Lord of the Rings TV Series Purchased by Amazon

[Raisei]

I am thoroughly amazed.

Amazed how you take a franchise that is so beloved and so well created and turn it into garbage.

Even putting aside the entire woke agenda that the writers obviously valued more then the plot, the whole thing is just terrible.

The reveals were so completely forseeable that the "Mystery Characters" might as well have worn a sign telling you who they are, maybe a nameplate over their heads. If the writers really felt like they were creating a mystery then I can only pity them and advice them to go back to school and learn about mystery writing, if they didn't then I do not understand what the point of it all was.
They could have made the story very different by allowing us to see who is who from the start. Showing us how Sauron was manipulating events in the background, steering people into the positions where he wants them. That could have been interesting, similar to the Palpatine story.
At the moment it feels so contrived. Nothing would have happened if Galadriel hadn't convinced him to return with her. The second Dark Lord would not have existed at all, neither would the rings or the wars of the Third Age. It is now all Galadriels fault.

Not to mention how contrived it was how she finally got the message. She apparently studied all of Numenors library to figure out that Halbrand is of royal blood, but the texts there never stated that the line died, nor do any of the people living in the Southlands have any idea that their kings died out... only the texts in the elven city of all places finally tell her the truth. It's just a classical trope of bad writing, the reveal had to happen at this point, so the information was suddenly avaiable without any rhyme or reason why it is. Same with the line that Celebrimbor drops that makes her suspicious. It is such a specific line that you know it is only said to push Galadriel to the realization.
And then Sauron just poofs away. His work unfinished, neither killing Galadriel, nor erasing her memory or whatever. He just goes away and let's her ruin his plan. She just had to tell Celebrimbor that it wasn't a good idea after all. Okay, maybe he forsaw that she was actually dumb enough to still go through with the creation of the Rings despite knowing that it was what Sauron wanted... uuugh...

I also love how Galadriel doesn't tell anyone about Halbrand, ensuring that there is no reason anyone will stop him if he is seen. Why does she do this? Well, to protect herself of course. She is afraid the elves will think she was working with him the entire time. Something that Gil-Galad already suspected and the show proves him right...
Her constant arrogance and selfishness is unbelievable. She literally unleashed the Dark Lord on Middle-Earth because of her addiction to vengeance and now she helped him knowlingly... she might have as well joined Sauron, I just don't see how that would have changed her character for the worse.

Heck Sauron is the most understandable and relatable character in this, along with Adar. He wanted her to be his queen to rule over a world as a benevolent king. There is nothing even inherently evil about that. Without our preconceived notion of Sauron as the big bad, nothing in this series has told us that he would not be a good king. Both Gil-Galad and the Dwarf king have made terrible and selfish choices, yet we somehow are to think he would be worse? I am not buying it.
He is even aware that he might be corrupted and begs Galadriel to act as his counterweight to prevent this and her only reason for saying no is "You evul!!", like a child would reply. She has so little self-reflection that she doesn't understand that all the things she saw in him before are still there.

And even if she was completely convinced that he wasn't trustworthy, then she could have played along, tricked him into walking back into the city, where he could be surrounded by guards. But nope, she is convinced that she, with just a dagger, can kill the Dark Lord. Riiight...

Really, I hope for the next season they use some of those billions to hire some decent writers. This whole season was just painful to watch...

[jonnysensible]

Changing the subject, im still amazed of a show who had this budget made this, there is one that isn't even fully printed, rly disappointed with everything numenor related.

i really dont remember a shot being zoomed into his armpit

[Varodoc]

Halbrand being Sauron was such a good plot twist that 99% of the people already figured it out before the show even started (the remaining 1% were just on copium about the writing being more complex and making Halbrand the future Witch King).

It reminds me of when it was revealed that Littlefinger orchestrated the War of the Five Kings. Or when it was revealed that Frey and Bolton were allied with Tywin. I applaud this writing! I love these plot twists so much!!!

