Television The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power - Latest: Season 2 commences filming. Set catches fire.

[BloodyHell]

On 9/17/2022 at 5:40 PM, Fizzzzle said:

I don't think it's necessarily because Tom is more powerful, it's just that he has no desires. Sauron (and by extension the Ring) manipulate you by appealing to your desires, and Tom has none. He's basically a nature spirit. That's why his appearance doesn't change when he puts the Ring on - his Fëa and his Hröa are the same. Tom is... Tom. I think that's also why Hobbits tend to be less corruptable than others - most of them just want good food and a warm fire, there isn't a whole lot of desire for the Ring to play with.

There are 9 "powerful" Maiar, and they are all accounted for. 5 became wizards. (One went south, another west to the elves). Three became spirits of the sea, There are many lesser Maiar, but they don't have near the power that Gandalf, Radaghast, Melkor (Sauron) had, so Tom definitely shouldn't be among their number. Sauron, who was the first Maiar to take mortal form, and became corrupted, is the 9th, I believe, and the reason the 5 Wizards were sent.

 

People have been speculating about who/what Tom Bombadil was long before this show, hell, long before there was internet and I just can't see Amazon having the rights required to actually answer that question. I could be wrong, but I think Tolkien purposefully left it untold. 

 

I have a cool 3 book, 13 volume box set of all his writings on middle earth. Most of it is gobbledygook, but I should go through the index and see if I can find any more on old Tom. But I know Tolkien said he was just a story device, adding a bit of fun and adventure to their journey.

[Greatoneshere]

2 hours ago, BloodyHell said:

Melkor (Sauron)

 

I think you just made a quick error, but for anyone else reading, just to be clear, Melkor is Morgoth, Sauron's boss (not Sauron), Melkor was his Valar name, Valar are above Maiar in terms of power, etc. Sauron's Maiar name was Mairon, and he worked for/under Valar Aule before working for Morgoth. 

[BloodyHell]

4 hours ago, Greatoneshere said:

 

I think you just made a quick error, but for anyone else reading, just to be clear, Melkor is Morgoth, Sauron's boss (not Sauron), Melkor was his Valar name, Valar are above Maiar in terms of power, etc. Sauron's Maiar name was Mairon, and he worked for/under Valar Aule before working for Morgoth. 

Ya, sorry, he was originally Mairon. Its been at least a decade since ive even skimmed this stuff. 

 

Theres also the problem that the history of Middle Earth and most of the literature was cobbled together by others from a very wide range of stories, notes, and journals. Knowing Tolkiens intent is next to impossible. Thats why I laugh at the haters saying this shits on the history. The history is a guess at best.

[CitizenVectron]

Tolkien also had no problem overriding/retconning his previous writing with new ideas. The idea that he ever considered his work a single canon (in that everything had to fit together perfectly) rather than a fluid creation is laughable.

[Massdriver]

I still have not watched an episode of this. Should I?

[legend]

21 minutes ago, Massdriver said:

I still have not watched an episode of this. Should I?

 

Yes.

[Greatoneshere]

26 minutes ago, Massdriver said:

I still have not watched an episode of this. Should I?

 

How do you feel about the Lord of the Rings in general? But either way my answer is yes, just to different degrees.  

[Fizzzzle]

1 hour ago, Massdriver said:

I still have not watched an episode of this. Should I?

I'm kind of up and down on the show as a whole, but every episode I have a moment where my jaw drops and I go "oh, shit, I guess that's where $450 million went..."

 

Is it the best show ever? No, but it's an insanely high budget fantasy series, the likes of which we'll probably never see again. On that merit alone, I highly recommend it.

[Massdriver]

53 minutes ago, Greatoneshere said:

 

How do you feel about the Lord of the Rings in general? But either way my answer is yes, just to different degrees.  

I like Lord of the Rings. I read it in Junior High and enjoyed the movies. 
 

Anyway I started it. 

