#the rings of power review

[anragaire]

So I saw the first two episodes of The Rings of Power last night and here are my thoughts and opinions (potentially lightly spoilery depending on how many trailers/interviews/reviews you've watched/read). I'll add more as I think about it throughout the day/ watch it a million more times tomorrow.

Overall it is jaw-dropping in its achievement

The visuals are truly a remarkable feat - from the word go they stun you with their beauty and epic quality.

The sets, the costumes, the VFX - just *chef's kiss*

Gods bless Bear McCreary. The music brings SO much to the show.

Due to the fact they don't have the rights to the Silmarillion, they have to skirt around some First Age lore (they don't necessarily change it overtly, but more brush over a lot of stepping stones they simply can't access due to rights issues). I think, given their circumstances, they summarise the Silmarillion events really well. There were one or two other lore moments where I was like huh? but to be honest, they're so minor in comparison to everything else and they narratively worked.

Morfyyd and Robert somehow manage to both make Galadriel and Elrond their own whilst from the get-go making it clear that these characters are deeply linked to the ones we will see in The Lord of the Rings. (I particularly loved Robert's adoption of a lot of Hugo Weaving's mannerisms). They are truly wonderful, as are the rest of the cast. There was such overt glee in my audience as well for the dwarves. Disa and Durin IV are nothing short of spectacular. It is a crime that we have not had female dwarves onscreen before.

Being Irish, I was incredibly skeptical about the harfoots being these travelling pseudo-Irish folk. Nevertheless, they completely won me over. They're both different enough from the hobbits that they don't feel like a copy and paste job, but you can see some of the hobbit mannerisms there. Nori and her family are a delight. I would protect Nori with my life. Sir Lenny Henry is brilliant.

I was so confident as to who I thought the Stranger was, now I'm back to the drawing board with multiple theories.

They've already said this in a number of interviews, but I LOVE that they lean into the arrogance of the elves. The politics between all the various races is super interesting on screen.

There's one scene with Elrond in particular that just shows that the writers are invested in the lore and ethics of Tolkien's work.

The design of the orcs is so cool - I love how you can tell they began as corrupted and tortured elves from looking at them alone.

Still not entirely here for the 80s haircuts on the elves, and some of the background ones sometimes border on the hair options for Dragon Age 3 *shivers* but some do work to be fair. The real glory is Gil-Galad's luscious locks.

Finrod. My love. My life. That's all.

I love how they're setting up the Southlands.

I can understand why some of the reviewers were wondering about the plot, but if you know your lore, you can see the mechanisms falling into place pretty quickly. These two episodes are doing a lot of set-up which I'm fine with. There are a lot of characters and I want to care about them all so I'm glad we're getting to know them. The second episode moved with a lot more gusto.

The things in the trees - I won't say anymore, but we need to discuss them.

#the rings of power #TROP #lord of the rings #lotr #tolkien #I wrote my masters thesis on Geoffrey Bache Smith and his shared love of mythology and mythmaking with Tolkien so I am a Fan for context #finrod #harfoots #gil-galad #elrond #galadriel #the rings of power review #the rings of power spoilers #potential spoilers

[mal-zoya]

Finally watched the second episode of ‘The Rings of Power’ - I, for one, absolutely love it. I don’t know anything about Tolkien, I watched the first two movies, I think I watched the third one, which I don’t remember aside of the wedding and I fell asleep during the first Hobbit, so yeah, not LOTR nerd but I do love fantasy and I’m watching this as a fantasy show and it’s great.

After the poor ass visuals that TV Star Hars is delivering,and decent House of the Dragon, I can’t with the cinematography of this show. It’s beautiful, it’s stunning... the music? Howard Shore and Bear McCreary are delivering a score masterclass. Acting? Excellent... most of the time.

Writing? I don’t know. For me, it’s good but I am missing some stuff that I hope will be explained? I don’t understand how Valinor is destroyed with the trees in the beginning and then it’s just fine for elves to move back into. I get that it’s couple of millennia but what happened to those trees, I don’t get it. And perhaps this is crystal clear for the Tolkien readers but for the rest of us, I feel like there should be an explanation.

The characters, oh boy, Galadriel is unlikable and I love her for it. Elrond is by far my favorite, as is Disa and Durin. The previous evolution of hobbits are cute. Don’t know who the stardust guy is (yes, that’s a book i’ve read) but it’s strange. The weirdest thing is how humans annoy me, Bronwyn is the only human I saw so far that is likable and her relationship with Arondir is great... her son tho *sighs* that will be the character I’ll eventually stop watching the show for, I just know it. My eyes were rolling every time he was on screen, I can’t these types of characters, they get on my nerves.

tldr: I had fun. I’m looking forward the next episode! 8.5/10

P.S. I hope someone will use bow and arrow soon, like... come on now...

#the rings of power #the rings of power review #trop

[oadara]

Another great episode recap/review of The Rings of Power by Rings and Realms, I highly recommend giving it a watch. I would also suggest you watch their recap of episode 1 & 2.

#the rings of power #the rings of power review #the rings of power breakdown #lotr trop #the rings of power episode 3 #Youtube

[valar-did-me-wrong]

After watching the first 2 episodes of Rings Of Power here are my thoughts..

First and foremost, I will personally be taking this show as a fanfic. And I've read enough fanfics to be able to digest this canon diversion and appreciate the parts that were good (never the short haired elves tho, never!)

My theory is that maybe they started planning out the show with the thought of expanding the story of unexplored parts of middle earth and genuinely those plotlines really do feel heartwarming and immersive and Tolkien-like.

The Harfoots are adorable and exactly how you would think pre settlement people might be like. They are captured during evolution and it is entertaining to watch their part of the story till now.

The Southland story has all my heart and more! The exploration of the people there, their rage, their suffering, their history of siding with bad.. it is so much flesh and life given to parts that were never explored! Bwonwyn and Arondir have that yearning thing going on that i absolutely adored; the actors were spectacular especially Ismael for being able to pull off Elf & wise yet a love struck baby.

The Dwarves are spectacular. Moria is gorgeous and the dwarf esthetic is on point! They are lively and brute yet not cartoonish.

