The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power series

given tolk's newest novel for xmas: THE FALL OF NÚMENOR

not convinced i'll learn that much i didn't already know but nice to have it in one swaggy production (inc.pix etc): already eyerolled at the phrase "magisterial 12-volume series" mind you

"under the masterful editorship of his son, christopher"

this intro needs fewer adjectives in this masterful sub-editor's opinion

Roffle. Just finished reading my copy yesterday; it’s a very handy compilation of the Second Age material for the curious and there were some things I’d forgotten about from their appearances in said series. Did underscore that with no ability to use nearly any of this due to the rights the TV series was always going to be something of a mess.

i know that that even when the ancient greeks knew otherwise the earth was considered flat in some of the viking sagas still (according to adam of bremen harald hardrada no less sailed to the actual edge and looked off into the abyss) but still JRRT arguing that the tragic broken-ness of the post-numenor world boo hoo = "it is now a GLOBE and that's bad" is some goofy shit tbqh

anyway i finished this: it is what it is

(it belongs here bcz published to time with the broadcast of the thread topic)

the section i enjoyed most was the fragment of the time-travelling* story the lost road: elendil and his grumpy teenage son herendil discuss how things are bad (giant big wave on the way) but you can't say anything (they argue abt this) and shouldn't they maybe sneak out the back with an entire mini-navy?

anyway it's a nicely written scene and you don't have to commit to memory tar-this and ar-that**, the rulers of the doomed island with their quirks (likes boats hates trees etc). apparently the other section of the lost road is apparently a modern-day passage abt one oswin and his son alboin but that isn't included. later on herendil evolved into isildur tho he was still given to adolescent snits, hence the whole "not destroying the ring when you could have" thing…

*yes
**tolk in HOMEWORK MODE 🙄

thinking a little more abt elendil and grumpy herendil it strikes me that there's something to be written abt the tricky relationship of fathers and sons in the body of tolkien's work, viz for example (in this book) numenorian ruler aldarion's with his dad meneldur (the son was the "shipwright" who preferred sailors to his wife, which ended up wrecking family relations and somewhat fvcking up his daughter ancalimë)

also of course there's JRRT's relaltionship with christopher T which was perhaps not tricky but did somewhat doom the son to a lifelong project trapped entirely within his dad's imagination (and lol i could also add my relationship as a reader in the 70s with my dad as an early passionate adopter in the 50s: i get lots out of tolkien but i am definitely as oedipally sceptical of many elements as i am filially attracted to others)

No lie there are interesting dynamics at play -- Tolkien's own loss of his father when he was small, his frustrations with his guardian after his mother passed. The Aldarion story was written (more accurately sketched out) in the 60s around when Christopher himself was going through a divorce and I've always wondered if that was the lens JRRT wrote it through; Christopher himself said nothing about that in print, perhaps unsurprisingly.

i feel like the only possible response here is "oh no!"

Truly a smash success:

It’s long been an open secret that Jeff Bezos has yearned for his own Game of Thrones, and that Amazon’s big swing as it reached for its own massive hit was The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power, believed to be the most expensive series ever made.

Last September, the show began with a bang, delivering the biggest debut ever on the streamer in what Amazon Studios chief Jennifer Salke called “a very culturally defining moment” for the company. But when season one wrapped, the show was less defining than hoped, falling short of being the breakout hit that Amazon had envisioned.

While Amazon, like other streamers, provides only limited data — and internally, it held information even more closely than usual on the series — sources confirm that The Rings of Power had a 37 percent domestic completion rate (customers who watched the entire series). Overseas, it reached 45 percent. (A 50 percent completion rate would be a solid but not spectacular result, according to insiders). The show has not been a major awards contender, either, overlooked by the major guilds with the exception of one SAG-AFTRA nomination for stunt ensemble.

But according to Salke, the series has worked. “This desire to paint the show as anything less than a success — it’s not reflective of any conversation I’m having internally,” she says. The second season, currently in production, will have more dramatic story turns, she adds. “That’s a huge opportunity for us. The first season required a lot of setting up.”

You keep telling yourself that.

I thought the show was pretty entertaining, but possibly not for any of the reasons they were aiming for

I will accept this judgment.

it's just tragic they spent so much time and money on a Neverwinter Nights expansion pack

cranking that Mount Doom ignition switch until that bad boy turns over

Squid Game had an 87% completion rate. Resident Evil was canceled for having a 45% completion rate. https://t.co/lMn7nyTLh2

— Ed Zitron (@edzitron) April 3, 2023

The whole thread with Zitron and David Ruddock's response there says it all.

