re: The Rings of Power Season 2 - first 3 episodes release August 29th, 2:00 AM Central

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In the Silmarillion, Tolkien states “for the Orcs had life and multiplied after the manner of the Children of Iluvatar.” In addition, Aragorn speculates that Saruman has cross-bred the races of Men and Orcs.

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In the Hobbit Tolkien wrote Bolg was the son of Azog, succeeding his father as a prominent leader of the northern Orcs after Azog was killed by Dáin Ironfoot at the Battle of Azanulbizar in Third Age 2799.

Unless you are gonna try to argue that by son of Azog he was implying some type of asexual reproduction for orcs, which would go against them multiplying in the same manner as the elves

If you do not know the lore and the cannon that well would this show be a good watch?

I'm not going to argue with all the losers in here who have nothing better to do than trash a show that they won't even watch. I really have too much to do.

But I'm 51 years old and have read LOTR every year since I was 22. I've read the Hobbit about 7 times, Silmarillion twice, Unfinished Tales once, and more than a volume of the History of Middle Earth. I'm not someone who calls myself a Tolkien "expert," but I'm definitely a fan.

And I thought that Season 1 was a good show. It certainly had it's flaws. I was annoyed by some of the canon departures like the origin story for mithril, thought that some of the direction was clumsy, and I thought that making the season a guessing game about the identity of Sauron was kind of a cheap gimmick.

But the show was beautiful and visually faithful. The acting, production values, music, etc. were all great.

And I'll say that Season 2, three episodes in, is better. It's a very good show. The number of annoying scenes that we say in Season 1 (like Galadriel endlessly riding her horse) are way down. The direction is much crisper. The Sauron/Adar backstory is excellent.

The haters in here are people that I genuinely feel sorry for. They hate their own lives so much that they can only find pleasure in attacking a good show and the people who like it. They pretend that it's woke so that they can feel virtuous about the pathetic loserism they display in their bitterness and spite.

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Only because the writers, actors ,show runners and directors are interjecting politics where it does not belong.

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The primary showrunner is a Mormon. It's true that the whole show is a plot to convert every viewer into a Mormon.

No, wait, that's stupid. But it makes more sense than the fantasy that the show is about politics in ways that aren't essential to the plot (obviously, Pharazon's rise to power in Numenor has to have a political explanation).

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having Orcs struggle with good and bad is kind of ridiculous

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Not really. Towards the end of his life, Tolkien was exploring ways for orcs to find redemption. As a Christian, he ultimately came to dislike the idea that any creature was created so evil as to be beyond hope. Tolkien was a Catholic, not a Calvinist.

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Are you on the side of the mullahs in Iran?

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Yes, absolutely. Women should be seen and not heard.



Good grief, she's not going to war. And if she felt so damn passionate about this cause, why bother making S1 at all?

The series sucks, and so she dipped out. I don't blame her! I would to!

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The definitive review of RoP Season 2 had arrived.

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Shouldn't such a review xover the whole season, not just the first 3 episodes?

You are either lying about having read those books, or you didn’t even pay attention. Because nothing about this series honors Tolkien.

They mention names which you may casually remember, but the story & the motivations for the characters have been turned into an AI written mess. You aren’t enjoying a Tolkien series, you’re enjoying expensive cosplay.

Nothing more.

If y'all think it's that bad, just don't watch it.

I'm going to watch it. The first three episodes are pretty good, and I kinda see where they're going (and I happen to like the concept of it). I wish Season 1 was better, but they seemed to have improved on a lot of things.

Again, if you don't like it, don't watch it. And don't intentionally disrupt people who DO like it and want to discuss it. Try to show a little curtesy to others, maybe.

What's crazy, is that 3 episodes into the second season, this show still has the potential to turn things completely around.

Nobody cares about Disa and Arondar being black, they're doing fine in supporting roles. If you do care, at this point you need to get over it.

We're currently showing lots of flashbacks from Sauron's POV, you can take the crazy non-canon parts and say that was just Sauron deceiving people. Heck, "the tree dying" bit is teasing that already, now that we see Sauron has black goo tendrils (which is what's killing the tree). The myth about the origin of mithril can be a story he put out, to fool the Elves.
Just like Mount Doom causing earthquakes to frick up Khazad Dum- it's Sauron creating the crisis, and then Sauron providing the Rings as the miracle fix.

What would really be big, and I frankly don't think they will do it, but there's every basis in the canon to support it-
Celebrimbor and Annatar make the Rings, as they are currently. When the Seven and Nine are finished, Sauron goes to Mordor to craft the One. But Celebrimbor, having learned some new skills, then goes and forges 3 for the Elves... to replace the 3 "test-run" rings he started with. The first 3 were practice runs, just as Tolkien stated there were. These new, final 3 go to the Elves who got the first few- Gil Galad, Galadriel, and Cirdan, with a promise of "if you liked those, wait til you see these".

Other than condensed timeline (something that was always going to happen), we'd be back on track, with the added element of having seen Sauron frick with everyone, viewers included.

The review trolls would lose their minds, and the show-runners could simply shrug and say "Hey, this show is about Sauron's rise to power in the Second Age. If you didn't think he spread massive lies and deception that fooled even the Wise, I don't know what to tell you; it's all in the lore"