Now comes the elven parts- sigh

Well I was not really pulled into the elven storylines at all honesty. Elrond is the best that race has to offer, atleast in this show. The canon divergence felt most jarring in the elven plots and the EXTREMELY gender coded hair were not helping at all! (NEVER FORGIVING FOR THE SHORT HAIR DAMMIT!) The Veiled female elves and the nun like attire of some of them left a very icky taste in my mouth for some reason (no hate for the real life religion obviously).

This is why I think the Elven storyline was either added later to milk more money or written by a whole another set of people than the ones writing for the others; with the latter being more Tolkien oriented than the former.

For the aged looking elves; mainly Celebrimbor, my hypothesis is they are trying to showcase how living and fighting in middle earth aka Morgoths ring has slowly made even the elves age a little bit. Sort of see it as a physical depiction of the exhaustion elves feel. Galadriel is untouched as she was born in Valinor and had experienced the Two Trees?!

I have hopes of this show being atleast good if not amazing. They did really AMAZING with The Expanse so they have it in them to do better. Some gender coding needs to stop seriously but all in all it is watchable and enjoyable even with just 2 episodes out.

The stories that will stay with you will most definitely be of the Southlanders and The Harfoots and that i think in itself is Tolkienian, for it is the simple folk that are the most important.

#the rings of power #rings of power #rop review #the rings of power review

[booksofdelight]

The Rings of Power Season One Review

The first season of The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power has finished and there is a lot to breakdown. How did Amazon do with their blockbuster show that cost $475 million to produce? What did it get right and what did it get wrong? Keep reading to find out all that and more as we review season one. Spoilers are ahead so if you didn’t finish the first season and don’t want any reveals, then…

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#Amazon #Blog #book #book review #books #fantasy #reading #season one review #The Lord of the Rings #The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power #The Rings of Power #The Rings of Power review #The Rings of Power season one #tv show #writing

[amesmonde]

The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power (2022-) Review

The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power (2022-) Review

During the Second Age of Middle-earth, thousands of years before The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings, after Dark Lord Morgoth the Rings of Power follows rise of the Dark Lord Sauron and the plight of the inhabitants of Middle-earth.Although a little plodding and overwrought at times it’s exceptionally well made, particularly when practical and visual effects are seamlessly sucking you in.…

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#review #The Lord Of The Rings #The Lord of the Rings The Rings of Power review #The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power #The Rings of Power #The Rings of Power review

[viberevstudios]

Discussion Topics: GEEK BROS approved Video Games, Movie and Tv Series! Marvel reportedly sounds some interesting names, Beverly Hills Cop gets a sequel on Netflix, The Rings of Power series reaction, ViBE Finally watched The Witcher Season 2 reaction, She-Hulk series debut reaction & House of Dragon series debut reaction. All this and more on this week’s episode of the Keepin’ Up With The GEEK BROS podcast! TUNE IN on your favorite podcasting app or listen here - https://webegeekspc.com/keepin-up-with-the-geek-bros-podcast-the-160th/

#video games #tv series #Movieouts #beverly hills cop #geek bros #house of dragon #House of Dragon reaction #House of Dragon review #marvel #movies #netflix #she-hulk #she-hulk reaction #she-hulk review #the rings of power #the rings of power review #The Rings of Power series reaction #The Witcher Season 2 reaction #The Witcher Season 2 review

[isildur-apologist]

You don’t hate Amazon you hate the Silmarillion: a genuine review of Rings of Power

It’s no secret that overall I liked RoP. I watched it with my roommate who gets very hyped about stuff like that and it made for a really exciting viewing experience, instead of the more bitter perspective I might have taken if I watched it alone. But, I also know there are some real faults with the show, I never thought it was perfect and know it’s not on par with the the LOTR movies and I never expected it to be. But, the fault for that is not on Amazon.

(I want to note that I am not defending Amazon. I hate Amazon. Jeff Bezos can catch this guillotine. I am, however, defending the creative team behind the show, which is how I will refer to them from here on out, I only called it Amazon to grab your attention. )

Here’s my point though, almost every (valid) critique I see of this show isn’t a problem with decisions the creative team made, it’s an inherent problem in any adaptation of the Silmarillion (and associated works but I’m just going to refer to the Silmarillion for brevity’s sake).

The Silmarillion, as full and detailed as it is, is a shit story. The events of the second age do not fit neatly into a clean story structure the way LOTR does because it’s not supposed to. The Silmarillion isn’t a story, it’s a history, and history is never narratively satisfying. Tolkien (Jirt, not talking about Christopher here) didn’t publish the Silmarillion in his lifetime, he only even published LOTR and the hobbit, everything else attributed to him was published after his death. He had no intent of making the other works anything other than a comprehensive history of the world he made for documentation’s sake, never with intent to publish. He didn’t even compile all the writings, Christopher did.

Because if this, the Silmarillion is really hard to adapt for a number of reasons:

1. Elves aren’t good main characters.

Elves aren’t supposed to be relatable characters, they’re aloof and static and inherently non-relatable (There are exceptions but they’re usually not regular elves. Elrond is half elven, Legolas is very young). Humans and hobbits are the relatable characters through which we view the world, because they can have human flaws and conflicts, which makes for a very human story. To make elves the main characters you need to make them interesting characters, and elves aren’t supposed to have human flaws, and so you either stay faithful and they don’t feel relatably human, or you change their to be more human and it feels disingenuous to what we know elves to be like. It’s a lose lose.

2. Middle earth is not supposed to be pretty.

A huge part of LOTR is realizing every place they visit is either the ruins of a past, much larger civilization, or a city that is a fraction of what it used to be (Gondor in lotr is NOTHING compared to what it was in the early 3rd age, or Arnor and definitely not Númenor, Rivendell is a pebble compared to Lindon and Eregion, we only ever see Khazad-dûm as a decrepit tomb instead of the most prosperous mine in all of middle earth is once was). This juxtaposition is integral to the main themes of lotr and is imperative to the story jirt was trying to tell. A story set in the 2nd age cannot have these ruins because IT IS THE RUINS. It cannot “feel like lotr” because it is what will make lotr lotr.

3. Characters (individuals) are of little importance in the Silmarillion.

As important as Elendil and Isildur (and even Anárion) are to the plot of literally the entire 3rd age, we know little about their own narratives. They are names for the people that did these important actions and that’s it. Again, the Silmarillion is a history, it’s not going to say what Elendil and Isildur’s relationship was like in excruciating detail or what Isildur wanted to do with his life before sailing to middle-earth and becoming a king. You have to write these characters a good story if you’re adapting the Silmarillion and sometimes there isn’t space to write a compelling journey in the space Tolkien left. Because they don’t have a character, any character you give them will seem “out of character” to many people.