[ort]

I started this late and finally watched all 4... and so far I think it's pretty great. Yes, it's moving a little slow, but I'm okay with that. It's going to be a long series, they have the time, they should take it. I'm definitely not bored.

 

I honestly don't get all the criticism it seems to be getting... I mean, at some point it's like... are we not entertained? I mean, how great must the current state of television entertainment be that something as ambitious as this seems to have landed with so little fanfare?

[CitizenVectron]

2 hours ago, ort said:

I started this late and finally watched all 4... and so far I think it's pretty great. Yes, it's moving a little slow, but I'm okay with that. It's going to be a long series, they have the time, they should take it. I'm definitely not bored.

 

I honestly don't get all the criticism it seems to be getting... I mean, at some point it's like... are we not entertained? I mean, how great must the current state of television entertainment be that something as ambitious as this seems to have landed with so little fanfare?

 

The criticism is driven by racism, sexism, and young-white-male groupthink. There are people (at the same time!) saying the show is boring and is going nowhere, while also saying there are too many mysteries (and calling them mystery boxes) and that they are artificial to keep people interested. I legit saw people online decrying the "Durin opens a box and we can't see what it is" at the end of Ep 2 as a "mystery box." No...it's just called a cliffhanger, or mystery. And it was resolved by Ep 4! 

 

Most of the criticism is just for the sake of whining. That's not to say the show is for everyone, because it's okay to have different tastes! But if you see people saying that the show looks low-budget (lots of groupthink/bot takes saying it seems like a show from the 80s, in terms of effects...lol) or is soulless or isn't "true" to Tolkien's lore...just ignore them, because it's almost certainly from incel chuds.

[CayceG]

Some people just can't handle not being able to binge. 

 

 

[CitizenVectron]

 

Not a surprise.

 

[Mercury33]

There is no legit criticism other than maybe Galadriel’s behavior in the throne room. The show is fantastic and that’s the general reception it’s getting. 
 

Any Twitter shit is pure garbage vomited by real life orcs who should have been sterilized the second that fat sweaty fingers hit a keyboard for the first time. 

[ort]

It's not just the complaints... it just doesn't really feel like "the world" is really talking about this.

 

I mean, I guess I get it. After the Hobbit movies, I was also very turned off from the LotR Cinematic Universe...

 

But while (so far) this definitely isn't quite as good as the movies, it's absolutely NOTHING even close to being like the Hobbit flicks.

 

I was pretty skeptical going in and honestly I barely had any hype because I think I was just expecting the worst... but I watched 4 episodes in 4 days and now I've hit the wall and I'm annoyed I have to wait a week*. That's the sign of a good show.

 

*Well, I just looked it up and episode 5 hits tonight at 11pm Central, so there ya go...

[Captain Pickle]

I'm really loving the show.  Don't know why but it kinda diminishes my enjoyment of the new game of thrones.  I'm just way too excited on Fridays for a new Lord of dem rangz episode.  Also, I loved the movies (not the hobbit but I'll watch it, lol) and loved the cartoon movie as a kid but my knowledge is little more then knowing a wizard has the power to always be on time.  So thank you super nerds.  This thread has increased my enjoyment of the new series ten fold.

[69los]

I find the release schedule very unfair to east coasters.

[Brick]

A guy at work was saying how people are saying the costumes on the show look low budget. What? How does anything on this show look low budget? 

[CayceG]

2 minutes ago, Brick said:

A guy at work was saying how people are saying the costumes on the show look low budget. What? How does anything on this show look low budget? 

 

That dude is on crack. 

 

[Greatoneshere]

53 minutes ago, Brick said:

A guy at work was saying how people are saying the costumes on the show look low budget. What? How does anything on this show look low budget? 

 

Nothing about this show appears low budget. Dude is on some shit.

