Elves are sensitive and emphatic, they endure, while their works and their friends - regardless if plant, beast or mortal - do not, as such elves suffer many losses in their long lifes and with time - over many ages - they grow weary of it. So they close themselves off in their realms, where they slow down the passing time as much as possible, and reduce their contact with mortals so as to not get too attached to them - all in self-preservation. The other route for them to take would be: "do as much as you can as long you can endure it, and then sail when you can no longer bear it" - which is what Legolas does in the end.
Thank you for sharing this! I've always been sad and a little confused why the Elves all want to leave such a beautiful place as Middle-Earth, somewhere they lived and loved for so long. This is a great explanation.
@@Kiirs5 Thank you for your kind comment, it made my day! This I find valuable in exchanging with others about what they see in Tolkien's texts, some things I might overlook, other times I might notice something which can be of value for others. Exchange enriches, not threatens! But imho the books are the basis of any fruitful discussion, they are not debatable, not a mere "inspiration" that can be ignored at whim. If one "adjusts" the story, it be better for a valid reason and for a worthy payoff.
I remember being a child 23 years ago and going through your website One Ring to get the news and photos of lotr and Tolkein... Thats a lifelong journey of me with you guys. You're great, Good job💎❤️🔥
Suprised no-one has picked up that Sauron's recovery is a straight steal of Voldermorts recovery in an Albanian forest in the first Harry Potter book. These oeople hace zero originality. Love your content guys!
What Michael said about sauron not being able to manifest without the one ring left me stunned !! You are sooo right how could i have missed this?? It is a huge point i cant believe they did not take such a thing under consideration! Sauron created the one ring so he can clinge to existence if he ever was killed!! When he died in numenor he already had the one ring !! Oh my god you are so right...!Not only this but they actually degraded the significance of the One ring!! If he cant be killed as in the show then there is no way to get rid of him ring destroyed or not... oh my god that was a serious fckin mistake right there!!!
The main reason why Sauron created the ring was not to have a back up plan whenever killed. It was to amplify his power and greatly increase his mind control / corruption powers over the other rings and the ones wearing them.
Yes, this really locked it in for me as to why it felt so wrong. They misunderstand all the rings, it seems. In the absence of the One, they're not all bound to the will of Sauron. The Elven rings aren't evil in the least, and yet the show seems to want to equate them to the One. Very weird. What book were they going back to again??
@iliasgold4284 they are simply wrong about that. As a Maiar, Sauron can't be killed. Even when the one ring is destroyed, Sauron still exists but his power is simply diminished to the point he is not a threat.
A brief timeine of Season 1, episode one... Morgoth destroys the tree, Elves travel to Middle Earth and go to war War lasts centuries and leaves Middle Earth in ruins Shows huge battle with Orcs (Galadriel's bother is fighting) Morgoth is defeated, but not without cost for his orcs had spread to every corner of Middle Earth Multiplying ever great and under the command of his most devoted Servant a cruel and cunning sorcerer. They called him Sauron. (Shot of Sauron standing in front of a huge army of Orcs wearing his full crown and battle suit from LOTR) This cannot be Morgoth because the narration already said Morgoth was dead, and then explained how Sauron took over and then cuts to a shot of Sauron leading the armies or orcs himself. Galadriel's brother vows to hunt Sauron down, but Sauron found him first and marked his flesh with a mark not even the wisest elves could decipher. His vow became Galadriel's, so she started hunting Sauron (to the ends of the earth) trails grows thin, and centuries past during the hunt. The pain and trauma of the war became a distant memory to elves, so much so it "passed out of thought and mind". Cuts to Forodwaith. Narration says more and more the elves started to believe Sauron was only a memory and the threat was ended. Shows elves climbing an icy cliff. One of the elves says "It's been years since the last orc was sighted" They find a tower in the snow. They say the tower is where the orcs gathered after Morgoth's defeat. Also that far more orcs escaped that they thought. They say the tower is so evil it gives off no warmth and the torches give off no warmth. They find a doorway that was filled in and break it open. Inside they find a forge and frozen orcs. Galadriel says the orcs were meddling with powers of the unseen world and dark sorcery of old. Their purpose was lost to the ages says one of her troops and whatever happened there was "long ago". she pours water on an anvil and states that not even stone can hide the mark of one whose very hand is flame unquenched. Is this a mark of Morgoth? No, she says he was here, Sauron was here. This is Sauron's mark. She says the mark was left as a trail for orcs to follow. The troop says the mark is centuries old and whoever left it could be long dead. Or, Galadriel says, left by someone gathering their strength and perfecting whatever dark art eluded him here. She implies that Sauron was trying to forge something and failed and it is implied the orcs were helping him. She says she longs for home but until "every trace" of the enemy is vanquished she cant return home. Ok, so then... Season 2 shows Sauron and the Orcs in the exact same tower as Galadriel finds in the Fodorwaith in season 1 and it isn't frozen yet. Sauron is talking to the orcs and trying to convince them to follow him now that Morgoth is gone. He seeks a new power, one that is not of the flesh but over flesh. A power of the unseen world. He says they will no longer be hunted as the demons who broke middle earth but the saviors who healed it. If they had been following him for centuries at this point, why is he imploring them to follow him, they already should be, right? In season one he has the crown but in season 2 he hasn't be crowned yet, so this must be before that shot of Sauron in full battle armor from season 1, but he doesn't get the crown, they kill him before he gets it and his death freezes the Fodorwaith. I need someone to explain the timeline from season 1 to season 2, specifically in relation to the scene where he is trying to convince the orcs to follow him and seek out the new power over flesh. When did the following events occur in relation to the opening scene of season 2: When did he lead the orcs in full battle gear and with Morgoth's crown? When did he try to forge things in the Fodorwaith tower? When did all the orcs get frozen in the forge in that tower as shown in season 1? When did he leave the mark on Galadriel's brother's body (and why)? When did he leave the mark on the anvil in the tower? If it was a trail, when did he start leaving those marks in different places, and why? Was he trying to lead the orcs to the Fodorwaith tower, where they did all gather after Morgoth's defeat (as said in season 1), or was he trying to get them all to gather in Mordor? Whose plan was it originally to move the the water in the volcano? Did Sauron want them all to gather in Mordor cause he knew they were going to explode Mt Doom and make it possible for the orcs to live there? I thought Adar made that plan, or at least stole it from Sauron? So why didn't they gather in Mordor? When did the centuries pass with Galadriel hunting Sauron? Before or after the opening of Season 2? How long did it take for worm body Sauron to get from the tower to the wagon and reform? Hundreds of years? Days? Neither make sense.
