Lord of the Rings (2022 Amazon series)

Interested to see how they get everyone out of the Pompei like destruction heading towards the village that isn't laughable.

 

Eagles fly in duh

 

Yeah, this type of show WGAF about stuff like that?

 

The last episode was very very good. I read the Lord of the RIngs trilogy and The Hobbit. Bought and started the Silmarillion but never finished it. So I really enjoy the Morgoth lore and stuff that predates Lord of the RIngs and we are getting a taste of it with this show. Many of the other episodes left a lot to be desired. I'd say most of the episodes were 6/10 maybe one was a 7/10 and this last one was 9/10.

 

Most of the Harfoot screen time has been just terrible. I get that they are meant to be corny but there has to be a more entertaining way to develop that storyline. Maybe the Harfoot storyline will redeem itself as the season progresses.

 

I mean you could say the same about Hobbits too. It’s the nature of the characters.

 

The trilogy was so long they’d have never gotten away with it but the Scouring of the Shire would have brought the Fellowship 4 to a deserved conclusion on the screen

 

Are there plans to have other Lord of the Ring series? I'm digging what we currently have (although it could have been better), but I think something set in the First Age would have been even more interesting. A series about the end of the First Age would be compelling. For example Noldor v Melkor or Melkor's curse of Hurin or the ending of the first age when Eärendil crossed the sea to seek help from the Valar who then defeated Melkor. I want to see some Elves and Valar v. Morgoth battles. I guess we are currently in the Second Age/ Akallabeth which is still interesting but imo less compelling than the first age.

 

That would be awesome but I think Chris Tolkien was really adamant about not selling rights to the Silmarillion and some of those stories to production companies so idk if now that he's dead that the estate may open that up.

 

How does that jive with the fact that the current show is covering events that are covered in the Simarillion i.e.

Spoiler

Numenor before its downfall

. Correct me if I'm wrong but the current show is set in the second age and covers the very beginning of Akallabêth . It is set shortly after the defeat of Morgoth which marked the end of the 1st age. Thus it is set in a time period that is contained within the Simarillion. Are you saying they went off script or developed a script that wasn't explicitly spelled out in the Simarillion and thus they didn't need to buy any rights?

 

To my understanding, they're pulling all the main threads out of the appendices in the trilogy, nothing explicitly from the Silmarillion

 

Netflix or Amazon needs to come at them with some Michael Jackson buying the Beatles catalog money and make it happen.

 

this is correct.

FWIW Netflix actually did bid for the rights and offered $250 million (more than 5x what Mike paid for The Beatles catalog) but they apparently wanted a Gandalf show and an Aragorn show amongst other things and the Tolkien estate hated the idea and (rightfully) said no. Amazon paid quite a bit less.

 

This episode was okay. Feels like not much happened given it's the penultimate of the season.

Hopefully they have some good stuff in store for the next episode.

 

You midnight watchers are animals

 

It starts at 11 for me since I'm central. But I had to keep pausing for different reasons.

 

I just don't get this show's pacing at all.

 

Pretty much every episode:

 

As a viewer, that was pretty meh.

Spoiler

As a Tolkien nerd, that was horrific. Isildur obviously can’t be dead, come on. Galadriel was married but now Celeborn is apparently dead too? I hope not, as their daughter is Elrond’s wife and Arwen’s mom. The Balrog’s awake at some point (because it’s impossible to know when we are) in the second age before they get any substantial mithril out of there?

 

I was not feeling that one.

 

Maybe the balrog woke up from the leaf, roared, and went back to sleep. Like when your dog barks at a loud noise at night.

 

Done

 

Yeah pretty boring episode.

 

I have to say the part at the end where the text changes on screen from one thing to the other was insulting. They literally spelled it out for us.

 

That was 100% cringe. Anyone watching this show knows exactly what was happening there before it even started happening. Maybe they’ll nail the finale but this episode really soured the series for me.

 

There's 1 episode left and it feels like 1 thing has happened.

