Rings of Power - Beautiful and Terrible
ฝัง
- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 5 ก.ค. 2024
- Rings of Power is a beautiful tragedy. A vast world, many people, no character. From its discarding of the lore to its forced attempts at modern day race politics, it represents a betrayal of Tolkien's work and his philosophy.
But hey, it looks very pretty.
TIMESTAMPS
To the Nice Amazon Copyright Man: 00:00 - 03:08
Intro: Jeff Bezos as Satan: 03:09 - 15:34
Episode 1: A Long-Expected Tragedy: 15:35 - 01:08:29
Episode 2: Some Stuff Happens I Guess: 01:08:30 - 01:43:45
Coda: Character, Plot and Worldbuilding: 01:43:46 - 02:03:55
Conclusion: A Call to Arms: 02:03:56 - 02:09:25
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Part 2 is online and available here: th-cam.com/video/XYgcSEW6nPc/w-d-xo.html
i thought melkor helped ungoliath kill trees by smoking/burning them after she sucked out all the sap?
@@thekoalawasbrown Melkor stabbed them, Ungoliant sucked them dry. The stabbing enabled their destruction, but Ungoliant actually destroyed them.
Just watched this and discovered your amazing channel. Finally someone who shares my thinking of the best way to criticism on literature. Thank you for the great content. You have got yourself a watching every video subscriber.
@@TheLittlePlatoon If brandy's story of insane and murderous "totally not hobbits" was more interesting than the "totally supposed to be galadrieal" story, this show was screwed from the start.
Not a big tolkien fan but I watch people tear this show apart on a regular basis, simply because anyone who shits this hard on someone who spent an entire DECADE of their life working on something, deserves massive criticism.
Tolkien didn't deserve this kind of treatment, just like lucas didnt deserve what they did to starwars.
Its shit like this that gives me motivation to want to write my own book.
Just so people can have something that's about the story again instead of a billion other factors.
Only problem is, I suck at writing anything beyond poetry.
X'D
Good job tearing this show apart.
@@JudeMalachi Did... did you not watch the video?
Your first point is basically repeating nearly everything he said In it.
“When you tear out a man's tongue, you are not proving him a liar, you're only telling the world that you fear what he might say.”
That is awesome. I'm nicking this for my DnD campaign
Tyrion Lannister
LoL, guy bitching about YT censorship, meanwhile first label is "Bezos as Satan". Hm, OK
@@valerivalirian4320 the "victim card" goes both ways.
That makes too much sense to be a RoP quote.
One billion dollars could not come close to recreating what one brilliant man created out of genuine artistic creativity
My guy just wanted to write a story for his kids
Big Kudos to Richard Taylor. The things that small and relatively unknown, at the time, special effects show did to put LOTR on screen is still amazing.
Genuine artistic creativity of Tolkien 's level is rare and precious. Typical vacuous minds think they can make it if they throw enough money at it and it will magically appear.
GO WOKE AND GO BROKE.
1:04:24 Denethor was also suffering from lead poisoning.
@Admiral Nelson's Arm Bezos is truly Obadiah Stane and Lex Luthor lovechild.
"He hears a noise, he thinks it might be his integrity so he crawls down further" - i laughed so hard. 😂
The Irony that the show-runners fundamentally misunderstand Galadriel's astronomical and unique power in favor of just making her one of the (many) other Elven warriors from the age is just unbelievable.
Indeed and this is what frustrates me the most. Galadriel was a stateswoman. Her greatest gift was her ability to see through masks and facades to the heart of a person This is why she rejected Feanor, why she distrusted annatar. But instead we got sword girl. What’s her power? She has a sword. And this is supposed too be better and more empowering to women. Real Galadriel could influence the world with her wisdom and beauty when she was still a child. New Galadriel can kill 2 dozen orcs. I think I know which one is more powerful.
@@noahlanders7029Galadriel doesn't exist in Rings of Power, the one you talking about is Guyladriel, she's inferior and very weak compared to Galadriel.
Both a skilled stateswoman and an incredibly powerful wizard. In da books, after Sauron is defeated she tears down Dol Guldur by herself. (And bear in mind, with Sauron's defeat comes the diminishing of the other Rings of power. She's not at full strength when she does this.)
Making her a sword-brandishing brash brute is an insult to both the tremendous strength she had and her real most significant qualities. I can't see Feanor asking for the locks of this foul-tempered aggressive thing...
I can definitely see the Silmarillion Galadriel as being more rash and proud than at the time of LotR, in the way young people can be rash and convinced they're right (she was, after all, one of the leaders of the Noldor rebellion, and the only woman among them) - she truly matured into the version we see in LotR after her stay with Melian in Doriath. So I could be absolutely behind the idea to make her more flawed in the Rings of Power and present her as someone of great power who, however, still has much to learn in terms of humility. But the way they've tried to do it (by making her basically insufferable and also, frankly, quite stupid, and yet still present it like she's a badass and always right) is just... blah, no, eugh.
@@AW-uv3cbThat is just the thing. She is NOT young by Second Age, far from it. Bloody hell, she is supposed to be older than Gil-Galad, Celebrombor AND Elrond. She is a queen, a ruler, not a sword wielding brute😅
Tolkien made his world for the cost of paper and ink. Besos throws billions out and can't even compare. That's a strong lesson in the power of creativity.
Besos IS Sauron. "THERE IS NO PROFIT IN ART, ONLY MASS CONSUMERISM!"
All for a wank on the moon.
Cue The Police!
Exactly! People tend to not realize that a good story, interesting and dynamic characters, deep and invoking themes, and excellent prose are all FREE. Books, screenplays, whatever, it doesn't matter. Even if everything else is crap, if your story and characters are well written, anything else will likely be mostly forgiven or overlooked.
A great example of this is my all time fabourste film - 12 angry men. A good plot, very simple. A dozen actors and one small room and a tonne of great acting intertwined with another tonne of socio dynamics
@@grittyimagephotography3977 The simple stories are often the greatest ones. That's why everyone in the English speaking world knows Little Red Riding Hood, Hansel and Gretel, etc. They'll likely continue to be remembered, even 100 years into the future I imagine. In 100 years though, things like Game of Thrones or whatever else you can think of likely won't be.
It's why I wish people would stop trying to reinvent the wheel, or release some huge and great magnum opus that asks all the big questions. A lot of people say that they can't write, and I know why. A lot of people are under the impression that you have to write something massive, a spectacular masterpiece that'll live on forever. In reality, anybody can improve their technical skills in writing and write a solid, simple story.
@@juliaturk7054 i coudlnt agree more. It feels like the people with the money to commission shows have sacked all tje lighting team, the artists, true cenematographers and swapped them iit for operators and filled the gaps with political agendas and technology.
Thats why my avatar is a rubiks cube. A simple idea yet incredibly complex and has entertained all kinds of people simce its invention. And why my name is ‘gritty image’. I remove the gloss, and scuff thjngs up a little :)
I'm actually sad for Jeff's son, if that anecdote is true. Imagine your father being responsible for a garbage version of something you love. Yikes
That's (a degree of) irreparable damage right there. Forgiveness will be hard because Bezos didn't fuck it up because he made a mistake, he deliberately chose wokeness. If his kid is on team humanity (wanting to make the world a better place and therefore anti-woke because it makes the world a worse place) and has some serious morals, this might be the beginning of him realizing that his father seems to not be aligned with the good principles he preaches. At least that's how I would feel. This morality disparity might even feel like a form of betrayal ideologically speaking.
Is it a fact that his son is a “Tolkien scholar “ and if so does anyone know what happened with him or if he said anything?
It's ok. I'm sure he'll get over it having a nap on his bed made of all the money in the world.
Yikes indeed! 😅🤦🏻♀️👀
I doubt it, I even think he made up son's degree for that
As a welshman. Your description of the welsh and welsh women is spot on. I'm in stitches
I forgot to add that bit. I’m Welsh to butt..
"Actors are not people, by and large they are cretins."
So precise, so on point.
We live in a shiny dystopia, in which a company has wasted 1 billion dollars on a project and literally an unknown amount on punishing those who critique it and pay for those to praise it
I genuinely fear for the arts
The arts have been corrupted for quite awhile... golden toilets in art museums? paintings that are three strips of different colors or an all black or all white canvas? LOOK at what they have done to opera... there is a Wagner opera where nearly all the characters are wearing white rat costumes. (I think it was Lohengrin but won't swear to it.)