What they get kinda right is Sauron's motivation for conquest. He sees Middle Earth as chaotic and he believes he can fix that by bringing the world and all it's people under his control.
Yes, it's a major difference between him and Morgoth. Morgoth wanted total destruction of Arda, Sauron wanted to Order and rule it. Outside of Middle Earth, a good analogy is with Buffy the Vampire Slayer at the end of season 2, where Angel wants to summon the demon Acathla to destroy the world, whilst Spike, another evil character, is appalled and teams up with Buffy to stop him. Like Sauron, Spike doesn't want to destroy the world, he want to use it.
You're really hitting so many of the wrongs that this show is doing -- the show as a whole and this ep in particular. The lack of motivations, the failure of Sauron to be at all impressive, the small-ness of everything, the inability of the writers to actually write...on and on it goes. And this is just episode1! Wait til you guys get to 2 and 3. I was so disinterested by ep 3, I've decided not to watch anymore -- and I REALLY mean it this time! I'll let you guys suffer.
That first scene with the other Sauron was atrocious. In part the actors faults, in part the casting director and the most part the director's fault. There was no gravitas to Sauron at all. I literally thought he was an impostor until he exploded. Should have used some directing tricks at least to make us pay attention to him.
Don't say that! All the directors are women in this season!! It cannot be their fault! It's our fault not understanding their genius because we are toxic. 😝
Hey guys! I called my bro to watch this show yesterday. We seen first 4 episodes from first season. I said no word while watching. No critism. No sniffing. Nothing... He turned to me and yelled: WHAT THE FUCK IS THIS SHIT WE HAVE BEEN WATCHING FOR 4 HOURS! I saw the pain and wrath on his face. He yelled like first time in his life! This show made my bro mad. So I thought It's worth to share this with you guys.
This makes me feel both sad and justified at the same time. So I apologize to your brother…AND I totally don’t, and am glad now that he…. (wait for it…) …has now seen what we have seen. You’re welcome.
My God, and I believed that they can't make it any worst than season one. I was so wrong! This is not only anti-Tolkien, this is anti-entertainment. Absolute rubbish ...
PSA to everyone going to sleep watching *RoP! You might wake up to discover you can only say 'There is a Tempest in Me" or "You have not seen what I have seen" . "Omelette du fromage" may have worked for Dexter, but cheese omelettes make sense. *Edit for clarity.
Of course they have to write Mordor or Rhûn on the screen. Someone who believes that a ship looks up and a stone looks down, needs place names written on a screen. That also explains why their nomadic (ergo versed in travelling and traversing) 'Harfoots' run in circles while the sun is shining down on them, or why pyroclastic flows lay waste to buildings, but not bodies. These writers are intellectually challenged and judge the world through intellectually challenged eyes, and those who like that show must share this trait, or how else could they bear all of this nonsense? Having place names written on the screen, likely therefor works perfect for them as well, while the rest of us just blinks in disbelief and lets out a groan.
EXCELLENT commentary, as always!! Huge fan of you guys. I'm so confused by so much stuff in this "show" but one of the big questions for me from this episode is--why did Sauron/Halbrand turn himself in to Adar in the first place?? What was actually the point of that? What did he hope to gain by doing all that, letting himself get chained and tortured and lying there crying? I have not been able to figure out why on earth he did any of that. It's so strange and confusing.
@@TheOneRingcom Thank you!! It's just one of many many things that bothered me, but this one made ZERO sense why he'd do any of that. Of course most stuff in this show is pointless/plotless and nobody seems to have any goals, everyone's just wandering around doing boring stuff and having boring conversations, but this whole segment was especially pointless. Why is he "king of the Southlands" and why did he turn himself in? He seemingly had nothing to gain, unless his entire plan was to get chained up, tortured, and make his torturer become Warg-food. 🤨
I've been rewatching the Hobbit and honestly the made-up parts (a lot of it) aren't that bad, compared to Amazon's slop. At least the story makes sense and the script is not as abysmal.
I just finally got around to watching a fan edit cutting the whole thing down to about 4 hours, and it is...actually Brilliant - not everything it should have been, but immensely enjoyable, and you deeply feel it's connected to the original LOTR trilogy. It has Peter Jackson's fingerprints all over it, and they found them. I almost cried. There's a couple of points they had to use some crap for continuity, but it is (back to your point) truly not bad at its core.
Nori and Great Value Gandalf being lost in the desert was a crappy 'memberberry for the opening scene of TTT. Frodo and Sam being lost in the Emyn Muil made sense - very difficult terrain where you are trying to find the easiest way up or down the rocks and where none of the valleys go in a straight line makes it easy to get turned around. But in the desert, you can walk unimpeded for miles. Getting lost there makes no sense. It was dumb. This storyline also involved egregious use of a day-to-night filter. Looked like someone edited it in iMovie.
You know why the "writers" cant tell the different between the places and they need fonds? Because the "writers", have made every place the same with the same type of people, in every colour of the rainbow, even the elves there are no different between them and the humans except the ears.