Basically my point is that before you go and say “well this is weird or I didn’t like this choice” think about what the creative team had to create to make an interesting show out of a story not designed to be told. Sometimes they didn’t make the perfect decision, but if you were tasked with adapting something unadaptable do you think you would do it perfectly?

#rings of power #the rings of power #rings of power review #lotr #tolkien #silmarillion #galadriel #elrond #gil galad #celebrimbor #arondir #numenor #elendilf #oops I meant #elendil #isildur #durin iv #lord of the rings #lotr rop

[itariilles]

The Elves From Episodes 1 & 2 Of The Rings of Power

On the 30th I was lucky enough to attend the world premiere of The Rings of Power. This means that I've had some time to sit down and process some of my thoughts regarding how certain thematic elements were addressed in the show, from the adaptation of textual themes, to the altering of themes to better fit the narrative the show is attempting to portray.

Specifically, how the elven characters were portrayed. The breakdown of my thoughts have been included below the text break with commentary and context from various texts. I've limited myself to the published Silmarillion, LOTR and The Hobbit, and Unfinished Tales as I don't have the capacity at the moment to delve into additional contexts from Histories of Middle-earth.

Disclaimer: this is my opinion, and my opinion only. While I am trying my best to be fair in my critique, one has to remember that this is a show produced and streamed on Amazon with a 1 billion dollar budget —  the highest of any TV production in history. I am also basing my critique on the first two episodes only, meaning that there is much more to come, but I still believe that there are themes worth talking about that were established in the first two episodes that will likely reoccur over the duration of Season 1 if not the whole show.

@silmarillionwritersguild makes an excellent statement on the ethics behind consuming Rings of Power, and the labour and human rights abuses by Amazon.

Galadriel's Motivations

"Finrod was with Turgon, his friend; but Galadriel, the only woman of the Noldor to stand that day tall and valiant among the contending princes, was eager to be gone. No oaths she swore, but the words of Fëanor concerning Middle-earth had kindled in her heart, for she yearned to see the wide unguarded lands and to rule there a realm at her own will." — Of The Flight of The Noldor, The Silmarillion

The prologue briefly depicts a two minute summary of the Darkening of Valinor, Flight of the Noldor, and War of Wrath. We are shown Galadriel presiding over Finrod's corpse which bears scratch marks and a brand of the eye of Sauron which can be assumed to be after his infamous duel with Sauron during their duel in Tol-in-Gaurhoth.

While it is extremely likely that Galadriel will bear personal animosity towards Sauron for the murder of her brother, it does feel odd to me that the choice was made to establish the avenging of her brother as her primary motive in remaining in Middle-earth.

Christopher Tolkien's note in Unfinished Tales on the passage above is interesting in that:

"Most notable however in the passage just cited is the explicit statement that Galadriel refused the pardon of the Valar at the end of the First Age." — History of Galadriel and Celeborn, Unfinished Tales

This seems to fall in line with her established motivations in text with her desire to rule over a realm herself, as up until this point she has only aligned herself with rulers of other realms (Thingol and Melian in Doriath, Círdan in the Falas, etc.)

In the context of Rings of Power, Galadriel is portrayed as being "rewarded" a return to Aman by Gil-Galad as an honour which she too refuses for the sake of continuing her altered show motivation of avenging Finrod and hunting Sauron.

"She did indeed wish to depart from Valinor and to go into the wide world of Middle-earth for the exercise of her talents... and she felt confined in the tutelage of Aman. This desire of Galadriel's was, it seems, known to Manwë, and he had not forbidden her; but nor had she been given formal leave to depart... Galadriel, despairing now of Valinor and horrified by the violence and cruelty of Fëanor, set sail into darkness without waiting for Manwë's leave, which would undoubtedly been withheld in that hour, however legitimate her desire in itself." — History of Galadriel and Celeborn, Unfinished Tales

The issue with this change of primary motivation is that it makes no sense with regards to her imperialist incentive in crossing over to Middle-earth which is something that is core to her character.

"Galadriel laughed with a sudden clear laugh. 'Wise the Lady Galadriel may be,' she said, 'yet here she has met her match in courtesy. Gently are you revenged for my testing of your heart at our first meeting. You begin to see with a keen eye. I do not deny that my heart has greatly desired to ask what you offer[.']... She stood before Frodo seeming now tall beyond measurement, and beautiful beyond enduring, terrible and worshipful. Then she let her hand fall, and the light faded, and suddenly she laughed again, and lo! she was shrunken: a slender elf-woman clad in simple white, whose gentle voice was soft and sad. 'I pass the test,' she said. 'I will diminish, and go into the West, and remain Galadriel.'" — The Mirror of Galadriel, The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring

The completion of her character arc is when she rejects the one ring when it is offered to her, and with it she relinquishes her desire to rule. It is only then she willingly makes the journey back to Aman as she rejects her ambition and rule, and when that happens Lothlórien begins to fade, and with it the last of Noldorin imperialism in Middle-earth.

I must reiterate that while I take no issue with the idea that pursuing Sauron as a means of avenging Finrod's death is a motivator for Galadriel, it should not be her primary motive as has been portrayed so far. It is unclear whether or not at this early stage in the show if she has come into contact with the elves of Lórien, but this is something to keep in mind when she interacts with Amdir and Amroth later on if they do appear in this adaptation.

It is also absolutely crucial to acknowledge the complexities and nuances of Galadriel's imperialist narrative, and the settler colonialism of it all. I could go on for literally an entire essay's worth of points, but I'm saving that for a paper later on.

"In the Second Age their king, Oropher... had withdrawn northward... he resented the intrusions of Celeborn and Galadriel into Lórien." — Appendix B: The Sindarin Princes of the Silvan Elves, History of Galadriel and Celeborn, Unfinished Tales

While the text does seem to portray her imperialist ambitions either positively or neutrally, there are also characters who are shown to be critical of Noldorin imperialism.