I fear for the economy that works on those premises.
@@kathleenhensley5951 For quite a while. It was my first encounter with this new age arts in Germany in the early 90s. Wagner too. "Siegfried" it was with singers walking around trash cans dressed as some "Mad Max" characters using trash can lids as shields. It was a shock to my then still unspoiled perception of art. Especially Germans doing that to their classics. I expect far less from opera since then.
Mega corporations like Amazon and Disney are ruining everything
This is about pushibg woke politics and tax evasion.
Tolkien wrote a conversation between Celebrimbor and Galadriel that defines her character. Celebrimbor asked her if she would ever return to Valinor. Galadriel responded with deep sadness in her heart.
"Neigh, for Aegnor is gone. Angrod is gone, and Felagund is no more. I am the last of the golden house of Finarfin. Mighty we were, my brothers an I, now I alone fight for us. I grieve their loss until the fight is done. "
Going back would betray the memory of her brothers and her house. It's clear the siblings were very, very close, and they were all in this together. They set out together, and she could not go back without them. That was her motive for staying middle earth. Not out of vengeance for their deaths, but love of forlorn of their memory.
And Amazon's Galadriel completely forgets about her other brothers, and her husband. Also secretly hate simping for Sauron, she is so obsessed with him in this show, that one would think if she's in love and playing hard to get. She refuses to join him, yet doesn't tell the others that Halbrand is Sauron. The Dark Lord's actions in War of the Ring is all her fault.
@ziephel-6780 I absolutely HATED how Finrod was represented in the show. He deserves so much more than that!! Also, her other brothers are completely shafted, which I think is ignorant because they rightfully deserved their own spotlight and could offer more insight into the characters' upbringing. They gave Galadriel all the emotional intelligence of a toilet brush both as a child and an adult when Galadriel was by far the wisest and most resilient of all the houses of Finwe. I am so mad at how cheaply she has been represented.
@@MegaJacko4 And that is what happens when a work of art is given to those who are self-obsessed with their own image of self-righteous egoism. They started sending this garbage out once Christopher Tolkien died, which is still an unforgivable act, like vandalizing the dead, regardless if it takes place in a graveyard or not.
It's telling that I subconsciously read that quote in Cate Blanchett's Galadriel voice lmao. She spoke with so much power behind her words
They also ignored how dearly bought the right to stay in Middle-Earth was by the Noldor who braved the journey.
Even ignoring the tragedy of the betrayal of Feanor, the suffering and the death the other groups endured on their perilous journey had the result that even if they COULD return to Valinor(something they were well aware they could not do even before they departed those blessed shores), they WOULD not do it. They were re-forged by their journey into something new, and their resolve to make something of their new life in the West had been re-forged along with them.
They would succeed, or perish - the ultimate expression of sunk-cost fallacy, were Tolkien to describe it as a fallacy to begin with.
For the sake of the success of building a new world in Middle-Earth, and acknowledging the Valar would not permit their return to Valinor, they could not turn back. For the sake of their own pride, which forced them to strive to succeed even in the face of tragedy and failure, they would not do it.
The great thing in Jackson's Lord of The Rings was that he relied on not just the books that the artworks of many great painters who worked on LOTR-related art before him. If you check out the paintings of Angus McBride you realize that Jackson has captured the mood of those paintings perfectly. Now if for example you look at Gil-galad in Rings of Power you just wonder who on earth would imagine him (or any other elf) looking like how he is portrayed in the series...
The writers of Rings of power deliberatly went against prior depictions of Lord of the ring characters because "hey, elves can have short hair too you know".
Peter Jackson constantly discarded the books. The PJ movies look visually very good, but the script is terrible.
Gil-Galad looks like Julius Ceasar/Augustus, which wasn't a thing as far as I remember. All elves look very Roman, which is very odd. They should look much more Norman, as is Gondor and Numenor, in opposition of more rugged and "savage" Anglo-Saxon-inspired Rohan and other, "lesser" men.
That isn't true for Fellowship
@@jakublulek3261
@@reek4062well millions of ppl disagree with ya buddy. That “terrible” script is pretty iconic and fairly accurate to the novels, even if not entirely faithful. He built on what was already there, rather than destroyed like rop.
How did they think this would fly with a fan base that has a penchant for accurately quoting the literature?
Sheer hubris. You can see also from their marketing (e.g. the 'Superfans') they were absolutely convinced there would be a massive audience of enlightened diverses who'd flock to see this abomination.
Simple. Those fans are obviously haters and reactionary misogynists, and as such warrant no justification to be taken seriously. They actually think that way. It is not what is being said, but rather who it is that says it. Thank you so much, deconstructionists.
Maybe they just started out by hating the audience? It seems like a common strategy by other studios like Disney.
I swear the writers weren’t even aware of Tolkien’s work enough to understand how serious the Tolkien scholars are 😂 They fired the one Tolkein Scholar they hired when he gave them bad feedback- and I think they thought he was just one crazy person 😉
Jokes on them we’re all crazy here 😂🤣 but it’s not just being pedantic, it’s a passion for being true to the world that Tolkien created. They assumed they could write Tolkien’s stories better than he did and that has not worked out for them 🙊
About the point that Tolkien would have hated "allegory" about him being Eru and Bezos being Melkor, a quote from Professor himself: "...I think that many confuse 'applicability' with 'allegory'; but the one resides in the freedom of the reader, and the other in the proposed domination of the author." Indeed, greatest achievement of LoTR is that it does not have allegory, but instead has eternal themes to make that story immortal. The reader may find themes and stories that can be applied to events back in history, or to modern day events, and we can safely say people will do so in the future as well. And it's ok, it's by design.
Underrated comment! You are so right about this.
Well said indeed
yeah Tolkien hated allegories.
Very thoughtful comment. I agree with this, I think Tolkien desired for readers to apply the themes and ideas in LOTR to things they recognize in history and their present lives, while not forcing them to allegorically connect those themes and ideas to only the things he wanted them to.
With all respect, the writers don't actually *love* Tolkien. They *covet* the Tolkien lore...
They lust after it and want to control it but they do not respect it. That is how one covets, not how one loves.
Perfectly said.
"Actors are not people, they're cretins.." never before have I ever wished so hard to like a video twice.
Agreed. This was a brilliant warning to not watch and be disappointed.
Most of them, yes. Jimmy Stewart was an exception. He was also an Air Force general and genuine WWII combat hero.
@@scottjoseph9578In no way do I disagree, yet to say that only he is the exception is simply not true.
@@J__T I said "mostly," and "an exception," not "the exception." Re-read my comment.
@@scottjoseph9578 Sure you did say 'most of them', but you only listed one exception and said 'was an exception' in no way implying there were more than he. You could have listed others or said he was 'one of the exceptions' or 'of the exceptions, Jimmy Stewart...'.
Recently I saw Anatomy of a Murder; Harvey, though, remains as one of my favorites. Yours?
I'm calling it now: Galadriel's dagger is Sting.
My justification being that the stupid knife has more screen time than some of the better characters.
"the writers are treating us like they need to treat each other" is the most insightful thing I have heard this year.
Here's hoping this doesn't get blocked again! The intro is a bit lore-heavy, but if you want to get straight on with the plot, the timestamps are in the description. Do please point out any inaccuracies- unlike Amazon, I actually give a damn. I'll correct them in the next video.
The episode 3 and 4 reviews will be rolled together and will hopefully be out in a week.
Fingers crossed that we get to see it today🤞🤞
Oh good! I've been looking forward to this ever since you posted that screenshot earlier.
I've been watching it, at first out of morbid curiosity (and the first episode was like watching a train crash), but the thing is that as a generic fantasy, it's decent. A lot of the problems of the first episode (lines and scenes that were stupid beyond belief) were ironed out in the second, and further ironed out in the third. I've actually found myself in for checking out the next episode at the end of every single one after episode 2. It's not good, but there IS potential there for it to become good, if it would just stop tripping over its own feet. It kind of reminds me of the first season of Arifureta in that way (a bit of a guilty pleasure, clear potential, and spending a lot of time tripping over its own feet).