One bad takeaway you've gotten from the show is that Sauron doesn't have powers. This is of course partly the ROPs fault because it portrayed Sauron as incompetent when he died to his own rabble of Orcs. However, there are always things "happening" around him that are only explained by him doing them, they are just subtle, they don't show him doing them. He controls the warg, the sea monster and the weather, especially during his visit to Eregion. Gandalf couldn't create rain in the films, yet he's conjuring up a storm without even trying (and how he died to a rabble of Orcs is beyond me, this show is so inconsistent it gives whiplash) Also, I'm hoping in the end the whole fading and tree sickness is going to be proven as of his making, which will be another thing they never show him do.
Adar: nah bruh, no one threatens me. Hey LT, smoke this fool. Stabby stabby. Big explosion. Cut to ice mountain with black goo flopping down the side. Sauron: Fffuuucvckkkkk!!
Speaking of Stranger Things; Galadriel’s vision scene with Celebrimbor is so similar to Verna’s scenes in season 4. The background is red, just like in the Stranger Things season 4 and elastic branches that swiftly grasp Celebrimbor are very similar to Vecna’s.
15:12 - not really a problem concerning the reconstitution of Sauron. He doesnt have the ring because he has note made the ring yet, so he has not poured most of himself into said ring. Therefore he can reform himself, just as he can still shapeshift.
23:40 I haven’t seen any of the season 2 stuff yet so can’t speak to this Adar, but season one Adar was my favorite character. I thought the actor played him well with subtlety. The idea of an elf being twisted to much by the dark powers that he now feels an affinity with the Orcs was interesting. I never thought of that when reading the Silmarillion. I just thought that Melkor had twisted the elves he captured so badly that they became insane and that was the beginning of the Orcs.
The simplest explanation I can think of for the writers to come up with the black sludge to represent the fading is Materialism as a philosophy. This philosophy has impregnated society at every level for the past what, 50 years now? So when you get these new Millenial writers, they can't handle the idea of something being transcendent or intangible, so they have to come up with visual/material ways to represent it, which is FUNDAMENTALLY anti-Tolkien since the transcendent and the spiritual are embedded into his work as a cornerstone. Despite a lot of problems, Peter Jackson was able to handle this much better. Compare Magic in the LOTR movies with magic in this show. In LOTR it's more subtle, less "impressive" and with less spectacle, we see the influence of magic, and it's results on people. While in Rings of power, every time we have magic it has to have lots of visuals, explosions, effects, etc. Even the Hobbit handles it better. The scene where Handalf picks up the pinecones and lit them of fire, he slowly blows at them, until they sparkle and the fire starts to build and he starts throwing. If the scene was in Rings of Power, The cones would rapidly lit and become fireballs, and they would explode like small granedes when they hit the ground.
The utter incompetence of these writers is unbelievable. Isn't there an adult in charge of this crap at Amazon? How is it possible that something like this was even greenlighted for production? I really have no words.
Question: at 14:40, Michael says Sauron couldn't survive if killed. Is that true? The Silmarillion describes the forms of the Valar as similar to raiment. Presumably that would hold true for Maiar also. Luthien also demands mastery of Sauron's tower lest he be stripped of his raiment of flesh and his spirit endure humiliation before Morgoth. I thought the ring increased his power but also made him uniquely vulnerable in a way he was not before. Have I misunderstood? Thanks in advance
Does Sauron die in this episode or does he just abandon his physical form willingly and revert to black goo spaghetti? Regarding him needing the ring to come back, I remember an episode of the podcast when the guys proposed the theory. The idea is that he came up with it after being defeated by Huan and Luthien. I don't know whether it is conjecture or confirmed canonically.
Wait, so according to season 2, he Sauron was never crowned?? But in season 1, they showed him in panapoly of war, including the crown that Adar killed him with? So at what point did Sauron ever rule the orcs? It wasnt after morgoths defeat was it? So is the flashback the end of the 1st age? Or the very beginning of the 2nd?
The other Tolkien channel to recommend is Tolkien lore. He has a gracious insightful spirit yet willing to be quite critical. His extremely nitpicking review of Peter Jackson right now is funny yet true. Yes his not a fan of Rings of Power too.
@@cjm3109 I wish I could find the quote but ahdkw is right, and I think Michael got that bit wrong. The Maiar and Valar are immortal, spiritual beings. They can if they choose inhabit physical bodies, as the Valar in fact do, and as Maiar such as Melian and Sauron also do. But these are only like clothes, or "raiment", to them, that they can assume and discard at will. Sauron didn't need the Ring to reform his body at this point. And as his spirit, like all the Valar and Maiar, was bound to Arda he could refuse the summons to Valinor when killed, as would have happened with Gandalf, and rebuilt himself. Unfortunately for him, he put so much of his own power into the Ring, similarly to Morgoth putting so much of _his_ power into the world, that subsequently he didn't have enough left to do that anymore.
@cjm3109 the inability take fair form has nothing to do with coming back from the dead or the ring. It was his punishment for the fall of Numenor by Eru Iluvatar.
@terrystewart1973 one of the most common misconceptions is that the Ring has any power outside of amplifying Sauron's dominion other the Arda and people. "Tolkien Scholars" just assert that it has the power to bring Sauron back to life without any evidence.
Yes. Sauron's physical body is destroyed 4 times in Tolkien's work. He can again 'take physical raiment' each time apart from the last, when the ring - and most of Sauron's power - is destroyed. He also reforms after being killed in the Last Alliance, despite not possessing the ring throughout that period.
This show has been so boring that I actually fell asleep around episode 2. I just cannot immerse myself in this show no matter how hard I focus. The acting, writing, costume and set design are all so terrible.
@@aw9307I find myself in the same position as I was in season 1... wondering whether I should continue watching the rest of the season or stop now. When watching a fantasy show (especially one based on Tolkien's work), it's never a good thing when you have to make an effort to try and understand what is going on.
A quick quibble; Sauron very much could restore his body before he had the one ring. The ring doesn't give him the ability to do this, his inherent power does. The reason he can't return once the ring is destroyed is because he invested most of that power into the ring, and once it was destroyed it was lost forever.