Another stunning performance by slay queen Galadriel as well.

But even if Halbrand is evil, I have faith in slay queen. Somehow she will fix him, I'm sure of it, and it will be awesooome to see!!!

[crusadernero]

I think its actually a really good decision to "lose" the momentum. Cause really, how much momentum do they have? I don't think the show is going aswell as they expected and they might have know this from the start, that this is not the optimal way to create a long living series.

So going on a break, trying to get a new start with a Rings of Power version 2/season 2 might not be a bad idea. It will give them the chance to rethink their production process and make something that hits a little more home than what season 1 did.

Highly doubt it. Its one thing to work on a show and release season 1, its another producing season 2. They have more time before anything is launched, now they dont. Its not like they can wait to 2026-2027 with S2.

The actors have been picked. The roadmap for the stories they want to tell has been made. The only thing they really can change is how they tell the story, thats about it. Tweaks can be made, sure, but this is what we are going to get in the future too.

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Halbrand being Sauron was such a good plot twist that 99% of the people already figured it out before the show even started (the remaining 1% were just on copium about the writing being more complex and making Halbrand the future Witch King).

It reminds me of when it was revealed that Littlefinger orchestrated the War of the Five Kings. Or when it was revealed that Frey and Bolton were allied with Tywin. I applaud this writing! I love these plot twists so much!!!

Another stunning performance by slay queen Galadriel as well.

But even if Halbrand is evil, I have faith in slay queen. Somehow she will fix him, I'm sure of it, and it will be awesooome to see!!!

Yeah Halbrand being Sauron was a given. Sucks it took whole of season 1 to reveal it. When they finally did, it ended. lol.

Galadriel will probably try to convince Halbrand that he is a good boi and doesnt need to do evil stuff.

[Kumorii]

Galadriel will probably try to convince Halbrand that he is a good boi and doesnt need to do evil stuff.

They've already stated they want him to be Walter White... so most likely yeah.

[crusadernero]

They've already stated they want him to be Walter White... so most likely yeah.

Meh. I want Sauron to be an evil master strategiest. That outplays most of his enemies, but in the end the "good guys" eventually win somehow. I mean its LoTR so we sort of know how it ends anyway. Unless Amazon goes bananas and end it with Sauron being a happy good boi, and that would be madness.

[Majestic12]

Halbrand being Sauron was such a good plot twist that 99% of the people already figured it out before the show even started

It was leaked by some dude on Reddit, lol. People were sceptical to the poster's list of leaks but all of them turned out to be true.

[Kumorii]

Meh. I want Sauron to be an evil master strategiest. That outplays most of his enemies, but in the end the "good guys" eventually win somehow. I mean its LoTR so we sort of know how it ends anyway. Unless Amazon goes bananas and end it with Sauron being a happy good boi, and that would be madness.

I mean... *points at RoP*.

[Varodoc]

It was leaked by some dude on Reddit, lol. People were sceptical to the poster's list of leaks but all of them turned out to be true.

You didn't need a leak to figure that out, literally just look at the dude. No one sane would trust a guy who looks like Halbrand irl.

Literally just look at him, there's not much left to say. You don't need a leak to figure out that the guy is shady and this was a promotional image:

[bledgor]

Oh please. No one would have noticed this except some idiots watching the show 20 times to find stuff to complain about...

I noticed it first watch through, was pretty obvious. A LOT of the armor/costumes were straight up bad. I mean the Numenorean helms were so loose fitting they looked more like buckets than helms.

[Raisei]

They've already stated they want him to be Walter White... so most likely yeah.

But... the whole point of Walter White was that he was a deeply flawed and evil person, mainly because his constant superiority complex and resentment for anyone that is more succesful then him despite being less capable (in his eyes) kept him unsatisfied with whatever he had. Providing for his family was an excuse to justify himself, but even after he had provided enough for 10 families and lost his wife and son he couldn't stop his ambition. He needed an empire and most likely even that would not have been enough.