As a Tolkien adaptation, though, it's a dumpster fire. They took a generic fantasy story and stamped it onto Tolkien's Second Age, and ripped out the diversity that was already baked into the setting only to replace it with one that hit the wall of accidental racism really hard. What they're trying to do IS interesting, and in the hands of people who are experienced showrunners with faith in the material, this could have been amazing. But, it's pretty clear that they don't have any faith in the material outside of lore references. Sauron in the Second Age is basically the devil - the temptor who corrupts and destroys Numenor, and corrupts and co-opts most of the Rings of Power. In this show he's the McGuffin, and they're trying to get the viewers to speculate on who Sauron will be (my money is on Galadriel - NOBODY will see that one coming).
So, I mean, watching it as a generic fantasy that somebody put an insane amount of money into is actually fairly pleasant and diverting. Just don't expect a Tolkien adaptation out of it.
Hi. I was just wondering, since I just finished your review on the Obi-Wan Kenobi series, I remember you saying that nitpicks are very important. My question to you is, are there any nitpicks that you personally don’t think are important?
@@laurahugillofficial I think *some* of them are, when they’re indicative of a general approach or a broader issue. That comes up in this video, actually - for example, a small section of dialogue that contradicts or doesn’t fit easily with prior world building doesn’t damage the story itself but it is indicative of a certain laziness that, because of all the other places it seeps in, does in fact damage the story.
I’m sure there are loads of genuine nitpicks that aren’t especially important or relevant. In Rings of Power, you could say, well, Sauron’s helmet actually doesn’t have the same number of spikes as it does in Fellowship of the Ring. I don’t consider that particularly important. So minor aesthetic discrepancies. Or things you have to look very, very hard to find the fault in, only for that fault not to really impact the plot, the world or the characters. Or character decisions in the spur of the moment that mightn’t be the wisest choice with hindsight, but that aren’t overtly dumb and stupid and contrary to that character’s established intelligence.
@@TheLittlePlatoon that’s very fair. I’m now more intrigued about your new video. 😊
Thank you for your response, by the way. I very much appreciate it. I hope you have a wonderful day. 😊
I just found you channel. I can say as an American, your English charm and shear sarcasm makes this one of the best videos on this subject. Your knowledge of the subject is unrivalled. I just subscribed.
Very kind of you to say so. Welcome aboard!
Can't believe they just cut out Ungolianth. Literal giant spider would have been great for $1 billion budget. Her story about creeping into the world from the void is also very interesting and her dominance at one point over Melkor.
They had to. For reasons I will never understand, they made RoP without securing rights to the Silmarillion. So, I think they had to tread carefully concerning characters like Ungoliant, to the point of full removal. Even Melkor has almost no presence in the show. All the more confusing that they tried to begin the introduction in the Year of the Trees, which virtually requires these characters to be mentioned for it to make any sense.
@@Draugoth oooh I see. Man they blew it overallz
The licencing issues are what I think affects a lot the constraint in what was able to be written in the show. It's very complex. I think it's Gizmodo that does a good breakdown. Basically 4 companies own different aspects of what I guess you could call it the I.P. One company owns all the publishing rights meaning the LOTR books. The Hobbit etc. Another company owns the rights to games that are produced and certain " words " and " names." Another owns the movie rights and finally Amazon who owns the smallest part which are the appendices. Because of the whole licencing palaver the writers were forced to make up a lot because they didn't have the rights. You see this alot in media. The whole comic book cinematic universe had a lot of examples, like Spiderman is a Marvel publishing license, Sony owns the film version. Disney owns the MCU but had to come to an agreement with Sony to use their license to show Spiderman in the Marvel movies. Back to R.O.P, none of the licencing issues take away from the fact that a large amount of the dialogue was bloody awful!
Of hell the stories of the 2 wizards that went into the east lands. There was not really any stories other than saying they went there and they could have really let creativity really flow with writing some stories there. Instead they bastardized great characters and races to push their ideology and they don't even realize it's so shallow that their metaphors fall flat because there is no subtext to actually convey.
@@mattiOTX A story centered around the Blue Wizards would have been cool. You'd have to make it a standalone thing, so like if your goal is to make the main plot about the rings, Sauron, and the fall of Numenor, a Blue Wizards story would feel disconnected. There's so much potential there though. We'd get to see a part of middle earth that has pretty much only been in our imaginations.
I love how unapologetically brutal and honest this is.
And also eloquent and thoroughly well argued
I agree but I will say that the odd balance the select trolling sarcasm creates is nearly stunning 🤣
Anything that can be destroyed by the truth deserves to be destroyed by the truth.
There are literarily a hundred other videos saying the exact same thing. I wonder how many mouths are fed by Amazon dropping this gigantic turd for all the flies to feast on. I'm sure someone has quit their job to fully devote their lives riding the hype-hate-train.
It's a great, and thorough analysis. I think the only thing I sorta disagree with is this idea I've seen bandied about now a lot that Tolkien 'loathed allegory'. I find that such an unusual take.
Here was a man who'd fought in the muddy, bloody, charred fields of France, and seen their horrors. Who was injured, and sent home, and watched as many others didn't return. He was a man who saw the road to the second world war, the rise of evil in Europe as others merely stood by and allowed it to flourish.
It's strange to me to simply write off how much of his experiences of the horrors and futility of war, and of the consequences of complacency in the face of evil informed his creation of the story of Lord of the Rings, and the world of Middle-Earth. What do people who do that imagine the Dead Marshes were inspired by? I know he wasn't preaching about social issues or the like, but to claim Tolkien 'loathed allegory' is quite absurd, to me.
Don’t know who you are. I have never watched a single video on your channel. I just want to say thank you. You have done a wonderful job explaining everything about this show that has made me uncomfortable and sad after waiting for so long to see it.
You have used creative knowledge, intelligence and humor to present an honest and balanced review.
You sir are now nominated to run for grand leader of the world. You have my vote.
Same here. Sometimes I few they could replace their entire team of writers by a random youtuber and it would turn out less bad..
@@fabianoenglerneto129 To be fair, critiquing a movie/series is a lot easier than writing a movie/series.
@@tranquilthoughts7233This is true, but actual fans of the source material would at least put in the damned effort to stay true to canon. Rather than declare the concept of canon itself a problem and ditch it.
@@Rebellions 100% agree.
@@tranquilthoughts7233 All evidence to the contrary, if we're using LotR:RoP as the litmus test for that.
A lesson these writers should learn about profundity: Tolkien wasn't just using big words or really trying to be anymore profound than the base messages given in his dialogue. He had such a mastery over the English language that he could articulate small, seemingly insignificant ideas in such a beautiful way that it seems profound to the readers or viewers. He wasn't just "using big words" as RoP writers seem to think he did. He used his knowledge of the English language to get through to us these simple messages of peace and love and good that is worth fighting for. You can't boil a writing style like Tolkiens to a single word like "mystical", or "profound" because of how deep his works are, and it's even more insulting to his work that the showrunners genuinely thought that is how an adaptation of Tolkien should be written
its crazy to think they jeff saved the expanse yet is doing this to the lord of the rings
A year later and im on my 6th re-watch lol i just love watching/hearing our guy here rip it all apart
I think this is my 3rd or 4th re-watch of this review and I must admit listening to him tear through the rings of power brings me happiness.
Gil-Galad looks so... human. Neither him nor the actor they chose for Elrond or Andariel or whatever his name is have elvish features, unlike the people in the Hobbit and LOTR movies.
In fairness to Young Ned, he's very angular. But he does not look anything like Hugo Weaving.😆
The Hobbit dad is extremely well cast as a hobbit, and Elendil looks like a Numenorean. Durin is awesom. Orcs also look great. That's about where that ends.
Elvish Presley
THAT!
In original trilogy elves were depicted exactly like they were in the books - elegant yet jovial, ancient yet eternally young, more beautiful and wise than a human, standing on the whole other level of existence. Their movement, their way of talking, way of thinking were alien to the man. Hobbit dilluded that feeling, because we see much more of elves in those movies and getting somewhat accustomed to them, but kept the whole "super human" vibe. Legolas' father, Thranduil still had felt like an ancient being far beyond ourselves, despite him being arguably less prominent figure than Gil-Galad or Galadriel.