"So it was also with even some of his greatest servants, as in these later days we see: they became wedded to the forms of their evil deeds, and if these bodies were taken from them or destroyed, they were nullified, until they have rebuilt a semblance of their former habitations, with which they could continue the evil courses in which they had become fixed’. (Pengolodh here evidently refers to Sauron in particular, from whose arising he fled at last from Middle-earth. But the first destruction of the bodily form of Sauron was recorded in the histories of the Elder Days, in the Lay of Leithian.)" J.R.R. TOLKIEN - ÓSANWE-KENTA (1960) Edited by Carl F. Hostetter
Ikr, I only got it towards the end of the scene. Then I felt stupid for not realising it earlier, then I thought, why should I feel stupid, if it's not made clear by the show? 😅
of course they cant do anything right in this show but its such a jarring thing to me when i see the different peoples of middle earth ""look like the world of today"" cause the peoples of middle earth are all homogeneous peoples.. especially in that last scene when Ciridan came up and gil glad was " singing " it looked like a cos play convention. those were NOT elves, none of them looked like elves at all. it just looked like but of regular people who went on amazon and ordered a bunch of costumes for halloween or something . Gary on nerdrotic said it best ( and i am paraphrasing ) Liv Tyler looked like she was an elf, if you have good casting directors you CAN heir people who have that "elfish " look to them. ( same with dwarves etc..) all of the elves i saw in LOTR movies whether a main character or a background character, i was convinced they were elves. it would of been nice to get a proper story of the second age... But at least I get enjoyment nit picking it apart with you guys watching your videos :) oh and i'm not holding my breath for the war of the Rohirrim with made up hera either
At least when I played WoW had consistent storytelling. The orcs there were mostly just tribal ppl that made the wrong deal after some aliens showed up. Some good some bad before that. Then they drank stuff that drove them bloodthirsty and more easily manipulated. And yes, VERY different from Tolkien's orcs that were effectively embodiment of evil foot soldiers as brought into being . The RoP orcs didn't even have the excuse of the blood of whoever it was in the burning legion from Warcraft lore . As for DND. . . The orcs have been reconnected to resemble stereotypes of migrant workers in SW US. It's kinda sad that ppl are looking at creatures supposed to represent wanton violence or evil and decide 'that must be /human regional subset/!' Disappointing 'modern sensibilities'.
Hey, you guys should invite some Tolkien experts onto your show to discuss some of the points you try to make, so this place isn't just an echo chamber.
@@michaelgrumbine1971 I don't listen to anyone turning tolkein into a political football - my only wish for you is that you realize you're doing the same thing this show is. He wasn't interested in DEI, and he certainly was not interested in supporting Saruman-like demagoguery such as Trump.
Holy shit, these guys are talking about "Suspension of Disbelief", yet Tolkien wrote SO MANY illogical things in his world that would never exist in our reality. Why are you so nitpicky about a TV adaptation, oh wait - political motives and easy views are driving you. I bet Tolkien would have loved you!
Thanks for watching! And if you think we've been onanistic fans of Jackson's films, you haven't seen anything we've written or said for the last 25 years.
Elves are sensitive and emphatic, they endure, while their works and their friends - regardless if plant, beast or mortal - do not, as such elves suffer many losses in their long lifes and with time - over many ages - they grow weary of it. So they close themselves off in their realms, where they slow down the passing time as much as possible, and reduce their contact with mortals so as to not get too attached to them - all in self-preservation. The other route for them to take would be: "do as much as you can as long you can endure it, and then sail when you can no longer bear it" - which is what Legolas does in the end.
Thank you for sharing this! I've always been sad and a little confused why the Elves all want to leave such a beautiful place as Middle-Earth, somewhere they lived and loved for so long. This is a great explanation.
@@Kiirs5 Thank you for your kind comment, it made my day! This I find valuable in exchanging with others about what they see in Tolkien's texts, some things I might overlook, other times I might notice something which can be of value for others. Exchange enriches, not threatens! But imho the books are the basis of any fruitful discussion, they are not debatable, not a mere "inspiration" that can be ignored at whim. If one "adjusts" the story, it be better for a valid reason and for a worthy payoff.
I remember being a child 23 years ago and going through your website One Ring to get the news and photos of lotr and Tolkein... Thats a lifelong journey of me with you guys. You're great, Good job💎❤️🔥
That's so cool! Glad you're still with us :D
@@TheOneRingcom Your dedication is admirable ❤️🙏thanks
Suprised no-one has picked up that Sauron's recovery is a straight steal of Voldermorts recovery in an Albanian forest in the first Harry Potter book. These oeople hace zero originality. Love your content guys!
on the other hand, many people find that harry potter is an inferior version of lord of the rings, so… karma?
These two seasons are literally Harry Potter 1 & 5 ripped off, while Harry Potter is a semi-ripoff of LOTR. Its a product of cyclical rip-offs
Usually I imagined that Sauron’s return was more like from the Unseen World to our world, and not from ooze to Man and then as Annatar 😂
Orcs healing Middle Earth. That was about the time I turned it off. lol
What Michael said about sauron not being able to manifest without the one ring left me stunned !! You are sooo right how could i have missed this?? It is a huge point i cant believe they did not take such a thing under consideration! Sauron created the one ring so he can clinge to existence if he ever was killed!! When he died in numenor he already had the one ring !! Oh my god you are so right...!Not only this but they actually degraded the significance of the One ring!! If he cant be killed as in the show then there is no way to get rid of him ring destroyed or not... oh my god that was a serious fckin mistake right there!!!
@@Quactro right so then he was eventually dead after the destrucrion of the one cause he had pour a fair bit of his power in it... yeah fair point
The main reason why Sauron created the ring was not to have a back up plan whenever killed. It was to amplify his power and greatly increase his mind control / corruption powers over the other rings and the ones wearing them.
This is not correct.
