Are we even hate watching season 2? I'm not feeling very motivated about it. It was fun to do back in S1 when Amazon was in full marketing blitz mode and there was all that artificial hype from shills and astroturfers and looney internet people, but I don't think they'll be able to sustain any of that energy this time around.
Are we even hate watching season 2? I'm not feeling very motivated about it. It was fun to do back in S1 when Amazon was in full marketing blitz mode and there was all that artificial hype from shills and astroturfers and looney internet people, but I don't think they'll be able to sustain any of that energy this time around.
Not giving Amazon the viewing numbers for utter shite like that, especially shite that is a mockery of a masterpiece of the English language and mythos.
This season is the Dwarven rings. It seems like they debate making the rings for men but it doesn’t look like that or the One happen in these episodes.
This is true but the third is just in the first episode in a flashback at the beginning.
Bullshit
This season is the Dwarven rings. It seems like they debate making the rings for men but it doesn’t look like that or the One happen in these episodes.
I remembered this being awful but watched S02E01 anyway (or is It a double episode?) and quite enjoyed it, the vistas and music are on point, main negative is it feels like I've watched this all before, they really draw some plot points out despite it being painfully obvious what's going to happen, even watching the preview for the rest of the season had zero surprises or intrigue, the show runners really have no imagination.
Well, okay, it's complicated to talk about this series because it attracts epidermal reactions. Sometimes overly so, dare I say. On the other hand, yes, there are some almost anti-Tolkien things, but this is clearly modern fiction. You have to take them as such, otherwise you go mad.
Visually, it's a splendor. Honestly, that was already the case in the first season (with the exception of a few unfortunate cases of armor), but this is even better. The money just oozes off the screen. The sets are sumptuous, the Grey Havens are drop-dead gorgeous, several shots are splendid, and so on.
The writing has improved (not everywhere, though, alas) and the pacing (though again, not perfect) is a little better.
A few points
- The intro sequence is both astonishing and bizarre... In season 1, Sauron was already armed, but here he's being killed outright by orcs. Okay, there are a few references in Tolkien's writings to the orcs not giving a damn about him (not all of them), but killing him is a pretty big deal.
- Galadriel chasing after Elrond's purse made me explode with laughter. A woman desperate for a man's dough, I can relate to that, okay, it was the rings.
- The Rhûn arc is boring as hell. Nothing good, everything bad.
- The Annatar revelation is... well done, honestly, nothing to complain about. It's well-constructed to get to that point, hats off to the actor.
- Cirdan is also perfect, brilliant and has an incredible aura on screen.
- Nori and her lesbian friend are horribly boring.
- The actor who plays Isildur is severely lacking in charisma, which is a pity because they're trying to make something of him, even if, once again, it's a filler.
- The dwarves' arc is passable, without more for the moment. Nothing extremely bad or great either.
- And, ah yes, baby orcs... for fuck's sake. They take the idea of softening the evil aspect too far... because that's how they're supposed to be!
Well, the thing is, this series is above all visual. It doesn't really tell much of anything. So yes, it's better in many ways, but for the moment it's in the same vein as the previous season, better in many ways, but not enough to make it exceptional. I don't think there will be many more viewers than before. We'll see if Amazon can afford it over 5 seasons...
Well, okay, it's complicated to talk about this series because it attracts epidermal reactions. Sometimes overly so, dare I say. On the other hand, yes, there are some almost anti-Tolkien things, but this is clearly modern fiction. You have to take them as such, otherwise you go mad.
Visually, it's a splendor. Honestly, that was already the case in the first season (with the exception of a few unfortunate cases of armor), but this is even better. The money just oozes off the screen. The sets are sumptuous, the Grey Havens are drop-dead gorgeous, several shots are splendid, and so on.
The writing has improved (not everywhere, though, alas) and the pacing (though again, not perfect) is a little better.
A few points
- The intro sequence is both astonishing and bizarre... In season 1, Sauron was already armed, but here he's being killed outright by orcs. Okay, there are a few references in Tolkien's writings to the orcs not giving a damn about him (not all of them), but killing him is a pretty big deal.
- Galadriel chasing after Elrond's purse made me explode with laughter. A woman desperate for a man's dough, I can relate to that, okay, it was the rings.
- The Rhûn arc is boring as hell. Nothing good, everything bad.
- The Annatar revelation is... well done, honestly, nothing to complain about. It's well-constructed to get to that point, hats off to the actor.