I can see Halbrand using a similar justification, doing everything "to heal Middle-Earth" and "for the people", but the writers aren't remotely skilled enough to create a character as complex as Walter White. If they wanted that then they should have had Galadriel actually accept his deal and believe she can control his evil.

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Oh please. No one would have noticed this except some idiots watching the show 20 times to find stuff to complain about...

The point isn't even that it was noticed. The point is that in a 2 billion dollar show they are not using decent costumes. House of the Dragon has a far lower budget and still has far superior costumes.

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You didn't need a leak to figure that out, literally just look at the dude. No one sane would trust a guy who looks like Halbrand irl.

Literally just look at him, there's not much left to say. You don't need a leak to figure out that the guy is shady and this was a promotional image:

Tbf, I still have trouble with the fact that Sauron has a human visage at all. He is supposed to be 2,5 meters tall in a spiky plate armor and swinging a mace the size of halve a Galadriel. This feels... diminishing. I really hope that this is just a form he took, like the Anatar one, and it will not be revealed that Maia are in fact just looking like humans.

[s_bushido]

Oh please. No one would have noticed this except some idiots watching the show 20 times to find stuff to complain about...

That nitpick is made all the more asinine by two simple facts: There are other Numenor costumes with gilded "printed-on" motiffs, and if they'd wanted to give her a quilted undershirt they could have easily done so:



But they chose to go with something that would make it look like she was covered in shiny scales instead. You know...because she's a queen and has appearances to keep up. Hence being covered in gold in the first place.

I mean, I challenge anyone to just look at Elendil's costume and try to tell me with a straight face that they didn't care about the quality of these costumes.

[Syegfryed]

I mean, I challenge anyone to just look at Elendil's costume and try to tell me with a straight face that they didn't care about the quality of these costumes.

Credit to when its good, the only quality of armor i can remember on top of my head is the ones Galadriel used, with the exception of the one going to her chin, quite realistic and functional (the nonsense is how the numenorians had one elven plate armor for her there though).

His outfit seems to me like cosplay, his helmet don't even look like tis fitting right.

I also don't understand the pick on scales in the armor, maybe because it was easy to fake with the printing

Oh please. No one would have noticed this except some idiots watching the show 20 times to find stuff to complain about...

If you are paying attention to the show, you could see easily, but i doubt many people were actually doing so, or just sleeping/zooning off.

i really dont remember a shot being zoomed into his armpit

You don't need to zoom it to see it, you can see in the episodes, the combat armor also show plenty of times is fabric/printed

[Kumorii]

But... the whole point of Walter White was that he was a deeply flawed and evil person, mainly because his constant superiority complex and resentment for anyone that is more succesful then him despite being less capable (in his eyes) kept him unsatisfied with whatever he had. Providing for his family was an excuse to justify himself, but even after he had provided enough for 10 families and lost his wife and son he couldn't stop his ambition. He needed an empire and most likely even that would not have been enough.

I can see Halbrand using a similar justification, doing everything "to heal Middle-Earth" and "for the people", but the writers aren't remotely skilled enough to create a character as complex as Walter White. If they wanted that then they should have had Galadriel actually accept his deal and believe she can control his evil.

You are right. The build up of that was so good though that you felt the tragedy when he stopped lying to himself.
I think everyone were on board on the sympathy train from the start. And I wouldn't say this isn't a bad aim to go for.

Having the showrunners then say "we want you to feel sympathy for him, like for example Walter White" they now have to regress his arc. Especially since Sauron now literally told Galadriel his plans of ruling over everything and he had no sense of remorse and we have no reason to feel sympathy for him. He has to go from being all out evil to a character being forced in a difficult position and then resulting in doing bad stuff and then fall in love with it. If I remember correctly plenty of character tried to "fix" Walter White(Wife and Jesse tried to steer him off the path numerous times) and it's only when he finally admits to his wife (i think) and himself that he loves what he does the "hope" is lost. Up until that point people had that hope of him choosing the right path.
What hope is there to lose with Sauron at this point?