The ring didn't give Sauron this power - all Ainur have this ability.
Yes, this really locked it in for me as to why it felt so wrong. They misunderstand all the rings, it seems. In the absence of the One, they're not all bound to the will of Sauron. The Elven rings aren't evil in the least, and yet the show seems to want to equate them to the One. Very weird. What book were they going back to again??
@iliasgold4284 they are simply wrong about that. As a Maiar, Sauron can't be killed. Even when the one ring is destroyed, Sauron still exists but his power is simply diminished to the point he is not a threat.
When Sauron was in Mordor land, let my people gooooooo........😂
7:00 just parallel with Sauron "exploding" after losing the ring in the War of the Last Alliance in the movie
Immediately obvious. Five finger discount, yo.
What about the freezing stuff
A brief timeine of Season 1, episode one...
Morgoth destroys the tree, Elves travel to Middle Earth and go to war
War lasts centuries and leaves Middle Earth in ruins
Shows huge battle with Orcs (Galadriel's bother is fighting)
Morgoth is defeated, but not without cost for his orcs had spread to every corner of Middle Earth
Multiplying ever great and under the command of his most devoted Servant a cruel and cunning sorcerer. They called him Sauron. (Shot of Sauron standing in front of a huge army of Orcs wearing his full crown and battle suit from LOTR) This cannot be Morgoth because the narration already said Morgoth was dead, and then explained how Sauron took over and then cuts to a shot of Sauron leading the armies or orcs himself.
Galadriel's brother vows to hunt Sauron down, but Sauron found him first and marked his flesh with a mark not even the wisest elves could decipher.
His vow became Galadriel's, so she started hunting Sauron (to the ends of the earth)
trails grows thin, and centuries past during the hunt. The pain and trauma of the war became a distant memory to elves, so much so it "passed out of thought and mind".
Cuts to Forodwaith. Narration says more and more the elves started to believe Sauron was only a memory and the threat was ended.
Shows elves climbing an icy cliff. One of the elves says "It's been years since the last orc was sighted"
They find a tower in the snow.
They say the tower is where the orcs gathered after Morgoth's defeat. Also that far more orcs escaped that they thought. They say the tower is so evil it gives off no warmth and the torches give off no warmth.
They find a doorway that was filled in and break it open. Inside they find a forge and frozen orcs.
Galadriel says the orcs were meddling with powers of the unseen world and dark sorcery of old. Their purpose was lost to the ages says one of her troops and whatever happened there was "long ago".
she pours water on an anvil and states that not even stone can hide the mark of one whose very hand is flame unquenched. Is this a mark of Morgoth? No, she says he was here, Sauron was here. This is Sauron's mark.
She says the mark was left as a trail for orcs to follow. The troop says the mark is centuries old and whoever left it could be long dead.
Or, Galadriel says, left by someone gathering their strength and perfecting whatever dark art eluded him here. She implies that Sauron was trying to forge something and failed and it is implied the orcs were helping him.
She says she longs for home but until "every trace" of the enemy is vanquished she cant return home.
Ok, so then...
Season 2 shows Sauron and the Orcs in the exact same tower as Galadriel finds in the Fodorwaith in season 1 and it isn't frozen yet.
Sauron is talking to the orcs and trying to convince them to follow him now that Morgoth is gone. He seeks a new power, one that is not of the flesh but over flesh. A power of the unseen world. He says they will no longer be hunted as the demons who broke middle earth but the saviors who healed it.
If they had been following him for centuries at this point, why is he imploring them to follow him, they already should be, right?
In season one he has the crown but in season 2 he hasn't be crowned yet, so this must be before that shot of Sauron in full battle armor from season 1, but he doesn't get the crown, they kill him before he gets it and his death freezes the Fodorwaith.
I need someone to explain the timeline from season 1 to season 2, specifically in relation to the scene where he is trying to convince the orcs to follow him and seek out the new power over flesh.
When did the following events occur in relation to the opening scene of season 2:
When did he lead the orcs in full battle gear and with Morgoth's crown?
When did he try to forge things in the Fodorwaith tower?
When did all the orcs get frozen in the forge in that tower as shown in season 1?
When did he leave the mark on Galadriel's brother's body (and why)?
When did he leave the mark on the anvil in the tower?
If it was a trail, when did he start leaving those marks in different places, and why? Was he trying to lead the orcs to the Fodorwaith tower, where they did all gather after Morgoth's defeat (as said in season 1), or was he trying to get them all to gather in Mordor?
Whose plan was it originally to move the the water in the volcano? Did Sauron want them all to gather in Mordor cause he knew they were going to explode Mt Doom and make it possible for the orcs to live there? I thought Adar made that plan, or at least stole it from Sauron? So why didn't they gather in Mordor?
When did the centuries pass with Galadriel hunting Sauron? Before or after the opening of Season 2?
How long did it take for worm body Sauron to get from the tower to the wagon and reform? Hundreds of years? Days? Neither make sense.
You put more thought into this comment than they did into writing this show.
@@luthasunspell8365 XD
What they get kinda right is Sauron's motivation for conquest. He sees Middle Earth as chaotic and he believes he can fix that by bringing the world and all it's people under his control.
Yes, it's a major difference between him and Morgoth. Morgoth wanted total destruction of Arda, Sauron wanted to Order and rule it. Outside of Middle Earth, a good analogy is with Buffy the Vampire Slayer at the end of season 2, where Angel wants to summon the demon Acathla to destroy the world, whilst Spike, another evil character, is appalled and teams up with Buffy to stop him. Like Sauron, Spike doesn't want to destroy the world, he want to use it.
In-depth reviews are what I live for 👌
The sea told me Rings of Power is a steaming pile of shit 💩
And the sea is always right
So, basically Sauron probably killed Tasha Yar, too. I mean, that's interesting at least.
Underrated comment
Hilarious!!
