Lord of the Rings: Rings of Power (2022)

[Greg]

Let the promotion train depart.

[Greg]

This was a bit of all right. The Queen and I powered through both Ep 01 and Ep 02 because they were very entertaining. There are some of our favorites like Galadriel and Elrond and a whole host of new characters. And yes the menacing presence of Sauron permeates the show.

In Ep01 Galadriel leads her warriors to the ends of the frozen north to make absolutely sure there is no evil left in the world. She meets a lot of resistance from her warriors who are tired of the chase. Meanwhile there are all sorts of signs bad things are arise in Middle Earth. Fields of poison. Destroyed villages. Signs of Orcs. Lots of little mysteries popping up that have to be investigated including a meteor which lands near a group of proto-hobbits that has a man in the middle of it.

Ep02 Too many things to spoil but lots of battles. Elves and Dwarves not getting along. And one section that felt almost like a horror movie. And the proto-hobbits looking for adventure like they do. I like it.

The only thing that I didn't like were the effects were kind of second tier especially the big landscape shots. But that's a minor quibble. Can't wait for next week.

I'm amused that HBO put the first episode of the new GoT series on YouTube for free to compete with RoP. Why compete? I have plenty of time in my life to enjoy both.

[Drunk Monk]

Man, I’m so behind on my vids. Spending too much time reporting on vids to actually watch any fresh ones…

[Greg]

Got to keep the lights on.

[Drunk Monk]

Tru dat

[The Queen]

I feel like I need to re-read the Appendices at the end of “The Return of the King.”

[Greg]

Ep03 Certainly there should be more episodes. But the series is keeping me interested. There are three main story lines going. Galadriel ends up on an island that has no love for elves and they wonder what to do with her. There are the proto-hobbits and their journey and the big fella. And there is the other elf Arondir who has found himself in a bit of a pickle with the Orcs. The story is engaging and I would like to see more than one episode at a time.

[Greg]

Ep04 Fun things happen. We get to hear more about the Dwarves and their project. There is more about the orcs and the elf. More bits about the town that's being threatened by the orcs. Galadriel is having trouble on the island of Naimor. No proto-hobbits in this one and I missed them.

The story is still moving along with plenty of story development. The sets still look like sets and the CGI backgrounds seem like BGs instead of vistas.

[thatguy]

I feel like I need to re-read the Appendices at the end of “The Return of the King.”

I heard or read somewhere that this prequel was based on unpublished writing by Tolkien about the 1st (Hobbit and LoTA are 3rd age). And that these unpublished writing are actually going to be published later this year. 

--tg

[Greg]

I heard or read somewhere that this prequel was based on unpublished writing by Tolkien about the 1st (Hobbit and LoTA are 3rd age). And that these unpublished writing are actually going to be published later this year. 

--tg

How could there possibly be anything left to publish at this point? Somebody get Christopher or Guy Gavriel Kay on the phone to explain this.

[thatguy]

I am wrong and right...the unpublished tales have already published. Here's the scoop: 
https://www.newsweek.com/which-j-r-r-tol...on-1739381

The Rings of Power is set thousands of years before the events of The Lord of the Rings, and it follows a number of characters across Middle-earth during its Second Age.


It is not set on any one book by Tolkien, but instead draws from a number of different works he wrote, some of which were published posthumously by his son Christopher.

Prime Video's fantasy juggernaut draws from the appendices of The Lord of the Rings, which sets out the events that led to the creation of the titular Rings of Power, and the re-emergence of Dark Lord Sauron.

As well as these appendices, which amongst other things includes a timeline of key events in the Second Age, the show also draws from The Unfinished Tales and The Silmarillion.

Published by Christopher Tolkien following his father's death, The Unfinished Tales is a collection of stories set in Middle-earth including tales of Númenor during the Second Age and what happened to lead to its fall.

The Silmarillion, meanwhile, predominantly focuses on the history of Middle-earth from its creation to the Third Age, but it does contain stories that are relevant to The Rings of Power in the book's concluding section.

In this section are tales of Sauron's re-emergence in Middle-earth, how he manipulated Celebrimbor to create the Rings of Power and secretly created the One Ring, and how this led to the War of the Last Alliance between elves and men led by High King Gil-Galad and Elendil.

For those looking to pick up just one book after watching The Rings of Power, well, the Tolkien estate has you covered, because a new book is set to be published on November 10, 2022 which collects all of Tolkien's writings from the Second Age of Middle-earth, titled The Fall of Númenor.

Edited by Brian Sibley and illustrated by Alan Lee, the book will use "The Tale of Years" from The Lord of the Rings appendices to create a complete history of The Second Age.

--tg

[Greg]

Because Tolkien needs the cash!

I'm not going to be surprised when they do find something new to publish.

[Drunk Monk]

E1 It felt overdone to me, the music, the cgi settings, the cheesy hackneyed dialog. Meh. I started to doze off. In my defense, it was long - almost a mini movie where not enough happens. 

Galadriel is a sword hottie and we’re glad of that, but the fight against the snow troll… srsly? Don’t like any of the harfoots. 

I’ll watch more because they spent so much money to make it, but I’m not feeling it yet.

[cranefly]

Okay, after DM's less than enthusiastic take, now I'll weigh in.  Last week I bailed halfway through the first episode.  It was feeling too one-note and more designed for a many-episode bit of merchandizing than a carefully crafted bit of world-building.  I just didn't want to be riding shotgun on a long-haul trucker.

I loved the movie trilogy Lord of the Rings, by the way, and accept the fact that I might have given up way too soon.  But it is what it is.

[Drunk Monk]

After the franchise split The Hobbit into three movies, overdone is the theme of LotR. 

I too loved the LotR trilogy, although it would've been better with a Led Zeppelin soundtrack. But then, I love the Bakshi and Rankin-Bass one-off takes on LotR. 

Maybe this needed more Enya...

I still might watch more. 

I was thinking about black elves and remembered there were dark elves that were evil called Drow. Was that a Tolkien thing or from D&D? I always thought that was racist. Then again, I always thought Samwise Gamgee was black. He is described as dark skinned, if memory serves.