SPOILER LotR - The Rings of Power

Episode 6 Reaction

It was a really strong episode but I kind of missed getting a little bit of Nori and Elrond and Durin in this episode. While the Numenor coming to the rescue was kind of predictable, the ending was a complete shocker to me.

As usual the production values and the music were off-the-charts. I was particularly impressed by the direction in this episode. I never realized that cauterizing an arrow wound could be so artfully filmed.

 

This week's episode was the third best episode IMO (1 and 2 are still my favourite).

I really enjoy seeing some Orc lore.

I have to agree. The Elrond/Durin and Harfoot plots are much more entertaining than the rest.


A thought I had: maybe Halbrand is actually the cursed king from ROTK. I actually would dig that outcome.

 

I'm not complaining about the Galadriel/Numenor and Southlands storylines (which have now converged) but its not the race of men that make The Rings of Power a fun watch. While I loved Aragorn and the men of Gondor, it was the Hobbits, Dwarves, and Elves and the nomadic wizard Gandalf that made Tolkien's LOTR the classic it became. It's also the types of characters who are making this prequel series stand apart from shows like Game of Thrones.

That said, if somebody would have told me a year ago that one of my favorite parts of the LOTR prequel would revolve around Elrond's relationship with the dwarf prince, Durin, I would have replied with a raised eyebrow and a, "Yeah, riiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiight."

 

It more likely he ends up being the Witch King or one of the other Nazgûl. I guess he could end up being Sauron, but it would be kind of weird. Many of his actions so far don't seem like the Necromancer. I wonder if Theo is going to end up as one of the Nazgûl as well.

I assume there's going to be some kind of time jump?

 

Is it just me or was this episode really brutal? I mean this battle between humans and Orcs was the most bloody stuff I've seen in the whole LOTR franchise, which is weird because TROP is lowest age rated content of the LOTR franchise.

Yes, I also think him being the Witch King or the Ghost King (ROTK) is much more likely than Sauron.

 

From the posts here, some folks still do. But I'm squarely in the Halbrand is Sauron Camp. The show has given us countless clues.

One of the biggest that nobody here has mentioned is the way Halbrand destroyed those guys who ganged up on him. He displayed almost supernatural strength and savagely broke one guy's arm. He has shown an interest in smithing and was jailed in Numenor (as Tolkien described) and yet seems to me to have cleverly manipulated the Numenorians to do his bidding (as Tolkien also described) while playing the 'reluctant hero-King' role to perfection. (That would be a change -- but Tolkien's depiction of him as Annatar, the Lord of Gifts, is in the Silmarillion, not the Appendixes which Amazon has the rights to.)

Given that we're almost thru Season One of the Rings of Power with no rings of power forged yet, it seems to me that the only way at this point for Sauron to become involved in the making of them is through Galadriel.

 

While the show can approach Sauron anyway they want --- as long as they don't tread on Silmarillion territory --- I think they'd like to stay as close to canon as possible to avoid further wraith from the Tolkien purists.

To me, they've chosen a path that mirrors some key points from Tolkien's Second Age narrative while keeping Sauron's identity a mystery at the same time.

 

Here an interesting article by the showrunners:
https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/t...er-showrunners-interview-season-2-1235233124/

The biggest takeaways:

1) The criticism of this first season will be taken seriously
2) Season 2 is "a couple of years" (so at least 2 years) away
3) Netflix and HBO also pitched a LOTR series (both terrible IMO)

 

What a GREAT article!!! Thanks for posting this. In my mind, the story behind the making of the series destroys the myth this was just a crass 'money grab' by Amazon Studios and Jeff Bezos.

My favorite quote from the article from the writers/showrunners:

The spirit of Tolkien is about disparate peoples who don’t trust one another and look different from one another finding common ground in friendship and accomplishing big things. That’s the spirit we’ve tried to inculcate into every single comma and period in the show.

 

Been enjoying this series. Galadriel is badass in this one.

 

I think it's incredibly ironic that there are Tolkien fans who have delighted in bashing this series from the moment Amazon Studios bought the rights. Why? Because it's goes against what Tolkien set out to do.

Anyone who has studied the author and his written works understands that his intention was to craft a modern-day mythology for England. As a student of mythology, Tolkien would have been the first to tell you that countless retellings of the original tales led to enhancements and expanded stories that made the ancient mythologies what they are today. We saw how Peter Jackson's movies subtly changed the way many people now view this classic tale. Now the same thing is happening to Tolkien's Second Age.

If we've learned anything about modern storytelling, it should be that the audiences are the final arbiters. When it resonates with viewers, it becomes accepted, (i.e. Jackson's breaking of the Fellowship, the final destruction of the ring) and when it doesn't, it disappears as if it never existed (i.e. Highlander 2, the sequel to the original.)

This is my roundabout way of saying that McKay and Payne, the ROP showrunners, have introduced some really creative, Tolkien-esque things that I believe will become part of the LOTR 'mythology' for future generations of fans.

 

Kudos to Derringer for calling this one. I do think this was kind of handled clunky with some of the things he did during the season. Overall a good season, but I do think there was a bit too much exposition in the final episode. I'm also not sure why they left Isildur's fate a mystery for his father. That is kind of a bizarre choice. Maybe that's the avenue they needed to bring Sauron back to Númenor.

8/10 I think. There's some room for improvement. It's never terrible and the finale was solid.

Oh, one last thing. The producers of the series seem to be sticking to lore pretty well so I just assumed that the baby Wizard was one of the blue wizards sent during the 2nd Age, but some of the things he says are such a Gandalf tease I wonder if they're going that route. I guess we'll find out. The production for season 2 means we're probably a long time from seeing more episodes.

 

THIS!!! ^^^^^

I was really impressed with Season One and I have a sneaking suspicion that this is one of those series that improves throughout it's run because the showrunners, Payne & McKay, had to map out the entire five-year story arc for Amazon to consider before they were offered the gig.

I must say that all of the scenes with Nori and Gandalf really got to me, especially the one @LadyMusashi mentioned above. Very Well Done indeed.