 

I thought it was great. The whole thing is great

 

nah there was and hasn’t ever been anything great when the Hornfoots are on the screen.
Kicked the stranger out of the camp with 1 fucking Apple after shaming the shit out of him. For what? Because you asked him to try and help you, which he gladly did, and while doing so some stupid ass kid runs right at a wizard in mid-spell. So you shame and exile the guy who tries to help you? And then Nori has the mental retardation to be like “oh wonder how all these trees and bushes came back to life???”

fuck those little shitbirds. Fuck the whole clan. I really wish they would “just keep walking” and never be shown on screen again. We as viewers will rightfully assume they’re just out walking somewhere. And the show will be 10000x better for not wasting our time on what has been the most boring terrible storyline I’ve ever seen in any fantasy show/movie

 

So the trailer for the next episode has a chorus of people saying "You are Lord Sauron". I think it's the weirdos that have been following the Stranger and burned the Harfoots camp. Adar said he killed Sauron. As a Maiar, wouldn't Sauron be "sent back" like Gandalf was and not remember much?

 

I feel like essentially nothing happened in that last episode. I don't think they could have advanced the plot any slower if they tried. Disappointing.

 

So are these creepy Sauron cult folks men, elves, or something else?

 

I’m wondering if they are the fallen elves that were allied to morgoth at one point

 

thought the first half of the series was really quite poor, but has found it's stride over the last 2 episodes now that we have gotten out of the initial character intros

 

The shit with the Harfoots may
be cringiest scene ever

 

Which one?

 

Scene about warning “the giant”

 

It wasn't any more cringy than the any of the other harfoot scenes. But I get what you are saying. The chain reaction of volunteers: we've seen that scene a million times in other shows/movies, and it was below the intelligence of the viewer. I guess they were trying to emphasize the sense of community and togetherness of the harfoots-if one is going to do something-they all are going to do it.

 

Foot Locker

 

Wouldn't have to go warn him if they didn't kick him out of their camp because some dumb little cunt ran towards the tree while he was casting a spell

 

This show would be so much better without the harfoots. They add nothing to the story. Feels like they were added soley for familiarity.

Now we got discount Frodo and Sam on the most meaningless quest I've ever seen.

 

At this point there could be some huge delivery at the end of this foot saga with the Stranger and the white robes. But no matter how big it is, the amount of nothingness that's happened with them is going to diminish the payoff, assuming there is one.

Does anyone here watch the show with their children under age ~12? Do they actually enjoy the feet?

 

Overall a pretty solid finale. Far from a perfect season but I definitely find myself interested to see where they go from here. Given that these were first time show runners I hope they learn some things and make some improvements.

 

I thought it was pretty good. Series overall I’d give a B. Not sure what they should’ve done differently, maybe another episode or two? Felt rushed at times, but more episodes would unfortunately give the harfoots more screen time.

Spoiler

-can someone explain the island people a little more? Why were they talking about immortality?

-who were the 3 creepy people?

-are we supposed to believe that was Gandalf?

 

Numenor was given to the Edain, who were humans loyal to the elves/valar in the War of the Wrath. They got a comparatively long life as part of that as well, but in time became jealous of the Elves immortality and that Numenorans weren't allowed to go to the Undying Lands / Valinor like the elves could, and that the Valar had forbidden them from trying to get there. So a sect of them became obsessed with going West and conquering the Undying Lands and becoming immortal.

 

Spoiler

Pretty much what WhiskeyDelta said on the first one. The Chancellor, Ar-Pharazon, will play an even bigger role in the coming fate of Numenor.

Apparently some sort of Sauron accolyte/disciples that there's not really a precedent for in the books that I recall.

Seems like Gandalf in all the mannerisms, bright blue eyes, scruffy look and proverbial wisdom. Which is disappointing as he's about 3000 years early for any of the Istari. Personally, if they're going this route, I kind of hope he's Saruman and they weave in his fall from grace and corruption, albeit on a totally wrong timeline.

 

Spoiler

so the “follow your nose” thing was likely an intentional misdirection?