#rings of power series

[katurdayss]

It’s been a full week since the finale of Rings of Power and every time I've sat down to try to write my S2 review I see a new take and start rethinking. I eventually circle back to the same ideas tho, so fuck it, here are my thoughts in no particular order.

Season 2 was a lot better than Season 1. This is true for most shows, as S1 is usually a 'lets find our footing' scenario, but also these seasons are SHORT. Which leads me to...

This show would benefit GREATLY from seasons longer than 8 episodes. The way they've structured it means they juggle a LOT of storylines at once. Sometimes this is great, other times it feels like storylines suffer because they're just planting seeds for the future and it doesn't really have an impact on the Main Storyline for the season. For me, Arondir was one of these. His started with this great potential for how an immortal would understand the concept of grieving the forever loss of a loved one. Unfortunately that was really watered down into tracking down Adar to kill him, full stop. Which brings us to...

What.the.fuck.is.the.timeline? How much time has passed? S1 and S2 feel like they happened in a month. I don’t care if the timeline is compressed, I still want to feel time passing other than noticing Annatar's/Sauron’s hair magically grew like 4 inches in one episode.

Speaking of Annatar, I feel like what the show did really well was creating original dialogue/moments (even with canon things) instead of what I would call fan/studio service. The parts that I have loved the most were the more original moments: like anything involving the dwarves, the development of Miriel and Elendil, the Ents, and Cirdan. The parts that I felt were weakest were when the show relied too heavily or used dialogue from the Jackson movies. I didn't want the Stranger to be Gandalf, not because it isn't canon, but because Peter Jackson already did that. I don't need multiple call backs to his movies (I love those movies too). I'm here for NEW STUFF. Expand my Tolkien universe, show me shit I've never seen before that will make my head explode. That weird nameless thing Arondir killed? Imagine the Cardi B 'What is that' meme and that was me. Fucking great. I don't want to be constantly reminded of the Jackson version of shit, I'm here to see Prime's version.

That brings me to the idea of consistency. I have yet to figure out what the methodology the showrunners/writers have when choosing to follow or not follow canon. Example, they included that little orc family but didn't make Elrond an elf lord? WHY? His lineage is like royal af. Even when not following canon, I feel like the writing can be really inconsistent. The Numenor storyline is a great example of this. Sometimes it's awesome, but the dialogue for the Kings Men characters are often really cringy, and not because what they're saying is fascist. Galadriel is another one for me. Do I need to like her, no, but her character is also used as a studio catch all for every woman character archetype possible. She's single-minded and driven, she's soft and caring, she's thoughtful and wise, every dude apparently is in love with her and it swings WILDLY from episode to episode. You need space to build in these changes to make them believable, which see points 2 & 3.

And finally, on the subject of romance/shipping, for the love of god a story can be great without all the fan service romantic tension editing and teasing. People can exist without romantic partners. People exist without romance. I literally do it every day. I'm not saying you need to make characters asxeual or anything either. Just you know, let people be people. Did The Kiss bother me? No, but you also could of written Elrond slipping Galadriel a lock pick numerous other ways. Is Sauron obsessed with Galadriel? Sure, but maybe its because her hair shines with the light of the west or something and not this tired trope of 'bE mY qUeeN'.

There are other things I would personally change, but I thoroughly enjoyed this season. It made me do a whole lot of reckoning with the ideas of canon representation vs just good storytelling for the audience, which is a really good thing. But it also showed me the folly in treating every media property the same, because Tolkien is not Marvel is not GOT is not The Witcher. You can't be like, 8 episodes works for X so it should work for this too, or x worked for GOT so we'll use that here as well. Maybe it's the Graphic Designer in me but just because Pepsi and Coca Cola are brand soda's doesn't mean the design language and marketing is the same, ya know?

[queen-daya]

Happy 34th Birthday Morfydd Clark (March 17, 1989)

[velinxi]

Lord of the Rings fanart! I watched for the first time recently and loved it

[EDIT: Thanks for the love on this! Prints of this are also available on my shop for those interested!]

[pokeberry5]

i feel like i never draw tim smiling but bb robin tim smiles a lot! (in between angst and tragedy)

brought to you by my continued attempts at figuring out tim’s early robin hair

[fukutomichi]

Benjamin Walker as High King Gil-galad S2.E5 ∙ Halls of Stone

[maranull]

anyway, Elden Ring is about love and hope

Marika burns everything she has build out of sorrow

Ranni banishes the Outer Gods and also fucks off the Lands, giving agency back to the normal beings of the Lands

Fortissax endlessly fights Death for his friend/lover

Melina burns herself and Erdtree in hopes of a better world in the hands of the Tarnished

Blaidd fights against the very reason he was created out of love for his sister

Ranni and Rykard always keep an eye on their mother, protecting her

Radahn evokes so much love from his troops that they organise a whole festival to give him a honorable death even in his madness

Radahn learns an entire new school of magic in order to still ride his favourite horse

Boc's love for his mother, his mother's love for him

How all but two endings are build on the hope that this new era (whatever it might be) will be good

Miquella attempting to create an whole new world-tree to host the forsaken and the damned

Miquella turning on the faith he was raised and even believed in to an extent, when it was unable to cure his sister's curse