"'You are of the house of Eöl, Maeglin, my son.' he said, 'and not of the Golodhrim. All this land is the land of the Teleri, and I will not deal nor have my son deal with the slayers of my kin, the invaders and usurpers of our homes.[']"

"'I acknowledge not your law,' [Eöl] said. 'No right have you or any of your kin in this land to seize realms or to set bounds, either here or there. This is the land of the Teleri, to which you bring war and all unquiet, dealing ever proudly and unjustly... Your father commands you. Leave the house of his enemies and the slayers of his kin, or be accursed!'"

— Of Maeglin, The Silmarillion

@skyeventide has an excellent thread on Twitter analysing Tolkien's specific choice of Eöl as the narrator for his critical commentary on the Noldorin settlement of Beleriand and in-text bias favouring narratives of settler colonialism.

Additional links and sources:

Galadriel and Ayesha by William H. Stoddard

Fantasy Racism Against the Elves

The first time we are introduced to the fantasy racism element of the show is when a man from Tirharad launches a tirade against Arondir venting his frustrations over the elven presence in their lands, calling him "knife-ear" which is a slur taken straight out of Dragon Age. It feels cheap and delivers less commentary and insight into the power dynamics the show attempts to suggest with the elven garrison guarding Tirharad on orders from Gil-Galad.

When approaching racism as a concept, one must remember the dynamics of power and disenfranchisement, in which the group(s) that wield power exert and abuse their power over another group for gain and profit in one form or another.

Textually, there is an element of cultural hierarchy and supremacy judged by a Quendi group's proximity to the West with Calaquendi (most notably Noldorin in a Middle-earth context) hegemony on the top of that pyramid, closely followed by the Sindar. While this deserves its own essay, I think the fact that Arondir is a Silvan plays into the uncomfortable "lowly Silvan elf" narrative that was introduced in adaptation in Peter Jackson's Desolation of Smaug (2013). Any review that claims fantasy racism is a "new" element to Tolkien adaptation in Rings of Power is inaccurate in this regard.

This is also made all the more uncomfortable by the fact that Arondir is played by Ismael Cruz Córdova who is Black and Puerto Rican, and is so far the only elf to be portrayed by a non-white actor. This, coupled by the fact that he is also a Silvan OC highlights a bunch of in-universe, and productional issues with regards to the way in which racism and inclusion are handled.

“[Wood-elves] differed from the High Elves of the West, and they were more dangerous and less wise. For most of them… were descended from the ancient tribes that never went to Faerie in the West. There the Light-elves and the Deep-elves, and the Sea-elves went and lived for ages, and are fairer and wiser and more learned, and invented their magic and their cunning craft in the making and of beautiful and marvellous things, before some came back into the Wide World… Still elves they were and remain, and that is Good People.” 

— Flies and Spiders, The Hobbit

While there are definitely more nuanced ways to handle the element of inter-Quendi cultural dynamics, hierarchies, and conflicts, I don't think that establishing it using one-dimensional cheap commentary from a throwaway Tirharad man is the best way to go about it.

There are implications of Eldar holding power over men in the First Age, with men being portrayed as vassals in a feudalistic system under the Noldorin princes. In the Second Age there is less of this implication with the establishment of Númenor as the new mannish cultural centre, but it would have been better handled in the Tirharad context if there were points made about power dynamics with the Tirharad men treated as second-class citizens of their own lands or vassals of Eldar power and hegemony over their lands for the sake of their interests.

A line said by a Silvan soldier reasoning their station over the men of Tirharad as "descendants of those who served Morgoth" is uncomfortable as it plays into the established trope of South/Eastern men being inherently evil which links into Orientalist ideas of the East being percieved as fundamentally Other. This is an established trope in Tolkien which some of my links from my race in Tolkien masterpost linked below regarding the portrayal of Easterlings by Tolkien and in adaptation explain in more detail.

"The Silvan Elves had invented no forms of writing, and those who learned this art from the Sindar wrote in Sindarin as well as they could. By the end of the Third Age the Silvan tongues had probably ceased to be spoken in the two regions that had importance at the time of the War of the Ring: Lórien and the realm of Thranduil in northern Mirkwood."

— Appendix A: The Silvan Elves and Their Speech, History of Galadriel and Celeborn, Unfinished Tales

There is also a soft imperialism and cultural assimilation aspect to Sindarin settler colonialism in the Second Age, and while we have yet to meet the major Sindarin players of the Second Age (namely Oropher, Amdir, and Amroth), it may yet hold implications for Arondir down the line.

It feels rather strange that Gil-Galad is implied to hold dominion over Silvan elves, as it feels reductive of inter-Quendi dynamics from textual material. Unless Arondir and the other Silvans garrisoned at Tirharad are Silvan elves of Ered Luin or of the forests that fall within Lindon, there is no reason they should answer Gil-Galad's orders, much less recognise Gil-Galad's authority over them as a people group.

It is also strange that Gil-Galad appears to hold the more imperialistic narrative, rather than Galadriel who is explictly depicted as having imperialistic motives in Middle-earth. I question how this aspect of his character will be handled in the show, but I'm not holding my breath given how fantasy racism is often handled poorly and with little nuance in Tolkien fandom, adaptation, and fantasy as a genre.

The second instance in which we are shown the theme of fantasy racism is when Galadriel is rescued out of the water by human castaways. Halbrand reveals her ear, and the woman on board who had previously showed her kindness in offering water, turns on her and shrieks at the elf.

We do not know which people group(s) the castaways belong to, but Halbrand claims to be of the South.

The undertones of fantasy racism falls onto Galadriel's shoulder, who once again in adaptation is played by a white woman. I have written a thread on Twitter criticising fan responses to Morfyyd Clark's instagram posts, and how the Rings of Power fandom has ascribed to the actress the role of a white saviour in which it feels as if the conversation of racism is again being centred on whiteness.

Additional links and sources:

Please check out my Race in Tolkien masterpost for more links on the topic. I've last updated it 02/09/2022.

The Neoclassical Aesthetic Given to the Noldor and its Unfortunate Implications

Elves in their Roman mid-first century legionnaire-esque armour designs battle amongst the chaos against legions of orcs, and a mound of helmets as a symbol and testiment to the mighty dead. Galadriel adds a galea to the mound in sorrow and grief.

The scene shifts to Lindon in an unspecified time during the Second Age. A male elf crowned in golden laurels plays the lyre, and the female servants clad in their sleeveless Doric chitons linger in the background of shots.