The mere presence of the Gil-Galad, king of one of the greatest elven kingdoms, should instill the reverence of him in the same vein as films' Galadriel - someone as beautiful as the star and as powerful as demigod, fearsome foe and trustworthy ally. Yet, I see just an ordinary human in fancy garments who thinks too much of himself. Such a waste of potential, not gonna lie
@@VasiliyOgniovtrongly agree. I’m no great fan of the Hobbit films-or even of the fact that there were three of them-but they nail Thranduil, the ethereal Elf king who simply doesn’t exist on the same short, scruffy timeline the Men and Dwarves inhabit. Like Elrond, Arwen, Galadriel, and the rest, he looks otherworldly, because, well, that’s what Tolkien’s Elves are. That’s why Arwen’s decision to forsake her people and remain with Aragorn is so meaningful and so brave. She’s not just choosing a mortal. She’s throwing in her lot with a whole world of mortals, all when she could cut her losses and leave it behind.
It’s a pity they couldn’t replicate this with Legolas or What’s-her-name, instead going for “Legolas can run on falling rocks like a video game character,” but they do get props for Thranduil. Between the costuming, the ridiculously long robes and cloaks, the throne, the demeanor, the script, the giant flipping stag, he’s set apart. He’s extra AF, as the kids say, and it works.
Gil-Galad should be Thranduil on steroids. He’s an Elf-King of legend, damnit. Instead, he’s so very ordinary. Except for the pointy ears, he could be a Game of Thrones extra and no one would give him a second glance. That’s less about the actor than the directors and all the choices they made and approved in his creation.
When Galadriel just stopped, placed her hands together, formed seals and cried "that's my way of the ninja" before transforming into a female dwarf in a swim suit I knew that Saske would definitely come back to the village with us!
remmember when morbius morbed into a morbin mass of morbingness and just morbed all over ?
Was that the part where she Galadrieled all over them?
Her frowning and stabbing people with her nose are the most terrifying things I've ever seen!
It’s depressing how he had so much better foreshadowing of stuff then the show actually gave us, the sacking of that dwarven city sounds so interesting, just from the perspective we would have to see the two races different styles of warfare.
Doriath was an elven kingdom not a dwarven city. The sacking of doriath in large part revolves around the nauglamir, the most beautiful piece of jewlery ever created on middle earth, the pinnacle of elven and dwarven craftsmanship, a piece of art that even surpassed the skills of Aule himself. And the Nauglamir had as it's centrepiece one of the silmarill.
To make a long and intricate story short, after Hurin brought the treasures of Nargothrond to Doriath Thingol summoned some dwarves from Belegost to forge the treasures into jewlery. The finest piece the dwarves created was the Nauglamir. Thingol then requested the dwarves to fit the silmarill of Beren and Luthien into the nauglamir which the dwarves did. What happened then is disputed. The elves insist that the dwarves, greedy for the silmarill tried to steal the Nauglamir while the dwarves insist that Thingol refused to pay them for their work and thus they decided to take the Nauglamir as payment. What's not in dispute though is that a fight broke out in which the dwarves killed thingol but all except two of the dwarves too were slain. Those two managed to escape to the dwarven city of Nogrod and tell their story. And that is in short the beginning of the discord between elves and dwarves that led to, aomng many other things, the sacking of Doriath. And one might even argue it led almost directly to the second kinslaying.
The tear rolling down the face of Gríma is so much more convincing and profound than Mighty Morfydd's fake tear. Look at how quickly it slips down and makes a sharp turn right into her nostril.
Thank you for this video by the way! This isn't the first time I'm watching, this was the first video I've seen from you, and since then I've been consuming large quantities of your other content as well. I'm here thanks to watching the RoP series of Random Film Talk, and I am grateful to have found several amazing content creators such as you guys. Up until the last week or so I've refrained form watching ANYTHING related to RoP on principle, but now I am thankful that I did, and so got to discover new favourite channels.
I look forward to more RoP and pretty much anything else from you in the future!
also, I didnt know Elves cried, I thought they had more control over their feelings. but of course, everyone in todays art are over-emotional children, just like todays college students.
Grima's also looks more real because it is. The actor can do it on command, and he thought it made sense for his character in that scene.
I once watched a documentary that was 90 minutes long on America's garbage. Now I've watched one that's 129 minutes long. Well done sir. You deserve so much credit for the time and effort you put into this. Here's to hoping this one stays up!
Call 911 if:
The burn penetrates all layers of the skin.
The skin is leathery or charred looking, with white, brown, or black patches.
So far so good. Thanks!
America does not accept this garbage!
@@Surethien I don't know why you've put this here but this is kinda important so whatever
@@chillsis1650 let me clarify: I put that there as a compliment to the burn in Joshua's well-phrased comment regarding having watched a 129 garbage show : )
(Edit: Ok, it keeps bothering me, so I'll correct the phrasing, even after nearly a week went by: "Having watched a 129m show *about* garbage".)
“And into this rings of power he poured his cruelty, his malice, his will to dominate all life.”
That intro was legendary and left me transfixed while I listened to it, unable to continue what I was doing. Incredible writing and voice!
Subscribed, can’t wait to listen to the rest of it!
When Gil-Galad sends Guyladriel away because she might find the evil that she seeks to destroy, it makes perfect sense - if the person sending her away is the true evil.
Or if the Raiders are incompetent and can't think of another way to get her to meet Halbrand.
As for "hunky brother" saying he might not always be there to help his little sister in the future, I interpreted that to mean that when people grow up, they often leave home meaning that he might not always be in the same physical location where she is.
Thank you for all the time, thought, and energy you have put into creating this critique!
I'm LIVING for the Amazon employee call out in the beginning. If I heard that as an employee, I'd cry myself to sleep lol.
They already cry. In the loo. When they're finally allowed to go there.
@@ChildrenOfRadiationoh, so only once every 3 weeks? lmaoo
Amazon employees don't sleep
Why do you think the video is still here?
Bold of you to assume Amazon lets its employees sleep
It is shocking to see the amateurish results a billion dollars will get. Bad foley work (e.g. books being closed twice, knives being pulled out twice), head-scratching editing decisions, and of course the inexperienced writers. It is just so easy to pick apart, and a fantastic cure for insomnia.
This sounds like a failure of direction more than anything else. A real head-scratcher considering the budget.
@@Lennis01 When your talent pool is drawn from a well poisoned by neo boshie slime water it makes perfect sense, they're circling the drain from the outset with nothing left but a fetid stench and lining of grimy scum tarnishing Tolkein forever - as was the intent of the cultural marxoid sewer daemons.
Money matters little if you choose to squander it.
i still cant get over the initial pretentious dialogues in the prologue,
i dont know much about tolkein's lore or at least not enough to have confidence on my knowledge of it so i was super confused as they showed these eternal tree thingies in the background after they talked about Sun and stuffs lmao
i legit thought it at least would be a competent show which will be horrible as an adaptation bit a good generic fantasy(after all they spend a billion dollar on it right), but holy sh^z it is bland and boring and downright cringe and facepalm inducing.
i dont remember when was the last time i fell asleep watching anything
@@btchiaintkidding7837 The last time I had a show make me so tired was the Jodi Whittaker Doctor Who. After three shows in a row had me snoring on the sofa, I pulled the plug on the franchise.
Galadriel: it’s not going to float it’s going to sail.
Little platoon: it doesn’t have any sails.
To piggyback onto the “it’s just a blockbuster” thing: I hate it when the argumentative retort is “it’s just a kids’ movie”. Yes. Exactly. All the more reason for that media to be as high quality as possible. A child’s mind is moldable as clay and absorbent as a sponge. Children NEED good stories with well written to relate to, look up to, learn from. This isn’t said to remove responsibility from the parents, obviously, but the children deserve better.
I would like to point out the Bezos/Melkor comparison isn’t allegory, it’s application. Allegory implies that Tolkien wrote the message. Tolkien is a strong advocate for application and would no doubt approve the opening of this video. The problem with allegory is that it attempts to force the audience to engage with the story in one specific way, rather than allow the reader to relate it to their own experience. It makes the Rings of Power clumsy attempts at inserting modern day issues of American culture all the more insulting to Tolkien
One of the arguments against allegory, is that an allegory only represents an attempt to describe 1 specific thought, great books attempt to describe all the thoughts that the writer has. When the writer is great, the story will apply to a thousand situations and stories. So it will apply to many different situations, being an accurate description of reality. I agree completely with your separation of application and allegory. You can apply LOTR to a hundred men and situations, that is one of its pleasures, but it was not written as an allegory of any one or any hundred.
