrand's relationship more tragic, than a simple betrayal.

Spoiler: Shadow of Mordor/War spoilers

Also, I wonder if this series will ever address the canon of the Shadow of War/Mordor games? We know the identity of a few Nazgul in that game's continuity- Helm Hammerhand, Suladân, Riya, Yukka, Talion, and possibly Khamul. Of course, at time point in time, we would have Isildur instead of Talion- which could also be interesting to see, since he's already a character in this show.

I doubt the show would adhere to the "Shadow Of" continuity, but it's an interesting thought- and even then, it still leaves the Witch King open, as well as two other Nazgul.

 

Isn't this show supposed to end with Sauron defeated and the one ring cut off his hand?
So maybe we're not watching the ancestors of the hobbits primarily but all the hairfoots lead to the introduction of Smeagol in later seasons.

 

possibly. I believe the rings was hidden for about a thousand years between being lost by Isildur and being found by Smeagol, so that's plenty of time for the more traditional Hobbits to come about.

But also, we obviously can't rely on Tolkein's stretched out timeline, so anything's possible

 

Agree. Everything that has happened to Halbrand thus far fits with Tolkien's description of Sauron's time in Numenor.

Agree again. For whatever reason, I wasn't expecting to enjoy Elrond, Durin, and Disa as much as I do. The three actors playing those roles are incredible. I groused in The Hobbit that the dwarves in that trilogy couldn't hold a candle to LOTR's Gimili portrayed by John Rhys-Davies. But Owain Arthur who plays Prince Durin is The Perfect Dwarf!!! Also, I cringed when I first saw the actor playing Elrond and said, "THAT's Elrond??!?" But by Episode 2, young Elrond had quickly become one of my favorite characters.

Agreed. For anyone counting, that's three for three.

The Numenor storyline has been a slow build but the scenery, music, and acting has kept me interested. The naysayers like to whine about the build-up but you don't set up a story of this size and magnitude in a couple of episodes. People forget that Game of Thrones didn't capture the general public's imagination until the last scene of the last episode of Season 1.

I missed our Harfoots this episode but the preview for Episode 5 reveals that Nori and The Stranger will be back next week.

 

Alas, the mithril ore veins run FAR TOO DEEP under the mountain.

Just like Gandalf's battle with the Balrog to open Peter Jackson's Two Towers movie was one of the trilogy's visual feasts, the destruction of Khazad-dum by the Balrog will be one of the Rings of Power's most spectacular-looking scenes.