You're really hitting so many of the wrongs that this show is doing -- the show as a whole and this ep in particular. The lack of motivations, the failure of Sauron to be at all impressive, the small-ness of everything, the inability of the writers to actually write...on and on it goes. And this is just episode1! Wait til you guys get to 2 and 3. I was so disinterested by ep 3, I've decided not to watch anymore -- and I REALLY mean it this time! I'll let you guys suffer.
Why is gilgalad ALWAYS hanging around that fucking tree?
Literally this
Maybe his waiting to get laid, it is the fucking tree after all
Maybe his waiting to get laid, it is the f*****g tree after all
*UA-cam, let my comments be!*
*_"Maybe his waiting to get laid, it is the fucking tree after all"_*
That first scene with the other Sauron was atrocious. In part the actors faults, in part the casting director and the most part the director's fault.
There was no gravitas to Sauron at all. I literally thought he was an impostor until he exploded.
Should have used some directing tricks at least to make us pay attention to him.
By that time he would appear to his orc army in a dark and terrible form, and not in that elvish-like one
It's intentional, they wanted to portray Sauron as a haughty wimp
@@frankiesomeone How do they think Sauron became Morgoth’s right-hand guy!
@@kariverson1 Adar has more gravitas than Sauron 🤦♂️
Don't say that! All the directors are women in this season!! It cannot be their fault!
It's our fault not understanding their genius because we are toxic.
😝
Hey guys! I called my bro to watch this show yesterday. We seen first 4 episodes from first season. I said no word while watching. No critism. No sniffing. Nothing...
He turned to me and yelled: WHAT THE FUCK IS THIS SHIT WE HAVE BEEN WATCHING FOR 4 HOURS!
I saw the pain and wrath on his face. He yelled like first time in his life! This show made my bro mad. So I thought It's worth to share this with you guys.
Your brother's rage is totally justified
Brothers should but treat others like this.
Generational enemies, either!
You will have to do much to mend that relationship.
This makes me feel both sad and justified at the same time. So I apologize to your brother…AND I totally don’t, and am glad now that he….
(wait for it…)
…has now seen what we have seen.
You’re welcome.
My God, and I believed that they can't make it any worst than season one. I was so wrong! This is not only anti-Tolkien, this is anti-entertainment. Absolute rubbish ...
PSA to everyone going to sleep watching *RoP!
You might wake up to discover you can only say 'There is a Tempest in Me" or "You have not seen what I have seen" .
"Omelette du fromage" may have worked for Dexter, but cheese omelettes make sense.
*Edit for clarity.
Of course they have to write Mordor or Rhûn on the screen. Someone who believes that a ship looks up and a stone looks down, needs place names written on a screen. That also explains why their nomadic (ergo versed in travelling and traversing) 'Harfoots' run in circles while the sun is shining down on them, or why pyroclastic flows lay waste to buildings, but not bodies. These writers are intellectually challenged and judge the world through intellectually challenged eyes, and those who like that show must share this trait, or how else could they bear all of this nonsense? Having place names written on the screen, likely therefor works perfect for them as well, while the rest of us just blinks in disbelief and lets out a groan.
EXCELLENT commentary, as always!! Huge fan of you guys. I'm so confused by so much stuff in this "show" but one of the big questions for me from this episode is--why did Sauron/Halbrand turn himself in to Adar in the first place?? What was actually the point of that? What did he hope to gain by doing all that, letting himself get chained and tortured and lying there crying? I have not been able to figure out why on earth he did any of that. It's so strange and confusing.
I'll try and remember to bring this up in our next episode!
@@TheOneRingcom Thank you!! It's just one of many many things that bothered me, but this one made ZERO sense why he'd do any of that. Of course most stuff in this show is pointless/plotless and nobody seems to have any goals, everyone's just wandering around doing boring stuff and having boring conversations, but this whole segment was especially pointless. Why is he "king of the Southlands" and why did he turn himself in? He seemingly had nothing to gain, unless his entire plan was to get chained up, tortured, and make his torturer become Warg-food. 🤨
I've been rewatching the Hobbit and honestly the made-up parts (a lot of it) aren't that bad, compared to Amazon's slop.
At least the story makes sense and the script is not as abysmal.
I just finally got around to watching a fan edit cutting the whole thing down to about 4 hours, and it is...actually Brilliant - not everything it should have been, but immensely enjoyable, and you deeply feel it's connected to the original LOTR trilogy. It has Peter Jackson's fingerprints all over it, and they found them. I almost cried. There's a couple of points they had to use some crap for continuity, but it is (back to your point) truly not bad at its core.
Nori and Great Value Gandalf being lost in the desert was a crappy 'memberberry for the opening scene of TTT. Frodo and Sam being lost in the Emyn Muil made sense - very difficult terrain where you are trying to find the easiest way up or down the rocks and where none of the valleys go in a straight line makes it easy to get turned around. But in the desert, you can walk unimpeded for miles. Getting lost there makes no sense. It was dumb. This storyline also involved egregious use of a day-to-night filter. Looked like someone edited it in iMovie.
Been waiting for this. Wanted to see Michael melt
*sigh* Never fails, does it?
11:26 Sauron didnt ever had a spear, only a big MACE.
You know why the "writers" cant tell the different between the places and they need fonds? Because the "writers", have made every place the same with the same type of people, in every colour of the rainbow, even the elves there are no different between them and the humans except the ears.
Bingo
30:04 Michael’s exasperation LMFAO
Rings of Power is one of the worst TV series ever made. It also has nothing, whatever, to do with the late, great, Tolkien, but is a insult to him.
Its an insult to us all
It's a crime against humanity!
One bad takeaway you've gotten from the show is that Sauron doesn't have powers. This is of course partly the ROPs fault because it portrayed Sauron as incompetent when he died to his own rabble of Orcs.