I am so impressed with your ability to shed light on the true problems with this show (weak writing, poor acting, disregarding the lore, inserting targeted political messages). Every point you make is clear and concise. You my friend can cut right through the bullshit that Amazon has been throwing at Tolkien fans.
I’m glad to hear it, and thanks for saying so!
Don't forget part of this travesty is down to the immoral writers in this day and age who write characters who reflect their own immoral views. Narcissistic, lacking empathy, sense of entitlement, greed and and proud. Traits that your average human with a sound mind/judgement dislikes. Back in the day writers such as Tolkien lived in a different age built on moral values and write characters we aspired to not ones that are almost as evil as suaron himself! Note how giga Chad galadriel talks to the leader of the orcs about wiping out his whole progeny whilst making him watch and killing him in the end. Even suaron himself did not kill aimlessly and make it personal if he could make some use out of his enemy. She even is willing to leave her own soldiers behind for dead as per the first episode what the hell? Are we sure she won't become suaron lol
It is truly amazing to have someone interpret what I can only ever describe as an itch between my shoulder blade indicating to me that there's something just not right with what I'm watching thank you so much.
I picked thus vid just outta nowhere and yup. I'm so glad I watched thus instead of the show. Friends have tried to get me to watch it.....hahahaha nope
@Flynn544 people like different stuff, with an audience this large I'd be surprised if nobody liked it
I just tried doing an analysis on Théoden's arc and the copyright process was brutal. I must have re-edited, re-rendered and re-uploaded the video maybe 7 times. Nine seconds really seems to be the right amount, but it sucks I can't get more in...sometimes it just drives the point home in a much more elegant way.
6 months ago I finished my first book and have since then been very lazy to continue with writing a new story, but your words in the end inspired me to finally start writing once again...I know this video is a year old but still...thank you very much
Those Harfoots turn into extremely unlikeable characters, later, when you discover their amazing lack of morals and willingness to kill their own to preserve the rest. Superb review. Deep and entertaining.
The Hickmans need to talk to their lawyers about suing for copyright infringement. The Harfoots are clearly just renamed Kender.
They leave their own to die for the most minor inconveniences too 😂 like, one just got his wheel stuck in a swamp. Really a solvable problem if they stopped for ten minutes and all helped him. Instead they LEFT HIM TO DIE. And now they chant about it like they care 🙄
Ironic: Galadriel was given that name by Celeborn, the husband who is not in the series. Galadriel was not her birth name. It was Artanis/Nerwen.
Is there a family safe explanation for his name for his wife !
'Cor blimy my wife is a right goer'
@@joefish6091 Minor correction: there is some suggestion that she had the name Galadriel before marrying Celeborn but I believe it's Sindarin rather than Quenya and since he was a Sindar he favoured it. It means "crown of golden hair" and basically described her hairdo.
...and the fans have bestowed upon her a new, more fitting name: She has become Guy-ladrial...no explanation needed.
Im reading the silmarrlion now. Her name is Galadriel in the silmarrlion
It doesnt say her husband named her. By the book itself, her name has always been Galadriel
Remember when it took an elf, a dwarf, a knight, a wizard, and a Numenorean to take down a troll smaller than the snow troll? I remember that...
A lot of people don't realize that Saruman wants Gandalf as an ally, because he intends to betray Sauron as you touch on; in some misguided sense of the greater good, as his ego also makes him believe himself to be superior to the beings of Middle Earth, rather than as a friend and guide like the role Gandalf has taken. His character has layers of subtlety, while having considerably less screen time than the rest of the characters, his actions both on and off screen make them radiate throughout the films; which is very indicative of the characters, they feel like they actually belong in the world, and do things said beings would naturally do based on the events that impact their world, because it feels natural that they live in it.
It drives me crazy that when new writers take over an IP and want to tell their "own story", which adds contrivance, throws character motivation out the window, creates plot holes for existing content either later in the lore, or in their own writing. They create events they want to specifically tell, then bend the story to an unnatural angle to make the existing story conform to said story, rather than it being a natural progression of world building, and character development. Have these writers not heard of the hero's journey? It's a literal guide to writing a story, that mixed with one of the best ever written worlds, gave them the strongest foundation to work with, and they threw it away.
This last point is a hot take, but I find it hard to support the writers strike because it's these shitty writers that are being overpaid complaining, when it's the guys in the trenches that are actually in need of better pay. The people that write this kind of garbage should in fact not be employed.
That's probably because the "wants to usurp Sauron" angle was either not there or much too subtle in the movies. There it seems like he is throwing his lot in with Sauron rather than him trying to compete for the #1 spot. Though to be a bit fair, in both versions he was defeated before his plans could come to any real fruition, so it wasn't a major deal, and both made it clear that Saruman thought much more highly of himself than he really was.
And that's not a hot take at all, at least I don't think so. Those writers were getting way more money and attention than they ever deserved, to say they needed more is the height of arrogance.
My heart melts every time I see Liv Tyler, she looked so incredible in Lord of the Rings. There isn't a single person cast as an elf in this entire TV show that comes close to looking anything close to what I pictured an elf looking like. Pointy ears doesn't just magically make them an elf.. plus the short hair is just.. wrong. Peter Jackson absolutely nailed the look of the characters.
They look more like Romulans.
My tween nephew's Halloween costume last year looked more like an elf than Rings of Power's elves lol
And we have varying degrees of Latino heritage lol.
As a kid I had an epic crush on her because of the movies.
My 12 year old self was not prepared for Liv Tyler in Fellowship
She was the spitting image of my cousin in the original trilogy, we even started to call her Arawen xP
I do wonder if they think making people wait longer for these videos somehow equates to good publicity? "They keep blocking all of my favourite youtubers videos; they must be alright actually. Think I'll go subscribe to prime in the meantime." Said nobody ever.
It is the far less popular plan B of the Dark Lord, Sauron. Forged in secret, it was decided that Amazon would forge dark alliances to dissuade people from discussing and dissecting their show.
For none would love it, nor respect it, nor hold it in any high regard. And those that did, would not remain at their side.
I think they're hoping more that you just stop watching his videos. They probably would rather lose customers than risk alienating the big companies who can pay them a lot of money for ad space.
I don’t disagree with you, I’m sure they’d be quite happy for us to stop watching but I think they’ve written us and other critics off and are just desperately trying to appeal to what they perceive as the normies.
What Bezos said to the crowd was BS. He only did this to try to have something to go up against his nemesis HBO and its Game of Thrones. I had a friend ask me to explain the first episode because it was too boring and she couldn't understand it, and I pretty much told her to read the Silmarillion because this was Tolkien. It went well with non-book readers, of course, but for people like me and others who actually read Tolkien, this was a waste of $1 billion. The girl that played Galadriel didn't even know she was supposed to be Galadriel until she got to New Zealand, she says. How is that even possible? Why is that even possible?
wow.. this video is so good, but your 'call to arms' section is so well written, so succinct and articulate, its honestly one of the best explanations and conclusion to a video ive ever seen.. i love your channel and mission, im behind you 💯 friend.. cheers 🥂
It's impressive that my expectations were so low and yet this show still managed to disappoint me.
The analogy of Melkor to Bezos is one of the most astounding and motivating observations I’ve heard in a long time. I hear the call to arms, and encourage all to organise their lives to dream and produce new and higher quality stories. 🙌🏼
I don't even know the first thing about Lord of the Rings, but the way he painted the picture of it with his words made me want to take up arms and go to war alongside the forces of good.
Jobs*
I don’t know why it took so long for your channel to appear on my feed but I sure am glad it finally did. Thank you for doing what you did here. You automatically have my subscription and I look forward to watching all your other videos.
PS: Does anyone know what, if anything, happened with his “Tolkien scholar “ son?
I assume after that story ended, this mysterious "son" vanished along with it.
I wonder how Mauler took your evisceration of Welshmen . I just about drove off the road in tears. I am new to your content and I love it. Keep it up and Cheers .
