I have been a big fan of RoP since it started. Here's my evaluation of each part of the show - let me know what you think!

1. Set design : 10/10. They've brought to life places that only existed in my imagination. Numenor, Khazad-dum, the frozen north, the clouds parting to show Valinor - just unreal.

2. Acting : 8/10. Some very solid performances, especially Sauron and Celembrimbor. But those actors are given the best writing to work with, the actors are all talented but not always given great grist. Which leads me to -

3. Writing : 7/10. The writing is inconsistent. It's fine as it goes, it's not bad. But compare it to something like The Penguin or Better Call Saul and it's not at the same level. That said, fantasy writing is hard, and this show is INCREDIBLY AMBITIOUS (you try fitting 1000 years of lore into 16 episodes). But I'm not grading on a curve so 7/10 it is.

The weakest bits this season were the Elrond plot lines and the Gandalf plotlines. The order of the final battle made little sense. The dwarves had some amazing high points. But lord Sauron + Celebrimbor were amazing constantly and made up for the rest.

4. Soundtrack : 10/10. Great use of leitmotifs, very evocative, gets the job done. One of the best soundtracks of modern shows. Each one captures the people, place or scene so well.

5. Costuming: 10/10. Just beautiful and original work.

6. Lore: 8/10. Yes, they had to make trade-offs to do an adaptation. But they were really good at sticking to the spirit and themes of Tolkien's work, in many ways better than the movies did. Faith, redemption, immortality, greed, nature. I've been a lore nerd since I was a kid and it hits the right notes, just in a different order.

I took a point off since Gandalf saying names are inborn and not chosen was silly given how many names tolkien gave everything. Yes this is petty.

Overall, I think a fair grade is 8/10 and I am eagerly awaiting the next three seasons. This show brings a mythos to life I've always loved, it's a privilege to see so much care put into making this world come to life.

"What he wants is not to kill her, but her to finally give him the credit he feels he deserves" - Patrick Mckay

Credit for what, exactly? Don't get me wrong, but why would Sauron want to show off to someone who is constantly trying to kill him?

If his goal was never to kill Galadriel, then why would he hit her with the crown only to then take the rings and emerge victorious? Yes, at that moment he won because he got the nine.

I love Sauron/Halbrand, but the series has made him look pathetic in situations that don't correspond to his real intentions, and that, to me, is a sign that the scriptwriters may be a little lost.

https://preview.redd.it/sej9x0fzb5yd1.jpg?width=809&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=c6b755038730a729545cda717d8f2d6c4f8a65ec

I can hear the exchange in my head;

Nori:"Grand-elf, ooh that Dark Wizard was a mean one! He must be unhappy all the time. He is a sorrowful man."

Grand-elf:"Ah, yes. We will call him Sorrow-man."

It really writes itself.

This show blew me away. I'm a huge huge huge Tolkien nerd and loved it so much! While they changed some stuff from the lore man I still loved it so freaking much and all the little things for fans was just so nice. Also I like the Peter Jackson films but I have read all of Tolkien's work and I mean all of it. At least that I could find

So last episode ended with the spectacular implosion of her King of the Southlands project. She wakes up in the rubble, calling for Halbrand, finds Theo, they reach the Numenorean camp, she goes to apologize to Miriel, and only then she learns that Halbrand is alive, because Bronwyn explicitly asks her about him. Before that, she just intended to leave for Lindon, without confirming her assumption that he was dead, without burying his body, nothing.

I think that her behavior in that episode says a lot about the darkness in her and makes us understand Gil-galad’s decision to ship her off to Valinor. Halbrand was central to her plan, she convinced him to follow her to the Southlands and embrace his birthright. They fought side by side, they formed a strong bond. And then she just assumes he’s dead and moves on.

To be perfectly clear, I don’t think she’s heartless, I think that she compartmentalizes his supposed death precisely because it would be the worst thing about her failure. It would be a loss of someone who trusted her and whom she cared about. So it’s easier not to face the reality of it.

Still, to a bystander, it’s worrying. How many times has she done this before? How many elves have followed her in her hunt for Sauron? How many died? How many times has she just moved on to the next project (of course amassing emotional baggage by the way)? It’s completely understandable that the soldiers decided to stop following her orders in Forodwaith. Nobody wants to be a corpse left behind in a wild goose chase.

