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Cautiously optimistic after the first two episodes. There are some nitpicks but so far seems to be at least in the spirit of the thing (much like the movies). Also, drat beautiful. (and the soundtrack is amazing -- love Bear McCreary's work) Elrond and Galadriel will carry this series. Both incredible performances. Not really a fan of the Harfoots and random new characters they've created but understand why they're there. Theories: Stranger Can't be a good guy, the fireflies die! But Sauron seems like way out of character. And a Maia wouldn't travel by meteor, or be confused about who they are. Not sure what they're doing here. Not Gandalf or one of the Istari since they don't show up until the Third Age (and they better not change that). Nitpicks: ep1 They're doing weird things with chronology here -- that map should have had Beleriand, no? Not sure why they felt a need to change it since Numenor is raised directly as a consequence to provide a home for Men displaced by the sinking of Beleriand. Hopefully this is an inconsequential change but I'm wary of changes for change-sake (I felt the WoT series suffered a lot from this). Also they kind of ... skipped the Kinslaying? What? You can't change that. That's too big an event. ep2 Knife-ears? What is this, Dragon Age? Galadriel goes to Numenor? That was the Numenor theme from the soundtrack playing if I'm not mistaken. But Galadriel never went to Numenor. Honestly the entire Gil-galad sends Galadriel to Valinor (she's his great aunt and she was in Valinor and he wasn't, he would not "command her" like that argh this whole sequence) and she jumps off a ship and swims the entire length of the ocean back to off the coast of Numenor is kind of ... wtf? Just why. Stuff like this makes me worried about the series. Also Elrond and Durin just happened to be friends? What? And the made-up Rite was kind of ... dumb? But ok, I'll roll with it I guess. But again, unsettling. My school of book->film adaptation is "cut for length, but try to avoid making up new stuff unless absolutely necessary because of stuff you cut (e.g. combining characters)" -- it feels like they're much more leaning toward a "reinterpretation" of the underlying source material instead of a pure adaptation. (I'd argue the Jackson LoTR movies stuck pretty close to my PoV, whereas the Hobbit trilogy started making poo poo up and suffered for it). alcaras fucked around with this message at 07:14 on Sep 2, 2022 |
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Sep 2, 2022 06:47
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They've got some awkward chronology if we're starting with Tar-Miriel as Ruling Queen (Regent? is she married to Ar-Pharazon?) -- Sauron needs to have dominion in Middle Earth (the Elves aren't even sure he's _around_ so that's going to take some time) -- I assume that will take some time (a few seasons?) -- then Numenor captures him, etc.
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Sep 6, 2022 16:59
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episode 3 I'm feeling a bit better about the series? Still in the cautiously optimistic camp. Not a fan of the episode going live at midnight Eastern on Friday though, why not 9p ET Thursday like the premiere? (book and show spoilers freely intermingled) Numenor: Ok, some serious changes here -- Tar-Miriel is Queen Regent and her father (Tar-Palantir, presumably?) retired? Pharazôn is a councillor instead of her cousin. Miriel does not appear to be openly pro-Elf but maybe she is secretly so given the conversation with her father? Her "The Elf has come" line sounded weird to my ears though --- and why would Tar-Palantir fear the coming of an Elf? I don't recall Isildur having a sister, and sounds like Anárion is now his elder brother, not his younger brother? Elendil seemed cool. Numenor seemed believable (and beautiful) and I could buy into the chronology changes they've made, for now, though I worry about consistency/timing here in depicting the fall of Numenor. Seems like it's mostly fallen at this point, but I guess it still has a ways to go since Pharazôn is not yet Ar-Pharazôn and looked to be in his 40s or 50s -- so plenty of time for him to grow old and sail the west. Also the whole needing Sauron to establish a kingdom that the Numenor's come and destroy... so we've got a few seasons to go, at least. Halbrand as a long-lost Southron king does seem a bit strange/convenient. I guess Galadriel and he will go to the Southlands? Maybe run into Arondir and co. (or free whoever's left there). I guess the Stranger is a Blue Wizard, since Adar apparently is Sauron or a high servant of Sauron's and I did not get Saurony vibes at all from the Stranger this episode. Misdirection last week, I suppose.
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Sep 9, 2022 06:50
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Yeah, I think the series would have benefit from embracing the thousands of years and not trying to time-compress -- having elves be constant while men come and go would have been interesting to see. And showcasing the slow corruption and fall of Numenor would have been great as well. Do we know what they actually have rights to, though? I saw this quote: quote:As for what they have the rights to, Payne relayed, “We have the rights solely to The Fellowship of the Ring, The Two Towers, The Return of the King, the appendices, and The Hobbit. And that is it.” Why would you do a show about the Second Age without rights to the source material for most of the Second Age? This is somewhat baffling.
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Sep 12, 2022 21:20
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howe_sam posted:Isn't BoundingIntoComics one of those makes poo poo up ComicsGate adjacent websites?. I have no idea what ComicsGate even is and am afraid to ask. I just googled and it was a top hit :-/
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Sep 12, 2022 22:39
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ep4 review: it's coming along it's still very slow but trajectory is good i am giving them a lot of leeway since they're 3000 years of history into a much smaller amount of time and I guess Galadriel visiting Numenor (the entire arc is really dumb) is just an excuse to get Numenor to invade Middle Earth and fight Sauron. Still, there were better ways to have done it.
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Sep 18, 2022 02:45
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Data Graham posted:Remember the developmental versions of Saruman's speech trying to sway Gandalf? quote:"Against it, there is no hope. With it, there is such hope as we never had before. None can now doubt its victory, which is near at hand. We fought in vain—and foolishly. We knew much but not enough. We looked always at it from the outside and through a mist of old falsehood and hate; and we did not consider its high and ultimate purpose. We saw not the reasons, but only the things done, and some of those seemed evil; but they were done under necessity. There has been a conspiracy to hinder and frustrate knowledge, wisdom, and government." (Treason of Isengard 150) src: https://www.tor.com/2019/11/14/exploring-the-people-of-middle-earth-saruman-man-of-craft-and-fallen-wizard/ alcaras fucked around with this message at 16:03 on Sep 19, 2022 |
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Sep 19, 2022 15:53
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ep5 I’m losing faith. The writing is getting really bad. Elves need absorb light from mithril? Or they all fade away in a few months? ^— that entire story beat is … incredibly dumb. Like wtf? Costumes, set, music remain awesome, but the writing really is starting to drag 
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Sep 25, 2022 02:29
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Bugblatter posted:I kinda figure those are lies from Annatar. I’m suspicious about that meeting that Elrond specifically wasn’t invited to in episode 1. Were all the elven rings made of mithril or just Galadriel’s? Seems Annatar might have met with Gilgalad and used this story to pitch the rings to them. Which is why Elrond going to help Celebrimbor, who has a deadline for a forge, was an outcome of the secretive meeting. But (in the books) Gil-galad and Elrond rejected Annatar because though they didn’t realize he was Sauron, they didn’t get good vibes. So I don’t think Gil-galad is being secretly advised by an offscreen Annatar. IIRC only Nenya was made from mithril. I feel like the show has a lot of unnecessary mystery / plot gimmicks to try to keep viewers or something. Just tell a good story.
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Sep 25, 2022 03:28
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