- Cirdan is also perfect, brilliant and has an incredible aura on screen.
- Nori and her lesbian friend are horribly boring.
- The actor who plays Isildur is severely lacking in charisma, which is a pity because they're trying to make something of him, even if, once again, it's a filler.
- The dwarves' arc is passable, without more for the moment. Nothing extremely bad or great either.
- And, ah yes, baby orcs... for fuck's sake. They take the idea of softening the evil aspect too far... because that's how they're supposed to be!
Well, the thing is, this series is above all visual. It doesn't really tell much of anything. So yes, it's better in many ways, but for the moment it's in the same vein as the previous season, better in many ways, but not enough to make it exceptional. I don't think there will be many more viewers than before. We'll see if Amazon can afford it over 5 seasons...
Just realised I never finished the last episode of season 1. All that budget and still cant hire decent writers. Yeah yeah I know hotD s2 was not firing on all cylinders but the moment I put it on to the end credits of an episode, my phone stays far away from my eyes and hands.
It's crazy how much (artificial IMO) hype the first season got and how now absolutely nobody gives a shit about this season 2. It's going to be a total disaster in terms of audience. I don't know if they have to do season 3+ or whatever but they are not going to be happy about spending money on it.
That's how they breed in the lore but the Shagrat and Gorbag section shows they're not capable of strong attachment. Those two have some of the best dialogue and characterization in the books but shits hits the fan when they find Frodo.
I see, definitely agree but let’s see how they actually enact it.
Orcs are definitely evil but my reading of the stuff was that there was no family bonds but that the young were “raised” still. Isn’t that what made the Uruk hai so foreign to even the orcs?
Orcs are implied to have families but you can't really portray them in a sympathetic way because they're supposed to be innately evil, which is probably why Tolkien shied away from featuring them in the books.
Portraying them in this "daddy orc has to go off to war and leave mommy and baby orc" way is very stupid... which is quite on-brand for Rings of Power. Wouldn't be surprised if they're going for the "orcs are actually a misunderstood race" angle.
I don't care what anyone says, there's really nothing in this that's as offensive as shit they did in The Hobbit movies. When Gandalf goes to the High Fels and checks out Agmar's grave and they show a flashback of them burying him (WHICH NEVER HAPPENED BECAUSE THE MOTHERFUCKER NEVER DIED, HE BECAME A WRAITH AND THERE WAS NO BODY TO BURY) I want to throw my TV out the window. Then you have the WB execs going to Peter Jackson and saying "Hey, we really liked the Aragorn/Arwen romance in the LOTR movies; put one of those in the Hobbit", so they invented Tauriel and had her fall in love with a Dwarf ("Why does it hurt?", "Because it's real"...BARF).
I LOVE Martin Freeman as Bilbo, and I love how they really made Thorin the awesome king he was supposed to be. But there's so much in those movies that absolutely infuriates me. I don't think I've watched the Five Armies EE since it was first released.
I don't care what anyone says, there's really nothing in this that's as offensive as shit they did in The Hobbit movies. When Gandalf goes to the High Fels and checks out Agmar's grave and they show a flashback of them burying him (WHICH NEVER HAPPENED BECAUSE THE MOTHERFUCKER NEVER DIED, HE BECAME A WRAITH AND THERE WAS NO BODY TO BURY) I want to throw my TV out the window. Then you have the WB execs going to Peter Jackson and saying "Hey, we really liked the Aragorn/Arwen romance in the LOTR movies; put one of those in the Hobbit", so they invented Tauriel and had her fall in love with a Dwarf ("Why does it hurt?", "Because it's real"...BARF).
I LOVE Martin Freeman as Bilbo, and I love how they really made Thorin the awesome king he was supposed to be. But there's so much in those movies that absolutely infuriates me. I don't think I've watched the Five Armies EE since it was first released.
Yeah, totally on the same page with you here. Peter and the team really missed the mark, despite having such a talented and well-realised cast—they were let down by some awful writing. I haven’t been able to bring myself to rewatch the movies either, aside from the occasional YouTube clip. The White Council vs. Nazgûl battle had so much potential, but it ended up being pretty disappointing. The dialogue was cringe-worthy, and the choreography just didn’t land. The only part of that scene that really stood out for me was Galadriel’s barefoot entrance—it had a certain grace that the rest of the scene lacked.