[BloodyHell]

22 hours ago, CitizenVectron said:

 

The criticism is driven by racism, sexism, and young-white-male groupthink. There are people (at the same time!) saying the show is boring and is going nowhere, while also saying there are too many mysteries (and calling them mystery boxes) and that they are artificial to keep people interested. I legit saw people online decrying the "Durin opens a box and we can't see what it is" at the end of Ep 2 as a "mystery box." No...it's just called a cliffhanger, or mystery. And it was resolved by Ep 4! 

 

Most of the criticism is just for the sake of whining. That's not to say the show is for everyone, because it's okay to have different tastes! But if you see people saying that the show looks low-budget (lots of groupthink/bot takes saying it seems like a show from the 80s, in terms of effects...lol) or is soulless or isn't "true" to Tolkien's lore...just ignore them, because it's almost certainly from incel chuds.

I mean, lets not pretend that apl criticism is racism. There are valid problems with the show so far, especially when you consider the money spent. Its not just the right criticizing the show, theres plenty of critics down on it for its story. 

 

But of course, there is 100% a large contingent of shitheads that hate it for terrible and hateful reasons. ButThere are still a lot of people who just don't love it. A lot of people are choosing to watch HotD instead, apparently. I don't know why it has to be a choice, but whatever.

 

Im enjoying it, its very good, but it certainly hasn't reached "great" yet. It's beautiful though. 

[Fizzzzle]

I've even seen some people say the CGI is bad and I'm like... are you high?

 

Nonetheless, there are some valid criticisms with the show. Galadriels character, for one. And I don't even mean that from a lore perspective, just that she's straight up been an unlikeable rube so far and I feel like we are 5 hours in and still haven't been given a good reason for rooting for her. Though her line from the last episode about "becoming undistinguishable from the evil she's trying to fight" or whatever it was actually hints at character growth, so I was glad to see that.

 

And I'm still apprehensive that the reason they haven't introduced Celeborn yet (if they put him in the show at all) is that they're going to try to give galadriel some love triangle plotline in a later season, and I'm like "please, dear God, no."

[Fizzzzle]

Though, if I had to guess (minor book spoilers if you want to avoid them)

 

Spoiler

Celeborn and celebrian will be omitted from the show entirely. Or, if they are in the show, they'll be given different back stories. It would seem weird to come into a later season and be like "surprise! Galadriel gas a husband and daughter!" On the same token, it would come off weird for galadriel to have a daughter IN the show and that daughter to end up marrying Elrond. I know Elves operate on different time, but it given the compressed timeline, it would still feel gross. The show runners have said that they emphatically do not want to turn Middle earth into Westerns.

 

[CayceG]

I just started the new episode. 

 

 

The walking song... It stirred something in me of deep emotion. The phrasing is pretty close to what Tolkien would have written for the Hobbits, but the tune is almost primal. It's clearly based on Irish/Scottish songs in melody, but that lineage flows down into the Appalachians and back to my ancestors. Something about it really just made me tear up. 

 

And then came the lyrics "Not all who wonder or wander are lost." I absolutely lost it. Those words have become indelible in the minds of Tolkien fans and came from a line in the poem introducing Strider/Aragorn. 

 

 

Hoooo boy, this episode is knocking it out of the park and I'm barely 5 minutes in. 

[Brick]

I know I may end up regretting asking this as I'll get a five paragraph lore response, but who is Tom Bombadil? I've seen that name multiple times over the years. Can't remember if he was in The Hobbit as I haven't read that book since like 2003 or 2004, and I haven't read TLOTR yet. 

[Fizzzzle]

20 minutes ago, Brick said:

I know I may end up regretting asking this as I'll get a five paragraph lore response, but who is Tom Bombadil? I've seen that name multiple times over the years. Can't remember if he was in The Hobbit as I haven't read that book since like 2003 or 2004, and I haven't read TLOTR yet. 

He's in the LOTR books. Tolkien never explains that much about him. Tom is Tom. He's not in the Hobbit. He's clearly a being whom the Ring has no power over, though I don't think it's because he's *more* powerful, just that his power is a different kind of power.

