Lord of the Rings Universe Thread

Cyclonepride

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I remember feeling emotionally exhausted near the end of Fellowship of the Ring and just wanting the movie to end already, watching it for the first time in the theater. We tend to forget such things after time, as things grow on us. Another example is that some people who bitterly hated the Star Wars prequels are suddenly fans of them after the sequel trilogy and claiming they never hated the prequels at all.

Time will tell if this series endures the test of time the way Peter Jackson's Lord of the Rings has and his Hobbit movies have not.

A lot of people have panned the show by saying "it isn't Tolkien". Well, it is the very first totally-original unadapted work taking place in Tolkien's world that we have ever had. Comparing it to an adapted work like Peter Jackson's trilogy is a bit unfair. It will feel "wrong" to some people no matter what. This is unavoidable. The Hobbit and the Lord of the Rings are the only novels Tolkien's world. Making something that takes places at another point in time in Tolkien's world means taking liberties with some things because there is nothing concrete to base it on. (The Silmarillion is more like an encyclopedic collection of very short stories than a novel, and the Amazon producers didn't have the rights to it anyway)

I did like these shows much more than I was expecting to. I thought the second episode was much better than the first, and my interested increased a lot when Celebrimbor was introduced much earlier than I was expecting. I thought the trolls in this show look more like trolls than the hobbits or trolls in Peter's Jackson's movies. (The is my biggest beef with his movies, the hobbits and trolls look just like little humans, which they are not supposed to be) I had no problem with the female trolls not having beards, Tolkien himself was very, very wishy-washy on whether female trolls had beards.

I don't think "meteor man" is Sauron, and I hope he isn't Gandolf.
I'm very curious about that last sentence myself. Those are the two obvious options. Not sure who else that would be.
 

ClonesInDallas

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Hoping meteor man is Sauron and he wipes out the Harfoots and their storyline lol. Everything else, excluding the Harfoots is pretty incredible so far
 

Mr Janny

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I'm very curious about that last sentence myself. Those are the two obvious options. Not sure who else that would be.
If it is Gandalf, doesn't that represent a pretty big deviation from the source material?
 

Cyclonepride

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If it is Gandalf, doesn't that represent a pretty big deviation from the source material?
I'm trying to remember. I really don't remember much about the wizards and their origin except that they were ancient. I really don't remember anything being said about them in the Silmarillion.

Edit: just read in a wiki that they came to Middle Earth in the Third Age, so well after this time.
 
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BryceC

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I'm trying to remember. I really don't remember much about the wizards and their origin except that they were ancient. I really don't remember anything being said about them in the Silmarillion.

Edit: just read in a wiki that they came to Middle Earth in the Third Age, so well after this time.

I thought that they came before that, and the extreme amount of time is why they were so few left by the time Fellowship started.
 

Rods79

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Yes. The wizards came to Middle Earth by ship at the beginning of the 3rd Age.

Tolkien‘s last writings from the Peoples of Middle Earth drastically change the timeline of the arrival of the Blue Wizards…puts them in S.A. 1600. So my money is on the stranger being Alatar or Pallando. Next guess would be Tom Bombadil since he was left out of Jackson’s work.

Edit, link: https://lotr.fandom.com/wiki/Blue_Wizards
 
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tman24

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Finally finished the second episode. Overall entertaining and visual quality is up there. Story seems fine so far.

Meteor man has to be a wizard. I have a feeling it's Gandolf. The hobbits help him out early so that's why he has such love for them during the lotr. but with all the death around him it wouldn't surprise me if it was Sauron.
 
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tman24

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Might be time to go read the silmarillion again. Haven't read it for like 15 years.
 

BryceC

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I have been reading elsewhere a lot of criticism of the "black elf". I am old enough to remember the outpouring of racist hatred when Star Trek introduced a black Vulcan. Some things never change.

It's absolutely ridiculous and quite frankly I'd hoped we were past crap like that, but here we are.
 

houjix

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I think (hope) the falling man is a different character, not Gandalf or Sauron. Sauron, in his disguise to trick the elves, was described as fair-looking and appearing as an elf. Plus since Celembribor seems to be already wanting to craft the forge that will make the rings of power, I'm betting Saruon in disguise is already advising him and we will meet him soon.
 
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Triggermv

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So, I finally finished the second episode and I find myself at a somewhat similar place as I was after the first one. Do I dislike the series so far? No. However, am I really digging the series so far? No, not yet at least. The second episode was at least a slight uptick from the first, but the pacing overall still remains very slow. I can't even say the writing is bad, as most everything is still so up in the air right now. I guess I'd argue the biggest thing I was wanting more of so far is compelling characters and the actors playing them. If the story is going to start slow, you really need to hook the audience with some compelling characters, which I just haven't been, at least not yet. The biggest casting I struggle with is the Elrond actor. It doesn't help that he just doesn't look like an elf to me. He is too short with too wide of a face. I also tend to zone out anytime the Harefoots enter the scene. They have nowhere close to the charisma of Frodo, Bilbao, or the gang. My highlights so far has been the new elf in the Southland storyline with his girl and everything with the dwarves. Oh, and the visuals alone are 100% on point and on par with the movies. Those alone are keeping me coming back right now.
 
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State43

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I am liking this show so far. Clearly they are world building now and I am enjoying the slow burn. Not sure why they changed Galadriel’s character from a sorcery/magic based one to just another sword swinging hero who I know they will explore her getting all those powers eventually but isn’t magically powerful and intelligent enough for a protagonist? They have to make her Legolas too? God forbid we give female hero’s any flaws at all besides being stubborn.
 

Triggermv

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I am liking this show so far. Clearly they are world building now and I am enjoying the slow burn. Not sure why they changed Galadriel’s character from a sorcery/magic based one to just another sword swinging hero who I know they will explore her getting all those powers eventually but isn’t magically powerful and intelligent enough for a protagonist? They have to make her Legolas too? God forbid we give female hero’s any flaws at all besides being stubborn.

Her whole storyline on the water right now seems pretty stupid overall, needless and flawed right now. I'm hoping we don't get past that whole part and think it was all a waste of time. We know a little right now as to where it seems like the point of it all is going, but if what we know right now is all there is, it seems like a long unneeded boring way to connect two dots.
 

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