Awesome channel by a super nice guy but I thought he had a bit of a soft touch when it came to S1. I guess he didn't want to upset the Amazon apple cart which I totally understand. So I'm curious to see again whether he's going to take off the kid gloves this time or remain firmly diplomatic.
Yeah, totally on the same page with you here. Peter and the team really missed the mark, despite having such a talented and well-realised cast—they were let down by some awful writing. I haven’t been able to bring myself to rewatch the movies either, aside from the occasional YouTube clip. The White Council vs. Nazgûl battle had so much potential, but it ended up being pretty disappointing. The dialogue was cringe-worthy, and the choreography just didn’t land. The only part of that scene that really stood out for me was Galadriel’s barefoot entrance—it had a certain grace that the rest of the scene lacked.
Thanks for reminding me about the fan-edits. I'll give one of them a shot one day. I read on Reddit that the "The Battle of the Five Edit" is probably the one to watch but I'm open to suggestions.
I don't care what anyone says, there's really nothing in this that's as offensive as shit they did in The Hobbit movies. When Gandalf goes to the High Fels and checks out Agmar's grave and they show a flashback of them burying him (WHICH NEVER HAPPENED BECAUSE THE MOTHERFUCKER NEVER DIED, HE BECAME A WRAITH AND THERE WAS NO BODY TO BURY) I want to throw my TV out the window. Then you have the WB execs going to Peter Jackson and saying "Hey, we really liked the Aragorn/Arwen romance in the LOTR movies; put one of those in the Hobbit", so they invented Tauriel and had her fall in love with a Dwarf ("Why does it hurt?", "Because it's real"...BARF).
I LOVE Martin Freeman as Bilbo, and I love how they really made Thorin the awesome king he was supposed to be. But there's so much in those movies that absolutely infuriates me. I don't think I've watched the Five Armies EE since it was first released.
Yeah I didn’t really like The Hobbit. I don’t think it was terrible as in I think it’s an alright action adventure fantasy trilogy and if you don’t care how faithful it is to the book or you have never read it. And I agree Martin Freeman was excellent as Bilbo.
It should never have been made into three movies. Two maybe would have been fine but the hobbit is such a short book they could have just made one 3 hour movie and released a <4 hour EE.
The Hobbit movies bothered me more because it’s based on a book so they just added a bunch of rubbish filler to get 3 movies worth. Rings of Power has more freedom to do its own thing with new characters and such. That and getting to see more of Sauron makes ROP way more interesting and exciting to me than the Hobbit movies. It’s not a perfect show but I’m enjoying it a lot so far.
Thanks for reminding me about the fan-edits. I'll give one of them a shot one day. I read on Reddit that the "The Battle of the Five Edit" is probably the one to watch but I'm open to suggestions.
I'm not pretending to be a LOTR scholar, but if we think through it logically: orcs are technically corrupted elves, and elves procreate the same way that humans do. Therefore, orc families must exist in some capacity...
This video is a bit dry but it cites Tolkien and does a better job explaining than I could:
I'm not pretending to be a LOTR scholar, but if we think through it logically: orcs are technically corrupted elves, and elves procreate the same way that humans do. Therefore, orc families must exist in some capacity...
This video is a bit dry but it cites Tolkien and does a better job explaining than I could:
You need a to assume that they corrupted and created female elves too. Still see no evidence of female orcs or goblins nor the need of them since it is ultimately the power and nature of Melkor/Morgoth to corrupt and twist matter and nature… so corrupted elves grown from the earth so to speak too).
Yes, baby orcs are just a bad idea. No matter how you try to interpret the missing holes in Tolkien's lore, corrupted creatures like that having a family life just doesn't fit.
I'm reminded of GRR Martin, who, beyond his work on GoT, has been talking nonsense about Lotr. He was wondering about the tax system in Aragorn's kingdom, or about baby orcs: should we kill them? I mean, it's completely stupid to ask these kinds of questions in Tolkien's universe, a world where the author deliberately chose to avoid putting temples or religions because of his Catholic faith.
That said, it's 5 seconds in the 3 hours, and I hope they don't push this idea too far.
You need a to assume that they corrupted and created female elves too. Still see no evidence of female orcs or goblins nor the need of them since it is ultimately the power and nature of Melkor/Morgoth to corrupt and twist matter and nature… so corrupted elves grown from the earth so to speak too).