“more dramatic story turns”

vacillating between “oh no” and “hell yeah”, the latter being more of morbid interest

Yeah I'm with you there. As I said elsewhere: "more dramatic story turns" = Galadriel and Halbrand are still in love, and are secretly long-lost twins. Meantime, Not Gandalf is arrested for wandering around with a tiny Harfoot. Elsewhere, whatshername and Kevin on Numenor take their relationship to new levels of drama by actually HOLDING EACH OTHER'S HANDS.

Oh dear elven gods do we have to buckle in for another 50 hours of hearing the exaggerated rolled R in Numenorrrrrr and Galadrrrrrriel and Elrrrrrrond?

Like, wouldn't the world be better off if someone had broken into Tolkien's house or hobbit-hole or whatever and simply rrrrremoved the rrr key from his typewrrriterrr?

The Lod of the Ings

let’s not go to MorrrrrRRH’dorrrrrrrrrrRRRHH’ afterrrh all

'Tis a silly place

Hahah no.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TCwmXY_f-e0

I know I'll watch this and hate myself for it

same

stupid sexy sauron

I can't remember if I finished this or not... It made the Hobbit trilogy look like Godfather II in comparison.

if you didn't finish it, you missed the key part of the story re: Mordor

and therefore have no idea just how unfortunately literal that sentence is

sauron in his cunning:
https://toytales.ca/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/DCS_2201-MT.jpg

lmao omar

that is still one of the funniest scenes in recent memory

Oh god

I will admittedly watch it, and will have a few laughs.

It's always good to remember that JJ Abrams is indirectly responsible for this.

The second age is weird, there's like two epic wars that could conclude this series. Is this show ending on the first one with the fall of Numenor? Or the 2nd one, where Gil-Galad and Elendil get YOU DIED Elden Ring style by Sauron on the slopes of Mt. Doom? Would like to hope it's limited to 3 seasons and you get the downfall of Numenor this year and the final season depicts the established peace afterwards, founding of Arnor and Gondor and then the final battle in Morder...

And then can we get a proper showrunner for the First Age and Fall of Gondolin? Or just make the latter into a sick 3 hour standalone film?

Also now I really want FromSoft to make a game that takes place in Middle Earth.

All I want is a 12 episode Children of Hurin.

Dare to dream

I’m not that invested in LotR so mostly wasn’t bothered by whatever bothered everyone about the first season. Except the last episode, which was really really bad.

“No, REALLY.” https://gizmodo.com/lotr-rings-of-power-season-2-behind-the-scenes-trailer-1851482298

So...it's come to this:

https://www.vanityfair.com/hollywood/story/tom-bombadil-the-rings-of-power-first-look

least laughable fan theory to feature on-screen at last

They seem to be operating with the assumption that Bombadil has to be one of the good guys.

no! NO!!

hearing the showrunners have hired lin-manuel miranda to adapt tom bombadil’s songs for the screen

counterpoint:

TOM BOMBADIL: Old Tom Bombadil is a merry...
[THE BEASTIE BOYS: FELLOW]
Bright blue his [JACKET] is
and his [BOOTS] are [YELLOW]

— 📻 King Boy T #OXO 🇵🇸 (@nailheadparty) August 13, 2021

If they leaned in hard to this, it would automatically become the greatest adaptation yet, but.

I appreciate the article's inclusion of Tolkien's statements over time being exasperated that fans refused to accept that Tom Bombadil was just this guy

just this guy (oldest, fatherless)

Basically, this is him

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8yC_dkbowus

Even Gandalf says if he was given the ring he'd probably just eat it or something although personally I think he'd just give it to Sauron either because he's the rightful owner, or maybe just to see what would happen.

Even Elrond's like, "Oh yeah, that weird fuckin' guy."

The amount of sheer waffle in this new piece. Also this image is Hannibal for straight people or something:

https://static1.colliderimages.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/rings-of-power-season-2-sam-hazeldine-morfydd-clark.jpg

"Yes yes I know you pleaded your case to me in the barn and I showed I was bent on genocide because of my husband I haven't been looking for and then you showed you were an asshole with the Rube Goldberg sword but let's have a fine little meal here. Love the drapery!"