As I mention above, the proscription of a neoclassical aesthetic to the Noldor exacerbates existing textual favourtism and cultural superiority, made all the more uncomfortable with recent discourses regarding the whiteness of the elves and the knowledge that real life facist and white supremacist groups have a habit of co-opting Classical Greek and Roman imagery. One need only look to Benito Mussolini and Identity Evropa as examples.

It feels less coincidental when considering the Classical Greek and Roman imagery and white actors the show has deliberately chosen for the Noldor.

This is a complicated and nuanced subject, with the popularisation of Ancient Greece and Rome as inherently white societies being a recent invention popularised in the 18th century by scholars such as Johann Joachim Winckelmann.

I brace myself and wince for the inevitable far-right white supremacist co-option of the neoclassical Noldor from the Rings of Power. It feels as if all my arguments against elves being inherently "white" are all for nothing, as in the past I have come face-to-face with white supremacists who have used the Peter Jackson film portrayals of Galadriel and Arwen as the pinnacle of white feminity to further their incentive to keep the elves in adaptation as white as possible.

Additional links and sources:

The whiteness of the Rings by Sean Redmond

Whitewashing Antiquity by Imara Ikhumen

Why the alt-right loves ancient Rome And Greece, too. by Sean Illing

#rings of power #the rings of power #lotr on prime #racism in tolkien #tolkien meta #tolkien adaptation #finrod #galadriel #arondir #gil galad #rings of power critical #not really a review per se but just some opinions and analysis

[the-celluloid-correspondent]

The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power

So the first two episodes of Amazon billion dollar gamble, The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power have finally been released and it is a bit of a disaster. So before I get into the bad let me talk about the positives, because that is going to be really quick. This series is visually quite beautiful. The cinematography is really well done and you are able to see where the majority of the budget went to. Furthermore, Bear McCreary's score is also pretty good and has somewhat of the feel that Shore's had. Lastly, surprisingly good performances came from Robert Aramayo as the young Elrond and Owain Arthur as Prince Durin. Sadly, that is the only thing that is positive so far.

The first two episodes of Rings of Power are a massive mess. The show is incredibly focused on introducing numerous plot points and where our characters will be, the story and the plot is non-existent. We are now 25% of the way through this series and I have no idea what it is going to be about. I know what it should be about, but Tolkiens Legendarium is nowhere to be found. That can also be stated by how thin nearly all of the characters are, with the exception of Elrond and Prince Durin. The majority of the canon characters don't invoke their canon counterparts, and the non-canon characters feel like cheap rip-offs of canon characters. The writing is also a mixed bag. Some of it does invoke Tolkien's language, while the rest is either cringy or a bad copy of the legendary writing in Peter Jacksons' trilogies. What is more frustrating is that this series so far has no identity. I wanted this series to have its own unique aesthetic, and to have a different feel from previous adaptations. Instead, it's trying incredibly hard to emulate the work that Jackson and company did all those years ago, but it feels like a cheap copy only there to ride the wave of previous successors. Overall, this is not a good start to this series and it looks to be only Tolkien in name.

#film #cinema #movies #movie #filmmaking #filmmaker #moviemaking #moviemaker #cinephile #cinematography #film critic #movie critic #movie review #film review #tv #television #tv shows #amazon prime video #rings of power #lotr #lord of the rings #jrr tolkien #tolkien #the lord of the rings #patrick mckay #john d payne #robert aramayo #owain arthur

[undercat-overdog]

I poked desultorily at a Rings of Power review and never got around to writing it out. But the showrunners talking about how they wrote a better story than Tolkien brought a black anger to my heart, so.

I don’t think the show is very good and the problem is them. A day ago I would have said that the Hobbit movies were worse than RoP and objectively that’s probably still true. But to my knowledge, PJ never said that Tolkien’s story was stupid. Payne and McKay did.

I didn’t come in as a hater; if anything I came in expecting to reluctantly like the show and my primary worry was that it would affect my interpretations of the world and characters. I was expecting bad Tolkien and good television; I was expecting to be entertained. (Well, I was entertained, thanks to my brilliant and funny cowatchers <3)

And I don’t think the show was terrible; I’d call it the bad side of mediocre. The actual audiovisual part was competent. Some things were done very well (very pretty!) and some things weren’t (the sound mixing). I feel something was off with the moment-to-moment editing but the lack of proper establishing shots that fit the dialogue in some scenes were the faults of others (e.g., Tar-Miriel saying the Numenoreans will sail with the tide as she and Elendil stand in the middle of a field with no water nearby; were they actually by a shore I’m sure the cinematographer would have gotten shots showing it, so it’s hardly their fault or the editor’s). It was ok-ish! All that was mostly good even, though not $465 million dollars good.(1)

But the script sucked, story and dialogue both. Spoilers below.

The pacing went from far too slow to incredibly rushed (the making of the Three in the final episode, smushed into maybe 20 minutes in one episode. We spent more time watching Galadriel get on and off boats). The lack of build-up and tension. The astonishing plot holes and inconsistencies. The strange worldbuilding that seems to assume that the viewer knows the lore except the show changes the lore. (Or doesn’t explain it - Elrond being half-elven comes up multiple times but it’s never actually explained what that means. Oh, and apparently Earendil was a mortal?) The mystery boxes and obvious twists and cliffhangers that aren’t. The usual fantasy problems of teleportation, food, travel, how the stars change as you go west to east rather than north to south, etc (super annoying, because that is not a problem Jirt shares.)

And my god, the dialogue. “Why does a boat float?” “I am Groot good.” “The sea is always right.” And those are the memorable lines; the first two are lines the show treats as profound. Listen to some of the pre-battle speeches that Bronwyn or Arondir give and compare them to Theoden or Aragorn in the Return of the King movie. Yes, PJ was cribbing or rearranging Tolkien’s dialogue and you can tell when he’s writing his own; he has  some awful clunkers. But he got a lot closer. RoP’s decent lines are taken from either Tolkien or the movies. (The show even takes one of Cate Blanchett’s lines from the movie Elizabeth, the one about a tempest inside her, and gives that, slightly modified, to Galadriel. Which is pretty unfair to Morfydd Clark, asking her to match that.)

Oh, and it was devoid of humor. And horniness.