Well he hasn’t disowned me, so I’ll take it as a win!
That there are still Tolkien “scholars” who defend this show boggles the mind. Or they were paid by Amazon.
They just get subtly sponsored by Audible, which is guess what owned by Amazon
Integrity has always been a rare quality. Money greases all wheels
tolkien's grandson is an advisor on the show.
@@billy-the-butcher yea just goes to show if enough money is involved there are people who will sell out their own family and throw out their kin's life's work in the trash for the sake of money.
Just chatted with a guy who couldn't handle me memeing/parodying a quote from the Rings of Power so he busted out how Jackson's films butchered Tolkien's work the same way as the Rings of Power do
Tolkien was an absolute genius to create this whole world with it's different cultures, mythology and characters, and he started that journey in a trench during WW1 ❤️
That's Transphobic Bro.
"Tolkien built this in a CAVE, with a bunch of SCRAPS!"
- Elrond, probably
@@Kaizuk0hakupac TRENCHphobic,errr """bro"""!
@@Kaizuk0hakupac That's CIS-phobic and mighty ableist of ya, bro. She's an Aunt with Aspergers, given the sn.
The only thing I love about Amazon’s ROP is that it compelled me to read The Silmarillion. I’m just glad Bezos was too dumb and kept his greedy hands off The Silmarillion. In the right hands, the aforementioned work could make an amazing HBO series. Great analysis btw ❤
I'm a lady, and I remember as a kid I didn't care for most of the female characters because they were portrayed either as "the damsel in distress" or "the one who has the series random power". I remember liking some of the Disney princesses, like Belle or Jasmine, but beyond that I always preferred male characters because they were allowed to grow and didn't start as the strongest character of the bunch. And now that I'm an adult I see the exact same problem again: females are only portrayed as "the one who has the series random power", which makes me naturally gravitate towards male characters because, despite being a female myself, I relate more to the male character who's allowed to grow and learn than the female character who's already perfect.
If I had to put an example of a female character I actually really like and can relate to, and she's more or less modern, it would be Hera, from Star Wars Rebels. She's strong but also motherly, she tries to remain calm but also loses her patience when everything is too much. She tries to be the mother that Ezra, the main character, hasn't had for 8 years, and she struggles with it. She's the captain of the main group, but we are allowed to see her doubts when the situation surpasses her, and she allows other characters to see her doubts. That's why when she earns something it feels real: she fought for it, she suffered for it, it wasn't handed to her just because she's a woman.
Please, more of this, less of "mighty morphing power elf".
Rebels characters were always more than just 1-D cartoon starwars guys, and of course Filioni had to skin and eat them all just to fuel to dumpsterfire that was Asohka
@@bendoyle6370 Ugh, yes. I think the only thing Asohka is for is to let the fans know that Ezra is back. Aside from that, nothing of value came from that abomination.
“Actors by and large are not people; they are cretins” got a huge laugh from me 🤣🤣🤣 thank you!
Amen.
Hitchcock had the right idea. Jimmy Stewart, Air Force COMBAT General, was an exception. Not many others.
As a recovered actor I can attest too it's truth. 🤣
Hahaha, I was looking for this comment lol. He's not wrong ;)
Yeah....tell that to Henry cavill, Virgo morteson, cate blanchett and so many other amazing actors.
Galadriel should only ever be seen in third person, her mystery and distance is the allure of her character. If she had been shown to be a fighter or angry from glimpses, but with the same feeling of distance from the viewer, then you can make that work. But now she's just a normal human girl playing at being an elf.
This! The mystique and ethereal nature of her character has been completely removed…
How right you are. In the Lore Galadriel was schooled by maiar under the Valara rule. She fought primordial armies of evil. Leveled a forteress with her powers. And she is just 3900 year old. I did not watch the show but viewed numerous abstracts and saw... cant tell exactly what but definitly not a living legend in the Middle Earth.
Casting and directing are huge issues for her character as well. I don't think Morfydd Clark has much range, and on top of that she's being handed these horrific scripts. Just a travesty all around.
They needed a go-girl, action-figure to provide "diversity". (Because: pretty blonde girls are diverse.)
So they chose Galadriel, a character who barely moves, barely does anything in the original Lord of the Rings. The most she does is hand out some gifts, and utter vague warnings.
i am so tired of this : ,,You go girl " ! Bullshit
Tbh I only watched the LotR movies but never read the books because I wasn't too much into the fantasy Genre. But this video made me realize how much lore there is to explore and if I absolutely love something then it's highly detailed world-building. Since neither Rings of Power nor The Hobbit are good adaptations, I'm gonna start reading the books, starting everything in chronological order.
Thank you for giving so much interesting background in your video. It really inspired me to take a full dive into Tolkien's world
Chronologically you would start with Silmarillion but for the love of God, do not start with that book. It is fantastic, full of lore, stories, and worldbuilding. It is also dry and reads like a Bible.
Start with the Hobbit, read through LOTR, then do Silmarillion.
@SquishyHunter I think I'll be fine. I've already read the whole Bible as a teen several times (not because I'm religious but I'm really into world creation stories), and the only issue I have so far is memorizing the locations. And once my brain starts to hyperfocus on something, I have an easier time to memorize the names. I'm currently at the part in the story where Fingon frees his cousin Maedhros and the only issue I have so far is keeping up with the names of all the locations.
The trilogy and the hobbit are the only canon stories. They can be excessive in detail.
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You’d like the Metro series, Metro 2033, 2034, and 2035, they also got video game adaptations that are amazing. For general backstory: when the Soviet Union built their subway systems, they were designed to work as nuclear shelters, and this is actually true in real life. In the series however, World War 3 would happen in 2013, 40,000 people would escape to the Metro tunnels under Moscow, and various factions would take rise, the Rangers, the Red Line, Hansa, and the Reich. The books and games follow Artyom, who was born just prior to the war and has lived most of his life in a single station on the outskirts.
I’d recommend the books first, but if you plan on playing the games do it with the Russian voices, the English voice acting kinda sucks and can really pull you out of the story.
I was going to skip the deep lore, but i liked hearing it in your voice so much i decided to listen to it.
Edit: this was the first video of yours I saw, watched through nearly everything else you made and am thoroughly impressed.
I love when Gandalf yells at the ents, "Run, forest! Run!" So brave.
this comment killed me and that total burn at 32:20 about "this actor is such a plank of wood, they could have easily cast him as a treant"
😂 lol
That's actually too good. Damn you, sir.
When Galadriel stormed Helm's Deep while yelling "It's Hulkin' time!!" I knew at that moment that Amazon Studios had created a masterpiece
I can’t wait to see how she takes down Voldemort’s Death Star. That’s going to be epic.
@@TheLittlePlatoon I can't wait to see them reveal that Voldemort is Galadriel's father before kicking her down a hole.
@@jakomioftherose2434 I cant wait for that hole to lead to some sort of Wonderland
@@TheLittlePlatoon She is going to find Luke on a remote island
my favourite scene is when galadriel said "where's the fuking money sauron?" "where's the fuking money shitheaaaaaddd"
It’s so nice to see a review by someone who actually knows what they’re talking about. I’ve seen so many reviews where people just complain that it’s not like the LOTR trilogy and they complain about lore issues by creating more lore issues, if that makes sense haha. Glad to see you’re talking about what Tolkien would have wanted, not what Peter Jackson would have done. (I absolutely love the Peter Jackson trilogy but you know what I mean)
I did realize a long time ago that there are a lot of people who just watch entertainment fundamentally different than I do. Some people do this complete submission thing and let them be 100% guided by the content, if the screen says it is funny you laugh, if it says it is scary you are scared, etc. To them it really is about turning their brain off and accepting that whatever comes on the screen is the truth and should be accepted at face value.
For me it is the exact opposite, to me thinking about it is the entertainment, I’m constantly asking questions and figuring out the internal logic of the story.
Like with BCS, I love having endless discussions about the morality of Chuck vs Jimmy, bickering about minute details of the show is what makes it so fun for me, it is what gives the universe strength.
But many people do the exact opposite, they just want simple instructions, funny music + words that are said as if they were a joke = hysterical laughter, that is all you need to know it doesn’t need to make sense. If there is scary music + a guy wearing a monster costume = terror, doesn’t need to be set up, doesn’t need to have any consistency with the story, “it is just a movie bro”.
