The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power

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Correct me if I'm wrong, since I still haven't watched the RoP series, but if these guys are going to add black and asain hobbits in the show, why not also show female dwarves? This is especially considering the fact that trans-gender people are becoming more known these days.

...Or are bearded people inherently seen as masculin?

There are female dwarves. Durin's son has a wife.

She's not in any of Tolkien's writings though.

However Dís, the sister of Thorin Oakenshield and the mother of Fili and Kili is mentioned.

The final episode of season one aired tonight. I've only watched recaps of the series. As a LOTR geek for nearly 50 years, I'll say it's okay I suppose. It could've been worse. It definitely at least has some worthwhile moments. I'm wondering if ROP merch will become available. I'd be surprised if Amazon doesn't start making it available. Galadriel's dagger would be a big seller. I might even get one if it becomes available. It would make a wicked letter opener.

The final episode kicked ass....

Bruce Charlton's review of the first season:

https://charltonteaching.blogspot.com/2 ... iewed.html

I have lowered, and lowered, my expectations of this series. It is, of course, nothing to do with Tolkien - nothing in terms of plot, spirit, lore, and - especially not - moral and spiritual structure.

So, I lowered my expectations down to the point of simply looking-for something that attracts and maintains my attention; I looked for simple light entertainment.

I therefore lowered 'the bar' to the level of such mainstream soap-fantasy tripe as Shadowhunters; but Rings of Power did not reach this bar - except at too-rare intervals.


I found (as I said in the above review) one of the most astonishingly incompetent shows I have ever encountered. There are stunning deficiencies in terms of overall conception, casting, acting, script, plot, direction and editing - the RoP breaks all the standard rules for how to construct a story and to get people involved.

One gets the impression that this was because the makers have no clue about how to make a TV program (or movie), not even at the basic film school level; that they genuinely don't understand that (by their choice to make the show so complex, and with so many 'principal' characters) they have repeatedly painted themselves into a corner; from where it has become, not just difficult, but actually impossible for them even to provide low-level, mainstream entertainment.

They seem to have no idea what works and what does not work; because they give the greatest attention to what does not work (e.g. Galadriel and the Harfoots).


An example of the endemic ineptitude was that the picture advertising the final episode was the Balrog of Moria, which was depicted for a few seconds at the end of a previous episode.

The Balrog did not appear at all in the final episode. Indeed, the episode did not even return to the Moria plot thread in which the Balrog occurred.

It's not as if they lacked time to include it, because the final episode was full of padding - such as a full five minutes of farewell emoting and weeping from the Harfoots; and several utterly disconnected and dramatically futile scraps from the Numenor thread.

Sheer incompetence.

Oh, what a boorish snob this reviewer is??

First of all since when was Peter Jackson's portrayal of LOTR and Hobbit completely loyal to Tolkien? It's all a matter of gradient isn't it?

Secondly why compare this production with a low budget TV series like Shadow Hunters?? This is an unfair comparison since Shadow hunters is clearly pitched as a young teen drama in the mould of Teenage werewolf and Twighlight. The reviewer does not know what he is talking about. ROW is clearly more sophisticated than that that teenage trash.

If you remove your "uber fan" bias (like with Star wars fans) and objectively watch the series then actually it's quite fun, cheerful and enjoyable. I had some reservations with Lenny Henry as the leader of the Harfoots but his character grew on me and I was quite sad at his character's demise (apologies for the spoiler).

“I’m good” XD

Worst line besides in The Room I’ve seen

I'll say I enjoyed it. Hardly the greatest thing I've ever seen on TV, but I was entertained. For reference I've never read Tolkien and except for the original Peter Jackson trilogy I really have no knowledge of the whole universe at all.

That would be most people. Same with Star Wars, Dune, Hunger Games or Harry Potter
Trying to put any TV series or movie on a pedestal is doomed when it was based (however loosely) on a popular book series.

I heard there was a lot of controversy with this new series but as someone who loved Peter Jackson's versions of "Lord of the Rings," and enjoyed the books, I think that the writers should have followed the books and paintings more closely.

For example, Gollum/Smeagol was described as a black lizard in The Hobbit which Weta and Andy Serkis so beautifully
worked very hard on. Believe me, Serkis should have received his nominations at best supporting actor for his work as well.

The only entertaining thing about this show is the fact that the writers, actors, and Amazon itself are attacking the fans and look how well it's working.

Here's a moral.

NEVER attack the fans. It doesn't matter if the fans are wrong or right. Your work is NOTHING without them.

I got ten minutes into the third episode when I decided enough was enough. This awful series was totally trashing my magical memories of reading LOTR.

I’d like some sort of mind-wipe (Men in Black style) to remove this experience from my memory.

Yes I agree. Both Serkis's Gollum and Ian Mcellan's Gandalf are iconic. But the actors who play Galadriel and Sauron are beginning to grow on me in the new ROP series.

Both Amazon and Disney are accused of not following canon literature. Whether it be LOTR or Star Wars. I think writers take this as a challenge to be creative and not just stick slavishly to an old script. After all, this is a fictional universe, not scripture from the bible.

Many (not all) of the fans haven't exactly been exemplary with their toxic attacks against the actors in these franchises.

I think this is valid. If you did invest in the original books as a child then it's understandable to feel let down when either Amazon, Netflix or Disney promised so much but didn't deliver what was expected. Especially when they are tied to happy childhood memories.

I think many of the new writers (whether it be Star wars or LOTR) miss how much canonical lore is so closely tied to the characters and to the landscape. But writers are also beholden to commercial imperatives which are linked to the funding of these enterprises and also the need to broaden the horizons of the fictional universe.

But creative license shouldn't just mean "lets throw these characters against a wall and see what sticks with the fans".