I could go on (and on and on) but I want to talk about something in the final episode that both bothered me a lot and that I feel exemplifies some of the issues: Sauron tempting Galadriel by saying her “you would have a queen” monologue at her.

Quick background with spoilers: Halbrand is one of the main characters and the one who interacts with Galadriel the most; we find out in the last episode that Halbrand is Sauron. The two of them meet when she’s swimming across the Belegaer and he’s on a raft. After some episodes on Numenor, they go to Middle-earth, fight a battle, and somehow survive being engulfed by a pyroclastic flow when Mount Doom erupts. Halbrand is injured somehow (iirc we don’t see the injury, but Galadriel takes one look at him and declares he needs elvish medicine. After which he stands up, gets on a horse, and they go to an elvish realm, galloping for six days on the same horses with no saddlebags for food, no spare horses, Halbrand with sepsis and Galadriel in full armor. Ok, that digression is completely besides the point but I felt sorry for the poor horses!) In Eregion, Halbrand is cured, gives Celebrimbor the information needed to make magic items that will stop the Elves from fading (how the fading plot is done is very stupid imo), and Galadriel reads a paper that tells her that Halbrand isn’t who he says he is. She confronts him, learns he’s Sauron, and he proposes that she join him in ruling Middle-earth, a proposal complete with gaslighting and emotional manipulation. (Is that the plot of a silvergifting fic? I’ll get to that.)

Show!Galadriel is not the character seen in canon. The show swaps around character stories and traits (Elrond is the one with the Dwarvish connection; Celebrimbor seems only vaguely aware of their existence). It’s Galadriel, not Celebrimbor, who has a relationship with Sauron, bonds with him, and is tempted by him. She’s the character Sauron tutors (albeit in ‘don’t be a dick’ rather than deep lore); she’s the character taken in by him. Gone is her insight into people and her suspicion of Annatar and gone is Celebrimbor’s plot.

(Honestly, I’m not sure why Shreev Palpatine no really he looks like him Celebrimbor is in the story at all. The part where he wants to build a massive forge goes nowhere, his canon plot was taken from him, and it’s not even his idea to make the Three Rings! Nor does he make them by his own hand, since the scene where they’re made has a number of unnamed smiths in the background working on them. He’s also an idiot: Saubrand teaches the Master Smith about alloys. He could have been cut - have Gil-galad send Elrond directly to Moria, have Halbrand tell Galadriel about alloys, and have unnamed smiths make all the Three, not just two of them - and nothing would have changed.)

One of book Galadriel’s defining traits is ambition, the desire to have political power. In the Second Age, she is a political leader. There’s none of that in the show.  Honestly, the show’s version isn’t recognizable to me as Galadriel. But she is the show’s best characterized, err, character. We know as much about her as any other person and more than most, and we never once see her display any hint of political ambition. She’s also devoid of political skill and acumen and devoid of insight into other people, nor kind nor wise. Everything that characterizes Tolkien’s Galadriel...

I have a big problem with taking away Galadriel’s ambitions. Not just because it’s such a big part of who she is but because it’s rare that women are allowed to be ambitious. This is especially true since her motivation was changed to her wanting revenge upon Sauron for the murder of her brother (changing her focus from herself to a male relative).

(Incidentally, I think casting an actor who’s 5’3 to play her and visually framing her as noticeably shorter than all the men she interacts with doesn’t help at all. Elendil even says she reminds him of one of his children as he physically looks down on her.)

But the lack of ambition also causes a problem within the show’s story: when she finds out who Sauron is, Sauron proposes to her. (It is a proposal: he’s asking her to rule beside him as his queen. That’s a marriage alliance.) And he tempts her by offering political power, telling her: I would make you a queen, fair as the sea and the Sun, stronger than the foundations of the Earth.

(Even if that monologue weren’t famous and even if you have a better opinion of the (bland, banal) dialogue than I do, it would be obvious that the writers didn’t write that. It’s a far cry from Finrod saying that “rocks can't float because they look down into the darkness.” Let me introduce you to specific gravity, Finrod. Or pumice.)

It’s not just dialogue that’s poorly lifted but it’s not appropriate to the characters as they are in the show. Saubrand knows Galadriel well by this point in the season and there’s no been previous indication that she wants to rule, or even that she’s interested in political power. So he tempts her with a dialogue about ruling? 

The “you would have a queen” monologue in Fellowship is the pivotal moment in Galadriel’s arc. Giving her speech to Sauron removes her later agency and moral ambiguity. She’s not tempted by her own desire to rule as a queen ruling in her own right in place of Sauron; she’s tempted by him to be a king’s wife at the side of Sauron. It’s no longer a want that comes from inside herself but something that a man told her.

(Men tell show!Galadriel a lot of things. They’re right much of the time, too - Halbrand/Sauron is entirely correct when he tells her that insulting a ruler and then demanding something of them isn’t the best way to get what you want. She is not a tactful character.)

And… I debated whether or not to include this, because I absolutely do not think Celebrimbor/Sauron is canon any more than Fingon/Maedhros is canon (2). But there is a queer reading of Annatar and Celebrimbor’s relationship. It’s not the only reading, but it’s a very valid one, “seduction” and all. And I’m not bothered in the slightest that the show didn’t do Annatar/Celebrimbor, though I am very bothered by portraying Celebrimbor as an idiot.

Except... the show did do silvergifting: I have read this fic. (Lol ok I’ve read better fics; I don’t think it was particularly well executed here.) Sauron’s in a relationship with an elf in which he teaches them things and tempts them. His actor might say otherwise, but it’s all but explicitly romantic; there’s even a trailer centered on the two of them that’s edited like a romcom. He essentially proposes to that elf. Except now the elf is Galadriel and now it’s m/f rather than m/m. It was a choice and it’s done in a way that diminishes Galadriel’s character.

There’s more things I could say about Sauron and Galadriel in the final episode and essays to be written on other choices made; this is just one particular example (I also have many geology and geography rants lol). But I’ve already written more than enough, and if I’m going to write about RoP, I’d rather it be an anonymous porn parody.

(1) Rings of Power had a bigger budget and spent more money per minute of screentime than the LotR movies did: $465 million for RoP, $281 million for LotR, the equivalent of $457 million in 2021 dollars, numbers from wiki. Is it fair to compare the LotR movies with RoP? Yes. RoP itself references the movies again and again and again. And comparing budgets is incredibly fair and RoP has a blockbuster movie budget (or three blockbuster movie budgets, rather).