This is of course exactly one of societies control mechanism that brainwashes us into docility and submission to authority. Resistance and thinking will just make you unhappy, you need to blindly accept what the authority says l, if they say laugh you laugh, if they say cry you cry, doesn’t need a reason, doesn’t need to have logic, “it is just a movie”, “why are you getting upset about a fantasy story not making any sense?”; “Why are you so bitter? Can’t you just enjoy a movie?”
They say politics is downstream from culture, this is exactly one of the ways that happens. It a marriage between mindless consumerism and authoritarianism that teaches us how to perceive the world, don’t think about it, just mindless consume the new stuff and do what you are told, that will make you happy, questioning and deviance will just make a bitter resentful person who just doesn’t want to enjoy life.
DUDE the editing in this video is SO GOOD, i love how on point the parts of lord of the rings are with what you’re saying. You made me laugh so many times and it was just a fun video to watch…
The fact that you did this for a 2 hours video says you have put so much work into this. You probably put more effort into writing your video than the writing team in the whole season xD
That’s great to hear! Honestly, I’ve made so many versions of this in the last week to get past Amazon’s copyright arseholes that I was a bit worried the end product would look a mess. I’m glad it seemed to come together!
Facts
'You don't speak for me' *Thank You!* I'm gay, black & fabulous and I don't need a hate group pretending to speak for me. They sow discord and malice at the altar of humanity. Also, respect the source of your story telling or create your own fantasy world that can have all the elements, world building and history you desire. Love your vids btw...
I think I’m in love….
I agree! As a woman, I am insulted by the fashionably woke writers' shoving the narrative that a character is great simply by virtue of her vagina. Like everyone, women are made great by character and quality, not their you-know-what.
salute you both. it takes courage to go against Grima Wormtongues, pretending to speak for you, be your friends, at the height of their influence.
As a straight white man, I'm glad to represent you. Lol
My best possible steelman for the “one day I may not be here to teach you” thing is that he’s just not that good of a brother and is warning her he might just ditch her somewhere down the line if he gets bored of helping her, which makes him a massive dick but it’s the only justification why someone with no concept of their own mortality would say that
"One of these days, sis, i'm gonna shed this whole burden of being an older brother and this honorable warrior in a proud line of immortal elves schtick. Get ready to take care of yourself because this shit is lame and i'm packing my bags to find my *real* calling in Life." 😂
This is one of the best critiques I've ever watched. You're an eloquent writer, and an articulate narrator, and obviously extremely well-versed in Tolkien's works and lore. I'm only familiar with The Hobbit and the 3 main Lord of the Rings books, and haven't read any of the other pieces (yet), and didn't really want my first experience with any of that to be in the form of a botched streaming show, so your video was goddamn *perfect* for me. I instantly subbed to your channel too, amd I'm looking forward to seeing whatever else you've done! Cheers mate, and thanks again.
This is the most hilariously articulate lore-backed, dissection of ROP I've seen, thus far. Love
This moron considers his British ass a constitutional scholar. Take some salt with you
The most self important unfunny critique of the show (which provides so much fodder for critique videos but pretentious “creator” , who probably collects welfare from the few UK taxpayers there are, was too in love with his own annoying voice, he just rambles on about stupid stuff
@@nottellingyou14 "Rambles on about stupid stuff" -- It's his opinion. This is an opinion piece, clearly biased and meant to explain that bias to the viewer in order to influence the viewer's own bias. If you do not care about his opinion, then why are you here? It seems to me that you are the stupid one.
@@nottellingyou14 Didn’t you like this video?
@@Joeistheking Bet he's a bot, or didn't watch the whole thing. Lefty, s***- Eater, either way.
I think it's hilarious that the hobbits that Brandy feels stifled by and wants to escape to see the world are themselves nomadic. It would be significantly less stupid if they were constantly fleeing cowards who refuse to make connections with other groups and her disagreement was formed from empathy to others. Like "We can't run away from evil like Morgoth. We need to stand alongside the others and fight."
The problem with the not hobbits is that nothing about them as a society or culture works. Like these people are supposed to be farmers who have orchards and gardens, but they're nomadic. They have metal working and pottery, but basically live out of oversized shopping carts. None of that remotely works. They claim that nobody walks alone, but later Lenny Henry says that several of their people were left alone to die in the mountain passes and elsewhere. Also, and this is just a nitpick as someone who is a Tolkien fan, why are the not hobbits using a different alphabet than one of Tolkien's? They could have used either the Cirth or the Tengwar (most likely they would be using the Cirth which was Tolkien's variant of the old Norse runes) but instead they're using something completely different. Either they decided to make up their own new writing system or there's something else going on.
@@pittland44 their contradictory in their statements just like every woke person that exists
@@pittland44 ohh, the Nobody walks alone thing can simply be a mistake in intent. Its meaning is not "We help each other." but rather, "You will be die and we won't help you." Its a threat to keep people in line.
@@TrixyTrixter Oh, that makes way more sense.
Yes that is usually a trope for someone stuck in their home town - Luke Skywalker being a good modern example.
Both this vid and everything else I've watched on this channel so far is absolutely top notch. The "call to arms" at the end is being led from the front and actually inspirational, not faux, present-day inspiration. I've taken up the challenge and started writing - writing what I want to read, because others don't do that anymore.
I think the only thing I sorta disagree with is this idea I've seen bandied about now a lot that Tolkien 'loathed allegory'. I find that such an unusual take.
Here was a man who'd fought in the muddy, bloody, charred fields of France, and seen their horrors. Who was injured, and sent home, and watched as many others didn't return. He was a man who saw the road to the second world war, the rise of evil in Europe as others merely stood by and allowed it to flourish.
It's strange to me to simply write off how much of his experiences of the horrors and futility of war, and of the consequences of complacency in the face of evil informed his creation of the story of Lord of the Rings, and the world of Middle-Earth.
I find Tolkin smile really friendly, he looks such a great person for some reason for me. :D The grandpa who has many stories to tell.
Apparently he enjoyed a silly sense of humour, like pranking shopkeepers by passing them fake teeth along with spare change etc. Sure he would have had his faults (don't we all) and might have had some views that some would consider outdated today, but overall, from his biography and letters, it looks like he was a fundamentally decent and kind person with a distinctly quirky side haha. Oh, to have a chance for a conversation with him!
I find it so insulting that the premise of the show is basically: Sauron is out there, so who is it? Meteor man? Halbrant? Someone else??? It's like playing a mystery box game with the audience instead of telling an engaging story.
"Galadriel is supposed to be, in some senses, cold and aloof. Unfathomably and, even, threateningly, hauntingly beautiful."
Eh.. You definitely deserve praise for this one.. Here's a thumb (y)
A comprehensive video; well done. There are a couple of little corrections that I'm sure others have noticed too:
The ban of the Noldor from Valinor was removed at the end of the First Age. Valinor was not removed from the world until the fall of Numinor. So, it would have been possible to just sail to the Undying Lands at this time.
The Dwarves of Khazad-dum were on good terms with the Elves of Hollin with trade between the two peoples being very common (hence Celebrimbor helping to make the secret door they enter in the Fellowship).
I'm glad to be learning so much about Welsh culture, wow, so fascinating
I absolutely love when, in this day and age, a content creator dares to insert multiple layers of meaning.
Your implicit comparison between Melkor and Bezos is stunningly spot on.
It's hard to find fault with your perspective.
Brilliant
"Why is he angry at the floor?"
- The wooden floor represents the opposite of the glass ceiling that holds back female women (along with female elves, dwarfs, and possibly tree-folk if caught in possession of a vagina-shaped knothole). As such, the male boy lashes out with violence and brute force (naturally) at this barrier preventing him from sinking to even greater depths of maleness. The wooden floor is the life raft, if you will, that keeps male men afloat in the otherwise turbulent ocean of life that female women must navigate. This is further illustrated by the beautiful, intelligent and powerful (although regrettably white) Galadriel swimming in the ocean before coming across a group of mostly male men who float effortlessly upon a raft made of the aforementioned wooden floor, entirely insulating them from the dangers that threaten even the most beautiful, intelligent and powerful female women.