The Cleanrot's loyalty to Malenia and their endurance of the Rot, only to stay in her service

Malenia marching through the entire continent in search of her brother

Finlay traveling all the way back on her own, carrying the incapacitated demigod on her back

Tanith's love for Rya

Dialos' entire questline

Edgar being driven mad after his daughter dies

Vyke embracing, to a point, the Frenzied Flame in order to save his finger maiden

or you know, that's just how I see it

[nikinikori]

in flames, they return to darkness

Rings of Power 1×01: A Shadow of the Past | 2×07: Doomed to Die

[yashley]

exu calamity rewatch: nydas v. loquatius (lou v. sam) (bonus travis:)

[calirph]

𝐌𝐎𝐑𝐅𝐘𝐃𝐃 𝐂𝐋𝐀𝐑𝐊 as 𝐋𝐀𝐃𝐘 𝐆𝐀𝐋𝐀𝐃𝐑𝐈𝐄𝐋

blue and gold dress. the rings of power 2.01.

[galadrielslight]

Whether they're in close proximity to each other or not, their relationship is going to be a theme throughout the show.

Galadriel & Sauron ✧˖*°࿐✦ their connection ─ a gifset series 2/[...] S02E01: Elven Kings Under the Sky

[gebo4482]

The Rings of Power by Roberto F. Castro

[katurdayss]

Got my popcorn, Ep 4 Rings of Power live-blogging is a go. Same deal, check under the cut to avoid spoilers.

Okay. Episode 4 done.

So, it was okay? Look by profession, I’m critical of creative choices made ( graphic designer here) so I understand I might be a little picky but this show still feels very inconsistent in writing and style. The elves? Full on miss for me. Same with Numenor and the Southlanders and the Harfoots. Absolutely LOVED the ents here. Love me the dwarves too.

In all honesty it’s taken a concerted effort for me to divorce ROP from any Tolkien preconceived ideas and that’s because LOTR means something special to me. For fucks sake, I spent a LOT of time making my handwriting look like elvish and when a classmate in high school said that it did out of the blue, I fucking preened okay.

Which I tell you so that when I say I’m enjoying this season more than last, you know that it means something. So when I also say I feel like the writers sometimes make me feel like they think I’m stupid, you know that means something too.

IDK, I think I’m gonna have to do a longer reflection post at the end of this season. It feels like the spoke wheels just keep missing falling into place on this show. Like it’s so close.

I swear to god if there is another recap I’m gonna stab someone.

LOOKS LIKE I’M STABBING SOMEONE. Seriously tho, why.

Oo there is a cold front I see. Gonna need a jacket there Galadriel.

THANK FUCK there is a traveling montage. It no longer feels like they’re travel by portkey. Liked that little map transition to the bridge.

Yes just go around screaming names at the top of your lungs after someone tried to capture you. Brilliant.

What in the Wingardium Leviosa shit is this? Magical wind that blows paper? Sure. Magical wind that gently floats a paper along? No.

Wouldn’t the tree swallowing him crush bone? Just saying.

Great side eye Nori

Where the hell did the cart go? It just apparate into the hobbit village?

Really hoping all this allusion to the stranger being Gandalf is just a red herring so the big blue wizard reveal feels shocking. Otherwise it’s a shit reveal if he is Gandalf.

TOM BOMBADILL

Man his house looks comfy

Baby lamb!

BLUE WIZARD BLUE WIZARD BLUE WIZARD gotta be a blue wizard! Two of them went East. Gandalf never did.

Also it’d be a nice parallel to Saruman and Gandalf instead of the lazy way of making the stranger Gandalf.

Oh well he dead. Where are the Winchester brothers when you need them?

Well this is suitably creepy af

How does Arondir not see that no one is there when Legolas could see that they were talking the Hobbits to Isengard? I mean yeah it’s night but it’s also like only 10ft away instead like leagues.

Ugh romance.

So….she just got water but no water came out of the jug when she through it at Arondir.

GOD DAMN IT WOMAN, INFECTION IS A REAL PROBLEM WITH BURNS. At least cover it with a clean cloth!

Dude princess bride vibes but with mud instead of sand.

WHAT THE FUCK IS THAT??! WHAT IS IT? Hell no!

Oh gross, so gross.

Oh shit bitch slap.

Leprosy. I’m telling you. It’s fucking Tolkien leprosy.

Yuck romance

Oooo elf and ent interaction. Fucking love ents. Yeah that’s a ent wife in pain. God the ents are so good!

What in the name of Castiel. Come on. She’s an elf with a ring not a Valar or god.

[calirphs]

𝐑𝐎𝐁𝐄𝐑𝐓 𝐀𝐑𝐀𝐌𝐀𝐘𝐎 𝐀𝐒 𝐋𝐎𝐑𝐃 𝐄𝐋𝐑𝐎𝐍𝐃 𝐏𝐄𝐑𝐄𝐍𝐃𝐇𝐄𝐋.

green and blue cape with golden like details. rings og power season one.

[arspoeticamaia]

the duality of man

[seedsofmordor]

Adar and Arondir || S02E07, Doomed to Die

[lady-phasma]

Love me later