(2) Though silvergifting isn’t any less canon. More, even, what’s a green jewel next to seduction and making rings together and Sauron talking about Celebrimbor’s booty. (Of Dwarves and Men, bless.) Tbh after having seen the show, I’m glad my OTP wasn’t on-screen and barely interacted, though I am a bit sad that there won’t be any silvergifting vid set to Blank Space.

#rings of power review #rop #anti-rop #sorry this is stronger than i originally planned on being #but i'm really bothered by the various interviews and statements #don't come out and say that the story you're adapting is stupid; don't adapt something you don't like or respect

[pryotra]

Me now that Amazon's massive attempt at Tolkien is finally out for the public and people are tearing it apart:

#rings of power #of course I'm not going to WATCH it #just enjoy the fallout #rest in pieces #amazon lord of the rings #i just want to watch the reviews #and people ripping this thing to shreds

[miredinmiddleearth]

Rings of Power, Ep. 8 Review - A rant fit for a finale

 Ready for my final rant? I shan’t hold back. The show sure didn’t! Here are my thoughts on episode eight:

1. Starting with a bang. Gandalf is Sauron red herring. Believed it for exactly...no seconds.

2. Slow-mo hits a little different when Halbrand’s limp body is slow-mo bouncing on a horse.

3. Pretty sure the three elven rings were made last? And positive they were made in SECRET. AFTER they suspected Sauron was messing with the rings already. And I KNOW the three elven rings were untouched by Sauron. But oh look. Sauron’s going around touching stuff. Literally picks up the mithril that will make the rings.

4. See, Halbrand’s line about giving “a gift” is okay subtlety! One of Sauron’s names meant “giver of gifts.” Plant the seeds slowly. Show him working his way gradually into becoming friends with the elves, then maybe trusted to play around in the forge, then helping make rings for the dwarves, then suspected, then -

No? We’re going to skip all that and immediately suspect him? Awesome.

5. And of COURSE Nancy Galadriel Drew has to be the one to crack the case. She has no reason to suspect Halbrand! He says one thing that Adar says, and he’s immediately a villain to her. Girl, remind me never to be your ally. You are more fickle than a squirrel trying to cross the road.

6. Oh good lord. We have time to shoe-horn Elendil’s daughter into all this?

7. Aaaaaaaaaaand now Sauron’s helping with the actual forging of the three elven rings. So much for unsullied by Sauron’s hand!

8. Elrond talking about how quickly they’re making the rings: “Three weeks for a labor that could take three centuries.” 

I don’t know if they’re making fun of us with this, but yes, all this SHOULD take three centuries. Three weeks? We’re seriously going to do the forging of the rings in PART of ONE EPISODE?!

9. HUZZAH! HARFOOT DEATH!

10. The three witchy ladies talk about Gandalf by saying “He is the other. The Istar.” THE other? As if it’s just Sauron v. Gandalf. And *gasp* This guy is Gandalf?! Who would have guessed?!

11. Because Gandalf spoke to that moth in the movies, he’s mothman now?

12. They’re really going to end the season with the lie that Isildur is dead?

13. The Sauron reveal. Okay, buckle up.

So Galadriel gets suspicious and SUPER mad at Halbrand when she discovers he’s not king of the Southlands. Problem is, SHE is the one who insisted that that was his identity! SHE was the one who told all of the Numenoreans that he was king! SHE was the one who poked and prodded him to take up that title! This reveal has no weight for many reasons, one of them being it is a lie GALADRIEL CREATED AND PERPETUATED. 

Then we get the reveal, and man oh man. One vague accusation, and they have Sauron go completely mask-off and smile like an over-the-top villain. All he’s missing is a mustache. Where is the master manipulator?! He could EASILY twist her suspicions. 

Then Sauron proceeds to point out fact after fact after fact. Ultimately, Galadriel is the reason Sauron is a villain again. Kill me. Gone is Galadriel the hero. In her place is now a woman with a guilty conscience trying to clean up the massive mess she made.

THEN, the temptation scene. Some cool visuals of the reflections in the water, but why does Galadriel’s temptation have to be tied to her romantic attractions. She can’t be tempted by power for its own sake? She has to be lured in by a sexy face and a soft lilt to the voice? Which, fine...if we didn’t already know her as someone who consistently throughout Tolkien is drawn to the idea of power without the need for all that. 

I’m so over these showrunners who constantly bragged about their strong female characters. You have single-handedly stripped this goddess of a character to be a sniveling, obnoxious, self-righteous piece of cardboard who has every single step of her journey defined by the men that surround her. Now, as the final insult, you make her quest to save Middle-Earth tied to her sexuality and a made-up guilt rooted in creating the very monster that will nearly destroy everything in the world. I. HATE. THIS. SHOW!!!!!

BUT WAIT, THERE’S MORE. Sauron’s final threat is to remind Galadriel that he lives because of her. She replies, “And you will die because of me.” This is her promise. SHE will be responsible for Sauron’s defeat. Not only have you diminished Galadriel, you are now diminishing the ring-bearers who actually bring about Sauron’s demise. THEY’RE LESSENING THE HEROISM OF FRODO AND SAM!!!!!! You come for Sam and Frodo, YOU DIE!!!!!!!!!!!

Deep breaths. Deep breaths. Let’s get back to the stupid elven rings thing.

14. Elrond says the rings must be untouched by hands other than elves’. Look at that. Even the show insists the three rings shouldn’t be touched by Sauron. The show that just showed him touching them five minutes ago. 

15. The Harfoot goodbye takes FOREVER. 

16. “Always follow your nose.” Good. Freaking. Grief. See, in another show, I might have been delighted with this line. I might have smiled with glee and cried, “Gandalf!” But no. That which is beautiful is soured by the foul fingers of these greedy, talentless showrunners.

17. I’m so confused by the picking and choosing. So in some ways they try to match the Jackson aesthetic (Balrog, basic elven and hobbit design, Sauron armor, etc.). Then they go and totally ignore it in others, specifically the design of the three rings. 

18. I still can’t believe they showed their hand. Their two big mysteries: Sauron and Gandalf, and they revealed both in a single episode and in the first season. AND they forged the three rings.