 

He's an odd character. He's only in 2 chapters in Fellowship and only mentioned again twice throughout the rest of the series. Once during the Council of Elrond when "what if we just give the Ring to Tom?" Is brought up as a solution (the answer is "he'd probably forget about it), and the other at the very end of the story when Gandalf says he wants to have a long conversation with Tom before he sets off for the Undying Lands.

[CayceG]

lmao Celeborn is pilled to the gills

[Mercury33]

3 hours ago, Fizzzzle said:

I've even seen some people say the CGI is bad and I'm like... are you high?

 

Nonetheless, there are some valid criticisms with the show. Galadriels character, for one. And I don't even mean that from a lore perspective, just that she's straight up been an unlikeable rube so far and I feel like we are 5 hours in and still haven't been given a good reason for rooting for her. Though her line from the last episode about "becoming undistinguishable from the evil she's trying to fight" or whatever it was actually hints at character growth, so I was glad to see that.

 

And I'm still apprehensive that the reason they haven't introduced Celeborn yet (if they put him in the show at all) is that they're going to try to give galadriel some love triangle plotline in a later season, and I'm like "please, dear God, no."

I know Galadriel is unlikable so far but I think that’s kinda the point. It seems like a pretty standard arc, getting lost in all consuming revenge/purpose. Plus it’s not like she’s some warm cuddly character by the time we get to LotR. I dunno, maybe it’s just me but I’ve kinda treated the “why is she so unlikable” people the same way I treated “Luke wouldn’t be like that” people 🤷🏻‍♂️

[GeneticBlueprint]

Quote

At last comes their answer, through cold and through frost
That not all who wonder or wander are lost
No matter the sorrow, no matter the cost
That not all who wonder or wander are lost

 

[BloodyHell]

10 hours ago, Fizzzzle said:

He's in the LOTR books. Tolkien never explains that much about him. Tom is Tom. He's not in the Hobbit. He's clearly a being whom the Ring has no power over, though I don't think it's because he's *more* powerful, just that his power is a different kind of power.

 

He's an odd character. He's only in 2 chapters in Fellowship and only mentioned again twice throughout the rest of the series. Once during the Council of Elrond when "what if we just give the Ring to Tom?" Is brought up as a solution (the answer is "he'd probably forget about it), and the other at the very end of the story when Gandalf says he wants to have a long conversation with Tom before he sets off for the Undying Lands.

The ring has no power over Tom because he has no will to dominate others, apparently that's one of the few things Tolkien has said about him. That, and that he was a plot device created to add adventure to the hobbits journey.

[Firewithin]

That ending for this week's ep was some quintessential epic LOTR. 

 

Oh and geez the actress for galadriel is like distractingly pretty

[BloodyHell]

45 minutes ago, Firewithin said:

That ending for this week's ep was some quintessential epic LOTR. 

 

Oh and geez the actress for galadriel is like distractingly pretty

She definitely is.

[Mercury33]

Jesus this show keeps getting better. That was my favorite episode so far. Like other have said, that walking song ❤️❤️ Gave me chills. I want a show about just the Harfoots, I love that group so damn much. 

[CitizenVectron]

Show keeps knocking it out of the park. Just amazing.

[Fizzzzle]

A nitpick I have that doesn't actually affect my enjoyment of the show but I do notice it: why do all the Elves look different ages? I mean it's one thing for Elrond to look slightly younger, but Galadriel is literally older than the sun. Why does celebrimbor look so much older?

 

That's one thing I liked about the movies. With the acception of Arwen, who they made look younger for story purposes, all the Elves don't look particularly young or old, which helps sell the fact that they're different than everyone else. Given that resentment towards Elves is a storyline in the show, you'd think they would take the same approach.

 

Again, it doesn't really affect my enjoyment of the show.

 

Last episode was the tits