However, there are always things "happening" around him that are only explained by him doing them, they are just subtle, they don't show him doing them. He controls the warg, the sea monster and the weather, especially during his visit to Eregion. Gandalf couldn't create rain in the films, yet he's conjuring up a storm without even trying (and how he died to a rabble of Orcs is beyond me, this show is so inconsistent it gives whiplash)
Also, I'm hoping in the end the whole fading and tree sickness is going to be proven as of his making, which will be another thing they never show him do.
Adar: nah bruh, no one threatens me. Hey LT, smoke this fool.
Stabby stabby. Big explosion. Cut to ice mountain with black goo flopping down the side.
Sauron: Fffuuucvckkkkk!!
Give me my Emmy! (or, whatever awards show/participation trophy Amazon videos fall into)
So Season one ended with that "long, emotional goodbye" between Nori and Poppy - only to reunite them immediately in episode one of season 2 🤔
Speaking of Stranger Things; Galadriel’s vision scene with Celebrimbor is so similar to Verna’s scenes in season 4. The background is red, just like in the Stranger Things season 4 and elastic branches that swiftly grasp Celebrimbor are very similar to Vecna’s.
15:12 - not really a problem concerning the reconstitution of Sauron. He doesnt have the ring because he has note made the ring yet, so he has not poured most of himself into said ring. Therefore he can reform himself, just as he can still shapeshift.
23:40 I haven’t seen any of the season 2 stuff yet so can’t speak to this Adar, but season one Adar was my favorite character. I thought the actor played him well with subtlety. The idea of an elf being twisted to much by the dark powers that he now feels an affinity with the Orcs was interesting. I never thought of that when reading the Silmarillion. I just thought that Melkor had twisted the elves he captured so badly that they became insane and that was the beginning of the Orcs.
You got a like for the town portal. I am an old Diablo player. :)
50:32 more Michael’s reaction!
Why would you let (this) galadriel near a ring of power? How stupid are these elves?
Very, very stupid, turns out. 😂
Those DEI elves!!! 🤣
Can’t be bothered watching it. Instead I’m revising the 2 original series and old LOTR documentaries.
At last someone that says the stranger things thing! It was making me mad!
They made Saurondio a Hunter from Halo (a bunch of worms in humanoid form)
🤣💩
The simplest explanation I can think of for the writers to come up with the black sludge to represent the fading is Materialism as a philosophy.
This philosophy has impregnated society at every level for the past what, 50 years now? So when you get these new Millenial writers, they can't handle the idea of something being transcendent or intangible, so they have to come up with visual/material ways to represent it, which is FUNDAMENTALLY anti-Tolkien since the transcendent and the spiritual are embedded into his work as a cornerstone.
Despite a lot of problems, Peter Jackson was able to handle this much better. Compare Magic in the LOTR movies with magic in this show. In LOTR it's more subtle, less "impressive" and with less spectacle, we see the influence of magic, and it's results on people. While in Rings of power, every time we have magic it has to have lots of visuals, explosions, effects, etc.
Even the Hobbit handles it better. The scene where Handalf picks up the pinecones and lit them of fire, he slowly blows at them, until they sparkle and the fire starts to build and he starts throwing. If the scene was in Rings of Power, The cones would rapidly lit and become fireballs, and they would explode like small granedes when they hit the ground.
The utter incompetence of these writers is unbelievable. Isn't there an adult in charge of this crap at Amazon? How is it possible that something like this was even greenlighted for production? I really have no words.
Question: at 14:40, Michael says Sauron couldn't survive if killed. Is that true? The Silmarillion describes the forms of the Valar as similar to raiment. Presumably that would hold true for Maiar also. Luthien also demands mastery of Sauron's tower lest he be stripped of his raiment of flesh and his spirit endure humiliation before Morgoth. I thought the ring increased his power but also made him uniquely vulnerable in a way he was not before. Have I misunderstood? Thanks in advance
I'll try and bring it up in the next episode!
Does Sauron die in this episode or does he just abandon his physical form willingly and revert to black goo spaghetti?
Regarding him needing the ring to come back, I remember an episode of the podcast when the guys proposed the theory. The idea is that he came up with it after being defeated by Huan and Luthien. I don't know whether it is conjecture or confirmed canonically.
Wait, so according to season 2, he Sauron was never crowned?? But in season 1, they showed him in panapoly of war, including the crown that Adar killed him with? So at what point did Sauron ever rule the orcs? It wasnt after morgoths defeat was it? So is the flashback the end of the 1st age? Or the very beginning of the 2nd?
Is the Men of West YT a recommended channel to watch alongside Michael and Jonathan? Others I should I look into nor consider?
yes, men of the west is great.
The other Tolkien channel to recommend is Tolkien lore. He has a gracious insightful spirit yet willing to be quite critical. His extremely nitpicking review of Peter Jackson right now is funny yet true. Yes his not a fan of Rings of Power too.
If you speak Spanish, Kai47 is one of my favorites. He’s amazing and not a big fan of Rings Lis Power. 🎉
Evil Maiar do have the ability to come back. Sarong was on Numenor when it was destroyed.
Sauron had already made the ring when his body was destroyed on Numenor. He had lost the ability to take on a fair form however.
@@cjm3109 I wish I could find the quote but ahdkw is right, and I think Michael got that bit wrong. The Maiar and Valar are immortal, spiritual beings. They can if they choose inhabit physical bodies, as the Valar in fact do, and as Maiar such as Melian and Sauron also do. But these are only like clothes, or "raiment", to them, that they can assume and discard at will. Sauron didn't need the Ring to reform his body at this point. And as his spirit, like all the Valar and Maiar, was bound to Arda he could refuse the summons to Valinor when killed, as would have happened with Gandalf, and rebuilt himself.
Unfortunately for him, he put so much of his own power into the Ring, similarly to Morgoth putting so much of _his_ power into the world, that subsequently he didn't have enough left to do that anymore.
@cjm3109 the inability take fair form has nothing to do with coming back from the dead or the ring. It was his punishment for the fall of Numenor by Eru Iluvatar.