19. P.S. I hate the credits song.

20. Random things of note: Lol, no balrog. No Theo and fam, thank goodness. No Isildur? 

I hate it all, but at last, it. is. DONE.

#rings of power #anti rings of power #lord of the rings #lotr #tolkien #jrr tolkien #the one ring #the ring speaks #rings of power review #rant review #rings of power rant

[wildwren]

Bronwyn + Elendil + Hands of Man by The Stray Birds

#okay but please go listen to this whole song and tell me its not sooo numenor coded #the rings of power #rings of power #trop #rop #lotr: the rings of power #lotr on prime #ringsofpowersource #elendil #bronwyn #nazanin boniadi #lloyd owen #my edits #my gifs #okay but the elendil and bronwyn parallels are rEAL #i had peer review on this #its not just my unhinge

[sotwk]

Whag do you think about Lord of The Rings: The rings of power?

Did you watched it? If not, why? If yes, why?

Oooh! A bit of a controversial question, but one that I am happy to finally be asked, so I can give my thoughts and opinions about it. Thank you for the Ask, @estethell!!

My Thoughts on "The Rings of Power"

When I heard a new Tolkien/Middle-earth series was coming out, I was super excited about it. I watched the first two episodes the very evening it came out on Amazon. My excitement was so contagious, I even got my husband (who wouldn't know an elf from a dwarf) to sit down and watch it with me for like 5 whole minutes.

Now, the truth: my initial excitement about the series quickly dropped about four episodes in. The storyline and characterizations just weren't really what I expected (actually, I'm not even sure what my expectations were, except that they were high), and so my interest dwindled in my disappointment.

However, a few weeks later, after all the episodes had been released, I sat back down to finish the series, and my impressions of it improved overall.

I wouldn't say I love Rings of Power, but there are enough things about it that I liked and enjoyed to be able to engage with others who do love it. It's kind of like the folks who didn't like The Hobbit movies, but are able to gush over Lee Pace's Thranduil anyway.

Stuff in Rings of Power that I liked:

Liked BEST: Young Elrond, and the way he was portrayed as such a wise and kind lord by Robert Aramayo (so handsomely elf-y!).

A Close Second: Durin IV and Disa. What a wonderful couple that brought just the right amount of comic relief.

The chance to see Khazad-dum in its glory.

Poppy Proudfellow. We all need a friend like her.

The music/soundtrack, ESPECIALLY the song "This Wandering Day" Poppy sang--I literally cried when she sang it.

Arondir. He was a such sweetheart and I hope he comes back next season.

Adar. The take on orcs being corrupted elves is one I embrace.

Elendil and Isildur. Excellent acting on Lloyd Owen's part, and I liked Maxim Baldry's earnestness.

Halbrand. I'll admit, I wasn't too impressed or happy with the revelation of him as Sauron, but the character alone as it stands was actually very good, and very well portrayed by Charlie Vickers.

Stuff I didn't like so much (so probably don't ask me about them 'cause I prefer not to dwell on critiques):

Short-haired elves. Just not a fan, purely a preference thing.

Galadriel being short. This is petty and minor, but for some reason, even though Morfydd Clark did a fine job, it bugged me to see Galadriel looking UP at mortal men.

Celebrimbor cast as an older man. So sorry, Charles Edwards is a lovely actor, but this was far from what I had in mind for the character.

Eärien. Normally I will give OCs a chance, but I did not like this one. Felt really unnecessary, and the screen time should have been given to Anárion, wherever he might be.

The poor armor design and nerfing of the Numenorean army.

Portrayal of the Gwaith-i-Mírdain. Again, I expected much more.

The origin story of mithril. Such a strange choice.

WAY, WAAAAAAY too much CGI. Why is everything so shiny??

Overall low/poor production value. But honestly, there is never gonna be another production like Peter Jackson's trilogy. It's sad, but filmmakers just don't do that anymore. I hope someone proves me wrong.

I remain conflicted about the following:

The Haladriel ship. I'm a Celeborn fan (I have some lovely HCs about him and his ties to Thranduil), and I ship Galadriel with him. However, the way Halbrand looks at Galadriel just does something to me, so even though I'm not sold, my mind is open to it as an AU. I blame Charlie Vickers being such a charming rogue.

The Elf-Human love story. Arondir and Bronwynn were sweet and convincing, and I did swoon for them, but... this is just so overdone already. Couldn't we have just featured other kinds of relationships?

The revised origin of Gandalf. I kind of get it, and I appreciate the relationship between him and the Hobbit progenitors... but it's kind of also weird.

Halbrand as Sauron. I plan on withholding judgement until I see where they are going with this in Season 2.

Overall Rating and Conclusion:

62% fresh SotWK Tomato Rating

I choose to just be HAPPY and GRATEFUL that we have another cinematic adaptation to the Tolkien fandom, however flawed it might be.

Definitely looking forward to Season 2 and I will definitely watch it.

Positive vibes ONLY, please! I am happy to publicly post and gush with others about the good points of RoP. But I will not have public bashing of things other fans might love and enjoy. I am very against crapping on the things others love, even if I might hate them myself.

If anyone wants to discuss the things I dislike about RoP, we can do it via DM or private Asks.

Everyone has a right to enjoy whatever they want in this show; let's just all respect each others' differences in tastes and opinions! <3

#sotwk answers #rings of power #tolkien #middle earth #rop #rings of power review

[iconsumethesoulsofthedamned]

just finished rings of power (im a long time lotr fan ive read all the books hobbit and simarillian included and seen all the movies so here are my opinions)

excuse me while I cry about Gandalf and Nori mirroring Gandalf and Frodo and Gandalf and Bilbo. And also the courage the hobbits have even though they are the smallest of beings.

Elrond and Durin being gay wasn't on my bucket list but im so here for it they should kiss.

Arondir is my favorite I just want him to be happy let him be with that lady and parent that kid literally just let him live, bro has been put through it.

that one warg was terrifying wtf was that.

Cinematography goes extremely hard.

Isildurs vibes are nasty ofc he kept the ring to himself.

Galadriel is outstanding love her to bits what an amazing character well done.

#rings of power #lord of the rings #lotr rop #isildur #galadriel #arondir #elrond x durin #nori #gandalf #lotr #lotr rop review