In the previous episode, Bronwyn and Miriel talk about how the best leaders don’t want to be leaders, but do it anyway, because somebody has to. And then, the leader that very much wants to be one is introduced: Halbrand. Sauron’s not a very good leader, if you follow him, you’ll end up dead or miserable. All that matters is his quest for power. But another bad leader is Galadriel herself: she wants to be one and enjoys the glory, but doesn’t handle failure well and doesn’t learn from it. It’s not unlike Sauron, and I’m sure he finds this very alluring.

I think all of this it’s important when considering their dynamic in the show. They’re both important to each other, but they’re also both VERY messed-up individuals.

background picture is not mine

Ok like he was def into celebrimbor and Galadriel. I’m like, babe you emotionally unavailable that’s why you keep choosing ppl who hate you. I think he just wanted to be loved you know. Poor little Sauron who was a little kitten just want to curl up on someone lap and get head scratches for being a menace. ( yall im just talking about the show, and nothing to do with the books or movie)

Arondir has been merged to the Lindon story. Isildur is going back to Numenor so that means he will be a part of their story. Sauron and all evil followers are on their own with connection to the Lindon elves. Khazad Dum have their own as well and the Southlanders with Theo and Estrid. Harfoots+Stoors and Bombadil and Gandalf. That's seven stories. I think it's too much for 8 episodes. So my suggestion is they merge two stories into others. The proto-hobbits should hook up with the elves. The Southlanders should take a back seat in S3. Five focused stories will make the flow of the season much better. Thoughts?

I’m currently almost finished watching The Terror that has Ar-Pharazôn, Celebrimbor and Dark Wizard actors. But made me think with this show having so many RoP actors are there any others worth checking out

Unsettling.

Was it done with CGI or just his acting? Because if it’s the latter.. Charlie Vickers deserves real praise for evoking in me a fear of something worse than just evil

From an interview with the BBC in 2003:

"I think it's an amazing spectacle," [Simon Tolkien] told BBC Radio 4's Today programme. "It's amazing to watch - some of the architectur [sic] and the landscapes are quite staggering.

"But I actually thought it was was the weaker of the three.

"The problem is really that there are so many things going on in so many places that unlike The Fellowship Of The Ring, where everyone was together on the journey, you get very confused as to who is doing what."

He found it frustrating that just as he was becoming absorbed by what was happening with a particular group - the hobbits, say - the action would cut to somewhere else.

"You can't get into each individual episode," he said.

"I think there's wonderful things in it but I would have liked to have cut much more of the battle scene and special effects in this one, and had more development of the characters."

Clearly 20 years later one's tastes can change, and also the role of series consultant means input has to be very selective (one couldn't kibosh all the battle scenes, for isntance!)

I think in time I've come to agree roughly with the overall opinion here. I saw the film six times in the cinema in 2003/04, but my ideal version of the film would have less spectacle (trunk-surfing and army of the dead stuff...), and more focus on the slow psychological degredation of Frodo while everyone else is frantically trying to—unbeknownst to him—give him the space to do what he needs to do.

That Simon Tolkien wanted more of Adar as a character in season 2 (and my guess is, the chances that gives to question the whole orc problem) is, I think, a reflection of his views above.

Found this on subreddit. Deleted Haladriel scene?

https://preview.redd.it/j3rwy0kdfrxd1.jpg?width=1125&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=e3ab5da61e0eb89a542f6625927119b374abdb38

https://www.reddit.com/r/CharlieVickers/comments/107uj8m/i_need_this_deleted_haladriel_scene_to_be/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web3x&utm_name=web3xcss&utm_term=1&utm_content=share_button

Enjoy!

Going out on a limb here and that they show actually has internally consistent logic and future planning, it's possible that Celeborn could potentially find his way onto the show via restoration from Nenya/the Elven rings. We saw that wearing Nenya for a short time briefly restored Adar, it's possible that Celeborn is currently living as a mutilated orc husk and that the Elven rings might be used to restore him permanently/as long as the power of the rings last. It would certainly create more Galadriel drama, which the show runners love.

Kind of a wild/unlikely theory but wanted to share.