LotR: Rings of Power

[Tiplodocus]

It is funny how when invested in something you tend to make the logic jumps in your head for yourself. But if not invested, everything becomes a "plot hole". We had a similar discourse on the House of Dragon thread.

I like it so I thought;

Halbrand knows the country, so he took a short cut;

or they've compressed the story telling so things that aren't happening at the same time, looked like they do (a lot of shows do this)

or they rigged the tower so it would collapse killing loads of orcs which gave them a fighting chance (did I need to see that? It might have ruined the surprise)

or those Numenor ships are big and really well designed to transport the horses and riders.

Anyway, shame you don't enjoy it. Amazed you got so far in.

[judgeurko]

How did Halbrand get in front of Galadriel and the dude she was chasing?

I thought about that one - we see Galadriel use a Haste spell (3rd level, mofos!) on her hoss, and she's just a lowly elf. Given that Halbrand ([spoiler]aka possibly, Sauron[/spoiler]) is a [spoiler]Maia[/spoiler], one assumes he can probably cast Wish (9th!) and just, y'know, win any race.

For someone so entirely consumed by continuity, I'm surprised you don't know that "the dude she was chasing" is Adar. Do try to keep up. However are you going to learn Prestidigitation if you don't pay attention to the details?

LOL Yes, like "the dude" even matters. I called him that because A) I couldn't recall his name due to me not being invested in anything going on in this show, and b) he's not from any of Tolkien's lore, so who gives a fiddlers fuck about "trying to keep up" when the show isn't.

This is not Tolkien. Do try to keep up.

Well this programme appears to be causing you a lot of distress. Maybe make better use of your time if you are not "invested in anything going on in this show". Focus on what brings you joy.

[Richmond Clements]

Thought it was awful to be honest. As soon as you engage your brain, it falls to bits. For example: the army on its way to Middle Earth from Numenor. How long did it take for them to be clearly in open water on the sea to disembark on wherever it was they landed? How did they even know where they were going? How did they even know what they were supposed to be facing? Where did they store all those horses for every single solider that came along? Why was it day time when they set off, and night time at their destination? If it was a distance thing, then how come they literally showed up just in time for a battle that probably only lasted a few hours when the location of the map indicates a distance of a few hundred miles or more? Did they have sat nav on the horses and did the horses have wings and engines attached? Or they just teleported because they read the script? Was the Elvin tower at the fort held together with chewing gum and duct tape for a single rope breaking to fell it? Why did the orcs just all march in single file straight into what would be potential ambush? Why did they abandon an obvious stronghold built for a siege and thought it was a better idea to hold up in a town in open plane that could be attacked from every direction, no fortification apart from a keep that could be burned or raised to the ground? How did Halbrand get in front of Galadriel and the dude she was chasing? How did the townsfolk not know they were fighting other townsfolk and realize it was a ruse?

It did look nice and dramatic in some shots, though. Suppose that's what counted.

Each one of your questions is easily answered with a modicum of thought, but I feel that would be a waste of everyone's time. Maybe best you just stop watching.

[wedgeski]

Also loving Rings of Power. I don't mind the slow burn, in fact I preferred the earlier episodes to this one, but it was a belter nonetheless.

Ensuring that I can be evidentially smug if I'm right, my guess for Sauron is [spoiler]Celebrimbor. That brief plan of his to create a tower of some sort, and his proximity to the elves, both put him at the top of the list for me. [/spoiler]

[Funt Solo]

Focus on what brings you joy.

I like that.

[Definitely Not Mister Pops]

I enjoyed that, story lines are coming together and things are actually happening. So much for my theory that Halbrand's first name is Theo and the southlands plot was a flashback to his childhood. Bronwyn's death fakeout was a tad irritating. We know Galadriel, Isildur and Elendil all survive to at least the end of the War of the Ring, so I thought they might create a bit of jeopardy by sacrificing the original characters. A missed opportunity for a "shit just got real" moment, but then again, this shit isn't real, nor is it Game of Thrones, so I'll slide on.