I think they are wanting to make something like this. Make it seem like he is forced into something and the audience should hope he goes on the better path and maybe even fall in love with Galadriel and vice versa and then we all feel he can be fixed and then we feel the loss of help when it's revealed when it can't be done.

[Flurryfang]

That nitpick is made all the more asinine by two simple facts: There are other Numenor costumes with gilded "printed-on" motiffs, and if they'd wanted to give her a quilted undershirt they could have easily done so:



But they chose to go with something that would make it look like she was covered in shiny scales instead. You know...because she's a queen and has appearances to keep up. Hence being covered in gold in the first place.

I mean, I challenge anyone to just look at Elendil's costume and try to tell me with a straight face that they didn't care about the quality of these costumes.

But that would mean, that all Numeanor armor is leather armor.... Which is just kinda, you know, underwhelming. These mightiest of humans, who are supposed to conquer across the world, wear less armor than the goddam rohan horsemen O.o

[s_bushido]

But that would mean, that all Numeanor armor is leather armor....

I'm sorry, what? How'd you come to that conclusion?

They're clearly capable of making plate armor, given the set they give to Galadriel (unless that was supposed to be an elven suit they just happened to have laying around).

[Toppy]

I do have to ask.

Did they really need to give the Dwarf Princess gospel magic?

[Shadowferal]

[Kumorii]

This was their promo picture... you know a picture that's supposed to be looked at. Nothing of this "you have to watch it 20 times to see it" fly as an excuse.
Everyone pointed it out that it was a printed shirt and looked cheap from the moment this was posted.
Even if I buy the excuse of "it's printed" on a shirt or leather... it just looks odd. It's a weird design choice because it has the same scales as the armor and naturally you think the arms will be armored as well. It makes it look cheap even if we excuse it in-universe being made such... it's just cheap looking.

Hell, they even solved it with Elendils armor by having an undershirt of another color where the creases would be in their costume. And they have a thicker piece of leather/thick cloth there to begin with. So they did know how to fix it... probably forgot about it for Miriel though. if they did this to make Miriel look regal they failed. Frankly, Elendils armor look more regal than hers because of the details in it.

[Raisei]

You are right. The build up of that was so good though that you felt the tragedy when he stopped lying to himself.
I think everyone were on board on the sympathy train from the start. And I wouldn't say this isn't a bad aim to go for.

Having the showrunners then say "we want you to feel sympathy for him, like for example Walter White" they now have to regress his arc. Especially since Sauron now literally told Galadriel his plans of ruling over everything and he had no sense of remorse and we have no reason to feel sympathy for him. He has to go from being all out evil to a character being forced in a difficult position and then resulting in doing bad stuff and then fall in love with it. If I remember correctly plenty of character tried to "fix" Walter White(Wife and Jesse tried to steer him off the path numerous times) and it's only when he finally admits to his wife (i think) and himself that he loves what he does the "hope" is lost. Up until that point people had that hope of him choosing the right path.
What hope is there to lose with Sauron at this point?

I think they are wanting to make something like this. Make it seem like he is forced into something and the audience should hope he goes on the better path and maybe even fall in love with Galadriel and vice versa and then we all feel he can be fixed and then we feel the loss of help when it's revealed when it can't be done.

Is it me, or did his character radically change in the last 20 minutes? Before that you could actually take his claim seriously that he was going to try to heal and help. But then after the reveal his entire tone seems to suggest how much pleasure he took in tricking people, it felt jarring somehow. As if a mask dropped that I never felt he wore. Knowing who he is from the start made me look out for details that betray his real character, but all his talk seemed genuine...

In a better show I would say that he tricked me, despite me looking at him, but here I just think that they wrote a break in his character so that Galadriels rebuttal wasn't too forced.