@terrystewart1973 one of the most common misconceptions is that the Ring has any power outside of amplifying Sauron's dominion other the Arda and people. "Tolkien Scholars" just assert that it has the power to bring Sauron back to life without any evidence.
24:56 you write what you know
Rhun was an enemy nation. Didnt nori know that?
Wasn’t Sauron forced to release his physical form, essentially die, when fighting Huan the hound of Valar?
Yes. Sauron's physical body is destroyed 4 times in Tolkien's work. He can again 'take physical raiment' each time apart from the last, when the ring - and most of Sauron's power - is destroyed.
He also reforms after being killed in the Last Alliance, despite not possessing the ring throughout that period.
No, changing physical forms is like changing clothes, not dying
I only made it into 32mins 🤦🏻♂️ it’s that dumb and boring. I was on rant.
I fell asleep so where in the middle of episode 1……
I want that merch.
This show has been so boring that I actually fell asleep around episode 2. I just cannot immerse myself in this show no matter how hard I focus. The acting, writing, costume and set design are all so terrible.
sure, jan.
I didn’t even make it through episode 1 without falling asleep. You have to be a rock licker to enjoy this show.
@@aw9307I find myself in the same position as I was in season 1... wondering whether I should continue watching the rest of the season or stop now. When watching a fantasy show (especially one based on Tolkien's work), it's never a good thing when you have to make an effort to try and understand what is going on.
Really you must be so energetic... Cause I fell asleep in 5 minutes of episode 1
Then skip
A quick quibble; Sauron very much could restore his body before he had the one ring. The ring doesn't give him the ability to do this, his inherent power does. The reason he can't return once the ring is destroyed is because he invested most of that power into the ring, and once it was destroyed it was lost forever.
"So it was also with even some of his
greatest servants, as in these later days we see: they became wedded to the forms of their
evil deeds, and if these bodies were taken from them or destroyed, they were nullified,
until they have rebuilt a semblance of their former habitations, with which they could
continue the evil courses in which they had become fixed’. (Pengolodh here evidently
refers to Sauron in particular, from whose arising he fled at last from Middle-earth. But
the first destruction of the bodily form of Sauron was recorded in the histories of the
Elder Days, in the Lay of Leithian.)"
J.R.R. TOLKIEN - ÓSANWE-KENTA (1960) Edited by Carl F. Hostetter
Not by goo monsters@@garethmiguel
Why are there black Elves!!!!
LOL you're a maroon
@@Countfoscolikesmice a maroon? I think you may be brain dead sir.
Edit- madam*
@@Countfoscolikesmice🧐
Nobody told me it was a flashback.
Ikr, I only got it towards the end of the scene. Then I felt stupid for not realising it earlier, then I thought, why should I feel stupid, if it's not made clear by the show? 😅
of course they cant do anything right in this show but its such a jarring thing to me when i see the different peoples of middle earth ""look like the world of today"" cause the peoples of middle earth are all homogeneous peoples.. especially in that last scene when Ciridan came up and gil glad was " singing " it looked like a cos play convention. those were NOT elves, none of them looked like elves at all. it just looked like but of regular people who went on amazon and ordered a bunch of costumes for halloween or something .
Gary on nerdrotic said it best ( and i am paraphrasing ) Liv Tyler looked like she was an elf, if you have good casting directors you CAN heir people who have that "elfish " look to them. ( same with dwarves etc..) all of the elves i saw in LOTR movies whether a main character or a background character, i was convinced they were elves. it would of been nice to get a proper story of the second age... But at least I get enjoyment nit picking it apart with you guys watching your videos :) oh and i'm not holding my breath for the war of the Rohirrim with made up hera either
This series is a total mess. This is not Tolkien's Arda, this series is more like the world of Warcraft or D&D. It just doesn't work.
At least when I played WoW had consistent storytelling.
The orcs there were mostly just tribal ppl that made the wrong deal after some aliens showed up.
Some good some bad before that. Then they drank stuff that drove them bloodthirsty and more easily manipulated.
And yes, VERY different from Tolkien's orcs that were effectively embodiment of evil foot soldiers as brought into being .
The RoP orcs didn't even have the excuse of the blood of whoever it was in the burning legion from Warcraft lore .
As for DND. . . The orcs have been reconnected to resemble stereotypes of migrant workers in SW US.
It's kinda sad that ppl are looking at creatures supposed to represent wanton violence or evil and decide 'that must be /human regional subset/!'
Disappointing 'modern sensibilities'.
@@Grandwigg Yes exactly, agreed.
How much did this cost, again?
i bet you guys will be called toxic, ist and phobes once s2 starts to flop again.
Hey, you guys should invite some Tolkien experts onto your show to discuss some of the points you try to make, so this place isn't just an echo chamber.
That’s literally what this video is, Tolkien experts talking about the bastardization of Tolkiens work by the writers
He’s talking about ppl like Tom Shippy
A collab with Men of the West would be cool
Huh - lying about tolkeins political inclinations within 30 seconds. Hard pass, you're as bad as this shows writers in your own way.
Thank you for listening to us for all of 30 seconds! Best wishes in your future life choices.
@@michaelgrumbine1971 I don't listen to anyone turning tolkein into a political football - my only wish for you is that you realize you're doing the same thing this show is. He wasn't interested in DEI, and he certainly was not interested in supporting Saruman-like demagoguery such as Trump.
Holy shit, these guys are talking about "Suspension of Disbelief", yet Tolkien wrote SO MANY illogical things in his world that would never exist in our reality. Why are you so nitpicky about a TV adaptation, oh wait - political motives and easy views are driving you. I bet Tolkien would have loved you!
the RAGE about this show is hilarious. keep on fapping to peter jackson.
Thank you for this valuable input.
Thanks for watching! And if you think we've been onanistic fans of Jackson's films, you haven't seen anything we've written or said for the last 25 years.
@@TheOneRingcom yes onanistic is the appropriate word for this.