Wait... there's a sea monster? And it kills indiscriminately? Does it not respect the wooden floor raft? This is incredible, in the most literal sense of the word, and I must confess... I feel that this so-called "monster" may be the great equalizer that's sorely needed in our current time as well as that of Galadriel. And I, for one, welcome our new sea monster overlord. Hail Hydra.
THANK YOU FOR BRINGING UP ULMO! She jumped into the place one of her gods lives with _zero_ hope of surviving that place, I actually thought while watching it that it was definitely setting up Ulmo
Outstanding review so far! It sickens me to see the work of such a great, caring man as Tolkien's butchered so thoroughly, that it completely misses the rich, universal themes and ideas his work represented in the first place. I'll definitely watch the next part!
As for your call to arms, I've been working on an original trilogy set in a Sci-Fi/Fantasy world entirely of my own making for over fourteen years on and off. I'm heavily inspired by Tolkien and the care he showed for his work, even though I'm certain I won't be able to come anywhere near the sheer breadth and depth of his world. Even still, I feel called to this vocation, as indeed I've noticed that many stories nowadays are devoid of the universal ideas that made properties like Lord of the Rings or Star Wars so resonant with so many people and continue to do so decades after they were created.
I seek to help change that in due time. I've actually sent drafts of the plotlines for my stories to a close and trusted friend who is eager to help me make it the best it can be, and she has already given several points and ideas for me to think about and implement.
From a writer to a writer, good luck and keep writing!!
Just went back and rewatched the three originals in extended form. Riveting from start to finish. Thank God for DVDs!
Literally bought a 4k player just so I could buy and watch the 4k remastered versions.
Yeah. People need to start grabbing physical copies of their favorites, or at the very least downloads loaded on external HD. People who expect unaltered versions of everything they like to be available (and some not at all) perpetually via modern corporate streaming are insane.
I really suggest that everyone gets a hard copy - real media - in all its forms. The people running this clown show civilization aren't beyond changing what they control.. cutting out parts, changing stories ... etc. My generation is extremely lucky. We did so because our collections evolved naturally as the years passed. My only regret is I gave my record collection away when I moved. I should have kept it.
Leave your pretend god out of our pretend universes please.
What's your opinion about The Hobbit part II?
"Universality is the bedrock of society". My good sir, you are a gentleman, a scholar, a philosopher and a wordsmith.
On the topic of aesthetics, they really didn't manage to sell the elves as ethereally beautiful. They look like yuppies at best. The Jackson movies managed to give you the sense that they are immortal beings, wise, etc. Also with the way they spoke. RoP elves sound like that insufferable kid in high school who read Shakespeare for the first time and now thinks he's so smart.
Celebrimbor looking so old makes no sense, either.
Its amazing when you video is more amazing to listen to despite being so long that watching the actual series.
Thank you series and movies and specifically you and @critical drinker for the great service. Haha I saved tonnes of hours just letting you do the leg work n me listening to ur scripts
Amazon has spent a billion dollars to create yet another McFantasy - a series which reflects contemporary America, but with pointy ears and swords. They might as well have called this dog "The Chronicles of King Arthur and the Rings of Witcher Time " and covered all their bases. The haphazard casting has resulted in there being no racial diversity between the races of Middle Earth, the audience has to look for secondary clues to identify them. This happens every time some American production company decides to destroy yet another myth - they first choose their cast to reflect America (not the fantasy world), then throw out most of the lore and write their own story. America has always botched adaptations of other nations' stories (just look at the pilot for the American Red Dwarf!). We should never have expected otherwise.
I am sick to death of McFantasies.
Yeah we’re sadly quite obsessed with ourselves as a nation and have been for quite some time
@@tonydanatop4912 This was inevitable after the Soviet Union fell. A lack of meaningful geopolitical competition always breeds hubris. You'll notice that American arrogance really started ratcheting up in the 1990's, and it hasn't slowed down since.
Except they utterly failed even on that, Amazon seems to think ‘black’ is racial diversity
Blacktino elf isn’t really ‘Hispanic’ either. Especially no Asian or south Asian or Pacific Islander main characters - shockingly racist! 😂
@@artnull13 to be fair Americans don't like the show either
@@Lennis01 Except China exists
Thank you for this very well written and extensive critique and analysis!
When I first clicked on this video I thought: "Probably gonna watch the first ten minutes and then get bored". But this video was more captivating then the entirety of Rings of Power.
Loved every part of it!
Definitely gonna check out more of your other videos
Glad to hear it, and thanks for saying so!
Me too haha and I just subbed 😉
i love the whole line about how love between a human and an elf is so rare its only happened twice and both ended in tragedy... looks over at elrond well i guess your even rarer than a unicorn now buddy your a space unicorn made of diamonds that farts rainbows
The origin story of the orcs the way I understand it is that it is essentially a legend or elven folklore in the Silmarillion. (Though Tolkien did think about revising this but he passed away before that happened.)
The elves didn’t know what happened to the lost ones, they believed Morgoth corrupted them.
Death was an unknown concept until the “death” of Miriel, Finwe’s first wife and even then the elves don’t truly die until the end of Arda and of course (due to the Doom of Mandos) those slain or pass from severe grief go to the Halls of Mandos either to remain there until the end of time or until they are reembodied.
When Beor the Edain dies, that’s when the elves really encounter death properly.
"Raft of survivors!? At this time of year, at this time of day, at this part of the country, localized entirely within your kitchen?!"
But I really do like how the pay homage to Robin Hood: Men in Tights by Galadriel's swim from Valinor to Middle-earth, breathtaking
I am here for all of it. The more lore the better. Tolkien's love of myth and language is at its core a love of lore. IMHO, it is what gave LOTR depth and made Tolkien's world feel like a living, aging, dying world....very excited for this upload.
Here’s hoping I haven’t completely butchered the lore, then! It’s been a while since I last went through a lot of the Silmarillion.
@@TheLittlePlatoon I doubt it. But even if that is the case...As you've started before, you welcome fair, well motivated critique which is the mark of a true master in the making of any craft.
@@cyberpunk8184 The writers couldn't have done that, because this is 2022 and all forms of mainstream media have the same theme, regardless of source material.
@@shok24199 What is that?
@@MegaSpideyman Identity politics activism.
Found myself repeatedly looking to hit the “like” button only to find i had already “liked” it. That’s how brilliantly the narrator nailed the review. I wanted to like it over and over and even wished for “Love it” and “hell yeah” buttons. Majestic, intelligent, insightful, witty, energetic and pure entertainment.
Liked and subscribed. That introduction and Ainulindale quote at the end was very well played. Bravo, sir.
Welcome aboard!
Joke's on Amazon: Scarcity only drives up demand.
I do love economics.
His writing and stories are so good that they have college classes and people who devote their life to his works...... Ya, putting a spin on it will be a HUGE hit
@@zogwort1522 That sucks, considering how meh the story is for adults.
I haven't seen any more of the show than the clips you used in the review, but I looked up the introduction of Durin and Disa on TH-cam out of curiosity. It did genuinely make me smile. It's a shame that the show seems like it has too many low points to outweigh the high points.
I feel sorry for people that didn’t alternate watching one episode of this Amazon show with one episode of the Dance of Dragons show on HBO. Both shows seem to be much improved by doing so.
I haven't seen the show yet, and I don't care to watch simply because I can't be bothered, but my lord the analysis' you do on these things is just brilliant and I'm glad that there are people out there with some actual sense in this world. For that, I raise my glass and have decided to down a bottle of wine just for this video.
I’d recommend having a second one handy…
@@TheLittlePlatoon well it's only fair...
I drank a glass of wine. I rarely do that.
Here's my plan, wait for the show to be done or mostly done before buying a sub for a single month just to hate watch (and perhaps enjoy the cinematography which I do like sometimes). That's the most these people should be expecting from average tolkein fans if any and I can't imagine them getting their money back.
Just sail the high seas. Personally, i think it's not even worth the bandwidth
The mystery of how not-Galadriel built the helmet pyramid has puzzled historians for centuries... one would think that you would put the last helmet at the top to finish it off - but no... it seems it is put at arms length at the bottom of the pyramid. Love you Little Platoon - keep doing what you do.
Does anybody know where I can find a full version of the "strong woman" song...makes me laugh every time The Little Platoon uses it 🤣
South Park 23-07 "board girls."