Another disproven theory I had was that Galadriel already knew who stupid-sexy-dark-elf was. I'm glad that she didn't, that would make Middle-Earth at least as small as the Star Wars galaxy. It made sense that Halbrand knew him and wasn't his biggest fan. Galadriel's general psychopathy and now her petty refusal to acknowledge the Uruk's preferred pronouns was most unbecoming of the Queen of lothlorien. I'm starting to think Galadriel might be a family name.

I really enjoy the sound design in these Tolkien live-action adaptations. The rumble of loads of horses galloping is a particular favourite. I wanted Galdriel to have her big stupid horse riding smile at the front, but I understand the producers deemed that inappropriate.

I don't think any of the characters we've seen so far are secretly Sauron. If memory serves (spoilers for really old books), Sauron [spoiler]the deceiver disguises himself as an elf styled as the "gift giver" or "master of gifts" or somesuch, and convinces Gil-Galad and Celebrimbor to help him forge the rings of power.[/spoiler] I reckon if he turns up at all in this season, it will be in the last episode, possibly in an epilogue.

[sheridan]

I'm perfectly happy for Galadriel's character to be far away from what we know of them from LotR - that's what character development is all about.

[Funt Solo]

So much for my theory that Halbrand's first name is Theo and the southlands plot was a flashback to his childhood.

I had the same early theory - it wasn't clear if everything was happening at the same time.

Another disproven theory I had was that Galadriel already knew who stupid-sexy-dark-elf was. I'm glad that she didn't, that would make Middle-Earth at least as small as the Star Wars galaxy.

I can't remember which LOTR YouTuber it was, but one of 'em had an interesting piece about whether Suaron knew about the origins of the wizards.

acknowledge the Uruk's preferred pronouns

It's brave to bring up the notion that Uruks are fighting for their lives against an enemy that hopes to eliminate them from the world. B2 The Keep on the Borderlands - or "Valley of Genocide" had no such subtleties.

[Definitely Not Mister Pops]

I can't remember which LOTR YouTuber it was, but one of 'em had an interesting piece about whether Suaron knew about the origins of the wizards.

I thought Sauron was a wizard, only older and more powerful. My source is the books filtered through ~two decades of importanter things pushing this knowledge out of my brain and some things that should not have been forgotten were lost. I haven't researched this to youtuber standards, so I'm happy to defer to their wisdom.

[Funt Solo]

Oh - I found the link: Did Sauron know about Gandalf?

It's based on the idea that the Maiar in Middle-Earth perhaps don't retain all their memories of hanging out in their equivalent of Mount Olympus prior to manifesting in Middle-Earth.

[Definitely Not Mister Pops]

Oh - I found the link: Did Sauron know about Gandalf?

Thanks for that, I went down a wee rabbit hole and I had an enjoyable evening with that guy's videos.

[Tiplodocus]

I enjoyed that one a lot too. Galadriel on top form,  lots of emotional heft (especially with Elrond and Durin IV and III (slightly undercut by fakeout deaths). And the Harfoot plot starting to, if you pardon the pun, bear fruit.

[Funt Solo]

Yeah - another good episode. Shit getting real for the Harfoots. Or Harfeet. Eleventy-one.

As Tips said, the fake-out deaths were all a bit much - I understand you might want to hold out a couple of did they/didn't theys after a big disaster where everyone gets separated, but by the time you're doing that for every single one of the main playas, it's a bit like a call-back sketch on The Fast Show. (Never mind that they're doing an episode-spanning fake-out for [spoiler]Isuldur[/spoiler] - although even the least nerdy LOTR-follower will know the outcome of that.)

Mini-Solo was laughing it up at the "I'm nearly dead" [spoiler]Halbrand[/spoiler] then going for a stroll ("I'm feeling better!"), then a horse ride ([manly grunt]).

Lots of money now on meteor man being [spoiler]Radagast (at one with nature)[/spoiler], or [spoiler]Gandalf (affinity for hobbits, whispering to bugs)[/spoiler] - but this theory flies in the face of some Tolkien writings.

[Jim_Campbell]

Yeah - another good episode.

Yes. This series has really stepped up to the plate in later episodes. As my comments upthread show, I was pretty ambivalent on this series, but I'm genuinely happy to say that I was wrong — the recent episodes have been fantastic.

[Definitely Not Mister Pops]

Yer one feminem definitely had an eye of Sauron on the end of their staff....